Chapter 5: The Call Home
A/N: For those of you who have expressed concern, I WILL be finishing this story. It's a need to finish telling it. It's just going to take time, so bear with me. I am a deliberate writer and refuse to let a page go until I deem it perfect. Life also doesn't allow me to write every day, or even every week sometimes.
Every light in the house was on. Even though he had just gotten off shift and it was 9 o'clock in the morning, Johnny had put on all the lights out of sheer nervousness. He usually preferred just natural light coming in from open windows, especially in the morning, but this morning all the electric light seemed reassuring.
He was seated at his desk in the den. It was a small desk, three drawers on the left side and one above the leg space, all wood. A Danish modern piece he found at a discount furniture store. The chair, however, was a splurge. A leather and steel Eames "management" chair. Very comfortable. It swiveled and was on wheels, which meant he didn't have to sit still in it. But right now Johnny was sitting very still. Except for the fingers of his right hand. Those were drumming furiously on the Formica desktop.
Picking up the receiver, Johnny took a deep breath and dialed a number he would never forget. As the phone rang he blew out the breath and swiveled to face the picture window that looked out on the street. He propped his feet up on the window sill and hoped someone would pick up soon.
"Hello?"
Johnny started at the sound of the voice suddenly coming into his ear. "Hi. Jimmy?"
"Johnny? Hey, misúŋ! How are ya, kid? Everything OK over there in La La Land?"
"Yeah, čhiyé," Johnny laughed, "everything's fine. I was just missing you guys."
"Missing us? Last I knew you were hard put to remember us." Johnny could almost hear his older brother's right eyebrow raise up.
"Yeah, well, I got to thinkin'…"
"Oh, that's dangerous."
"Ha ha. Seriously. I've been wondering… lately… if it's… well, if all's OK for me to come back home for a visit."
Silence. Then Johnny heard a sigh, "I think you'll have to talk to mom about that."
"You're no judge?"
"I'm no judge," Jimmy agreed. "Mom's the best one to give you the temperature of things around here."
Johnny thought about that for a moment. "Yeah, I guess she would be. She around anywhere?" Johnny asked hopefully.
"Ahhh…," Jimmy hemmed. Johnny figured he must be looking around to see if their mother was in sight. "Hang on just a sec."
Johnny heard a thunk that sounded like the receiver being put down on a kitchen counter. Then he heard what sounded like the squeaky hinge of a screen door opening, followed by the banging of a screen door closing on its own.
While he waited, Johnny looked out his window to the street outside. His neighbor across the street had just turned his lawn sprinklers on. He shook his head in dismay. Hadn't he been listening to the news? They've been talking about the probability of a severe drought this summer since there had been hardly any snow in the mountains this past winter. Sprinklers waste water. And if there's anything a firefighter gets worried about, it's a shortage of water. You develop a healthy respect of how precious water is, and how devastating it can be when you don't have it.
After a few minutes, Johnny pulled a pen from a cup on his desk and began to use it as a drumstick on the desktop. It was another five minutes before he heard the sound of his mother's voice over the phone.
"Johnny? Is that really you?"
"Yeah, ma. It's really me," he replied, dropping the pen to the desk.
"I almost didn't believe Jimmy when he said you were on the phone. To what do we owe this rare pleasure?"
Johnny was surprised that his older brother hadn't said anything to his mom. "I...,"he hesitated, almost afraid to speak the word. "I got homesick." Again, he paused. He actually felt kind of stupid for asking this, but he had to, "Are things OK for me to come back for a visit?"
"Oh, Johnny," his mother said with a tenderness that Johnny could almost feel caressing his cheek. "It's never going to be completely alright for you here, but things are changing. Attitudes…people. It's slow, but it's getting better."
"Yeah, but…is it safe?"
"It's safer than when you were little. And you're an adult now. I don't think anyone would try any…well, Barbara is very outspoken against those sorts of things."
Johnny chuckled, "If I remember correctly, my tȟaŋkší is very outspoken about everything." He chuffed under his breath and said, "I think I've learned to be more like her while I've been here in L.A."
"Good. So when are you coming home?"
A smile lit Johnny's face at his mother's forthrightness. "Well, I've got a vacation already scheduled for the end of April. Ah…let me see…" He swiveled back around to his desk so he could look at his appointment book. Cradling the phone receiver between his shoulder and ear, he opened the little, brown leatherette notebook he picked up from his bank and flipped through the weekly calendar pages until he started seeing days marked off with the word "VACATION" in their box. "Here ya go. April 21st to May 8th. I was planning to drive up to Washington to go camping on Mt. Rainier, but I can do that some other time."
"Oh, honey, if you already have plans you don't need to change them."
"No, it's OK. I haven't booked anything. Otherwise, I don't have any more vacation time until next year. I'd rather come see you. The mountain can wait."
"So long as you're sure. You know we all want to see you. It's been so long."
"Yeah," Johnny breathed quietly, feeling guilty. "Yeah, I'm sure. Look, if I book a flight out to Natrona County Airport I'll have more time with you than if I drive across." He heard his mother laugh at the idea of 'her adventurist son' driving all the way to South Dakota. "Well, there's no direct flight, but I'll get there."
"Let us know when you're getting in. Your father and brother will meet you to drive you back."
"That's a five or six hour drive," Johnny began to protest. His parent's ranch was busy. He didn't want to take them away for what would amount to a 12 hour trip.
His mother cut him off, reassuring, "That they'll be thrilled to do to get you home."
"Alright, ma. Just don't let the whole clan come out. I don't want to be a parade." He had an image in his head of his parents and kid sister, his older brother and sister, and their families all convoying up I-90 for him. "I'll call before I leave, when I get the flight number."
"Call between now and then, too, OK? I know your dad would love to talk to you before you get here. I wish he could now, but he's out at the Triple B with a stud."
He chuckled at the memory of going out with his dad to the Logan's farm to watch Blackie, the stud they had when he was 12, have sex with three of their mares. Talk about your instant education. "Well, tell him I wished him good luck. I'll call you in a couple 'a weeks."
"Alright. I love you, Johnny. Take care."
"You, too, ma. I love you. Bye."
Johnny hung up the phone. He sat back and looked at it for a few minutes. A smile came over his face as he thought about how good it was to talk to his mother and how much he really was looking forward to seeing his family again. Then he felt his stomach begin to grumble.
He swiveled away from his desk and got up, finally being able to consider eating breakfast. As he walked out of his den, he turned out the light.
TBC
I do not speak Lakota, nor do I know anyone who does. All Lakota words that I use are looked up and cross checked with several Lakota language websites. I apologize to any Lakota speaker if I get anything wrong. Please correct me if I do.
misúŋ - younger brother (male and female speaker)
čhiyé - older brother (male speaker)
tȟaŋkší - younger sister (male speaker)