Meeting Auntie Julia Chee

 

Meeting Auntie Julia Chee

Truthfully, we were nervous.  Even Jessie admitted it. We had not called ahead or made any sort of arrangements with Jessie’s aunt.  We didn’t know if she would be happy or confused or angry with us.

We packed up our few things, including the very important briefcase, in the last motel room.  We had some terrible Pacific Courts Motel coffee and walked out of the building into a brilliant sunlit morning. I was thankful that once again that an informal check-in had been easily done.

We were both feeling shy now.  But there was nothing to do except continue on our set path to a new kind of life here in the land of his family and his people, in fact.

We had left Washington in such a rush that we hadn’t really thought about what it would be like to just appear here. I guess we felt that question would sort itself out in time.

Before leaving Joseph City we drove up and down Main until we spotted a pharmacy and I waited in the Honda with my black eyes while Jessie went in and purchased more Advil and Tylenol and some strong vitamin C powder to keep my mouth from getting infected.  He also bought a 3 lb box of chocolates as a gift for his aunt.  Just in case she liked chocolate.  Most ladies will not turn up their noses at a box of chocolates, even if they are just a drug store brand.

My left hand had a large blue bruise on the back but as it was splinted it felt ok most of time.  My eyes were still bruised, and I was careful not to smile at people in a way that showed my teeth. Healing was proceeding thank God.

The time came to get onto the road north out of town. Very quickly all signs of town disappeared. It was a nice little two-lane highway. It had been ten years since Jessie had been out to her place, but he had no question about how to get there.

We drove up into the dry hills covered in sage and tough-looking little trees and lots of dry grass.

Julia Chee’s house was down in a small valley between two hills.  You could not see it from 77.  There was a half mile long dirt driveway. It was shady on the driveway since it was still morning, and the sun was not overhead yet. Trying not to raise a big dust cloud Jessie drove about ten miles an hour.

I was surprised to see that her house was a small single wide pale blue mobile. I suppose I was expecting to see a hogan maybe, or something much older looking at least. I think I was also expecting her to live in a village, but here she was, living alone.

Three Mesquite trees were gathered around the mobile as if to guard or shade it. A tiny stream ran past the house off to the side and then spilled downhill rapidly.

She had a dry looking garden patch of about ten by forty feet.  Not much was going on in there at the moment. Some dry corn stalks with bean vines winding around them rattled loosely in the breeze.

He parked our car, turned off the engine and the silence came down.  It was quiet out here!  If you tried you could hear the stream faintly. There were chickens somewhere in the area, but I couldn’t see them. Jessie fished the box of chocolates out of the back seat, and locked the car up, just in case.  The briefcase was tucked under some of our stuff in the trunk, which was also checked and locked.

Depending on how Mrs. Chee felt about us, perhaps this would be the end of our journey. I hoped she liked company and chocolates.

She was Jessie’s maternal grampa’s little sister and the last of her generation living.  Uncle John Chee had been dead since before Jessie left the area.

Two lines of small river pebbles lined the walkway to the door and one step up onto a tiny wooden porch. We were just standing there looking around. A small breeze blew again through between the hills.  It smelled exotic to me.

As I glanced a bit further out into the bush, I saw a large tawny colored cat. She had to be a puma.  Her wild femininity struck me as a given.  Two sharp eyes looked into mine. Golden eyes. Her mouth was open as she panted. We will meet again was the greeting she gave me.  I shivered a bit and walked around the Honda to be near Jessie.  For some reason I didn’t want to mention her. When I looked again, she was gone. Not even a tail disappeared into the bush.  Just gone.

I held his hand, and we walked between the two lines of white pebbles up to the small porch.  Jessie rapped quietly on the door with his knuckles, and we waited, listening. More silence. He rapped again. I noticed how much he looked as if he belonged here. 

“Who is it?” An old lady’s voice called from inside.

“It’s Jessie, Aunt Julia,” he said. “I came to see you, and I have brought a wife with me.”

“Jessie! Come in,” she called, louder than before. So, he opened the door.

The place was basic.  Lots of print fabrics on the sofa and chairs and curtains. Various bits of old lady brickabrack.  Photos of loved ones. A small bookshelf held her Bible and some fiction, Zane Grey, I kid you not. This and that. The floor was vinyl tiles. It smelled of recent cooking. A tabby cat sat on her lap looking startled at our appearing.

She was sitting in one of those floral chairs.  She remained sitting. She looked about 90 years old, brown, and tiny.  Her eyes were sharp and black, like Jessie’s. She wore a cotton dress, blue with tiny flowers. Her long gray hair was scraped back into a small shiny bun on the back of her head. She had soft leather “boots” on.  I wasn’t sure what you would call them. She reached over to her little table where her glasses were and put them on.  Silver rims.

“Jessie, come here!”  He stood before her, and she reached out her two hands and held his. “How long has it been sweetie? Why did you leave honey? Oh Jessie! Kiss my cheek child!” He did. The cat jumped out of her lap and headed into the bedroom. 

"Auntie, we brought you some chocolates." She smiled and reached out and accepted the box happily. She placed it in a place of honor on her little chair side table.

“Let me see your wife Jessie!

"Oh, my God! What happened to you girl?” She sat with her mouth open like an astounded small bird. I had taken off my sunglasses and maybe smiled a little too broadly.

“Her name is Beth, Auntie, and it’s a long story,” he said. 

“Beth, girl, come sit by me on the sofa here,” said Auntie Chee and I complied instantly.  I already loved her.  She was every old auntie on earth. She was sweet and true and real.

She reached over and took my uninjured hand in hers and said, “now you children tell me all about it.  I know damn well Jessie didn’t do this!”