40
PART ISAN REVI EW
Ba rton sta red up a t Mrs. Ra kotoma la la, but she peered stra ight
a hea d , as if mesmeri zed by th e metronomi c sweep of the windshi eld
bl ade.
" Keep them out! " shouted someone from the rea r. To our amazement
the da rk-skinned woman pull ed on th e leve r and the doo r cl osed in o ur
faces. The school bus pulled away.
Arthur rema ined next to the buttermilk Buick, whi ch was spilling its
exha ust over the ground. I got into the back. Ba rton climbed in next to
th e cha uffeur, where he co uld pretend to steer a nd pretend to step on the
gas . We started down Sunset but turned surpri singly onto Sepul veda,
we ll befo re Westwood Boul eva rd.
"Arthur, where a re we go ing?" I as ked. "Aren't we go ing to schoo l?"
"No, sir, Miste r Ri cha rd. Go t no time now to ta ke you to th e Juni or
Hi gh. Mi ss Lotte and Mi ster N o rman took th e midni ght a irpl ane. Got
to hurry or we going to mis s th em. "
Which expl a ined why he wove through the mo rning tra ffi c a nd
unch a racteri stica ll y sped through the ye llow lights. We pulled o ff a t
Centu ry Bouleva rd and after onl y a few blocks the ca nvas top of the
convertibl e bega n to rippl e a nd a huge Constell a ti on passed ove rhea d ,
its propell ers whirring a nd its fl a ps full y down.
"Th ere they a re! It's them! "
I wa tched the la nding gea r descend. I wa tched the three rudders fi sh–
ta il and sink from view. "M ay be it is, Ba rti e. M aybe th a t 's the pl ane.
Th ey a lways fl y TWA."
" Don't be stupid. Lotte was in th e window. She had a ha t on. With a
fea th er. Not like the one on TV. "
All a ny o f us kn ew fo r ce rta in was tha t by the time we' d pa rked the
car a nd made o ur way to the ga te, Fli ght
J
21 2,
Was hington to Los
Ange les, had la nded. There we re, as yet, no passenge rs in sight. O r, if
th ey'd started down the red ca rpet, we couldn 't see them beca use o f th e
press of photographers a nd repo rters. There were mo re o f them here
tha n in the hearing room. Fo r a moment I wondered whi ch sta tesma n
o r mov ie star they'd come to gree t; but a t the sight o f H edda Hopper,
li cking th e point o f her pencil between her pa inted lips, I unde rstood
they were a ll here fo r my fa the r. There were ro pe lines, just as there we re
a t one of N orma n's premi ers. At the rear on th e o ppos ite side I saw
Arthur ho lding hi s ca p up, th e way o ther people held signs.
T here was a stir. I ra n to the end of the ca rpet, where the c rowd had
thinned out. Two men in uni fo rm , w ith a stewa rdess between them,
we re coming down th e a isle, pulling their luggage behind in w ire ca rts.
Pil ots, perh a ps. Then th e fir st-cl ass passenge rs bega n to come through
