Chapter 8

Jack Daniels’ turn:

It’s been a little over three weeks of dual instruction, some in the little Cessna 150, some in that big, historical Stearman biplane, and today Cindy told me to wear an old shirt this afternoon. I’m pretty sure I know what’s going to happen.

Yup, a couple of turns around the patch, some touch-and-goes, and Cindy said, “Jack, full stop this time, and take me back to the hangar.” We got there and she said, “Leave it running while I get out, and then I want you to do three touch-and-goes, then back here for full stop. Since I weigh about a hundred twelve pounds, you’ll get faster climb rates and slower stall on landing.”

She took off her headset, popped her seat harness, and exited the bird, waving at me and walking back to the hangar.

Couldn’t help but grin, and then the reality set in: It’s all me. No Cindy to recover this bird if I screw it up. Then I thought: “Mandy can do this, even if she can’t solo. If SHE can do it...” I know for a fact that when Mandy turns sixteen, she can legally get a student license and solo an airplane. You wanna know what ELSE she can do when she’s sixteen?!?

Yes, the thought makes my mind drift. Back to the task at hand.

A UNICOM call to “3Sigma traffic”, and we’re off. She’s right about the changes in climb rates and stall speeds. First “touch” was a little bumpy, second was better, the third was nearly perfect, and glancing over at the hangar, a small crowd is forming.

One more circuit, then full stop and taxi to the hangar. I shut it down, stepped out, retrieved my logbook, and started walking toward Cindy. I got interrupted by Cindy’s “twin”, who jumped up and planted a big kiss squarely on my mouth. That’s good in one way, but it’s also a way for me to go to jail. Thankfully, THIS bunch just think it’s funny.

OK, lots of hoots and jeers, and a big chunk of my shirt tail got cut off -- I’m told it’s gonna be framed. But Cindy signed my logbook, and sent me out for an hour. Two or three generations ago this ol’ trainer and I would be one of thousands prepping to go off to war. That’s something to muse over as I slid in for my final landing, hearing the wind whistling in the lattice of the flying wires between the wings.

Upon my return, only Mandy was waiting. She gave me another big kiss, told me, “Jack, let’s get this bird refueled, and let’s put it back in the hangar. We can go get some juice over at the Pavilion while the engine cools, then we need to come back here.”

I raised an eyebrow, but before I could speak she said, “I looked at the Hobbs. Fifty hours. It’s time for an oil and filter change. Guess who gets to do that?”

I said, “I dunno, but maybe we can ask Cindy.”

Mandy looked at me with no smile. She said, “Jack, down there on the ends of your arms, you have hands. If you fly it, you maintain it. Same for me. Between us, we have four hands. It’s not that hard, just a little messy. I’ll show you -- probably your first time, but I won’t abuse you very much. Not this time, anyway.”

Charles Peebles’ turn:

When you get a few years on you, you begin to review the changes in your life. The things you’ve done, the things you didn’t do.

Sitting here at the breakfast table, sipping at a second cup of coffee (shouldn’t -- it’ll make me pee at least twice) and talking to Helen. I said, “Helen, have you given much thought to the things we’ve done in our lives?”

She smiled and said, “Yes, love, and Charlie, we made several mistakes, probably normal for our ages and for the times. But we did a few GOOD things, too. Cindy comes to mind. Sometimes, though, I wonder if she’s not crazy.”

I chuckled, and said, “Good point, Helen. But I think the word is “eccentric”. Several years ago I heard a guy say that the difference between “crazy” and “eccentric” is about a million in the bank. I don’t know how much money she has, but I’ll bet it’s quite a bit more than a million.”

“I don’t actually know, and I’m scared to ask. But I do know that a couple of years ago she bought a plane up in Colorado. Something over three million. They wound up financing it thru a bank, but she was ready to just write ‘em a check. That bunch up there doesn’t even blink when she makes an offer. Worse, though, that plane -- she’s been making money off of it.”

Helen said, “I’ll bet Dan Richards had no idea what he was marrying. Poor guy. Well, NOT so poor, actually.”

I said, “Yes, ma’am. At this point, I think he just stands back, shakes his head, and cries all the way to the bank.”

Bill Carmody’s turn:

Late afternoon, and guess who just stepped into my office? Yup. ‘Jack’ Daniels, with a perplexed look on his face, and a civilian shirt with a big chunk cut out of the back-side. I really need to call him by his real name – Jeremy – but Jack has kind of stuck. Sometimes nicknames are like that.

I laughed, but he didn’t. He said, “Bill, I have a problem, and her name is Mandy. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about her, would you?”

I laughed again, and he said, “I soloed the Stearman today, and then Mandy made me learn how to change the oil and filter in it. Bill, she’s smarter than me, and she kissed me twice, in front of a bunch of girls who thought it was hilarious. Do you think they’re all crazy?”

I said, “Jack, they’re absolutely crazy, all of ‘em. But I have to confess that they’re crazy enough to make a shit-load of money outa their insanity. And if Mandy kissed you twice, in front of all of ‘em, I’m pretty sure she’s decided to keep you.”

I took a deep breath. “I’m gonna tell you a secret -- something I’ve don’t tell a lot of people, but you need to know it.”

“Before there was a Mandy, there was Angie -- Mandy’s mom. Angie looked just like Mandy, and I met her down at Gulf Shores. First time I saw her was like getting hit in the head with a hammer. I fell. I seriously wanted to marry her, but she ran me off. I didn’t know why, but I later found out that it was about drugs. Anyway, Mandy was born out of all that, and I’m lucky to have found her.”

“Jack, when Angie dumped me, I was heart-broken for several years. But it got worse. Mandy looks just like Angie did, and when Dan Richards showed up at a job-site with Cindy, I nearly had a heart attack. I didn’t think there could be more than one of ‘em, and now there are TWO more, or maybe three, if Leesie turns out like them.”

“Jeremy, I think Mandy’s a lot more sane than her mom. You two will do good together.”

Connie Simmon’s turn:

Not hoarding, just “saving”. Got a plate of Cindy’s cookies here, and Lee is coming for tea. Hmmph. Lapsang something-or-other. This place is weird, but the tea? And the cookies? I never knew about any of this stuff, until I got here.

Greeting her I said, “Good morning, Lee. I just finished brewing some of that Lapsang stuff. Where did you get it?”

She smiled and said, “And good morning to you, Connie. About the tea, it comes from Cindy’s Grandma Desai. She sent us to a place in Mobile. I can’t actually pronounce their name, but their spices and teas are really good. Do I spy a plate of cookies?”

I said, “Cindy got ambitious last night. Mandy brought these over, and I thought we might enjoy them. It’s peculiar -- I know they’re going to be good, but I’m a little scared of them. They’re almost TOO good, but so is Cindy, and Mandy, of course.”

Lee said, “Connie, I brought a book for us to review. There’s this guy, Charles Goren, and he wrote several books about bridge. This one is about “The Play of The Hand”, and he goes into topics about card distribution.”

I said, “Thanks, Lee. You know, I was wondering about that. Mandy was showing me something about it yesterday, Pascal-triangle-something. I didn’t understand it but she said it would show how the cards would fall.”

Lee smiled and said, “There’s another phrase, but I don’t understand it either. Dana said “binomial distribution”, I think it was. She started talking about it and writing on a scrap of paper. After a few seconds, I couldn’t understand the math. Kids. What can you do?”

I said, “Lee, I hear that Dana got her Doctorate. Amazing for a girl that’s not quite nineteen years old, and you MUST be very proud!”

Lee said, “True, Connie, but Dana is a little miffed about it. She says that they were more interested in her football skills than her academic research. She was p ... umm, annoyed, you might say.”

I said, “Lee, she walked out onto a football field where she shouldn’t have been. She got a Doctorate before she was nineteen. Amazing kid, and she’s dragging Mandy along, too.”

Lee said, “Connie, I’ve been thinking. Those kids -- they jump into the world and think they can do things that they’re too young to do. But they don’t know that, and they don’t care, either -- they just do it anyway. Making robots, flying aircraft, getting doctorates, all that. But have you noticed a common factor?”

I shook my head negatively, and Lee held up a cookie and looked at me.

I said, “You think -- Cindy?” Lee smiled and nodded.

She said, “Connie, I don’t really understand it, but Cindy does things nobody would think of, and the others watch her. They think something like: “If SHE can do it, I can do it.” There’s something in her that doesn’t recognize barriers. She thinks barriers are just annoying, so she simply goes ahead and does whatever she wants to do.”