Author's Note: Just for clarification - if it's in all caps, it's an American Sign Language gloss (translation from English). If the whole sentence or paragraph is in italics, it's where Elizabeth is translating into English while someone is signing. It was simply easier to do it that way than to have these huge blocks of glossing.
4:00 p.m.
Bobby leaned back against the kitchen counter and patted his stomach. "Liz, you're the best. I was actually dreading Thanksgiving this year. Arlene's been hounding me for two weeks now about behaving myself. I liked her better when she was torturing Myles."
"Oh, thank you so much." Myles grinned as he handed the Aussie another plate to dry. "Just for that, I should make you wash for the rest of these."
Elizabeth's laugh reached them from the refrigerator, where she was putting away leftovers and getting out whipped cream for the pies. "Myles, he's helping of his own choice. Don't push it. Tell me again why Lucy didn't make it today?"
"First Thanksgiving her grandmom's at the new place," Bobby replied. "So Lucy's playing co-hostess."
"Oh." The three of them looked around at the comfortable scene in the house. There were three small islands of noisy activity; Jack, Sam, Tara and Dimitrius were rooting for the Redskins; Darcy and Donna were comparing notes on the knitting projects they never seemed to finish; and the Gans kids were upstairs in the guest room where Sam had his video game set up, though they hadn't closed the door as asked and the sounds were filtering down.
In the midst of all this, a fourth intense conversation was taking place, but it wasn't noisy. Fingers flew in almost a ballet of conversation as Sue and Connie talked, oblivious to the rest of the world, it seemed.
They looked like two sides of the same coin, in some aspects. Sue's blonde hair and dark eyes were a sharp contrast to Connie's dark auburn tresses and bright blue eyes. But they obviously had hit it off almost immediately.
Bobby shook his head, smiling. "You think they even remember the rest of us are here?" he asked.
Elizabeth smiled. "You have to remember, Bobby; both Sue and Connie work in the hearing world. Both spend most of their time wearing themselves out between reading lips and speaking words they can't hear. To have a chance, however rare, to converse with someone truly of their own world— I think I'd shut the rest of it out, too."
The Aussie looked a bit confused. "But I thought the whole point of learning to speak and read lips was to fit in with everyone; so why would they willingly choose to isolate themselves…?"
"Because it wasn't their choice to 'fit in.' Both of them were pushed into it by undoubtedly 'well-meaning' parents." That Myles' voice held a glimmer of understanding had Bobby's eyebrows halfway to the ceiling. "Think of it this way, Bobby. What if you had to spend twenty-four hours a day, every day, listening to Howie in one ear and Randy in the other? If you suddenly had an opportunity to talk to me instead, would you take it?"
The smart-aleck retort forming on Bobby's lips stopped as he visualized the scene Myles was describing. "Point taken," he agreed with a grin. "But would it have to be you?"
Elizabeth stepped in between them before a full-out water fight could get started. "Come on, you two," she laughed. "Let's go join them, and I'll translate so no one gets worn out."
Bobby grinned as he set the last plate on the counter and laid the dish towel next to it. "She always this much of a party-pooper?"
There was a dramatic sigh in response. "Unfortunately, yes. It's a good thing she makes the best lasagna in the DC area, or I might reconsider that ring on her finger." He aimed his most charming smile at her as he said it.
"After a comment like that, you're lucky I'm still wearing it." Elizabeth gave Myles a mock-glare, but she was trying not to smile. "I may not be able to retaliate against Bobby, but you, my dear, are a whole different story. Consider yourself warned."
PRIVATE CONVERSATION THIS? Elizabeth caught Connie's eye as she signed, speaking as well for the men's benefit. Or can us SAD hearies join you?
Myles looked at her in surprise. "I never thought I'd see you use that sign."
"What sign?"
HEARIE, he signed in return. "The only time I usually see that is when Sue's fed up with the lot of us. It's my understanding that it's not exactly a nice term." He aimed a rueful grin at his colleague. "And it's most often after I catch her fingerspelling my name."
Sue colored slightly. "Well, you've deserved it most of those times." Then she explained. "HEARIE is a slang term, but it can be used in a couple of different ways. It's usually a derogatory term, but if you're a hearing person on good terms with the deaf, the deaf may also use the term for you. It's more… familiar than derogatory." Now she smiled at Myles and Bobby. "Think of it the same way as when Bobby calls you a 'drongo.' He doesn't really mean that he thinks you're an idiot."
Bobby grinned. "Don't be so sure. So, is this convo open to the poor 'hearies' as well?"
Connie frowned at Liz and signed. "POOR, NO MONEY, WHY?"
Elizabeth laughed. "Oh, boy, this is going to be an adventure." She signed in return to her sister, explaining vocally to the men, that POOR in the context Bobby had used would be equivalent to SAD in ASL.
Connie nodded, then signed to Sue, TALK THEM THIS WAY, HANDLE YOU HOW?
Sue smiled as her eyes pasted each. MUCH PRACTICE.
There was laughter as Elizabeth translated, and then Bobby signed SORRY to Connie, one of the very few signs he knew well enough to use, then rephrased his question. "As long as Liz is here to keep us all on the same track, is it okay if we sad 'hearies' join you?"
The ladies exchanged a glance. OK Sue smiled. But you're on OUR turf now.
Myles chuckled as Elizabeth translated. D-E-A-L, he fingerspelled. Then he smiled at Sue mischievously. He pointed to himself, then placed his index finger at his right temple; he held a "b" handshape out toward her, then brushed the middle finger of his right hand twice on middle of his open left palm. He then brought both "y" hands, held palms up at about shoulder width, down slightly, and followed it by pointing at Sue. ME THINK YOUR ADVANTAGE NOW YOU…
A moment's puzzlement crossed his face; then he placed a "closed 5" (fingers together) handshape on his chest and circled it twice. …ENJOY? The facial expression he accompanied it with indicated he wasn't sure he had the correct sign.
"I think you're enjoying the upper hand for a change," he spoke, hoping it at least came close to what he'd signed.
Sue smiled back at him. "Not bad, Myles, especially from a book. But that's 'please,' not 'enjoy.'" She demonstrated: starting with 2 flat open "5" hands, she circled them, one slightly below the other, over her chest. "This is the correct sign for 'enjoy.' But yes, I think I like having the upper hand for a change. Don't you, Connie?"
She'd been signing as she spoke, and now Connie Dillingham eyed her future brother-in-law with a grin. YES, she signed simply.
Bobby's eyes were wide. "When did you start learning sign, Myles? And why wasn't I around to give you a proper razzing for it?"
There was laughter all around as Elizabeth translated. Then she and the men settled into the leather upholstery of the small conversation area.
"So Connie," Bobby asked, "what line of work are you in? A shrink like your sis here?" He caught Elizabeth fingerspelling "shrink" with a grin as she translated.
Connie smiled in return. NO HEAD NOT REDUCE. TAX NUMBER ME ATTEMPT REDUCE. CALCULATOR MONEY PERSON ME JOB H-A-R-T-F-O-R-D. No, I don't shrink heads. The only things I shrink are tax figures, or try to. I work as a C.P.A. at an accounting firm in Hartford.
Myles looked up. ME WORK H-A-R-T-F-O-R-D F-B-I BEFORE D-C. JOB NAME? He raised his brows to indicate a question. "I was in the Hartford office before here. What's the name of your firm?"
Humphries & Padden, she fingerspelled. When he nodded, she continued. YOU KNOW NAME?
YES. He turned slightly to explain to Bobby, but made sure his face was still visible to the rest. "We had a case involving some pretty subtle money-laundering, and they had a separate account with Humphries & Padden, so we were able to get into their other accounts that way." He paused to let Elizabeth catch up. "They did nice work."
CONNIE SAY HER OFFICE HELP F-B-I H-A-R-T-F-O-R-D MUCH, Sue added. GOOD REPUTATION THEY GET NOW.
"How long have you been there, Connie?" Bobby made an attempt to fingerspell her name, at least.
"Bobby," Myles chided gently, "this isn't an interrogation."
IT OKM-Y-L-E-S, Connie replied, aiming a smile at Sue in the same movement. A lot of introductions among Deaf/HOH people can seem like an interrogation. We love to find out every detail, because that's how we draw a "conclusion" about the people we meet. And, because the deaf are such a small community of people, we consider everyone "deaf" in the community, meaning hearing and deaf, to be "family," and when a first meet happens, then it's like telling your life story off the bat so the other knows "you."
Now she turned to Bobby. SIGN NAME ME… She made a "C" handshape and drew it downward from her right temple to her chin. WELCOME USE YOU(PL), IF WANT.
The interest on both men's faces had Sue shaking her head slightly, a smile on her face. Myles saw it, and caught her eye as Bobby was asking Connie another question. FUNNY WHAT?
RED HAIR, BLUE EYES MUST, she quipped. BOBBY YOU DEAF CULTURE NOT INTERESTED BEFORE NOW.His face indicated he hadn't understood her signing, so she repeated it vocally, her voice soft.
Excuse ME? He teased her right back, although he knew he was now out of his ASL-league, so spoke. "You were more than spoken for from the minute you walked into the office. The rest of us never had a chance."
"You never wanted one." But she blushed clear to her toes as she said it.
He grinned at her discomfort, but there was a shadow in his eyes. This he could sign, and needed to. I know; I sorry i. Then he glanced over at the football group momentarily, and back to her. DAVID LEAVE, YOU NOT SORRY LATER? "No regrets at David leaving?" he spoke to make sure she understood what he'd signed.
She shook her head. NO. DAVID GO, HAD TOO. BIG JOB CHANCE. STILL WE TALK. BETTER FRIENDS NOW. She saw the shy gratitude in his eyes that she'd slowed her signing down enough that he understood most of it.
"All right, where'd you two wander off to?" Bobby's voice broke in.
Myles and Sue both looked up, and Bobby repeated his comment for her. "Sorry," she said. "We got sidetracked. What'd we miss?"
"Not much," Elizabeth replied with a smile. She'd seen the teasing going on. "Bobby's still grilling my sister."
They chatted for quite awhile; with Elizabeth translating, Bobby felt a lot more comfortable than he usually did in a conversation that was so heavily ASL. She'd thrown a pillow at him earlier, though…
"…and the little ankle-biter took off outta there, mad as a cut snake, and didn't stop until the Back of Bourke— Hey!" He ducked as a tapestry throw pillow came flying at him. "What?"
Elizabeth laughed. "It's hard enough trying to work through your accent to translate for you. I don't speak 'Aussie.' So knock it off with the local slang, will you?" …
He'd picked up a few signs here and there; most of his hesitation was strictly from feeling a bit intimidated. Didn't matter if it was ASL or Russian; if he couldn't understand what was going on, he felt lost, and that made him edgy.
It did help that both Sue and Connie were oral, and it seemed to be helping them that they didn't have to rely on their lip-reading to follow the conversation. So they were all relaxed enough that he felt a little more confident.
I HUNGRY, he signed. Or, that's what he had intended to sign; he'd taken his right "c" hand and stroked it twice downward from his windpipe to mid-chest. He'd seen the sign before, and was fairly confident he'd done it right.
Four sets of rather wide eyes made him rethink that confidence.
"Crash?"
Bobby looked up to see Jack, apparently stopped mid-stride on his way to grab a soda out of the fridge. There was a mixture of surprise and a twitch around the lips that made the Aussie suspect his best friend was trying very hard not to laugh.
"Please tell me you didn't sign what I think you just signed."
"What? I signed I was hungry," as he looked around with a silly smirk on his face. It faded a little as he saw the expressions, though. "Didn't I? Did I screw it up?"
Jack clapped Bobby on the shoulder and continued to the kitchen. "Oh Crash, you've so far to go," he said as he winked at Sue.
Bobby looked from face to face, seeking an explanation, beyond lost in a language so foreign to him. "Come on, someone has to tell me what I actually signed."
Connie signed, HIM MAKE SOME WOMAN MUCH HAPPY ONE-DAY. A giggle was starting to escape, even as she tried not to let it, but it was combined with an amused sympathy in her blue eyes.
"What?" Bobby thought he'd caught at least part of what she'd signed, and it only served to heighten his confusion, and his growing certainty that he'd somehow goofed big time.
Myles couldn't resist any longer. Signing EXCUSE ME PLEASE to the ladies, he turned so that only Bobby could see him. YOU SIGN... He spelled it out slowly so that the Aussie couldn't possibly miss it. O-R-G-A-S-M.
Bobby's face went scarlet. "You're kidding, right? I didn't..." He glanced over at the ladies, who were all practically doubled over laughing. Then he found the humor in it as well, and a resigned chuckle escaped him as well. "I'm sorry; I have no idea how I messed it up, but…"
"And that, Special Agent Manning..." Darcy D'Angelo stepped into his sight line with a wicked grin on her face, "is exactly why you should be very sure of what you're signing before you attempt it."
Bobby sank further into the armchair as he looked up and realized that the entire group was now gathered around. "What happened to all the other conversations going on? How did this one suddenly become the main event?"
Elizabeth regained her breath finally. "Because apparently you aren't the only one who is HUNGRY again." She exaggerated the correct sign this time, the "c" or "claw" hand stroked downward once. He copied it very carefully, prompting another round of laughter, and she decided to rescue him. "I think it's time for dessert."
