Chapter 54

The next week was back at school, and as Shawna and I had lunch one day we spoke together the entire time in Spanish. And I realized that I had missed our times together like this. And the nights at the club were kinda fun, being paid to play music as I watched naked girls dance on a stage.

And on Friday as soon as class was out I headed to the truck and headed out.

I had loaded it the night before, and thankfully I was leaving early so missed most of the traffic. But once I got to Seal Beach it started to get bad. And it remained that way all the way through to Irvine when it lightened up again. Thankfully Jack had given me good directions, and I found his place with no trouble.

He was actually living in a rather nice house, four bedrooms and two floors. He showed me around, and I saw one bedroom was set up as an office, and another as his editing room. He had the master suite and I got one room he left as a spare for guests. I also met his girlfriend, and realized she was one of the gals that ran the cameras.

After eating we each got drinks, and on the huge TV in the living room we watched the first episode. The actor they had hired as the narrator did a great job, his deep voice fitting it perfectly. And it was really good, starting with everybody at an obviously staged board meeting that was almost like the one I had attended. Where Mandy showed photos of the plane, and talking it over before they voted for doing the project.

But I could tell this was entirely staged. As Uncle Dave was of all things wearing a wig and instead of a salt and pepper crew cut, his hair was long and black. And he had a clip in the back holding a long pony tail in place. And a headband! And Aunt Darla was in what looked like a homemade farmer’s wife dress from a century before! And Uncle Jeff of all things was in clerical garb, with Aunt Kim wearing a professional looking business dress.

And to top it all off, it was in the main conference room at Gem. With Mandy actually projecting the photos on the screen in the back of the conference room. And giving the presentation behind a podium. And after several minutes of fighting it over, the vote was seven to one, with Uncle Dave voting against it.

I had Jack pause it when the board voted, and said that had to be a joke. “I mean, come on. I was at that presentation and vote! We almost always hold those around the kitchen table, not in the conference room! And Uncle Dave, his hair is not much longer than Pete’s! That wig, and Jeff in clerical garb? What in the hell is up with all of that shit?”

Jack was grinning and Deborah was laughing. “George, this is Hollywood. And before you get mad, the wardrobe choices were mostly by Mandy. Dave is actually the one who decided on that wig, and Darla decided to wear homespun. Jeff himself elected to go clerical, he said to remind people that many in the clergy were like him and had other jobs. And yes, Dave also decided his role should be the doubting Thomas, the dissenting voice in the group. Grumbling about how it was all a waste of money, and that it would never work. In short, he’s the foil. The grumpy Indian who feels more comfortable with his cows than he does discussing business or airplanes.”

I shook my head, and he hit play again. And they showed footage of the plane having the brush hacked away from it, disassembled, then being trucked to the ship and loaded on. Several times cutting away and giving interviews of everybody on the board.

Mom was of all things wearing glasses! Something she wore only for reading but never otherwise. Dad was in more or less what he wore for work, tan slacks and a button shirt, with a pocket protector! And not only the calculator I was used to on his belt, but something else I could not identify that was long and in a leather case, and not the black nylon of the calculator. I asked what that was, and Jack paused it again and said it was a slide rule. And also wearing glasses, something he did not do because he did not need them. In fact, seeing him like that made me realize that in many ways he looked like that D-Fens character that Michael Douglas played in that movie a few years ago. I asked if that was the intent, and Jack said indeed it was before hitting play again.

And by the end, I think I finally got what they were going for. Mandy was the dreamer, and Pete was her loving husband spending all of his money to try and make her dreams come true. Jeff and Kim were the owners of a computer company, Dave was her father, and a rancher who dabbled in raising show horses as Darla was his wife.

No mention of Gem at all in fact. It was just a “local computer company”. Nor the Internet company, but Gem Charter did get a mention. All in all, it was downplaying the hell out of the family company. And I was mentioned, and that I was attending college in LA so I could become a lawyer.

We each used the bathroom and got more to drink, then watched the second episode. This was them unloading the plane, moving it to the hangar, and the first inspections. Including a lot of the damage, including that during shipping and had not realized until they could look closer. And part of it was the rot discovered much later.

And I realized that the way Jack was cutting in the music. As they were using a crane to load the plane on and off the ship as well as it passing through the Panama Canal a soft rendition of Danni singing in French really making it poignant.

He then showed me his rough cut of the third episode, which included me being introduced as Pete’s younger brother in addition to being a pilot myself. And this time going a bit more into the actual teardown of the plane and the first steps in acquiring what would be used to reassemble it.

And in the end, Jack told me it would be between six and ten episodes, depending on who wanted to buy it and how many they wanted. “Right now, the top offer is for ten. But we may do a shorter six episode run for syndication to other stations. And some overseas are interested also, so this should do really well.”

And even I was impressed. And I had to admit, I was liking the characters they all were portraying. Even I was given a bit of a character, a young kid just learning, and flying an antique biplane as a way to get my foot in the door. No mention that it was actually fairly modern, and owned by Pavel, and I asked Jack about that.

“Oh, that ended up on the cutting room floor. We actually shot some footage with Pavel, and some more of the plane with that Russian guy. But once Pavel got arrested we scrapped all of that.”

The next morning I tossed my bag into the truck, then when the crew arrived we all headed to the airport. I saw Deborah and another get the cameras ready, and as everybody was getting in place Jack got a call saying they were five minutes out.

I saw the DC-3 land, and after it taxied up to the location indicated I saw Pete and Mandy were at the controls. I was in my pilot’s outfit, so I went ahead and rushed over to chock the tires, then open the hatch as the engines were shut down. And they were not kidding, the entire clan was here!

Dave got out first, still in that silly wig and frowning. Jeff actually pressed his palms together briefly as if in prayer before helping out Kim and the kids. I immediately saw Grace was in a really pretty pink dress. I even appreciated how the wind pressed it against her body, making her look even more sexy with it accentuating her breasts and hips. And finally everybody was out, and shaking hands and hugging Jack and the owners of the company doing the work.

And we all stood in front of the giant hangar doors, and were ordered to turn away from them. I could hear the doors being opened, and one cameraman to the side to catch us and the hangar, Deborah stationed to catch our faces, then moving so she could see us turn around.

And on a count of three, we all turned around. And it was beautiful! It was shining aluminum, and looked like it was brand new. And we all jumped as the two motors roared to life, and started sharing hugs as it slowly moved out of the hangar.

And I saw in the cockpit Harve and Tina were behind the controls. Both of them waved to us, and most of us waved back. All in all, it was rather impressive. They turned it slightly, so we could see the distinctive twin tail at the rear. Then we all stood around as they took Pete and Mandy in for a tour of the interior.

I went up to Grace and asked her what she thought. She just looked at me, and said it looked fine. So obviously she was still pissed at me, even though I had no idea why. About twenty minutes later they were interviewing Pete and Mandy next to it, and I went in to take a look.

And it looked amazing. The covers were over all the modern avionics, so it did look like the photos of one when it was new. The pilot and co-pilot chairs were upholstered in tan leather, and everything looked brand new. All in all, they had done an amazing job. And an official with the FAA was there to hand over a certificate saying it was airworthy, and after some more talking Pete, Mandy, Harve and Tina all climbed inside with Deborah. And shortly afterwards they were taking off.

They were only gone about ten minutes, and when they returned we all headed inside where a big buffet was set up. And I even saw the actor who was doing the narration was there. I was actually a bit awed when I went and talked to him, as he was tall and distinguished looking. But he grinned when I introduced myself, and he told me to call him Mike. And after talking for a few minutes it was obvious he was an airplane enthusiast, and looking forward to getting a chance to fly it himself. And that his acting had allowed him to buy several airplanes, including an old fighter jet.

Finally in the afternoon we all got in, and with Harve flying and Mandy as co-pilot, we all took a ride ourselves. We flew up the coast almost to Irvine before turning around and heading back. Then they got shots of us all getting off of the plane, and saying how wonderful it was to be flying in a piece of history. Shortly after that, Jack said that was a wrap for the day, and he would see us all tomorrow. Everybody headed to cars, and I followed a caravan to a house Pete and Mandy had rented.

It was not much smaller than the Big House, with six bedrooms. Pete offered to put me up with the kids, but I elected to just sleep on the couch. We sat in the living room on the second floor talking for a couple of hours, then Kim and Mandy went to put the kids to bed. And after they left, I saw Grace head out into the patio. So seeing my chance, I followed her out.