Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Interlude: 2004
Interlude: 2004
Jack Shanahan and his girlfriend changed planes at Los Angeles International Airport. The flight from Narita had been a bumpy one, but not too horrible. They had to wait through a two and a half hour layover before their flight to Hartford, so they decided to have a bite to eat. They ended up choosing a faux British pub and walked up and sat at the bar. They ordered drinks and Jack pulled a battered address book out of his backpack.
“I should call Gary, let him know I’m coming in.”
“Who is Gary?” Mie asked. She didn’t really know much about Jack’s past, as he was loath to discuss his days in the States with her. She’d been with him about two years, and she’d come to understand that he was really almost as Japanese as she was, despite his white American good looks. As far as she knew, he’d given up his life in the U.S. to live in Japan.
“He’s a guy I used to go to school with. His dad’s an international player. Ablett Investments. But Gary’s a computer genius. You ever play “Realms Of Wonder”? Or “Nightfall In Middle Earth”? He created them when he was in college. Now he’s worth like, a billion dollars, and he runs a video store in the town next to the one we’re going to. He’s a bit uh, what’s the word...” Jack struggled for a second, trying to remember the Japanese for eccentric. “...henshin? Maybe kawarimono would be a better word.”
“Oh, I understand. He’s a bit unusual.”
“Yes. That would describe Gary.”
“Okay.” She took a paperback out of her purse and opened it as Jack took out his DoCoMo cell phone. He hoped it worked in the airport. He turned it on and saw that he had a nice fat signal. He was sure he’d end up paying through the nose for the call, but he dialed the number for Twenty-Four Frames that he’d copied off their web site anyway.
“Twenty-Four Frames, this is Brett speaking, how can I help you?”
“Uh, yeah, hi there, Brett. Is Gary Ablett around by any chance?”
“He’s in his office. Can I ask who’s calling?”
“Yeah. My name is Jack Shanahan. I’m calling...”
“Oh, yes, Mr. Shanahan. We all know who you are here. We’re terribly sorry for your loss.”
“Uh, thanks.”
“No problem. Let me transfer you upstairs.”
Jack was put on hold and sat waiting, listening to Ennio Morricone’s main title theme for “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” on the hold music. He was about to hang up when the phone clicked.
“Jack! How the hell are you?!? Wait. Forget I asked that question. Where the hell are you?”
Jack smiled despite himself. Same old Gary. “I’m sitting in a cheesy fake British pub at LAX, waiting for my flight to Hartford.”
“I should have had Dad send a plane over for you when your uncle called me and told me what happened. I’m terribly sorry about Anne. You know that we all loved your mom a lot. She was one of our best customers, you know.”
“No, actually, I didn’t. That’s nice to hear, man. Listen, have you seen the guys?”
“Yeah. Well, not with my own two eyes, not yet anyway. But they’re all coming down anyway. Bill works in the store with me, and Charlie and Doug were already coming into town. You know that Darrell Masters is finally getting hitched.”
“No. I hadn’t heard that.” Jack wasn’t a particularly big baseball fan, and U.S. baseball news in Japan was usually related to whichever Japanese export was having a big year in the majors.
“Yeah. Doug and Charlie are both in the wedding. Listen, give me your flight number, and I’ll call and make sure someone’s going to get you at the airport.”
“Someone from Uncle David’s law firm...”
“Don’t you worry about that. I’ll talk to David. He’s a good customer here also.”
Jack gave him the information. “Hey, it’s good talking to you, Gary. I feel guilty about not calling or anything.”
“Don’t worry about it. Anne always kept me up on what was going on with you in the land of Sailor Moon and naughty tentacles. Look. I’ll see you in a few hours, anyway. I don’t want to run up your cell phone bill anyway. I’m glad you called, man. I’ll see you later.” He hung up the phone, and Jack found himself glad that he’d called Gary. He turned back to the bar. The television over the bar was turned to VH1, and Jack was surprised to see Doug O’Donnell on the screen. He nudged Mie.
“See him? I went to school with him also. This is turning into a very weird day.”
“You went to school with Doug Harris? Doug Harris the rock star?”
“Well, yeah. But he was just plain old Doug O’Donnell in those days. He played a pretty mean guitar back then. Not at all like that guy up there on the screen.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“It’s like, you know when I’m playing in Tadanobu’s combo, right, I’m playing sort of quiet background lines, right, good rhythm lines. But when I play at home, or if I’m not playing jazz, I play with some force.” She nodded at him. “Well, when Doug was in high school, he was into being the next Eddie Van Halen. But now he’s more like Elton John or Eric Clapton. He got big because he subdued his desire to rock.”
“Oh. Will we get to meet him? I like his music very much.”
“Yeah. Gary said he was going to be in town already, so he’s going to be at my mom’s service.”
“That’s nice. Any other famous friends I ought to be aware of?”
“As a matter of fact...”
The Honda Accord pulled off of Route 69, and Charlie drove up the familiar pathway through the woods. Pinewoods hadn’t changed much in the years since Charlie had headed off to the world, and as his car rolled out from the tree-lined drive into the main driveway of the house, he noticed one thing. The poolhouse was still there, but now there was a cupola at the top of the roof. Charlie wondered what that was all about. He hadn’t been here in fourteen years. He drove the Accord up to the main house. A golden retriever came bounding out of nowhere up to the car as he stopped at the front door, barking happily.
“Hey, you’re a friendly fella,” he said as he got out of the car. He leaned down and offered the dog his hand to sniff. After a cursory sniff, the dog allowed Charlie to pet him and scratch behind his ears. The dog followed him up to the front door as he rang the doorbell.
“Hang on a second.” A female voice called through the open front door. He thought he recognized it, but he wasn’t sure. He was surprised when Audra Ablett opened the front door. He recognized her, but at the same time, she looked different. He supposed it was the chestnut brown hair color, or the fairly plain overalls and t-shirt she was wearing. “Charlie? Oh, my God! Gary told me you were coming by, but I didn’t expect you until later!”
She practically leapt through the door and hugged him. “Look at you,” she said, “You look good. Not as good as your rookie year, but still...”
“Hi, Audra. How’ve you been?”
“Oh, you know. I’m still the same old Audra.”
“Well, not quite.”
“Oh, the hair? Well, you know, we all have our phases. Besides, a respectable soccer mom and gallery owner can’t go around with purple hair these days.”
“So, where’s Gary?”
“Still at the store. When I talked to him an hour ago, he was still trying to get the girl from Baker and Taylor to finish his orders for the week.” She opened the door. “Come on in. I guarantee you won’t recognize the place.”
And he hadn’t really. Some of Pinewoods still looked the same as Audra guided him through the house, but she and Gary had changed a lot of things. The house was a lot lighter now, he thought. The old design was a cross between a great big farmhouse and a Victorian mansion, but Gary and Audra had turned it into a sparkling modern showplace, while still retaining some of the country style. They walked into the large living room. On one wall, a fifty-inch widescreen plasma TV was playing VH1 Classic. Next to it was a framed, blown-up magazine cover. On it, Gary was smiling and holding the box for Nightfall in Middle Earth. The cover read “Gary’s Latest Masterwork: “Nightfall” Comes For You”. On the wall opposite the TV, there were shelves covering the length of the wall. These were full of DVDs and VHS tapes. Most of the VHS tapes had homemade labels on them. Below the TV, there was a large entertainment center full of various video equipment, including three VCRs and two DVD players. Gary walked over and looked at the videotapes.
“He still has all this stuff?”
“Yup. He keeps everything. Even watches a lot of it. You know how little he used to sleep? Well, he’s still that way.”
“Jeez. I noticed something odd as I came in.”
“The poolhouse? That’s a mini-observatory up on the roof. He spends a lot of nighttime out there. He and Colette are out there all the time.”
“Colette, you mean...” Charlie hadn’t seen her in years, and he didn’t know if he could deal with it.
“No. Our daughter. She’s ten, and a budding genius just like her father, except that she’s into astronomy, not computers.”
“Oh. I forgot. It’s been a long drive. Silly me.” As he said this, Colette came bounding into the living room.
“I’m all finished with my... Oh, hello. Who’s this, Mommy?” She looked more like Audra then Gary, he thought. She had long brown hair pulled back into a pony tail, and a spread of freckles around her nose and cheeks.
Audra smiled. “This is your Uncle Charlie. He’s an old friend of Daddy and Mommy’s.”
“You’re the hockey player, right?” She walked over and picked up a picture from a table in the corner. “That’s you, isn’t it?” Charlie looked down at the photo. It had been taken in this very room, on a snowy night fifteen years before.
Jack Shanahan and his girlfriend changed planes at Los Angeles International Airport. The flight from Narita had been a bumpy one, but not too horrible. They had to wait through a two and a half hour layover before their flight to Hartford, so they decided to have a bite to eat. They ended up choosing a faux British pub and walked up and sat at the bar. They ordered drinks and Jack pulled a battered address book out of his backpack.
“I should call Gary, let him know I’m coming in.”
“Who is Gary?” Mie asked. She didn’t really know much about Jack’s past, as he was loath to discuss his days in the States with her. She’d been with him about two years, and she’d come to understand that he was really almost as Japanese as she was, despite his white American good looks. As far as she knew, he’d given up his life in the U.S. to live in Japan.
“He’s a guy I used to go to school with. His dad’s an international player. Ablett Investments. But Gary’s a computer genius. You ever play “Realms Of Wonder”? Or “Nightfall In Middle Earth”? He created them when he was in college. Now he’s worth like, a billion dollars, and he runs a video store in the town next to the one we’re going to. He’s a bit uh, what’s the word...” Jack struggled for a second, trying to remember the Japanese for eccentric. “...henshin? Maybe kawarimono would be a better word.”
“Oh, I understand. He’s a bit unusual.”
“Yes. That would describe Gary.”
“Okay.” She took a paperback out of her purse and opened it as Jack took out his DoCoMo cell phone. He hoped it worked in the airport. He turned it on and saw that he had a nice fat signal. He was sure he’d end up paying through the nose for the call, but he dialed the number for Twenty-Four Frames that he’d copied off their web site anyway.
“Twenty-Four Frames, this is Brett speaking, how can I help you?”
“Uh, yeah, hi there, Brett. Is Gary Ablett around by any chance?”
“He’s in his office. Can I ask who’s calling?”
“Yeah. My name is Jack Shanahan. I’m calling...”
“Oh, yes, Mr. Shanahan. We all know who you are here. We’re terribly sorry for your loss.”
“Uh, thanks.”
“No problem. Let me transfer you upstairs.”
Jack was put on hold and sat waiting, listening to Ennio Morricone’s main title theme for “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” on the hold music. He was about to hang up when the phone clicked.
“Jack! How the hell are you?!? Wait. Forget I asked that question. Where the hell are you?”
Jack smiled despite himself. Same old Gary. “I’m sitting in a cheesy fake British pub at LAX, waiting for my flight to Hartford.”
“I should have had Dad send a plane over for you when your uncle called me and told me what happened. I’m terribly sorry about Anne. You know that we all loved your mom a lot. She was one of our best customers, you know.”
“No, actually, I didn’t. That’s nice to hear, man. Listen, have you seen the guys?”
“Yeah. Well, not with my own two eyes, not yet anyway. But they’re all coming down anyway. Bill works in the store with me, and Charlie and Doug were already coming into town. You know that Darrell Masters is finally getting hitched.”
“No. I hadn’t heard that.” Jack wasn’t a particularly big baseball fan, and U.S. baseball news in Japan was usually related to whichever Japanese export was having a big year in the majors.
“Yeah. Doug and Charlie are both in the wedding. Listen, give me your flight number, and I’ll call and make sure someone’s going to get you at the airport.”
“Someone from Uncle David’s law firm...”
“Don’t you worry about that. I’ll talk to David. He’s a good customer here also.”
Jack gave him the information. “Hey, it’s good talking to you, Gary. I feel guilty about not calling or anything.”
“Don’t worry about it. Anne always kept me up on what was going on with you in the land of Sailor Moon and naughty tentacles. Look. I’ll see you in a few hours, anyway. I don’t want to run up your cell phone bill anyway. I’m glad you called, man. I’ll see you later.” He hung up the phone, and Jack found himself glad that he’d called Gary. He turned back to the bar. The television over the bar was turned to VH1, and Jack was surprised to see Doug O’Donnell on the screen. He nudged Mie.
“See him? I went to school with him also. This is turning into a very weird day.”
“You went to school with Doug Harris? Doug Harris the rock star?”
“Well, yeah. But he was just plain old Doug O’Donnell in those days. He played a pretty mean guitar back then. Not at all like that guy up there on the screen.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“It’s like, you know when I’m playing in Tadanobu’s combo, right, I’m playing sort of quiet background lines, right, good rhythm lines. But when I play at home, or if I’m not playing jazz, I play with some force.” She nodded at him. “Well, when Doug was in high school, he was into being the next Eddie Van Halen. But now he’s more like Elton John or Eric Clapton. He got big because he subdued his desire to rock.”
“Oh. Will we get to meet him? I like his music very much.”
“Yeah. Gary said he was going to be in town already, so he’s going to be at my mom’s service.”
“That’s nice. Any other famous friends I ought to be aware of?”
“As a matter of fact...”
The Honda Accord pulled off of Route 69, and Charlie drove up the familiar pathway through the woods. Pinewoods hadn’t changed much in the years since Charlie had headed off to the world, and as his car rolled out from the tree-lined drive into the main driveway of the house, he noticed one thing. The poolhouse was still there, but now there was a cupola at the top of the roof. Charlie wondered what that was all about. He hadn’t been here in fourteen years. He drove the Accord up to the main house. A golden retriever came bounding out of nowhere up to the car as he stopped at the front door, barking happily.
“Hey, you’re a friendly fella,” he said as he got out of the car. He leaned down and offered the dog his hand to sniff. After a cursory sniff, the dog allowed Charlie to pet him and scratch behind his ears. The dog followed him up to the front door as he rang the doorbell.
“Hang on a second.” A female voice called through the open front door. He thought he recognized it, but he wasn’t sure. He was surprised when Audra Ablett opened the front door. He recognized her, but at the same time, she looked different. He supposed it was the chestnut brown hair color, or the fairly plain overalls and t-shirt she was wearing. “Charlie? Oh, my God! Gary told me you were coming by, but I didn’t expect you until later!”
She practically leapt through the door and hugged him. “Look at you,” she said, “You look good. Not as good as your rookie year, but still...”
“Hi, Audra. How’ve you been?”
“Oh, you know. I’m still the same old Audra.”
“Well, not quite.”
“Oh, the hair? Well, you know, we all have our phases. Besides, a respectable soccer mom and gallery owner can’t go around with purple hair these days.”
“So, where’s Gary?”
“Still at the store. When I talked to him an hour ago, he was still trying to get the girl from Baker and Taylor to finish his orders for the week.” She opened the door. “Come on in. I guarantee you won’t recognize the place.”
And he hadn’t really. Some of Pinewoods still looked the same as Audra guided him through the house, but she and Gary had changed a lot of things. The house was a lot lighter now, he thought. The old design was a cross between a great big farmhouse and a Victorian mansion, but Gary and Audra had turned it into a sparkling modern showplace, while still retaining some of the country style. They walked into the large living room. On one wall, a fifty-inch widescreen plasma TV was playing VH1 Classic. Next to it was a framed, blown-up magazine cover. On it, Gary was smiling and holding the box for Nightfall in Middle Earth. The cover read “Gary’s Latest Masterwork: “Nightfall” Comes For You”. On the wall opposite the TV, there were shelves covering the length of the wall. These were full of DVDs and VHS tapes. Most of the VHS tapes had homemade labels on them. Below the TV, there was a large entertainment center full of various video equipment, including three VCRs and two DVD players. Gary walked over and looked at the videotapes.
“He still has all this stuff?”
“Yup. He keeps everything. Even watches a lot of it. You know how little he used to sleep? Well, he’s still that way.”
“Jeez. I noticed something odd as I came in.”
“The poolhouse? That’s a mini-observatory up on the roof. He spends a lot of nighttime out there. He and Colette are out there all the time.”
“Colette, you mean...” Charlie hadn’t seen her in years, and he didn’t know if he could deal with it.
“No. Our daughter. She’s ten, and a budding genius just like her father, except that she’s into astronomy, not computers.”
“Oh. I forgot. It’s been a long drive. Silly me.” As he said this, Colette came bounding into the living room.
“I’m all finished with my... Oh, hello. Who’s this, Mommy?” She looked more like Audra then Gary, he thought. She had long brown hair pulled back into a pony tail, and a spread of freckles around her nose and cheeks.
Audra smiled. “This is your Uncle Charlie. He’s an old friend of Daddy and Mommy’s.”
“You’re the hockey player, right?” She walked over and picked up a picture from a table in the corner. “That’s you, isn’t it?” Charlie looked down at the photo. It had been taken in this very room, on a snowy night fifteen years before.
