Chapter 49

Monday came quickly. To make matters worse it was raining buckets, cold nasty buckets. A cold front had come in during the night with a loud thunderstorm. I did my indoor exercises, but there would be no running this morning.

I went ahead and showered, again thinking about that darn shower head. There had to be some way you could adjust the direction of the showerhead, but how? It was all metal.

I had seen shower heads with a rubber hose attaching them to the water pipe. The problem with those was it took a hand to aim it in the correct direction. I wanted to be able to point the water where I wanted it, and just let it flow.

Having no inspiration on that problem front, I went down for breakfast. Since I couldn’t run I was there a half-hour earlier than usual. It was just Mum and Dad sitting with their coffee and tea. I sat down at the table and must have looked like I was still asleep. Dad said nothing; he just got up and poured me a cup of coffee.

I had tried coffee before and couldn’t stand the taste. I knew that caffeine would wake you up, so decided to try it again. It was steaming hot from the pot so I saucered some like I saw Dad do previously.

That is I poured some from my cup into the saucer; then blew on it to cool it down. I then sipped the cooler coffee. It still tasted terrible. I kept at it anyway. I needed to wake up.

While we were sitting there drinking our morning beverages the radio was playing. The national news came on. One of the stories was about the conviction last week of the ringleader of the largest modern cattle rustling operation in the West.

The story mentioned that the capture was by the Texas Rangers and had a brief interview with Mr. Walker. Thankfully my name didn’t come up.

I said, “Thank goodness I wasn’t named.”

The local news reported that the Bellefontaine High School golf team had won second place in the District tournament. Local golfer Ricky Jackson had the low individual score and would be advancing to the state championship this coming weekend in Columbus.

This is the first time that anyone from Bellefontaine has ever made the state playoffs, so let’s show support for Ricky this week. I groaned.

Dad chuckled, “Well Ricky, you are a big frog in a small pond, but when you’re in the big pond you don’t even count as small.”

He seemed to think he was funny.

Once he quit chuckling over his misguided wit, he continued, “I took the contract from Warner Brothers to our lawyer on Friday. He called a friend out in California who works with movie contracts. This is a standard contract they use.”

“There are no hidden tricks. You are being hired to perform in one movie at a given rate of twenty-five hundred dollars a week. They will provide transportation, food, and lodging.

As a minor, they will ensure your education by providing a tutor who will work with your school. They will also provide a chaperon as needed for going offset, as you will be in Hollywood for seven weeks.”

“Rick, it almost seems too good to be true, but it is true. Now all you have left is to go out there and do the job.”

I thought about what Dad was saying. I was going to be in a movie that sounded great but I was really being hired to work. So I was going to be working full time for seven weeks plus carrying a full school load. All of a sudden this didn’t sound like the good time that I thought it would be.

“So Rick do you want me to sign this on your behalf?”

“Yes Dad I do, but I can see that I will have to work for that money.”

“Speaking of the money, I suspect that it will be expensive out there. Your check will be mailed here. I will deposit it in a new savings account that will be for your money only. Our bank has agreed to set it up that you can draw two hundred dollars weekly from a branch in Los Angeles while you are shooting the movie.”

“The studio wants me to sign the contract and nondisclosure agreement, and mail them today via certified mail, and also let the school know that your tutor will be contacting them to see what you will need to study.”

They will be administering your tests on-site, so you won’t be behind when you get home. They really seem to have it together on this, but then they have been working with child actors for a long time.”