My Little Rock Airman

by Brittany Fichter

  Jade shook her head and closed the book slowly. “Too busy.”

  For just a moment, I forgot to listen to the doctor, and my heart cracked just a little. But no matter how I poked and prodded, she refused to say anything else about it.

  My mom was done soon after that, and we left the doctor quietly. The whole drive, I mentally pleaded for my mom to talk. I needed to hear her voice so badly that it hurt. But she stared out the window for most of the drive, and her expression was unreadable. By the time we got home, I still hadn’t thought of anything to say. But when she got out, before she closed the door, she turned to face me.

  “Jessie, I know this kind of thing is exactly why you do what you do.”

  “Mom, you had surgery less than a year ago.”

  “And,” she said with an irritating calm, “I was declared in remission. The surgery was a success.”

  “But—”

  “Hun, if you let my every doctor visit dictate the way you live the rest of your life, I’m going to live the rest of my life feeling like I’ve let you down.”

  Her words haunted me as I drove us to the nearest smoothie shop. As we sat inside and Jade inhaled her strawberry vanilla smoothie through an oversized straw, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so lost.

  This was my life. My decisions. So why couldn’t anyone else accept that? Everyone thought I was too rigid, too set in my ways. Well, everyone except Sam. I smiled slightly. That guy got me.

  “Hey, let me see that book again.” I shook my head as though it would dispell my morbid thoughts. Jade put her book on the table, and I began to read it to her. When we were done, I watched the way she looked longingly at the girl on the stage. Then I got an idea.

  “Jade, do you really want to be in the Candy Choir?” I had no idea whether or not Mrs. Allen would let Jade try out for anything on-stage with a private group. But since they always performed in the school’s spring talent show, it just might qualify as a different matter entirely. They practiced in the school cafeteria after school as it was. And I had a feeling I just might know how to make certain arrangements, even if Jade couldn’t read. But first, I needed the little girl to be on board as well.

  Jade nodded profusely.

  “What if,” I said slowly, “we started practicing now? They don’t have tryouts until several weeks after school starts, which means we could get a lot of practice in. But that’s a lot of work. Are you sure you’re up for that? I mean, I can’t promise anything,” I hastened to add. “But we can try.”

  Jade’s eyes sparkled so brightly I had to laugh.

  “All right, kiddo. That’s what we’ll do then. As long as your mom is okay with it, we’ll start practicing.”

  Jade started going on and on about the costume in the book, and a sense of peace settled over me as we planned.

  This. This was why I lived the way I did. Because God had given me the chance to change my little corner of the world. Jade. My other students. My parents. Everyone. And if I didn’t make my corner better, who would?

  My mother, as much as I loved her, would just have to wait to watch me sail off into the sunset with the guy and life she imagined. Because right now, my happily ever after was here.

  15

  Thank You

  Derrick

  After two long hours in the car…two and a half, if you counted all the bathroom stops we had to make for Jade and Jessie, we finally passed the sign that said Crater of Diamonds State Park.

  “I still don’t think this is a good idea,” I muttered.

  Jade, who was looking at her torn and beaten copy of A Geologist’s Guide to Minerals, ignored me completely, but Jessie flashed me a daring grin.

  “And why not?”

  “I’m serious. Jade wanders sometimes, and you know that. And when she doesn’t want to come back, she hides.” I tighten my grip on the steering wheel. “A cave…a mine is the last place she needs to be. And I’m still upset at you, by the way, for Tuesday, when you took Jade without asking.” I’d been giving her the stink-eye for four days now, but she just wasn’t taking the hint.

  Jessie just rolled her eyes and twisted around in her seat to face Jade. “Guess what, Geode? It rained last night, which means we have a better chance of finding a diamond this morning.” She looked back at me. “And I don’t know what all your fuss is about. I returned her safe and sound and with a smoothie. No sugar added. You’re welcome.”

  I bit the inside of my lip. Geode was my nickname for my sister. What had possessed Jessie to think she had any right calling my sister by that name? Probably the same thing that had convinced her it was okay to take Jade to some doctor appointment without letting her family know where she was.

  Not that it mattered in the grand scheme of things. Half the reason I was even taking us on this stupid danger hunt was to take pictures and prove to my parents what kind of places Jessie was willing to take Jade. And just to spite me at that.

  “You need to lighten up.” Jessie leaned back and stretched. Her cheeks had a rosy color to them, and she was still wearing that self-satisfied grin. Beneath the white baseball cap with a yellow rose patch sewn onto it, which she swore was to protect her from the sun, she actually would have looked really cute.

  If she hadn’t been bound and determined to ruin my sister’s life. And mine.

  “After all,” she added, her green eyes flashing, “don’t you want a little adventure in your life?”

  I ignored her as she giggled to herself, and I focused on turning off the highway to follow the signs.

  Had I not been so ticked with Jessie, the day would have been a beautiful one. The trees, which grew thick as carpet in central Arkansas, had thinned a bit and given way to more open fields, complete with white fences and flat green hills dotted with cattle and horses. The trees soon swallowed us up again, though, which Jessie claimed meant we were getting close.

  I glanced at her again out of the corner of my eye. What on earth did she need the hat for if we were going to be in a mine?

  Jessie struck up some counting song with Jade as we went. She said it was meant to make the time pass faster, it felt as though a year had passed when we finally pulled into the parking lot.

  I stepped out and tried to see where the mines might be. But all I could see were trees and a tan, metal-roofed building on the far side of the parking lot. Jessie fussed with Jade about wearing her hat and putting on sunscreen before turning to me and holding up the can.

  “All right, your turn.”

  “I’m not putting on sunscreen for a walk through the parking lot.”

  “That’s fine,” she said, “but you’ll want it for the mine.”

  “Who puts sunscreen on in a mine?”

  Jessie smirked and pulled my favorite baseball cap from her backpack. I snatched it out of her hands and put it on.

  “Where’d you get that?” If she’d been in my casita, snooping…

  “Your mother gave it to me when I told her what we were doing. She also said you probably wouldn’t want the sunscreen but to make you wear it anyway.”

  “Come on, Jade.” I scooped Jade up and marched through the parking lot. Jessie followed behind, still wearing that know-it-all grin.

  She took the lead as we started up the path toward the building but paused in front of a giant sign with a diamond on it. After shoving me in front of it and taking a forced picture, for which I did not smile, she led us into a lobby with several diamond displays and a small gift shop. Instead of pausing in here, though, she took us out through the other side of the lobby, where a long covered platform spread out on both sides. And I stopped dead in my tracks. There was not a cave to be seen. Just acres of…mud. Lots and lots of mud.

  “You have got to be kidding me.”

  Jessie let her head fall back and laughed a little too hard.

  “It’s not that funny.”

  “What did you think crater of diamonds meant?” She pulled Jade from my arms, and taking her hand, put her on t
he ground. But before getting in line at one of the little windows along the side of the building, she tossed me the sunscreen. “You might want to try this after all.”

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this stupid as Jessie happily bought us tickets and then rented us the “mining” supplies. They looked like the sandbox toys I’d played with as a kid, only these were made of wood and steel mesh.

  “These,” she told Jade as we made our way out into the field of mud farthest to the right, “are going to help us separate the dirt from the rocks.” She got down on her knees and beckoned for Jade to do the same. Then she dug into the dirt and began to sift it through the mesh frames.

  “Derrick.” Jade looked up at me and pointed at the ground beside her. “Come dig.”

  Mucking around in a field of dirt wasn’t exactly how I’d planned to spend my Saturday. In spite of my annoyance at Jessie, however, it was impossible not to smile at Jade’s joy. I’d never seen her so focused as she and Jessie hunched over the mesh frames together.

  “Don’t my parents pay you for five days a week?” I asked as I obeyed my sister and filled my first frame with dirt. “Because in case you didn’t know, it’s day six.”

  Jessie paused in her work and grinned up at me, her eyes sparkling just a bit too much. “This is pro bono,” she said, flipping her ponytail out of her face.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket, so I let Jessie and Jade enjoy their digging while I answered. I was rewarded with Amy’s chirpy greeting.

  “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy this week,” she rattled on. I could hear her loading her dishwasher in the background. “We just finished one of our big cases, so I thought I’d give you a call.”

  “I’m glad you did.” I put my hand on my hat and looked around. “You won’t believe where I am right now.”

  “Hopefully not any place I’ll have to get you out of.”

  I laughed. It felt good to laugh with my fiancée again. I hadn’t realized how much I missed it until now. “No, Jade’s obsessed with rocks, so Jessie thought it would be a good idea to take her diamond mining.”

  “Oh, I’ve heard about that! It’s actually on my list of things to try.”

  Really? “If spending a day getting covered in dirt is your idea of a good time, be my guest.”

  Amy giggled again. “You know you can’t blame Jade or even her nanny. This is your fault for being so stubborn. If you weren’t so determined to always be with—”

  “I know, I know.” I huffed. “Hey, have you given any thought to my offer?”

  She sighed, and I had to keep myself from visibly cringing. The moment was gone.

  “I was wondering…” she said in a small voice. “Is there a weekend that maybe Jade doesn’t have some sort of event?”

  I frowned. “I don’t know. I’d have to ask my mom. Why?”

  “I was just hoping that maybe you and I would have a little more time together…alone when I came. That’s all.”

  “Oh.” I looked back down at my little sister, who was happily smearing dirt all over a squealing Jessie. “I’d actually kind of wanted you to get to know my family a bit better. I mean, you’ve only met them once.”

  She was silent. Several seconds passed by. Finally, I heard her take a deep breath. “You know what? You’re right. Just give me some time to find a weekend that would work. Okay?”

  I nodded as though she could see me. “Okay. Sure.”

  “Bye, Derrick.”

  “Bye. Love you.” My chest felt heavy as I put the phone back in my pocket, but I did my best to smile as I rejoined Jade and Jessie. Right now. I would just focus on this moment and worry about the rest of it later. We’d get it all worked out, and someday, Amy would realize how much fun Jade really could be.

  “All right, Tiger.” I took Jade’s spade, which she was using as a paintbrush to dab mud on Jessie’s pants whenever Jessie wasn’t looking. “Let’s dig for some diamonds.”

  The visit itself actually didn’t go so badly. I had the unfortunate fate of getting rather sunburned, and then the worse humiliation of Jessie insisting on spraying me down so I didn’t burn further, but other than that, it really was fun. None of us had found any diamonds after the first hour and a half, but the time outdoors and the sound of Jade’s laughter seemed to melt the boulder that had been sitting on my chest, and soon, I was just as dirty as the girls were.

  Jessie really was a good sport, particularly about the dirt. She had dirt everywhere, thanks to my sister. In her hair, on her face, and one time, I caught Jade trying to put it down her shirt. But none of that seemed to faze her. In fact, none of Jade’s obstacles seemed to bother Jessie, as long as I wasn’t making them worse.

  I really had been horrible to her in the beginning. I had reasons to have my doubts, of course. But the longer I watched her, the more I realized that she loved Jade the way…

  Well, the way I wished Amy would.

  “Derrick.”

  I turned to see Jessie holding an arm to her left eye. “I think I’ve got some dirt around my eye. Can you grab a wet wipe for me out of the backpack?”

  I rummaged through Jade’s green backpack, the one we brought everywhere she went. It took a moment, but I finally found it in the side pocket. Just as she wiped the corner of her eye, however, we heard a shout from behind us. When we turned to look, we found Jade several rows away, where she stood looking up into the face of a very angry man.

  “Give that back!” The man growled down at my sister.

  Jade stared up at him, unresponsive until he tried to yank the frame from her hands. Then she shrieked like she was being eaten by a bloody ghost.

  “That’s mine, you brat!” he bellowed as Jade screamed louder.

  Jessie and I were at her side in a flash. I grabbed Jade up in my arms, but before I could get in the man’s face, Jessie was already there.

  He was probably six feet tall, just an inch or so shorter than myself. And he was no feathery thing. But that didn’t seem to bother Jessie in the slightest as she stood on her toes to get inches from his face.

  “What is wrong with you?” she snapped. I stood behind her, leveling a dark look at him over her head.

  “She stole my tools, that’s what.”

  “I’m sorry.” Jessie didn’t sound sorry at all. “But she’s six. It was just an accident. No need to scare her.”

  “I rented these, and I’ll be—”

  I put my free hand over Jade’s ear as he let loose a string of profanities.

  “…if I let some brat take them so this park can charge me ten times what they’re worth.”

  Jessie snorted. “It didn’t occur to you to ask her nicely?”

  “Wouldn’t have done any good.” The man gestured at Jade. “Don’t know what you’re here for anyhow. Shouldn’t let kids like that free unless they’re on a leash.” He snorted. “In fact, my sister’s on the state senate, in case you didn’t know. Maybe I’ll have her start some sort of action to keep kids like her under control in public places.”

  “Kids. Like. What?” Jessie enunciated each word slowly.

  People were staring now, and a few had started to step forward. The man glanced around as our onlookers began to murmur and several more sent him scathing looks.

  “Keep talking like that,” Jessie hissed, “and I will have a lawyer so far up your butt that you’re not going to need a colonoscopy this year.”

  “And if you so much as look at my sister the wrong way again,” I added in a low voice, “I will make sure you leave this park on a gurney.”

  The man held my gaze for several seconds before glancing around at the people who were watching. A man in a uniform was making his way out to us.

  “Do we have a problem here?” he called.

  The man looked back at Jade once more before turning and shaking his head. “No. No problem.”

  “Come on, Geode.” I put my hand on her cheek as she leaned into my shoulder. “Let’s go back to our digging.”


  But Jade wouldn’t have it. In fact, she was too scared to be within fifty feet of the man, and we had to move three times before she was willing to start digging again.

  The move was worth it, though. Because not fifteen minutes later, Jade found her diamond. She held it up proudly to show me, and my jaw nearly hit the floor as I found myself looking at a shiny brown stone nearly the size of a pea. Jessie gushed all over Jade, too, of course. And as we made our way back to the building to return our equipment and get Jade’s stone looked at, she stopped and cupped a hand to her mouth.

  “Thanks for making us move,” she called to the man who had yelled at Jade. When he’d looked up, Jessie grinned and added, “Without you, she never would have found it.”

  He sneered. “Found what?”

  “Her diamond.”

  The man watched us walk away, his mouth open, and I paused long enough to level him one last glare.

  The diamond was nothing short of 2.7 carats. I swung Jade up onto my shoulders, where she gleefully clutched at her little drawstring bag as we made our way back to the parking lot.

  “How about ice cream for our geologist?” I asked, to which she squealed and began to chatter happily, naming at least five different flavors she wanted on her cone.

  After we got back into the car, I turned on the ignition. But instead of backing out, I turned to Jessie. Dirt was still smudged beneath her eye. Without thinking, I reached up and wiped it off. “Thank you,” I said.

  She stared at me, eyes wide. “What for?”

  I gave her a sad smile. “You did something for my sister most people wouldn’t know the first thing about handling.”

  “I told you,” she said, smiling sadly. “I really do care.”

  I smiled, too, and for once, it wasn’t forced. “I know.” Then I put the truck into reverse as a new atmosphere settled over the cab. It was a strange sensation, knowing that we were now a team. Also strange was the sudden awareness that I didn’t really want her to leave Jade. Not anymore. Anyone willing to stand up to someone twice their size for the sake of my sister was all right in my book.