Stop Dragon My Heart Around

  She moved to the couch across from him.

  “Did you mean it about coming to the reservation with me?” he asked.

  “Would that be okay? It would give us a chance to talk. I’d like to know more about the man who…” Tee’s words trailed off.

  Who what? Made her? Abandoned her and her mother?

  “The man,” she finally said.

  “I really don’t know much about him. She put my name on your birth certificate. She never talked about him.”

  “Surely she said something?”

  “Your mother wouldn’t discuss him and she never, ever wanted you to know.” He rubbed a callused hand over his eyes. “I never would have broken her confidence if it weren’t for the Youngs and their blood testing.”

  “They snatched me from the casino yesterday. You can’t protect me from them any longer.”

  The Chief stood, but even his upright posture seemed smaller, diminished. “What?”

  “Leo saved me, but they took a vial of my blood.”

  The Chief sat down hard and put both hands over his face. “I’ve failed. I have failed at everything.”

  “No.” Tee went to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, amazed to find that they were shaking with silent sobs. “Dad. You’ve failed at nothing. You were the best father anyone could ever have. You were a wonderful husband, and you’re a wonderful Chief. This stuff with the Youngs, it will pass.”

  “They’ll rip the tribe apart and they’re going to use me to do it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It would be better if I went on to the skies than be used against you and the tribe.” He lifted his sorrow-filled face to her and leaned his forehead against hers. “I’m ready.”

  “Well, I’m not.” Tee shook him. “This is ridiculous. The Chief I know wouldn’t run from a bunch of boys.”

  “They told me they would expose your birth circumstances to the tribe if I didn’t help them, and now that they have your blood, they can prove it. It won’t matter what I say.”

  Tee stood and stared down at her hunched-over father. “I don’t care what they say. Do you?”

  “No, Tee. You’re my daughter, and some blood test will never change that.”

  “So what do we have to fear? Their words mean nothing.”

  “They’ll cast you off the rolls. You won’t be a member of the tribe anymore.”

  “You’re more worried about me than the fact that they might blame you for misleading them all these years?” Tee remembered James’s argument in the SUV, that the tribe would consider the Chief’s duplicity dishonorable.

  “Yes.”

  “You don’t have to worry about me.” The lump in the back of her throat grew, and Tee fought to keep her expression neutral. “Worst case, I can’t vote on the casino, but I’ll always be a member of the tribe. They can’t take that from me.”

  “It’ll hurt you.” The Chief looked at her, pain etched on his face. He was horrified by the possibility.

  “I’m strong. You and Mom raised me to be strong. This cannot hurt me. And if it cannot hurt me, it cannot hurt you.” She lowered to her knees again beside him, gazing into his face. Remembering all the times he’d cleaned her scraped knee, made an early morning breakfast, tucked her into her bed at night. “I’ll be fine. They can’t hurt me.”

  The Chief squeezed her hand. “I love you, Tallulah.”

  “And I love you too.”

  “You’ll really be okay, no matter what happens.” His words were a gratified statement, not a question.

  “Yes.” Tee knew in her heart it was true. A deep calm replaced the dread that had been eating up her insides since the Chief’s revelation. If the Youngs really cast her off the rolls, it would hurt symbolically, but deep down, she already knew who she was.

  She was the Chief’s daughter. She was Leo’s mate. She was Paiute.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said, and she meant it.

  “There are many others who won’t be fine. They depend on the support from the tribe financially. Being cast off the rolls will be about more than just voting on the casino and their identity. It’ll affect their very survival.”

  “Then we’ll fight for them. But let’s fight for the good of the people and not out of fear.”

  The Chief smiled and nodded. “The Youngs have called the council for tonight to reveal the blood results and put the casino project to a vote.”

  The speed of the move surprised Tee, but she responded quickly. “I just need to grab an overnight bag and call Leo.” She walked to her bedroom door and looked back at him. “This idea that I have for the tribe is a good one. You need to hear me out.”

  “Okay,” the Chief said. “Tell me about it on the way there.”

  The remaining weight fell from Tee’s shoulders. It hadn’t been that the Chief didn’t trust and respect her. He had only wanted to protect her. Now that that obstacle was gone, they could work together for the good of their relationship and the future of their people.

  Now they just needed to convince the tribe.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The reservation school gymnasium was hardly bigger than the width of the worn basketball court taped on its concrete surface, black with age and years of shoe scuffs. It was also the tribal meeting room, used for games and for more serious matters.

  Bleachers filled with tribe members stretched along one side, and the mid-morning sun poked through the high windows. A hush fell over the crowd as Tee and the Chief stepped through the double doors onto the court, side by side.

  The free throw line, where she’d tossed many a basketball, passed under Tee’s feet. She’d been the tallest, the center on the team. The other girls had barely come to her shoulders.

  The Chief stopped at the half court line and turned to the crowd. “I will not argue against the casino,” he said without preamble. “I will not tell you that this is a mistake. I will not remind you of the ancestor’s stories against gambling. You already know this is a treacherous path.”

  A rumble of surprised voices circled the packed gym bleachers and then quieted.

  “But I tell you this, I will never, never allow our members to be cast off our rolls for greed and profit, and neither should you!”

  The rumbling picked up a deeper tenor of dissension.

  “Have you even stopped to consider which of your family sitting next to you will no longer belong to our people?” the Chief asked. “Who will be tossed aside? Are you so arrogant that you can’t fathom that it might be you? What then?”

  The crowd mumbled, and beside the Chief, Tee stood tall and proud. She felt their eyes turn her way. Let them look, she told herself. Let them see your confidence in your father, your confidence in yourself. Let them look.

  “Being a part of this tribe is of the heart. Not of science.” The Chief’s voice filled with emotion. “We’re here together. We say we belong to the earth and to the spirits and to each other, and so it is. Don’t let greed allow you to shove away your brothers and sisters. We are few enough as it is.”

  A slow, two-handed staccato clap sounded at the edge of the bleachers.

  “Thank you, Mr. Alameda, for that nostalgic speech.” James walked toward them, his words syrupy with condescension. Apparently unscathed from his showdown with Leo’s dragon.

  He stopped at Tee’s side and flourished a thick, stapled letter in his hands. The top corner read “Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C.”

  “You may not have heard, but I’ve been elected the new Chief.” He touched his chest with his empty hand, as if honored beyond words. “You’re no longer in charge of the tribe, Mr. Alameda. Please have a seat, like everyone else.”

  “I won’t sit—” the Chief began.

  James cut him off. “Very well. Stand then. The tribe has waited years for new ideas and a progressive path. You can’t stop us, standing or sitting.”

  Tee wanted to knock the smirk off his smug face. This was bad, very bad. She’d known
her own place in the tribe was at risk, but the Chief’s? He’d given his life to the people. How could they turn on him now?

  Money.

  It was all about the money they thought they would make on the casino.

  “You’re the one who has no standing here.” She must have stepped forward, because the Chief put a restraining hand on her elbow.

  “Let him finish,” he whispered.

  James looked at the Chief’s hand on her arm and smiled. His derisive glance said she was insignificant, dismissed as unworthy. He addressed the bleachers full of people. “As you all know, the matter of the casino has already been voted on and was approved.”

  The crowd seemed to hold their collective breath.

  “We’ve only to determine who’ll directly profit from this bold move.” He gave the papers in his hand a small shake for emphasis. The eyes of the crowd watched the movement, riveted on the piece of paper. “Everyone seated here will profit from new jobs and better healthcare.”

  He turned to stare hard at the Chief. “You’ve failed to provide basic necessities for our people. Do you wonder that they’re eager for change?” he asked. “I’m not the monster you think. It’s you who’s the dinosaur.”

  The Chief’s shoulders rounded slightly as if he had received a blow. Fury fired through Tee at the direct attack. “How dare you!”

  “How dare you not!” James yelled for all to hear. “You, who know better. You, who have only pretended to be one of us. You, who found a good job for yourself off the rez. You, more than anyone, should understand the power of employment and money. You deny these people the same, these people you’ve falsely called your people, and your tribe?”

  James spread his arms wide to the crowd, and Tee had a glimpse of his well-concealed mega-narcissism, varnished over with righteous purpose. He believed what he said. That made him even more dangerous.

  The gang of Youngs stood at the front of the bleachers, subtly exerting control over the crowd. Their faces weren’t righteous like James’s. Theirs were masks of anticipation, self-satisfied greed.

  The gym doors opened and Leo stood framed in them. His eyes found hers, concerned and assessing, and then angry. He walked across the scarred floor to her side. Gladness and relief coursed through her and she turned to him. An anchor in the sea of turmoil. The gang members crossed their arms at his appearance and scowled.

  “You’re just in time,” she whispered.

  “He shouldn’t be here, this doesn’t concern him,” James said petulantly.

  The crowd murmured, and Tee could tell they agreed.

  “Members of the Paiute tribe,” she said loudly. “Leonidas Ryan is here as a representative of the Crown Jewel Casino.”

  James looked annoyed. “We know better than to trust the words and promises of outsiders.”

  “Chief Alameda asked me to come today,” Leo said. “I think you should hear what he and Tallulah have to say. The Chief has long looked out for the best interests of all who are here.”

  Tee stood straight, feeling proud and certain that once the tribe heard their plan, they would agree with them. “I have a new proposal that will benefit everyone, without destroying our sacred ground. We all have wanted a new way forward for some time. As you know, the Chief hasn’t wanted to bring the corrupting influence of gambling to the tribe. We’re proposing to build a spa resort or maybe even golf resort if it won’t harm the land. Something that will take advantage of the beauty and tranquility of our land without ruining it.”

  “How would we afford this?” someone shouted from the crowd.

  “I’m a major stakeholder in the Crown Jewel Casino on the Strip,” Leo said beside her. “We would like to offer a joint partnership with the tribe to develop the resort.”

  “Let me guess,” James said, and the gang shifted and crossed their arms. “You would keep all the profits.”

  “No. We would agree to a fair percentage.” Leo smiled. “But there are a few conditions.”

  “Of course there are,” James said. “Let’s hear them.”

  “The Chief and Tee must run the daily operations. They’re a part of you. They’re Paiute. They belong here.”

  Indecipherable voices filled the gym.

  Leo let the talk subside before starting again. “The reservation profits would go first to build up the reservation infrastructure, things that will help the children, like the school. As long as they have no hope, you all will have no future.”

  Joy spread through Tee’s chest to her toes. She could have a home and a tribe, a real place to belong. And Leo. She would have Leo.

  The Chief stepped forward and raised his hands as he’d done to start the powwow. “Sisters and brothers, I believe this partnership will allow us to move forward without bringing the corrupting influence of gambling to our people. You may have a new Chief, but you still have the voice.” His words echoed around the gym. “All in favor of this plan instead of a casino, say aye.”

  A resounding “aye” sounded from the tribe and their excitement pulsed from the bleachers.

  “Any nays?” the Chief asked.

  “Nay!” James turned to face the bleachers. “You fools. You could have all of the profits to yourself. You’re going to let an outsider tell you where to allocate the money? To the school? I went through that school. This halfling went through that school. We all went through that school, and we did just fine.”

  “There aren’t enough books and the social studies texts don’t have any history past the Reagan years,” Tee argued. “A lot has happened since then.”

  James waved the papers at the crowd. “This woman has no right to lead anything. She is no more of the people than this corporate user beside her.”

  “Read it,” the Youngs chanted. “Read it. Read it.” The words echoed through the gym.

  The doctor looked victorious and cleared his throat.

  Leo struck with no warning. He grabbed the doctor by the back of the neck and squeezed. The doctor grunted in pain and the pages of the report fell to the ground.

  Tee bent to pick up the thick report and her eyes landed on the name of her old school bus driver: Dasan Contreaz, point zero-four percent Native American. Her vision blurred and the results hit her like a hammer to gut. The results of the testing would cast Dasan out of the tribe?

  Dasan, with his kind eyes and devotion to the children?

  She lifted face to the crowd, finding Dasan’s eyes.

  He sat on the second row and seemed to know what she’d read. He dropped his gaze and slumped on the bleacher. He knew. He looked as miserable as anyone she had ever seen at a funeral. His wife put a protective arm around his shoulder and glared at her.

  “The results of the blood testing were inconclusive,” Tee said.

  “No they weren’t,” the doctor shouted.

  Leo squeezed harder, and James shut up.

  Tee quickly tore the thick pages into long strips. Dasan’s wife ran forward with a lighter and the paper burst into flames.

  Tee watched the edges of the paper char and turn to black. She dropped them and the flames spread across the paper, leaving unreadable ash.

  The crowd stood and clapped, low and rhythmically. Smiles stretched the faces of the people she loved and the tribe to which she belonged.

  It was like the Chief had said. Belonging was of the heart, not of science.

  She turned to smile at Leo. “You can let go of him now. He is powerless.”

  Leo opened his arms and she went happily into them. “I understand now, we choose our tribe, we choose our belonging. And I choose you. Again and again.” She lifted to her toes to whisper in his ear. “And your dragon too.”

  Leo smiled and gave her a hungry kiss. Around them the crowd filed off the bleachers and outside. “You’ll have to get an assistant to help with the building. It will be a big undertaking.”

  “You okay with me not being a hostess for the casino?”

  Leo smiled. “You won’t have time for those
idiots, unless you want to. It’s up to you. I definitely want to take you to Australia to meet my family.”

  “I would love that,” she said. “I love you.”

  “And I love you,” he said and clasped her hand tight. “Forever.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Ping-pong, ping-pong, ping-pong, drifted across the sand to Leo’s ears. Tee and his sister, Gretchen, played paddleball in the surf of the Australian Ocean. Tee wore an amazing red bikini that made her brown skin glow. His dragon mark glistened in the middle of her back, dark golden and circular.

  Only the fates knew when the next mating ceremony would occur. Sometimes it was years in between ceremonies, and sometimes it occurred twice in a year. The ancients said the fates knew the dragons’ right population balance. This never made sense to Leo, since their numbers had been steadily falling since his grandfather’s time.

  Whenever the ceremony occurred, he and Tee would complete their bond. In the meantime, his dragon form would re-energize. It was more than enough.

  At the edge of the water, Leo could see his sister was going easy on Tee. She lobbed the ball in an arc to give Tee more time to connect the paddle. Tee swung and missed. She laughed and bent to retrieve the ball from the water, giving Leo an excellent view of her gorgeous backside from his beach recliner.

  “Your mate is clumsy,” his best friend, Alec, the King of the Dragons, teased beside him.

  Leo closed his eyes and smiled. “My mate is perfect.”

  Next to Alec, Lucy sat in a white bathing suit under a large shade umbrella, keeping the sun off her sensitive, red-headed complexion. “I agree,” she said. “She’s perfect, and thankfully human.”

  “You don’t seem to mind all us dragons,” Alec said.

  “It’s nice to have another human to talk to about human things,” Lucy replied. “Nice to know she’s not going to jump into the sky and disappear.”

  Leo listened, content to let their easy talk roll over him while he watched Tee jump from one long leg to the other. If he went to her and kissed her, he knew her long, dark hair would feel hot from the rays of the sun and her mouth moist and soft. He would walk her into the water, cool them both off, and slip his hands under her skimpy bikini bottom. Inside, his dragon and his desire stirred, liking his daydream.