What You See

by Ann Mullen

  Sunday morning, everybody gathered at our house to prepare for the big bash at the Blackhawk Meeting Grounds as Billy so aptly put it. He promised the mood to be festive and the food to be abundant. He swore it would be an event we’d never forget. He guaranteed nobody would leave hungry and when they did leave, they’d go away with just a little bit more appreciation of the Cherokee way of life.

  He had a semi-captive audience. Dennis and Jack sat on the sofa listening intensely, while Aunt Edie, who had arrived two days earlier with Uncle Bill for their promised visit, threw in a few words. Uncle Bill was asleep in the recliner as usual and Claire was upstairs doing whatever it is that mothers do with their children.

  “Enough is enough!” I yelled across the room to him as he was just about to entertain the group some more. “Come over here and help me with these eggs, please.”

  Billy said something about a wife before he joined me in the kitchen.

  “I heard that!” I hissed. “If you were talking about me, you can forget it. I can’t even cook.”

  “You two stop it!” Mom fussed, standing at the counter behind us frying up chicken in one of those big, electric deep fryers. “Just boil the eggs for the potato salad, and try to behave yourselves, or get out of my kitchen!”

  “See,” Billy leaned over and whispered. “You’ve gone and ruffled her feathers.”

  “Just be quiet and help me,” I groaned. “How do you fix boiled eggs? I know you have to do it just right, or they turn out gross.”

  He reached down into the cabinet by my legs and pulled out a pot, filled it with water from the sink faucet in front of us, then sat it on the stove.

  “Just turn on the gas,” he instructed. “You do know how to do that, don’t you?”

  I looked at him and then looked at the stove. Then I looked back at him. I couldn’t let him know how bad my cooking skills were, so I reached over and turned one of the knobs. A flame ignited on the front left burner under the pot, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “You got lucky,” Billy laughed. “I can tell you’re lost in the kitchen.”

  “I do all right!” I boasted as I picked up the first egg, cracked it open on the corner of the pot and then let the contents drop in the water. I laid down the shell, picked up another egg and started to do it again when I noticed Billy and Mom were standing behind me, laughing their fool brains out. They thought I was hilarious.

  I turned around, still holding the egg in my hand, and said, “Do we have a problem here?”

  “No, of course not,” Mom replied. “But I think it might be better if you left the egg in the shell, honey. That’s what I would do if it were me.”

  This brought the house down. Even Uncle Bill woke up.

  I regained my composure and said, “For your information, this is the way the rich boil eggs. I saw them do it on television.”

  Billy threw his hands up in the air. “Well, what does that tell you folks?” He shooed me aside and started all over, explaining the process as he went along. He refilled the pot with water, put the eggs in and waited for the water to come to a boil. He let them boil for exactly three minutes and then tuned off the burner.

  “Now we’ll let them sit for fifteen minutes, and then they’ll be ready to peel.” He looked at me and grinned. He pulled a colander out of another cabinet and placed it in the sink. While the eggs were resting, he went to the refrigerator and removed the mustard, mayonnaise, pickle relish and a bottle of vinegar. He took the pot of potatoes Mom had boiling on the stove and poured them in the colander to drain. Twenty minutes later, he had a bowl of potato salad sitting on the counter ready to take to the party.

  “Where did you learn how to do that?” I asked. I was impressed with his cooking ability, and thought he would make someone a fine husband.

  “In our tribe all the children were taught how to cook,” he replied. “We were taught to hunt, fish, and prepare our meals. It was a lesson in survival we all had to learn.”

  “Fortunately,” I said, smiling, “I grew up with a mother who did all that for me.”

  “And look at you now,” he said as he turned to Mom. “No offense Mom, but your daughter would be in a world of hurt if she had to eat her own cooking for a week. She’d starve to death.”

  Everyone thought that was just hilarious. Aunt Edie got up off the sofa and came into the kitchen. She put her arm around my shoulder and said, “But she has so many other good qualities. Not everybody has to be a good cook, do they, Jesse?” Bless her heart. Aunt Edie was always the first one to rally to the aid of the underdog.

  “That’s right,” I agreed.

  “This fall when I take my week off to go hunting, I’m taking you with me,” Billy said. “We’ll camp in the woods for a week, kill our own food, and I’ll teach you how to cook. You’ll love it. Trust me. It’ll be fun.”

  “I live for the moment,” I sarcastically replied. I hated to tell Billy, but this was just not going to happen.

  Cole arrived at noon, and by then, the food Mom wanted to take had been prepared and we were ready to go to the party. Claire loaded the kids into the van while we helped Mom carry the food. Jack and Dennis talked Uncle Bill and Aunt Edie into riding with them in the Camaro—which wasn’t hard because Uncle Bill had a fondness for high-performance cars. Dad’s truck and my Jeep had been repaired and returned a few days before, but I still couldn’t bring myself to get in either one. I rode in Billy’s truck with him and Cole.

  Once Billy pulled out of the driveway and was heading down South River Road, he reached down under his seat and came up with a box wrapped in newspaper from the comics section. The package was tied with a red ribbon.

  “What’s this?” I asked as he handed it to me. “What did I do to deserve a present?”

  “After the trip to Poquoson, Cole and I had a long talk,” Billy said.

  “Wait a minute,” I butted in. “I know I missed work this past week, but that doesn’t mean I’m not coming back. If this is a retirement present, you can just keep it. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

  “Chill out,” Billy demanded. “Like I was going to say, after your ordeal in the woods and the way you handled yourself with the Carroltons... well, that took a lot of guts. You’re a strong `ge ya, and we know it.”

  “Billy, get to the point!” I yelled.

  Cole leaned over and said, “We came to the conclusion that if you could survive this ordeal you wouldn’t let anything stop you anymore. You’ve had a taste of blood and now you’re hooked. You have that look in your eyes. Doesn’t she, Billy?”

  “What look?” I asked.

  “The look of someone who has been exposed to the evils of the world and now you want to do something about it,” Billy answered.

  “Unless we’re wrong,” Cole added. “If you’re going to continue doing this kind of work, you have to learn how to do it right. The best way to do that is through training. There’re classes at the college you can take and when you finish you can apply for your private investigator’s license. There’s a one-day class you have to take to be able to get a concealed weapons permit, so I won’t have to haul you off to jail for carrying that gun in your purse.”

  “For your information,” I said. “I don’t have a gun in my purse.”

  “Yeah,” Billy whispered. “We went back and found your peashooter.”

  “Excuse me, it is not a peashooter. It’s a great gun. I want it back. Who has it?”

  “It’s at my house,” Billy said. “You can pick it up when you get back to work. Get it, take it home and clean it, and then store it some place safe. You need a real gun if you’re going to do battle with the criminal elements that are out there now. I want you to...”

  “Can I open my present now, or do the two of you have more plans for my future I need to hear first?”

  “Go ahead,” Cole answered. “Billy and I went in half on your present, and we’re both going to help you practice using it.”

  My curiosity piqued
as I tore open the present. Inside the case was a Glock 9MM. I recognized the handgun immediately. Billy and Cole both had one exactly like it.

  “It’s beautiful!” I exclaimed, turning it over in my hands and then looking down the barrel. “Wow! This is so cool!”

  Cole reached under the seat and came up with another present. “This is for you just in case you’d rather wear it instead of carrying it in your purse.” The package contained a holster that was threaded through a leather belt, and it was just my size!

  “You guys are too much,” I cried, leaning over to give both of them a kiss on the cheek. “When is my first lesson?”

  “Today,” Billy said. “One of the activities planned is target shooting.”

  “I told you,” Cole said. “When his family throws a party, they really throw a party. They’ll have games for the kids, dancing, horseback riding, and much, much more. At the end of the day we’ll sit around the campfire and smoke the peace pipe.”

  “Is he joking about the peace pipe?” I asked Billy as he laughed and shook his head. “Forget it. I’ve had enough of the evil weed.”

  Cole looked at me skeptically. “I think this falls under the category of things I do not need to know.”

  Billy’s parents owned a large, sprawling ranch on a hundred acres of land south of Charlottesville. He explained that his great grandparents bought the land when there wasn’t much in the county but a couple of farms. Charlottesville was the size of Stanardsville back then.

  “They lived off the land and eventually were buried in the family graveyard, like the rest of us will be when we die.”

  He said his folks had divided out sections for their children, but so far, Daniel, Robert, and Jonathan were the only ones who still lived on the property.

  “Ruth and I built our house when we first got married, but now the only ones who ever use it are the boys when they come for the weekend.”

  “You mean to tell me you have a home on this beautiful land and you don’t even live there? It just sits empty?”

  “Maybe when I decide to retire, I’ll move back,” he sadly proclaimed.

  We followed the long graveled road deep into the woods until we came to a clearing filled with cars. In the background sat a house the size of a shopping mall. I’d never seen a house this big in real life, and couldn’t wait to go inside and have a look around.

  “Oh, wow!” I shouted with glee. “This is magnificent, Billy. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s so... so... big.”

  “It’s been added on to a few times,” he explained as he parked the truck behind one of the cars. “Chief Standing Deer always insisted on having plenty room for the whole family.”

  “I would say so,” I replied as I crawled out of the truck and took a deep breath. “The air smells so good. I love the mountains. There’s something special about living here that no one can appreciate until they do.”

  “You’re absolutely right,” Mom said as she walked up to us. “Your dad called this place God’s country.”

  She pulled Billy aside and I heard her ask him, “Did you give her the present, yet? What did she think of it? I’m so curious.”

  “Yes, he did,” I said. “I take a few days off from work and everybody treats me like I’m a china doll. I won’t break, and I’m not going to sit up against a wall just because life got a little rough.”

  “Of course, you’re not,” Aunt Edie came to my rescue. “You’re a tough guy, but even tough guys have mothers who worry about them. Believe me, I know.” She gave me a wink and locked her arm in mine.

  “I guess you do,” I murmured. “You have more courage than I could ever hope to have.” We both knew what I was talking about.

  Uncle Bill was the last one to walk up as we gathered together for our assault on the party.

  “I’m hungry,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “When is this big ho-down going to start?”

  “Uncle Bill,” I slapped him on the back and said. “You have to stop sleeping so much or you’re going to miss out on a lot of stuff.”

  “Ignore him,” Aunt Edie whispered in my ear. “He can’t help it. It’s those pills he has to take. They make him fall asleep at the drop of a hat.”

  We descended on the party that was already in full swing in the back yard of the house. A line of tables set up under a canopy of open tents were loaded with food. Kids were playing all over the place while the adults milled around in circles. The men in our group were given the chore of carrying the food to the tables. The rest of us huddled together, laughing and carrying Claire’s kids. As usual, Aunt Edie always had a joke or some wild story to tell us. Even in her own time of personal tragedy she could still make us feel good.

  “Jesse,” she whispered to me. “Your mom tells me you’ve got both these guys falling all over you. Which one are you going to marry? She told me you’d be getting married soon, and I was just wondering which one was the lucky guy.”

  “Mom, you’re at it again!” I screamed. I looked back at Aunt Edie. “Mom’s crazy. Marriage is the last thing on my mind.”

  “Not from what I heard,” Claire chimed in. “Mom told us all about it.”

  “Excuse me,” I stated. “I need to talk to my mother.” I gave Mom the evil eye and pulled her off to the side. I was going to get her straight if it was the last thing I did. I couldn’t let her embarrass me with her tales.

  “Mom, you have to stop telling everybody I’m getting married,” I whispered to her. “It’s not true and it’s embarrassing.”

  “Honey,” she sighed. “I’m telling everybody what I’ve been told.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Just as she was about to speak, Billy walked up with his parents.

  “Mom and Dad,” he said to his parents, “I want you to meet my other mom, Minnie Watson. You know Jesse and Cole.” He motioned to us as he made introductions. “This is Claire, Jesse’s sister, and Claire’s two kids, Benny and Carrie. This is Jesse’s brother, Jack, and his partner, Dennis.” He pointed to them. “Over here we have Jesse’s Aunt Edie and Uncle Bill.” With the introductions made, he proudly turned to his parents and said, “These are my parents, Chief Sam Standing Deer Blackhawk and Sarah Blackhawk.”

  Chief Sam Standing Deer was dressed like one of the tribal chiefs I had seen on television many times. He had a massive animal fur slung over his shoulders even though it was seventy degrees outside. The outlandish feathered headdress he wore enhanced his tanned and wrinkled face. The feathers started at the top of his head and extended down to his heels. He wore tan suede pants with fringed strings down the side, and his shirt was muslin. His chest was covered with the proud beads and feathers interwoven in a pattern that only an Indian would understand.

  Sarah Blackhawk was dressed in a simple, yellow sundress. She was the wife of an Indian chief, yet she still dressed and acted like the person she was—a white woman. She was the mother of this clan and proud of it. Even if she was a little bit different, it was obvious she wasn’t going to let anybody try to change that, or her position in this family.

  Mom tipped her head, as if to bow before the chief, and then stepped forward. She gave Sarah a hug and said, “I’m glad to finally meet both of you. Why, I feel like we’re family already!”

  “I’m so glad to hear that and so glad you could come to our home,” Sarah broke the embrace, but still had her arm around Mom’s shoulders as they walked away. She turned back to the rest of us and said, “Please... everybody have some food and enjoy the festivities.” She looked directly at Claire. “Over by the picnic tables we have a group of ladies in charge of taking care of the children if you’d like some time for yourself. As much as we love our children, every mother needs a break once in a while.”

  I heard Mom tell Sarah as the two of them walked off, “We have so much to talk about. Aren’t our kids wonderful?”

  She’s at it again. By the time this party’s over, Mom will have me at the altar with Cole or Billy, ready to sa
y our wedding vows. I had to do something fast.

  “Hey, Billy,” I motioned to him. “Please go get my mom before she does something crazy or says something outrageous.”

  “She’s fine. Don’t worry,” he said. “She’s having a good time.”

  “No, she’s not!” I demanded. “She’s been talking about all kinds of weird crap all morning, and if you don’t go get her away from your mother, she’ll have your mom helping her pick out baby names for our kids by the end of the day. If you know what I mean.”

  “Oh, Jesse,” he grinned and put his arm around my shoulder. “Let her have some fun. I’m not worried. Are you afraid she’ll embarrass you?”

  “Yes, I am,” I mumbled under my breath. “You don’t know my mom.”

  Being with Billy’s family was like being at home only it was a little different.

  If we were at home, for our 4th of July celebration we’d cook out and socialize, dressed in shorts and spraying bug spray everywhere, and at night we’d set off a few fireworks.

  But we were dealing with a whole different culture of people here. We saw a side of life we’d never seen... and we loved it.

  Almost everyone was dressed in feathers and buckskin, or some other form of Indian clothing, except a few others and us. They played games, ran races, rode horses, and did almost anything you could think of to have fun. Not once did I see a fight or a wife and husband off to the side arguing. The warmth of these people and the love they shared for each other was astounding.

  They were proud of their heritage and weren’t afraid to express their feelings. By the end of the day we all rallied around the campfire to pray and give thanks, while watching an enormous display of fireworks.

  For the first time in a long while, I felt relaxed and at ease with myself. I was happy with my life. As I sat by the campfire, I thought about everything that had happened to me. I grew up in a good home and lived a fairly normal life—however drab it had seemed at times. I’ve had my share of trials and tribulations, but in the end it was those experiences that put me on the road to a new life. I had my family, my new friends, and a boss I adored. What more could you ask? Maybe one day Cole will get his head out of his butt, and I’ll be able to trust him again.