Chapter 39

Friday was another beautiful day. As I was running I realized that I hadn’t touched a golf club in months. I instantly had the urge. I mentioned this to Dick and that I didn’t know any golf courses. Also sad to say I was getting to be a golf snob. I didn’t want to play on a poorly kept public course.

Dick didn’t play but did have a suggestion.

“See your studio rep, Don Pearson, part of his job is to take care of setting things like this up.”

That was a good idea. I left a note for Mr. Pearson at the studio office, when we went to work, to the effect that I could use his help in finding a decent golf course to play. That also meant that I had to buy a set of golf clubs, and hit the driving range my first opportunity.

The set was busy this morning. We worked hard with multiple takes. It felt like we were making progress in the movie, but I had seen this before. The Director may decide this doesn’t fit where he is taking the story and it may all end up on the cutting room floor.

I wasn’t even invited to see the daily rushes, the film developed overnight of the previous day’s work since I wouldn’t have much influence on the outcome of the movie, it didn’t matter to me.

Lunchtime arrived in no time at all. That is the nice thing about being busy. After lunch at the studio cafeteria, I headed over to Sheik Territory, which is Hollywood High. When I pulled into the parking lot one guy standing there told me I had a nice car. We talked about the T-Bird for a few minutes, we introduced ourselves. His name is Dick Perle. He seemed to be a decent sort and presented himself well.

Nina was already in our lab classroom, a friend of hers, Linda Evans had stopped by. Linda really checked me out but I wasn’t introduced as she left quickly. I wondered what that was all about.

Before Miss Powell showed up we reconfirmed surfing on Saturday. Nina told me she had a surfboard and wet suit lined up for me. She gave me her telephone number and address.

I asked her if her Dad had any restrictions on when she could use the phone.

She told me, “Silly, this is the number of the phone in my room.”

I had never met any kid that had their own phone before. This is really a different world. It did occur to me that I had my own phone, apartment, and car so maybe I was fitting in.

I enjoyed being taught by Miss Powell, she kept things moving. Since there were only two of us it moved quickly. I didn’t intend to become a Biologist of any type, but she turned a dry course into something that was enjoyable. Just her happy outlook on life made it fun.

She told me stories about Nina and two of her friends, Tuesday Weld and Stefanie Powers. It sounded like they spent more time in detention than class.

In the movie Sir Nicklaus was in trouble for one goat, they had set nine piglets loose in the school. Sir Nick got sent to America, they got sent to detention. I guess the moral is don’t upset the Queen.

Miss Powell lamented that they weren’t like that nice Cathy Share who was never in trouble and always had her work in on time, unlike some people she knew.

The class was fun, but I couldn’t help wondering what the gang in Bellefontaine was up to.

When I returned to the lot those crazy stuntmen were trying to drive a full-size car on two wheels. They had set up a ramp that tilted the car until the wheels on the driver’s side were completely off the ground. When the car would get to the end of the adjustable ramp, it would crash back down, either flat on the driver’s side, or once on an early trial, tipping over on its roof.

They were discussing alterations they could make to the car. I thought about it and ventured a comment. “You are trying to balance the car on a very narrow point formed by the tires. Why don’t you decrease the air pressure in the tires so they are soft? Instead of balancing on a point, it would be a wider flat.”

Then I had another thought, “Having a water tank inside might help when the car tips the water would go to the downside of the tank leaving more weight on the tires to keep it in place.”

The lead mechanic said, “The kids right, let’s try the easy one first, take the air in the tires down to ten pounds on the passenger side.”

It only took a few minutes to set up the beaten wreck for one more trial. The car was a lot sturdier than its first appearance. It had a roll bar, the driver had an aircraft pilot seatbelt, and of course, the driver had a helmet. The studio fire department was on standby along with an ambulance.

This time the car actually stayed on two wheels for twenty feet or so, which was twenty feet more than before. When I left to do my sword practice they were sketching what the water tank setup should be like. The lead mechanic did yell.

“Hey kid, you should be an inventor or something.”

That brought a small hidden smile to my face.

Sword practice was finally getting to the point where I was starting to counter moves by reaction rather than thought. This was not fencing which was a highly stylized sport. This was beating each other to death with a sharpened iron bar. We didn’t use sharpened swords for practice. As a matter of fact, they were wood with dull edges. It still hurt through the padding when you took a hit.

The padding was two-inch-thick battening material, with frequent holes, which were edged with brass grommets. If there were no holes you would sweat to death in minutes. Sammy Dawson, my sword coach told me that if there was a need they would use me as an extra in a swordfight battle scene.

“I can appear as an extra in another movie on the lot,” I asked?

“Sure you are under contract but if you read the fine print they can ask you to work in a minor role in others. You will be paid the minimum day rate for any extra work, but it is on top of what you already receive so it will be gravy. You will only be called on if it doesn’t interfere with your shooting schedule.”

I replied, “It sounds kind of cool.”

“It is,” he replied.