Wyatt
Summer 2016 - Comanche Nation of Oklahoma
Wyatt looked into the rearview mirror at the flashing red and blue lights. It wasn't the first time he had gotten pulled over. He watched the officer exit the Tahoe and clinched his jaw. It was however the first time he had gotten pulled over by the Chief of the Tribal Police. Lawton's officers, once they realized who he was, always let him go with a warning. Tribal Police officers were either friends or scared to actually arrest the Chief's son. Chief Narito on the other hand, was neither his friend nor scared of his father.
"Get out of the vehicle Wyatt." Ronald Narito knew the second he saw the car who it was. If he were honest, he knew who it was before he actually saw the car. There were only a handful of people who would go 140 miles per hour on tribal lands. He glanced into the car as Wyatt was getting getting out and noticed the empty bottles in the passenger seat floorboard. Also not unexpected. He waited for Wyatt to get out. He had to hand it to the kid, he had zero fear. "Wyatt, what are you doing?"
"Clearing my head."
Narito sighed and spun Wyatt around. "Wyatt, you're under arrest for reckless driving, driving under the influence, and driving without a license." He was just glad he wasn't adding resisting arrest. Taking him by the arm, he guided him back to the Tahoe and opened the back door. "Wyatt, you're fifteen years old…". He could tell his words were falling on deaf ears so he stopped. Securing Wyatt in the back, he shut the door and returned to Wyatt's car. It wasn't even his car, it was his grandfathers. Turning off the engine, he grabbed the keys and Wyatt's wallet and returned to his vehicle. Glancing in the rear view mirror at Wyatt, he turned off the lights and pulled away. It was going to be a long night.
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Wyatt followed his father into the house. He cringed when he realized his grandmother was sitting in the living room, waiting on him. He didn't fear his father, he did fear his grandmother. Not that she could do physical harm to him, it was the fear of disappointment - which he knew was coming.
Chief Wingfoot sat down in the chair across from his mother. "Wyatt…sit."
Wyatt gingerly sat down in the other chair. He prepared himself for the oncoming lecture. All about how was he supposed to be the future leader of their tribe if this was the example he gave. He had heard it before…he almost had it memorized.
"You have been accepted at a boarding school in New York. You leave mid August."
Out of everything Wyatt expected his father to say that was not it. He had expected his grandmother to make a comment about Pia Mupitsi coming to eat him and then an hour or so of an argument about how he hated his lineage. "What?"
His father shrugged, "It's what you want, right?" He looked at Wyatt and sighed. "It's exhausting arguing with you and my words fall on ears that don't hear. Plus, your teachers are out of things to teach you." He took a little bit of pride in that fact. His son was smart…too smart for the tribal schools. He had finally admitted that after the last incident. "I have one condition." He waited until he had Wyatt's attention. "Complete your vision quest."
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Wyatt followed his grandmother along the path. He had no idea where they were going. Nor did he know how someone who looked so frail had so much stamina. Right now, he thought she was outpacing him which was a somewhat humbling thought. "How much further?"
"That is up to you."
Wyatt stopped in his tracks. "Great…then I think we're there."
His grandmother stopped and turned around. Wyatt felt like she was peering into his soul. It was unsettling. She didn't say a word. She just stared at him. "Ok, so not there yet." Wyatt kept the frustrated sigh to himself when she simply turned and continued on. Trudging after his grandmother, he started looking around at where he was. They were somewhere in the Wichita Mountains, not quite at the top of Mount Scott but they were high enough that he could see a herd of buffalo grazing in the grasslands below them. He stopped focusing on putting one foot in front of the other and started looking around. He wasn't sure how much time had passed before his grandmother stopped and turned to him.
"You're ready."
Wyatt tore his eyes away from the sun dropping behind the sky and looked at his grandmother. "Ok…what now?"
His grandmother shrugged and moved to sit on a rocky outcrop nearby. Wyatt had no idea what he was supposed to do. This is why he spent so much of his life frustrated. But, if this is what to took to get the hell out of Oklahoma, this is what he would do. Plopping on the ground, he leaned against a rock, content to watch the sun paint the sky in pinks and oranges. As the sun dipped lower and lower, the wispy clouds became like dark lines against the sky. If he didn't know better, he would have said the clouds were forming almost pictographs like the ones from the old texts. He had always enjoyed looking up at the clouds and picking out shapes and pictures. Right now he was looking at a series of thin strips of clouds that almost looked like five figures holding hands. He knew enough of his tribe's lore that he knew the symbols his mind was creating out of clouds meant brothers. He chuckled to himself…if only. If he had a brother he could pass this whole 'lead the tribe' one day thing off to him. As it was…he was it. He watched the clouds drift across the sky until one of the figures drifted in front of one of the orange areas the suns rays had produced. It almost looked like the figure was on fire. Then, like that, the sun dipped fully beyond the horizon and the brilliant colors were replaced with bluish grey.
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Wyatt looked down at the paper the registrar had given him and checked the number before pushing open the door. He knew he'd have a roommate but it still surprised him when he saw a tall boy stretched out on one of the beds. Dropping his bag by the door he half waved at the boy standing up. "Hi, I'm Wyatt. Apparently I'm your roommate."
The boy crossed the room. "Johnny Storm. Nice to meet you."
A/N: Wyatt's actual moment comes in Johnny's one-shot. I wanted to keep them on chronological order which meant Wyatt's had to get broken up. Next up…Bobby!