Illusiveone
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50 (2) : Redoing my Life, A New Hobby
🕑 Added 2024-03-27 05:05:37 +0000 UTCI chuckled as I put my phone aside, shaking my head at the ridiculous conspiracy theory that labeled me as the antichrist—a theory Matt found amusing enough to share. But I had no time for that as I had to go to Jay's house. Last night, when he and Gloria came over for dinner with Mom and Nathan, I asked him about getting into collecting model airplanes. It was something I would never have thought of doing, but I guess it is my "rich guy/celebrity" thing now to have weird collections.
Last night
I had just returned from Matt’s house when I saw Gloria and Jay preparing to leave after having dinner with Mom and Nathan.
“Hola Daniel, how are you?” Gloria said, spotting me enter the house.
“Hey, Gloria,” I said, greeting her, then turning to greet Jay. “Jay, good to see you again.”
“Hey, did you come back from the studio?” he asked.
“Nothing like that. I was just at a friend's house,” I replied.
“So, Daniel, how are things going with Haley?" Gloria asked, a knowing smile on her face.
"It's going really well," I replied.
"That's wonderful to hear," Gloria responded, her smile widening.
“Right, I forgot you were dating Haley,” Jay said, remembering the fact.
“Well, it is a recent thing,” I said.
“Well, we have to get going. Mary, Nathan, thank you for a wonderful night,” Jay said, saying goodbye to Mom and Nathan.
"Actually, Jay, I've been meaning to ask you something,” I said, remembering Haley mentioning Jay had a hobby of collecting model planes.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I've been thinking about starting a new hobby—model plane collecting."
"Model planes, you say?" He said, his smile widening. “Well, I do know something about model planes,” he added.
“Ayy, what are model planes?” Gloria asked.
“It's the small planes…” Jay began to say.
“Oh, you mean your toys,” Gloria said, realizing what it was.
“It's not a toy…” Jay said, frustrated. “Look, kid, if you are serious about it, come by the house on Sunday. I’ll show you my collection; it will help you get started.”
"That sounds amazing, Jay. I'd love that."
“Good. I’ll see you Monday,” he said before leaving with Gloria.
I looked at my heavily pregnant mom looking at me, confused. “Model planes?” she asked.
“Well, it's my celebrity thing... you know,” I replied.
Jay and Gloria’s House
I was about to knock on the door when, to my surprise, it opened to reveal Manny wearing a bag and Gloria behind him.
“Ayy, look, I told you your playdate is here,” Gloria said, looking at what I assume is Jay.
“Hey, why can Daniel fly planes with Jay and I have to spend the day with Luke?” Manny complained.
“I told you before, Manny, you're going to spend the day with Luke,” Gloria said.
“So…” I began, trying to get their attention.
“Come in, Daniel. Jay is in the kitchen with his toy plane,” Gloria continued.
“It's not a toy,” I heard Jay say from the kitchen.
“Have fun,” Gloria said as she and Manny left for the Dunphys. I watched them leave. Manny was a good kid; I had babysat him a couple of times last year. While he can be a bit annoying at times, he was fun to be around and was vastly mature for his age. Thankfully, he had gotten over the guilt of the whole award incident, and it had become something for us to laugh about.
I made my way to the kitchen, following the sound of Jay’s voice. He was standing at the counter, his attention fully on the model airplane in front of him.
“Jay,” I greeted.
“Ah, Daniel, perfect timing,” Jay responded without looking up, his fingers deftly adjusting a tiny component on the model. “I just bought this one,” he said, motioning to the RC model plane on the counter.
“Now watch me put this together; you might learn a thing or two,” Jay said.
I watched as Jay expertly assembled the whole thing. He explained the process, pointing out the importance of each piece and its function. After some time, it was complete.
“Alright, let’s fly it,” I said eagerly.
“Not yet. I have to fix another one first, so we can fly that,” Jay said as he went to get his broken plane. Jay returned to the kitchen, cradling the remains of a model plane—not just any model plane. As he laid it on the counter, my eyes widened in recognition—it was the same plane that had crashed into my car windshield.
“Hey, Jay, did you crash this plane near Spencer's Point?” I asked.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Jay asked, surprised.
"Because this plane crashed into my car and broke my windshield," I said, sure that Jay was the one who crashed it.
Jay's eyes widened. "That's impossible. There was no one there when I found it. Are you sure it was this one?"
"Yes, I'm sure," I insisted, recalling the distinctive markings on the plane that matched the one Jay was holding. "I was there, Jay."
The room fell silent for a moment as Jay mulled over my words, his expression shifting between confusion and realization. "But why were you at Spencer's Overlook?" he inquired.
I was about to answer then I realized I was talking with Haley's grandpa, and he would know that Spencer's Overlook was a popular spot for teen couples. What was I about to say? That I was at second base with your granddaughter, going for third, when your plane interrupted us?
"I was just there, you know, enjoying the view," I attempted to deflect.
“You were with Haley, weren't you?” he asked.
“Yeah, I was,” I quickly admitted. There was a long awkward silence between us, broken when I finally decided to pretend the incident never happened. "Jay, maybe we can just forget this whole incident, huh? Let's just say it never happened and leave it at that," I said, offering a nervous smile.
“I think that would be best. Now come on, you are going to help me fix this one,” he said, leading me to the living room.
As we were about to sit down, the doorbell rang. “Who could this be?” Jay muttered, clearly annoyed. He walked over to the door as I looked at the damage on the very familiar plane.
“Hey, Jay,” I heard Phil’s voice.
“Phil, what are you doing here?”
“I thought we could hang out.”
There was a brief silence before Jay responded again. “So, you just want to hang out?”
“I brought six friends,” Phil answered with an awkward laugh.
I could hear them come in, and I was right; it was Phil, who had a pack of beer with him. “Daniel, what are you doing here?” Phil asked, surprised. Jay spoke up before I could answer.
“He's helping with fixing my plane,” Jay said, sitting down again. I looked at Phil and gave a smile, which he returned, now making things ten times more awkward. Jay continued to work on the plane, explaining how the components worked, all while Phil just stood behind us smiling awkwardly. Jay seemed to be getting annoyed by it, finally addressing the matter.
“Do you have to just stand there? You’re making us uneasy,” Jay said.
“Umm…” Phil responded.
“For God’s sake, sit down. You can help Daniel hold this wing in place while I fasten this,” Jay added. Phil hesitated a bit; I gave him a reassuring smile, and Jay waved him over.
After half an hour, Jay declared the plane to be fixed, and then, for some reason, we sat there in silence for a few minutes, with Phil occasionally breaking the silence by throwing questions my way.
Silence…
I was really thinking of calling it a day, but I really wanted to see the plane fly or even be the one to fly it.
“So, want to go fly it?” Jay asked, finally breaking the silence.
“Sure,” Phil and I answered simultaneously.
.
.
.
Phil and I stood and watched as Jay flew the model RC plane through the sky. I would compliment him on how good he was, but he did crash this same plane onto my car last week. Phil kept trying to engage with Jay, who only gave non-committed answers. He did explain to me how to fly it, as he promised me that he would.
“Now, can I try it?” Phil asked.
“No,” Jay responded curtly.
Phil's face fell slightly, but his enthusiasm remained undimmed. “I should get one of these. I’ve always loved planes,” he mused, turning to me.
“Yeah, that’s why I am here,” I responded.
“Maybe you and I should go look for one together,” Phil said.
“Umm... sure, why not? It could be fun,” I replied to a very excited Phil.
Phil then looked at the distant aircraft and paused for a moment, then asked, “Hey, what would happen if you turned the remote off and then back on real fast?”
Jay gave Phil a sidelong glance, a slight smile tugging at his lips. “Yeah, you would have been a great pilot,” he said dryly.
Undeterred, Phil continued, “So, can you do a loop-de-loop?”
“I could if I wanted to,” Jay replied.
“No,” Jay repeated, his attention still fixed on the plane. Wow, this was not Phil’s day; these two seem to have an awkward relationship.
“I can see why you like this. It’s so peaceful. The whole world disappears when you’re out here,” Phil remarked. I nodded along, agreeing with him; it was kind of peaceful.
“I remember this one summer—” Phil began to say but was quickly interrupted by Jay.
“Tell you what. There’s another trick called ‘threading the needle.’ I used to do it with Claire and Mitch when they were kids. You wanna try it?” Jay offered.
“How does that work?” I asked, intrigued.
“You grab one of those hoops over there and go stand way, way at the end of the field, and I fly the plane through it,” Jay explained.
“Oh, that sounds cool,” I said, walking over and grabbing the hoop. “Can I go first?” I asked.
“Sure, kid, go and stand at the end of the field,” Jay said.
“Hey, I wanted to hold the hoop,” Phil said as I walked away with the hoop.
“You can hold it after him,” Jay said.
I walked to the end of the field and stood there with the hoop raised high. “Okay, I’m ready,” I yelled out.
"That’s good. Now stand still! Don’t move!" Jay shouted back.
I watched Jay maneuver the plane through the sky, its wings catching the sunlight as it dipped and soared. I held the hoop steady, my eyes locked on the approaching model. The plane looped back around, its nose pointed towards me. My body was telling me to move, but I stood firm. The plane zoomed closer, its engine a distant whir, growing louder with each second. I remained motionless, trusting Jay’s skill as the plane aligned with the hoop. With precision timing, the model dipped slightly and sailed cleanly through the hoop, mere inches from my grasp, before ascending gracefully into the sky again.
"Did you see that?" I called out.
"Great job, Daniel! You didn’t flinch!" Jay complimented from across the field.
I lowered the hoop and jogged back towards them. As soon as I reached them, Phil took the hoop from my hands. “Okay, now my turn,” he said before running to the end of the field.
I stood and watched as Jay flew the plane with Phil excitedly standing at the end of the field. As Jay was about to bring it through the hoop, I noticed it was flying a bit off course.
“Hey, isn’t that a bit close? You might hit Phil,” I said, watching the plane.
“Don’t worry about it,” he responded.
I was proved right a few moments later when the plane headed straight for Phil, who didn’t move out of the way. The plane collided with Phil, the force of the hit knocking him down violently.
“Oh, fuck, you hit him!” I exclaimed.
“Oh jeez, umm... He moved,” Jay said.
I ran over to Phil, with Jay following behind me. Phil was lying there, sprawled on the grass, groaning, clutching his nose. There was blood coming out of it.
"You hit me," Phil managed.
“Yeah, he hit you,” I said, kneeling down before him.
Jay knelt beside the model plane. "You must have moved. I told you to stay still," he said as he examined the plane.
"I didn’t move!" Phil insisted, trying to sit up, only to wince and lie back down.
"Try not to talk," Jay advised, his attention fixated on the model plane. "I want to make sure nothing’s broken."
“We have to get him to the hospital,” I said, helping Phil up.
Jay threw me the keys to his car. “Go start the car. I’ll bring him over.” Taking the keys, I went to where the car was. Jay, Phil, and I drove to the hospital, where they treated Phil. I waited with Jay as he examined his damaged plane.
“Not as damaged as last time,” Jay said.
“Do you think he will be okay?” I asked, annoyed by how Jay was treating the whole incident.
“He will be fine,” Jay replied. “Look, there he is,” he added, pointing to Phil, who was being wheeled out by a nurse. We drove with a drugged Phil to the Dunphy house. I wondered how Haley would react to all this.
Jay and I carried Phil into the Dunphy house, maneuvering carefully to place him on the couch in the living room.
“Clear the way,” Jay instructed as we entered. Claire, alarmed by the sight, immediately rushed over. “What happened?” she demanded.
I saw Haley coming down the stairs. “Babe, what are you doing… oh my god, Dad, what happened?” she said, rushing down. I saw Gloria and Manny walking over from the kitchen as well.
“Just a little accident. Nothing big,” Jay tried to downplay the situation, but Phil, still groggy from painkillers, interjected, “I was in a plane crash.”
“Will somebody tell me what happened?” she asked, examining Phil. Haley looked at me for answers. “Jay hit Phil with a model plane,” I explained.
“We were threading the needle, and somebody moved,” Jay explained, attempting to simplify the incident. Phil, despite his dazed state, corrected him, “No, I didn’t. You did it on purpose.”
“That’s the painkiller talking; he’s a little loopy,” Jay dismissed. “How bad is it?” Gloria asked.
“One of the wings is cracked, and the propeller is bent, but I can—” Jay began to say, taking the plane from my hands.
“I mean Phil,” Gloria interjected.
Phil, still affected by the medication, repeated, “I was in a plane crash.”
I saw Haley looking at the plane in Jay's hands and saw recognition flash over her face. She gasped, pointing at the plane. "That's the plane that hit your car!"
The room fell silent for a moment as everyone turned their attention to the plane. "Jay, you hit Daniel too?" Gloria asked.
I quickly interjected, "No, no, it wasn't like that." I did not want anyone to know Haley and I were at Spencer's Point.
But Haley, caught in the moment, blurted out, "Yes, it is the plane! We were there, making out, and then—" She abruptly stopped, her eyes widening as she realized what she had just revealed.
“What… Haley?” Claire began saying. “Haley was doing what?” Phil said.
“Oh, look at the time, I have to go to the studio, you know, for movie things,” I said, making an excuse to get out of there.
“Let me walk you out,” Haley quickly added, pushing me toward the door. I could hear Claire calling out for her.
Once we walked to the driveway and saw Cam and Mitchell coming, they had an assortment of items in their hands. “Hey, what are you lovebirds up to?” Cam asked.
"I was just leaving, and what's with the..." I gestured towards the random collection of things they were carrying.
“Oh, Daniel, have you been to Costco…” Mitchell began saying but was interrupted and quickly dragged away by Cam. “Bye, Daniel,” Cam said over his shoulder as they walked into the house.
“So, you are coming to the concert, right?” I asked Haley.
“Of course, I am. I just have to convince my parents,” Haley replied.
"Good. I’ll Skype you later," I said, leaning in to kiss her.
Just as our lips met, a sudden realization hit me. "Wait, I just realized I came here with Jay," I said, breaking the kiss.
“Well, that’s too bad… You wanna make out in the garage?” she suggested with a playful grin.
I returned her smile. “Well, there is a chance we could be caught… let's do it,” I said, as she led me to the garage door.
.
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Comments
Icy Hot
I find it interesting how the family keeps asking questions about how he’s famous, like how Jay asked if he was coming from the studio or how Claire asked if he was making another horror movie.
Gintoki Sakata
Hah. Poor Phil. But he did move jk
