St. Clair (Gives Light Series) (38 page)

"Wait a sec," Racine said. "I'm no lawyer, but the

state awarded your houses to the Department of

Transportation under the premise that they were

going to build something on top of them. Right?"

"That is correct," Granny said.

"But they haven't built anything?"

"They can't! Too much backlash from the public."

"So if they don't build anything," Racine said,

"their rights will expire. I'd give it a year at most."

"Well, then," Granny said, "we had better hope we

can hold on for a year."

She noticed me just then. "Skylar!" she said.

"Come here."

I drew closer to the table, peremptorily smiling.

"Hey, Skylar," Racine said, with one of her

distracted smiles. "How you doing?"

"Skylar," Granny said, "it is decided. ASU

accepted you. You will be attending university."

I sort of wanted to laugh. Granny made everything

sound like a royal mandate from the Shoshone

queen.

"It's no laughing matter!" Granny chided. Was I

that obvious? "You
must
go to school. Education

is the best weapon in any battle. Remember your

cousin Marilu. Remember your father."

I didn't need to be told to remember my father. I

swallowed hard. My father was my first and best

friend. My father had given me my life. And now

he was spending his life in prison. Maybe I'd get

to see him once a month. Maybe he'd come home

when he was an old man.

I stole a look at Racine. How did she feel about

all this? Whatever happened to Dad didn't just

affect Granny and me; it affected her, too. She

caught me looking at her. She smiled thinly, then

looked away. It's ironic, I thought, pained. She

makes for a good Shoshone. And it was the

strangest kind of pain. Not quite physical, but too

raw to be entirely psychological.

I looked over at the sundial. Lila Little Hawk and

Morgan Stout were playing tag with DeShawn and

Jessica. Pain or not, I couldn't keep from smiling.

"Skylar?"

I turned around. I was surprised to see Rosa Gray

Rain standing on the lawn, her baby on her back in

a handmade cradleboard.

"Hey, Ro," Racine said. "How's the princess?"

Rosa smiled sweetly. She turned to me.

"Would you come with me?" she asked.

I nodded, although by now I was very confused. I

followed her across the lawn and out to the dirt

path.

I waited for Rosa to talk, but she didn't. We

walked together, side by side, Charity peeping at

me with wise and owlish eyes. Soon I realized

Rosa was taking me back to her house. The

southern oak tree filled my vision, its tangled

limbs spread like the many arms of a welcoming

goddess.

We went inside. From there we went to the

kitchen, the walls the color of packing straw,

where Rafael and Mary were snacking on pinyon

nuts.

Rafael quickly tried to hide his plate. I guessed

there was a no snacking before dinner policy in

this house. "Hi," he said, with a mouthful of nuts.

"Hello," Rosa said. She sat down at the island,

Charity hanging contentedly off her back. "I talked

to Robert."

"That gay nurse?" Mary broke in.

Rosa's brow wrinkled.

"Anybody else think we should hook him up with

Reuben? There's no way Reuben's straight. Case

in point: Who the hell is Serafine's mom?"

"Could you be any more annoying?" Rafael shot at

Mary.

"You really want me to try?"

I was afraid she would make good on her

promise. But by some miracle, she plucked

Charity off of Rosa's back. "C'mon, baby girl," she

said cheerfully. "Time to spend quality time with

your big sister!"

That poor kid.

Rafael shifted in his seat. "You talked to that

nurse?" he said, when Mary had gone.

"Yes. About your idea for reconstructing vocal

cords."

Rafael tugged on his earring.

"I am going to give you Charity's umbilical cord,"

Rosa said.

Rafael did a literal double-take. "Huh?"

"Her umbilical cord," Rosa said. "You need the

umbilical vein for your research. I kept Charity's

cord. In case she got sick," Rosa explained. "But

if she gets sick, it's not the umbilical vein that will

help her. You can have that. And when you come

back from college, you can use it however you

need to."

Rafael's mouth was slack. I couldn't be sure mine

wasn't, too. Did she know what she was agreeing

to? Did she know what she was giving me?

"But," Rafael said. "That nurse guy says it's

illegal--"

"In the United States of America. But a

reservation follows its own laws." Rosa looked

skittishly at me. "The federal government can only

impose laws here if they fall under the Seven

Major Crimes. Stem cell research isn't one of the

Seven Major Crimes."

A mixture of disbelief and anguish burst through

my chest. I knew she was thinking about Dad.

"Rosa," Rafael said. "You seriously..."

"Yes. Without a doubt."

Something happened that afternoon. I became

indebted to a mother and her daughter in the most

beautiful way I can imagine. I could almost feel it

on the air, the change that settled among the three

of us.

I reached across the island and took Rosa's hands.

She looked at me, warmly innocent. There's no

way you can repay a gift that profound. I didn't

know how to thank her.

I thought: Someday, I'll say it to her face.

The last day of school was in early June. The

schoolhouse was warm, lethargy heavy on the air.

Nobody really wanted to talk academics. To Mr.

Red Clay's great credit, he didn't force us. Paper

planes and rubber bands flew across the room;

little first grade girls played Secret, whispering

into one another's ears while the little boys sulked;

and no one seemed capable of remembering his

seat from one moment to the next.

"I'm officially a
man
!" Zeke shouted.

"I wouldn't go that far," Holly At Dawn replied.

The In Winter girls had baked a batch of

celebratory cookies; the box traveled slowly

across the room, Lila Little Hawk taking more than

she was allowed. Mr. Red Clay stood by the

pulpit, looking flustered and pleased; someone had

left a "World's Hottest Teacher" necktie in his

mailbox and he was wearing it, much to my

immense surprise.

"Listen up," Mr. Red Clay said, clearing his

throat. "Every last one of you is a pain in the

neck. But--"

"Oh, jeez," said Daisy At Dawn. "I think I should

take that tie back."

"--but for every year that I have the opportunity to

interact with you, I am truly grateful. And as for

you twelfth graders, I have to say that this is a

bittersweet moment for me. I couldn't be happier

that you're finally getting out of my hair--"

"Want us to just jump off a bridge while you're at

it?" Holly said sourly.

Mr. Red Clay momentarily lost his train of

thought. I couldn't blame him. Immaculata Quick

was parading up and down the rows with Jack

Nabako on her back.

"As I was
saying
." Mr. Red Clay paused. "I love

you kids," he said. "Some of you are battier than

anything, but I'm proud of you all the same."

This was quite a statement; unless you happen to

be related, Shoshone usually don't verbalize their

sentiments like that. I took it as a sign that he

considered us extended family, in a way.

Mr. Red Clay coughed. "Moving right along," he

said. "There is something I'd like to give you--"

Groans resounded through the room. Zeke sprayed

cookie crumbs all over the table. Stuart Stout gave

him a ghastly look.

"Oh, not a test," Mr. Red Clay said, exasperated.

"Something you've earned. I've only got one copy,

unfortunately. You're going to have to sit there

while I read it."

"Maybe it's a poem," Aubrey whispered excitedly.

"Hope not," Rafael said darkly.

Mr. Red Clay pulled a sheet of paper out from

under his lectern. He cleared his throat a second

time and started to read.

" 'Congress of the United States, House of

Representatives,' " he started.

He didn't get very far. "What is that?!" Prairie

Rose In Winter shrieked.

Mr. Red Clay shot her a stern look. "It's a letter. I

picked it up just this morning from the tribal

council."

From Ms. Siomme, more likely, I thought.

" 'Attention to the Shoshone Nation. We have

carefully read and reviewed your complaints

regarding the land price of the Cache Valley. We

have decided to freeze the price of the Cache

Valley at its current rate. Enclosed you will find--'

"

But we never found out what we would find

enclosed. Autumn Rose In Winter let out a squeal.

Somebody shouted an "Oh my God." Stuart

jumped out of his seat like he'd been electrified.

He smiled brightly--I had never seen him smile

before--and brought his hands together to applaud.

"Well, well," said his sister, and "I'm sure it's just

a fake," said Holly, and Immaculata dropped Jack

("
Ow!
") and asked, "Hinni?"

I felt a smile rising to my lips, too.
It's Bear

River
, I signed, when Immaculata looked my way.

The government's finally selling it to us.

"I just can't believe it," Annie murmured, sounding

dazed.

"I can!" Daisy said brightly. "There must've been

about a thousand signatures on that thing. Paper's

pretty powerful stuff."

William Sleeping Fox and Matthew Tall Ridge

and Ash In Winter all milled over to thump Stuart

on the back. One of them tried to rub his head.

"Do you realize what that land really means?"

Aubrey said earnestly. "We could build another

reservation--"

We could rip that disgusting plaque out of the

ground, I thought.

"Healthcare facilities! Schools! And just think of

all the tribes that don't have a reservation--"

"And the
water
," Annie said dreamily. "We could

export it to the tribes who don't have any."

"We could build our own monument," Allen

Calling Owl said. "And tell people what really

happened. And--"

Mr. Red Clay had obviously relinquished control

of the class. He sat down on his stool with a

prairie banana cookie.

Everyone left the school at different times. Some

left around ten and some stayed as late as four.

Zeke stayed behind with William Sleeping Fox

while Jack Nabako rushed so fast out the door, you

would have thought his pants were on fire. I

decided to just leave at noon, the same as every

day.

"I guess the government finally got something

right," Rafael said. He had decided to leave with

me.

We walked together to the communal firepit. I

thought again about Dad. I couldn't help myself. I

couldn't stop wondering what the inside of that

prison was like. How he was being treated. He

was strong, I knew that--he'd breezed through the

sun dance like it was nothing, and before his

confinement to the reservation, he used to brave

the Sonoran Desert ten, fifteen times before

breakfast--but that didn't mean he was safe.

Twenty years. Twenty years without my dad. Oh,

God. It still sounds awful. It sounds like the

coldest number I've ever heard.

Rafael gripped my shoulder. We both stopped

walking.

"Maybe we can do what Stu did," Rafael said.

"And what those kids at the radio tower did. That

worked, didn't it? We got a lot of people on our

side until the government couldn't ignore it.

Maybe we can do that with your dad. The guy lost

his wife; his son lost his voice. So when he had

the chance, he killed the man responsible. People

root for a guy like that."

I wasn't entirely sure that a petition could get a

convict out of federal prison. It was worth a shot,