Chapter 18

My folks picked the four of us up at the airport, and gave us the usual grilling about our vacation. They dropped Beth and me off at the duplex with a promise of more conversation Sunday when we'd all be at Bev and Chuck's for dinner.

We walked into the house and found Ghost waiting at the door. He looked at us, put his nose and tail in the air and walked off, not to be seen for the rest of the night. So much for our welcome home. There's nothing like a cat that feels abandoned, I guess.

We called upstairs to tell Greg and Cindy we were back and—without even unpacking—crashed for the night.

"So how were things in the islands?" Chuck asked when we got to their house on Sunday.

"Great. At least until the cops showed up," Beth answered.

"Cops?" Bev asked.

"Yeah, the local cops stopped by to see if we were a bunch of Spring Breakers bent on wrecking the place. It seems the title for the house still showed it belonging to Matt. At least that's what the cops said. If Bob and Sue Webber hadn't shown up when they did and vouched for us I don't know what would have happened."

"We bought that property and filed all the paperwork a year ago! What's going on with those damned bureaucrats?" Chuck fumed. "No wonder the British Empire fell apart, it was crushed under all the misfiled paper. Looks like I'll have to make some phone calls Monday. I just hope this isn't going to require a trip down there or the Bahamian government may be short one paper-pusher when I'm done!" Chuck was usually such an easy-going guy, this almost scared me.

The rest of the meal consisted of great food and a lot of questions about what else we did on break. Chuck didn't mention the title snafu again, but it was obvious he wasn't happy with the thought of having to tackle a Caribbean bureaucracy.

When we got home I spent the rest of the day going through all the stills and video I'd shot with the GoPro. As I was checking out everything I realized I hadn't taken any pictures with the Nikon. I'd been so intrigued with the little GoPro that my regular workhorse was totally forgotten.

I planned to bring the camera back to Joe on Monday and wanted something to show him so I spent some time working with the video editing software I'd loaded on my computer. I wasn't trying for a polished presentation, just something to show him what a rookie could do with the little camera.

Monday it was back to school, for Beth, Greg, and me. Cindy was taking a quarter off to take care of little John. I found myself grinning, thinking of Robin Hood and his merry band.

Photography this quarter was all about view cameras and I was very happy I'd had a chance to use one when we did the catalog shoot. Studio Lighting Technique was another class I was looking forward to. I secretly hoped my experience, between the catalog work and the commercial stuff I'd already done, would give me a leg up and make it an easy class.

After school I stopped at the photo shop to return the GoPro and all the mounting hardware to Joe.

"Hey, Tommy, lookin' good! Obviously the Caribbean agreed with you."

"Yeah, Joe. Unfortunately the trip wasn't long enough. I did get some use out of the GoPro, though. Have you got a computer handy?" I asked as I pulled a thumb drive out of my pocket.

"Now remember I'm not a videographer. As a matter of fact this is the first time I've shot ANY video, so be gentle."

Joe just chuckled as he plugged the drive into his computer. Five minutes later he looked at me. "Are you sure you've never done this before? I don't know how you got some of those shots, but they're great! How did you get that high angle shot?"

I explained about raising the camera with the sail. What I didn't tell him about was the last part of that shot—the part when the camera was pointing straight down at our topless ladies.

"This stuff looks great. Um, can I make you an offer?"

"Well, sure. What do you have in mind?"

"How about if you put together five or ten minutes on a DVD? I've got an extra player in the back room, and I could set up a flat screen TV and run a continuous loop. It'd be great advertizing. I've had several people look at the GoPro but I don't think they believed such a small, simple looking camera could produce anything worthwhile. Too many memories of the lousy output from the old camcorders, I guess.

"Oh, and if you can do that, you can keep the camera," he added.

Five or ten minutes? I thought back to what I'd transferred from the SD card. "I think I can do that. Let me see what I can come up with."

"Great. Why don't you just keep the camera for now. I trust you."

And so I walked out with the same box of goodies I'd walked in with.

I got home just as Beth was pulling her Jeep into the garage.

"Just the guy I want to see!" she said as she climbed into my Jeep. "So where are you taking me for dinner?"

"Um, I don't know. Are we celebrating something, or are you just trying to cadge a free meal?"

'Yes," was her only reply as she gave me one of her inscrutable looks. I guess that made the choice of restaurants mine. I remembered the little place on the other side of town where I'd taken her that first Saturday night. We hadn't been back there since and it was about time.

When she realized where we were going Beth looked over at me. "Tommy, you remembered!"

"Of course. Remember that first whistle you got?"

"Oh, God, yes. Remember I thought it was for the CAR?" I just chuckled, thinking back to how shy and self-conscious she'd been—totally unready for any attention, let alone whistles from total strangers.

"So, what does this quarter at school look like?" I asked once we'd found a table and ordered.

"Much better than the last one! About the hardest class I've got is Thermodynamics."

"And that's better?" In my book any course with a five-syllable, single-word title had to be a bitch.

"Oh, yeah. It'll be a breeze compared to what I had to put up with in that damned Fluid Dynamics."

About then our food came and we dug in.

Tuesday afternoon was my self defense class. I was all ready to fend off Amanda but she wasn't there. Andy was and couldn't wait to give me his good news.

"Tommy, you wouldn't believe what happened over break! I actually took a girl on a date! She even let me kiss her!" He sounded as if he couldn't believe it had happened. I was going to rib him about his first kiss, but then I thought back to my first experience and just couldn't do it.

"That's great! Are you going to see her again?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, we're in some of the same classes."

"No, I mean are you going to take her out again?"

"Well, she invited me over for dinner on Saturday," he said with a note of trepidation in his voice. "And I have to meet her parents. What should I do?"

I thought back to the first time I'd met Beth's folks but decided telling him what led up to my first meeting probably wouldn't help. The panic I'd felt that Monday morning after our first weekend still gave me shivers. At least Andy was getting some warning.

"You might want to bring some flowers or candy for her mother. Might as well get on their good side right away."

"Shouldn't I bring them for her?" he asked.

"Oh, she'll like them, even if they're not for her directly."

"Well, if you say so..." He didn't sound very convinced.

"Look, you're going to be a guest at their house, right? And her mother is cooking, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess you're right. But why would Nancy—that's her name, Nancy—like that?"

"Because it shows you're thoughtful and civilized enough to be polite to her parents. Besides, if her parents think you're a nice kid they might cut you some slack if they catch you with your hand up her sweater some time."

"Tommy! I wouldn't do anything like that!"

I just looked at him and watched as he turned red.

"Just remember, Andy, whatever you do, don't brag to your friends. That'll turn off Nancy and all HER friends."

"Yeah, but ... Tommy, she said she couldn't wait to tell all her friends about kissing me."

"Andy, girls are different from guys. For one thing, they can't help telling their friends about something like that, but they don't want YOU to say anything to any of your friends. It doesn't have to make sense, that's just the way things work."

When I got home that night I told Beth about our discussion. She just grinned. "You guys sure have problems with us, don't you?"

"Yeah, but it's worth it," I said as I pulled her close and nibbled on her ear.

I was working on the video for Joe when the phone rang. It was Jim Moore.

"Tommy, we've added a chunk on to our building and I was wondering if you'd be willing to take some more aerial shots for us?"

"Sure!" We set up a time for Saturday when the building would be pretty much empty. The weather was supposed to be good, so we'd see. Oh, boy! A chance to fly in a helicopter again!

Saturday I met Jim at the local airport. Along with the Nikon I'd brought the GoPro. I had an idea for some more video, if I could convince Jim to let me fasten the camera to his baby.

I showed him the GoPro and the mount that I thought would work to fasten it to the brace for one of the skids.

"Looks like it will work to me," he replied. "You want to attach it now or wait until we get there?"

"Well, I was thinking now just to get some general aerial stuff as we flew out."

"Okay, let's do it!"

After we were in the air Jim chuckled, "Tommy, you've got that amazed look on your face again. It never gets old, does it." Not a question, a statement of an obvious truth—flying like this was a blast!

"You're right about that! Where are we going? This isn't the way to your shop."

"Welll ... I thought we'd take a little detour. You mentioned how much your grandparents liked the picture you took of their old farm and I thought you might want to surprise them with some video. Okay?"

"You bet!" It wasn't until later that I caught his mistake in referring to Hank and Joan as MY grandparents. I guess I'd already started thinking of them that way and didn't catch his goof right away.

When we got to the farm Jim circled around the property a couple of times, being sure to catch the pond and the location where the house and barn used to stand. On the ground it was difficult to see where the buildings had been, but from the air the foundation outlines were obvious.

From the farm it was only a few minutes flight to our original destination. I was fascinated at how Jim could circle the building while keeping the nose of the chopper pointed directly at it. After a couple of circuits Jim landed in the almost-empty parking lot. I dismounted the GoPro as he took the door off the helicopter.

I stashed the GoPro in my camera bag, pulled out the Nikon, and started taking some exterior pictures.

"Okay, Tommy, let's go!" Jim hollered. It didn't take too long to get the aerial shots he thought he wanted. Back on the ground he took me for a tour of the new addition, pointing out special features.

As we neared the airport on the flight back Jim looked at me. "Ready for another flying lesson?" he asked me with a grin.

"You bet!" I responded. Another chance to fly a helicopter? Let me at it!

"Let's see what you remember. Ready?" He watched as I put my hands and feet on the controls. I looked at him and nodded. He took his hands off the controls and the bird was mine! Flying might not be as good as sex, but, damn, it was close!