Morningstar: Chapter 9: The Earthling

 

Chapter 9: The Earthling

 

          The next week went really well, and pretty fast.  Bekah and her group were doing a good job of getting some kids to act like I was toxic; but no big deal.  Amanda, Beth, D’Lisa, and some of their friends were great.  Tom seemed to be hitting on Amanda about every chance he could get.  Amanda was nice about it; but didn’t act too interested.  I was on top of my classes and getting A’s in everything and had started helping Amanda with a couple of hers.  I hadn’t forgotten about the investigation.  It just didn’t seem so important.  I was actually, kind-of enjoying life.

          Friday after school came pretty quick and my parents had promised to keep T.J. out of the den and let me buy lots of sleep-over food.  The kind of stuff you regret eating the next day.  Dad picked me up and took me to the video store to get the movie.  Mom wasn’t home yet so we had to take T.J.  The movie was only on VHS, but that was ok.  The lady at the store said she had seen it twenty or thirty years ago.  She said it was ok, thought it made her cry and she recommended tissues.  I wasn’t the crying type, but someone else might be, so I planned to grab some tissues when we got home and put them in the den.  Mom was home when we got back and the two of us got all the snacks and drinks ready.  I knew Beth would bring something and probably Amanda, maybe D’Lisa too.  We’d have enough to make us sick.  The carpet was being replaced anyway, so we could just spread everything out on the floor without worrying about spills.  I was looking forward to a great night, with good friends.  Some school dance was going on that same night.  This was going to be our anti-dance party.

          “Thanks Mom,” I gave my mom a little hug while she was helping me.

          A little surprised, she answered, “you’re welcome.  I like to do things like this with you. I’m glad you’re having friends over.  It will be nice to finally meet everyone. … Don’t worry, I’ll get out of your hair as soon as we’ve all met.”

          That prompted another, “Thanks mom,” and an even bigger hug from me.

          While mom and I worked together.  Dad and T.J. were taking all the paint stuff out of the living room.  There was still tons to do in the house, but the living room was painted and all the plastic, brushes, and empty paint cans, were being taken to the shed.  Dad had spent some late nights getting it done by tonight.  I hadn’t really thought about it; but all the sudden realized how much he had sacrificed for me this week just to get it finished.  It wasn’t just painting, there were tons of holes in the wall that had to be fixed.  I had no idea how much time he spent; but it looked really nice except for the old carpet.  All the sudden I had another unexpected urge and ran over and gave my dad a big hug.  “Thanks dad.”

          “You’re welcome Anna,” he responded as he hugged me and kissed my forehead.

          I even turned to T.J. and said; “thanks T.J. and gave him a hug.”

          “Welcome,” stuttered T.J. in astonishment.

          Mom and I got everything set up in the den and some good music going.  I already had my room ready.  Everything was set.  Soon after, I heard the first knock at the door.  It was Beth with a big container of something I was sure either she or her mom made.  She was alone but with the motion detector flood light on, I could see the van outside, and another car.

          “What’s going on?” I asked as I nodded my head towards the street.

          “Oh, we got here the same time Amanda and D’Lisa did.  Jason drove me and now he’s meeting Amanda’s mom.  Amanda and D’Lisa will be right in… I think.  Well, at least D‘Lisa will.  If Jason and Amanda really get talking, D‘Lisa will just come in on her own.  She’s not shy ya know.”  Beth said with a grin.

          “Yeah, I know,” I kind of laughed as I was thinking about D’Lisa.

          After a few more minutes there was a knock on the door.  It was D’Lisa… by herself.  She immediately grabbed me and gave me a big hug and said in a cheery voice; “Hi Anna.” 

          I’m not really a huggy person, which was one of the reasons mom, dad, and T.J., were so surprised.  I just kind of patted D’Lisa on the back and replied; “Hi D’Lisa.”

          D’Lisa then went for Beth and grabbed her.  Beth was a better hugger than me and she returned a nice big hug to D’Lisa.

          “Hi D’Lisa!”

          “Hi Beth!”

          D’Lisa then let go of Beth and headed right for my dad.  I thought ‘oh no, she’s going to hug my dad too;’ but, she didn’t. 

          She held out her hand and enthusiastically said; “Hi Mr. Turner, I’m D’Lisa.”

          “Nice to meet you D’Lisa,” my dad responded happily as they shook hands.

          My mom then walked in the room and D’Lisa did the same thing with my mom, followed by Beth, who also introduced herself to both my parents, but in a more reserved, conventional fashion. 

          My mom then said; “have fun girls,” and both my parents left the living room.  My dad came right back and introduced T.J. to D’Lisa and Beth and then, they both left for the night.

          “Maybe you’d better go chase your brother away so we can get started,” said D’Lisa rather matter-of-factly to Beth.

          “I think I will!” she replied laughing, as she walked back to the door, opened it and yelled, “Jason, don’t you have something to do at home?”

          Looking through the window, I could see Amanda’s mom had already driven away.  Jason was leaning against the back of the van with his arms crossed, looking down at Amanda.  She was just a few inches away, looking up at him.  I couldn’t see her face, but even in the dim light I could see Jason wearing that grin of his.  As soon as he heard Beth, he looked up, and then at his watch.  From where I was, it looked like he then grabbed Amanda’s hand for a couple of seconds and they both turned around, Amanda towards the house and Jason towards the other side of the van.  Beth held the door open, as Amanda entered and walked right over to D’Lisa.

          “Was that YOUR idea miss D’Lisa?” Amanda asked with her hands on her hips.  She was trying, but not doing a very good job of looking mad.

          D’Lisa then assumed the same pose and matter-of-factly said; “yes, it was, miss Amanda!  It’s about time you got in here.”  Then D’’Lisa just grabbed Amanda, gave her a hug and said, let’s get this party going.

          “OK, let me show you where everything is.  Follow me. …  First the bathroom.”  I started to walk into the kitchen and pointed to a room off the kitchen.  “This is a strange house and that’s where the bathroom is.”  I then led them back into the living room and then into the den.  “This is where the party will be and we’ll sleep on my bed and the couch.”  I pointed towards the open door to my room.  “Most of the food is already out, I’ll get the drinks.  Amanda, do you want to help me?”       

          “Sure,” replied Amanda as we both walked out of the den towards the kitchen. 

          I then grabbed her arm and whispered; “are you and Jason dating?”

          “Not really.  He’s not allowed to date anyone under 16 and I’m not allowed to date till I’m 16.  Our first official date is already planned and will be on my birthday, September 2^nd.  It’ll still be kind of a group date because my dad’s not going to let me have a birthday without him.  Probably won’t till I’m 40 or 50.  That’s ok, I’m a patient woman,” she beamed as she responded.

          “That’s crazy, not till you’re 16?”

          “No, I don’t mind, like I said, I’m patient.   Watching my parents and other people I knew, I decided a long time ago that relationships are a lot like making jello, if you rush too much, they can dissolve pretty easy.  Besides the best things, really, are worth waiting for.  My parents, especially my mom, rushed things.  I want things to be different for me.”

          We grabbed a bunch of cans of soda and some bottles of juice and headed back to the den where D’Lisa and Beth were already deep in conversation about something.  It looked like Amanda had brought a couple big bags of candy and D’Lisa a couple bags of chips.  ‘We’ll be sick tomorrow, but who cares,’ I thought to myself.

          “Let’s start with the movie first.  If it’s really horrible we can stop it early.”

“If it’s good, then maybe it’ll give us something else to talk about,” responded Beth.

          “Ok, the lady at the video store said we might need tissue, and there they are.” I pointed to a box of tissue on the floor, then grabbed the remote and sat on the floor in the middle of my friends.

          We could tell the movie was pretty old, some parts were kind of lame; but it was ok.  We all wondered and talked a little about why Charlie would want me to watch it.  The old lady was kind of funny.  When the kid’s parents died, Amanda grabbed the tissue.  We talked a little about how mean the old man was.  Beth thought it was the only way the old man could help the kid survive.  She pointed out that he had already let the horse go and there wasn’t enough time to take the kid back to town.  I wasn’t buying it and I didn’t think D’Lisa was either. 

Basically, the movie was about an old man who went back to where he grew up to die.  He had cancer and didn’t have long to live.  While he was traveling to his boyhood home out in the middle of nowhere, he witnessed the accidental death of the parents of a young boy now orphaned, helpless, and alone.  He didn’t think he could do much to help the boy at first but they both ended up learning something from each other, and the boy at least had a chance to survive, and even make it out of the outback alive, or that’s the impression the movie left with us.

          When the old man died, I could see the tears flowing from both Amanda and Beth and just a little from D’Lisa.  Maybe I’m a little more jaded.  I still thought the old man was pretty mean; but I did kind of feel bad for the boy who had to make it back to civilization, alone.  I guess I related more to the boy, I’d felt alone a lot in my life, even though I had lots of kids who had wanted to be my friends back in California, there wasn’t anyone I really felt close to, no one that I could really trust.  I then remembered how I felt when my parent’s business went bad.  I blamed them and didn’t think I could even trust them for a while, but that was all me.  They were just doing what they could and had to do.  I still didn’t totally understand, but I think they did the best they could, and unfortunately without much support from me.  I wondered if they ever felt alone.

          After the tears stopped, D’Lisa asked; “could any of you eat stuff like that?”

          “I’ve eaten a lot of stuff like that,” said Beth.  “My mom and dad both took a survival course in college.  That’s where they met.  Whenever we go camping my mom and dad look on the internet for something edible that they might find wherever we’re going then we try it if they can find it.  I’ve eaten all kinds of strange things.  Didn’t always like it; but I’ve tried it.  Jason loves Man vs. Wild and watches it all the time.  He wants to be special forces.”

          “I’ve eaten lots of different things too,” said Amanda.  “When we lived with my grandma, we ate a lot of traditional Shoshone food.  Pine nuts, biscuit root, … sort of tastes like potatoes, rice grass, rose hips, I love antelope.  Roots and eel, and lots of different kinds of fish and lots of berries.  My dad said they used to get tons of berries every year, but the federal government blocked a lot of the old roads and it’s hard to get to a lot of the best berry patches any more.  I think I liked most of the food we ate at my grandma’s; but we don‘t eat it any more.  My mom didn’t really like it, so we never eat it except once in a while at relatives.”

          I was really surprised and said; “I think I’d die before I’d eat a bug and there’s no way I’d catch fish with my hands.”

          “Gross! Me too!” Said D’Lisa, “There’s no way anybody could get me to eat any of that stuff.  I don’t even think I’d eat rabbit!”

          We talked a little more about survival and then the conversation somehow changed to death.  Amanda, Beth and D’Lisa all believe in life after death and thought they’d be with people they loved again.  Me, I’m not so sure. 

          ~

          Beth, speaking quietly continued, “my mom’s parents, grandma and grandpa Flanagan, live in Reno.  We see them three or four times a year.  We’re close, but not near as close as I am to my dad’s parents.  Some summers we practically lived with grandma and grandpa Teeples.  I was really sad when my grandma Teeples died.  When all the family got together for the funeral, it just felt good to be connected to everyone.  It’s kind of weird; but I think I felt closer to my family, even my grandma, after she died.  I think the hardest part was seeing how lonely my grandpa was.”

          After a pause, I interjected; “it wasn’t like that for me.  My grandmother was the only grandparent I ever really knew.  I had a grandfather who was still alive when I was born, but I don’t remember him.  My grandmother was incredible.  We used to cook together, have teas, and just lots of fun.  I knew she loved me; but, when she died, all I felt was lost and alone.  Life seemed totally out of control.  I think I decided I had to control other people to make up for the loss of control I felt.”  I paused and thought for a few seconds then said; “Wow! I can’t believe I just said that.  I don’t even know if I’d ever even thought it before tonight. … Ya know, I don’t think I’ve ever felt safe enough to talk to anyone about stuff like this since my grandmother died.”

          No one said anything for a while.  Beth and Amanda were each sitting on one side of me and put an arm around me, giving me a big hug.  D’Lisa reached over and gave my hand a squeeze.  I felt especially close to Amanda; but for some reason, even close to Beth, at least close enough to feel safe and trust her.  I was good with D’Lisa too; but didn’t really know her all that well yet.

          We didn’t play any games that night and didn’t get much sleep, just talked about things.  All kinds of things.  After a while the conversation lightened up and we were all laughing a lot and crying a little.  It was just nice.  Really nice.  I was happy.  REALLY happy. 

          ~

          Both Charlie and Tye were in my dreams that night.  Charlie was in the den, he was younger, but still had his prosthetic leg.  He looked miserably sad, and just said; ‘I’m sorry you have to go through this.’  It really disturbed me.  I then saw the 17-year-old Tye at the doorway of my bedroom.  It was the first time he had been there.  I could see him clearly except for his face, which was somehow darkened in a shadow.  It was easy to see his beautifully clear skin and toned physique; but unsettling that I was still unable to clearly see his face.  It was the first time I registered, or maybe just the first time I remembered his soft baritone voice.  As he spoke this time, there was almost a teasing quality to his speech.

          ‘Why are you in my room?’ I asked.  ‘I’m not supposed to have boys in here.’  He chuckled and responded, ‘Technically I’m not in your room.  I’ll leave; but we’re not alone, your friends are here with us.  Besides.  This was my room.’