Chapter 8: Cindy Gets Angry

Chapter 8: Cindy Gets Angry

Less than five years earlier the airport had been among the most modern in the world. Many people thought that it still was. They were wrong. Few people realized how old-fashioned Lincoln International had become.

Passengers usually saw nothing but the main terminal, with its bars, restaurants and shops. They did not notice that there were not enough runways. This meant that there was a take-off or a landing every thirty seconds on the two main runways, and when the airport was very busy the Meadowood situation made it necessary to use a runway which cut across one of the other two. The result was that planes were landing and taking off on flight paths which crossed one another.

The people who worked in Air Traffic Control knew exactly how dangerous this was. Only a week before Keith had said to Mel: ‘There hasn’t been a crash here yet, but one day there will be. I only hope that I’m not on duty when it happens.’

Now, as Mel rode in the snowplough, he watched the rapidly moving lights of a plane as it took off. Then, almost unbelievably close to the first plane, he saw more lights as a second plane landed.

‘They were close,’ the driver said. Frighteningly close, Mel thought.

Mel had often spoken about the need for more runways to the Airport Committee and to the City Council - the people who controlled the airport’s spending. They refused to believe that a new airport had become too small so quickly.

Perhaps Keith was right, and there would have to be a big crash before they would be able to see the situation as it really was.

A decision had to be made soon, Mel knew. The airport must either look to the future or fall back into the past. The same was true of Mel himself. Only a short time ago he had been spoken of as a young man who would get to the top in aviation. Now many people doubted whether he could.

At the end of the runway he left the snowplough and drove back to the terminal in his own car. He was thinking about what had happened to him only a few years before.

He had been president of the Airport Operators’ Council then, and the youngest man ever to reach that position. One day he had made a speech to the Council about the future of air transport. He had spoken of the need for good and imaginative planning in airports all over the world, and his speech had been well received in many different countries.

Next day, he was invited to the White House to meet President Kennedy. He found that he could talk easily to the President, and that they agreed about many things. On more and more occasions the President began to ask Mel’s advice about aviation. Great success seemed to be close for him.

Then President Kennedy was killed. His early death was a terrible shock to the whole nation, but Mel felt that he had lost a friend. Later he realized that the new President did not intend to ask him for advice. He was no longer the promising young man of aviation.

When he reached the terminal he spoke to Danny Farrow.

‘Any news about the Aereo-Mexican plane?’

‘No, I’m afraid not.’

‘Where’s Joe Patroni?’

‘Still on the road.’

‘Let me know when he gets here,’ Mel said.

‘You’ll be at a party, won’t you?’

Mel stopped and thought. He had told Cindy that he would go to the party, but now he felt that he should stay at the airport.

‘No,’ he said. ‘I’m not going to the party.’

‘Then I think you ought to ring your wife.’ Danny told him. ‘I’ll give you her number now.’

Mel rang her immediately. There was a moment’s silence while he waited for her to come to the phone. Then he heard her voice say sharply: ‘Mel, why aren’t you here?’

‘I’m sorry, but I couldn’t leave. There’ve been some problems here. It’s a big storm, and-’

‘I don’t want to listen to excuses! Just get here fast!’

Her voice was hard with anger. Mel tried to remember her as she had been before their marriage 15 years ago. Her voice had been soft and gentle then. She had been an actress, although not a very successful one. Later she liked to claim that she would have been a great success if she had not married Mel.

‘I’ll be at the party as soon as I can,’ he told her.

‘That isn’t good enough. You should be here now. You promised you would come!’

‘Cindy, I didn’t know there would be this storm! We have a runway out of use-’

‘You have people working for you, don’t you? Or are they all so stupid that you can’t leave them?’

‘No,’ said Mel. ‘They’re all highly trained workers, but I’m responsible for what they do. That’s my job.’

‘You don’t behave very responsibly to me and you’re my husband. Isn’t that more important?’ Cindy replied.

Mel realized that she was ready to explode with anger. He pictured her looking more beautiful than ever with her big blue eyes flashing. Cindy was a very attractive woman, and anger made her more attractive. In the past their quarrels had only made him feel that he was lucky to have such a beautiful wife. But now he noticed her beauty less. She never complained about this change in him, and this made Mel think that perhaps she had found a lover. The sad thing was that he did not really care whether she had or not.

‘I don’t want to spoil your fun,’ he told her. ‘I know you like going to parties, but I don’t. What I would enjoy are a few more evenings at home with the children.’

‘That’s not true,’ Cindy said. ‘And you know it.’

He felt himself grow hot with anger. He tried to control himself, but it was impossible to control Cindy. Her voice was angry but low, and Mel guessed that she didn’t want the other guests at the party to hear her.

‘I’ll come as soon as I can,’ he said again.

‘Everyone else’s husband is here already. Unless you intend to leave the airport immediately, please don’t come at all! But if you decide not to come it will be the end for us. Do you understand me?’

‘No, I don’t think I do,’ Mel said slowly. ‘Will you tell me exactly what you mean?’

‘You understand all right,’ Cindy said, and put the telephone down.

As he walked back to his office, Mel’s anger grew. Unlike Cindy he did not lose his temper easily, but now he was burning with anger.

He was angry not only with Cindy, but also with himself. He felt that he had failed in more than one way. He had failed to make a success of his work in aviation and of his marriage. His children would suffer because of his failures.

In his office he threw off his coat. It fell on the floor and he left it lying there. He lit a cigarette, but it tasted terrible and he put it out immediately. His foot hurt.

Long ago there had been a time when Cindy had understood his pain. She used to make him take a hot bath and try to help him to forget it. Now she would never do that again.

In sadness, he put his head in his hands.

When the telephone rang he did not hear it at first. Then he answered it. ‘Bakersfeld here.’

‘This is Air Traffic Control,’ he heard. ‘We have an emergency.’