by Jay Heavner
“Yeah, I thought the trees looked familiar. I saw them in California when I was there, but never put two and two together.” He stopped and let out a whistle. “Man, this is a beautiful work of art. I wanted to get rid of the hippie painting, but wow, its over the top. How can I ever repay you?”
“It’s all been taken care of. The artist is a young guy, Tonto Yazzi. Everyone said he was good. He overheard me talking at the Chapter House about wanting to get the van repainted for you, and he offered to do it for free. I asked him why he’d do it free gratis, and he said there was a catch. He had an appointment with the scholarship committee at Dine’ College, and they wanted to see some of his work. He thought they’d be impressed with his paintings on your vehicle. They were overwhelmed when they saw them. The committee gave him a full scholarship, and you got a beautiful, painted van at no cost.”
“That’s fantastic. Not only will I walk in beauty, but I’ll drive in beauty.”
Dark Cloud tossed Tom the keys. “You drive for a while. I’ve already driven for five hours. You hungry?”
“Yeah, that Blake’s place was pretty good. Is there one nearby?”
“Yeah, not far from here on Route 66.”
“Good, and I should have stopped at the restroom at the airport. My eyes are starting to float.”
Dark Cloud chuckled. “It’s not far.”
“Good,” said Tom, “and my stomach’s running on empty, too. Airline food’s limited and what there is, leaves much to be desired.”
“Then let’s get going.”
Tom placed his bags in the back of the van, which he noticed was spotless. Tom got in the microbus and started it. Dark Cloud gave him directions to Route 66, and a few minutes later, they were at Blake’s. The parking lot was near full, and Tom found a spot under a gnarly old cottonwood tree. The men got out, walked into the restaurant, and headed straight to the bathroom. Much relieved, they washed their hands, exited the men’s room, and got in the food line. When it was their turn, Dark Cloud ordered a cheeseburger with green chiles, fries, and a Coke. Tom told the cashier to make his the same. The cashier gave Tom a number, and they found a small table in the corner. A few minutes later, a young Indian woman in a Blake’s shirt, brought them their order.
Dark Cloud blessed the meal and thanked the Lord for traveling mercies thus far and for the rest of the way home. After two quick “amens,” the hungry men chowed down on the meals. Tom said, “This is good. I think I could get used to some of your Western food.”
Dark Cloud said, “You got lots to learn about the food out here.” They finished quickly and were soon back on Route 66 heading west. With Tom at the wheel, the city of Albuquerque disappeared behind them.
They made small talk on how the trip to Albuquerque had been for them, and what they’d been doing since they parted. After a moment of silence, Dark Cloud spoke, “I told her.”
“You told her what?”
“I told her about your injury. She was a little surprised at first, but she made this comment, ‘Glad that’s all he lost. Many lost a whole lot more.’ I think she was thinking of Chris when she said that.”
Tom nodded, “I think she was, too. When you put it that way, it seems I've got a lot to be thankful for.”
“You do. The Great Spirit decides the number of our days. He’s not done with you, Tom. You need to make the most of what you’ve been given, and the first thing you need to do is to get your life right with Him, and then as we Navajo say, ‘Walk in Beauty.’”
“That’s some heavy-duty words, Dark Cloud.”
“They are, but also very simple to do.”
Tom said nothing more, and he caught Dark Cloud looking out the corner of his eye, probing Tom for his reaction. Tom remained silent and thought about what Dark Cloud said. They rode through the desert in silence on the new highway. Tom noticed his passenger’s head starting to nod, and several minutes later, he was in dreamland and snoring.
Driving over here must have worn him out. Wonder what else he’s been up to while I was gone? Dark Cloud stirred a little in his sleep, but soon was snoring again. Tom drove on, and the road reverted to the old two lane highway. He came to an intersection in Gallup and made a right. At first, it didn’t look right, but the number on the road sign was the one he remembered. As they approached Window Rock, Dark Cloud woke up. He stretched and asked, “Where are we? Guess I nodded off.”
“I did, too,” said Tom.
“That’s not funny.”
Tom smirked. “And you talked in your sleep about all your girlfriends on the Big Rez.”
“Now, I’m sure I’m being played for a fool.”
“Busted.”
“Tom, you had me going for a while, but the truth is, I do have a lady friend on the Rez. Her name’s Mai Ketsoh. Mai means Bright Flower, and I met her shortly after you left. I’d seen her at our little church, but did not know her but by sight. She showed up one day at the Chapter House looking for some help for her son. He got in some trouble down Flagstaff way, so I gave her the best information I could along with a couple of phone numbers for legal aid. She came back about two weeks later with good news about her son. Lawyer got him off on a legal point, and when he got back on the Rez, she boxed his head and read him the riot act. I think we’d had a lot less trouble here if parents would put the fear of the law and God Almighty into them, plus a few boots to the rear. I can’t tell you how many I’ve seen get into a little trouble and just keep sinking deeper when the family didn’t help or intervene. It’s sad.” He stopped and looked at Tom. “Sorry to burden you with that last part, but it’s a grim reality here on the Rez. So, yeah, it’s getting serious. We’ve been talking of getting married, soon.”
Surprise showed on Tom’s face. “You sly old dog. Looks like you’ve been very busy while I was gone. I hope it works out for you.”
“Yes, I took Chris’s death pretty hard, and it’s about time the sun starts shining down on me.” He looked to the right, and then back at Tom. “You missed the turnoff. We were talking, and I forgot to mention it.”
Tom drove a little further until he found a convenient place to turn around. He stopped at the light and made a U-turn. They were back on the road to Lukachukai. He asked his passenger, “Did you have a restful nap?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Good. I’m getting tired, and I could use a snap, better known as a short nap. I’ll pull over at that wide shoulder ahead, and you drive for a while, okay?”
“Will do. I thought you were looking tired. I’ll take it from here.”
Tom pulled over, and the two men changed places. Dark Cloud had them back on the road in a jiffy. Tom got comfortable and was soon asleep. Mile after mile passed when suddenly, Dark Cloud jerked the wheel of the van to the left and then to the right. Tom woke with a start. “What was that?”
“Coyote,” said Dark Cloud, “and a dumb one at that. Nearly got run over.”
“Was he chasing a roadrunner?”
“Didn’t see one, but he did have a box under his arm that read, Acme something or the other. Coyote is a favorite character in Navajo stories.”
“I’d like to hear the tales about them and not hit one.”
Dark Cloud said, “Why don’t you go back to sleep, and I’ll be on the lookout for critters and anything else that we may encounter?”
“Like UFOs?”
“Roswell’s in New Mexico. Only the lost ones show up here, and that’s rare. Go back to sleep.”
“Excellent idea,” said Tom, and he was soon back sawing logs.
Dark Cloud looked over at his sleeping passenger. Oh, to be young again. I wish I could be his age once more and know what I know now. Why do we get old so quick and smart so late?
The long, empty miles ticked away one by one until they came to the little Indian town of Lukachukai. Dark Cloud swung a hard right from the main road to Buffalo Pass Road running through the town. In about a half-minute, he turned onto a side street, and in less than a block
was at his home. Dark Cloud had no sooner turned off the air-cooled engine when Sarah burst out of the house. Tom opened his door, and Sarah practically leaped at him. She gave him a bear hug and a long kiss. He was more than happy to do his part in this exercise.
“I’ve missed you so,” she said.
“If I’d known I’d be getting this kind of a greeting, I’d have tried to return sooner.” Their lips met again and parted after a lengthy kiss.
Tom said, “I missed you, too.”
Dark Cloud cleared his throat. “Okay, you two lovebirds may have your love to keep you warm, but this old guy is getting cold. Get inside the house. I know Sarah has coffee and warm food waiting for us. Ain’t that right, Sarah?”
The two lovers and Dark Cloud went inside of the welcoming house. After a great, hot meal, they sat around the table, catching up on time apart. Tom helped Sarah clean the table and wash the dishes. Dark Cloud sat in his big, overstuffed chair and read The Navajo Times. Though his eyes were on the paper, his ears were listening to the friendly small talk between the two. He could see where this was going, and he had no problem with it. Perhaps, if things went as he thought they would, he should move up his plans.
Dark Cloud yawned and said, “I’m tired from the long drive. I’m going to bed. Good night. I’ll see you in the morning.” Tom and Sarah talked for a while longer, but once their lips met, the two behaved like long lost lovebirds that had found each other again. They found it hard to tear themselves apart from one another, but somehow they did. Sarah went to her room for the night, and Tom lay down on the hide-a-bed in the great room, thinking. Although he was tired, his mind remained clear, and he knew what he’d do tomorrow. He heard the sounds of two sleeping people coming from the nearby rooms, and soon he added his own sounds to the chorus. Tomorrow was another day, and all three would need a restful night for everything to go well.
Chapter 25
Tom stirred in his sleep. Something pleasant tickled his nose, the smell of bacon. He opened his eyes and looked around the great room from the sofa bed where he lies. The table in the far side of the room was set for breakfast, Sarah was cooking at the stove. How she had managed to achieve all of this, he didn’t know. She had her back to him as she concentrated on her work. “Good morning to you.”
A little startled, she turned to him and said, “You surprised me. I was trying to get this done before you two guys awoke.”
Tom sat up in the bed, “I believe you’d have gotten it all done, but the smell of the bacon betrayed you. I’m surprised you achieved as much as you did without awakening me. Opening cabinets and shuffling plates, glasses, and silverware usually make plenty of noise. Either you were quiet as a mouse, or I was dead tired.”
She smiled, “Maybe a little of both.”
“I think you are right. Give me a minute, and I’ll help you.” He slid out of the hide-a-bed and put on his jeans. Then, he folded the bed up into a couch. He walked past her to the bathroom. “Nature calls.”
She laughed, “Hope everything comes out okay.”
He smiled at her as he closed the bathroom door. After taking care of business and freshened himself up, he went back to the kitchen and helped Sarah finish the meal. A cup of coffee was waiting for him, and he was more than grateful to see it. He took a sip. A little bitter. Some of yesterday’s brew. Navajos could give hillbillies some lessons on how to be frugal.
Tom heard Dark Cloud stirring in his bedroom. Shortly afterward, he appeared dressed but sleepy-eyed and headed for the bathroom without saying much more than “Hello.”
He spent a few minutes in the bathroom while Tom and Sarah placed food on the plates. Dark Cloud came out, looked at the table, and said, “I like this. Sarah, we should have company more often.” She smiled but said nothing. The three sat at the table, and Dark Cloud said, “Hope this coffee is strong. I was doing too much thinking last night. Didn’t go to sleep till after midnight and will need this to keep alert today. A lot of important things will happen today; I know it.”
They made small talk over breakfast. Tom asked about the road over Buffalo Pass. Dark Cloud told him it was best traveled by 4-wheel drive vehicles now. A few 2-wheel drives had made it over, but the snow on the road would discourage all but fools and the brave and adventurous, and sometimes it was hard to tell the difference. His advice was not to attempt it if he was thinking of trying.
They finished the meal along with the pot of strong coffee. Dark Cloud said he had something to do over at the Chapter House, and he soon left. Tom and Sarah cleaned the table and washed the few dishes used for the meal.
Tom suggested a short drive with Sarah, and soon they were in the VW microbus and heading toward Buffalo Pass. She asked, “You’re not thinking of going to that special place where we were before on the east side of the mountain after what my dad told you, are you?”
“I’d like to go there, but with the road being as it is, no, we aren’t going there, but someplace much closer.”
Sarah was silent for a moment and then spoke, “It sure is cold in here. Is the heater on?”
“Yeah, it’s on, but these air-cooled machines just don’t produce heat like a water-cooled engine does. If there’s one thing I could change on this van, it would be how it heats. The mileage is great, and it works really well for camping and fun stuff like that, but the heater leaves something to be desired.”
“You can say that again. It can’t be much warmer in here than outside.”
Tom said, “It takes a while to get perking, and I don’t think it will get hot before we reach our destination.” At that moment, he turned the right turn signal on, traveled a few hundred feet, and then onto the dirt road that led to the village overlook.
“I thought this might be where we were going. I wanted to come here.” Her comment surprised him.
The frozen ground crunched under the wheels. A little snow remained in places protected from the sun. It didn’t take long for them to reach the parking spot at the end of the road and stop there. Quickly, Sarah was out of the van ahead of Tom. He followed her to the overlook at the cliff’s edge. Early morning sun rays fell on the small Indian town.
“Lukachukai,” she said. “It ain’t much, but it’s home.”
“Sounds like where I come from. I’ve now seen a bunch of the world, but home will always be where I grew up.” He was silent for a minute and then asked, “Have you ever thought of leaving here?”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about that recently. I’m eighteen, and I’ve wondered what I should do with my life. I like working at the mission, but at times, I have this wanderlust in me. I’ve seen people live their whole lives here, never going more than 50 miles from where they were born. Some seem happy to do so, but others have a sad look like they wished they’d done something different, but now it’s too late.”
A cold winter breeze blew Sarah’s hair around, at least the part that was out of the parka with the big hoodie. Tom took her glove-covered hand in his and said, “Look, ah, I, ah, really don’t know how they do it here on the reservation. Things seem so much in flux. One never knows if we’re in the white man’s world, the Indian world, or some combination of the two, so I’m just going to ask you the best I can.”
She looks a little surprised but smiled playfully. “Okay, confused man, what do you want to know?”
He swallowed. “It’s a two-part question, and I need you to answer both parts. Will you come live with me in West Virginia,” he paused, “and will you be my wife? Sarah, I was in love with you the first day I met you. I can understand if you said no to either part.”
“Yes, and yes,” she said.
“I know it’s asking a lot from you. You’d have to leave all you know and come live with a guy you just met.”
“Tom, my answers are yes and yes.” She smiled at the dumbfounded Tom.
“You did say yes and yes, right?” Her face was a broad smile. She nodded.“You said yes and yes.” Slowly, her answers sand into Tom’s thick sk
ull. He smiled broadly and grabbed both her hands. “You said yes and yes.” She nodded again. He threw his arms around her, and she him. They looked eye-to-eye.
She said, “I said yes and yes.” Their lips met, and the cold around them vanished from the heat of their long kiss that could melt the sun. Tom dropped his hands to Sarah’s. He turned to the sleepy town far off and yelled, “Hey, Lukachukai. She said yes and yes.” He dropped his hand from hers and turned to the east. He put his hands to his mouth and yelled, “Hey, Big R, she said yes and yes.” He turned once more and yelled at no one in particular, “Hey, world, she said yes and yes,” and then he hugged her again.
She smiled at him. “Tom, I think I made you happy, and I think you let everyone on this planet know.”
“I’m so happy, and to think, I never knew you a few months ago. It’s strange how events work out. To think if I’d never met Chris…”
Sarah said, “I know he'd be happy for us. He mentioned you in a letter he sent from Vietnam. He said he’d met a guy, another soldier, who he wished that somehow, somewhere, this Tom fellow could meet me. I think he got his wish.”
Tom said, “There’s an old Jewish proverb that goes something like this, ‘Out of evil, a little good can come. Out of destruction, rebirth can happen.’ We can’t change what happened in the past, but we can build on it for the future.”
“I was so hoping you’d ask me for my hand. I thought you’d ask me to come with you, but it was the second question I prayed the most about. I asked Dark Cloud for advice on this. He’s a good man full of wisdom, real wisdom, not the foolishness of this world that passes for wisdom. There was a tear in his eye when he answered me. He said two things I shall never forget, ‘Follow beauty wherever it takes you, and follow your heart.’ And I shall do both with you, Tom.”
Tom smiled and thought of how different but how similar his father and her father were. Still waters run deep.
She took his hand and led him to a large, flat, and smooth red rock where they sat down side-by-side touching. Tom said, “I had all these things to say if you answered no to either question, and you made me the happiest, but most dumbfounded man alive when you said yes to both questions. I’m the luckiest man alive.”