Duxford Airfield (the band) Pt. 06

"We'll play along and offer it to them for a song and a dance, but I would like to YouTube the mansion for posterity's sake and see that some of those antiques go to a proper museum. I'd also like a reasonable amount of time to thoroughly go through the place, for Helen's benefit" Andrea said.

"Yes, I was thinking that too, Andrea, because they'll probably just bulldoze the whole place down, once it's theirs. - I still can't help but wonder if that spooky girl in the tintype is in fact the duchess that Danny mentioned in his note that we found inside the safe deposit box?" I pondered.

"Kelly and Diane are working on the answer to that, right now as we speak, Tim, and they're the best in the business," Andrea said.

"I'm sure they are, honey....Did Danny have any siblings" I suddenly asked.

"I don't know, Danny would never talk about his family. Any time someone would ask about his family, Danny would always blow it off with some joke or limerick. The topic of family was always neatly evaded with humor and strictly off-limits" my wife answered stoically.

"Even for you and Helen?" I asked.

"Yes, never a straight answer from him, ever, regarding family," she answered.

"Why?" I asked incredulously.

Before Andrea could answer me, there was a slight tapping sound on our adjoining door to Helen's room.

"Good morning, can I come in?" Helen asked from behind the door.

"Good morning, Helen, yes, please come in" I replied.

Helen walked in with her own coffee.

"Sleep alright, babe?" Andrea asked.

"My God, yes, I love the beds in this place, Andrea" Helen responded, sipping her coffee.

"They're pretty nice" Andrea nodded.

"Tim, are you going with us, to meet Lita?" Helen asked as she sat down on the opposite bed.

"No, honey, a guy is going to stop by in an hour or so with a recumbent bicycle that I want to look at" I answered.

"Oh, that'll be fun," Helen said as I held up my phone and showed her the photo.

...The ladies and I yakked casually with each other for another fifteen minutes, just making small talk. They soon left the hotel, in the rental car, leaving me by myself.

...

...I sat on a bench beneath the hotel's pavilion and waited for the guy with the bicycle to show up, Jimmy, was his name, he'd said. Andrea and Helen had been gone for forty-five minutes now and I was nursing my last cup of coffee for the day.

Odessa Texas really wasn't much of a touristy town but the weather was nice and I'd spent my fair share of time around "Oil field trash" in the past. At least Kendall had referred to all of the roughneck cowboys as oil field trash and it was a term I was used to hearing. I had hauled drill casing a few times over the years, and a trucker quickly learns to mix with whatever crowd he's working for at any given time.

Sipping my coffee, I saw several of the oil company's bright yellow pick-up trucks driving up and down the street but none of the drivers were Kendall, I noticed.

...Roughnecks were usually a pretty good crowd of guys to work with until they started tipping hard liquor during their off-hours. Naw, they weren't worth a damn then, but neither were most other people either, I reflected...

A late-model bright-orange Dodge pick-up now came into view and slowed by the hotel. I stood up and waved the driver down.

"Howdy! You Tim?" an old guy with a straw hat asked as he buzzed down the window.

The truck had three or four young grandkids in the back seat and a young boy in the front, I now noticed.

"Yes sir! Looks like you've got quite a crew today, Jimmy" I said reaching in and shaking the man's hand.

"Do we haf'ta stop, Granpa?" A young girl now protested loudly.

"You shush now, I need to talk to this gent, Percy" Jimmy responded.

"We're on our way to a birthday party now" Jimmy explained, shutting off the truck's engine and removing his seatbelt.

I now noticed a beautiful "BikeE Machines" recumbent bicycle in the truck's cargo bed. The bike was blue in color.

"You kids stay in the car, I'll only be a minute," Jimmy said to the children, as he opened the driver's door.

"It's a TRUCK Granpa" the young boy in the front seat corrected impatiently.

Jimmy ignored the boy yet I saw pride beaming in the old man's eyes, because of his grandchildren.

Jimmy reminded me of our elderly friend Hans...

Jimmy led me around to the tailgate of the truck and gestured toward the bicycle.

"Well, there she is, I bought that bike for my daughter, about twenty years ago, but she won't ride the damn thing. It's been sitting in the garage all this time, maybe you'll ride it." Jimmy exclaimed.

"Three hundred?" I asked, looking at the bike.

"Yes sir" Jimmy nodded.

"I think you'd better open the tailgate, Jimmy," I said, handing him three hundred dollars.

...We gently lifted the recumbent down to the pavement.

The tires were original equipment and cracked with age but they were still holding air. The bike's padded seat was pristine and gave evidence that the bicycle had in fact been stored inside. Aside from a fair amount of dust covering the machine, the bike looked like it would clean up very nicely. I loved the "BikeE Machines" brand, recumbent bicycle but they hadn't built one in twenty years now...

One of the unique features of this particular bike was the paniers holding a set of saddlebags under the seat, right and left. Not all of the BikeE recumbents had been equipped with this feature, indicating to me that this had been a rather expensive bike in its day.

This machine probably didn't have a hundred miles on it, I speculated, looking at the bike.

"You don't sound like you're from Texas, son, you folks here on vacation or just passing through?" Jimmy asked cordially.

My guard suddenly went up with this question but outwardly I gave no indication of it. People in small towns could sometimes be cliquish so I decided to make no mention of Helen's book or our recent adventure within Prominent House.

None of it was really anyone else's business anyway.

"Naw, we're from Alaska, my wife and I are just down here exploring this great State of yours, Jimmy" I responded with a nod.

"...Alaska, that's oil country up there, you work in the fields?" Jimmy asked.

"I got an eighty-four, long-hood Peterbilt and I've hauled a load or two of stick, in my time, but that's about as close as I ever got to being in the field itself," I said matter of factly.

"Worked thirty years in the field, myself, best years of my life." Jimmy acknowledged with a nod.

"I guess you've got quite a little pond of black gold to play with down here, yourselves, from what they tell me," I said seriously.

"Yes sir we do, help'em drill quite a few of them holes, over yonder," Jimmy said proudly.

"What year did you start, Jimmy?" I asked curiously.

"I started here in sixty-five, right out of the Army," Jimmy said.

"You've seen a lot of changes then," I said.

"Yes sir, my first boss was J.D. Farnsworth, been dead for years, but he was a fair man. When I retired, in two-thousand, them roughnecks was calling me 'boss." Jimmy smiled widely.

"The working-class can kiss my ass, foreman's job at last" I quoted humorously.

Jimmy and I both laughed at this phrase together.

"...Hell, I was working that field back when the Countess was still alive, seen'er myself, a couple times over the years....She was an old woman by then though," Jimmy said in deep reflection.

I was about to ask Jimmy who the Countess was but I never got a chance.

"Granpa let's go now!" the little girl said impatiently again as she leaned out the truck's window, looking back at us.

"Alright, Princess, we'll go, we'll go. Tim, it was a pleasure meeting you, and I hope you like that bike!" Jimmy said, firmly shaking my hand.

"I will, Jimmy, thanks for bringing it out to me, and enjoy your birthday party!" I said, smiling.

I watched them drive away in the orange Dodge. The whole interaction between Jimmy and me had taken less than five minutes.

...I snuck the bicycle inside the hotel through the back entrance and into our room. I then sat down at Andrea's laptop and began looking for a nearby place to buy bicycle tires. Within just a few minutes I had located a Natwomar that was only a few blocks away from the hotel and a good source for bike stuff.

Grabbing my windbreaker again, I locked the door and made my way out of the hotel.

I was excited about the bike and could hardly wait to ride it, once I installed new tires and tubes. After a brief walk, I quickly found the giant Natwomar and entered the large outlet store. I found exactly what I was hoping I'd find, self-sealing, thorn-resistant tubes and two new tires for the bike. I also bought a small selection of tools, an odometer, tire pump, locking cable, and a set of LED lights, front, and rear, to place on the bicycle.

I spent one hundred and thirty-eight dollars on the bicycle stuff and then bought a Subway sandwich from across the street within a little small strip mall.

Sitting alone, I began eating my sandwich, content just watching the whole world go by the Subway shop's windows.

...I had been in hope that Andrea and I would have already been home by now but things didn't always go according to plan in life. I really didn't have much interest in Danny Wickersham's autobiography but I knew it was important to Helen, which made it important to Andrea, which now made it important to me...

Eating my food, I silently wondered how Danny Wickersham actually tied into Prominent House and if we really would end up with any money from the sale of the large mansion, which I rather doubted. I knew that the oil company would wind up with the house and property, one way or the other, regardless of what Andrea, Helen, or I did. The oil company would already have a team of highly paid lawyers lined up and waiting for us. We'd do things their way, I knew, yet Andrea was a smart businesswoman, regarding real estate, and she'd make sure we got something for our trouble.

Maybe we'd end up with a hundred grand for the house and property, in the end, which would be alright with me...

In a way, it felt strange knowing that the three of us now owned a Victorian mansion that had cost countless millions to build. At least, if we accepted Danny's gift of the house, then we owned it. I rather doubted that Prominent House was worth anything at all today, aside from the precious metals within its interiors.

I now paused and began thinking in a more realistic sense. The oil company would undoubtedly demolish the mansion and the actual worth of the precious metals inside the house probably wouldn't even begin to cover the actual cost of demolition.

...Let's see, to demolish that house, they'd probably use no less than eight excavators, probably Caterpillar 235s or larger. There'd probably use around forty semi-trucks, pulling side-dump trailers. Meaning, that the whole operation would cost somewhere around $290,000.00 each day, at least, and they'd be on location for several months, maybe even a whole year or more...

I speculated that there would be close to fifteen thousand side-dump loads, total, going to the landfill, once the whole job was all said and done.

- No, Andrea and Helen won't get any money at all for "ownership" of that place. That was fine, because our initial investment was exactly zero, to begin with.

As Helen had stated, earlier this week, - we'll just walk away from the place.

That's all we could do.

I chewed my sandwich and silently nodded my head to this logic....Yeah, including the landfill fees, that demolition operation would probably run close to $290,000.00 each day, or $29,000.00 an hour.

The whole job should cost, just under eleven million dollars to demolish that mansion. The oil company would get tax write-offs along with some compensation for the precious metals inside the place but not much else, I didn't believe.

Then again, much of the cost would depend on how far away the landfill was and how long it took for each truck to make a complete lap and be under the excavator again for another load of debre. Cost over-runs could easily be expected on a major project like that, I knew. That job would go on, seemingly forever, I nodded to myself.

...Danny Wickersham's gift to Andrea and Helen amounted to exactly nothing at all...

...I again, thought of walking through Prominent House a day prior. The two overwhelming sensations which had seemed to descend upon me then; had been sadness and loneliness for some reason. I seriously doubted if Prominent House had ever been a very happy home for anyone...

...My God, who the hell needs golden door knobs in a home?

As before, I tried to mentally calculate the cost of building the mansion, in today's money. The numbers that I quickly deduced within my mind were staggering and completely unfathomable, much like the house, itself. There were undoubtedly entire counties within the State of Texas that had less money than Prominent House would have cost to construct...

I silently shook my head again at the sums in my head.

Personally, as with most people, I liked having a little money to throw around but money didn't buy happiness, that much I did know. Prominent House, seemed to me, as someone's vain attempt to buy happiness, at any cost...

I finished my sandwich and quickly lost interest in thinking about Prominent House.

Rising from the restaurant's table, I shouted out to the Subway employees now "Nice job today, guys, thanks!"

I received several waves and smiles in return.

I then quickly texted Andrea and wished her a glorious day with Helen and Lita. I threw my trash into the waste bin and walked out of the Subway shop and headed back toward the hotel, my plastic Natwomar bag full of bicycle goodies, firmly in hand.

...After arriving back at the hotel, I abruptly got to work replacing the tires and tubes on the bicycle. During this time I also mounted the used tires and tubes on the rear of the bicycle seat with zip-ties. The old tires and tubes weren't much good, but they did hold air and would most likely get me back to the hotel if I ever did ruin a tire and have a flat someplace, miles from the hotel.

I did a minor tune-up on the recumbent, oiling the chain and gears while making minor adjustments to the shifting mechanisms. Everything on the bicycle was now running as smoothly as when the machine was brand new again. By this time I had spent around two hours tinkering with the recumbent so far.

I installed my two LED lights and then returned to Andrea's laptop, looking for a carwash close by. I wanted to do a thorough cleaning of the bike now and carwash engine degreaser always seemed to do a nice job of shining up an old bicycle. I stepped into our bathroom and cleaned my hands, excited about the prospect of a ride on the machine now.

...A few minutes later I locked the door again and rolled the bike back into the hallway and out the hotel's rear exit door. I immediately felt better as I mounted the machine and began riding down the street, with the warm Texas sun on my face...

After a brief search, I found the carwash that I had spotted on Andrea's laptop and spent five dollars, first spraying degreaser all over the recumbent and then using a high-pressure rinse, blowing away all the dust bunnies and dried grease upon the bike's running gear. This cleaning combination made the twenty-year-old bicycle glisten like new again in the sunlight.

Taking my bearings, within relationship to the hotel, I mounted the bicycle again and began riding with no clear-cut destination in mind - the bicycle itself; was the destination.

The recumbent ran as good as it looked and I soon had the new tires howling on the asphalt. Nothing ever runs quite like a new bicycle and even though this one was twenty years old, it was essentially brand new - at least in regard to miles and wear. I relished the early evening wind in my hair as the flow of endorphins within me began to soar.

...It had been almost ten days since I'd last had a good solid workout, and during that time I had experienced a lot of strong emotion. Danny Wickersham had willed Andrea, Helen, and me, all three, the mansion called Prominent House. We hadn't, legally, accepted the house though and I seriously doubted that we would.

...There really would be no gain, financially or otherwise, for us to do so...

My emotions were still all over the map because of the fact that Andrea, Helen, and me, all three, were still presently on the front cover of The International Monitor, and we would be until the next month's issue of the magazine was released. I was still very disturbed by this fact but finally decided to meet this challenge with humor instead of anger, - humor took much less energy.

...I was beginning to build a rhythm with the bicycle now and my head was starting to clear with the workout.

I loved the feel of sweat on my forehead, which always came with a brisk bicycle ride...

I made four or five random turns down city streets and eventually found myself riding along the sidewalk next to a large truck stop and past several large cricket pumps which were actively working and completely surrounded by tall wire mesh fences. These large pumps were painted flat black and the size of small houses. Day and night, they methodically pumped the black gold, day and night they methodically made someone money. An old oil field cowboy, that I met once, had referred to them as "Nodding Donkeys" - because of their shape and motion.

For some reason, that conversation with the old cowboy; had ever since been ingrained into my memory and I always thought of him whenever I would see any of the "Nodding Donkeys." Maybe it was the dry humor associated with the pump's likeness to the actual animal that made me remember the nic name and think of the old cowboy.

I never did know his name...

...A person sure met some interesting people during life's journey, I nodded to myself...

As I pedaled the bicycle and the endorphins continued flowing, I suddenly found myself thinking of my mother. If; for some reason, Mom had ever found herself on the front cover of The International Monitor, she would have handled the whole affair with dignity and grace, maybe even humor. The only woman I'd ever met, like her, was Andrea. My wife was as resilient as she was beautiful, the same as my mother had been. I'd been so incredibly fortunate to have captivated and married Andrea. She didn't give a shit if her photo was on the front cover of a smut magazine, Andrea knew who she was as a person, and that's all that mattered. I really admired this strength in my wife.

...Mom had been gone from us, for four years now.

I turned left at the next block, noting that the time on the outdoor clock of the Texas State Bank now read four-thirty-five. It was time to start making my way back toward the hotel again, Andrea and Helen should be getting back soon and I wanted to show off the bicycle to them. I needed to call my little brother Ricky again and maybe Brenda tonight too. I'd been promising myself, that I'd call them, for two days now yet I still hadn't called...

I shrugged my shoulder and just kept riding the bicycle, as if I were on a tour bus, and just along for a leisurely ride of sightseeing.

By chance, I just so happened to be passing by a grocery store and, on a spur-of-the-moment decision, I zipped into the parking lot and tied the bike to the bicycle rack with the new locking cable that I had just bought.

I walked into the store and five minutes later stood within the check-out line and dismally stared at The International Monitor, with Andrea, Helen, and myself, splattered all over the front page. I quickly glanced at the guy in line behind me, he looked tired, like he'd worked all day. He didn't look like he really gave a shit, one way or the other, who was on the front page of the gossip tabloid. Neither did anyone else that was within close proximity of me.