“I’m just saying, be careful.”
Wanting to change the subject, she spied her good friend, Barbara, and waved. When Sunny caught her eye, Barbara waved and hurried over. “Good to see you.”
Barbara, a tall platinum blonde, appeared fresh out of a Neiman Marcus showroom. Sunny admired her friend deeply. Barbara had worked hard to become a therapist. Sunny remembered, over ten years ago, when Barbara was just starting out. She was a social worker, then director, and finally, after twelve years, she had her own practice. Sunny was so proud of her.
The women hugged. “Barbara, you remember my husband?”
“Sure.” They shook hands.
Barry ground his cigarette out on the sidewalk. “I’ll go get the car and see if Rita and Lee are ready. It’s good to see you again.” He walked away.
Barbara lowered her voice and her gaze. “This is so horrible. I can’t believe it. Gina was a little girl, just six years old, when I placed her in foster care. Fortunately, we found her a placement with a Paiute family. Remember, I had you pick her up the day she turned eighteen?”
Sunny looked down at her cigarette. “Doesn’t seem that long ago, does it?”
“No. She turned into a sweet woman and a wonderful mother. It hurts to think she was having a bad time and I didn’t know. How did this happen? Do you know?”
Sunny flicked her cigarette out in the street. “No, I was shocked. I didn’t have a clue either. But I plan to find out. I’ll tell you later about my last conversation with Gina.”
Barbara stepped closer. “I was surprised to see your ex here. And with Eva …”
“Yeah.” Sunny smirked. “What’s up with those two?”
Barry drove up with Rita and Lee in the back seat. The two women hugged goodbye. “I’ll call you, Barb. There’s a lot I have to tell you.” Sunny opened the passenger door and got in.
Barry turned the headlights on and followed the line of cars as they drove to the cemetery. The trees were restless. Sprigs of squaw tea and tumbleweeds swayed to nature’s rhythm as gloomy clouds spread over the landscape.
At the gravesite they clutched their coats closed against the icy wind.
As birds flew overhead Barry looked up and whispered, “There are those hawks again. I think they’re following us.”
“They’re following Gina.” Sunny watched the birds awhile, then looked around at the other graves. Some had flowers, most were covered with golden sticker weeds. A few nameless white markers stood alone. Others had rocks piled on like blankets, to keep the occupants warm.
“It feels like the raw cold ate through my gloves. My ears ache from the wind,” said Sunny.
The minister said a few words on Gina’s good mothering skills. Her childhood friend recited a prayer for Gina, first in Paiute and then in English, and finished with a song.
Eva’s eyes shot daggers at Sunny and Rita. When they walked close, she kicked dirt and rocks toward them, but they ignored her as much as was possible.
Jesse had fashioned a simple cross out of two twigs and placed it at the head of the grave.
“Look at that. It’s not right. She deserves a decent headstone,” uttered Sunny. “Jesse’s too cheap … or doesn’t give a damn. I’m going to talk to him.”
“Sure, go ahead. But be careful, and watch your mouth. Remember, you don’t know who you can trust.”
“Humph.” Her eyebrows drew together. It gave her a bad taste in her mouth as they got in the car to go to Pine Creek for the sweat.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
An orange-streaked cloud lit up the mountains against the gray afternoon. As they drove east of Reno, they passed the Painted Rocks in their natural beauty. Sunny studied the green, gold, and lavender rocks, which glistened along the highway en route to River Bend Reservation. The beige desert haze was interrupted only by dry weeds and sagebrush. Out there, seen by passing cars, owls, hawks, and coyotes hunted the jackrabbit for their main course. Boulders lined gravel roads.
Barry turned the car onto the paved road that led to the reservation and passed houses with old cars growing roots in the front yards. Dogs ran beside their car, kicking up dust and barking in the wind.
Rita nudged Lee in the back seat. “Look, the old general store still has its hitching rail.”
“Looks like a movie set,” he said. “One of those old Westerns.”
When Barry drove past the park, Sunny inhaled sharply. “Stop the car! Let me out!” I can feel Gina. I hear her. Our memories are here.
“Why, what’s going on?” He pulled over and stopped; she hopped out.
Rita and Lee got out and leaned against the car. “What’s wrong, Mom?”
“The park brings back memories of me and Gina. I’m taking a breath of time. I feel her here beside me.”
Sunny cocked her ear as if listening to Gina’s spirit whispering in the wind. Sunny realized she had a connection to the earth at this place, and that Gina had made her presence known.
“Every year we came here to the Pine Nut Festival. It was so much fun. We sampled everything: soups, breads, cookies, all made with pine nuts.”
The others followed as Sunny walked over to a table and explained the festival.
“My aunt always served pine nut soup with fry bread.” Sunny laid her hand down. “This was her table. If she got too busy, Gina and I jumped in and helped her.”
“Mmmm. Fry bread sounds good,” said Rita.
“The aroma lingers among the trees. It can break through a dream,” said Sunny. “Over there is where we gambled all night playing hand games.”
Lee pulled on his mustache. “Playing what?”
“Hand games. Players sit in a row on both sides of a mat. One team has a small bone or stick. The first team passes a bone along behind their backs.”
“Where’s the gambling come in?” Lee asked.
“When the other team thinks they know who has the bone one or all stand up, point to that person, and the others bet. The one chosen shows their hand and hollers yes or no. It keeps going ’til the sticks are all gone. Sometimes it lasts all night.”
Barry looked at the road. “We better get going. I see cars filing past.”
They returned to the car and took one last look, then fell in line and followed the procession to the medicine man.
Rita was telling Lee, “Jesse’s uncle ran the sweat for years. After he died, his brother Alvin took over as medicine man.”
They found parking among the many cars. Everyone except Sunny got out. “Give me a minute.” Memories of a happy Gina flooded her mind. She saw her best friend’s spirit dancing and laughing. It stopped, looked at Sunny, and waved. Sunny covered her eyes and wept. “Why, why would you do it?”
Barry rushed back, slid onto the seat, and took her in his arms, rocking her gently. It was what Sunny needed at that moment.
Standing in the yard, Lee pointed up. “Hey, those look like the same hawks from the cemetery. They followed us.”
“Yeah, I see them.” Rita turned back to the car and opened the door. “Mom, are you okay?”
“She’ll be all right,” said Barry.
After a few minutes, Sunny stopped crying and wiped her face, reapplied her lipstick, and tied her hair up on top of her head, then stepped from the car. She held her head in the air watching the red hawks. “They are sacred, and they’re waiting for Gina’s spirit to rise with them.”
Eva lurked around the corner of the house; she watched Rita like a cobra ready to strike. Rita looked Eva up and down, closed her eyes, and shook her head. As everyone entered the house Eva mouthed, Bitch! at them.
Jesse’s uncle Alvin stood in the middle of the large room, hands clasped above his head. “You know it’s only been seven years since the Indian Act of 1978, that we’re able to have our religious ceremonies with no worries. Today, this sweat is in honor of my niece. Please say your prayers to guide her to the ancestors. Let her journey be swift and smooth. We want to send her to Grandfather Spirit with lots of love.�
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Jesse stood with his back to the partition, his left foot placed up against the wall, arms across his chest. Eva sat in one of many folding chairs and rolled her eyes. Both she and Jesse stared at the others, as all said their prayers of goodbye.
Sunny watched through the window as the red hawks flew away; she hoped they hadn’t taken Gina’s spirit. Not yet. Suddenly, sadness fell over her. She was torn between knowing Gina needed to journey on, and needing Gina here with her.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Sunny and her daughter were ready to go into the sweat. They entered the outdoor shower room made of wooden slats, with back-to-back showerheads. Colorful Hawaiian muumuus hung along one wall. On the left were two small shelves, one with towels, and the other with swim trunks, for men who weren’t comfortable wearing only their undershorts. The two women stuffed their undergarments in the bags that were provided and slipped on muumuus, ready to go in.
The medicine man was talking to Barry and Lee. “Will you stand outside and open and close the flaps? Each thirty minutes is called a round. We go three rounds.”
“Sure, no problem,” each man answered.
He pointed to a nearby bush. “People can pick mint leaves from the bush before they enter.”
“What’s that for?” Lee asked.
“They hold it up to their nose and inhale. It helps them tolerate the heat.”
“You have to open the flaps early for people who can only do one five-or ten-minute session,” said the medicine man. “Some people come for help with back problems or their joints, but today is only for my niece.”
Sunny and Rita bent down to enter the five-foot-high willow-and-canvas sweat hut. Barry and Lee held back the heavy canvas flaps to let the others in.
Sunny sat next to an elder who sang prayers for Gina’s spirit. The smell of musk, mixed with mint, damp straw, dirt, and sweat filled the hut. Perspiration ran from Sunny’s forehead, down her neck, and between her breasts, dripped from her hair, and stung her eyes. They listened to the mumbling of prayers to the Grandfather Spirit, the land, Mother Earth, and nature. Everyone took a sip of water from a metal cup attached to a long wooden handle as it passed by. The remaining water was poured on the rocks, creating intense steam and heat.
At the end of the third round both women gave a big sigh. “We did it, and without the mint.” Sunny smiled at Rita.
“I didn’t know if I could make it all the way. I hope Gina can find some peace. I forgot how hot it gets,” said Rita. “It’s been a long time since I went in.”
Afterward, they showered and joined everyone in the house for a light lunch of Indian stew and fry bread. Prayers were spoken before and after eating. Alvin, the medicine man, sang a prayer in Paiute, then concluded with one in English. “Good for your body and good for your soul. Ah-eee. All eat.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Because they were tired and felt drained, the drive back to Reno seemed extra long. “That was a nice crowd for Gina,” said Rita. “I was surprised to see Jesse’s family all showed up. Mom, did you notice he and Eva never went in to sweat … ?”
Barry nodded. “Yeah, I thought that was strange. When Lee and I were handling the flaps, Eva was standing by a tree smoking. Her eagle eyes watched Jesse and his cousin over by the cars. I was glad she stayed over there. If she’d gone inside I’d have had to worry about you. No telling what someone like her might do when she gets her dander up.”
Sunny grimaced, then twisted around to face everyone and loudly interrupted. “Now I know who Louis is. Moochie, or whatever the hell they want to call him.”
Rita wrinkled her forehead. “You explained before but I forgot, why do they call him Moochie?”
“Because he’s always borrowing something: food, tools, whatever … I had already moved away from the rez, but when Jesse was seventeen or eighteen, he and two other guys took a white man out in the desert, robbed and beat him, and left him to die. Louis gave Jesse his alibi. Said he was with him the whole time, at his house. He lied and Jesse got away with murder. Everybody knew it.”
Barry shook his finger at his wife. “It was never proven. So please be careful what you say. You didn’t know for sure then, and you don’t know now.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure, and I’ll find out. At the time, Jesse got drunk and someone overheard him bragging about it.”
Barry mumbled, “Hearsay. Inadmissible in court.” He cocked his head, cautioning Sunny with his eyes.
Rita ignored Barry’s remark and turned to her mother. “Wow, I never knew that.” She glanced at Lee, who was staring out the window, and whispered, “I guess you’re not interested in anything we do or say.” He didn’t respond.
Barry warned Sunny, “If something is going on, you need to watch your step around everyone. I go home tomorrow.”
Rita leaned forward and put both hands on the back of the front seat. “Why are you going so soon?”
“Well, I have to. You know how busy our probation department is. I have to check my cases. Besides, I’m due in court next week, and it’s one case I need to handle myself.”
“What about you, Mom?”
Barry broke in and answered for her. “Your mom is staying until she buys the headstone. You know how your mother is when she gets her strong intuition and a hot neck. Her investigator skills kick in, and look out!”
“Yeah.” Sunny knew he was being sincere but she couldn’t help it. She was still upset by the loss of Gina.
As they drove back to Reno in silence, Sunny felt fatigued and her imagination or intuition was stirred up.
THURSDAY EVENING
The night air was cold and clear, the black sky alive with winking stars. Barry pulled into the driveway and turned off the ignition. An unfamiliar red GMC truck was parked in front of Rita’s house.
Rita’s forehead crinkled. “Whose truck is that?”
A strange man sat on the porch swing beneath the light. Dressed in gray sweatpants, a red jacket unzipped, showing his tight 49er jersey. Shoulder-length hair hung loose around his tanned face. He stood and extended his hand as they walked up.
“Victor John.” He shook hands with Barry and Lee first.
Rita stared at the stranger and took his hand. Gina had mentioned him to Rita. Sunny was surprised. So this is the man Gina was leaving Jesse for.
“I wanted to come by and talk to you about Gina,” he said.
Rita showed him into the front room. “She talked about you often. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Same here,” he said. “Gina showed me your pictures and told me all about you and your mother and how important you were to her.”
Barry offered Victor a beer and grabbed two more for Lee and himself. Sunny lowered her eyebrows and pinched them together in disgust. He shrugged it off.
“I’m glad to meet you too,” Sunny said. “I saw your name in the guest book at the funeral home.” Sunny paused, then asked, “Do you have any idea why all this happened? What would make Gina kill herself?”
“That’s why I wanted to talk to you. When I called Gina, people had been there partying since early in the day. I talked to her several times on Sunday. The last time was in the afternoon, within hours of what happened. At that point Eva was the only one who was still there.”
“Was Gina drunk?” asked Rita.
“Buzzed. Gina said she and her sister got into it because Eva kept forcing drinks on her. She’d just found out that Eva lied about Rita and Jesse having an affair. Gina told Eva to get out. She said both Eva and Jesse were liars. She was finished with them and their lies.”
“Thank God she found out the truth before …” Rita’s gaze fell to her lap. “I would never do anything like that to hurt her.”
Sunny patted her daughter’s hand.
Victor looked at them. “Gina told me she and Jesse had fought, and he left. She wrote him a letter to let him know that the drinking and fighting were too much for her. She was going to leave, take the boys, and get a divorce.”
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br /> “According to Jesse,” said Sunny, “Gina never mentioned anything about leaving him or getting a divorce, in the letter or anywhere else.” She raised an eyebrow. “What does that say about him? Why would he keep that quiet? Did she change her mind after she talked to you? Or did he lie about it on purpose?”
Rita shrugged. “Maybe he was embarrassed.”
Barry looked at her. “Jesse?” He humphed. “I don’t think so.”
Lee picked up a magazine and flipped through the pages, seemingly bored with the conversation.
Victor ran his fingers through his hair and continued. “I asked Gina about her plan to come live at my house. I wanted to help her get out of her situation. She’s a sweet person … was. I got to know her at work. Her friend Patty would tell me when Gina had a black eye or swollen lip and couldn’t make it in to work. I’d call her up and we’d meet for lunch and talk.”
Sunny looked at her hands. “She was lucky she had good friends at work who cared about her.”
“I never knew what to do for her,” Rita said and bit on her lip. “When it was bad I’d let her and the boys come stay, but then Jesse would come and talk her into going back, which she always did.”
Victor took a sip of beer. “I thought everything was fine. My wife and I had divorced. Now that I have a practically empty three-bedroom house I offered Gina a safe place for her and her boys. I wanted to help her out of her situation. But, right there at the end, she said she wanted her own space.”
Victor shook his head and exhaled sharply. “I got mad and hung up. Now I’m mad at myself. It was our last conversation and we ended it arguing. I wish I could do it over. Does either of you know what changed her mind about moving in with me?”
Sunny wondered if Jesse had threatened her. Why she wouldn’t just leave if she had a safe place to go to. She might’ve felt trapped. Of course, if she was drunk enough, maybe she had forgotten about the boys playing outside. That was too much for Sunny to swallow, though. She could never imagine Gina doing something like that.
Rita rubbed her eye. “No. She talked about leaving Jesse. That’s all we know. Except that she often talked about leaving him.”
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