Tommy - The Trials and Tribulations of a Girl? - Chapter 60

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Tommy
The Trials and Tribulations of a Girl?

A Novel By Teddie S.

Copyright © 2018 Teddie S.
All Rights Reserved.

Chapter 60
The last day, for now.

It was Sunday morning, our last full day here. I was lying in bed enjoying the feeling of Amy’s naked body cuddled up to my naked body. I’m glad Amy came up with the idea of sleeping in the nude.

Yesterday had been a good and a bad day. A fun time at the dance competition had turned into a bad time thanks to Chief Peshlakai, and I’d almost put an end to the scholarship thanks to him. But thanks to Dibe I hadn’t. And Ajie, Naainish, and I had had a long talk with Dibe’s family.

But today we had to get ready to head home. And this time instead of flying, we’d be driving.

Amy and I finally got up and dressed, and when we wandered out into the house, we found Mr. and Mrs. Fairbrother sitting with my aunt and uncle in the living room. We said good morning to everyone. We then learned that the Fairbrothers had stopped in to say goodbye to my aunt and uncle.

Mr. Fairbrother asked, “Did you two enjoy the dance competition yesterday?”

“Yes.”, I replied. “It was interesting and a lot of fun.”

“How did your friend do?”

“She did well.”

“How well?”

With a smile, I replied, “Well enough that you judges named her best female dancer.”

“Really! She’s a great dancer.

“She seems to have a strong drive to do well in everything she wants to do. And she’s impressed the both of us.”, I said.

“Yes, she does have a strong drive.”, Amy added.

“How do you know her?”, Mrs. Fairbrother asked.

“When Kai did the photo shoot for the resort's brochure, she had told them that they should find a local girl to do it. But, they insisted that they wanted Kai, and she said that she’d do it if they found a girl that she could donate her fee too. That’s when Kai’s aunt and uncle came up with Dibe. And the rest is history.”

“What is Dibe planning on doing?”

“She wants to be a doctor.”

“Wow!”

“Kai.”, Mr. Fairbrother said. “We did witness you, Ajie, and a man storm across the arena after the awards, and talk to her. And then what appeared to be you saying something to the Chief. And he appeared to take it badly.”

“Yes.”, I said.

“We took the liberty to ask your aunt and uncle about it. And they wouldn’t say much.”

“I’m glad. It’s a private thing. Between the Chief, Ajie, and me.”

“I can appreciate that.”

“Thank you.”

The Fairbrothers then said they had to go, as they were going to do some sightseeing before going to another competition in southern Arizona. And as they said goodbye, Amy gave them our ’so long’ speech.

After they’d left, my aunt asked, “What are you two doing today?”

With a grin, I replied, “Hopefully learning to make frybread.” And with a sad face, I added, “And then getting ready to go back home.”

“I thought this was our home.”, Amy quietly said.

“Amy. Honey, don’t.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Amy.”, my aunt said. “Remember you are always welcome here. Maybe look at it as your second home?”

“I do.”

My aunt taught Amy and me to make frybread. The only problem that she had was keeping Uncle Paul and me from eating the freshly fried frybread. After we finished making the frybread, we turned them into breakfast tacos. Hmm. Frybread tacos for dinner last night and frybread tacos for breakfast today. Yum.

We made the tacos out of potatoes cut up in small chunks, queso fresco cheese, sour cream, beans, and hot sauce. We put all of that on the frybread, added two slices of bacon, and a fried egg on top. Oh, my! Yummy! And Uncle Paul was happy.

I could have eaten two of them, but Amy told me that if I did my clothes wouldn’t fit. So I didn’t. But I did take a small frybread, buttered it, and covered it in honey. Another, oh my!

After I recovered from breakfast, my uncle, Amy, and I sat down with a couple of roadmaps. We laid out two routes. The first was directly home from here. The second was home with a detour through the Rocky Mountain National Park.

I could tell that Amy wasn’t in a hurry to get back home, and would love to take the detour through the park. So we decided to go home through the Rocky Mountain National Park.

My uncle said that there was a nice motel in Winter Park, Colorado, and it would take us about six hours to get there. Then the next day we could just follow Route 40 to Granby and then follow Route 34 through the park, to Route 36, then into Estes Park, Colorado.

My uncle also told us that if we stayed at this particular chain of motels all the way home, that they would help me route my trip to the next stop, and even call ahead and make a reservation for us. It sounded like a plan to me.

My uncle then called the motel in Santa Fe that was a part of this chain and had them make a reservation at their motel in Winter Park. As he hung up the phone, he said, “Okay kids you have a reservation in Winter Park for tomorrow night. And the reservation is under Tom Young.”

“Thanks, Uncle Paul.”, I said.

“No problem, Kai.”

“Now the next problem.”

“Next problem?”

“How do we keep all of the silver jewelry safe?”

“Yeah, that could be a problem.”

“Kai, honey.”, my aunt said. “You could borrow that locking case.”

“Thanks, Aunt Ruth. But wouldn’t that be almost advertising that we were carrying something expensive.”

“Yes. I don’t know what else we could do.”

“Ruth, do we still have that old camera bag?”, Uncle Paul asked.

“Yes.”, Aunt Ruth said. “Good idea. A lot of the tourist crowd carry camera bags. You’d fit in.”

“You could also leave it in the motel office safe, I think they have those, but you’d probably have to inventory it in front of the manager.”, Uncle Paul said.

“I’d feel better having it with me.”, I said.

“I can understand that. Did you get a copy of the appraisal to your insurance company?”

“I sent a copy to my dad and asked him to take it to our agent. So, that problem’s solved.”

“Are there any others?”

“Only one that I can think of.”

“What's that?”

“Getting Amy in the car with me tomorrow.”

Amy glared at me, and said, “Brat! You know I’ve resigned myself to going home and finishing my degree.”

“I’m sorry honey.”

“You can always come back next Summer.”, Aunt Ruth said.

“I’m not sure. I’ll have my nursing license, be working, and be starting on my masters. It may be hard coming back out next summer.”

“Honey.”, I said. “You know if there is a way, we will.”

“I know. It’s just so hard to leave here.”

“I’d like to be here when Dibe graduates next June.”

“That’s right. She’s a senior this year.”

“Damn.”, I said.

“What’s wrong?”, Amy asked.

“Larry and Kelly’s wedding.”

“Oh yeah. I forgot.”

“We can’t forget. We’re in it.”

“Have they set a date?”, Aunt Ruth asked.

“Not that we know of, but it’ll be after Larry graduates next June. Kelly graduated last June and is working on her masters.”

Just then the phone rang, my uncle answered it and talked for a minute. After he hung up, he said, “Kai, that was my friend, he’s the manager at the motel in Santa Fe. He said that they have a special plan for people who use their motels a lot. It gets you a discount on the room. And since you’re related to me, he’s set up a membership for you.

“He has a membership card for you. All you have to do is run down to Santa Fe and pick it up.”

“That sounds like a nice drive to take after lunch.”, I said.

“You’d better go as Tom. The name on the card is Tom Young.”

“Oh. I guess I’d better.”

So after lunch, I became Tom, and Amy and I headed to Santa Fe. I wore shorts, a ribbon shirt, and moccasins. I also wore the small silver diamond shaped earrings with the turquoises inlays. And my necklace with the meteorite in it. Amy was in shorts, with one of the fancy blouses, and moccasins. She wore one of the pairs of silver feather earrings and her meteorite necklace.

We quickly found the motel in Santa Fe, and I ran in and asked for the manager. I told him who I was, and he handed me the membership card and information on the program. I thanked him, and he said, it was the least he could do after everything that my uncle has done for him. He wished us a safe trip.

As we were pulling out of the motel, Amy asked, “Do you think that Mrs. Benallie might be open?”

“I don’t know.”, I replied. “It’s Sunday. But we could drive past and see. What do you need?”

“I’d like another fancy blouse.”

“Like ‘em don’t you?”

“Yeah. I think you do too?”

“I do. I also like these ribbon shirts.”

“So, get another one. You’re going to be Tom all the way home.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“You can be Kai at night.”

We drove over to Mrs. Benallie’s shop, and she was open. We went in, and she was thrilled to see us. And she mentioned that she had been at the dance competition, and had seen us. I told her that we were sorry that we’d missed her.

Amy picked out two blouses, and I picked out another ribbon shirt. As we were checking out, I noticed two identical beaded bracelets in the showcase. I asked Mrs. Benallie about them, and she told me that they were friendship bracelets.

I smiled, and said, “And since Amy is my best friend. I guess that it would be a good reason to wear identical friendship bracelets.”

“I can’t think of a better reason.”, Mrs. Benallie said.

Then I saw two other beaded bracelets, that were small. I though, I bet that April and Amy would like these.

So along with two blouses, a ribbon shirt, and two small bracelets, we left with matching friendship bracelets on our wrists. I’d let it slip that we were going home tomorrow, so we received big hugs as we were leaving.

As we got in the car, Amy asked, “Who did you buy those two bracelets for. They won’t fit anyone that I know.”

“Oh yes they will.”, I replied. “April and Amy Edwards.”

“Oh. The lawyers two girls.”

When we got back to the resort, we decided that we needed to pack. So we spent time doing that. We left out what we were going to wear to the bonfire and what we were going to wear on Monday to begin our trip home. We packed our travel clothes in one bag, and everything else in two other bags. The two Biil dresses and some other things went into a garment bag. The silver jewelry was going to remain in the floor safe until tomorrow, except what we were going to wear tonight.

After we finished packing, I said to Amy, “Would you like to go over to the remote hogan?”

“Sure.”, Amy replied. “But why?”

“Just something that I feel that I’d like to do before we leave.”

“Yeah. It might be good.”

We drove over to the hogan, and as we drove up, we saw Naainish’s pickup truck parked next to it, and smoke coming out of the smoke hole in the roof. Amy said, “I wonder why he’s here?”

“I don’t know.”, I replied. “But I think that we should still stop.”

“Me too.”

We parked and walked up to the opening to the hogan. We heard Naainish chanting. So we just stood there. As Naainish finished the chant, he said, “Kai and Ajie, please join me.”

I held back the tarp for Amy, and we walked in. Naainish looked at us, and said, “Oh. I see that it’s Tom and Amy.”

“Is that a problem, Naainish?”, I asked.

“Not at all. The spirits are the same. It’s just the looks that are different.”

As Naainish patted on the rug to his right, he said, “Tom, join me.” Then he patted on the rug to his left, and said, “Amy, join me.”

Amy and I walked over to where Naainish was sitting and sat on either side of him. Then I asked, “Naainish, did you know we were coming here?”

“Yes and no. Yes, I had a feeling you would be coming. And no I wasn’t sure that you’d be here. But I’m happy that you came.”

“Why?”

“So that I could say a proper hágoónee' (see you later) to you. I know it will be a year before we see each other again. And I’ll miss seeing you. You two have brought a lot of happiness to your people here. And those visiting us.

“I know there have been some bad times, but those are all in the past. You just need to remember the good.”

“Naainish.”, I said. “You have become very special to us. You have helped me more than you know. Your teachings will not go unused.”

“You have helped Tom more than you know.”, Amy said. “And you’ve helped to open my eyes to who the Navajo are. I do feel that I am part of them, even though I know that I have none of their blood in me.”

“I’m glad the two of you did come.”, Naainish said. “I would have hated to have not been able to say hágoónee' to you.”

“You won’t be at the bonfire tonight?”

“Yes. But I wanted to spend some private time with the two of you.”

We spent some time talking with Naainish about everything from Dibe, to what our plans were. Then we said hágoónee' (see you later) to Naainish and went back to my aunt and uncle’s house.

As we walked into the house, my aunt said, “Come on kids we’re treating you to dinner at the restaurant.”

“We should be treating you.”, Amy said.

“Nonsense. You’re our guests, and we want to treat you to a nice dinner.”

“Amy.”, I said. “Don’t argue with her. It’s like arguing with grandma. You won’t win.”

“Smart boy. You’d better listen to him.”

We were met at the restaurant by not only grandma but by my Aunt Ginny and Uncle Gaagii. We had an excellent meal and some good conversation. As the seven of us walked back to the house, I asked Aunt Ruth, “Aunt Ruth, could you braid our hair like you did last time?”

“Sure honey.”, my Aunt Ruth said. “Your Aunt Ginny also does a good job of braiding hair.”

“Sure honey.”, Aunt Ginny said. “I can do a nice man's braid for you.”

I looked at Aunt Ruth, and she said, “Ginny. He needs a girl’s braids.”

“Oh. I forgot seeing Tom like he is now.”

“You should have been here the past two weeks. Tom was here, but not much. There was this girl by the name of Kai here most of the time.”

When we were back at the house, Aunt Ruth, Aunt Ginny, Amy, and I went back to our room, and Aunt Ginny went to work braiding Amy’s hair. Really Amy’s wig. And Aunt Ruth braided my hair.

Aunt Ginny worked on the wig. After she’d put it on Amy, she braided it into a single braid and wove ribbons into it. She used the fancy leather wrap with the feather at the end. At the top, she used Amy’s butterfly barrette. She let the braid hand down Amy’s back.

My Aunt Ruth asked me how I wanted my hair done, and I told her to do it like she did last time. So she braided my hair into two fancy braids that went over the front of my shoulders. As she braided them, she added colored leather strips into them. Then at the top of each braid she placed a small fancy beaded barrette, at the end of one braid she placed a leather wrap with feathers, and at the end of the other braid, she placed a leather wrap with beads hanging from it. Then she put the fancy braided leather headband on my head so that the two feathers hung down the back of my head.

As my aunts were walking out of our room, my Aunt Ginny, turned, looked at me, and said, “Tom, I still don’t know how you can do this.”

“Do what, Aunt Ginny?”, I asked.

“Look so good as a girl.”

I smiled, and said, “I am a girl.”

She just shook her head.

After my aunts left the room, Amy and I dressed. We had decided to wear the fancy long skirts, fancy blouses, and moccasins. So, as Amy dressed, so did I. I slipped into one of the special panties, then added my bra and forms. Then came the long skirt and blouse, and moccasins. I looked into the mirror on the dresser and added some light makeup. With the skirt and blouse look we went light on the jewelry, Concho belts, bracelets, and rings. I wore the bone choker with the Concho. Ajie wore one of the beaded chokers. For earrings, we chose the matching pairs of silver feather ones.

As we were ready to walk out of the bedroom, I looked at Amy, and said, “Hi Ajie.”

She looked at me and said, “Yá’át’ééh, Kai.”

I smiled, and said, “Aoo', yá’át’ééh, Ajie.” (Yes, hello, Ajie.)

We walked out of our room and into the living room where everyone else was. Grandma saw us first, and said, “There’s my two girls.”

Everyone looked at us, and Aunt Ginny said, “It is Kai. Isn’t it?”

“Aunt Ginny.”, Ajie said. “It is most definitely Kai.”

“Girls, are you going to meditate tonight?”, my Aunt Ruth asked.

“I don’t think so.”, I said. “I just think that we’re going to enjoy the bonfire.”

Before we left for the bonfire, I called my mom and dad and told them that we were leaving on Monday morning and that it may be four or five days before we got home. As we were going through the Rocky Mountains, and taking our time on the way home.

Then the seven of us walked over to the bonfire, and it was roaring. There were some guests there, as well as the musicians, a singer, and dancers. I also saw that Naainish was there. And I was surprised but happy, to see Chief Kinlicheeny.

But why was Chief Peshlakai here? He’s the last person that I wanted to see.

I think that Naainish saw me staring at Chief Peshlakai. Naainish walked over to us, and as soon as he got to us, I said, “What’s he doing here?”

“Well yá’át’ééh alní'íní (good evening) to you too, Kai.”, Naainish said.

“Sorry, Naainish. Yá’át’ééh alní'íní. I just wasn’t expecting him. And I’m not happy to see him.”

“Kai, Chief Kinlicheeny and I think he is truly sorry for what he did. And he wants to apologize to you.”

“I don’t know. Chief Peshlakai apologized to us once, and I foolishly accepted it. I don’t know if I can trust him.”

“I understand, Kai. But we truly feel that he is sorry.”

I looked at Ajie, and she shrugged her shoulders. I looked at my Aunt Ruth and grandma, and my grandma said, “Honey, it’s up to you.”

I looked at Naainish, and said, “It’s against my better judgment. But I’ll talk to him.”

“Good.”, Naainish said. “I think that it’ll be fine.”

“I hope you’re right. … Alright. … Let’s go talk to him.”

I took Ajie’s hand and started walking towards where the Chiefs were. Naainish and my Uncle Paul walked with us. As we walked away, I heard my Aunt Ginny ask my Aunt Ruth, “What’s that all about?”

As we walked up to the two Chiefs, I said, “Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, Naat'áanii Kinlicheeny.” (Good evening, Chief Kinlicheeny.)

Chief Kinlicheeny said, “Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, Kai, Ajie, doo Yiska (and Paul).”

Ajie and my uncle acknowledged Chief Kinlicheeny.

I looked at Chief Peshlakai, and just said, “Chief.”

He said, “Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, Kai.”

Naainish said, "Let's walk."

The six of us walked away from the bonfire to a place that was away from everyone. When we got there, I said, “ Chief Peshlakai. I don’t know why I’m even talking to you. First, you tell me that I’m not a member of the Navajo Nation and that I don’t know my people. I explained my feelings to you. And you apologized to me. And, maybe foolishly, I accepted your apology.

“Then yesterday, you go against my wishes and announce the scholarship and who the first recipient is to be. I had to do a lot of explaining to not only Dibe Billilly but her parents and grandmother.

“Mr. Billilly, who if you didn’t know works for the Navajo Times, wanted to print an article about this whole thing. I asked him not to. And he agreed, for now.

“Am I mad? You’d better believe I am. Can I accept an apology from you? I don’t know. You apologized to me once and didn’t mean it. And I don’t think that I can trust you.”

“Kai Nez.”, Chief Peshlakai said. “Right after I did that yesterday, I realized that I had made a big mistake. And I was told by a number of people that I had. And Naainish told me that I’d made a powerful enemy. And I see that I have.”

“I’m no one’s enemy. But when someone lies to me, I become very angry. I asked everyone at that meeting to keep the whole idea of the scholarship quiet until I had everything in place. Along with everyone else that was there, you agreed to that. Then you pulled what you pulled.”

“Kai Nez, if I could undo what I did, I would. I understand the mistake that I made. I was foolish. And, I am very sorry. I don’t know what I can do to prove that to you.”

“I don’t either. Maybe it will just take time.

“We’re going back home tomorrow, and I have some people that I want to say so long too. So I’m done here.”

I took Ajie’s hand and started walking back to the bonfire. And my uncle was with us. As we walked up to my two aunts, grandmother, and Uncle Gaagii, my grandmother said, “That looked like it was a one-sided conversation.”

“Did it?”, I asked.

“Yes, honey it did.”, my Aunt Ruth said.

“He wanted to apologize, and I had a lot to get off my chest.”

“That you did.”, my Uncle Paul said. “Remind me to never get Kai mad at me.”

“Uncle Paul.”, I said. “You have no worries.”

I glanced over to where we’d left Naainish and the Chiefs. And they were in a deep discussion. Shortly the three of them were walking toward us.

Now what?

~o~O~o~

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Comments

Now what?

Monique S's picture

Good question. I don't think there is anything the idiot can do to calm Kai. If she isn't feeling right to accept his apology I am sure he is no good person. Her insights are too precise and she already said it is against her better judgement. She should stick to her guns, so to speak.

Female intuition is a powerful thing on its own. Combined with her connection to the Navajo spirits she should not ignore it. The bugger has put her between a rock and a hard place. She doesn't want to be impolite or anybodies enemy, but he has already insulted her and broken a promise. Those are definitely no good credentials.

It is a lovely story.
Hugs,
Monique.

Monique S

Kai does have a good grasp on

Kai does have a good grasp on her spirits, and it'll depend on what they want as to how she reacts.

Thanks for the nice comments, Monique.

Teddie

Thank you

I am always looking forward to the next chapt, Stories like this do wonders taking my nind off of my pain.

Spirits

Teek's picture

They are at the bonfire, where Kai has a deep connection with the spirits. Kai should be at her strongest here. May the spirits guide her actions. What is said and done here tonight, could have repercussions throughout the tribe and the nation. As it has been pointed out, The Chief's position is an elected position, and Kai has a lot of connections and has earned the respect of those in the community.

I can not wait to see the apology.

Keep Smiling, Keep Writing
Teek

An apology. Hmm. Will he

An apology. Hmm. Will he attempt another one? Will it be accepted?

Are the spirits always good ?

Are the spirits always good ?

If I am reading this right Kai is in danger of being arrogant and of snubbing and making an enemy of someone who has been given an important position (whether or not it was earned).

I don't think that Kai is

I don't think that Kai is arrogant. She stands up for herself when she feels that she's been wronged and she tells it like it is. And if telling it like it is is snubbing, then she is. But at least she is willing to talk. And she doesn't care how important a person is supposed to be. Treat me like how you want to be treated. Remember that she's already forgiven the chief once.

Not an enemy

Jamie Lee's picture

Chief Peshlakai and Kai are not enemies, or Kai would never have spoken with him at the bonfire. But he has broken Kai's trust by the announcement he made at the dance competition.

He did apologize for his initial remarks, remarks which could have got him into a challenge had Kai been that type person. Kai accepted Chief Peshlakai's apology and the matter should have been dropped.

But then he makes that announcement and Kai's memory brings back what he said at their first meeting. Again he makes an apology, for the announcement, but Kai doesn't know if she can trust it, but she does let it be known that she is no one's enemy.

Chief Peshlakai is one who wants to be liked, popular with his clan. But he isn't wish enough to know how to be liked without calling attention to himself. And because he lacks wisdom, and experience, he goes ahead as a steam locomotive flying down the tracks.

Was Kai to curt is her straight forward attitude in this case? Is that why the Chiefs are about to speak with her? Or are they interested in how they should handle Chief Peshlakai?

Others have feelings too.