The Tool Party – Chapter Two
Halligan hoisted the cooler to his broad shoulders and without a word, strode away toward the house and both John and Roy watched him leave. Chet burped.
"So, that guy's name really is Halligan? As in the tool, Halligan?" Roy asked.
"Yeah, his name's really Halligan. Halligan Bumgood. Isn't that a hoot? Uncle Conan told me he hired this guy a coupla' months ago along with a couple of others to run the house since he's gone so much."
"So, uh, why are you watching the house then?"
"He invited me!" When Roy's brows knitted, Chet continued, "Hey, can I help it if my uncle appreciates what I do for the city?"
"Well, a guy like that's good to have around, I'll bet. A guy could get used to this pretty fast," Roy added.
"Hm, yeah, I bet you're not enjoying this at all, are ya'?" Johnny snorted.
"Johnny, m'boy, this is livin', let me tell you," Kelly responded, "Watch this..."
Halligan returned with a tray bearing two cold bottles of beer and two iced beer mugs. He set the tray down on the bar and expertly poured out the brew, leaving just enough foam at the top. Perfect. He handed them to Roy and John. "Your drinks, sirs," he announced. Turning to Chet he asked, "Anything else, Mister Kelly?"
"Yeah. Say, Halligan, how about havin' the chef make up some of those snacks he made last night. Maybe some of those shrimp things with that fruity-tomato-y stuff."
"Shrimp things, sir?" Halligan inquired with a cocked eyebrow.
"Yeah, you know, those little shrimp things on the chips, with the tomato stuff?"
"The shrimp and mango salsa on tortillas, Mister Kelly?"
"Yeah, sure, that sounds right. Have Hillbag, er, Hobbins...eh, I can't remember his name...the chef guy. Have him make some of those up for us, will you? A whole bunch; these guys'll love 'em!"
"It's Higbee, sir; I'll tell him."
"A chef, too?" Johnny wondered indignantly, "this is too much!"
Roy noticed John's face twist into a displeased smirk and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder as if to say, "Relax, man, it's just Chet".
Halligan returned to the house, presumably to tell Higbee to make the hors d'oeuvres. Roy smiled from behind his mug of beer, knowing how hard it was for Johnny to keep from spouting off about Chet being so spoiled. Chet, meanwhile, slugged back the rest of his beer and jerked a thumb towards the lounge chairs.
Stoker, was back on the diving board, waving his arms back and forth, preparing to try a decent dive yet again.
"Mikey!" Chet hollered, "C'mon out! Halligan's gonna bring out some snacks!"
With a mutual shrug, Roy and John followed Chet across the stone paved patio to the bamboo chaise lounges and sat back to relax in the shade. Chet weaved just slightly and he looked back at Roy and Johnny and giggled. Clearly, he had started the party a little earlier than they had.
Mike swam underwater to the edge of the pool and emerged from it with an enormous splash. He stood there and whipped his head to the side to clear the water drops from his face, then hefted himself to the flat stone patio. His wet foot prints darkened the stones as water drops raced down his legs and splattered along behind him as he joined the others by the lounges.
"Stoker! You got chicken legs, man!" Chet laughed. "You need a tan! Here..." He handed Stoker a towel and a bottle of tanning lotion.
Mike looked it over. "Chet, this is pretty powerful stuff; you use this?"
"Sure man, I've been using it all day. I'll be a bronze god by tonight- it says so on the bottle!"
With that, the huge glass doors opened, and Halligan pointed Cap and Marco to where the others sat.
"Whoa, talk about chicken legs! Check out Cap's!" Chet nearly rolled off the lounge with laughter.
"Marco, I think they're making fun of my physique," Cap muttered to Lopez.
"Nah, they wouldn't do that, Cap," Marco protested, "you're still in great shape...for your age."
"For my age?"
"No, no, Cap, I said, for your stage, er, I mean, for..for..."
"Stop while you're behind, pal," Cap told him with a hearty slap to Marco's back.
Cap and Marco scooched chairs over to the lounges and sat down, admiring the posh courtyard. Cap was about to comment on the perfectly groomed boxwood hedges and the statue of the Greek god Poseidon spouting water from his concrete trident just as Halligan returned.
"It may be a bit yet, Mister Kelly. Higbee cut his finger deveining the shrimp and I needed to bandage it for him."
Immediately, Roy and John looked up. "He okay?" Johnny asked, "we're paramedics; we can look it over it you want."
"I'm sure it will be fine, gentlemen, thank you. Higbee protested treatment of course, but I forced him to sit down while I picked through the medicine cabinet for a bandage. Just another entry in my journal, I suppose."
"Uh, yeah, okay, if you're sure," Johnny said, looking quizzically at the butler. Had Halligan just made a few tool puns? It would seem so.
Suddenly, the pool pump made a loud squealing noise and thumped to a stop as bubbles came gurgling forth from the filter.
"Crap! What was that?" Chet cried.
"Sounds like your pool pump, man," Mike told him.
"Well yeah, I figured that out, Mikey, but why is it doing that?"
All six of the firemen along with Halligan wandered over to the pump's housing and Chet lifted the cover.
"Hey, look at all those little swirls of water," he pointed out.
"That's called cavitation, Mister Kelly. I can fix it," Halligan told him.
Halligan removed his jacket and tie, loosened the cravat around his neck and rolled up his sleeves. Bending over the pump housing, he pulled the hose out and loosened one thing and tightened another, fiddling around with things until he succeeded in getting the pump running again. He replaced the lid and the others stood around in admiration as the bubbles stopped and the pumped hummed to life once more.
"Hey, Halligan, that was great! You're pretty handy!" Chet exclaimed, "I don't know anything about pool pumps."
"Pretty impressive, Halligan," Johnny added, "nice work."
Mike sniffed and mumbled, "I could have fixed that. It's just a pump..."
Halligan smiled, stood up and picked his jacket off the ground, rolled his sleeves back down and began to straighten his tie. "Glad to be able to help, Mister Kelly."
"So, uh, anyway, Halligan, why so formal? Uncle Conan's away for a while, how about you join us for a beer?
"Me, sir?"
"Yeah, sure. Nobody else is comin' over; take the day off and hang out with us by the pool."
"Well. I don't suppose any of my employers ever asked that of me before, Mister Kelly. If you're sure..."
"The only thing I'm more sure of is that you gotta stop callin' me Mister Kelly. It's Chet, man; just Chet. Besides, I'm not your employer this week, I'm just Mister Kelly's nephew. C'mon and join us."
Calling Chet, "Chet" didn't sound right to Halligan's ears. "If you're certain Mist...I mean, Chet, then I'll be back in a few minutes. Thank you."