MacKenzie came to life at the motion. "Are you guys planning to spend a lot of time here?"
"We're not spending any time here," Ester said. "We're going to Warm Springs Reservation. We'll be gone all day."
"Is that where you're from?" MacKenzie said, shifting her gaze between Ester and Theo.
"No," Ester said. "We're from here."
"Have you seen the weather?" Dennis asked. "There might be a storm or something."
"I haven't paid any attention." Ester looked at Theo.
Dennis switched the channels until he found the weather.
MacKenzie reached for the remote. "I was watching that."
"For a second, so they can see," Dennis said, holding it out of her reach.
"We'll be okay," Theo said.
"I'd check to be certain," Dennis said.
"They said they were going," MacKenzie said. "Do you guys know what time you'll be back?"
Ester gave her a cold stare. "No, we don't."
Dennis burst out laughing. "Come on, Mac. Who died and made you the house mother?"
MacKenzie shrugged and snuggled against Dennis. He put his arm around her. "Safe travels guys," he said.
Ester yanked the door open and let Theo go before stomping out after him.
"She does have a whiff of crazy about her," Theo said.
"You hang out around a lot of crazy women?" Ester asked without humor.
"I'm a bouncer at a dance club," Theo said.
"Yeah, I bet you've seen crazy," Ester said. Leaving MacKenzie improved her mood. "What do you think about the weather?"
"Professor Stone is on her way. She wanted to get some B-roll. I have to show up. Would you rather stay?"
"With them? No way." Ester stopped and gaped at the car in the driveway. "You drive a silver Jetta? Isn't that a shiny sorority-girl car?"
"Silver is the color of my people," Theo said, his hand on his heart, as if offended.
"Too bad you don't have turquoise interior," Ester said. She got in the passenger seat and marveled at the perfectly clean interior, an artificial pine scent in the air. "I predicted you would have a truck with a dented bumper and beef jerky wrappers on the floor."
Theo climbed into the driver's seat and started the car. "I used to. It was old, beat-up and paid for and I loved it. Unfortunately, it wasn't great for ridesharing, which I need to help with my income. I made a critical error and bought this thing so now it takes two weekends of ridesharing per month to make the car payment."
"It's nice," Ester said. "Clean. I can give you money for gas today."
"Professor Stone gave me money for gas," Theo said. "I negotiated that at least, but thanks for offering." He drove out to the highway that would take them east to Warm Springs. "What do you drive?"
"Ugh, I don't," Ester said. "I had an ancient Mazda that, gasping and wheezing, got me through college. At one point I lived in that stupid car. The kind of car that breaks down any time you need to go somewhere important, and you need to keep a jug of water, a jug of oil, and jumper cables in the trunk at all times. I put her down and use the bus. I want to get another car but I'm paying off my student loans first." Remembering that car brought up dozens of humiliating memories. When Theo didn't say anything, she asked, "Were you at the club last night?"
"I was. Tonight, too," Theo said. "Friday and Saturday nights until close. That's how I pay the rent. Didn't see you there."
"No," Ester said with a small smile. "Rayanne and I used to go dancing but now she's with Henry, so we don't go out anymore."
"Not the type to go by yourself?"
"To meat market central? No thanks. I stay home and hide in my room while Dennis and MacKenzie watch superhero movies."
"You don't like superhero movies?"
"I'm not invited," Ester said. "I mean, Dennis wouldn't care if I joined them, but being the third wheel isn't so fun. Plus dealing with MacKenzie's scrutiny."
"What do you think he sees in her?" Theo asked.
"Besides the giant boobs?"
Theo smiled a little but didn't comment.
"She's good to him. He doesn't have the best luck meeting women, so he's motivated for it to work. I think she's territorial and Dennis having roommates interferes with her desired possessory interests."
"There are more roommates?"
"Used to be. Lorenzo just moved."
"You lived with two guys?"
"You sound like my mom," Ester said. "We lived in the same house. It's a good location. I've known Dennis for years. He's a good friend. It's his girlfriend that's not great."
Theo had his phone in a cradle on the dashboard with a map of their progress. Traffic was light but Theo drove with purpose as if on a tight timeline. Probably used to it from ridesharing.
"How did you end up with so many loans?" he asked.
Ester sighed, going for the easiest version of the story. "I picked an expensive school because I had scholarships. But after two years the money was reduced, so I borrowed to get through. I'm voluntarily living like this to get the things paid off. Eighteen more months."
"Then what?"
"Then I have choices," Ester said. "I can get a car. I'm not super adventurous, but maybe travel or do a film workshop. I was going to ask Professor Stone for ideas on that."
"She has a lot of resources. I bet she could help you out."
Theo was quiet after that. She pulled out her phone and found a suggestive text from Rayanne that she hurried to clear from the screen.
The sun broke through the clouds but disappeared again. Ester calculated how much time they would be on the road. "We probably won't get home until after dark tonight," Ester said. "Will you have time to get to work?"
"Hope so. Turned down other work for this thing. I can't afford to miss my night job, too."
"How many jobs do you have?"
Theo smiled. "I sometimes do one of those muscle-for-hire apps. I help move things. There's also a mover in town who hires me. I like working for him because it's cash and easy."
"Do you like the bouncer job?"
"The money's not bad. My co-workers are great. The guests are crazy sometimes. You like your job?"
"Most of the time," Ester said. "It's a good group and I'm accomplishing something. But other times it's like pushing keys on the computer. It's hard to plan for programs when we don't know where we'll be next year."
She'd hoped it would come up naturally but she had to know. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-five, why?"
"You said I was older."
Theo grinned. "Three months. You worried you were robbing the cradle?"
Ester shook her head and smiled back.
Theo had a lunch cooler with a couple bottles of water. He asked her to get him one for him. She pulled one out and he twisted the top off and took a long swallow. Her eyes went from his lips to his throat, then to his forearm as he handed the bottle back to her, every movement a highlight.
Get a grip, Ester.
"Is there anything about being a bouncer that would surprise me?"
"There are a lot of things about the club that would surprise you," Theo said.
Ester pictured women lined up to throw themselves at him. The whole point of a club was hooking up, dancing, dressing up in pretty clothes and finding people to grind up against. The bouncer got to talk to everyone.
"Often the women are harder to deal with than the guys. You know, when things get out of hand."
"What do they do?"
"Guys will back down as soon as a bouncer shows up. Like he's a badass, but he's forced to back down because the bouncer is there. They stop to save face. Women…" He shook his head. "Sometimes they're going at it and they get serious when you try to break them up. And with a guy I'm not concerned about being rough, but with a lady, I don't want to manhandle them, no matter what they're doing."
"Do you meet a lot of women at the club?"
"I do," Theo said.
Ester's face grew hot. She didn't know
why she'd asked.
"Sometimes they offer a favor to get in. What kind of person wants to get into Frenzy's that badly? Sometimes they're too socially inept to talk to club guests so they come talk to me."
Ester didn't know how to respond. A burst of rain spattered on the windshield. The heavy drops had some slush in them. "The weather is going to hell," she said.
"As long as it's not freezing rain or a blizzard, we'll be fine," Theo said.
"How did you do on your interview project with the knitting?"
"She hasn't reviewed it yet," Theo said. "I edited by instinct like you said. I think it's okay. It's her other class that's killing me. I'm behind on my daily writing assignments. That's why I need extra credit for this."
"How behind?"
"We're supposed to do five stories per week. About five hundred words, not polished. She wants us to practice writing as if on a deadline. I've been turning in two or three."
"That sounds hard. What kind of stories?"
"She wants clever topics. I want to interview Arnie. You, too, about being adopted away from your tribe. Do you mind talking about that?"
"Not at all. My birth mother was Eastern Shoshone but living in Oregon. My real mom is a social worker. She knew the adoption would have to go through ICWA—"
"ICWA?"
"Indian Child Welfare Act. It's a law where if a baby is eligible for tribal membership, then that tribe gets a say in the placement."
"I never heard of that," Theo said.
"A lot of times they'll try to place the baby with the family but Mom said it wasn't an issue. Since my parents are both Native and they wanted me, the adoption went through. I wasn't raised as a traditional Ind'n, but culturally I never felt left out like some adopted Ind'ns."
"What do you mean?"
"Have you ever met anyone adopted away from their tribe? A lot of times they feel...wrong. People describe it differently but it's like,"—Ester tapped her heart—"something is missing and they don't fit."
Theo didn't answer. He was silent for so long Ester thought the conversation was finished. She was wrestling over whether to come up with another thing from her list when Theo said, "But you don't feel that?"
"No. But I'm not a great example since my parents are Native and I've lived around cultural stuff. Have you been out to Warm Springs? We used to come out and stay at the resort. We would camp in a teepee and go hiking."
"I've driven through a few times," Theo said. The rain changed back into a light drizzle. The day was turning into a regular late winter gray Saturday.
"Will we make it by noon?" Ester asked.
Theo nodded. "For once I'm on time. Professor Stone won't recognize me."
An entire morning sitting in the car with Ester was more intoxicating than Theo would have guessed. The space was too small when she was in there with him. She had a sweet floral scent and a funny way of waving her hands as she talked. After a long pause in the conversation, she would puff out a sigh before making a new comment to fill the silence.
"Reminds me of where I grew up," he said when he turned off the main road. "It's either mud or dust." A single lane dirt road headed up a gentle slope and curved past several houses. The first house had portions of plastic sheeting visible; one corner flapped in the wind.
"Must be tribal housing," Theo said. "You can tell because it's not finished."
Ester laughed. "I forget you grew up on your rez."
"Moved when I was little," Theo said.
"Do you visit?"
"Not often," Theo said, remembering his last visit. He'd driven down with his mom before moving to go to school. They'd arrived during late summer into days of blistering hot sunshine. The air smelled like warm grass and something else he couldn't name.
She pointed to the next house. Theo spotted Professor Stone's rig and pulled in next to it.
As soon as he stepped out of the car, a cold rush of air knocked the clarity back into him. If that woman had any notion of the kind of spell she put on him, he would be in serious trouble. An Indian man about a half head shorter than him answered the door.
"Hey, Ester, come on in. Everyone's here." He gave her a friendly squeeze on the shoulder. "Any trouble on the road?"
Ester shook her head. "Theo, this is my boss, Arnie Jackson."
"Boss sounds so serious and official," Arnie said.
"This is a coffee-swilling paper-pusher who holds the purse strings at the non-profit that employs me," Ester said. "Better?"
"I like to think somewhere in between," Arnie said. He shook Theo's hand. "Who are your people?"
"Jicarilla Apache on my mom's side."
"Thanks for bringing this together. Always glad to see new folks getting involved with the center."
Theo held up his hands and shook his head. "Don't give me credit. I'm along for the ride."
The house wasn't much from the outside, but the inside was cozy and pleasantly cluttered. There were at least a dozen people inside. An oversized couch and two recliners draped with Pendleton blankets took up most of the main room. Several boys were running around and chasing a pair of brown dogs. There was a wood stove in the corner and the room was toasty. A pair of windows looked out to a yard patched with dirty snow and some scrubby trees. There were snow-topped mountains in the distance. His heart creaked wistfully, looking out into the open space.
Theo had never been around so many Indians outside of his own family. The din was familiar in a comforting way. A man who looked like a less fit version of Arnie came over.
"The film crew at last," he said.
"You must be Uncle Mike," Ester said. "I'm Ester. I'm a friend of Henry's."
"So, you're Ester," Mike said with a wink. "The woman working the magic in the kitchen is my wife, Jody. Our kids are teenagers—I don't know where they are, and the short people belong to a cousin. Jody's got coffee and fresh huckleberry muffins, if you are in need."
"We need." Ester grabbed Theo's arm. "Henry made those muffins once. They are too delicious to refuse."
"I'd like something," he said. Every time she touched him, he fell in deeper.
"They're better when I make them," an older lady said. She had short dark hair and a serious face behind the smile. "I'm Diane, Arnie's mom. Nice to have you. You're the young filmmakers?"
"We're crew," Theo said.
"Your boyfriend is cute," Diane said to Ester.
Ester’s face flushed in an appealing way. He didn't see any reason to clarify the situation.
Before they could grab a snack, Arnie called them. "Come meet Auntie. Katie is talking to her now."
Ester nudged him with her elbow. When he looked down, she had a smile curling at the corner of her mouth. Katie?
Theo covered his mouth and turned his laugh into a cough. Professor Stone crouched down next to an elder in an overstuffed chair. She had a sweet round face surrounded by a head of white hair. Her voice was surprisingly commanding coming from such a tiny lady.
"I want to meet the young filmmakers." Auntie reached out her puffy elder hands until Ester and Theo each grabbed one. Somewhere along the way they'd been designated as the filmmakers. Must be one of Stone's tactics to put her subjects at ease.
The elder pulled Ester down and inspected her hair curiously. "Where did those curls come from?" she asked.
"The ancestors?" Ester suggested.
Auntie laughed. She patted Theo's leg. "This one is tall."
Theo squatted down next to her chair. She checked him out with sharp eyes, peering over her funny eyeglasses with a wary gaze. "Who's your people?"
"Jicarilla Apache," he told her. "Lived there until I was eight. I didn't realize how much I miss it until I saw the view from your driveway."
She smiled. "I don't live here," she stage-whispered.
"If you two want a snack, grab it now," Professor Stone said. "I want to get outside for more B-roll out front here. We'll come back indoors for the interviews."
They were ushered back to the kit
chen. Someone set down a plate of muffins and a couple mugs of coffee. Ester poured milk into her mug and offered to pour some for him. He shook his head. Theo hadn't realized how hungry he was until the food was in front of him. Ester probably was too. He hadn't even thought to bring food.
Ester closed her eyes and moaned when she bit into the muffin. Her eyes snapped open to see him watching her. When she finished chewing, she said, "Food of the gods. You'll see."
Theo could have moaned himself, watching her. He took a bite and nodded in agreement.
The boisterous activity in the room reminded him of being at his grandma's house with his brother. Two little boys and one black dog chasing in and out of the house all day. Another wave of homesickness snuck up on him.
He returned his attention to Ester. Her eyes traveled around the room, studying something he couldn't see. She caught him watching.
"I'm trying to guess what sort of angles and shots Professor Stone will want. I know what I would do."
"You should tell her," Theo said. "She'd probably like to hear your ideas."
"Ha!" Ester said. "She's in charge. Pay attention to the hierarchy."
Theo thought Ester was the one missing out on the hierarchy but he didn't argue.
He shoveled the last bite into his mouth while Professor Stone stood at the door and waved them over.
They put their coats back on. Ester yanked her flimsy hat over her head. Professor Stone pointed at the gear and they carried it out after her. Outside, they walked along the unpaved road they'd come in on.
"Let's walk up that rise and get the view," Professor Stone said.
A bone-chilling wind whipped up. Ester pulled her coat tighter and crossed her arms. Theo had fleece and a hat but he longed for some gloves. The clouds hung heavy overhead and there was a chilly dampness that promised snow. Arnie wore a heavy leather jacket and Stone had on a puffy winter coat. They walked ahead, most of their conversation muffled. Arnie named the mountains and said something about the reservation's history.
Ester tried to hide it, but Theo could see her shivering.
"You okay, Shoshone?" he asked.
Ester made a face he interpreted to mean, don't baby me. At least they both had decent boots. They stopped a couple of times to get a shot Stone wanted but showed no sign of returning to the house. Even Theo grew miserable. They reached the first house on the road, the one with the exposed plastic sheeting. The house lacked a front step, and an overturned milk crate sat in front of the door.
Lovesick Braves Page 8
