Pinochle

Chapter 70 - Escargots and Frog Legs

By E Walk
Born September 4, 1938, Died July 10, 2011
[his email address is monitored by his friends]

Copyrighted by the author

Edited by Will B/Radio Rancher

This is Becca.

It was so much fun watching the reactions of the unknowing. J.R., Chris, Angela, Chase and Timmy weren't quite sure what was happening. When we got to Rod and Hank's house. It was so comfortable and the food on the buffet table looked very appetizing.

I watched as Brian went and hugged Mrs. Proust, "Aunt Bea, everything looks so wonderful."

Brian motioned for Timmy and Chase to join him. "Guys, this is Aunt Bea. She is the person who made all of this wonderful food. Make sure you say thank you."

Timmy immediately went and hugged Mrs. Proust, "Thank you, Aunt Bea."

Chase nodded, "Thank you, Aunt Bea."

Brian made sure that all of the adults were through the line then he and Vicky helped Chase and Timmy get their food and took them to the kitchen so they could eat. Chris and Angela went to join them.

Mr. Lafontaine kept the conversation going and there was no question about who was going to be in charge while we were in London. As we were finishing the wonderful food, the young people returned.

Brian started, "Let me see if I have this straight, "My parents and Angela are staying with the Masons. Grant, Ben, J.R., and Chris are staying here with Uncle Rod and Uncle Hank, and Chase, Timmy and I are going to be staying with Grandpa Grumpy. Is that correct?"

Monsieur Lafontaine answered, "You got it, Kid. Now we need to get you artists to the gallery. Mr. Johnson wants to explain what is going to be happening the next several days. I understand that you have some more things that you might want to have put on display so we'd better get going or Kelly will be having kittens. Vicky and Angela, why don't you join us. Just so everyone knows, we have dinner reservations at Maxim's at 7:00, so you young people will be free to have fun tonight."

He added, "Gentlemen, please wear a coat and tie."

I leaned over to Beau, "Doesn't he remind you of Grandmother Tillison?"

Beau looked at me and started to laugh.

This is Brian.

We went to the waiting limousines. Mr. Lafontaine directed. "J.R., Chris, and Angela, why don't you ride in the back one and I'll ride with the others in the lead one. Your driver has been instructed to follow us to the gallery."

I was surprised to see that the folder I had brought was already in the limousine. It was as if someone was reading my mind. I heard Nappy's voice, 'I am, Brian. I'll try not to invade your private thoughts.'

I looked at Monsieur Lafontaine and started to laugh. He sent me another message, 'Be careful, Timmy has some strong skills as well. You wouldn't want to burst his bubble, would you?'

Timmy looked at me, "Daddy Brian, what are you thinking about?"

I looked at Timmy, "I was just wondering what the people at the gallery are going to say when they see two handsome men like Chase and you."

Fortunately we arrived at the gallery and the chauffeur opened the doors to the limos. As we were walking up the steps to the gallery, J.R. whispered in my ear, "Do you always go first class?"

I turned and looked at him, "Not hardly."

We were met at the door of the gallery by Mr. Johnson. "Good to see you Brian and Vicky. Why don't you come in and you can introduce your friends to everyone. Everyone already knows Monsieur Lafontaine; he has been hounding everyone constantly."

Kelly and Shelby came from the workroom and when Kelly saw the folder I was carrying, he threw up his hands and fell to his knees. "Mr. Benson, I can't stand any more of this crap. I'm so tired from all the hours I have to work on this awful show."

Timmy went to Kelly and put his hands on Kelly's face, "Don't tease my Daddy. He might think you're serious. You haven't even looked at what he has in his folder, so how can you say it's ugly."

Chase joined in, "Yeah, Dad Brian makes good pictures."

Kelly looked at me as if asking, 'Brian, what have you been telling these young boys.'

I shrugged and after I made all of the introductions, Kelly started again. "J.R., I'll give you a thousand pounds for that awful drawing of the fat kid on the rock."

J.R. was undaunted, "Sorry sir, that was a gift to Brian's parents."

After all the introductions were made, I handed the folder to Kelly, "Sir, I don't expect you to do anything with these before the opening of the exhibit. I just brought them along for you and Mr. Johnson to look at and see if he might like to exhibit them later."

"Mr. Johnson, could we see the exhibit please?"

Mr. Johnson took us to the gallery where the works were displayed. In front of the entrance to the hall was the picture of me on the rock at the nude dude ranch that J.R. had done with the caption, "Welcome to the show of Brian Benson and his friends, Christopher Jameson, Chase Little and J.R. Champion."

The centerpiece of the back wall was a grouping of three pastels that I had done of me while I was in London the last time. The first painting was the abstract showing half of me as an angel and half as a demon, that Mr. Johnson had bought. The second was the painting of me walking in a strong wind with the title of 'Going Home' and the third was the self portrait I had done of myself while looking in the mirror. The spotlights were shining on them.

On the long wall were the photographs that Chris had done and the charcoals that Chase and I had done. The neat thing was that they were grouped as we had grouped them at the ranch so you could tell who the pictures were of.

On the other walls were all the works that I had done while I was in London the last time and those that Jaime had picked up at our house. Kelly and Shelby had to have been working overtime. The center of the group was the drawings of the royal family.

Vicky came up to me as everyone was walking around, "Brian, all these pieces are so phenomenal."

Mr. Johnson approached me, "Well, Brian, what do you think? Kelly and Shelby have been working hard. I think that your opening is going to be a big success. The preview for the art critics and special guests will be tomorrow evening at seven o'clock. It would be nice if you and the other artists could be here about 6:45 tomorrow so the critics and guests can meet you."

Monsieur Lafontaine interrupted, "They'll be here dressed in their finest. It's time for us to go have some fun. We'll see you tomorrow night at 6:45."

As we exited the gallery, the two limousines were pulling up. No one asked any questions. We just got into the limousines and the next thing we knew we parked in front of the Eye of London. When Timmy and Chase saw the Ferris wheel, their eyes got really big. There was a line and I watched as Chase took J.R.'s hand and Timmy had Grandpa Nappy's. We stood in the long queue to await our turn to get on the ride.

Timmy and Grandpa Nappy were talking and I couldn't hear what they were saying. It was easy to see that J.R. and Chase were also becoming good friends. I felt relieved that I wasn't going to be their only idol.

Grandpa Nappy paid the fare for the rides, which was rather expensive in my opinion, but I heard him telling me to keep my mouth shut, so I did.

When we got off the ride, Timmy came skipping toward me, "Grandpa Nappy is going to take us to get something to eat, to hold us until dinner. We're going to a pub. What's a pub?"

Monsieur Lafontaine had made a call and our limos were waiting again. This time Chase got into the second limo with J.R. I was relieved but jealous at the same time. Timmy practically ignored me as we were driving, since he and Grandpa Nappy were talking. We parked in front of a pub and when we went in, they had a display of sweets and small sandwiches.

I watched as the two boys filled a plate with goodies and they were already sitting and eating at a table before the rest of us got to the table. A young lady brought those of us who were under 18 each a glass of soda. Monsieur Lafontaine had a glass of wine and J.R. opted for a pint of ale.

After we left, the pub, Grandpa Nappy suggested that the second limo would take everyone to where they were staying so they could freshen up and get ready for dinner. J.R., Vicky, Angela and Chris were dispatched in the first limo. That left Grandpa Nappy, Chase, Timmy and me and we were taken to the back of some building and we climbed the stairs to some sort of apartment.

We were met at the door by an older man, "Welcome to the Lafontaine residence. If you require anything, just ask, we are here to serve."

The two boys looked at me and Timmy sent me a message, 'Dad, what's happening?'

I looked at Timmy and knelt down, "Grandpa Nappy is just trying to make us feel comfortable."

Monsieur Lafontaine realized that the two young boys were being overwhelmed. "Reggie, please take the two young men to the game room and show them how to play some games, while I speak with Brian."

I had the uneasy feeling in my stomach. Grandpa Nappy sat on a sofa and motioned for me to join him. "Brian, please humor me, I'm an old man and my time is limited. You are going to be my successor. You probably don't realize this, but you have more magical powers than nearly anyone in the world, yet you don't worry about them and you haven't misused them."

He put his arm around me, "I was crying the night that you went to help Timmy. Timmy is also a very special person with special powers, but you have been very good to not to let him know that you can hear what he was saying to you. I was very reluctant at first to let what is going to happen on Tuesday night happen, but after monitoring your activity since you returned home, I have no alternative but appoint you as my successor."

"It was not only how you handled Timmy, but what happened at the nude dude ranch with Chase, J.R. and the rest of the people. I was really impressed with how you took care of John and now how you handled Timmy was the piece that was missing. Brian, you are a very special person."

I pulled away and looked at him, "Monsieur Lafontaine, I have some questions. First, did you have anything to do with me be being the President of the Class of 2012? Second, did you have anything to do with Fremont winning the football game? Thirdly, who heard my pleas for help when I was accosted in the bathroom?"

Grandpa Nappy stood and started to pace, "Brian, you are very perceptive. I did arrange for you to be elected the President of your class, because you are a natural leader and aren't afraid to piss

people off, if you will excuse the English."

"As far as the football game, I had nothing to do with the outcome. I was a little upset with you when it looked as if you had just quit after you caught the ball. I was relieved when I saw you and Omi walk off the field together."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Monsieur Lafontaine continued, "John heard your pleas for help because I relayed them to him and Mr. Cox. John is a beautiful young man, but he isn't one of us."

Our conversation was interrupted by Reggie, "Gentlemen, it is time to get dressed for dinner. Mr. Brian, the young gentlemen are going to need your help. Monsieur La Fontaine, I have ordered the attire for tomorrow night."

I went to help Chase and Timmy. They were in the bathtub and I went to get them out. After I dried them, I sent them to start dressing while I took a quick shower. They had both seen me naked so they had no problem when I went into the bedroom to put some clean briefs on. I put on my slacks, shirt and tie and then helped the two boys with their ties.

I took them to the bathroom and made sure that their hair was in place so the wind wouldn't mess it up when we went outside. The guys were preening as we put on our jackets. Monsieur Lafontaine was waiting for us when we finally appeared.

He looked at us and declared, "The three of you look good enough to eat."

Timmy frowned, "Grandpa Grumpy, please don't eat us. Eat Daddy Brian's brother, Uncle Ben, and his friend, Uncle Grant, they're bigger than we are."

I thought to myself, 'Where did that come from?'

Monsieur Lafontaine sent me a message, 'This is what I have been telling you. Timmy has special powers, he doesn't know about. He needs to get older before we can let him know what is happening.'

We were interrupted by Reggie, "Gentlemen, your parties have arrived, so I suggest you leave. Let me inspect you and make sure you are ship shape. He straightened all four ties and dusted our suits. I fully expected to go outside, but instead, Reggie opened a door to a stairway. Enjoy your dinner, gentlemen."

We walked down the stairs and entered the foyer to the restaurant. We were immediately met and seated in a private room. The tables were set with candles and center pieces and I thought something was wrong. 'Why are we getting all this special attention?'

I got a message loud and clear, 'Because I own this joint, so shut up and have a good time.'

I looked at Monsieur Lafontaine and he stuck his tongue out at me.

The waiters served the first course and Timmy looked at me, "What are these things and how are we supposed to eat them?"

Grandpa Nappy was having a ball, "These are called escargot and you dig the meat out of the shells with these little forks. They taste like chicken."

Timmy dug out his first one, "Grandpa Nappy, these look like worms. I don't want to eat worms."

Timmy looked at me, and even though I had never had escargot before, I pretended like they were great. Timmy and Chase were watching me and they decided to eat them. I decided that escargot was not something that I would order very often.

The second course was French onion soup with loaves of French bread which was quite good. Both Chase and Timmy were playing with their soup and it was apparent that they didn't like it, but they made a dent in the bread. But no one said anything. I wasn't even prepared for the next course. The waiters served us a plate with something that looked like chicken legs, but it had to have been some very small chickens.

Timmy tried a piece and I thought he was going to spit it out. He swallowed and took a big drink of water. "Grandpa Nappy, what are we eating? This tastes different."

Grandpa Nappy looked at everyone, "I just thought you might like some frog legs for a change."

Both Timmy and Chase put down their forks. Timmy announced, "I think I'm full."

Monsieur Lafontaine snapped his fingers and the two boys' plates were taken away and replaced with a plate containing a hamburger and chips as the British called them. The rest of our plates were taken away and we were served some pieces of meat on a bed of rice and some fresh vegetables.

Timmy looked at me, "Daddy Brian, can I try a bite?"

He ate what I gave him, and asked, "Grandpa Nappy, what are they eating. It's good but it tastes different."

Monsieur Lafontaine smiled, "We're eating sautéed veal in burgundy sauce."

J.R. spoke up, "Timmy, Monsieur Lafontaine is trying to get us drunk so we can't tell how him bad the food is. I think he just doesn't want us to make it to the gallery on time tomorrow night."

Grandpa Nappy looked at J.R., "Listen, Jimbo, any more talk like that and I arrange for a lorry to run you down."

Timmy looked at Grandpa Nappy, "What's a lorry?"

Vicky looked at Timmy. "What you call a truck, in the United States, we call a lorry."

Timmy looked at Grandpa Nappy, "Why didn't you just say what you meant? What's for dessert?"