Not Your Ordinary Alien Story

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

It's Tuesday. 

Friday is the Autumnal Equinox. Today is my last day of working at the market. George has given me the rest of the week off because I'm supposedly leaving for San Francisco this weekend. As the day drags on, all I can think about is what will happen when I activate the beacon. That, and I'm still trying to figure out how I will get GranAna out of the area for a few days.

The next morning, Wednesday, Rocky calls me. "Ch'aa bay-yu," he says. He's always called me Ch'aa bay-yu. It's the Tolowa word for flower. "I've been thinking of you. Why don't you come and visit me?"

I do want to see Rocky one last time. I want to say goodbye. "How about today?" I ask.

"Today is good."

Sadness creeps over me as I drive to the tribal land of the Rancheria. Not only because this will be the last time I see Rocky, but also because I'm thinking about Blue. We always used to visit Rocky together.

Rocky opens the front door before I have a chance to knock. "Daa-naa~-yash," he says as he steps aside and gestures for me to come inside. I only know a few words of the Tolowa language. Daa-naa~-yash is one of them. Rocky says it to me every time I visit. It means welcome.

I walk into the living room where a big square window faces west. In the distance, the blue stripe of ocean stretches across the horizon. Rocky has native American flute music playing on the sound system. Almost covering an entire wall is a painting is of the Tolowa people a long time ago near the ocean at the mouth of the Smith River. The people are on the beach, barefoot, wearing shell bead necklaces and deerskin skirts decorated with fringes, bits of obsidian, and abalone shell.

On the mantel over the fireplace, there are photos of Blue's grandmother, a beautiful dark-haired woman who died years ago. She has the traditional Tolowa three vertical stripes tattooed on her chin. I catch Rocky staring at the photos of her.

"Do you miss her?" I ask.

"Everyday." He gives me a sad sweet smile, the wrinkles crinkling around his eyes. "We had a wonderful life together. You know, being in love feels like the most beautiful feeling there is. But being able to fulfill the conditions of love, forgive and forget, understanding and supporting each other, respect, compromise, and most of all being patient with each other's short comings... now that, that is even more beautiful." He pauses and looks me in the eye. "What is happening with you and Blue?"

"Nothing."

"I think it is something. I know because I know you. And I know Blue. And you both have been looking like you're feeling miserable lately. You visit me separately when you should be together."

"Yeah, well..." I let out a sigh.

We sit in the two cushioned chairs facing the window and look out, the long strip of ocean sparkling in the distance. Rocky stares at me with that calm gentle look he gets. "You are different, my Ch'aabay-yu," he tells me.

"I know I am."

"You always have been." He leans back in his chair and folds his arms.

"I know." I stare back out the window. I don't say anything because a lump has formed in my throat and my eyes sting like they're about to tear up. I take a deep breath and wait until the lump disappears from my throat. Then I turn to him. "Rocky, do you remember that day on the beach when you told me the Tolowa legend about the Sky People?"

"Yes."

"And I asked you if you thought the legend was true and you said yes, you are certain it's true?"