“Then, oh, a couple of years later, after I’d moved here, I was dating this guy in the south-end, and he decided that he could teach me to drive so, once again into a car and off we go! I really thought I was getting the hang of it. I still to this day don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden, there’s this crash, tinkling glass and I’m nose to nose with a poster in front of the Paris Theater facing this chick wearing nothing but a couple of black rectangles. After that, I gave up and said
‘No more!’”
All of this flashed through Lena’s mind as she watched Jo-Ann walking along the sidewalk, which led to her back door.
“Jo-Ann! Good to see you!” Lena smiled, opening the screen and inviting Jo-Ann in.
“Howdy, neighbor!” Jo-Ann chirped.
“Oh, your new hutch you were telling me about. Veerrry nice!” Lena smiled.
“Thanks! Michael and I like antiques, as you have probably guessed,” Lena replied in reference to the few pieces that she had bought to augment the furniture Lena had kept from her family’s three-room
apartment, combined with Michael’s pieces from his soon to be former
residence.
Jo-Ann nodded. Clearly, she had not come over to discuss furnishings. She walked over to a small kitchen table and sat down, drumming her fingers on the Formica top.
“Lena,” she began. “Yes?” Lena replied.
“When are you getting married?” Jo-Ann questioned.
Lena regarded her friend. She was amazed at how close she had become to Jo-Ann in the few months she had lived here. With Jo-Ann, you were never bored, and she could keep you laughing with her stories until you begged her to stop.
Lena recalled Jo-Ann’s horror when she realized that she’d served alcohol to a minor. Within sixty seconds, her face had registered disbelief, shock, consternation, and finally, self-ridicule.
“You’d think I was dropped on my head!” she exclaimed.
I think that one of the things I love about her the most – is her ability to laugh at herself, admit her mistakes and move on, Lena mused, and her admiration for her friend heightened.
Lena walked to the sink and washed her hands. Grabbing a dishtowel, and drying them, she turned to Jo-Ann and smiled.
“Well, girlfriend, I’m glad you asked. It’s a month away, and I
want you to be my matron of honor.”
Jo-Ann’s jaw dropped; she clearly was not expecting the offer. Then, a small tear coursed down her left cheek and she sniffed.
“Are you sure?” she asked, voice quivering.
“Absolutely,” Lena affirmed. “I can think of no better person. “Nickie is a dear friend, and she will be my bride’s maid. As the
elder of my friends, I want you to have the position of matron of honor. I’ve grown very close to you, Jo-Ann. I’ve talked about this with Nickie,
and she completely agrees with my choice. What do you say?
A smile slowly spread itself across Jo-Ann’s face. “Sure! But I don’t have a dress!”
“Wear whatever you’ve got. The wedding is going to be very simple. Vicki has offered the restaurant and Julie, I’ve told you about
her, is driving in from Iowa to do the legal ceremony – she has already performed the traditional and is licensed to perform marriages here in
Ohio.
“Good. It’s all set!” Lena clapped her hands and sat down across from her friend.
“Well, then, what I was about to do is even more appropriate,” Jo- Ann stated, giving Lena her toothy grin.
“I want to give you something special, something very special,” Jo- Ann stated, placing a small package on the table.
“Please,” Jo-Ann entreated, “accept this with all of my love.”
Lena took the small offering and carefully unwrapped the parcel. It was a ring box. Upon opening it, Lena beheld an exquisite turquoise ring. The marquise-shaped stone was set in a beautiful, silver fluted setting. Mother of Pearl traced its way through the vivid, blue stone. It reminded Lena of the earth, like the maps you see where the earth is represented as an oval. The workmanship was beyond compare. Lena gasped, and looking up at Jo-Ann, shook her head.
“Hey, Missy,” Jo-Ann interjected, “don’t you dare say no.” She smiled affectionately and continued:
“This was my mother’s, and I want you to have it. Wear it at your wedding…something old and something blue! Plus, I know that it is
your birthstone, and so it will be good luck.”
Jo-Ann stood up and walked to the door. Before Lena could say a word, she pushed the screen door open and left.
The day was a crystal white. Bright sunshine shone through ice- rimed windows, reflecting intricate lace-like patterns on the shining hardwood floors. Linen draped tables were graced with bouquets of day lilies, Lena’s favorite flower. Silky, linen napkins in an amber color-on- color chevron pattern were nestled within simple, silver napkin rings.
Twinkle lights sparkled on doorways and a small arbor, which Julie constructed the night before from grape vines, to set off the area in which the couple would be wed.
The restaurant was closed for the night to the general public, but it would be full nonetheless. Michael’s family would be there, as well as favorite patrons, friends of Vicki’s, and of course, the Catchers and their friends, including Dean and Nellie and Dean’s brother, Gary who now rented the apartment to Sonny.
Sonny walked through the restaurant, assuring that all was in order. In the four months since the powwow, Sonny was an indefatigable help to Michael. He helped Michael move, first from his apartment in Keokuk to the apartment on Front Street, and then from there to the condo in the Short North. In addition, he closed his own apartment and moved into the Front Street address, once Michael moved his furnishings to the condo which he was to share with Lena. The two then roomed together until Michael and Lena’s marriage was legally solemnized.
A stroke of luck landed Sonny a job with Vicki as well. Remembering his performances at the powwow, and observing his organizational skills, she offered him a job as Night Manager. Sonny did
not disappoint.
Cowboy boots echoing on glistening, hardwood floors, Sonny made a final run through the restaurant. Everything was in order. He stopped
to straighten a lily half fallen from its vase and made his way to the kitchen.
Michael, of course, would not be working tonight, and Sonny volunteered to step in and make sure that all was in order.
He walked through the kitchen area, careful not to get in the way of the sous chef, who was in charge of the food tonight, and his various
assistants. Grabbing a spoon and dipping it into a poblano sauce, he tasted it and rolled his eyes. Delicious! Smiling, Sonny exited the
kitchen and returned to the main room for a final, double, double-check.
Sonny was not sure how he would react to the wedding of his brother/cousin to Lena. So far, he’d managed to avoid seeing too much of Lena – his new job, and moving, being the perfect excuse. But in the deep, dark hours of the night, his heart would ache, and his soul cry out for the winsome, beautiful girl he’d fallen in love with in Keokuk. Still, Michael was his childhood friend, playmate, brother, cousin. Michael’s happiness was important to Sonny, and he had to admit to himself that his love for Lena made him feel responsible for her happiness as well. Therefore, he was resolved to be reconciled, and to rejoice in the marriage of the two people he loved more than anyone else.
Lena prepared for her wedding in her office. Lena’s mother’s ribbon dress, worn at her own wedding, fell just above Lena’s ankles. Exquisitely beaded white moccasins, lovingly fashioned by her unci, with red and gold beads, graced her tiny, narrow feet. Her mother’s wedding wreath encircled her shining hair, a duplicate of which Michael would be wearing. Michael and Lena’s mothers had fashioned the wreath, becoming fast friends during the process.
Her bouquet was four Artic Snow day lilies, their creamy, ruffled, white petals edged
in gold, complimenting the flowers in the dining area. Tucked within their silky petals was her prayer feather. Her wedding band was silver, fashioned into the shape of an eagle’s feather.
Michael finished dressing in Vicki’s office, and proceeded to the arbor to await his bride. He was dressed in a fringed, white buckskin jacket. A turquoise bolero tie, worn in honor of his bride, encircled the color of a crisp, white, cotton shirt. Black jeans and black cowboy boots finished off his wedding attire.
The sweet soaring notes of a flute drifted to Michael’s ears. Brent Blount,84 a musician of high regard who played tenor sax, clarinet, blues and jazz guitar and the Native American flute, was playing “Wankan
84 http://www.brentblount.com/
Tanka,”85 a song about new beginnings. There was a hush, and slowly the flute began again. This time, it was “Sunrise Song.86” A lilting vibrato filled the rooms. It was time.
Lena gave a start and smiled. Brent was playing the song she chose for her entrance. Taking a deep breath, Lena opened the door to her office, and began her journey as a wife.
85 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17h34SywAHY
86 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ki9qeH8Oeo
Chapter Fourteen
May the Warm Winds of Heaven Blow softly upon your house. May the Great Spirit
Bless all who enter there. May your Moccasins Make happy tracks
in many snows,
and may the Rainbow always touch your shoulder.
Cherokee Prayer Blessing
She loved the smell of him, the look of him, the feel of his firm, muscular thighs against her softer, pliant flesh.
Lena turned to her sleeping husband. Cheek nestling on her left palm, she gazed down upon his slumbering form. Such a handsome man she mused, so sweet and thoughtful – so beautiful inside and out. Lena
rolled to her back, and cradling her head in her small hands, she smiled,
gazing at the cracked ceiling above.
We need to strip the wallpaper from the ceiling, she though sleepily. Lena loved her new home, in spite of its flaws. Large rooms filled with diffused light gave the spaces within the condo a soft, mellow feeling. The high ceilings, tall windows and ornate mantles spoke to her of years gone by. She often wondered who had lived within the walls of her beloved domicile before she and Michael purchased it.
They must have been happy, she reflected, because the house feels
happy.
Lena turned onto her right side and observed the antique mantelpiece that graced the east wall of the bedroom. Carved wood, blue, Victorian tiles, and a cunningly wrought cast iron surround, spoke to her of a pride of workmanship often absent in today’s world. She loved her new home; loved her husband; loved her life.
Turning to Michael again, she kissed him on the tip of his nose, then proceeded to rub it with her tiny one.
“Wake up, sleepy head!” she commanded, melting into his broad chest as muscular arms enfolded her, drawing her to him with a long, contented sigh.
“Good morning, Little Bird,” Michael whispered drowsily. “It’s
good to awaken this way.”
He smiled at his wife tenderly, and with seemingly no effort, rolled over until she lay against the mattress and he was atop her small, shapely body. Michael bent to her lovely lips, kissing them lingeringly, drawing
her into him, into his heart, his soul. Lena melted against him, sighing with happiness.
Michael reluctantly released her and rose from the bed. “We must get started, Mitawin,” Michael grinned.
Lena pretended to pout, and rising from the disheveled bed, jumped into his arms, laughing and wrapping her lovely legs around his waist.
Chuckling, Michael spun around, holding tightly to his beloved wife, her wondrous hair fanning out in a silky, glossy crescent. It was a new day,
they were more deeply in love than when they married eight months
before, and they were facing a day doing what they loved most, working together to provide delicious food for the people who honored Vicki’s table.
Michael added sliced apples and tomatillos to the sauté pan, and with a tilt of the vessel, first forward and then back, expertly flipped the fruits, coating them with the cooking oil. The kitchen of Vicki’s filled with tantalizing smells as the flavors of the sweet and tart fruits married.
Sous-Chef Ed Soaring Eagle Chenoweth, was busy preparing his famous Elk Meatloaf, while the pastry chef worked with an intern, preparing the most popular dessert of the now famous eatery: Cedar Woman’s Aztec Chocolate Cheesecake.
Inspired by the historical accounts of Montezuma’s favorite drink of chocolate, mixed with hot water and peppers, Lena worked diligently on the recipe, until she attained the perfect mix of sweet chocolate, combined with the heat of cayenne. The restaurant couldn’t make enough of them, as the demand rose almost daily.
Sonny sauntered in and walked toward Michael. Peeking over
Michael’s left shoulder, Sonny pronounced,
“Man! That’s my lunch you’re making, Cousin.” Laughing, Michael returned,
“No way. This is for table five.” Sonny chuckled, and patting his brother/cousin on the back, left the kitchen. He knew that soon Michael would prepare his dinner, and he was anxious to relax and enjoy the
meal.
He walked over to where Nickie stood at the hostess booth, and uttering a few pleasantries, strolled away.
Nickie Makoche` Wanblaka Tuwa Ista Numpa Winyan, or Ista
Numpa87 for short, Greene stood completely still. Outwardly, it appeared
87 Mah-koh-cheay wahn-blah-kah tdoo-wah eesh-tdah noom-pah ween-yahn
– Two-Eyed Woman Who Sees in Both Worlds
as if nothing had changed. Were someone to observe more closely, however, they would see that she was, to say the least, agitated.
Sweat formed along her hairline, and her breath caught in her throat. Her stomach clenched as a feeling of hopelessness filled its cavity, and the pounding of her heart was drowned out by the roaring in
her ears. Nickie was hopelessly in love with Sonny.
Daughter of the Comanche, Nickie stood at 5’4”. Her round face, and slightly plump body, did not answer to the modern American ideal of beauty. Most women wrote her off as unattractive. Men found her fascinating.
Quick of wit and sharp of mind, she could converse on many subjects, her dry sense of humor adding to the conversation as a delectable sauce adds to a well-prepared dish. Her large, brown eyes would sparkle, and her white smile flash, as she savored conversation as one does a delicious meal. More importantly, she made those around her feel important, well liked, and desirable as human beings.
Her most attractive feature was her waist-long, abundant, black hair. Shimmering with blue highlights, it brought to mind an ebony waterfall, and many a man wished that he could touch it, perhaps wrap it
around his neck and breathe in its heady perfume.
Nickie was oblivious to the effect she had on men. She saw no one but Sonny, and Sonny was in love with Lena.
Nickie had once hoped that Sonny would notice her, but at Lena and Michael’s wedding, Nickie glanced toward Sonny, and saw the look of utter devastation on his face. Her heart plummeted. She recognized
the same hopeless love she felt for Sonny on his face.
She contemplated leaving the restaurant and getting a job elsewhere, but she owed Lena so much; loved her like a sister. Hell, if anyone could understand why Sonny loved her, Nickie could; she could easily see why anyone, male or female, would love Lena. But it was so hard! Whenever Sonny approached her, a heat would rise in her body, and a longing in her heart for this beautiful, talented man.
She wished with all of her heart that she could have a relationship with Sonny like Lena had with Michael.
Chapter Fifteen
When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes, they weep and pray for a little more time to live t
heir lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.
Tecumseh
Cedar Woman Page 14