Hollywood

by Ed Nelson

  Once they found out they couldn’t get around the patent they would then have a business decision to make. Was there a market for this device? What should they pay for this? In my letter I had indicated that it wouldn’t be an exclusive license.

  That meant that one of their competitors might be selling the product. They would have to decide if they could afford to fall behind in the marketplace. The other thought was that by having multiple licensees it would make my negotiating position stronger with each of them.

  I could walk away from any individual company if they were too far out of line on their offer.

  Undoubtedly the various companies would want to meet. Dad would be handling that. He would go to their offices if need be. If they came to Bellefontaine, Tom Donaldson had agreed that they could meet at his shop and he would have all the parts that had been made on display.

  It would be explained that they were the prototype shop and that Jackson Engineering worked out of our home address. I would probably be in California when this all occurred so they may never know they had been dealing with a teenager.

  After discussions with our Attorneys and a phone call to Mr. King, Judy’s dad and head of the Western Electric plant in Columbus, I decided to ask for an upfront fee of ten thousand dollars and ten percent of gross sales.

  The upfront money was firm. The gross sales was negotiable and Mr. King told me I should be happy with anything over five percent. The Donaldson’s were satisfied with this. As minority partners in this project if all six companies bought in they would receive ten percent of the upfront money. This would give them each almost a year’s salary, and though they had helped a lot it was more than generous.

  When it came time for Spanish I pestered Mrs. Hernandez for some new words, like profit, loss, residuals, taxes and any other capitalist term I could think of.

  She laughed at me and said, “I don’t think Senior Castro would like you.”

  I didn’t think I liked him so we were even.

  I was too wound up for serious reading so I reread Tom Swift and his Motorcycle. I could relate to my fellow inventor. Though I thought his life as portrayed was a little unrealistic.

  Saturday morning started out normal. That lasted until I came back from my run. The weather was okay, it was dull out, low overcast and cold, high twenties. I took my shower drying my hair with my new hair dryer. I did manage to find some leather to wrap the handle from an old scout project.

  As I was eating Mum told me.

  “After breakfast go put on your best suit and tie.”

  “What for,” I inquired.

  “You have enough going on we thought we would spring this on you. Today you are going to receive the keys to the City of Vincennes Indiana. It will also be filmed by Warner Brothers as part of the television special they are making for the movie, The Cowboys.”

  “ Like the rest of the nation, the studio saw the picture of you carry the little girl out of the burning building. They called us and confirmed it was you. When they found out that Vincennes wanted to present the keys of the city, but time was limited they arranged all of this.”

  “They have rented the Ohio National Guard armory for the day. We are due there at ten o’clock, so go get dressed.”

  Talk about being blindsided! At least I didn’t have time to get worked up over this. When we arrived at the armory it was like a circus. The Mayor of Vincennes and all of his family were there. Mary and Ruth ran to each other and hugged like long lost friends. There was handshaking all around.

  The movie crew had put a set in place. You would think I was being presented the city keys in the Mayor’s office. It was like I pictured a movie set would be. The Director who was introduced as Juan Rodrigues walked us through what we had to do for the presentation.

  They had script writer’s work with the Mayor on his speech. The Mayor told me he would like them to help with his stump speech for his next campaign. These guys were good!

  We did several walk throughs of the presentation. Mayor Hobbs had practiced his speech till he had it down cold. The whole thing might have been done in one take if two certain little girls hadn’t decided to go for a run, right through the middle of the set as we were filming. I learned several new Spanish swear words.

  Unfortunately for Mr. Rodrigues so did Mary. She asked him what they meant, and she asked him in Spanish. I didn’t know anyone with such a dark complexion could blush as deep a red as he did.

  He stuttered and stammered until I bailed him out. Denny and Eddie were laughing too hard to be any help. The entire exchange had been in Spanish, with the exception of several people in the film crew no one else knew what had been said.

  I told him, “We speak a little Spanish in our house so be careful of what you say around the children.”

  He gave a little bow and that was the end of that or at least it appeared that way.

  We proceeded to go through the presentation. On the side Mum, Dad and the Roses, Bill and Melissa were talking like old friends. After the shoot, refreshments had been set up so we all had coffee and donuts. While we were talking I noticed that Mr. Rodrigues had Mary in various poses up on stage while still pictures and film were taken. It appears my little sister was auditioning for something!

  I pointed this out to my parents who promptly cornered Mr. Rodrigues. He explained that he thought she was cute as a button and that she might be considered for some child roles.

  After protracted discussion with Mum doing a lot of the talking a blank release was filled out. It permitted the pictures and film to be shown to studio executives who might need a child actress. There was no commitment by any party as to work or accepting future work. This was all exploratory.

  Mr. Rodrigues explained that while Mary was pretty in a childish way what really sold him was her Spanish.

  “It’s a very educated Spanish. Not a Castilian lisp but still very high class sounding. The difference between Mary’s speech and the average Mexican is like the difference between British and American accents. She just comes off as high class. If there is a need for an Anglo girl that speaks high class Spanish she would be a natural. Of course odds are that there never will be a need, but we are always on the lookout for unique talents and people.”

  I thought about that in the context of character and method acting. Mary would be a character actress and in fact wouldn’t be acting the part. She was the part. She would just have to be able to deliver the lines. I would have to think about my movie role. I was to be a young cowboy, maybe I should dress like one all the time on the set. That would help keep me in the cowboy character.

  Next I was cornered by George Weaver. He had to get an interview for the Bellefontaine Examiner. He told me that following my actions was becoming a regular part of his beat. We talked a little while. I shared with him how I had been blindsided this morning. He asked how I took it.

  “Well it certainly was a surprise. It is like finding out you need to learn to swim because you have just been thrown into the deep end.”

  “Does this bother you?”

  “I’m learning you had better be able to take a joke because life is full of them.”

  “Like having to clean up the school property?” he asked with his gap toothed smile.

  ‘I’m never going to live that down am I?”

  “Oh maybe around 2010, but by then you will be bragging to your grandchildren about it.”

  As a family we had lunch at Isley’s restaurant.

  The rest of the afternoon was spent painting rooms at a new duplex Dad had just closed on.

  Chapter 14

  That night I continued to read about acting. It appeared that it was more work than I ever imagined. One point the author made over and over that any acting project whether it was a play, a movie or TV show it was a team effort. The actor is the focal point of the audience, but the actor is only part of the equation.

  It took the whole team to make it happen and as such the actor should treat their fellow worke
rs with respect. This made so much sense I didn’t see why he even mentioned it once much less keep repeating it. I had spent time on a movie set, but it was with real professionals like John Wayne, maybe they weren’t all like him.

  Sunday was my last day to see Cheryl. I saw her in church and we decided that we would say good bye at the roadside rest near the radio station. It was half way between our houses and we would be alone, but in a public setting. We didn’t discuss why we wanted it to be public.

  We met after lunch at the rest area. We sat at a picnic table and talked for a long while. There really wasn’t much for us to talk about anymore. We rehashed the great desk theft. She apologized again for not being there to help with the punishment.

  Her parents were making her sweep out the house and wash the baseboards as her punishment. She would have been helping anyway so it wasn’t that bad. They wanted to leave the place spotless for the next occupant. At the level her Dad was now it was as much perception as reality. He would be getting his star next week and the family was really looking forward to it.

  I was finding out that in the upper ranks it took all the family playing their parts to be successful. One bad move by a child could ruin the chances of a promotion. I just thought I had to behave myself!

  Finally we had no more to say. We kissed goodbye. It turned out to be more than I thought it would. It went from a kiss to passion. We both drew back and looked at each other. Her eyes were as big as saucers.

  I unsteadily said, “I think we had better stop.”

  She nodded yes, but then we clung to each other for the longest time. We kissed again and parted. I walked about fifty feet and turned to watch her walk away. She was looking back at me. We both waved and turned again. I think I turned quick enough that she didn’t see the tears.

  Monday it was light snow, the sort that wouldn’t stick. I was able to run, but can’t say I enjoyed it. I prefer warmth and sunshine to snow and cold weather. I think college will be someplace warm. Even though we were Ohio State fans didn’t mean I wanted to suffer through any more Ohio winters if I could avoid them.

  Maybe I could do a movie in California every winter? This was a nice dream anyway.

  This was the week of semester exams. I had most of mine on Monday and Tuesday, nothing on Wednesday, Latin on Thursday and nothing on Friday. It would be an easy week for me. We would be going to San Toy, Ohio on Wednesday. I was anxious to see what a ghost town looked like. I had seen them in the movies, but never in real life. I bet it would be spooky.

  My Eagle ceremony was on Saturday, and I had to pack for California on Sunday.

  The first thing at breakfast Mum and Dad wanted to talk about was my trip to California. It was not as simple as I thought. I had to have a source of funds while I was in California.

  Unbeknownst to me the studio had been talking to Dad. My studio checks would be deposited in the Bank of America, it had been arranged with a branch near my apartment in Hollywood for me to be able to draw out two hundred dollars a week in cash.

  This was news to me, an apartment in Hollywood! I had given no thoughts as to where I would live while filming. The studio had. I wouldn’t be the first child actor they had used. As Mum called him I would have a minder out there. He would be the head stunt man for the movie by the name of Dick Wyman.

  He would have my power of attorney for any illness or medical emergency I might have while in California. My apartment would be next door to his. Part of his job was to make certain I got to work and back each day. He would be paid extra to make certain that I received the support I needed and did what I was supposed to. There went my immediate thoughts of Hollywood parties and young starlets. From party animal to boring in sixty seconds!

  Actually when I thought about it, which I hadn’t till now, I’m glad that people were watching out for me. I had never really lived on my own. My cooking skills were limited. My interest in doing laundry and house cleaning were non-existent, so I had given them no thought at all.

  My test schedule for today was from 8:00 to 10:00 Algebra, 1:00 to 3:00 Biology. Tuesday was 10:00 to 12:00 English, 1:00 to 3:00 World History, finally on Thursday 10:00 to 12:00 for Latin. From past examinations I knew that I would take no more than one and a half hour for each exam and that would include going over everything twice.

  Dad had been kind enough to write a note about my picking up trash for one hour after school every day. Since we wanted to go to San Toy on Wednesday he offered my services from 10:00 to 12:00 today. Then 8:00 to 10:00 Tuesday, Thursday 1:00 to 3:00 and ending up with 8:00 to 12:00 on Friday.

  I pointed out this was ten hours, instead of the five the school required. He reminded me of the policy at our house, whatever punishment you got at school beyond detention you got again at home.

  There are times you argue with your parents, this wasn’t one of them. Though, from the smirk on Mum’s face I had to wonder if I was being punished for moving the desk or for getting caught.

  When I took the note to the office Mr. Gordon was called out to review its contents.

  He smiled when he read it. “I love it when parents support us at school. It would be a nightmare to be a teacher if parents fought us instead. This is very acceptable Mr. Jackson. See Mr. Brown after your first exam.”

  After my Algebra exam I went to see Mr. Brown in the janitor’s workshop. He was pleasant about everything. I was given a rake, shovel, wheel barrow and a pair of gloves and told to clear out under the bleachers by the football field. I was to start with the visitor’s side. I would be doing good to get that done today.

  I managed. It really wasn’t that bad and I picked up one dollar and seventy nine cents in change, so at ninety cents an hour I would be making forty five dollars a week if I did it full time. I wonder if I could go from school to school with a bleacher cleaning service.

  My aching back from working under the bleachers persuaded me to forget that. Also from some of the trash, people had been having sex under the bleachers. I wondered when they did this, certainly not during the game.

  I saw the three Tom’s at lunch. They all had similar receptions at home. None of them had their punishment extended at school, but had extra chores assigned at home. We all agreed that it was totally unfair to have to do more than the school required. Tom Pew joined us at lunch for a change. He normally sat with his buddies in the shop class.

  It made it easier for all of us since our table was the center of attention during lunch. Other kids came up and told us how insane, stupid, idiotic, and dumb we were, and that they wished they had thought of it, except they wouldn’t have got caught! I noticed Tom Humphries sitting by himself. He was still being shunned.

  Humphries looked totally dejected. Those of us that were caught were being treated like heroes. He had worked within the technical rules and was a bum. I could see that wasn’t fair, but I wasn’t ready to forget and forgive. I had given up the idea of getting even. He was paying a price for his actions.

  After school we were still having our Spanish sessions. I showed my acting and film making books to Mrs. Hernandez. She gave me the Spanish words for the technical terms used in film making. I also asked about the terms cowboys used. I found out that remuda, dinero, latigo and vaqueros were common western terms that were really Spanish words.

  The only two I wasn’t familiar with from my reading were remuda, which was the string of horses a cowboy would have on a trail drive. Latigo was part of the cinch and got its name from the latigo leather used. It was a particular brownish red color.

  I hand wrote out a list of about fifty terms and then typed them up. This turned out to be our lesson for the day. We agreed to use the words tomorrow. Denny had the good idea that we could chose different technical books like one on airplanes and learn specific terms for those. Eddie wanted to do cars. You could see Mary getting frustrated so I ran upstairs and borrowed one of Mum’s cookbooks.

  I brought it back down and set it on the table between me and Mary without saying anyt
hing. It sat there as we continued talking.

  All of a sudden Mary exclaimed, “I want to learn Spanish for types of cooking!”

  We all agreed this was an excellent idea and that we should do it later this week. Mrs. Hernandez winked at me.

  She said, “Mary I understand there are a lot of Mexican restaurants in California, you may have kept Rick from starving to death.”

  Mary liked this idea. She didn’t want me to go hungry.

  As she very solemnly said, “Rick is a growing boy he needs to eat or he will catch his death.”

  That night I started a book I had been meaning to read for a long time. It wasn’t fiction but had been referred to many times in books I had read. It was an old Scottish book on the economy and how it affected countries. It was written several hundred years ago and the language used was difficult and thoughts presented even harder. This would not be my usual hundreds of word a minute read.

  The first section talked about an economy couldn’t grow unless there was a division of labor. The more labor was divided the larger the economy. I had a hard time wrapping my head around this until I put it together that if one person could do everything they needed, there would be no economy. As soon as two people had different items the other wanted, an economy was born. There had to be a reason to trade.

  As people became more specialized in what they produced they had to live close to each other to obtain what they needed to live. When they lived close to each other they had to have common rules on how to act, these became laws. There had to be makers and enforcers of laws. That is how cities and countries were born. I fell asleep on that thought.

  Chapter 15

  Tuesday was more exams and cleaning under the bleachers on the Bellefontaine side of the field. I only found ninety eight cents there. The bleacher cleaning business was definitely not going to happen, at least by me. While I was raking under the stands I was thinking about my trip to Hollywood.