Peculiar Treasures

by Robin Jones Gunn

  “Yeah, okay, that’s cool,” Katie muttered while standing alone in the water that now rose up to her waist. “I’ll just hang out here while you two go be a married couple.”

  Katie watched them as they splashed, laughed, and clung to each other as naturally as if they had been one heart for a long time. They were so in love. Everything seemed still to be fresh and new, as if they were the only two lovers who had ever discovered the bliss of the ocean on a summer afternoon.

  “You two are the gummiest breadfruit this side of Maui. I think I’ll leave you alone with your beloved ocean.” Katie walked down the beach a short distance before deciding to dive under the waves. She kept looking back at their spot on the sand, hoping Rick would finish his phone call and join her. She didn’t expect their frolicking in the water to be as playful or romantic as Todd and Christy’s, of course, but any attention at this point would be great.

  The cool ocean water and the early evening breeze set Katie’s teeth chattering. She returned to the shoreline and shook the salt water from her hair.

  Todd and Christy had taken off for a romantic stroll along the shoreline. Doug and Tracy had arrived and were in the middle of unpacking enough paraphernalia to survive on a deserted island for a month. For such a little guy, Daniel sure appeared to have a whole lot of needs. Rick was helping to set up the umbrella and seemed oblivious to Katie strutting through the sand.

  Tracy set up a collapsible travel crib and positioned it in the umbrella’s shade. She opened her folding beach chair and placed it next to the portable nursery. Her final touch was pulling a cloth burp towel from the diaper bag and draping it over her shoulder as if the cloth with fuzzy lambs and daisies were part of her beach-day ensemble.

  “Is it like this every time you go somewhere?” Katie wrapped herself up in her warm beach towel.

  Tracy looked slightly irritated by the question. “This is the first time we’ve taken Daniel to the beach. We didn’t know what we would need.”

  Doug stood with his hands on his hips, looking out at the ocean.

  “Go ahead,” Tracy said. “I know you’re dying to get in the water. I have everything I need here.”

  “If you’re going in, Doug, I’ll go with you,” Rick said. “You coming back in, Katie?”

  “Maybe. As soon as I warm up.”

  “Trace, if you want me to come back, just wave, okay?” Doug peeled off his shirt and hustled down to the waves with Rick. Sleeping Daniel seemed to know he had just lost his doting papa’s attention and broke into a loud wail.

  “Whoa!” Katie said. “The little guy has a pair of lungs.”

  Tracy unstrapped him from the car seat carrier and cuddled him on her shoulder, patting his back and talking to him softly. It was endearing to see Tracy utilizing her nurturing skills. But it also seemed odd.

  Katie’s favorite times at the beach with this gang had been spent around an open fire pit with a cuisine of hot dogs and marshmallows. This time Rick had marinated steaks for everyone and brought two large gourmet salads from work. Todd had carried down to the sand a hefty-sized camp stove and left his guitar at home because they didn’t have room in the car.

  What’s happening to us? Instead of surfboards and guitars, these guys are bringing collapsible baby beds, diaper bags, and an old people’s beach umbrella to our cookout. When did everyone become so practical and responsible?

  Katie settled in next to Tracy as she said hello and good-bye to summer in the same breath. She felt as if a new page had turned in the book of her life. She and her friends were all in different chapters now. Chapters with titles such as “First Comes Love,” “Then Comes Marriage,” “Then Comes the Baby in the Baby Carriage.”

  Todd and Christy were obviously at the “marriage” chapter while Doug and Tracy were starting the “baby carriage” chapter. She wondered if she and Rick were about to turn the page to the “first comes love” chapter. They had floated through the summer without a single Define-the-Relationship conversation. Now that they were at another crossroads, Katie was feeling that nudging of anticipation she had experienced right after Todd and Christy’s wedding. She wanted to know what was next.

  Rick, however, didn’t seem to think it was time to reevaluate their relationship. That became evident to Katie when the two of them walked along the shoreline after Rick returned from the water.

  He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I was just thinking how great it is that we’re still in the slow lane.”

  “Why is that?” Katie asked.

  “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but being in the slow lane with our relationship has allowed me the chance to be in the fast lane with this potential business deal with Josh. I’m so glad you’re a patient woman, Katie. I have a feeling I’m going to be really busy the next few months. But then, you will be too. We’re in such a good place right now.”

  Katie nodded. Rick was starting his own new chapter in life. She didn’t know exactly what chapter she was starting next. All she knew for sure was that one very definitive chapter ended that evening on the beach with the gang.

  Five days later, Katie began the official training for her new resident assistant position, and everything in her life shifted once again.

  She set her alarm and hunted everywhere for the RA manual she was supposed to have read during the summer. Today was the first time she had picked it up out of the box where she had deposited it when she first received it nine weeks ago.

  Her intentions all along had been to sit down right when the summer term ended and go after the reading project all at once. She had it all planned out — she would set aside several hours with a pitcher of iced herbal tea and a sharp pencil so she could be on top of everything before the first meeting. That ideal study time never happened. She worked at the Dove’s Nest right up until closing last night, and now hoped she could somehow fly under the radar at the meeting.

  Julia had invited Katie to come to her apartment two days earlier, but Katie couldn’t squeeze that in either. She hadn’t even managed to fit in time to visit with Nicole because, as soon as Nicole moved into the dorm, she had to go back to Santa Barbara for her father’s birthday party.

  Without any preparation relationally or study-wise, Katie showed up for the first day of RA training on an August scorcher of a morning. The designated meeting place in the grassy shade behind the library was a good spot. At least the location gave the promise that things were going to be casual.

  Craig provided donuts and beverages. Julia brought the blankets for them to sit on. The two of them seemed like an unusual pair to lead together, but somehow the combination of their temperaments and leadership styles worked. Both of them were well respected by the other RAs, Katie could tell.

  Glancing around at the group as everyone started in on the donuts, Katie wondered if the others had read the manual. She was acutely aware that she was the only new woman on staff; the other two new RAs were guys. All the others assembled on the grass had served the year before in the same dorms and on the same floors. That five of them had returned for a second year said a lot about their previous experiences. It also meant that five of eight already had spent a year growing close to each other.

  Her donut finished and water bottle drained, Katie sat silently waiting for the meeting to begin. Everyone else was caught up in circles of conversations while she sat alone. At that moment, she wondered if she was really up for this challenge.

  The thing was, she knew she couldn’t go back to the way things had been at the Dove’s Nest after making her grand departure last night. This was it. This was the next step forward. She thought of the trip to the beach on Friday night and how her longtime, everyday friends were busy pushing strollers and spending their free evenings kissing, cuddling, and returning wedding gifts. Rick was working into the role of an even more amped-up businessman.

  If this group, which now was spread out in front of her on the blankets, was going to be her new everyday people, Katie woul
d have to figure out ways to fit in.

  Craig officially opened the meeting with prayer and then said, “Here we are, Crown Hall team. I think we have a great year ahead. We’ll be spending a lot of time together; so as some of you know, this group may end up feeling like your family in terms of support and encouragement. I hope that’s what happens. Now, my first question for all of you is, did you read through the manual?”

  The rest of the group nodded and made smug sounds like a bunch of Honor Society students.

  “Has anyone not read through it yet?”

  Katie hesitated. She wasn’t a good liar. Her hand rose before she could stop it.

  “Okay.” Craig gave her a nod. “Anyone else?”

  The others stared at Katie as if she were insane. Either insane for not doing the required reading or insane for admitting she didn’t. Either way, they were cool, and she wasn’t.

  Note to self: Sit on your hands at the next meeting.

  Julia leaned over and whispered “You’ll be fine, Katie. If there’s anything you’re not clear on after the meeting, just let me know, and I can go over it with you.”

  Katie smiled her appreciation.

  “Let’s jump in,” Craig said. “I’m sure you’ll be able to pick up what you need as we go along, Katie. As most of you know, every year we have a different theme verse. This year the verse is from Philippians 2. You’ll see it printed on the manual’s first page. I used the version found in The Message. This is a paraphrase, of course, but I think it expresses the idea of what the apostle Paul was saying.”

  “ ‘If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care — then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.’ ”

  Craig looked up. “That about sums up the objective of what a resident assistant is. You’re going to have incredible opportunities this year to serve, and my desire is to see you enter that place of service agreeing with each other, loving each other, and becoming deep-spirited friends.”

  Katie looked around at the others and hoped those words would come true.

  14

  “I love that phrase, ‘deep-spirited friends,’” said Nicole.

  “I do too,” Talitha agreed. She was the tallest of the four female RAs and had high cheekbones and a long neck that gave her an elegant profile. “I think deep-spirited friends is a great description.”

  “Yeah,” Katie said and then added spontaneously, “It’s like being Peculiar Treasures.”

  Everyone turned to look at her.

  For a second she thought they hadn’t heard her correctly so she repeated the phrase. “You know, like in the Old Testament. Exodus, I think. God calls his people his ‘Peculiar Treasures.’ ”

  When no one blinked in recognition of the term, Katie attempted to explain. “It’s what my best friend and I used to call each other. Actually, we still call each other that. I mean, not every day and not always aloud but, you know, it’s just . . . it’s another way of saying that we’re God Lovers.”

  The group continued to stare at her.

  “God Lovers. Believers. You know, Chris tians.” Katie halted her fumbling.

  Craig gave Katie a smile. To Katie it seemed the sort of smile one gives a playful kitten tangled in its ball of yarn.

  “Okay.” Craig slowly nodded his head. “Good. Thanks for adding that, Katie.”

  No one else had anything further to say about the theme verse, so Craig brought their attention back to the binder.

  Another note to self: Keep your beak shut!

  Craig skimmed over the beginning section, spent an hour on various dorm procedures, monitored a debate over how many floor events they should plan that year, and went through the checklist of details to be covered on the weekend when students moved into the dorms.

  Katie kept her ears open and her mouth shut.

  Craig moved on to how to handle counseling situations. Some of the topics were what to do if a student showed evidence of an eating disorder or signs of contemplating suicide. Katie took notes in the margins, writing as fast as she could. This is where the training got intense. She hoped she wouldn’t need to use any of the steps outlined for the specific problems. But if she did end up counseling girls who had these serious problems, she wanted to be prepared.

  As soon as they finished that section, the meeting broke for lunch at the cafeteria. Katie walked over with Julia, and Julia said, “I’d never heard that term before. What was it? Peculiar Treasures?”

  Katie nodded.

  “I like it a lot. I’m glad you added that to the conversation. You’re going to be a good addition to this group, Katie.”

  Katie gave Julia a skeptical look.

  “Blending people together takes a little time,” Julia said. “That’s one thing we’ll have lots of this semester — time together.”

  They entered the cafeteria, and Katie noticed that the staff was minimal. This was the short break between the summer sessions and the fall term, and limited food service was available to people who worked on campus. The salad bar was stocked, pepperoni pizzas waited under a heat lamp, and the frozen yogurt machine was purring with a stainless steel gut full of low-fat strawberry yogurt.

  A contest soon began to see who could fill his or her yogurt dish the highest before the soft pink stuff sloshed over the sides. Katie thought she was in the running, but one of the more studious guys, Jordan, managed to add one more swirl to his towering dish of frozen yogurt than Katie could.

  “So close.” Katie sat back down next to Nicole.

  “We didn’t warn you that we’re a rather competitive bunch,” Nicole said.

  That was a good thing for Katie. She did competitive pretty well. As a matter of fact, all they had to do was head on down to the softball diamond, and she would show them what a little competition looked like on a hot August afternoon.

  Katie brought up the topic to the group but once again was met by curious stares. She backed off, realizing it had been months since she had swung a bat. If she was going to fit in with this group, it was going to be on their terms and their turf, not hers.

  Carrying her tray to the designated cleanup area, Katie noticed Goatee Guy coming the other direction. He was wearing his campus security uniform and looked tan, which she guessed was a result of riding around in his golf cart all summer.

  “Hey,” he called out, recognizing Katie even though she tried to turn her head away from him.

  “Hey, what?”

  “Hey, whatever happened with your parking ticket?” He was next to her now, and the cell phone sitting on his tray was vibrating and hopping around on the plastic.

  “I paid it. Old news. Your phone is ringing.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Any time.” Katie cut ahead of him and placed her tray on the intake slot. She heard him say “Hello?” and kept walking.

  Why does that guy bug me so much? He makes me uneasy. It’s like he’s trying to get to know me, but I see no reason he should want to.

  Instead of returning to the grassy area, Craig directed the group to a conference room in the cool and quiet campus library. Seated around a large table like a gathering of executives about to find out who was going to be fired, the Crown Hall RAs began a different sort of training. Craig told each of them they would be asked two questions. The first question was from a random list. The next question would come from one of the people in the group.

  Talitha was the first to answer. In three minutes the group learned that she wanted to be a ballerina when she was growing up in Philadelphia and that her ancestors on her father’s side came from Somalia.

  Katie was next. Her first question
was, “What is your favorite trait that you inherited from your mother?”

  Katie had no answer. She blinked and waited for a reply to fly through the air to land on her lips.

  “Just one,” Craig said, as if she were sorting through the endless possibilities. “A single trait you inherited from your mother that you would consider your favorite.”

  “I guess I’d have to say my nose because my dad’s nose is really wide, and I’m glad my nose is more like my mom’s.”

  No one responded.

  “I actually was looking for something more internal,” Craig said. “A trait, attribute, or characteristic is more along the lines of what I was going for. You know, like being a good listener or being generous. Something like that.”

  Katie shrugged, unable to give Craig the kind of answer he was looking for. This was one of the problems Katie had encountered when choosing to go to a Chris tian college. The classes were great. The instructors were stellar. The quality of her education was excellent on both academic and spiritual levels. But during moments like this, when a “Sunday school” answer was expected, Katie didn’t know any Sunday school answers. She could almost tell just by looking at the others that they had grown up in Chris tian families. They probably had teddy-bear tea parties with their mothers when they were little and received purity rings from their fathers when they were in high school. Their care packages from home probably came every week with cute little love notes and sugar cookies with pink frosting.

  At this moment it seemed the rest of the group was catching on to the “peculiar” part of Katie’s Peculiar Treasure expression.

  Talitha asked a different question. “How about this, Katie. Did your parents have a nickname for you when you were growing up?”

  “Yes.”

  “What was it?” she asked.

  Katie quickly covered the near-break in her façade. “That’s three questions. Didn’t Craig say we only had to answer two questions? The answer to my second question was ‘yes.’ ”

  The laughter that rippled around the table was the kind Katie loved to extract from people, especially when she was caught off-guard in new situations. If people who didn’t know her labeled her as funny, they were less likely to expect her to divulge any of the serious parts of her life. Katie liked it that way.