Chapter 70

On Saturday morning I got to the airport early, flight case and overnight bag in hand. I grabbed the weather report and was reading through it when Harve arrived. I gave him a briefing on the weather, as it was expected to be clear most of the way up with high cloud cover over Seattle.

I pulled out my Jeppesen Charts for the route, and he pointed out some things to expect. Like once we hit Portland to expect some gusty winds from the west through the Columbia Gorge area. “We’ll be high enough that should not be an issue, but sometimes the winds do drift up to higher altitudes. Should not be a problem, but it is something you should always be prepared for as we will be flying perpendicular to the wind direction.”

I actually gave him a bit of a look at that, as he almost sounded like a teacher or professor. I don’t think I ever really heard somebody use “perpendicular” outside of a classroom. Then again, he was a military professional so maybe they just spoke that way.

He had me do the pre-flight inspection, then warm up the engines before shutting down. Then I supervised fueling the plane and making all the notations as he went over the passenger compartment and wiped everything down. I had just returned from a final bathroom trip when the passengers arrived. All of them had on Seattle Supersonic jerseys, so now I knew what they were flying up for.

There were six of them, five guys and a gal. But they did not look like celebrities or anything like that, as the guys were all in pleated slacks and what looked like polo shirts under the jerseys. And the gal was dressed much the same way, all of them in their forties or older.

Once we were settled inside I gave the typical pre-flight briefing as Harve warmed up the plane. Then he nodded to me and told me to take over. And I called the tower, and soon got clearance and taxied to the runway. And after getting clearance from the tower and a final nod from Harve I took off.

I asked him who was in the back, and he said it was a bunch of executives from Boeing. “I know this group, they charter us fairly regularly actually. A couple of times a year we fly them up for Mariners or Seahawks games. And they already laid on a charter for the opening season game for the Seahawks next season for the Gooney. Their clenching the division this year seems to have raised interest among some that work there at seeing their home team again.”

The flight up was mostly as he said. We did not have to make any stops, and while the winds through the gorge were strong at low altitudes, it was not an issue at all over 20,000 feet. And once we landed, I was filling out the paperwork and working on the inspection as Harve helped everybody get off and grab their baggage.

I finished all of forms and inspection, and after Harve helped me tie her down we grabbed our bags and headed to the terminal. Once inside he pointed to the front, and once we were in a cab he handed $250. “There, that’s half the tips for the flight up.” I thanked him, and asked what there was to do here. “Oh, on an overnight like this, don’t bother. There actually is a pretty good nightlife in town, and if we were here for a weekend I would have had Pete get us a car and show you around. But we gotta be back at the airport early, so no reason to. But next year, we can always use a third for the Gooney. Expect to work mostly as a flight attendant, but that is already a Thursday through Tuesday charter reserved. If you work that, you’ll have plenty of time to see the town.”

When we arrived, I was a bit surprised when we shared a suite. But it had been a long flight, so after a shower I headed down and got dinner. And after a single beer headed back up to the room. Harve told me my landing had improved, and to remember that it would feel like I was almost putting the plane through the runway before it was down because of the high wings.

I asked him when I could get certified in the Commander, and he actually smiled at me. “George, I guess nobody told you. This is your certification flight. Now I would prefer you fly with a more experienced pilot for a while, but when we get back to Van Nuys I’m signing off on you.”

I thanked him, and asked about the flight scheduled for Easter. “Oh, that’s still being worked out. But right now, it looks like you and I are flying up there. But I already have a flight scheduled when it’s time for them to return, but Mandy’s already planning on using the 441 if the Commander’s not available.”

I whistled at that, as that was really the hottest plane in the fleet. Of all of their planes now, that and the Bonanza were as often as not the personal planes for Pete and Mandy. But like all the others even those were pained in Gem Charter livery and available for charters.

The next morning we had just finished prepping the plane when a limo drove up. And I saw our passengers had quite a bit of celebration the night before, and I helped with the bags as they all climbed in. I think half were passed out before we even took off.

And when we got back, Harve gave me another $250 when we finished securing everything. “George, you did a lot better with that landing. A few dozen more, and I might be comfortable with you taking the Commander up on your own.” I laughed and shook his hand, and when we got to the terminal he got us both some coffee and once in the lounge pulled out a folder. And after making some notes and signing other things, had me sign them.

“There, I’ll send off a copy to Mandy when I get home, the others are for the FAA, insurance, one for the baker, one for the piper, one for the fiddlers three.” And he handed me a copy, so now I was certified for their first real commercial aircraft.

I shook his hand again, then gave him a hug and thanked him. And after I got home I almost wished I had some pot, as that would be an awesome way to relax. But then I reminded myself that this is exactly why I had stopped, so pulled out a beer instead.

And I was actually looking forward to Friday Night after a long week of school. Linda had asked me to go to the game early, and when I arrived and the receptionist called she simply waved at me and told me to go on up.

I could not see any filming going on, but there was something being done in a back corner out of sight. And when I got up the stairs, I saw Keith, Rad, Rocco, Sherry, and Linda there. After they greeted me, Rad told me he liked both my song and the revisions I’d done to the lyrics.

“OK, in two weeks, we’re going to have a session at my studio. I’ll have final lyrics finished by then, and I want you there for the recording, George. Keith and I’ve made a few more changes, it’s nothing major though.”

He handed me a lyric sheet and I read through it. And while not major, he changed it into a duet. And I nodded, smiling at him and saying “OK, so like ‘Three’s Company’. A duet, I guess that makes sense. As it is not only about the girls owning the building, but Ron and his roommates.”

“Yep, exactly. And Dani’s doing the vocals. Her voice is actually perfect, as soon as Rocco here handed this off to me I knew I wanted her voice even if she was not in it.”

“I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical at first” Rocco said. “Not only about you but Dani singing. She’s often singing when she’s just doing things around the set, but we all do that. But Rad played for me some of the work you all did, and it’s impressive. Rad and Keith here say they can handle the rest of the music as needed, but you did ask to be part of the theme, and you are.”

I smiled and read through the lyrics again, and when Linda asked what I thought, I said they were great. “Linda, you know a lot of what I had thrown in were just placeholder lyrics. Kinda like when Paul McCartney called a song he wrote ‘Scrambled Eggs’.” I heard both Rad and Keith laughing, but everybody else just looked at me like I had rocks falling out of my ears.

“What, you don’t know about that? He had this little piano number running through his head for ages, and started throwing in lyrics that went with the music. Come on, you all know how it goes.”

And even though I was singing to the tune of “Yesterday”, I was actually singing “Scrambled eggs, oh my baby how I love your legs. Not as much as I love scrambled eggs, oh we should eat those scrambled eggs.”

Rocco, Sherry, and Linda were all laughing out loud, and Keith and Rad were actually humming background. Sherry looked at me, and said I had to be joking.

“Actually Sherry, he’s not” Keith said. “That’s really something a lot of us do when we’re writing a song. Now sometimes we write the lyrics first, and then find the music to set them to. But sometimes, we come up with the music first, then have to find lyrics that go with them. And that is actually legendary among us musicians. That the original lyrics for ‘Yesterday’ was actually ‘Scrambled Eggs’.” He then sang both of them, and it was clear that the two sounded almost the same.

“I know that trick, Rad knows that trick. And when I read the lyrics, I saw that George knew it and did the same thing. He simply threw in some lines that fit the music, but not necessarily the story the song was going to describe. George, you don’t mind, do you?”

I laughed and shook my head. “Nope, because that’s exactly right. Those lyrics were to set the story and tone, based on what I knew at the time. And most of them were placeholders and nothing more. But are you really keeping in the line about Dani wanting a boyfriend with a huge cock?”

Linda and Sherry both giggled at that, and Rocco actually slapped the table. “George, a few days ago we had a meeting about that, and when Dani read the first revision, she actually got mad. She wanted that line put back in!”

“Yep, Keith and I removed it in our second or third draft, as we thought it might be demeaning to her. Neither of us knowing she actually liked the line and wanted it left in. This is now the fifth draft, and I think it’s good enough to record.”

Rad left shortly after, and then it turned into more of a pre-production meeting. Where Linda gave us the outline of the script, and the next two episodes. Then Sherry took over, and said how they were going to work it.

“We start shooting next week. We’re going to shoot all of the sex scenes and scenes we will do off the stage beforehand. And leave for the end the stuff we can do in front of the live audience. Then when we do the taping, we’re going to show on monitors in the studio the opening, the theme, and the sex scenes. That way we can actually record the audience reaction live and incorporate that into the final cut. Then we record the scenes on stage, and in editing make it seem like the entire thing was performed in front of an audience.”

I actually whistled, as that was both impressive and ambitious. And when I asked if they had decided to ditch the canned laughter, Rocco nodded. “That’s actually Sherry’s idea, and I love it. It will mean more work for me and the editing crew, as we have to at least have a rough cut in time for the live presentation. And this first one will be a tad rushed, but after that we will have almost a month between them to get all the other footage done and edited. Keith’s going to be on set as the music coordinator, and working on scoring we will need during the shoot.”

He nodded at me, and asked if I wanted to assist him. I politely turned him down, saying I just did not have time. “Now after I graduate I can help out, but not with my class load. I plan on being there for the taping, but that’s about it I think.”

Linda reached out and took my hand, and said that would not be it if she had anything to do with it. “George, I actually already have you penciled in for a part in a few months.”

I jerked back at that, looking at her in shock. “Aunt Linda, you know I can’t be seen in this!”

But she laughed, and Sherry reached over and took my other hand. “George, don’t worry, you’re safe. Linda and I already discussed it, its part of a storyline she and I made up together.”

Linda smiled at her and nodded, then turned back to me. “George, it’s going to be for the Mardi Gras episode. That’s filming in March, for broadcast in April. In short, I have you down as the DJ. You’ll be dressed as a mummer, with a full face mask. All you gotta do is be a DJ. There’s going to be a huge party we will film on a closed set that night. And that’s mostly what it’s going to be, a party. Well, one where an orgy will break out but your only role is as a DJ.”

Keith and Rocco both told me they would get me a collection of public domain songs, library music, and songs that Rocco had the rights to for me to play. “That way in case some of it gets used in the audio, we’re free and clear. Just show up, play DJ for a few hours, and I guarantee you at least two thousand dollars. With bumps, depending on how it goes.”

“Bumps? What’s a bump?”

Sherry then explained to me it was a show business term. “In short, things that get you paid more for as a background performer. Smoking, late night, getting a speaking line, doing something slightly dangerous, providing your own wardrobe or props, those are called ‘bumps’. Say we were shooting a war movie and as part of the work fake explosions were going off, that’s a bump and extra pay. If it’s a bar scene and you are smoking, that’s a bump. If it’s a period piece and you are playing a soldier and have your own period costume and weapons, that’s a big bump. At the end of the shoot we will add it all up, and it’s a ‘bump in pay’ that you will be getting.”

I thought that over a moment, then nodded and squeezed Linda’s hand. “Aunt Linda, you’re still pretty much my agent. If you say to do it, I’ll do it. But you also know my requirements, I must never ever be recognized as myself. That’s the only reason I did that one before. But if it’s like you all say, I’ll do it.”