Sugar Valley (Hollywood's Darkest Secret) (101 page)

He ran back to his house and got his
suitcases together, packing them, stuffing them, and tightening
some of them with all of his might; he didn’t want to forget a
thing.

While he packed, his father entered his room,
questioning with a smile, “Where are you going?”

“Well, Father, I’m actually listening to your
advice for the first time. I’m going back home, I’m going back to
Hollywood.” He wrapped his own arms around Damen, and hugged him
tightly, feeling the love inside of his heart as they both pressed
against each other. Letting go, and freeing the hug, Damen handed
his father a check, speaking, “Here, this is a little something to
help you and Mom out.”

“Damen, this is almost a million
dollars.”

Damen smiled, and spoke with sarcasm, “Well,
actually, it’s nine-hundred and fifty thousand.”

“Boy, you have turned into a smart ass.”

His dad gave him another hug, and then let go
moments later, wishing that he’d done that more often in the past,
but being happy that he started doing it now. “Tell Mr. Rodrigo and
Mr. O’Conner that I’ll make sure the money Jose and Darell made
will get to them safely. Also, if you hear from Greg, tell him to
leave his number here, so I’ll be able to get in touch with him.
Could you do that for me?” questioned Damen, grabbing his stuffed
suitcases.

“Sure, you bet I will.”

Damen kissed his mother goodbye and rushed to
the taxi that he called for already; he knew that he had a big
chance at missing Chuck. Realizing that Chuck didn’t know he
changed his mind about going back to Hollywood yet, Damen made sure
to tell the driver to step on it. As the taxi drove out of the
town, he turned his head around and took his last glimpse of Ridge
Crest, seeing the beautiful trees, and how they surrounded
everything, and gawking at the houses that were separated from each
other in such a beautiful and perfect way; this brought a tear to
his eyes. He rolled down the window of the cab, and allowed his
golden-brown hair to blow against the wind, inhaling Ridge Crest’s
aroma, the smell of innocent nature that caressed his nostrils in a
delicate way.

Reaching the small airport, Damen pulled his
head back in the cab, and exited it while telling the taxi driver
to bring the suitcases into the terminal. He handed the driver a
fifty-dollar bill and then proceeded to run toward the airport,
knowing that time was definitely against him. He ran inside and
walked up to a desk, asking, “Excuse me, ma’am, did a large jet
leave yet?”

“Do you know if it’s a private jet?” the lady
questioned, getting ready to type up the name on the computer’s
monitor.

“No, but I know the passenger’s name. His
name is Chuck Fritter.”

The lady began typing the name into the
computer while the cabdriver placed the suitcases by the lady.
Damen just waited there nicely, yearning to know the answer about
Chuck’s presence, wanting to hear it being said by this woman.
Damen saw the cabdriver exiting the airport, and then turned to see
the woman’s facial expression while she typed away his information.
Abruptly, disappointment came over Damen’s features, hearing this
woman saying, “I’m sorry, sir, but Mr. Fritter left ten minutes
ago.”

“Oh, alright, thank you.” Damen walked away
from her and sat down in a seat that was right next to a bathroom,
grinning away, finding out that Ridge Crest was going be the place
to stay, and seeing humor in it; the worst always happens for him.
He knew there was a chance at missing Chuck, and he made an
agreement, that if he missed him, he’ll stay here, and never go
back. Damen sat there for about a minute, understanding his fate,
his destiny, his way of life that has become Ridge Crest only, when
suddenly, through the airport’s structure, Damen heard a voice
asking, “So, is this goodbye, or hello?”

He looked up and saw Chuck standing by the
bathroom door, grinning toward Damen. “Chuck?” Damen jumped up and
hugged him, adding, “But the woman over there said you’ve left
already, where were you?”

Lingering out of the airport’s structure, and
onto the outside area where airplanes park themselves, Chuck
responded with, “No, my flight was going to leave ten minutes ago,
but I had a stomachache, so I went to the bathroom here. What could
I say, I couldn’t hold it.”

Damen walked up the stairway that led to the
jet as Chuck followed. “Thank God,” spoke Damen.

“So, Damen Schultz, are you ready for
Hollywood again?”

Damen stopped on the last stair, right before
the doorway to the airplane, and suddenly ran back down the
staircase, saying, “Wait a second, I forgot something.”

“Your suitcases?”

Damen ran back into the airport, and Chuck
lost sight of him. After five minutes, while Chuck was waiting in
the comfort of his jet, Damen came back, entering into the jet’s
body, and showing himself to Chuck again.

Damen walked in and stuffed luggage over
Chuck’s head in a storage compartment, hearing Chuck speaking,
“Damen, why don’t you leave your suitcases outside so the airline
workers could put it in the storage compartment?”

“Because, these aren’t mine.” After his
words, Jessica and Maria entered the jet. “These are Jessica’s
suitcases. All of her things are in here. My suitcases, along with
Maria’s, are already in the back storage compartment. I told her to
meet me here, and she did.”

Maria and Jessica got buckled in their seats,
while Damen just smiled toward Chuck, knowing that he was still
confused and finding it humorous.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you had guests coming
along,” said Chuck with a mild smile.

Damen sat next to Maria, gazed at her eyes,
and responded, “No, they’re not guests, they’re moving out there
with me.”

The attendant closed the jet door, and the
plane began moving down the runway. Chuck still sat silent, but
then spoke, “Oh, well, is this the Maria you’ve been talking to me
about?”

“Yep, this is the one.” Chuck realized that
because of Maria and Jessica, Damen grew the strength to go back to
Hollywood. Chuck looked at the way Damen smiled at Maria and
Jessica; it was as if they were Darell and Jose. But, Chuck noticed
that Damen gave a much more serious look when he stared at Maria,
that is, the look of someone who’s destined for prosperity; the
look of pure peacefulness, and the look of fragileness as he
touched Maria with his hands.

The plane started to move faster down the
runway as Chuck questioned, “So, whose child is that?”

“Well, it’s a long story, Chuck,” said Damen,
feeling the plane beginning to lift off the ground.

“Well, we have a while till we get to our
destination,” Chuck announced with a smile. The plane moved quickly
over Sugar Valley, but that’s when Damen looked out the window and
saw his last view of the Valley and his last view of Ridge Crest.
He grinned toward it, closed his eyes, and imagined himself in it,
and then turned to see Chuck’s interested face.

Damen gawked at Chuck and held onto Maria’s
hand, saying to him, “Okay, Chuck, here it goes.”

Chapter Eighty-Seven

While Damen held onto Maria’s hand, the
feeling of happiness came to his heart, the feeling that he’s been
waiting for a very long time.

I’m at the Oscars again.

Damen thought those specific words repeatedly
as the Master of Ceremonies was ready to call out his category.

“I know you’re gonna win,” spoke Maria,
dressed up in a designer evening gown that matched the color of her
red, passionate hair. Damen gave her a delicate kiss on her
scrumptious lips, and held her hand, while staring at her eyes of
exquisite, divine beauty.

The sweat dripped off his face and fell upon
his tuxedo, feeling nervous to be in the same place that Jose’s
life was taken from, and nervous for the fact that the Oscar trophy
might go to him.

“Yeah, you’re the best actor here, you have
to win this category,” said Chuck, patting Damen on the back.

Little Jessica kissed Damen on the face,
saying with a candid voice of righteousness, “Good luck, Uncle
Damen.”

Time passes so quickly, healing some wounds,
keeping others opened, but still passing by, not waiting for
anyone. It passes quickly to some, and to others it lingers about
in every moment they share with it, but overall, it ticks away,
like their heart, pumping to a beat, waiting for them to
acknowledge it and look up to it. Damen did, he realized a long
time ago, some years to be exact, and his pain was about to end
with closure of a moment he predicted.

The Master of Ceremonies began speaking,
“Well, this is the last and final category of the night. I know
that most of you are wondering if the night is ever going to end. I
mean, it’s only been about three hours since we started the
ceremony.” The audience began laughing at his sarcasm. “Before I
read off the nominees for the best-actor category, I would like to
take a moment into discussing the proudness that this final award
is going to bring. Now, everyone knows that this is 2002, and this
Oscar will be the final Oscar given in this year. As you all know
already, the Oscar ceremonies have not been on in awhile, due the
tragic incident that took the lives of Jose Rodrigo, Tom Fryer, and
Julienne Wells. But, through the years, we were able to take in the
strength to do the Oscar ceremonies once again. So, just to remind
you that whoever wins, will go down in the history books as being
the winner of this final award that is being given out after a long
and traumatic sabbatical of the Oscar ceremonies.” The audience
began clapping. “Now, since I got that out of the way, let’s begin
to start reading the nominee names. The first one is Charles Selem,
for his role in ‘Beauty Talks,’” the M.C. announced as the crowd
began applauding.

Hearing the echoes, to Damen’s ears, of the
audience’s glee, made his smile grow to a higher lift, and his eyes
open wider. “Are you nervous?” Maria whispered to Damen.

Damen looked at her, kissed her on the hand,
and whispered back, “No, not anymore.”

“Good luck, Damen,” Chuck said.

The M.C. finished calling the third nominee,
without Damen even acknowledging his words. But then he did,
hearing the M.C. speaking, “And the last and final nominee is Damen
Schultz, for his role in ‘Sugar Valley,’ which is based on his own
story.” The people began applauding harder and faster for Damen’s
name, like they looked up to him, craved him, and were proud of
him. “And now ... the Oscar goes to,” the M.C. announced before he
dropped the envelope. Damen was watching closely as the M.C. picked
up the envelope, bending his body down to the floor, picking it up
in slow motion that was irritating to all that saw; they just
wanted to hear the name already. Maria began squeezing Damen’s
hand, but stopped when the M.C. finally spoke, “Sorry about that.
But, the Oscar goes to,” the M.C. announced in a loud and excited
voice, pulling out the name from the envelope. Maria started to
squeeze Damen’s hand again, but stopped for the last time when the
M.C. added, “Damen Schultz, for his role in ‘Sugar Valley.’”

“Oh my God, you won,” Maria yelled out before
she kissed Damen on the lips.

“Congratulations, Damen,” Chuck yelled with
Damen getting up and giving him a hug.

Damen grabbed his journal that was lying
under his seat, and began walking down the aisle. Intriguing
enchantment came to his eyes, awe came to his heart, and a bit of
closure came to his soul, walking down this aisle that not many
people have the privilege of doing. As he past each row, the
audience members got up and gave him a standing ovation. Damen felt
the proudness rush to his head, and the fact that he was almost
finished with the final part to his dream, the final part that
included reading his speech. A web of unlimited honor, ruptured and
folded in happiness, rushed to his brain, and leaked out of him by
showing a smile to his image. He suddenly couldn’t hear any noise,
and when he looked at the stage that he was about to walk up to, he
saw Sugar Valley, and didn’t bother closing his eyes to get rid of
the image. Walking up the marble stairs that led to the stage, he
stood right by Sugar’s lake, but turned around and blinked his eyes
at the crowd. He did that to make a memory, a memory that he
deserved to have. He turned his neck to look at what was behind
him, and Sugar was still there, in his mind’s eyes, transforming
itself to being reality right there and then, the way it should be
always. He reached the podium and took the Oscar with his right
hand, while shaking the Master of Ceremony’s hand with his left. He
placed his journal on top of the glass podium and opened it up to
the last page, still feeling Sugar’s hallucinating-like body behind
him, and gazing out at the audience below him; that’s when he began
his speech.

“Um, wow, I can’t believe it. I know this is
a live ceremony, so I’ll make it fast,” spoke Damen.

The M.C. walked back to the podium, and spoke
into the microphone, “Damen, you can take as long as you want,
you’re royalty of Hollywood.” The audience began clapping.

“Thank you. Um, first I would like to thank
my best friend, and my agent also, Chuck. Without him, I probably
wouldn’t be up here right now. Um, I also would like to thank my
parents, whom I know are watching this program right now. I just
want to say thank you for raising me right, and I love you. I also
would like to thank my beautiful wife Maria, who has helped me
through the hardest time of my life,” Damen announced, seeing
Jessica clapping. “Oh, and also I would like to thank my Jessica.”
The audience began laughing as they looked at Jessica’s cute smile.
“Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank Darell
O’Conner and Jose Rodrigo. As you know, they were my best friends
and they passed on some time ago. Before we all came to Hollywood,
we all had a dream of one day standing on this stage and saying our
speeches while holding this beautiful trophy,” he announced,
looking down at his journal and then gawking at the audience
again.