Uncle J.J. is teaching me all about being a big brother so I got to hang out with him today. He forgot an important file at work so we had to go to Dallas to his huge office at Blake Enterprises. Anna Beth, his executive assistant, smiles a lot at Uncle J.J. when he’s not looking.

            “He’s grown so much! Last time I saw him he only had two teeth.” The executive assistant pinched Jake’s cheek.

             “You should see him throw down on a rib bone.” J.J. laughed.

            “I have something for Jake.” Ann Beth reached into the bag from the toy store she had on the floor and handed Jake a red pickup truck.

            “Thank you.” Jake’s eyes lit up when she gave it to him.

            “Anna Beth, you look nice. Have a hot date after work?” J.J. leafed through the mail on the desk.

            “No, just another day at the office.  Anything else I can do for you Mr. Blake?” Anna Beth passed him the file.

            “I won’t be back in the office until Monday.  Why don’t you take a long weekend?”

            “No, thanks. I’d rather be here in case you need me.”

The next stop was lunch at Uncle J.J’s favorite steakhouse. He ordered a porterhouse that was bigger than Rowdy and I got the chicken fingers.   It was time to get down to club business.

            “Jake, being a big brother is a huge responsibility but I’m sure you’ll do fine.” J.J. tucked a napkin into the collar of Jake’s shirt.

            “Do I help them put up their toys?”

            “Yes and some other stuff.”

            “Other stuff?”

            “You have to watch out for them when your momma and daddy aren’t around so they don’t hurt themselves or get into too much trouble.”

            “What if they get into trouble?”

            “Then you rescue them and make them promise not to do it again. That will get them to sit still for a little while before they get into something else. If you’re really lucky you won’t have to bail any of them out of jail.” J.J. laughed.

            “What’s jail?” Jake looked up from coloring on the kid’s menu place mat.

            “We’ll cover jail in the next meeting.” 

After lunch we went to get some doggy stuff for Rowdy. Some lady who wore too much perfume and had a little dog in her purse was following us around the store. She kept looking at Uncle J.J. and smiling but he ignored her so she ‘accidentally’ dropped a collar on the floor so he would pick it up.

            “Thank you. I’m just so clumsy today.” She grinned.

            “Not a problem.” J.J. handed her the collar.

            “That’s quite a big bone you have there.” She pointed at the gigantic rawhide bone J.J. held in his hand.

            “We have a border collie at home that can chew through this bone in a day.”

            “Is this your son? What a handsome little boy.” 

            “Thank you. This is my nephew.”

            Jake tugged on his uncle’s hand. “Uncle J.J., Rowdy needs a new ball.”

            J.J. turned in the direction Jake was pulling him in but the woman jumped in front of them.

           “You look familiar. Aren’t you John Blake? You used to play for the Denver Colts, right?”

           “A million years ago.” J.J. nodded.

            “You were a great player.”

“Thanks.  It’s always nice to meet a former fan.”

             “I still am.”  The woman gave J.J. an appreciative once over.  “What position did you play again? Tight end?”

            Here we go.  Mom says when a bimbo uses double entendres when talking to my dad and uncles, it’s time to put her in her place. Whatever that means.

            Jake tugged on his hand again.  “Uncle J.J., what’s a skank?”

            “It was nice meeting you. We have to be going.” J.J. managed to hustle Jake down the aisle before he burst out laughing.  “Jake, who taught you that word?”

            “Mommy.” Jake looked up at him and smiled.

J.J. shook his head.

Hope you enjoyed Jake’s outing with his Uncle J.J.!

Until next time,

Rhonda

Copyright © 2014 Rhonda Laurel.  All Rights Reserved.