Whiskey Bottles & Wild Flowers: Meet Rick ‘Hollywood’ Neven
Richard Eric Neven was the fourth eldest out of nine. The Neven family lived in a house way too small for all of the bodies that lived there. It was a three bedroom house with the master being taken by his parents, Douglas and Marsha, the second biggest being taken by all of his sisters (3), and the boys (6), getting the smallest. It didn’t make sense that the girls got the biggest room, considering there was less of them.
The boys had to have two people in the single beds at all times and forget having friends over, that was a fat chance getting one of the brothers to move outta their bed for a guest. The girls had extra space and could walk into the room without knocking into another bed frame. Rick promised to himself that when he turned eighteen, he’d get outta this hell hole and never look back.
Which is the start of many fights with his parents on what he’s gonna do after he’s old enough. His parents never believed in him, always being rude and hateful towards him. They acted like they didn’t want him, which wouldn’t surprise him one bit considering how drunk or high they are most days that they can’t even find work. The family paid the bills by each kid getting a job, or two, at fifteen and saving up.
Between all of the siblings, they could just make it by. Rick worked the hardest, took every shift he could and stayed out of the god forsaken house for as long as he could before the old battered up truck came down the road looking for him. He did his homework at school and at the library most times. He needed good grades to get out of here, as quickly as possible. And when he finally achieved that, and got to graduate early, he took that chance and joined up the next day.
This started the second fight, it was a yelling at the top of your lungs and pretty ugly. Marsha accused Rick of not wanting to be part of the family anymore, doesn’t care what happens to them if he leaves, and that he doesn’t appreciate anything that his parents do for him. Rick didn’t like the sound of this, and told Marsha that they haven’t done anything for him in years! They didn’t even go to his graduation because they were busy drinking and getting high!
Of course, being the ‘man’ of the house, Douglas had to step in and tell Rick not to raise his voice at his mother, which only made him more temperamental. How could they do this to him and not be proud of him wanting a better life than the one he grew up with. With one last remark, Rick packed his things and left to a buddy’s house.
Once Rick had made it to basic, he didn’t think he’d get any letters from his loved ones, he only just left the mailing address to his friend that let him stay until he left for basic. The envelope showed his mother’s sloppy handwriting, and so with a deep breath, he opened it, and surprise, surprise. It was a letter filled with hateful and rude remarks and curse words. It even smelled like the cigarettes she’d light up after a good stiff drink, most likely drunk off of Jim Beam or the Captain.
He didn’t even finish the letter before trashing it, he’s not going to sit around and read what she’s got to say to him if she’s not going to say it to his face. The next letter he received that day was of his father’s handwriting, just as, if not more sloppily written as his mothers. He didn’t have the patience for his parents, so he trashed that one too.
When Marsha and Douglas realized that they weren’t getting letters back, they recruited the other children to help, unknowingly to them. The envelope would have one of his siblings handwriting and he could see that they’d been tampered with, but thought of how the younger kids might’ve forgotten something.
As soon as he realized what is parents were doing, he had written home for the first time. He cussed out his mother and father for taking his letters from his siblings that he hasn’t heard from in months and missed incredibly. He said all of the things he’d been thinking of for years, finally getting that off his chest felt like a boulder lifted off of his chest.
The next letter had two sentences; You are no longer a son of mine. Richard Eric Neven, you are now, until the end of time disowned from this family and cannot have any type of contact with anyone with the Neven name. How could they just pretend he doesn’t exist? He cried that night, and he’s very thankful that his bunk mate, Leonard Wolfe, had kept that quiet.
The next morning when Leo had asked if he was ok, Rick spilt all of the bad memories that were locked in his head to him. Leo shared some of his painful memories too. This made the two men closer and by the end of basic, best friends. The two were paired together for Pilot and RIO, and when they graduated, took pride in their tight bond in and out of the sky. It was that, and Rick’s flying that out them at the top of the list to go to Top Gun.
It was amazing flying with other pilots who were just as, if not better than them (not that they’d agree to that). The two men were known to be laid back and humorous at times, that being seen on the first day when whispering ‘This gives me a hard-on’ and ‘don’t tease me like that.’
After the mission that was handed out at graduation was over, the big guys at Washington gave the pilots some leave. Rick didn’t really wanna leave San Diego, but after Wolfie had pestered him enough, he gave in. Leonard had told stories about the chaos of his two best friends, but he forgot to mention one small detail… Baylie, or Duckie, as she liked to be called it seems, was very beautiful.
Rick, even though he had been warned many times before by Leo, tried to flirt with her. Which got him nowhere unlike it usually did with the opposite sex. I mean, come on, his callsign is ‘Hollywood’ for Pete’s sake! He knows he’s attractive!
Weeks went by without any progress with Duckie, so he tried a different approach; Friendly. It seemed to work just fine, because the next couple of weeks she was nothing but sugar, spice, and everything nice. Then while Rick and Duckie are talking in the woods, she grabbed his face and kissed him.
As soon as it was over, Duckie all but hauled ass back to her house. Rick just stood there confused, what had just happened. Was this real or another dream? It turned out to be real when he could still feel the ghost of her lips on his. He smirked, and headed back the ranch.
When the other pilots visited, it was a huge help around the ranches. Work seemed to be done faster and the days shorter as fun followed the group everywhere. Rick was thankful to see his friends again and not have to deal with Leonard by himself anymore.
He thought that Leo in San Diego was Buck Wild, boy was he wrong! Hometown ranch Leo was far more crazy and always getting into trouble by someone! The others saw this side of him and felt bad for his pilot, even though it was overruled by the humor they saw in Leonard’s behavior.
After the other aviators left, Leo asked Cricket to their first official date, which ended early and horribly. Rick and Duckie had gotten a call from their respective best friends and told all about the failed date. Rick dropped Duckie off at her own house before driving to his friend’s family’s house. Leo came stomping into the house and slammed the door before treading up the stairs and to their shared room.
He sat silent for a bit, then got up and followed his friend. It took hours, but Leo finally told him what had happened and how badly it went. It was quiet for a few minutes before Leo’s head popped back up and he started to pack up his duffle bag, tossing Rick his own.
He signed regrettably, he didn’t want to leave just yet! Rick just got Duckie to like him, and they just started dating! He also couldn’t not go with his best friend who so generously let Rick into his home and meet his family and friends. When they got off the plane back in Miramar, the drive was silent as they drove to Rick’s house.
The weeks after that were nothing special, he stuck to his schedule; 4 am wake up call, 4:15 breakfast ate, 4:30 showered, hair and teeth brushed, 5:00 out the door. It was so boring without Duckie’s energy radiating off of her, she made even the most repetitive jobs feel fun!
One day after being on base all day, sweaty and smelling of jet fuel, he decided that he’d take a shower before cooking dinner, only to be interrupted mid rinse by the doorbell. Regrettably, he got out of the shower, wrapped a towel around himself and answered the door. When the door was opened, he couldn’t believe what he saw, it was Duckie! He pulled her into a sweet kiss before leading her inside of the house.
The girls stayed for a few weeks before returning home, and as the couple continued to date, and the time apart got too much, the guys had made the decision to ask their girlfriends to move in with them. Rick had been with Duckie for three years before he asked her to marry him. The wedding was beautiful, tears shed and laughter heard in every corner. He had the best wife any man could ask for in his opinion, and he’d stick by that.
Duckie and Rick were married for a couple of years before the subject of children was introduced. Both agreed on only two kids, coming from a household of 5 and 11. Duckie didn’t care what the gender was, as long as the baby was healthy. As for Rick, he wished for two healthy, beautiful daughters. When the appointment to see what each baby would be, Rick held his breath and prayed for a daughter, and when the wand showed it was in fact going to be a little girl, he cried.
It took Rick by surprise when he realized he was crying again. He kisses AJ’s little forehead before doing the same to Duckie, whispering, ‘Thank you Baylie.’ A confused look crossed Duckie’s features as she asked, ‘What for Rick?’ ‘For coming into my life, I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better woman to come into it and change it into something so perfect.’
Duckie smiled and rolled her eyes, ‘Oh shut up Pretty Boy!’ Rick looked at AJ with admiration in his eyes before looking back up at Duckie, ‘I’m serious Bay…without you, I’d still be seeking conquests. You changed all of that.’ Duckie just melted in his embrace, she was the only one who got to see that Rick could be an emotional guy.
The day that Addie Kate was born, Rick knew what was coming, the emotions and overwhelming intrusive thoughts. He also knew that no matter how long he held Duckie’s hand as the doctors performed the surgery, that he was gonna cry. Both of the parents were scared of the outcomes from the birth and now hard it would be for Duckie to recover.
But that was all washed away the second Rick and Duckie heard her screams, tears filling both of their sets of eyes. He kissed Duck’s forehead and went over to the nurse to hold his new born daughter for the first time after he cut the cord. He was overjoyed by the healthy baby, especially when they were told that there was something wrong and the doctors had to do an emergency C-Section.
He cried again later that same day when AJ came skipping into the hospital room in her princess Belle dress and plastic tiara smiling wide at her new sister. He explained to her how to hold Addie, and after that, cried at how much love AJ had for a baby that was only brought into the world six hours prior to knowing her. Rick could tell that his daughters would be just like their Mother and Aunt Cricket; partners in crime for life.
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