Harry
& Garry
By
Lee
Dixon
Harry
and Garry started out as identical twins. While
they may have been externally identical, internally it was another matter.
Harry seemed to seek trouble, while trouble sought Garry.
During their adolescence, the relationship between the two boys seemed to
exist between a state of toleration for each other and pure animosity.
As they left their teens the toleration and animosity was replaced by a
state of indifference and the brothers drifted further apart.
During their entire childhood their parents maintained no sense of
wellbeing toward their children. The
parents were too involved with their own lives to even recognize the existence
of their children. They were on
their own at an early age.
Both
boys would have probably drifted into obscurity had it not been for a single
event in
Up,
up, up, he rose faster than he ever had expected.
In a few minutes he was over a thousand feet into the air, looking down
at people and cars that were starting to become the size of ants.
He had made no plans for which way the wind would take him.
It could just have easily have blown him out over the
They
immediately closed the airport and either diverted arriving aircraft to other
airports or made them orbit away from Harry.
Harry slowly floated across the airport as the wind shifted and blew him
toward the east. The Los Angles
Police were immediately notified and helicopters were dispatched.
In just a few minutes there were both police and traffic news helicopters
all over the place. As the first
helicopter closed in to get a better look the turbulence almost knocked Harry
out of the lawn chair. He motioned
for them to get back. They moved
away.
In
less than an hour Harry went from obscurity to the hottest news item in all of
After
several hours of drifting Harry could see the
Harry
was charged with operating an airborne vehicle without a license and also for
entering the controlled airspace around
To
many people Harry was a hero, perhaps a crazy hero, but still a hero.
To others he was just plain crazy. To
his family he was just plain crazy and for the most part ignored him as much as
possible.
Meanwhile
Garry started college at
The
night before the examine Garry's girlfriend talked him into going out to a nice
dinner at a place called Benihanas. She
felt that a little relaxation might be perfect before a good nights sleep.
Benihanas is a Japanese restaurant chain where the patrons sit around a
stove/table and the chef prepares the meal before their eyes.
Each of the stove/tables seat several people so when just two people come
in they are expected to join a stove/table with other patrons.
Garry
and his girlfriend were early and therefore seated at a table alone.
They had just ordered when another couple was seated at the opposite end
of the table. Being a gentleman, Garry
stood up and introduced himself and his girl friend.
He reached out to shake hands with the other gentleman and since the
distance was a little further than which he was comfortable, Garry balanced
himself by placing his left hand firmly on the extremely hot stove top.
He
recoiled instinctively but the damage was done.
He had terribly burned the palm and fingers of his right hand.
Blisters formed before his eyes. As
he watched his hand redden he could just shake his head for Garry was
left-handed and there was no way he could write well enough to take the Bar
Examine the next day.
After
putting the hand in ice, they went directly to the emergency room at the
hospital. When they walked up to the
counter the two people behind the counter were beside themselves with laugher.
It was all the two people could do to stop laughing long enough to help Garry
with his hand.
It
was only a short wait and while the medical personnel looked at Garry's hand,
his girlfriend learned why the two people had been laughing.
A man had come into the emergency room with a fish hook in his nose.
The woman behind the counter had received the best of training but
unfortunately nothing had prepared her for this.
Dangling from the fish hook was a plastic salamander and every time the
man spoke the salamander jiggled around in front of the man's mouth.
The woman had tried to keep her composure but every time she asked the
man a question and he responded, the salamander jiggled.
She had left the room several times but finally had to ask someone else
to replace her because she was laughing so hard.
Finally
Garry emerged from the back just as the man with the salamander before him.
Garry's hand would eventually heal but he wouldn't take the Examine until
another time. At least he would have
longer to study.
Harry
took a job working at an airport. He
would refuel little planes and wash the windscreens when they came in for fuel.
After a few months Harry had saved up enough money to take some lessons
himself. He was learning how to fly
legally this time.
He
had gotten to know several of the people around the airport so he wasn't
surprised when another fellow asked him if he wanted to be his copilot for a
trip to
The
other fellow just about broke even but Harry had lost more than he planned.
They caught the bus out to the airport to return to Los Angles.
Harry was about half asleep as they finished the pre-flight inspection
and climbed into the cockpit. They
taxied out for takeoff and everything was going fine.
As the other fellow pulled onto the runway he gave it the gas and the
airplane started to accelerate. He
looked over at Harry who still had a long face from his gambling losses and
said, "Cheer up." Harry
thought the fellow had said, "Gear up," and immediately reached over
and pulled the lever for the gear. The
airplane settled onto the pavement destroying the propeller and scraping its
belly. In a cloud of sparks and dust
the airplane slides to a stop at the end of the runway.
The
fire trucks were there in no time and sprayed the airplane to keep it from
catching fire. Eventually a crane
arrived and moved the airplane out of the way.
Harry and his friend went back to Los Angles on a bus.
He still sends a check to his friend once in a while to help pay for the
damage to the airplane.
After
a few more months Garry took the Bar Examine and passed.
He worked at a couple of different law firms with average success.
He had just changed law firms when he was asked to represent the firm at
an American Bar Association conference on terrorism.
The previous firm had hated to see Garry go and at a luncheon for him had
given him an eel-skin briefcase. It
was beautiful. In fact the first
real time he had to use it was at the terrorism conference.
Garry
arrived early the morning of the conference and found several messages for him
on the board. He went inside and
placed his briefcase on an empty chair to reserve a seat.
The place was starting to fill up. The
telephone calls took longer than expected and so Garry wasn't there when the
conference chairman announced as the first item of business that a bomb threat
had been received and would everyone please vacate the auditorium so the police
could search it.
Everyone
was asked to take their personal belonging with them so as they were leaving
someone mentioned the briefcase that had been left on the chair and the fellow
had not returned. The bomb squad
then took a tiny battery powered saw and cut a large round hole in the side of Garry's new briefcase. They
carefully pulled the contents out and discovered only papers.
When
the bomb squad decided it was safe to return, the conference got underway.
In fact the first speaker had only started when Garry returned to his
seat to find a briefcase that had been destroyed and papers lying around.
When he asked the meaning he was told about the bomb threat.
He picked up his papers, shook his head, and went back to his office.
Garry had learned about terrorism firsthand.
Today
Harry and Garry drop each other a card at Christmas and that's about it.
Garry keeps saying he's got to get over and see his parents but he never
has time. Harry doesn't even claim
to try. He just hopes someday to get
his pilots license, even though he knows it will never be as much fun as the
balloon ride over Los Angles.