Andrea Donovan Pt. 09

"Rosita, thanks for coming to the party, we're so glad that you and Indio are both here" I said cordially.

"Oh yes, it is very good to be here, Tim, and we love the girl Pippi Longstocking, she is beautiful!" Rosita said, looking off in the direction of the horse and smiling.

"Yes, we are very fortunate, indeed" I nodded, drinking some of the Gatorade now and eyeing the horse.

"You are not a vaquero, Tim?" Rosita asked, looking at me.

"Mom always said that I was a vaquero that spoke 'Truck' not 'Horse' Rosita. A lot of people still call truckers 'cowboys' and I strongly suspect that it can be a term of endearment as well as detriment, either one, at times" I said laughing.

"Being a trucker is hard work, no?" Rosita asked, herself laughing at my analogy.

"No harder than shoeing horses or working cattle, I suspect, Rosita. Overnight success, within any industry, usually only takes about thirty years, at least that's what Mom used to always say" I said whimsically.

"Yes I think you are right, Tim, that's what I try to tell Indio but he does not listen so well, you know? Is your mom still with us?" Rosita asked unexpectedly.

"...No we lost Mom a few years ago, at ninety years of age" I said pulling out my phone and showing Rosita my mother's photo.

"Oh yes, very pretty lady! Was she Norwegian?" Rosita asked looking at the photo.

"Yes she was, you're very perceptive, Rosita. ...We miss her every day and I wish she were here right now, you would have really liked her" I replied, staring at Mom with emotion now washing over me again.

"I am the only one left, Tim; all I have now is Indio and my half sister Gabby - Gabriella, she is Billy's wife. Cherish those around you because they might not be here tomorrow" Rosita said bluntly.

I detected that there was a story of tragedy somewhere behind Rosita's words but chose not to invade the lady's privacy with questions pertaining to something that was none of my business. I liked Indio and his family and hoped that we would remain friends and stay in touch even after the second car hoist was removed from the Texaco.

"That's sound advice, Rosita" I said nodding my head as I closed my phone and put it back into my pocket...

Forty five minutes later Indio and Rosita said good bye to everyone and then left. Other people were also making preparations to leave as they began rounding-up their kids and loading them back into minivans a SUVs. It was close to six PM now and the party was beginning to wind down. I soon began emptying trash barrels and throwing the garbage bags onto the old green Chevy for the next morning's dump-run. Ricky, I noticed, was back at the grille and making a few more steak burgers for those of us remaining. Dinner time was fast approaching and I found myself wondering where the day had gone.

Mark and Peggy also said a final good bye to Andrea and Pippi as they climbed into their bright red Ford Super Duty with ornate horses stenciled into the rear side glass on each side of the truck's rear doors. A few minutes later the young couple slowly pulled out of the yard with the little white horse trailer in tow ...now empty. Waving good-bye, I watched them leave and strongly suspected that each of them had left a piece of their own heart behind within the wake of the little American Quarter Horse named Pippi Longstocking...

"Travel safe, you two" I said quietly to myself.

...

Within another forty minutes the only ones left at the ranch were Andrea, myself, Ricky and Brenda. The animals had all been fed, having had a big day themselves. I was glad that we'd had the house warming party and I was genuinely grateful for the people that had come to the festivity and been present for the arrival of Pippi. I was excited for Andrea and Duffy, knowing that the two ladies would really enjoy riding together soon; this was a childhood dream for both of them.

The Arizona sun was all but a distant memory as it began to slowly slip behind a distant mountain on the far horizon. Pippi was bunked down within her new accommodations and seemed to be fine with her new surroundings. It had been a big day for Andrea and looking at her now, I knew that an early bed time was on her agenda, mine too. As was always the case, Ricky's work with the Bar-B-Q left everyone satisfied with full stomachs of delicious food ...the only one missing from the table was Mom.

"Where's Vic?" Brenda suddenly asked as we continued eating cupcake desert.

"Mary Lane dropped him off someplace, I guess" Andrea answered.

"He's been looking for a place to rent for a few months while he gets his mind straightened out, Brenda. Apparently he's decided not to go back to L.A. after his arm is healed" I elaborated.

"Really nothing for him to go back to" Ricky interjected dismissively.

"No, not anymore" I concurred.

"When would you like to have your house warming party, Brenda?" Andrea asked.

"Probably in a month or so, Andrea, Ricky and I have a lot of adjustments to make first and we'd like to have Yogi and Stormy settled in before a lot of people show up at the house" Brenda replied.

"You're spending the night there tonight? Andrea asked.

"Yes and we're so excited!" Brenda replied.

"We'll be over tomorrow and help you unpack, if you'd like" I offered.

"Honey, Indio and the guys want to begin removing the second car-lifter tomorrow" Andrea reminded me.

"- Oh, that's right. Well, we could come over tomorrow evening and help if you'd like" I answered looking at Brenda.

"No hurries, Tim. Let's all give Indio and his guys a hand tomorrow and worry about unpacking later" Brenda said dismissively.

"OK, Honey, whatever works" I nodded.

"We really don't have a lot of stuff to unpack, Tim, we sold or gave away most of our furniture" Ricky said.

"We want a fresh start with the new house" Brenda nodded in agreement.

"I just hope we don't find another safe or anything else weird when we start digging at the Texaco, this time" I answered dryly.

"There's nothing under that car-lifter except dirt, Tim" Andrea answered.

"I hope your right, Andrea. ...Why the hell was that movie buried under the first floor hoist though? I just can't figure that out and I still say Mary Lane looks like Mildred Mayfield" I said defiantly as I glanced at Andrea.

Andrea responded by rolling her eyes at me.

"Who?" Brenda asked, looking at me.

"Mildred Mayfield, she was the star in Belle of Autumn and I think Mary Lane looks a lot like her" I said.

"Tim, Mary Lane does look SIMILAR to Mildred Mayfield but so do fifty million other chicks, and as I've said, every girl secretly wants to look like a movie star and there are several multi-million dollar industries, worldwide, to help them do so. Your observation is just coincidence, that's all, Honey" Andrea replied patiently.

"Andrea, I'm in-love with you, but I've spent a whole life-time looking at women and I'm telling you that they could be related somehow. Mary Lane even moves and gestures similar to Mildred Mayfield." I said, holding my ground now.

"How would you know? You've never watched any of Mildred's movies, Tim" Andrea reasoned.

"When we found the first safe and driver's licenses I did a YouTube search of Mildred Mayfield and, like I said, Mary Lane and Mildred Mayfield have many similar traits and mannerisms in movement. Then I also studied Mindy Lane's photo in the Texaco calendar and she looks exactly like Mildred Mayfield, she aged very gracefully and there's no doubt to me that it's her." I answered.

"Mary Lane does look like Mildred Mayfield" Brenda now said staring at her phone, obviously she had pulled up Mildred Mayfield's photo.

"Don't you think that if Mary Lane were somehow related to Mildred Mayfield that Mary wouldn't have, at least, hinted that there was somehow a remote connection? Most of the people, that I've ever known, can't wait to tell you that they're a distant in-law or a fifth cousin to a movie star, much less a direct relative. Mildred Mayfield has been gone since the early fifties and Mary Lane is the daughter of Juan and Mindy Lane, two people that were gas station proprietors in Arizona City when it was just a dusty dirt road gas stop and before it was even officially on the map. My God, they were here when Buddy Holly was still on the top ten charts" Andrea now said incredulously.

Something within my mind suddenly clicked with Andrea's reasoning and I made no response as I closed my eyes, suddenly deep in thought...

"...I can see the wheels turning in your head now, husband, what is it?" Andrea asked, looking at me.

"C'mon, you guys, we need to walk over to the Texaco" I said standing.

"Whaaa, now you mean, Tim? Honey, we're going to be there all day tomorrow, let's not go tonight" Andrea said tiredly.

"C'mon, Love, it'll just take a few minutes and the walk will do you good" I insisted.

"Yeah right, just a few minutes - I've heard that line before. Like the time I found myself trespassing inside an abandoned neighborhood in the pouring rain at three-AM with a shovel in my hand. You're a real sport, you know that, Tim?" Andrea retorted as I helped her up from the picnic table.

"I know, that's why you married me, remember?" I said kissing her.

C'mon you two, we'll never hear the end of this unless we go with Tim - and go NOW of course!" Andrea said with slightly feigned resignation.

All of us walked the short distance to the Texaco and were quickly inside within just a few minutes, Yogi trailing along with us. Clicking on the overhead lights, I walked over to the battered old desk and began placing the out-dated driver's licenses onto the desk, similar to the way someone playing a game of solitaire would arrange playing cards. I studied them carefully and then found the pattern that I was looking for and began arranging the driver's licenses into two neat rows, men on one side and women on the other. Looking at the dates upon the licenses, I arranged and then rearranged the driver's licenses several more times until I was satisfied with their chronological order according to dates.

"...Just as I suspected, see the pattern now?" I asked as the Buddy Holly guy in the one driver's license photo stared up at me again with his spooky stare.

"No, what pattern?" Brenda asked.

"Andrea, see it yet?" I asked.

My wife remained silent as she studied the driver's licenses. Finally she shook her head "No".

"Four women and five men" Ricky answered, looking down.

"True, but there's more, keep looking" I said.

No one spoke.

"This guy, who looks like Buddy Holly, is named Jon R. Long." I said, holding up the license.

"OK, so he looks like Buddy Holly" Andrea concurred as she nodded her head.

"This other guy, the hippie, is named is Johannes Lynch, often shortened to 'John" I said pointing to the next license.

"And the next guy is Johnny M. Larrs" Ricky said picking up on my line of thought.

"Exactly, Ricky!" I said, nodding.

"There's also Minnie Long, Millie Lynch, Millie Larrs and so on - Oh my God, there all the same initials and basically the same names! They were married couples" Andrea suddenly said very intrigued.

"No - they were only ONE couple with different names at different ages of their lives, I corrected. What's a nick-name for Mildred? - Millie" I answered my own question. These driver's licenses weren't unintentionally left and forgotten by hurrying patrons buying gas from the Lane's, these driver's licenses were deliberately hidden behind an inaccessible wall safe - BY the Lane's themselves." I elaborated.

No one spoke; everyone just stared at the driver's licenses.

"Andrea, you said yourself this afternoon that a talented make-up artist can make almost anyone look like a movie star. So If a make-up artist can make someone look like a movie star then they should be able to make a movie star look like a regular everyday person too" I said with conviction.

I now walked over to the edge of the desk and picked up the antiquated News paper with the Hank Williams article in it. I carefully opened the sixty eight year old News paper and pointed to the smaller article describing Mildred Mayfield's tragic loss at sea in Mexico. I then opened my phone and began looking for a certain photo which I had just recently taken as I elaborated further.

"...I was under the impression that this nostalgic News paper had been kept as a keepsake in memory of Hank Williams, it wasn't." I said as I set my phone next to Mildred Mayfield's picture on the News paper page.

"This News paper was kept for the article on Mildred Mayfield, because it was relevant." I said, letting the two photos, side by side, speak for themselves.

I had opened my phone to a photograph and then zoomed in on the portion of Mary Lane next to Pippi, which I had taken that afternoon. Looking at the photograph of Mildred Mayfield right next to Mary Lane's picture left little room for doubt, the two were mother and daughter.

"When Mary Lane first came into the Texaco on the day she discovered that her now ex-husband was having an affair she was very distraught, as Andrea and Vic remember - Ricky you and Brenda weren't here but Mary was very close to a nervous breakdown but only AFTER she had glanced at the desk's top and found the driver's licenses with her parents photos on them - and several different alias names on those same licenses. I later found all the driver's licenses on the floor and I remembered thinking that seemed a bit odd. I had assumed that someone had accidently bumped them with their elbow and spilled them onto the floor but that isn't what happened. Mary Lane walked right by me that day when she came into the foyer here and wouldn't even say hello to me, I thought she was being a snob but she was just upset. She walked in and immediately sat down on that fold-up chair in front of the desk and obviously she glanced up and saw the licenses - THEN she went into a melt down and dropped the licenses onto the floor as she recognized her very own parents with fake names in the driver's licenses, I believe." I explained carefully.

"My God, she does look like Mildred Mayfield..." Andrea said, looking at the photograph on my phone, right next to Mildred Mayfield's News paper picture.

I picked up one of the driver's licenses now and elaborated further "Vic explained to me that, this guy, John Light, had a prison record and that he suddenly just disappeared altogether from police radar after he was released from jail, he ceased to exist after this driver's license expired - he was never heard of again. I believe that he was running from something, maybe the law, when he began changing his name rather frequently and using the phony birth certificates that we've all talked about. Somewhere in the mix he hooked up with Mildred Mayfield and they obviously were married at some point and later had a daughter - Mary Lane. The couple wanted names that they would subconsciously respond to, like, Johnny, Juan, Jon, Millie, Minnie, Mindy and so on. They were obviously very meticulous in selecting the names which they assumed for themselves because they didn't want to be caught or even be recognized by police or other law enforcement. Vic told me that John Light had been known as a highly professional safe-cracker and forger - he was a pro' that took pride in his craft and that's obvious when you look at the name selections and photos within these driver's licenses" I said looking down at the antiquated driver's licenses.

"So Juan Lane's real name was John Light, an ex-con" Andrea said.

"I believe so" I answered nodding.

"Yeah but why did they burry the movie here and why would Mildred Mayfield walk away from a Hollywood career, worth millions, just so she could marry a gas station owner and live in obscurity?" Brenda asked skeptically as she picked up one of the driver's licenses and studied it.

"That, I can't tell you. Mary Lane, herself, may not even know" I answered.

"I rather doubt that she does, Tim, and I'm not going to ask her" Andrea replied, deep in thought.

"I'm inclined to agree with you, Andrea, I don't think she does know" Brenda said.

"...Tim, what you're saying is that Mildred Mayfield faked her own death in nineteen sixty - or whatever it was, to marry this guy, John Light - A.K.A. Jon R. Long, A.K.A. Juan Lane and so on" Andrea suddenly said.

"Late Nineteen fifty two, on, or close to the time of Hank William's own death. Yes, that's what I think happened - and she didn't fake her own death, she faked her own DISAPEARANCE which has always been ASUMED as a death ...oh it's been done before. Maybe she just got tired of the lime light and didn't want to be famous any more. Vic told me that John Light had been a safe-cracker and master forger so it would make sense that he and Mildred Mayfield were the ones using the phony birth cert's and driver's licenses, not local moonshiners." I answered.

"OK, Tim, maybe I can buy all of this logic concerning fake I.D.s, phony birth certificates and stuff but why do you insist that the girl, Mindy Lane, was in fact Mildred Mayfield and not just some small town girl from Idaho?" Andrea asked.

"Honey, you just said yourself that these two photos, the News paper photograph and the photo of Mary that I took only hours ago are strikingly similar. They look like they could be mother and daughter - because I believe they ARE. Andrea, look at them carefully and then look at these driver's license photos, it's Mildred Mayfield" I insisted, holding up the driver's license for Minnie Larrs, showing exactly what Mildred Mayfield would have looked like at age forty seven.

Andrea silently studied the News paper photo next to my phone which was still showing Mary Lane's photo.

"The people in these driver's license photos are the same two people" Ricky acknowledged, leaning down and scrutinizing the photo I.D.s carefully.

"(sigh) ...Now you've got my head spinning, Tim, and I don't know what to think. The women in all these driver's license photos do look like they could be Mildred Mayfield at different ages." Andrea said, closing her eyes and running a hand through her hair.

"...Tim, Ricky and I still have to drive back to Casa Grande tonight. This is all a very interesting hypothesis but we really need to be going" Brenda said tiredly.

"I understand, Brenda, you're both welcome to stay an additional night if you'd like" I nodded as I walked over and shut off the overhead lights.

"No, we need to sleep in our own house tonight. We'll be here tomorrow when Indio and his guys come for the second car-lifter thing." Brenda said.

"I understand, Bren" I replied.

"Yogi, let's go!" Brenda called out.

...Ricky and Brenda were soon gone, taking Yogi and Stormy with them. After seeing them off, Andrea and I walked back into the house and locked all the doors. We then decided to take a bubble bath together.

"...It's so strange to be in a house all by ourselves again, Tim" Andrea said as she slid her back against my chest within the bubble bath.

"We're not alone, Pippi and Wolfie are here" I said reassuringly.

"Yes and I think Wolfie is sad now, he's wondering where the pretty lady cat went to" Andrea said as she glanced down at cat as he lay on the mat beside the tub.

"Stormy will be back to see you again soon, Wolfie." I said to the cat.

"Yes, the pretty lady cat will be back to see you, Wolfie" Andrea said reassuringly.

"We're not entirely alone yet anyway, Vic may be back tonight, who knows?" I said speculatively and yawning.

"He's sure been busy the last week or so, I wonder what he's been up to?" Andrea asked aloud.

"Probably looking at more apartments and trying to clear his mind as his body heals, Honey" I said tiredly.

"...Tim, you really believe that Mildred Mayfield was later known as Mindy Lane and that Mary is her daughter, don't you?" Andrea asked seriously.