Roy Allen and his daughter Sophie liked to get blasted on the last Friday of the month. It was a tradition which had lapsed somewhat due to Roy's job. These sessions usually ended with both of them falling asleep wherever they happened to be sitting, after laughing uproariously for 3 hours, but they hadn't managed to find the time for several months. Tonight, however, they decided they were going to go for it.
They started with whisky Bingo while they watched some useless TV quiz. They took a shot every time a contestant gave an unbelievably stupid answer. Needless to say they were quite well oiled by the time the programme finished.
Then Sophie rolled a joint and jammed it with skunk. As she passed it to her father she said:
"Dad, let's play '83 second story relay.'"
"We haven't played that for years. Good idea. Remind me of the rules?"
"Right, one of us starts a story and after exactly 83 seconds the other takes over. But, and this is important Daddy, they must not change any of the previous information."
Sophie was sat on the sofa while her father took the armchair opposite.
"OK," he said, "I'll go first. Start the timer. Hmmm...
Dennis DeVere was a fabulously wealthy man. When I say wealthy I'm talking tens of billions. He was the CEO of a very important company - probably hedge funds. Nobody knows.
"Well, he must know," said his daughter.
"Yes, he knows, but it's a secret. May I continue?"
She made the yielding gesture.
His daughter, Poppy-
"Poppy DeVere?"
"Of course Poppy DeVere, what else would it be?"
His daughter Poppy DeVere had just turned 18.
"Like me!"
Now Poppy DeVere was headstrong and she decided that she wanted to learn to fly. Fortunately her father Derek owned two planes-
"I thought you said his name was Dennis."
"Oh...yes, um, but they called him Derek due to his rather large nose."
Sophie scrunched up her face, took a deep drag on the joint, then nodded earnestly as she exhaled. "Makes sense," she said.
So Poppy-
"Hang on, what kind of planes?"
"What? Oh....usual kind. Wings and..."
"What make?"
"Um, a Sopwith Camel and a Boeing."
"He had a Boeing?"
"Like I said, he was very rich. To DeVere a Boeing was nothing, like us having a Lexus or -"
He belched rather loudly and took another shot of whisky, then a toke on the joint before passing it back.
Sophie looked very serious suddenly.
"Was DeVere a good man would you say?"
"Well if you let me finish the story you'll find out." He swayed a little in his seat unable to focus for a moment.
Now, DeVere was a good man, but Sophie-no Poppy knew that he would never agree to her flying his beloved planes, so she decided to take one up without him knowing. She reasoned she had been up with him enough times to get the gist, how hard could it be?
The buzzer sounded and Sophie took her turn.
It so happened DeVere was out of town on business, so she decided there was no time like the present. However there was a problem. She would have to ask their servant Huxby for the keys.
"Huxby?"
Now good, loyal Huxby was an old family friend whom his father had met at Trinity College in Dublin. He was of Irish descent-
"Oh God, you're not going to do the accent are you?"
She approached him in the kitchens where he was preparing a boar for roasting on the spit that evening.
Roy snorted.
'Ah tap o' the marnin to ye Miss Pappy-'
They had to break off while they laughed uncontrollably for a few minutes.
"This is Ireland in Jamaica is it?"
'An what can I be doin' for ye?' Poppy smiled sweetly and said 'Huxby I need to take up the Boeing, please give me the keys.' But Huxby-'
The timer buzzed.
But Huxby wasn't to be so easily persuaded. 'Ah Miss Pappy, ye know I kent dae it, arrr.'
"He's Irish Daddy, not a pirate."
"Well, actually! Funny you should say that because..."
"What?"
Her father stared at the floor for a few seconds then with a jolt said
"No, I've forgotten."
'Huxby, you surely don't want me to tell Daddy what you did? He would be very angry and would certainly sack you.' Huxby looked at Poppy crestfallen.
"Oh no, what had Huxby done?"
Roy looked at the timer.
"I was kind of hoping you would tell me but..."
He had been a fool. In a moment of weakness he had fallen to the charms of Poppy DeVere and taken her roughly from behind while she played badminton.
"Hang on, what? She was playing badminton and he just took her?"
"Well you know what Huxby's like. A beast."
"Well yes, but wasn't there another player? And didn't Poppy have a say in all this?"
"Again, if you let me finish."
It had been while she was playing Old Roger Thwy, the blind badminton champion. She had bent down to retrieve a shuttlecock and he had seen his chance-
Bzzz. Sophie took the baton
To shuttle a cock of his own.
"Slick," said her father approvingly, pouring a large whisky.
'Please Miss Pappy, don't tell yer faither, oi'll never get another job. Oi'll get ye the keys, but aim comin up with yous.' And so it was that Poppy and Huxby found themselves on the tarmac. Huxby wheeled over the metal stairs allowing her to climb to the cockpit. If you're lucky I'll give you a cockpit of your own, she thought...
"Alright, don't milk it," Roy said, laughing as he took over the story.
Now, it was a fairly blustery day, as indicated by the tumescent orange windsock at the end of the runway. As Poppy prepared to climb the stairs, she wished she'd dressed more appropriately.
"What was she wearing then?" asked his daughter.