Duxford Airfield (the band) Pt. 06

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DANNY'S GAME:

With morning sunlight streaming into the hotel room, I watched Andrea raise her arms as she slipped into her shirt. It was my favorite shirt, of hers, it depicted the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, "Alice Mae."

...Looking at my wife now made me realize that I still couldn't quite comprehend that I was married to this gorgeous woman. I still wasn't quite sure how it had all happened...

"Did you call that guy about the bicycle yet?" Andrea asked as she turned and began brushing her damp hair in front of the hotel room's mirror.

I didn't hear Andrea's question, I was transfixed with just watching her now.

"...Are you listening to me...?" she asked, rolling her eyes at me in the mirror.

"...Not yet, I need another cup of coffee first....Where are you and Helen going this morning, again?" I asked, still admiring Andrea.

"You're not listening to me yet, or he hasn't called you back yet?" Andrea asked.

"He hasn't called me back yet, I'm listening to you," I said, looking at her.

She rolled her eyes at me, within the mirror again.

"...Helen has a colleague, Lita, that's on assignment and only fifty miles from here. Apparently, Lita's writing an article for some outdoor magazine. We're going to have lunch with her, I met her once before, nice gal....That looks like a pretty good bicycle, for three hundred dollars" Andrea responded.

"It is a nice bike," I said, looking at the photo on my phone again.

"He's going to bring it here so you can look at it?" Andrea asked.

"He said he would, in the text" I answered.

Andrea set down her brush and turned toward me.

"...Tim, you don't have to stay around for all this, you can fly home and leave Helen and me here, it's alright," Andrea said as she leaned down and kissed me.

"That's not what a good husband is supposed to do, Andrea," I said earnestly.

" - Tim, most of what Helen and I are going to be doing, for the next week, is talking to lawyers and going through old county tax records to try and unravel this whole mess with Prominent House. Then on Monday we see that guy, Earl Billingsly, with the oil company, and hear whatever it is that he has to say. I have Kelly and Diane checking on his past history right now, I want to go in prepared; when we do sit down across from him. He's already done his homework on us, that much is very apparent, from the way he greeted us on Friday." Andrea responded with a sigh.

Andrea was using her Executive Real Estate voice now I noticed...

"Yes, they already knew who we were, Andrea. - So Helen really thinks that exploring Prominent House will help her write Danny's autobiography?" I asked.

"Helen believes that Prominent House is tied to Danny's past, somehow, yes" Andrea answered.

"The whole world of rock-and-roll really cares, that much, about Danny's early life, before Duxford Airfield?" I asked for the twelfth time within the week.

"If she can acquire the information she wants, Helen believes this book could make the Best Sellers list, Tim" Andrea answered patiently as she began to spread cream on her cheeks.

"...Let me see if I understand all of this correctly now, Andrea.

Danny Wickersham was planning to grant Helen Lunsford, aka author Kathryn Dalloway, an exclusive series of interviews pertaining to his early life, before the band, Duxford Airfield, and this information would have been included within his biography. Danny had never revealed his early life to anyone, ever, including you or Helen. But now he was going to open up and tell his entire life's story to Helen, and essentially, the whole world, within this biography.

Danny passed away before any of the interviews for the biography ever took place though, but Helen and her publisher still want to go forward with the book, only now it will be an autobiography...

Danny's last will and testament have now led us here to Oddessa Texas and a safe deposit box and a Victorian mansion on forty-four acres of Federal land, which by chance, is located inside one of America's richest oil fields...

Furthermore, Danny's lawyer; gave us a large metal key that unlocks the front door to this mansion and now we've discovered that this mansion and its forty-four acres of land belong to us, left to us by Danny Wickersham - if we decide to accept this gift, that is.

Helen Lunsford now believes that, as a lark, Danny Wickersham had always planned to posthumously lead all of us here on this wild goose chase, in search of the truth about his early life. That way Helen can write her book, all about him.

Yet we still have no idea why Danny also left us three $100.00 poker chips from the Dunes casino, from when the three of you went to France during a drunken weekend, thirty years ago. There must be a logical and divine explanation for this too, we're just too dumb to comprehend it yet.

We could go to Vegas and look for clues at the Dunes casino. The only problem with that, of course, is that the Dunes was demolished, years ago. Maybe if we go there and meditate, where the Dunes once stood, Danny will send us some cosmic vibes from his afterlife that will give us all the answers for his new book that Helen's writing - and life in general too.

In the meantime, we've been splattered all over a smut magazine's front cover for the whole world and all of our friends to guffaw at, but it's a great photo!

What could possibly go wrong with any of this?" I asked incredulously.

Andrea rolled her eyes again and ignored my sarcasm.

I suddenly realized just how inconsiderate I was being with my wife.

"...Sorry," I said after a silence.

"I hope you buy that bicycle today so you can work off some steam, babe," she said patiently.

"...How many books has Helen written?" I asked, changing my attitude and switching subjects.

"Fourteen, one went all the way to Best Seller," Andrea said proudly.

"...Wow" I replied, suddenly in genuine awe.

"Helen was a reporter for the L.A. Times back in the eighties, did you know that about her, Tim?" Andrea asked me.

"No, but I'd almost be surprised if she hadn't been" I admitted.

"Me too," Andrea said.

"Andrea, why didn't Danny just openly deed the house and property to you and Helen, and why didn't he just sit down and do a proper interview with her, years ago? Why all the games and secrecy?" I asked, perplexed.

Andrea sat beside me on the bed now and sighed.

"...Tim, it's hard for anyone that didn't know Danny, to understand all this. Danny loved games, rhymes, and riddles, his whole life was centered around them, that's why he was such a success in music.

Everything to Danny was a game. This whole mess, that we're currently caught up in right now, was first conceived inside his head, - years ago, I'm sure.

(sigh)...It's all a game, Tim...

...Danny would often say that Helen Lunsford has one of the most amazing minds in literature that he'd ever known, and she does. This game of Danny's, which we've now found ourselves in; is Danny's way of challenging Helen to do her absolute very best in obtaining the information needed to write this book, I honestly believe that.

...The choice for you and me is simple, we can either decide to assist Helen in writing this book; and play Danny's game, or we can just walk away. Helen wants to write this book with as much new and original information, on Danny, as she can.

New information, pertaining to Danny, is like the proverbial carrot on a stick for her. She's wanted to write Danny's story for over thirty years now, Tim, and she'll never stop until it's completed, come hell or high water.

...Helen's going to play Danny's game.

What do you want, the two of us, to do now? Stick around, or go home?" my wife asked me now, point-blank.

"...Andrea, if he really did leave us that house and property then we could possibly end up with, literally millions, from this deal" I answered seriously.

"Yes, we very well could at that, Tim, a few million, anyway" Andrea answered.

"Let's stay for a week with Helen and just see what happens, if we don't like what transpires, then you and I can just get on a plane and go home," I said.

"Fair enough," Andrea answered.

"...Danny was an intelligent man?" I asked, speculating now, after a silence.

"Extremely intelligent, so if we decide to stay here with Helen, you better learn to focus intently on rhymes and riddles and be ready to play Danny's game, Tim" she answered seriously.

"...I gather that Danny was probably a chess player," I said speculating.

"He was a murderous chess player" Andrea confirmed.

My wife and I were silent for a long moment.

"...What was Danny like, to hang out with?" I asked quietly.

"Danny was a lot of fun, most times. He could be moody too, but for the most part, he was an easy-going, fun guy.

...I remember once when Danny and I were going someplace on a road trip to look at a boat for someone else, one of his friends. We stopped in some little hometown cowboy bar in the middle of nowhere to grab a burger. As it turned out, there just so happened to be a talent contest going on inside that little joint, that very evening. Before I knew what was happening, Danny had borrowed an old ragged guitar from someone within the crowd and he was making his way toward the stage. The term for this is, coming on cold, - meaning he'd had no prior knowledge that he was going to perform at all that night, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing and he'd had no preparation whatsoever.

He was a hippie inside a cowboy bar but that didn't stop him.

...Tim, I watched that man mesmerize an entire crowd of rough cowboys with homespun music and Irish limericks, non-stop, for forty-five minutes. At one point he had them wiping their eyes from the bitter sorrow of lost love, then two minutes later, the whole roof came down with gut-roaring laughter from everyone in the place.

If Danny was holding a guitar, he could evoke deep emotions from people as easily as flipping a light switch. He really was an incredibly gifted man..." Andrea said in retrospect as she stared off into the distance.

"It sounds like he could've taken a guitar to a gunfight and come out the winner," I said, with newfound respect at hearing Andrea's story.

"Those cowboys begged us to come back the next weekend, at the end of that evening" Andrea admitted, nodding.

Andrea and I fell into another brief silence.

"...So, the whole world is so interested in Danny Wickersham's earlier life, before Duxford Airfield, that this book could actually make Best Seller's list?" I asked again, incredulously.

"I know it would, if Helen can find the answers that she's looking for, Tim" Andrea affirmed.

"What answers are those?" I asked.

"She'll know when she finds them, Tim." my wife answered.

I now pondered my wife's logic for several seconds, trying to fit all the pieces of Danny's puzzle together within my mind.

I then asked, "...Now Helen's stuck on the idea that some of those answers, to Danny's earlier life, are really there within Prominent House?"

"...She's convinced of it, Tim, and she's seldom wrong about such things. As you know, Danny had agreed to give Helen an exclusive interview for his biography but I think he knew that he'd never live long enough to sit down for it, maybe he even planned it that way.

(sigh)

...Prominent House, has something to do with Danny's early life, before stardom, Helen and I are both sure of it. As with everything else though, related to Danny, it's all a game. If we want to know the answers to Danny's early life, then we have to play Danny's game." Andrea explained.

"I think we have been, for the last week" I replied.

"Yes," she answered.

"Where will this game lead us?" I asked, looking at Andrea.

"HA! You're asking me; when it comes to Danny Wickersham? How would I know? We may end up in Tokyo next week, for all I know, Tim. Andrea answered, closing her eyes.

You're here strictly to support Helen, aren't you?" I asked.

"I thought so but I'm really not sure ananymoreTim. Danny will always have a place in my heart, as a little boy, and I did love him that way. All I know right now, is that if Helen wants to write this autobiography, then she's going to have to really work for it, but the answers are here, in Texas. We know that, because Danny led us here," Andrea explained.

"You're making it sound as if some of what we discover might be a bit messy, concerning Danny, maybe stuff that was going on during Vietnam or something else?" I asked.

"Maybe, but when I think of the vibes I got from inside Prominent House, I think it goes much farther back than Vietnam for him somehow, Tim," Andrea said.

"You really do think it is all tied to Prominent House, somehow, don't you?" I asked again.

"Yes, I think so." Andrea nodded.

"Why? We're not even sure if he ever set foot in the place" I said.

"Because Danny led us here, with his stated will and the front door key, Tim, we're on the right track," she said.

"...Andrea, this whole business of Danny being a practical joker and intentionally not revealing his early life to anyone was all just a marketing strategy to promote Duxford Airfield's record sales, wasn't it?" I asked seriously.

"Some people have had that conception in the past, Tim, but I don't believe it for a single second and I never have. Danny was, by nature, a guy that liked to pull shenanigans but I truly believe that much of his humor was a cover for some deep emotional hurt of some kind. I spent a lot of time around Danny during the late eighties and I got to the point where I could see through a lot of his bullshit. Danny was haunted by something, Tim, but he could never talk about it...

I think he had abandonment issues and I also think the scars on his face bothered him a lot more than he ever let on, but he always pretended like he didn't give a shit. Some women thought the scars were sexy, but secretly, I think Danny was ashamed of his appearance, I could see it in his eyes sometimes when we were around women that he was attracted to." Andrea said quietly.

"Do you think the scars kept women from being attracted to him?" I asked.

"Yes and no. What I mean by that is - no, the scars didn't matter to most women, at least not in a physical sense, but Danny's own perception of the scars made him feel unattractive and he projected that around women." Andrea explained.

"Self-sabotage" I replied.

"Yes, self-sabotage. In the modeling industry, a model quickly learns that half of the so-called, alure, is in one's own perception of themself and how they carry and present themselves. A model can work out in the gym three times a week and look like a million bucks, but if they don't come onto a shoot with self-confidence, then they're going to wash out pretty damn quick, as a professional model. Believe me, Monday mornings can be a real mind fuck for models sometimes when self-confidence is running low in someone. Models have to be very mentally tough and also be able to generate their own self-confidence, sometimes on the spot, and it's not always easy" Andrea said in reflection.

"I believe you, Andrea," I said.

I silently kissed the side of my wife's head and then asked "...Back when Danny was concocting this whole wild goose chase for you and Helen to follow now, do you think that part of the reason was so that you and Helen would spend time thinking about him?"

"Certainly, Tim. I think in some ways Danny felt as if he'd been put on a shelf by Helen and me. He knew we loved him but everyone gets busy and life moves forward but Danny could get very complacent in his own life at times. Sometimes Danny could be very self-centered too, he'd insist that people come and visit him but he wouldn't get on a plane to go see anyone else. Then he'd feel sorry for himself when no one came to see him, even though they'd invited him to visit them." Andrea explained.

"Danny was a complicated individual, it sounds like" I offered.

"He was a very complicated person, Tim" my wife answered, nodding her head.

"Was Danny an alcoholic or an addict, you think?" I asked quietly.

"Without doubt, Tim, that's almost a given within the incredibly fast world of most entertainers and Danny was no exception. After Duxford Airfield disbanded for the last time and Wendy divorced him, Danny's self-esteem plummeted into the toilet and he stayed inebriated for two solid years, he was a horrible mess" Andrea explained.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Helen Lunsford; is what happened. I truly believe that Helen, and several other people, saved Danny's life with an intervention. Helen hauled his drunken ass off to a treatment center and he stayed there for six solid months. He never picked up the booze or dope ever again, after that" Andrea whispered.

"I'm glad, honey," I said.

"...Tim, I still get frustrated whenever I think of Danny's hard-headedness sometimes, and I miss him so much, already..." Andrea said as tears came to her eyes.

I held her for several minutes with neither of us speaking.

"...Do you think he won Prominent House in a poker game or something, is that what the poker chips mean, you think?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know, but Helen believes that if we look through Prominent House long enough, we'll find something that'll tie it all to Danny somehow and give her the answers for her new book, and it probably will. Tim, Helen absolutely has to write this book, if she doesn't then she'll regret it for the rest of her life. This book is her own way of honoring our friend, Danny, and bringing closure for herself, maybe for me as well." Andrea answered, wiping her eyes.

"I think I can understand that now, Andrea. I wonder how Danny's story does tie into all of this strange puzzle?" I asked, stroking her hair.

"...I don't really know, Tim, but I do know that Danny wanted Helen and me to use our minds in solving all of this. See, that was Danny's thing, he wanted to be able to write poetry or compose music that made people stop and ask themselves serious questions or ponder on things, and he was very good at that.

...Prominent House, the poker chips, along with the riddles inside the safe deposit box, are all Danny's way of challenging Helen and me to use our minds and figure out his puzzle. The puzzle is also intended to make us focus on him, that was Danny's vanity; if you will." Andrea answered.

"He was madly in love with both of you and he didn't want either of you to ever forget him, Andrea," I said.

"I know" she barely whispered.

Neither of us spoke for several more minutes.

"We need to go back to Prominent House, Tim, but we need to mentally prepare ourselves first, this time," Andrea said abruptly.

"Yes, and as you said earlier, we need to generate a lot of self-confidence to walk back into that fuckin' place, Andrea. There are some very strange vibes there. Do you think the oil company will even allow us to go back inside Prominent House?" I asked.

"From the way Earl Billingsly acted toward us, I think he'd give us access again, yes. My intuition tells me that the Feds are breathing down the oil company's neck regarding that mansion, and probably have been for years. Danny's ownership of the house and property have undoubtedly been an extreme nuisance for both the Feds and the oil company, I'd imagine. The oil company wants that piece of land, Tim." Andrea reasoned.

"How could Danny even have acquired it in the first place, I wonder?" I asked.

"Legal loophole, I would imagine. It was probably a bitter lesson for, both the Feds and the oil company, and they won't make the same mistake twice. They'll have a team of lawyers to assure them of that; when we sit down to talk." Andrea reasoned.

"...They've been ready for us, for months I'll bet. They'll get that land one way or the other, Andrea, so we may as well play ball with them. Anything they decide to offer is a pure gain for us, anyway, and they know that" I answered, deep in thought.