by Bella Knight
"What do you want to do?" he said, and stood up from the little table and chairs they used for breaks outside the hydroponics lab. He went to the tiny counter, and filled up on fresh coffee.
"Hate cleaning things," said April. "Watching babies is cool, but I don't want to do it that much, because the cleaning goes with the babies."
Mike laughed. "Absolutely."
"Love growing stuff, and riding with the Valkyries. Would love to build my own bike. I'm learning beading and sacred songs from David."
"So, get an agriculture degree, and do all the other stuff, too."
"Okay," said April. "But, I have only the money I've earned here. I can't afford school."
"Scholarships," said Mike. "Or do my thing, and go military, but it changes you. A lot. You can go National Guard and won't have to train as much."
"I'll look into It," said April. "Now, those snap peas won't pick themselves."
"Sadly, they won't," said Mike. They went out to fill up another cart.
Nantan rolled over and kissed Chayton again. Chayton smiled. "You know the boys are going to wake up."
Nantan smiled. "I checked in on them twice, and they both stayed up way past their bedtime, reading and talking."
"Devious," said Chayton, and started kissing Nantan's neck. Nantan stroked Chayton's arms and legs while Chayton kissed lower... and lower… and lower. He nipped, licked, and kissed Nantan's nipples all the way down to his crotch. There, he took one of Nantan's balls in his mouth, then another, then sucked him until Nantan let out a strangled gasp, and came. Chayton cleaned him up, then it was his turn to be kissed, stroked and loved. Nantan used his teeth, which made Chayton groan and hold on tightly. Afterward, they put on boxers, and held each other close, reveling in the ability to sleep in.
"Mike is fantastic," said Nantan into Chayton's hair. "He lets us sleep in."
Chayton chuffed laughter. "I don't think that was sleeping."
Right on cue, the boys popped in. "Food," said Tam, imperiously.
Chayton laughed. "There's usually a ‘please’ involved in polite society, but let's get started on bacon and eggs, shall we?" He put on a robe, and padded after their son.
"I call this meeting to order," said Vu, sitting in the sunroom on her favorite recliner, with her hair still a bit wet from her morning swim. Chayton and Bao laughed. Vu grimaced at them and said, "Bao, I won't ask about the for-profit stuff, but I assume your Mandarin stuff is going well?"
Chayton laughed. "You won't ask and then you did ask."
Bao grinned. "Fine. Very good. Dragon Song went so well that there are several studios asking me and my illustrators to make it to a movie, to be simultaneously released in English and Chinese. I've never written a full-length movie before!"
Vu and Chayton let their jaws hit the ground. Chayton recovered first. "That will be hard, with your getting married and the new house..."
Bao giggled. "The house is doing just fine."
Vu smiled knowingly. "He took my advice about the sheets."
Bao blushed. Chayton put his head in his hands. "Um, can we get back to the meeting?" asked Chayton.
Vu smiled. "We've had requests from tribal councils from Alaska to Maine, and down to Florida and back. We even got requests for textbooks in Chinese from an immersion school in San Francisco, and Spanish and Hawaiian immersion schools --as well as the First Nation speakers. Some just want our format, and want to do their own things, and I've already given it to them. Some want curriculum design."
"I've never done that," said Bao.
"I just started my master's degree in curriculum design," said Chayton, quietly.
Both women stared at him, open-mouthed. "That's wonderful!" said Vu. "And, I taught school in both Vietnam and here in America for thirty-five years. I think we can agree on a curriculum. I'll use you two as up-and-comers, modern teachers, and what have you, for that part."
"We need more help. Robert Five Stones is Zuni and one of the Soldier Pack. He's okay with working on bikes, but he got a degree in language acquisition. He tried returning home, but needs more excitement. He's waiting outside if you want to meet him," said Chayton.
"Love to," said Vu.
"Of course," said Bao.
Robert Five Stones was tall, with nutmeg-colored skin, black eyes, straight back hair that was growing out since his discharge, and missing both a leg and an arm. He had a blade on the left leg, and a robotic arm, with fully functioning fingers of plastic and metal. He brought in his tablet, and sat in the straight-backed chair Chayton offered. Chayton rolled over a laptop desk, and Robert put his tablet down.
"I'm Robert Five Stones. I'm Zuni, and I want to preserve our language and our culture."
"You're in the right place," said Vu. "Bao here's preserving Chinese, and I'm Thai and want to preserve my language, and Chayton here created the framework with Bao to make books. We've started with children's stories, and we've found some fantastic illustrators. Everything we do is online. Bao's business makes a profit, and she donates tablets, cell phones, and e-readers to native schools. They are preloaded with our software, in whatever language they specify. Chayton here's working on Apache."
"Well, hot damn, Ma'am," said Robert. "I'll text them to move in another soldier on the list. Inola's got one more over-the-barn apartment left, since her cowpoke Jeffrey went away to vet school. I'd love to do this, if you'll have me."
"Shut up," said Chayton. "We wanted you at 'Zuni.' Great language. What's your degree in?"
"Got it in the tent," said Robert. "Masters of Education, specializing in curriculum design."
Chayton hung his head. "I'm so inadequate."
Bao laughed. "He just started his master's degree in the same thing."
"I'll help any way I can," said Robert.
"We've got two boys, Little Nico and Tam. Big Nico works in construction and is marrying Bao here. Then we got two more, Josh and Nick, and we're planning to adopt them too; their mom loves them and will visit them --but she's horrifyingly busy. Gives them more structure to handle being college bound. Bright boys. Anyway, that's just me and my husband Nantan. And there's the Wolfpack; students from all over the southwest who come to have Henry, Chayton and Bao here, help them pass their GED. And Inola lives here, with Henry and David, and Inola is married to Bella, and they have a baby named Ryder, and now Bella's going to have Nantan's baby."
"Overshare," said Vu.
"Wow," said Bao, her eyes misting. "Another baby!"
"And Bao here's going to live with Big Nico, just over the ridge, and Ivy and Callie, and Aiden and Kiya live there, with older girls Hu, Grace and Damia," finished Chayton.
"Hu is my daughter," said Bao. "Ivy and Callie helped with Hu when I was in China. And I'm pregnant. And getting married next week."
"Pregnant?" said Vu. She leaned out of her recliner and half-tackled Bao with an embrace. Chayton hugged her too.
"Wow," said Chayton. "That's the most I've ever said at one time. What the hell was in my coffee?"
Robert watched them all, wide-eyed. "What a fantastic family," he said. "It's almost Zuni." They all laughed.
Robert moved in, after making sure Jeffrey's stuff had all been shipped to him. Bruiser/Nico drove up with a flatbed with a mangled bike attached. Josh and Nick ran out to help him, followed by Tam and Little Nico.
"What's with the bike?" asked Josh. "Did you kill it?"
"Nope, previous owner did. He's alive. His insurance company sold me the bike for scrap," said Robert. "I'm gonna put it back together. Inola's letting me put it under that overhang there." The overhang was on the side of the barn, helpful for putting hay bales or other such things there, without getting them wet.
"Can we help?" asked Nick.
"After our schoolwork and chores are done," asked Little Nico, with a stentorian voice that had to be him trying to imitate Nantan.
"Schoolwork and chores first," agreed Robert. "Can't let our people down."
"How does skipping your homework let people down?"
asked Tam. "I get the chores stuff. Too much to do on a working farm, even with the eighty-eleven people we have here, already." Robert smiled at his number-word effort.
"Ever tried to get an uneducated guy to do a job that requires an education?" asked Robert, taking his duffel out of the front and putting it in front of the barn. The boys helped Bruiser/Big Nico unhook the chains that were holding onto the bike. Robert rushed to help them take it down and roll it on its working back wheel, and then to the side of the barn.
"Huh?" asked Little Nico.
Josh got it. "It's one thing to build the inside of houses, with Big Nico here. But you can't design them until you become an architect, and know how to do the framing, put up the roof, put in all the pipes and wires and cable and stuff, then the kitchen, and bathrooms..."
"Architecture school is no joke," said Big Nico. Robert rushed to help him lower the metal "horse" that would hold the engine block when Robert disassembled the bike. "Takes years of study. Have to understand math, angles, degrees, weights. And stuff like --which is a load-bearing wall, and which isn't. One you can cut into, or one you can't."
"Load-bearing?" asked Tam.
"Bearing the weight from the roof to the ground," said Robert. "My dad worked construction. Architects draw plans, get them approved, and contractors or building companies, they build them. Hey, Bruiser, didn't you say Callie in the house down there," he pointed to the slight rise, "that she can help me build bunk beds?"
"Sure," said Bruiser.
"Aren't you a little old for bunk beds?" asked Little Nico.
Robert laughed. "Spent all my time in the army, in one. My sister wants to come up to work on the Zuni stories with me. She's a weaver, too, and she is absolutely amazing. She can throw pots and make the most gorgeous silver jewelry, ones inset with stones."
"Be a nice side business," said Bruiser. "We can add on to the barn, make one apartment up top, a workshop for you, and a place with a potter's wheel for your sister. She can do her silverwork there. She and Jake can walk all over these mountains looking for stones. We got a couple that do jewelry here, mostly beadwork, though."
"I just got here," said Robert. "Wouldn't want to overstep."
"Shut up," said Bruiser. "You're family. You do your share of the work, whatever's needed, ‘till I get back. Be back to measure," said Bruiser. "Now, I've got to see my wife. I'll tell Callie when I'm over the hill about getting you some pods, but I think maybe, you should hold off until we get this extension built. We can frame it..." He pulled out his phone and poked some buttons. "Next Thursday. Expect you all." He pointed at everyone, and added, "To help. Family does for family."
"Yes, Sir," said all the boys, and Robert.
Bruiser hopped in, and drove off to see Bao. Robert stared at the barn wall, then his bike, schooling his face. A Zuni being taken in by Paiutes. Well, stranger things had happened. They were all Pueblos, weren't they?
Sheriff Xenia took her pregnant self to Vegas. She told Bob (Robin) it was a little vacation. Not true, not really. Sigrun had called for help, wondering what to do with Wraith's despair. Being in traction, unable to move, still on a catheter, was really messing with Wraith. She couldn't attend Bao and Nico's wedding, except via Skype. She was even unable to toss and turn at night. She was in pain, and angry, and definitely exhausted. Furthermore, Saber was off on some super-secret escapade to pay back favors he'd called up after she'd been run over. She was getting tired of seeing the same faces every day, and getting testy, irritable, and downright mean. She took online courses with her good hand on law enforcement, and worked on her Old Norse. She even began a single course toward a master's degree in criminal psychology. But, she couldn't shake her frustration, and it was hardening into rage.
Xenia badged her way into Wraith's room. Rota and Skuld were nearly glaring at her; it was obvious Wraith had upset them. "I see you look like a porcupine, and act like one too," said Xenia. Rota and Skuld grinned. Sigrun looked shocked.
Wraith laughed. "Hey, porker," she said, and made a pig noise.
"That's Sheriff Porker to you, missy," said Xenia. "Okay, what we're going to do will hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, unless we all do it in sync." Skuld moved to her head, Rota to her feet. "Sigrun, you take the feet. Rota, you reach up and get ready to move that mess of pulleys." Xenia took the sheet on the other side, at her hip, and said, "Don't scream, or the nurses will run in here. One, two, three."
They moved her over, a bit at a time, until she was nearly at the railing. The bed was wide to accommodate her pins and pulleys. Xenia took off her cop jacket and boots, crawled in, and held her as Wraith cried out in pain.
"I know," she said. "Let it out."
Sigrun brought wet wipes, and the others went to get coffee. Xenia let her cry it out, then helped her wipe her face. Rota came back with real coffee from the Starbucks down the street, then gently grasped Sigrun and dragged her from the room.
"Did I ever tell you about my mom?" asked Xenia. Wraith shook her head. "Well, I was born from --not a good marriage. My mom married a guy, got pregnant, the usual bullshit. He was controlling in that insidious sort of way where you don't read the signs, don't see the monster. Then, one night, knowing she was pregnant, he smashed in her face. She waited until he fell asleep, grabbed a few things --and her secret stash of money. Went to a bank branch several towns away, closed out all their accounts, moved to a small town in Nevada, from South Carolina. South Carolina! Can you believe it? Back then, changing your name wasn't quite as hard. She got a social security card from a dead baby, got a new name, new driver's license. New face, as he'd rearranged hers some. Then, a new hair color and glasses. She worked at a diner, volunteered at the library. I was born, and she married a nice guy named Alec Poulolakis. Ran a small Greek restaurant and a deli. She waited tables and rang people up. He kept things stocked, and had a friendly patter going with everyone."
"So, she got away." Despite her irritation and pain, Wraith was interested in the story.
"Not exactly," said Xenia. "My dad died when I was ten. I was six when they married, and so I knew he wasn't my birth dad. And my mom just said my bio dad was dangerous, a very bad man. I imagined he was in the mob after watching a few bad movies."
Wraith laughed, then moaned. "Don't make me laugh."
"Sorry," said Xenia. "So, I happened. I did some research. Found some real names in a box of stuff my mom didn't want to get rid of. Wound up with a cold trail. It turns out Daddy Dearest had been looking for my mom. He thought he'd had a son, and he wanted that son. Must have freaked him the fuck out when I contacted him. He saw his chance for revenge, and an angry little girl who hated her dad for dying --and her mom for not telling her about her bio dad. To be honest, I didn't believe my mom. Didn't think she was right. I had grown up loved, and I didn't know what nastiness was out there. In the “real” world. I was also angry at her for working all the time, then when I complained, she sold the deli and restaurant, and went to school to become a librarian. Now, I felt I had too much oversight."
"You were stupid," said Wraith.
"I was criminally stupid. He stole a car, made his way across the country to me. I can't say he kidnapped me, because I went with him, but I can say that everything he said was a lie. He'd marry my mom, we'd all be a family again." She wiped her eyes. "I led him to our front door --the man she changed her name (and her whole life) to protect me from. She talked to him in a sing-song voice. Asked me why I was talking to her abusive ex. I told her she was lying. She was crying silent tears; half angry, half sad. Finally, she got close enough to snatch me away from him, and he hit her. I was so shocked, I ran to the kitchen. Mom had a baseball bat behind every door; now I realized why. I ran out with it, and got a good whack in before she grabbed it from me and proceeded to pound the daylights out of him. She kicked his side, and told him to crawl out like the dog he was, and if he ever darkened her doorstep or tried to talk to either one of us again, she'd beat him to death. He crawled out after she broke his hand
because he kept lying there. He was quite literally bleeding on the floor, threatening to come back and kill her."
Wraith held onto Xenia's hand. "What did you do?"
"We had to move. He couldn't find us. I lost all my friends, my school, everything I loved, all because I didn't trust my mother, and so did she. The worst thing was, I'd lost her trust completely. She drove us to the outskirts of Reno, finished off her courses, and became a librarian, with a new hairstyle, and no glasses, and totally different clothes; librarian clothes. She took self-defense courses, became a black belt in karate, and had me do it, too. I'd never mentioned our last name, so we didn't have to change our last names, just our first ones. She treated me so lovingly, with such care and concern, but I'd broken something I couldn't unbreak. I listened to everything she said, tried to be a good girl, but it wasn't enough. I knew I'd fucked it up, completely. I tried to apologize, and she said she understood, but I knew she didn't. I trained hard, got a bike, learned to drink like a fish, got into the military. Never once said an ugly thing to her again."
"Where is she?" asked Wraith.
"Drunk driver got her when I was on leave. I had literally just gotten on the plane back when the driver crossed the median as she drove home from dropping me off. Then," she said, "the gloves were off."
"You found Daddy Dearest?"
"Oh, yeah," said Xenia. "He'd remarried, and was beating that wife. Bruises on her neck, and her small shoulders. Two terrified kids. I waited until he left the house." She stopped, stared at a wall. "Later on, I called someone I knew, someone with clout. I paid to have her sister move in with her, to help with the rent. My friend would go by with money and pay some bills, from time to time. She got a new guy; a nice one, married him with no problems since then. Sister's moved out and married, too, got a house around the corner, and the big extended family has picnics on the lawn."
“Thank goodness,” said Wraith.
Xenia looked down at Wraith’s mangled hand, then at her leg hanging up in the air. "Get some of this out in two weeks, more in three," she said. "Can't walk worth shit for six more weeks, though."