Andrea Donovan Pt. 09

" - Oh, hello, would you like to watch the video too?" Ebbie asked as Wolfie jumped up onto the computer table, next to her.

"Don't try to pet him, Ebbie, Wolfie's feral and we're still people-training him" Andrea quickly warned.

"Wolfie doesn't look that dangerous to me and he's such a handsome lad" Ebbie said as she made a kissing sound directed at the cat.

Ebbie could do no wrong now with Wolfie, I nodded to myself, she had a friend for life...

"May I film this for posterity's sake, Ebbie?" Brenda asked as she held up her camera.

"Oh sure, go ahead Brenda" Ebbie answered, quickly glancing up from Wolfie.

...Ebbie now began to analyze the video with a deep concentration. "She's very happy and excited about something. She's also talking to several people in the crowd all at once; most of them are talking about cars, motors and stuff."

Ebbie began hesitantly repeating what Mom was saying in the old silent footage.

"I think she uses some profanity, do you want me to -blank that part out?" Ebbie asked as she looked up at all of us.

"No, Ebbie, all of us loved her and nothing will ever change any of that. We want to know what she was really saying." I answered for all of us.

"OK, I think I'm tuned into her now, we'll see how far we get" Ebbie nodded as she began to read Mom's lips within the old footage.

"Hey, Hi, it's meee - I'm in the movies now and I'm better looking than Mildred Mayfield was, just ask Rick. ...It's 'bout time you guys got back, I tried calling but the damn phones are dead in this stupid town again. ...Did you like Six Flags? Oh yeah we... - Yup, I skipped again; Doc Feldman said it was for real this time, number two's on the way! Yeah that's what Elsie says too ...No she's still fuckin' that guy Don, I guess. They should be here in a few minutes with beer... I don't look good in orange... Elsie's better looking than me but I've got bigger tits than her and ...What? ...That's what Rick says... You can get'em at Piggly Wiggly and - well If it's a boy we'll name him Ricky and if it's a girl she'll be Annette - I called Mom and Dad last night and they're ...I know what you mean, it's like what the fuck, did your dog just piss on the carpet, lady? I wouldn't feel safe in a room with her or her fuckin' dog. Did you see how red the clerk's face got when... -The Plymouth's generator blew up on the last run but Rick says he'll have it going again by noon when he races against Tommy Wilder, what? I know... she already told me. - No, Rick will only be frontline for a few months during this next tour, to train guys on the Huey, then he'll be Stateside for the rest of his enlistment, yeah no shit. ...Mom doesn't like any of my tattoos but Rick thinks... - No the Plymouth's generator blew up on his last run with Simon Jackson but Rick still won by one and half seconds. Yeah I've driven it before but the clutch is too hard for me to push and..."

"Mom had tattoos?" I asked looking up at Ricky incredulously. Brenda suddenly averted my eyes, I now noticed...

"I didn't know that, Tim, I thought me and Brenda were the only ones with tattoos" Ricky answered quietly, seemingly unfazed by the revelation.

...Ebbie replayed the next part of the footage several times in silence and then said "She's talking too fast and her head is turned away part of the time, I can't tell what she said before she swigs the beer bottle but after she finishes drinking beer and kisses the man, Rick, he then says - When I come back from this tour I'll marry this chick, you just watch!"

"Holy fuck, he was going to marry her..." I suddenly gasped with emotion.

Brenda squeezed my shoulder, reassuringly.

"You OK, Tim? Want to take a break or do this another time?" Ebbie asked gently and looking over at me.

"No, ...I'm OK, Ebbie" I nodded with my eyes closed.

"What does the young girl say, who's feeding the dog by the hotdog stand, at the beginning, Ebbie?" Andrea asked.

Ebbie scrubbed the video back toward the beginning and found the girl with the dog and began trying to interpret the girl's words.

"She saying - Rick says we shouldn't feed Ringo people-food but Mom and I always do..." Ebbie answered.

"...Must be Rick's sister, I wonder if she's still alive or if Asia knows her?" I asked out loud.

"She does look like she could be a younger sister to Rick, she'd have to be pushing close to seventy by now" Andrea answered, studying the girl.

"Honey, do you understand this? This movie was taken in nineteen sixty six when Mom had just discovered that she was carrying you, that's why she's so happy" Brenda explained, looking up at Ricky.

"I was alive but not born yet and it was a really long time ago at some racetrack. Rick was my and Tim's real Dad." Ricky answered.

"Yes, exactly!" Brenda nodded as she continued filming Ebbie and put her left arm around Ricky.

"...But then he died" Ricky said, staring at the frozen image of the girl with the dog named Ringo...

We had all seen the still photographs of Ringo in the pile of photos discovered in Mom's garden a few years prior but none of us had known the dog's name until this very moment with Ebbie's lip-reading abilities. In a way, this sudden revelation was both enlightening for us yet chillingly spooky somehow. Ringo had been Rick Sheffield's dog and all of it suddenly seemed incredibly personal all of a sudden...

I stood up and put my own arm around my little brother and said nothing.

"I'll study this video some more, periodically, in my spare time and maybe I can come up with more of what's actually being said. May I show this footage to some of my colleagues?" Ebbie asked, standing now.

"Absolutely, and thank you for your time and effort thus far, Ebbie!" I answered for all of us.

All four of us took turns hugging Ebbie. "You're a beautiful spirit, lady" I said when it was my turn to hug her.

"This made Ebbie gasp, she then wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Thank you" she said quietly.

I nodded to Ebbie without speaking any further. Strong emotion had suddenly descended upon me with Mom's video footage and the actual comprehension of her words, at last.

"Mom would have loved you, Ebbie" Brenda said.

"(sigh) wow ...I get some very strong and positive vibes just watching her in that clip, Brenda" Ebbie replied quietly.

"You would have loved Mom" Ricky said, looking at Ebbie.

"C'mon, you guys, there's a party outside and it's sunny, LET'S GO! - You too Wolfie, Stormy and Yogi are already outside and working the crowd for yummy treats" I commanded.

Wolfie jumped down now and followed all of us back out the door and into the sunshine.

"...Tim, that was heavy just now ...you OK?" Andrea asked me as she and I sat down alone at one of the vacant picnic tables amongst the throng of chattering people all about us.

"...Yeah, just bowed over a little bit. I'll be OK in a minute, Honey. Ebbie sure brought Mom back to life for me, wow" I answered closing my eyes and leaning my head back as I took a deep breath and thought of Mom as a young girl within the old footage.

Andrea took my hand and we said nothing more. Ricky's stereo from within the old battered Ford suddenly blared to life with the song "Ride With Me" by Steppenwolf.

"My God yes, that's what this party needed, some real live honest to God Hippie music" I said, already feeling better as I glanced at the old truck's open doors and rolled down windows.

Looking around me now, I found my water jug and guzzled a whole quart of enzyme-rich water all within one single swig. I then set down the water jug and suddenly reached over and lifted Andrea onto my lap with one fluid motion and pulled her close to me as I threw a lip-lock on her now with the pulsating music coursing through us both - I suddenly felt reckless and compulsively decided to make this open advance on my wife in front of God and everybody.

"OH MY! Feel better now, cowboy?" Andrea asked, looking me in the eye as we broke apart.

"You don't own a yacht or a liquor store, Andrea Millhouse, but you'll do. I said evenly and holding eye contact with her.

"My name isn't Andrea Millhouse" she said just as evenly and looking me in the eye.

A small red rubber ball suddenly bounced off my shoulder and landed close to the picnic table beside us. Yogi, somewhat out of breath, now ran up and retrieved the ball and then hurriedly ran back towards the throng of young kids a few dozen yards away.

"Life doesn't get any better than this, does it, Honey?" I asked, closing my eyes and burying my face under Andrea's chin.

"I love you" she said quietly.

"I know" I answered her.

As Andrea sat in my lap we both remained quiet for several minutes, soaking up each other's energy within our bold and public display of affection while I reveled within the fragrance of Andrea's jasmine scented clothes. ...Ebbie's revelations of Mom's gregarious and rambling dialogue within the decades old video and then Ricky's stoic comment of "...But then he died" had somehow deeply rattled me and thrown me into a temporary disorientation for the last few minutes. Ricky had never met Rick Sheffield and I only vaguely remembered the man from when I'd been an infant.

Rick Sheffield hadn't lived long enough to fulfill his promise of marriage to Mom and my little brother had never met his ...Dad.

...Mom's extroverted line of "I'm in the movies now and I'm better looking than Mildred Mayfield was" now seemed to jump out at me for some reason...

Mom could easily have been a movie star, she'd been gorgeous. ...God, I missed her so much.

I closed my eyes, deep in thought, and massaged my face for several seconds. My thoughts and emotions were all over the map right now and nothing seemed to make any logical sense to me. I took another deep breath and slowly opened my eyes again as I now noticed Mary Lane directly in my line of vision while she stood by Pippi Longstocking and talked with Vic, Hans and some other guy that I didn't know.

"...Andrea ...Mary Lane looks like Mildred Mayfield" I said, staring at the girl.

"Mmm, yeah, kinda" Andrea replied half heartedly as she quickly glanced in Mary's direction.

"No, really, she does" I insisted.

"Tim, the only reason you're thinking that way is because Lovey mentioned Mildred Mayfield in the video clip and also because we just found Belle of Autumn in the second safe a few days ago. I've known make-up artists that could make any woman, here at this party; appear similar to Mildred Mayfield or any other famous actress. That's what make-up artists do and every girl secretly wants to look like a movie star, your observation is just a coincidence" Andrea said dismissively.

"...Yeah, probably" I said, quickly dismissing the thought.

My mind shifted again as I thought of Andrea's modeling portfolio inside the drawer by our bed now.

"Personally, I've always wanted to have a roll in the hay with A.J. West" I said slipping my fingers beneath Andrea's belt line slightly and out of view from everyone close by us.

"JESUS, you're a horny little fucker all of a sudden!" Andrea gushed, looking me in the eye and roughly pulling my hand out from under her belt.

"No one would notice if we slipped into the bedroom for a half hour or so" I said, completely turned on now.

"No, you'll have to wait until after everyone leaves. We need to be good hosts for these people, they're our friends and neighbors, Tim" Andrea said with finality.

I ran my hand firmly over Andrea's curved bottom and urged her with a sincere "C'mon, girl, no one will ever know!"

"That's it cowboy, your lap-dance privileges have just been suspended for now! You need to go talk about cars or something with Ricky - go talk to Hans about trucks and cool off a little now" Andrea said as she quickly jumped off my lap and stood up.

I swiftly stood up now myself and jerked Andrea close to me as I threw another lip-lock on her.

"I love you" I said looking her deep in the eyes.

"I know, now go-away! - people are starting to stare at us, Tim!" she said pushing me from her.

"You're blushing, woman" I said as I tried to steal another kiss.

"Go take a cold shower, cowboy!" Andrea said with her eyes closed and trying not to smile.

"Everything under control here, Tim?" Ricky asked as he walked by us, beer in hand.

"Getting close, Ricky" I said nodding.

"Might be a steak burger left on the grille yet, if you're lucky, Tim" Ricky said as he kept walking.

"Luck's got nothing to do with it, Brother" I said eyeing Andrea.

Born To Be Wild suddenly began playing loudly now as I grabbed Andrea's hand and drug her reluctantly to the center of the coral. I began dancing seductively close to her and wouldn't give her ample room to retreat; with mixed feelings and hesitation Andrea began to dance wildly now herself as she quickly started to fall into the wild rhythm of music.

Looking at Andrea now I made a covert insinuation of cunnilingus as I ran my tongue over my lips in a seductive manner, I was really turned on by her now.

"You're about, this close, to opening a door that you're not going to be able to close, once you open it, cowboy" Andrea said seriously over the music as she held up her thumb and index finger, as if showing a minute increment of measurement while she looked me in the eye.

"Game-on, fox" I said eyeing Andrea seriously now, as if seeing her for the first time ever and completely mesmerized by her.

"Please don't push me over the edge, Tim, not yet. We need to be good hosts for our guests. Please wait, OK? - You're making this very hard for me." Andrea said, her cheeks flush with color.

"Dance with me now, woman." I said over the throbbing music and backing off a little out of respect for my wife.

I suddenly noticed that Buddy and Amanda were now also dancing several feet away from us now. Buddy and I nodded to each other with a seemingly male acknowledgement of - yeah Brother, we've damn sure "arrived" with these two, stone cold foxes, haven't we?

Andrea and I danced to several tunes and then walked back toward the picnic table and our water jugs. I now noticed four or five other couples that were also dancing inside the coral now as Andrea and I sat down together. I swilled back another large quantity of water and smiled as I noticed Ebbie and another lady meticulously hand feeding Wolfie portions of steak burger from a few tables away. It suddenly dawned on me that Pippi's house warming party was for all of us, Wolfie included.

Looking over at my wife again I said "Honey, I'm sorry that I came on so strong a few minutes ago, it was extremely rude. You're a lady and it won't happen again."

"Tit for tat, it was just horse play, Tim, and there seems to be a bit of that going on here today" Andrea said as we both glanced up and saw Hans and Mary Lane dancing together to the sounds of Magic Carpet Ride.

"Hey, Tim, you and Andrea looked great out there on the dance floor!" I heard as I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Duffy and her husband, whom I had only met briefly one other time.

I now stood, Duffy and I hugged. I then shook hands with a tall and slender man around forty years of age who Duffy was very pleased to introduce me to as Doug. Andrea and Duffy quickly fell into equestrian conversation and soon went over to where Pippi was standing and began an in depth conversation as they began petting the horse.

"Nice spread you have here, mind if I sit down?" Doug asked.

"Please do, we're so glad the both of you came to the party, Andrea and I are very fond of Duffy" I replied.

"So am I" Doug smiled.

"At least the ladies will be able to ride together now and I know they've both wanted that for a long time." I said, looking toward the ladies.

"Are you a horse guy?" Doug asked.

"No, but I think it's great for Andrea and Duffy" I answered honestly.

"Me too, I'm not a cowboy either but I'm really excited for Duffy and Andrea now. I think Andrea will really enjoy Pippi" Doug mused, looking in the direction of the ladies himself.

"What kind of work are you in, Doug?" I asked.

"I'm mostly a bum now but once in a while I flip houses when I get too bored and Duffy needs to get rid of me for a while - mostly my dealings are here in Casa Grande. Before that I built and maintained bridges for the Highway Department for twenty years" Doug answered.

"I've worked on several construction jobs and watched them build those enormous bridges, those guys really know what they're doing. I've also been present when they've jacked-up and level them out again after the twenty eighteen earthquake in Alaska. ...Andrea wants me to look into real-estate, she flips houses too." I answered.

"I was with a crew that did some of Alaska's post earthquake work in 'eighteen, you guys were very fortunate that quake didn't go on for another thirty seconds otherwise you'd be building new bridges there instead of repairing the older ones" Doug answered with a curt nod.

"That was a nasty quake, I was there. Were you part of the crew that leveled out the Eagle River Bridge, just north of Anchorage?" I asked.

"Oh yes, we were there for a solid month on that bridge! The site engineer on that leveling project was one of the smartest people I've ever met - we never even shut down that bridge either" Doug said proudly.

"I noticed that, I was hauling gravel over it every day, you guys did great work" I said amicably.

I talked cordially with Doug for probably close to half an hour and learned that Duffy was a Native San Diego girl who'd always dreamed of coming to Arizona and becoming a cowgirl. Doug elaborated that the two had met through a mutual friend and shared an interest in outdoors and fitness. They had just seemed naturally attracted to one another and although neither of them had been actively seeking a relationship they had soon found themselves engaging in many social outings together and a serious romance within their courtship had soon developed. Doug said he liked the stability that Duffy brought to his life.

Personally, I found that I liked Doug.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder now. Looking up I saw Hans with his suitcase and another man beside him whom I didn't recognize.

"Sandy's heading for Lake Havasu now and I'm catching a ride with him, Tim. Thanks for having me here, I've really enjoyed my time here on the ranch" Hans said, shaking my hand as I stood.

"Hans, this is Doug - Duffy's husband, Doug, this is Hans a dear friend of the family." I said as I introduced the two men.

"Hello, Doug, pleasure to meet you" Hans said, shaking hands.

"Very sad to see you go after such a short visit, Hans. Please give everyone a warm and cordial hello from the Lazy-G with invitations to visit. All of you are welcome here, you know that, sir" I said as I nodded and then shook Sandy's hand as well.

"Have to see my little cowgirl so she can straighten me out, then I'll be back once I'm all put back together again. She'll be five in a few days!" Hans answered proudly.

"You're living the dream then, my friend, just know that you can always hang your hat here anytime you blow through town, cowboy.

"I'll do that!" Hans replied.

"Andrea and I are so glad you came down to see the ranch" I said.

"I'll be back, Tim, and soon too - take care of your wild stock now young man ...which ever's the wilder of the two" Hans said looking off toward Andrea and Pippi.

"I will" I replied.

A few minutes later Hans and his accomplice were gone.

...I played Frisbee with some of the kids and talked with several of the people in attendance at the party for the next few hours. Ricky's rock and roll continued to spill out from the old battered Ford and a few people were still dancing to the wild nineteen sixties music with the Arizona sun high above us. The sun's warmth felt good to all of us present and I suddenly realized that my face was beginning to ache slightly from smiling so much. ...If someone would have told me, a few years ago, that I'd end up living on a hobby ranch with A.J. West, in Arizona, I would have thought the idea as unlikely as living on the surface of the moon. How did I get here, I wondered? Walking over to the cooler now, I dug up an ice cold Gatorade and noticed Rosita Garcia standing alone by the picnic table.