Tonight we were at the bonfire just enjoying the fire and being around the guests. Amy and I were standing side by side concentrating on the bonfire when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It startled me. And the karate training kicked in, I spun around, and took a defensive stand. And I’m glad that I caught myself before I did anything else. I was looking at a very startled Mrs. Fairbrother.

We stood there looking at each other. Then Mrs. Fairbrother stammered, “Kai. … I’m … I’m sorry, honey. I … I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Mrs. Fairbrother.”, I said. “I’m sorry I reacted that way. But, I’ve been attacked a couple of times. And, my full attention was on the bonfire, and you startle me.”

“I’ve never seen anyone react so quickly.”

“I’m sorry too. I can usually sense when someone is around me. And Ajie and I have taken karate. And it was that training kicking in. Are you okay?”

“Yes, Kai. I will be as soon as my heart slows down.”

My uncle, aunt, and Mr. Fairbrother walked up. And Uncle Paul asked, “Is everything all right?”

“Yes, Paul.”, Mrs. Fairbrother replied. “It is. I just startled Kai, and she reacted.”

“I didn’t sense her being here.”, I said. “And when she touched my shoulder, I reacted. And I quickly realized who it was before I did anything else.”

“Let’s start over.”, Mr. Fairbrother said. “Hello Kai and Ajie.”

“Yes, let's start over.”, I agreed. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Fairbrother. How are you?”

“We’re good. It’s nice to see you again.”

“We loved your article in the newsletter. And I learned some things from it.”

“Thanks, Kai. You added a lot to it.”

“I’m glad I could. We have a couple of professional papers with us that are on Nádleeh. If you’d like to see them?”

“Someone has written papers on this?”

“Yes. One was a friend who wrote a class paper, and it was good enough that it was presented at a seminar. And the other was a paper written by an academic type who researched the Nádleeh. He even came out here to do some of his research.”

“I’d love to see those.”, Mrs. Fairbrother said.

“Ajie.”, I asked. “Are they here or at the apartment?”

“I think that they are in Kai’s suitcase.”, Ajie replied.

“Apartment?”, Mrs. Fairbrother asked.

“I decided to do my masters work out here, so we have an apartment in Albuquerque.”

“What’s your degree in?”

“I just graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.”

“Very nice. From where?”

“Ohio State.”

“Oh. That school.”

“Better than that school up north.”, I said with a grin. Then I added, “Ajie, go on and tell them the rest.”

“No.”, Ajie said, “It’s not important.”

“Yes, it is. And if you won’t tell them, I will.”

“So tell ‘em.”

“Ajie is a little shy when it comes to something about her. But I’m proud of her. She graduated, Summa Cum Laude.”

“I’d be proud of her too. Congratulations! So what are you doing your masters in?”

“Thank you. I’m hoping to do a Clinical Nurse masters with an emphasis on the native people.”

“That’s very interesting.”, Mr. Fairbrother said. “So you want to help the people out here.”

“Yes. My people.”, Ajie replied.

“You’re people? I didn’t think that you were a native?”

“We found that I do have a little American Indian blood.”

“Really?”

“Yes, she was my fourth great-grandmother.”

“Do you know much about her?”

“Just a little. It’s possible that she was from the Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts. Her name was Weetamoo. And she married my grandfather, a sailor, and they moved to England.”

“You never told us this.”, Aunt Ruth said.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Ruth.”, Amy said. “We just had so much going on that we hadn’t gotten to it.”

“Well, now you have.”

“You two are full of all kinds of surprises.”, Mrs. Fairbrother said.

“Aunt Ruth.”, I asked. “Could we invite the Fairbrothers to the house so that they could read the two papers?”

“Honey.”, Aunt Ruth said. “You don’t have to ask. It’s your house too.”

The six of us walked to the house, and we allowed the Fairbrothers and my aunt and uncle to read the two papers. When Mrs. Fairbrother had finished with Larry’s paper, she asked, “Who’s this paper by Larry Thomas about?”

I raised my hand, and said, “Guilty.”

“I knew that Nádleeh (two spirit people) were complicated, but you are truly complicated.”

With a grin, Ajie said, “You should try living with her.”

“And this paper by Dr. Whitmeyer is excellent.”, Mr. Fairbrother said. “I notice that your name is on the title page. So you know him?”

“Yeah. It’s a long story.”

“We have time.”

So I filled the Fairbrothers in on my relationship with Dr. Whitmeyer. And when I finished, Mr. Fairbrother said, “You do stand up for what you believe in. Don’t you?”

“I guess I do.”, I replied. “Would you like copies of those two papers?”

“Yes. We would.”

“I’ll make copies, and we’ll send them to you.”

Then Ajie and I both yawned.

“Are we keeping you two up?”

“That’s all right. We’re trying to adjust to the time difference.”

We sat and talked until about eleven local times. That would be one in the morning back home. Well past our usual bedtime. I noticed that Ajie was having trouble keeping her eyes open. So I made our excuses, and we headed back to our room.

Tuesday when we woke up, it would have been late for back home, but here it was almost seven local time. I had a ten-thirty appointment with an advisor, so after we got dressed, I was back to being Tom and Amy was Amy, we grabbed a quick breakfast and headed for Albuquerque. We told my aunt that we might be back for dinner, but we’d call and let her know for sure.

In Albuquerque, we had time to swing by and check the apartment, and everything was good. We left the car there and walked over to the Graduate Studies office where I had an appointment with an advisor. Amy waited in the outer office while I met with him. When I finished with my advisor, we headed to the Student Union to see what kind of food they had for lunch.

As we ate I told Amy that the advisor was curious about my interest in integrated circuits. It appears that one of the researchers would be working on a research project starting this fall and was looking for a grad assistant and that I could work with him. And do my masters on integrated circuits if I wanted. I told him that I’d be interested in working on that project. Then we set up what classes that I’d need to take, and he got me registered to take three courses in the fall and to meet with the researcher when they were back on campus. I was happy.

When we finished lunch, we had an hour before Amy met with Dr. Etsitty at the College of Nursing. So we wandered around campus seeing what was where. This campus isn’t as large as our last one, but it was very nice with a lot of Southwestern architecture.

We were at the College of Nursing a few minutes before Amy’s appointment. We found that Dr. Etsitty had moved her office, and was now the assistant dean. We walked into the area where the dean’s offices were, and the woman asked, “Can I help you?”

“Yes.”, Amy replied. “I’m Amy Young, and I have an appointment with Dr. Etsitty.”

The woman checked her book, and said, “Yes. Have a seat, and I’ll let Dr. Etsitty know that you’re here.”

As the woman made a call, Amy and I sat. Then as the woman hung up the phone, she said, “Mrs. Young, Dr. Etsitty will be with you in a minute.”

“Thank you.”, Amy said.

We sat and waited. And it was only a minute or two until Dr. Etsitty walked out of her office. She hadn’t changed much since we last saw her, two years ago. She walked over to us, and we stood, she offered her hand to Amy as she said, “I’m very pleased to see you again Mrs. Young.”

“It’s nice to see you again too Dr. Etsitty.”, Amy replied. “And please make it Amy.”

“Amy it’ll be.” Then looking at me, Dr. Etsitty asked, “And who is this?”

“Sorry. This is my husband, Tom.”

As we shook hands, Dr. Etsitty said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Young.

I said, “Please make it Tom.”

We went back to Dr. Etsitty office. And she and Amy talked for a while about the master’s program and what they’d like her to teach. And who Amy would need to see at the hospital to work there.

Then Dr. Etsitty said, “Be sure when you receive your final transcript that the registrar’s office and my office receives a copy of it. And also that this office receives a copy of your Ohio nurse’s license when you receive that.”

“I’ll be sure that you get copies of both.”, Amy said.

“If I remember when you were here two years ago, you’d been on the Dean’s list on a regular basis, and even on the President’s Honor List. How were your final grades?”

“They were okay.”, Amy said.

“Dr. Etsitty.”, I said. “They were better than just okay.”

Looking at Amy, Dr. Etsitty asked, “How much better?”

Amy quietly said, “Summa Cum Laude.”

“Oh! I see. I would say a lot better than just okay. Congratulations young lady.”

“Thank you.”

“Have you taken the licensing test yet?”

“Yes.”

“How was it?”

“I felt that I did well.”

“How long ago did you take it.”

“Just two weeks ago.”

“It’ll be another month before you receive your results.”

“That’s what we figured.”

“When you do receive your results, and you’ll probably have your Ohio license with it, come and see me, and we’ll work on getting your New Mexico license. The New Mexico Board of Nursing is here in Albuquerque so it shouldn’t be a problem.

“And since Ohio isn’t part of the compact, they may want you to take the test here. Would that be a problem?”

“No.”, Amy replied. “I’ll do what I need to do.”

“Couldn't they tell by the score on the test how well you did?”, I asked.

“No. It’s a pass or fail test.”

“Oh.”

Looking at Dr. Etsitty, Amy said, “And, Dr. Etsitty, I’ll be in touch as soon as I have my test results.”

“Good. Now I have another question for you.”, Dr. Etsitty said.

“Sure.”, Amy replied.

“Do you remember me telling you that my husband was Navajo?”

“Yes.”

“Well, he receives a quarterly newsletter that's for the American Indian people. And I was looking through the latest one and saw a fascinating article on the two spirit people. And with that article was a very nice picture of two girls. I knew right away who those two girls were. One was you, Amy. And the other was your friend.”

I was thinking, ‘Just where is this going?’

And Amy said, “Yes, I’ve seen the article. And that friend was Kai.”

Dr. Etsitty continued with, “In that article, they said your name was Ajie Nez. And your friend Kai was Kai Nez.

“Why did they list your name as Ajie Nez?”

“That’s the name I was given when I became an honorary member of a Navajo clan.”

“They must have taken a real liking to you. They don’t do things like that easily for outsiders.”

“I know.”

“I talked with my husband about it because I was curious about the two spirit people. And you in particular.”

“I’m not a two spirit person.”

“But your friend Kai is.”

“Yes, she is.”

I finally asked, “Dr. Etsitty, where is this going?”

“Well, my husband, who teaches history here, was also curious.”, Dr. Etsitty said. “And knowing that you were out here two years ago, he talked to some people about two spirit people and Kai Nez in particular. And, he found that the two of you were also out here last year.

“One of the people he talked to was the chief of his clan. And he told him some interesting things. He told him … ”

“Excuse me, Dr. Etsitty.”, I said. “But what clan is your husband a member of?”

“The Big Medicine People clan. Why?”

Amy and I looked at each other. Then Amy said, “That’s our clan.”

“Oh. That’s very interesting.”

And I thought, ‘More than you know.’

“What did the chief tell him?”, I asked.

“Well, he told him some interesting things about Kai Nez. I guess that she’s actually a boy and his name is Tom.”, Dr. Etsitty replied. Then looking at me, she asked, “Is that you?”

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

“No. It’s just interesting learning something more about the Navajo people and you. And I now know what a two spirit person is.”

“What else did Chief Peshlakai tell your husband about us?”

“Oh, you know him?”

“Unfortunately yes.”

“What he told my husband about the two of you was very nice.”

“And that was?”

“That you helped him put together the Chief Nastas Todachine Memorial Scholarship.”

I almost slammed my fist down on Dr. Etsitty desk but thought better of it. But I did almost yell, “That’s the last straw! I’ve had it with him!”

“Mr. Young!”, Dr. Etsitty said. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m sorry Dr. Etsitty. But Chief Peshlakai has been a real thorn in our side. And I’ve just had it with him.”

“Why? What’s he done?”

“He is taking credit for something that someone else did. And he’s doing it for his gain.”

“Can I ask what?”

“If what we’re going to tell you, in any way hurts Amy, her scholarship, or her master’s degree work here we’ll just go back to Ohio, and she can do it there.”

“It’s that bad?”, Dr. Etsitty asked.

“It depends on your feeling towards Chief Peshlakai.”

“I’ve never met him.”

“Not many people know this, and we’d appreciate it if this goes no further.”

“It won’t. If you don’t want it to.”

“Not even your husband is to know.”

“Okay.”

“To put it simply, Chief Peshlakai has absolutely nothing to do with the Chief Nastas Todachine Memorial Scholarship. Amy and I started it and provided the initial funding. We really liked Chief Todachine, and when he passed, we had to do something to honor him. So we set up the scholarship. …”

And I went on to tell Dr. Etsitty the whole story of the scholarship and Chief Peshlakai.

When I finished, she just sat there and looked at us. Then Dr. Etsitty looked at Amy, and said, “Amy, don’t worry about anything here. We’re happy to have you.

“And what Tom has just told me is unbelievable. And what you two have done, especially for the girl that wants to be a doctor, is amazing for two people so young. I’m impressed.”

“But it’s a very interesting problem that you have. I hope that you can solve it.”

“We will.”, Amy replied. “But I’m afraid that we’re going to have to put all of our cards on the table. We didn't want the publicity, but we may get it.”

“Tom, I would like to talk to you some more about the two spirit people. But I have a meeting that I'm late for now. Could we meet sometime and talk?”

“Of course Dr. Etsitty. I’d be happy to.”, I replied. “And I have copies of two research paper that you might like to read.”

“I would like to read them. And, Amy, be sure and come back when you receive your test results and we’ll talk some more then.”

“I will, Dr. Etsitty.”, Amy replied.

As we walked out of the building, Amy asked, “You appeared to be all right when Dr. Etsitty told us that she knew about Kai.”

“I felt good about it. I think that she’s a very nice person.”

“So she may be all right with all of it?”

“I think so.”

"How did you feel about telling her about the scholarship?"

"I think she’ll keep her promise of not telling anyone.”

"I think you’re right. What are we going to do about Peshlakai?”

“I’m not sure yet.”, I replied. “But we have some things we could do.”

“Like?”, Amy asked.

“Dibe’s father really wants to write an article about this for the Navajo Times. Then there’s Chief Todachine. And then there’s grandma.”

“Grandma?”

“She’s still a member of the Council, and she did say that the women of the clan are strong.”

“I think we should talk to some people. Maybe have a meeting like we did when we set up the scholarship.”

“Like with who?”

“Grandma, your aunt and uncle, Naainish, Chief Kinlicheeny, and maybe even Dibe’s father.”

“I like your thinking.”

Earlier Amy and I had talked about stopping at the department store we’d found in Albuquerque and maybe pick up some things that we needed. So, stop we did. Amy found some curtains that she liked, so we bought what we needed for the downstairs windows. We took those with us. Amy also saw something that she thought we could use to turn the rug that Aunt Ruth gave me into a wall hanging. Next, we looked at pots, pans, silver wear, and cooking utensils.

Then it was television sets. They had a couple of color sets, but I wasn’t impressed. Plus we didn’t watch that much television. So, we purchased a black and white television and a stand to put it on. Then we looked at kitchen tables and chairs, and we found a round one that we liked with four matching chairs. They would be delivering everything that we didn’t take with us tomorrow afternoon.

As we left the department store, we stopped at a pay phone, called my aunt, and told her that we’d be back at the resort in two hours.

And about two hours later we were parking at my aunt and uncle's house. I was chomping at the bit to talk to my aunt and uncle about what Chief Peshlakai was doing, but as we walked in the house, the Fairbrothers were there. And my aunt said, “Hi kids. How did things go today?”

“Good.”, Amy replied. “Everything is settled at the university. We bought curtains, a kitchen table and chairs, and a television.”

“Did you get color?”, Mr. Fairbrother asked,

“No.”, I replied. “I wasn’t impressed, and we don’t watch much TV.”

“Kids.”, my aunt said. “Since it’s your last night with us, maybe, we’re treating you to dinner at the restaurant.”

“Aunt Ruth.”, I said. “No. You’ve already done enough for us, besides your cooking is better.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere. Go get cleaned up.”

With a big grin, I said, “Yes mother.”

Aunt Ruth acted like she was going to chase me, so Amy and I ran down the hall to our room. We got cleaned up and changed. When we walked back into the living room, it was as Kai and Ajie. Long skirts, fancy blouse, a little jewelry, and our hair styled into a nice style. No moccasins, we were going to watch the sunset, so it was sneakers.

We had a nice dinner with my aunt and uncle, and the Fairbrothers, then the six of us hiked up the cliff trail and watched a beautiful sunset. While we were there, we had some nice talks with some of the other guests.

On the way back down the trail, Mrs. Fairbrother said, “Kai, it’s amazing how well you interact with others, and they accept you as a girl.”

Ajie smiled and said, “Well isn’t she a girl?”

“Yes, I guess she is.”

“My spirit is a girl’s spirit right now.”, I said. “And when I’m here in New Mexico, she wants to be here, and she wants to be Kai. I’m worried that there’s going to be some conflict while we're here.”

“Conflict?”

“With what I’m doing at the university for my masters I should probably be Tom. But Kai is going to want to be here.”

“Why do you need to be Tom?”

“The university knows me as Tom. I’m in the engineering program. And I don’t know who the researcher is that I’ll be working with.”

“Well, maybe Kai will see the problem and help you.”

“I’m hoping that she will.”

When we were at the bonfire, it was blazing. We walked around and talked with more guests. Then I saw Naainish. Then he saw us and walked over. I said, “Yá'át'ééh, Naainish. Nizhonigó íiná aadóó hozhónahasdlíí. (Hello, Naainish. It is good, and all is harmony around us.)

Naainish said, “Yá'át'ééh, everyone.” Then he looked at me, and in Navajo said, “Kai, I sense trouble. Is everything good?”

“Naainish, it is not good.”, I replied in Navajo.

Then I looked at the Fairbrothers and said, “Would you please excuse us. There is something that Ajie and I need to talk to Naainish and my aunt and uncle about.”