by Amy DeMeritt
“Hey, I’m very happy in this moment. Don’t try to take it away from me.”
Sorina gives me an affectionate bump with her shoulder against mine, saying, “Ok, you can stay here with me. I like it here.”
“Yeah, this is a beautiful spot you found for a picnic.”
Sorina laughs and smacks my thigh, clarifying, “I meant, I’m happy just being with you.”
“I know, but I like when you smack me.”
Sorina laughs hard and slaps my thigh again. “I’m really going to miss you when you go home. All of you actually. I like dancing with all of you. Do you think we can do that tonight?”
“Sounds great to me. Are you coming over for dinner?”
“Do you want to have me for dinner?”
I laugh a little and my eyes scan her body. Sorina laughs and slaps my thigh again.
“Ok, seriously, yes, I want you to come over for dinner.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Good. So, how’s everything going with you?”
“Great. I haven’t been this happy in a really long time. And I’ve never felt more… empowered, I guess is the best word for it. The past several years on our Standing Rock reservation have been so stressful and made us feel so defeated and hopeless, no matter how hard we fought. But since Gran worked with you on that movie about the oil pipeline, my spirits have been renewed and I feel so strong. We might have lost that battle, for now, but I don’t feel defeated anymore. Working on this cultural center and hearing your chief talk yesterday has given me a new perspective on how we’ll have to fight our battles and lead our people.”
“Does it ever terrify you – the fact that one day we will be in that position? I mean, having to actually lead our people like Yolanda, Sequoia, Sparrow, our chiefs, and the rest of our amazing elders. I mean, those are impressive moccasins to fill.”
“Oh, it definitely terrifies me. It seems like the fight should be getting easier, but it feels like it gets harder with each year that passes. So much of the injustices we face are vastly unknown to the rest of the nation, so it makes it even harder to fight these battles. Our enemies work so hard to keep us silenced and to make the nation believe we don’t exist anymore, and it’s very effective in keeping us down.”
“I didn’t grow up on the reservation like you and Awenasa did, so I don’t have the same experiences as you, but it still infuriates me to hear about the things that happen, especially to our women. We should do something about it.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. I just feel like I should be doing more. And my elders called me out yesterday to do more. I know our schedules are insane, so it’s not like we can organize marches in DC or something. But there has to be something we can do to gain more attention and support from the nation.”
“Gran says being in the spotlight and being honorable Native women helps.”
I smile and pull her closer, wrapping my arms around her. “Yeah, she told me that too. We need more honorable Native women in our circle. Hey, maybe that’s what we can do.”
“What, collect more beautiful Native women?”
I laugh and kiss her forehead. “Yeah. We’ll create a coalition of Native women across the nation to help build awareness of the issues we deal with and work to gain the support we need to make real changes in our states and in DC.”
“I like that idea. We have some of those back home in North Dakota fighting to protect our waterways from the oil pipelines and to protect our women from sexual assault.”
“I’m really excited about this. I’m so glad I made the pilgrimage to visit the gorgeous deity you unearthed today.”
“Me too.” Sorina grins as she bats her eyelashes, making me laugh and she smacks my thigh. “Awenasa is probably going to kiss you till your knees buckle when you tell her about this.”
“You’re probably right. Ok, I have to run.”
I playfully push her off of me and act like I’m going to stand up, but she laughs and yanks me back down next to her.
“Get back here. Our friend-date is not over yet. You promised me an hour.”
“Oh, fine.”
“When are we starting our coalition of phenomenal women?”
“I don’t even know how to start something like that. Jess has worked with different charity organizations most of her life so she could probably help us get started. Sparrow also told me I can seek her advice whenever I need it.”
“I’ll also talk to Gran. She’s on our tribal council and she’s involved with a few of those different groups, so she should be able to help us get started.”
Sorina lays her head on my chest and wraps an arm around my waist, pulling herself in closer to my body. I wrap my arms around her and kiss the top of her head, eliciting a sweet quiet content sigh from her.
“Do you think we’ll get to have another friend-date before you have to go home?”
“We can probably arrange that. What do you want to do?”
“I want to go to the Soco waterfall.”
“That’s a good idea. It’s beautiful there. It’s a date.”
“Good.”
It’s a really nice day out. It’s hot but in the shade of the trees it’s at least five degrees cooler, so it’s comfortable. Since we finished eating, we watch the construction crew work to level out some parts of the worksite while they dig up others. The past few months have been really hectic and extremely stressful and emotional. This is a nice break from everything. The worksite is pretty loud, but it’s the sounds of progress, so it’s exhilarating and not annoying.
A small blue butterfly flutters over and dances in front of us, as if trying to see if we’re a threat while it tries to get close to the tiger lilies we’re sitting by. Sorina lifts her head some so she can see it better and slowly holds her hand out in front of us. I release a small gasp of surprise as the butterfly lands on the side of her forefinger, lightly flapping its delicate wings. She slowly pulls her hand in closer, and as she gets it within a foot of our faces, the butterfly takes off.
“Did you know that the deity you unearthed today is a patron of butterflies?”
Sorina giggles and kisses my cheek. “I guess I should get back to work.”
Sorina helps me pack up our empty containers, and after I say goodbye to Hayley, Sorina walks me back to the SUV and gives me a tight lingering hug.
“I’ll see you later. Tell your wives I said thanks for letting you come visit me.”
“Ok. Be careful out here. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Sorina gives me a soft kiss on my lips and pinches my side with a beautiful smile as she steps back to let me get in the SUV. “Drive carefully.”
When I get back to the house, my mom and Sequoia are already gone with our babies, and my wives are sitting around the living room with Jess and Allie and their baby Chelsey.
“How was your friend-date, puppy?”
I smile really big and plop down on the couch next to Awenasa. “It was really good. The spot she found was beautiful. Hey, you know how you used to catch butterflies on your hand, but I could never do it? Sorina did that. She got this really pretty blue butterfly to land on her hand. My wolf fangs must scare them off.” I flash her a toothy grin, and Awenasa laughs. “Oh, and we came up with a cool idea. Well, at least we think it is.”
I tell them about the idea for the coalition of Native women, and as soon as I finish, Awenasa grabs the sides of my face and pulls me into an amazing kiss. As she pulls back, I’m left dizzy and tingling all over.
“I love the idea, puppy.”
“Sorina said you’d kiss me like that after I told you.”
Awenasa laughs and firmly kisses my lips. “Yeah? What exactly did she say?”
“She said you’d kiss me till my knees buckle. If I was standing, I would have fallen over. So, anyway, I don’t know when or how, but we want to make that happen, even if it takes a couple years to put together.”
“It won’t take that long.
Our schedules might be tight, but we have plenty of people we can count on to help us.”
“I’m glad you like the idea. Ever since I did that movie with Yolanda, I’ve been feeling like I should be doing more for our people. She told me when it’s my time to go to battle, I’d feel a tug in my spirit. I feel that – like this is really something important that I need to do. I can’t wait till tonight. I want to have a feast with dancing. Can we do that?”
Awenasa releases a small laugh with tears of pride in her eyes and firmly kisses my lips. “Yes, we can do that. I love you, Kayla.”
“I love you too. I feel really good about this. I want our kids to grow up in a nation that respects them, their heritage, and their rights to the lands of our ancestors. Man, why did we let the grandmothers take our babies? I want to hold my babies!”
My wives laugh a little and Awenasa rubs my head in a patient and comforting way. “They need to spend time with their elders, puppy.”
“I know, but I miss them. Ok, before I have to go searching all over Cherokee to find my babies, we should change the subject. Jess, what did you want to talk to us about?”
Chapter Seventeen
After Awenasa and Shannon set a couple of trays on the dining room table with a tea pot of hot tea and a carafe of hot coffee, each of us pours ourselves a mug of our preferred beverage. The coffee drinkers doctor the robust roast with some sweet cream, then we sit back and sip on our mugs.
With blushing cheeks and her thumb drumming against the corner of a glossy folder, Jess stares out of the double glass doors leading out to the backyard and the wild mountain woods surrounding Sequoia’s and Tahoma’s home. Allie places a hand over hers, ending her nervous drumming, and Jess blushes deeper.
She clears her throat and quickly sits up straighter in her chair. She starts to open the folder, but closes it just as quickly and clears her throat again.
“Jess,” Jaime reaches out, placing a hand over Jess’ shaking hands, “we’re your friends. You don’t need to be afraid to talk to us about anything.”
“Thanks.” She takes a deep breath, then looks around the table at all of us patiently waiting for her to talk. “I feel bad even bringing this up right now when you’re here for the ground breaking of your cultural center and you’re being asked to help with other things around the reservation. But I don’t know if I’ll get another chance to see all of you in person this year and I don’t want to have this conversation over the phone. And because we are friends, I feel like I really shouldn’t be asking.”
“Unless you’re asking us to assist you with something illegal, you can ask us anything.”
Jess gives me a bashful smile as she shakes her head, saying, “No, it’s nothing bad.” She takes a deep breath and smooths her hands over the glossy black folder in front of her. “As you know, I’ve been working for a group of youth centers in Philadelphia for a few years. Since high school, I have worked for six different organizations, partnered with another ten, and volunteered for another dozen-plus. I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. The organization I work for is great, but they’re limited with the programs they offer and management is not interested in expanding, even if they have the funds to do so. They also can’t help all of the youth who need it. We have to turn away hundreds more than we actually help. I have been working on a business model for an at-risk youth organization since my third year of college, so close to eight years.” She takes a deep breath and slowly opens the folder. “I have reviewed this business model with community leaders and local politicians and have four letters of support for the organization. I know I’ll have the support of the community and local leaders and I know the organization is needed. Starting an organization like this requires a substantial amount of money upfront and without an investor to put forward a certain percentage, a bank won’t even consider lending the money I’ll need to…”
I cut her off, saying, “You don’t need to get any loans. We’ll invest one-hundred-percent of whatever you need.”
With a small smile and her piercing gray-blue eyes looking unblinking into mine, Jess says, “I appreciate the enthusiasm, but you haven’t even heard how much I would need.” She pulls out a stack of packets in plastic report jackets and pushes them around the table for each of us to take one. “The first page is the mission statement. The second page is the start-up financials and estimated monthly operating costs. The rest of the packet explains in greater detail the facility and programs we’ll offer.”
Each of us opens to the first page, and after reading the mission statement, we flip to the financials.
“This really isn’t that much. My enthusiasm remains intact. You haven’t scared me away yet.” Jess releases a small laugh with blushing cheeks. She licks her lips to moisten them, then takes a sip of coffee. “You have a TBD for the cost of the facility. Are you planning on building from scratch or renting the space?”
“I would prefer to build a new structure so we can control operating costs by making it as energy and eco-friendly as possible. I’d like to work with Hayley to design the facility. However, if you don’t want to pay for…”
“No, building from the ground up sounds great. Have you talked to Hayley about this yet?”
Jess nods as she takes another sip of coffee. “I have been talking to Hayley about this for years, so she has a very good idea of what I want. It will probably take at least a year of jumping through legal hoops before we would even be ready to start building. If the piece of land we find already has a structure, it will be even longer to take care of the demolition and prep work. I don’t expect her to be able to start working on actual construction till both of your cultural centers are completed.”
Madison leans forward with the business plan in front of her, and asks, “Have you already talked to the trade schools about partnering with you for the certification programs you want to offer for the high schoolers?”
“I have, and they are very interested. Once we’re registered and approved as a non-profit, and while I’m waiting for the building process to begin, I’ll be working on getting contracts written and signed with each of the different partners for all of the programs I want to offer. I’ll also be building my board of directors and building a list of staff that we’ll hire when things get rolling.”
Madison nods as she flips the page in her packet, and says, “This shows that your main source of income will be donations and rental fees for the sports gym and an activities hall. What happens if your operating costs exceed your income?”
“It happens sometimes with organizations like this. Before the doors open, we’ll be doing a ton of fundraising from the community, including businesses and politicians. The plan is to have a substantial rainy-day fund that we can fall back on for the occasional month that income may be low. Even after the doors open, the fundraising never stops. It’s a constant necessity. We’ll have people on staff that do nothing but fundraise. We’ll have fundraising activities and events on a regular basis. And I plan to partner with local grocery stores to have them ask their patrons if they’d like to donate to the center on each transaction. This is a proven form of fundraising that the community actually prefers.”
“And if the rainy-day fund runs out?”
Jess takes a deep breath through her nose as she chews her bottom lip for a moment. “If that day ever comes, then the center will be in trouble. When that happens, it generally means the organization has overextended itself, or it’s not working hard enough on fundraising. The fact is, there are hundreds of non-profits in the area that are in need of donations to stay afloat. There are more than enough well-off taxpayers in the surrounding areas to go around, but the trick is visibility. We have to be seen and show that we’re effective. The approach I want to take is very unique from anything that has been done before. As long as I can keep the business community’s support and the support of the politicians, I don’t foresee ever having an issue raising the funds. Unless, of course, if something horrible happen
s with the economy.”
Madison smiles as she leans back, picking up her mug of tea in both hands. She takes a sip, then says, “Sounds like you really know what you’re doing. Your business plan is pretty solid. I second Kayla’s vote of support. I would like to invest in your youth center. We’ll also give a substantial reoccurring monthly donation to help keep the rainy-day fund nice and fat.”
Jaime smiles as she raises a finger momentarily, saying, “I also vote yes.”
One by one, each of our wives confirm they are on-board with investing in Jess’ center for at-risk youth.
“I have a concern.” Jess looks at me nervously and waits for me to continue. “Getting this started looks and sounds like it’s going to be a fulltime job and you already have a fulltime job. Will you…?”
Jess cuts me off. “I know where you’re going with this because you said the same thing to Hayley when she pitched her plan for the cultural center. I’m not quitting my job yet. I need to remain working in the field so I can continue to make the right contacts and show that I’m serious about this work. I probably won’t sleep much the first several months, but once I have the non-profit paperwork filed and my board of directors created, I’ll be able to delegate some of the work. I will probably be working at least twelve hours a day for at least a year, but I’ve done it before.”
I rub the back of my neck as I lean back in my chair. “I understand the need to continue working. I guess I’m wondering if you need to continue working full time. If we help make up the difference, could you cut your hours, like maybe work half of what you do now? I’m worried that…”
With slightly narrowed eyes and a sharpness in her tone, Jess cuts me off, saying, “I didn’t come to you looking for a way out of my current responsibilities. I’m only looking for investors for the youth center. Allie and I have discussed what will be required to get it up and running and we both agree that it won’t be easy, but we will make it work. If I go through a bank for the loans, I would still be required to work, so…”