We Came Home

 

We took turns telling her the story. I started with the blue pulsing lights coming up behind the car while I was driving home from town with the shopping. I described how I fought them when I found that they were not the local cops and that I had no idea who they were and how weird they were. When I said they seemed to not mind injuring a woman, she sat forward, and her black eyes were fierce. She muttered something I did not quite hear.

Jessie described waiting at home. He told her about his decision to come looking for me on foot, and then his running down the dark little highway until he found our car abandoned on the verge with the door open and key still in the ignition. Auntie said we were fortunate that it was still there when he got there. He also told her about the signs of struggle that he found. He didn’t really go into how frightened he had been, but she knew of course.

Then we both talked over each other about how we managed to find each other in the early morning hours out on highway 99. By now, it was sounding a little improbable even to us. But it happened. I had just walked out of that room and that building and kept going, even though substantially injured. The thing with my phone kept sounding crazier and crazier until I was doubting myself in the telling. Did that happen, or had I had some kind of mental break?

I know for sure one thing. I left the darn Samsung in that building when I walked out. Nobody was tracking me or Jessie.

“So, you see, Auntie, we are homeless I guess,” said Jessie. “I guess I had a wild idea that we could come back down here home again and fit in somehow.

“We thought we better leave Washington before whoever those goons were realized that Beth was still alive, and they came looking for her. So, we tied off all our loose ends and split.

“We stayed in four old motels that took cash and didn’t appear to care who the heck we were,” Jessie told her. Aunt Chee nodded.

“I think you did right,” she said slowly. Then she sat back in her chair silently for a moment. Her little old grey head bowed down for a while as she added up all that she had just heard. Then she looked up and smiled at us both.

“Of course, this is your home now. We will be good for each other Jessie and Beth. Truthfully, I am getting so old now that it surprises me! I was thinking that I might have to move into some kind of place for old ladies. But I sure didn’t want to. Since I don’t have a car and never learned to drive anyhow, I have to depend on the kindness of various young people to fetch me things from town and take me places.

“I have been trying not to ask too often, you know? I think they get tired of helping old Julia Chee, but so far, they continue to help me. They are sweet kids, really.”

Jessie and I both sighed in relief spontaneously. I hadn’t realized before that we were sort of holding our breath all during this conversation. We really hadn’t known what to expect from her.

“Jessie, you remember the old log hogan out behind this mobile? It is still sound. The roof and the walls are good and the door too. It has a good chimney and an iron stove. There is still a bed. Everything in there is dusty. I think a strong young man and a strong young woman could sleep there.

“Let me know what you think. Would you like to live here in the old house? You would be almost invisible to the world. Tell me what you think. Do you want to? You could cook in here and shower and so on in here where there is water and electricity. Tell me what you think.”

This birdlike small ancient woman in a blue print dress, Jessie’s aunt, was offering us sanctuary.

Of course, we accepted her offer. We didn’t even go out to look in the old log hogan before accepting. There was time enough for that and for all the work of getting set up and learning to live here in Arizona among the Dine’.

Jessie carried in the groceries that we had brought with us from Washington. Aunt Chee showed him where to put things. He also brought in the briefcase and slid it under the sofa in her living room for now. The rest of our stuff except for our pajamas could wait for tomorrow.

Julia Chee and I cooked a nice lunch together. She had a chicken in the fridge, so we fried it. We did rice and some chopped salad. The dressing I made was unfamiliar to her, but she liked it, so all was well.

When evening finally came she gave us her bed for the night, and she slept on her sofa with her cat, who as it turned out, was named Billy.

As I was slipping off to sleep there beside Jessie in Aunt Julia Chee’s bed, I dreamed of the great tawny lioness sitting on her haunches out in the scrub brush and trees around the little blue mobile home.