Counting coup, p.18
Counting Coup, page 18
part #1 of The Benediction of Paul Series
“Ouch,” Faith said, dabbing his bruising cheek.
Karl shivered.
“Just a minor bump, roughhousing with the bakuupe. They outnumber me.” Time to change the subject. “Becca, Tiny is finally going on a vision quest.”
“How old is Tiny?” Faith asked.
“He is sixteen. He has been postponing because he wanted to be taller.”
Rebecca laughed. “His name is Tiny.”
“I think he is afraid he will walk out with the spirit guide of an ant or pygmy rabbit.”
“Small guides are good,” Faith said. “Sometimes it’s hard to live up to your name. I had several sisters—Hope, Charity, Patience, and Grace—and two brothers, Todd and Tad. The Elders named us girls after virtues.”
“The Elders can be mischievous,” Karl said. “So, do they live up to their names?”
“Mostly, all except Patience. She was not that. They are all gone now.”
“All of them?” Karl asked, wanting to embrace her for so many losses.
“It’s just me and Todd,” Faith said. Her face softened with sadness.
“I am sorry,” Karl said. That explained why Todd was always in a grim mood and protective.
Karl had met Todd several times when he had come looking for Rebecca. The man was older than Becca. Karl felt he should show him respect, but he was not sure how. Todd was serious and solemn. Life had worn away his skin and left him with bare bones. Losing your family would be unbearable. He would be kinder to him in the future.
“But Todd has you,” Karl said. “He has faith.”
She laughed at his lame joke as Rebecca groaned from the living room.
“Todd is going to bring Carrie Little Owl over. Odin and Sleeps in the River are her parents, Crashes in the Night and Jean, her grandparents. She’s in nursing school. I thought since we had the space,” Faith said.
Karl waved a fork at Faith. “You are giving away my room? It’s okay. Carrie is Lakota. I like Lakota. And she is cute. Okay, I will share with her.”
Rebecca shook her head. “We have a sofa, and she’s going to be a nurse. Besides, she’s too old for you.”
“I could be a nurse. If girls can be nurses, why not boys?” Karl said, knowing he had zero interest in dealing with sick and crabby people. “I like older women. You can have a boyfriend and study nursing.”
Karl was sure Rebecca enjoyed sticking needles into the opposite gender. She never dated and frightened most men away with her determination and bluntness. Her single-mindedness was a virtue, but he wondered if she was ever lonely.
“You can’t even remember to cover your hands when picking pasque flowers. A Lakota woman has standards, requirements,” Faith said. “You need to be as smart as your mate, have a home, a job, and a car.”
There was the proof that Faith was smarter than him. Karl smiled, thinking he had a job and a car. Two out of four.
“Marriage is sacred to us. The couple balances each other. He brings courage, generosity, wisdom, and bravery and she, fruitfulness, faith, industriousness, and hospitality.”
“I know those virtues. They are very Benedictine,” Karl said.
Rebecca groaned, finished layering the flowers, and headed to the kitchen to wash the tongs.
“What is Benedictine?” Faith asked, sipping her hot coffee.
The door to the apartment opened, and Todd entered with Carrie Little Owl.
“The black robes’ way,” Todd said, a scowl on his face.
“I will teach you,” Karl whispered to Faith. “When he is not around.”
Todd turned and looked at Rebecca. His harsh tone changed to gentle kindness as he said, “Carrie, this is Rebecca.”
Carrie blushed and said, “I’ve heard so much about you.”
Todd squeezed between Rebecca and the wall, moving toward the kitchen, but he lingered a moment, his towering body pressed behind her.
Rebecca took in a deep breath and stood a little stiffer. She didn’t move to give him more room or easier passage.
Todd glanced and then studied Karl’s face before pouring himself a cup of coffee. They crowded the narrow kitchen. Karl could smell the lingering aroma of cedar and sage from Todd.
“You should learn to duck. Or curb your attitude,” Todd said, his voice once again hard.
Karl narrowed his eyes into a glare. He knew the man was teasing him, but the remark still stung.
“Stop picking on him,” Rebecca said, stepping out of the kitchen to the living room where Carrie stood wide-eyed in Rebecca’s adoration.
That stung too, having his big sister still sticking up for him like that. She needs to stop that. Move on, my warrior sister, move on.
Todd glanced at the layers of pasque and newspaper. “Planning on murdering someone?”
If they ate the flower in its current state, it would be toxic, causing severe kidney damage and paralysis. Rebecca turned and smiled at Todd before addressing Carrie.
“Welcome, Carrie. Let me show you the space. We have one rule: no overnight visitors unless they are family, and I mean the white man’s definition of family.”
“Got it,” Carrie said with a grin as wide as the Little Big Horn River.
Todd laughed. Rebecca and Carrie left the room.
“You didn’t touch that plant, did you?” Todd asked.
Karl moved his blistered hand out of sight.
“Be kind,” Faith said. “She is drying these. The herb dried and crushed will convert the enzyme to a non-toxic substance and then she can use it to treat many things, like insomnia.”
“Do you feel like taking a nap?” Karl asked Todd.
Todd raised an eyebrow, glanced at his coffee cup, and set it on the counter.
“You are a wise man,” Karl said.
“Don’t be silly. I’m drinking the coffee,” Faith said as she yawned and then laid her head on Karl’s shoulder.
“You two are not funny,” Todd said.
Karl suppressed a grin and relished the warmth of her breath on his neck.
Todd raised the mug but sniffed it before setting it down without drinking. Faith rose and chuckled at her brother as she headed to her room. Karl fought the desire to follow her, resolving to be in the apartment more often. Perhaps Rebecca was right. It was time to leave Terence and the siblings to form a new clan, a new ashishkawuuhawate.
Chapter 19
Mister Moose
In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.
Iroquois Confederacy Maxim (ca 1705). The Iroquois are a historically powerful northeast Native American confederacy. Known in colonial times as the Iroquois League and the Five Nations. Today they are the Six Nations. They absorbed many displaced peoples.
Rebecca walked out of the hospital from her graveyard shift. The parking lot was quiet, nearly empty. The streetlights flickered off and then on. The sun was still sleeping. She pulled her jacket tight around her as the morning air kissed her cheeks. With each step closer to home, her body relaxed. Her apartment building came into view. At the entrance, she stopped because a moose blocked the doorway.
The Creator had leftover parts when she put you together. Your small, long head doesn’t fit well on your body. Your antlers look like carved bowls. What is that hanging from your neck? You are a horse gone wrong.
The beast raised his monstrous head, blocking out the overhead lighting.
“What do you want Mister Moose?”
He pawed the concrete and the sound was thunderous.
“Twig eater, there are no branches here. Just mortar and brick.”
He was a wild beast. She dared not pass him. She waited, remembering the myth of Creation. A woman of the Potawatomi Nation was to populate the world. She invited all kinds of beasts and birds to come to her, yet none proved worthy to father her offspring, and she rejected them all until she met the moose. Rebecca smiled. She understood that. No male of her own species interested her. She thought of the Potawatomi woman selecting a moose. He looked clumsy and yet graceful. This bull was a symbol of strength and protection. She knew one didn’t challenge a mother moose.
“No females need mating, Mr. Moose. And I’m not interested. Move along now.”
The moose wagged his heavy head and snorted.
“Don’t disagree with me,” she said. “I’m not a HEA girl.” She watched women look for Mister Perfect so they could live HEA—happily ever after.
Mr. Moose swung his head and turned to amble down the walk, a slow clopping of his hooves, a beat of four. The sound reminded Rebecca of an irregular heartbeat. She watched him saunter through the parking lot, past her VW bug.
Why was he here? His visit signified to her that she needed to reflect and connect with her inner wisdom. She avoided interference with her nursing goals. Dating was a distraction. People were an interruption. Recently, an orderly had been lingering after her shift. Once she realized his intent, she had avoided him. She wasn’t against romance. She didn’t have the time.
She unlocked the door to the apartment and was greeted with quiet darkness. The sofa was empty. Karl was usually on the sofa. His bag of chips and empty cola bottle told her he had been there. She looked for his jacket and shoes. They were gone.
Was Karl all right? He said he could manage, but he always said that. Even with his frequent visits, things were different. They were both busy. She missed the closeness they had.
Rebecca opened her bedroom door, slipped out of her scrubs, and got into a long tee shirt and torn jeans. She grabbed her soft robe from the pile of laundry that lay on her bed.
“He’s a man,” Tiama’s voice scolded. “Everyone grows up.”
In the kitchen, she grabbed a cola and sat in the predawn light. Growing up Mackenzie wasn’t always good. Her empty bed called to her.
The bedroom door opened with a squeak, and Faith rushed out. Rebecca sipped her cola and listened to Faith vomiting in the bathroom.
Was she sick or stressed? In a few weeks, Faith would graduate. She couldn’t be that worried about a job. Her tribe would snatch her up in a second. If the stomach flu was lingering, she would have heard.
Rebecca reflected over the last few weeks. Faith had been sick in the morning. Mister Moose’s visit made sense now. Faith was pregnant.
Pregnant. Rebecca shook her head to dispel the reality. Faith was smarter than that. Who was the father? Faith rarely went out partying. Todd kept close tabs on her, always hovering nearby. He really needed to give her space.
Faith crept to her room.
Rebecca took a long drink of her cola. But if she is, Todd won’t be happy.
A door opened with a squeak. Karl, dressed in a tee shirt and jeans, wandered into the living room.
“Where did you come from?” she asked, wondering if he had been sleeping in her room.
“Judith’s womb, but my sister might have just picked me out of the pumpkin patch,” Karl said.
“Not funny. You better not be sleeping with Carrie,” Rebecca said.
Karl paused as he grabbed the chip bag next to the sofa and made his way to the kitchen.
“I am not playing with Carrie,” Karl said, shaking the bag of chip crumbs into his hand.
Chips for breakfast. He should eat better—he was so skinny.
“You best be using condoms, or she’ll end up like Faith.”
“I am not doing anything with Carrie. What do you mean, ‘end up like Faith’?” Karl asked, getting a cola bottle out of the refrigerator.
“There’s a moose downstairs, visiting.”
“A moose? Real or a dream?” Karl asked, opening the cola bottle.
“Flesh and blood. He told me Faith is pregnant,” Rebecca said as the bottle in Karl’s hand came crashing to the floor.
Rebecca jumped and moved to help Karl clean up the mess. He was grinning. That impish grin.
Crap. She didn’t believe it. He had to be joking with her.
She detected the aroma of almonds and lavender on him. He smelled like Faith.
“It’s yours, isn’t it?” Rebecca said, stepping back, reading the look of surprise, fear, and delight racing across her brother’s face.
Karl’s grin grew wider.
The glass pieces clunked in the trash can.
“No, no, no.” Rebecca threw a towel at him, but wanted to throttle him.
He looked up at her, beaming like the dawn.
“You don’t get it, do you? You’re only sixteen. She’s older than you. There are laws. You aren’t even out of high school. What were you thinking?”
Faith’s door opened.
Rebecca shoved Karl’s head down behind the counter.
“Morning,” Faith said. “I need saltines.”
Rebecca placed the box of ordinary soda crackers on the counter for Faith.
Faith grabbed for the package, glanced nervously around, and then joined Rebecca at the counter. She unwrapped the stack, pulled one out, and nibbled.
They stared at each other.
“Yes,” Faith said.
“But we are nurses. We know how to prevent…”
Karl pinched Rebecca’s hand, and she yanked at his hair.
“Yea, well love, passion, what can I say? I’m pregnant,” Faith said.
The door to the apartment opened and Todd walked in. The odor of burned wood lingered around him. He had obviously come directly from work or the fire line. It wasn’t an unpleasant odor. It reminded Rebecca of teepees and powwows. She was aware that when smoke lingered, it usually meant terrible things had happened to someone. His presence always remained long after he left. In his firefighter gear or out, he was warrior built, tall, muscular, dark, and brooding. A model for those romance novels Carrie was always reading. She shook her head to dispel the Gothic thought.
“What the hell is going on?” Todd said, ignoring Rebecca and standing over Faith.
Rebecca was surprised. He was usually polite and calm. She glanced down at crouching Karl and slashed her hand in the air, signaling him to lie low.
“Todd, not today,” Faith said through tight lips.
He crossed his arms. “If not today, then when? Six months from now?”
Faith’s jaw tightened, and she drew in a sharp breath.
“This doesn’t concern you. I have it taken care of.”
Rebecca wondered how he knew. Did Mr. Moose tell him, too?
“You promised to finish school. How is that possible now?” He shook his head, and his long thick hair swayed. Faith stood, and her face soured. She pushed him aside and dashed to the bathroom.
The sound of retching filled the silence.
Todd turned to Rebecca, his breath warm and smoky. His eyes narrowed in disdain.
“How did this happen? Don’t you enforce the rules?”
Rebecca flared. How dare he taunt her?
“People need to follow rules.”
“Do you know who the father is?”
“No, don’t have a clue,” Rebecca said, pushing harder to keep Karl down.
Todd stared at her, through her.
His face hardened, the vein on his neck swelled, pulsed.
“Tell me.” His voice low, enticing.
Rebecca stiffened. Scenes of Terence and Karl flashed in her mind.
Duck. He wouldn’t dare, would he?
Faith came out of the restroom with a ghostly pallor. Todd turned. Karl’s head rose over the counter. Rebecca shoved it down.
“I need to lie down,” Faith said, using the wall for support. Todd moved toward her, escorting her to the bedroom. Their voices rose from murmurs to shouts.
“Leave now,” Rebecca said to Karl.
“No, I am not leaving her. She is having my baby.”
Rebecca smacked the back of Karl’s head.
“And Todd is acting like a mother moose. He will,” Rebecca said as the door to the bedroom flew open. Todd rushed out with Karl’s desert boots in his hand.
“Where in the nation is he?” Todd shouted, anger and disbelief fighting for control of his face.
Too late for a quick escape now.
Faith grabbed her brother’s arm. “Stop, Todd, please. This isn’t our way.”
He turned so quickly that she stumbled. Karl pushed Rebecca aside to catch Faith. They both ended up at the feet of the Lakota warrior.
Karl sat with his arms wrapped around Faith.
“Are you alright?”
Todd shook with rage.
“Faith, we are leaving. Come,” Todd said, in a parental tone.
Rebecca almost laughed. Did he think a command would sway her? This man had sisters, and yet he was clueless to their ways.
Faith didn’t move. Todd stood over them, arms crossed.
“We adhere to the old ways. He does not. What were you thinking? He’s a kid,” Todd said, his voice now pleading.
“I’m having this child. We’ll raise her in the old ways and the new,” Faith said from Karl’s arms.
Anger filled Rebecca. He was Indian; he too lived in both worlds. Living on the Rez did not protect you from the outside world. The balance between the old and the new ways caused tension.
Rebecca placed a hand on Todd’s arm.
He shook her off.
Karl stood. The gangly, blue-eyed Crow challenged the Lakota warrior.
Todd’s arm flexed.
“We are going to have a baby. We are going to be family,” Karl said as he extended his hand. “My daughter will need her uncle.”
Seconds passed. Breaths labored.
“I love him,” Faith said into the silence.
Todd stalked out, slamming the door behind him.
Faith embraced Karl with a sob. Rebecca’s stomach twisted. She stared at them. She looked at Karl.
She loves him.
Karl was a kid. Impulsive, smart-mouthed, impetuous, kind, irreverent, and compassionate but a kid. What wasn’t there to love? Who was this brother? When did he become a man?
