Wednesday was THE day. The day that I’d been “invited” to attend a Board of Regent’s meeting at the University. I was surprised at the support that was there for me, and it included some of the chiefs of local tribes, including Chief Kinlicheeny, chief of the Navajo Nation. Also, the President of the University showed up, along with other members of the faculty.

The meeting which was intended to be my inquisition ended up being the inquisition for the Chairman of the Board of Regents.

As the meeting broke up, I walked down off the stage and started towards the door. Amy caught up with me, kissed me on the cheek, and said, “You were wonderful.”

“I would have been nothing without all the support.”, I said. “And especially your support.” Then I softly whispered, “Ayóó anííníshní.”

Amy smiled, and whispered, “Ayóó anííníshní aldó’.” - (I love you too.)

This whole thing had tired me out, and I just wanted to go back to the apartment. But, that didn’t happen. People kept coming up and talking to me.

I did make a special point of saying hello to Mr. Yazzie. Then I was found by Tribal Governor Cochiti of the Taos Pueblo and Quah Ah, the medicine woman. She was very interesting to talk to, and I wanted to talk with her some more. But other people wanted to talk. So, I told Quah Ah that we’d try to make it up to the Pueblo as soon as we could.

When Mr. Bylilly found us, he asked, “Kai, you are really something else. It amazes me that it doesn’t matter who it is, you say your peace. And, I know that you want to keep this quiet. Don’t you?”

“Mr. Bylilly.”, I said. “The quieter that we keep this, the better. But, just in case it comes back to haunt me, don’t lose your notes.”

Mr. Bylilly smiled, and said, “I understand, Kai.”

Then just as Amy and I were trying to get out of there, Mrs. Harman found us, and said, “Kai, you were amazing up there confronting the Board. And I think that they were dumbstruck by what you did. I think that we picked the right person to confront them. You.”

“All I can say is, I’m happy that this is over.”, I replied.

Then she showed us the letter that had started all of this. Amy and I read it together. Then I reread it, and said, “I’ve seen this handwriting before. But, where?

“Can I borrow this?”

“Sorry, Kai.”, Mrs. Harman said. “But, as an officer of the court, I need to keep this. But, I could come over, and you could look at it closer.”

“That sounds good. When could you could you do that?”

“Any time.”

“How about now.”

“Why so quick?”

“I have some handwriting I want to compare it to, and I won’t have it after tomorrow.”

I saw Amy give me a questioning look.

“Okay.”, Mrs. Harman said. “I guess I’ll follow you back to your apartment.”

“We walked.”

“Then why don’t you ride with me.”

“Okay. Let’s see if Amy and I can get out of here.”

I looked around, and there were still some people here. I noticed that Chief Kinlicheeny was here, and he and Dr. Lingham were talking. I saw the Chief look at me, say something to Dr. Lingham, and then walk towards us. I whispered to Amy, “Now what?”

She just shook her head.

As the Chief walked up to us, he said, “Kai, I’m glad I caught you before you left.”

“We were just leaving, Chief.”, I replied.

“Kai, your grandmother's place on the Council is still open. Would … “

“Chief, like I said earlier, no. I’m just too busy to take on that responsibility right now. Did you ask my Aunt Ginny?”

“Yes. And she also said no.”

“Sorry, Chief.”

“Let me ask you this. Would you be willing, as you do for Chief Etsitty, to be an advisor to me?”

“Maybe. I wouldn’t do it if it conflicted with what I’m doing with Chief Etsitty.”

“I don’t think it will.”

“Let me talk to him about it before I decide.”

“Fair enough, Kai.”

“Chief, thank you for coming. And thank all the others for me.”

“Kai, it was a pleasure to help you. And I know the others feel the same way.”

“Hágoónee', Naat'áanii Kinlicheeny.” - (So long, Chief Kinlicheeny.)

“Hágoónee', Kai dóó Ajie.”

Then I turned to Mrs. Harman, and said, “Let’s get out of here before I get trapped again.”

Well, we didn’t make it. Chief Tom and his wife walked up, and Chief Tom said, “Kai, you were amazing the way you took control of the meeting.”

“Thanks, Chief Tom.”, I said.

“What did Chief Kinlicheeny want?”

“He still wants me to fill my grandmother's place on the Council.”

“And, you told him no again. Didn’t you?”

“Yes. Then he asked me to be an advisor to him.”

“You didn’t say yes to that. Did you?”

“No.”, I said. “I told him that I’d have to talk to you first. I was worried about a conflict with what we have.”

“I’d rather see you take your grandmother’s place then be an advisor to him.”, Chief Tom said.

“So, I guess I’ll tell him no.”

“That would be best.”

“I agree.”, I said. “We’ve got to run. Hágoónee', Naat'áanii Etsitty dóó Vickie.” (So long, Chief Etsitty and Vickie.)

Then I looked at Vickie, and said, “Vickie, we’re going to have to find you a Navajo name.”

As we walked to Mrs. Harman’s car, she said, “Kai, you even talk to the chiefs with authority.”

“I learned a long time that you have to stand up for yourself no matter who it is.”, I replied. “I don’t let the person’s position influence me.”

Mrs. Harman was driving to the apartment, and Amy and I rode with her. When we were at the apartment, Amy and Mrs. Harman sat in the living room, and I went and retrieved what I wanted to compare the letter to.

When I came back into the living room, I asked Mrs. Harman for the letter, and she gave it to me, I walked over to the kitchen table and sat. I then started searching through the quizzes that I’d given earlier this week comparing the handwriting on the letter to the handwriting on the quizzes.

After a while, Amy and Mrs. Harman walked over and looked over my shoulder. Mrs. Harman asked, “Kai, what are those?”

“Quizzes that I gave this week.”, I replied.

“Do you think it’s one of your students?’, Amy asked.

“I’m not sure. But, I’ve seen this handwriting before. And it just might be one of my students. The only other handwriting I’ve seen is yours and Dr. Joe’s. And I’m sure it’s not Dr. Joe’s. The letter is too neat. His handwriting is terrible. But, it could be yours.”

“Brat.”

“Sorry.”

I continued comparing handwriting. I found three or four that could be a match, so I set those aside. When I finished going through all the quizzes, I went back and looked at the ones that I’d set aside taking a real close look at them. Then I said, “Take a look at this.”

I placed one of the quizzes on the letter, and let Amy and Mrs. Harman take a look.

They both took a close look, and Mrs. Harman was the first to say, “Kai, if they’re not a match, they’re very close.”

Amy took a close look, and said, “You’re right. But, I think they match. Some of the letters look to be identical.”

“Hello Mr. Uintillie.”, I said. “You and I need to have a talk.”

“Who's he?”, Amy asked.

“Remember the two Navajo boys that I had to talk to the first day of my Electric Circuits course?”

“Of course.”

“He’s one of them.”

“Are you going to flunk him?”, Mrs. Harman asked.

“No, I’m not vindictive. But, I’ll put the fear of the Great Spirit in him.”

“If it’s anything like what you did today, I’ll be happy that I’m not him.”

“Can I get a copy of the letter?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“The drug store has a copier, and it’s not far from here. Want to take a walk?”

The three of us walked to the drug store, and I made a copy of both the letter and the quiz. Then we walked back to the apartment. And on the way back. I said, “I didn’t have lunch, and I’m hungry. Anyone want to go to Old Town for dinner?”

“La Placita Dining Rooms?”, Amy asked.

“I haven’t been there in a couple of years.”, Mrs. Harman said.

“My treat.”, I said.

“No, I’ll get my own.”

“I’ve got to pay my bill. Don’t I?”

“I’ve never had this much fun, and I’m thinking of doing this pro bono."

“Fun. This hasn’t been fun.”

“You’re right.”, Mrs. Harman said. “It wasn’t fun for you. But, seeing the expression on Dr. Cox’s face change while you were talking made me feel good. He had met his match and was losing the battle, and he knew it.

“It made me feel good to see him go down in flames.”

“That I can understand.”, I said. “And, if he’s done this to others, he needed to go down.”

“Oh, he has.”, Mrs. Harman said. “Some very nice people have been hurt by him.”

“Why didn’t they get rid of him before this.”

“He had the ear of the Governor.”

“Doesn’t he still have the Governor's ear.”

“No. A new Governor took office this year. Plus I know that your Chief Kinlicheeny spoke to the Governor this morning. And Dr. Lingham has also spoken with the Governor.”

When we were back at the apartment, Mrs. Harman said, “I don’t want to carry this letter around. I’m going to stop at the office on the way to dinner and put it in the safe.”

I asked, “Do you want to put it in our safe while we’re at dinner?”

“You have a safe?”

“You don’t think that we’d leave all this silver jewelry laying around. Do you?”

“I don’t know. Is worth that much?”

“I’d hate to tell you how much the silver Amy and I are wearing is worth. And, it’s just not the silver and turquoise. You have to include the artist that made it.”

“Where did you get it?”, Mrs. Harman asked.

“My great great grandfather made most of it. He was a Navajo silversmith. And, most of it was handed down.”

“He did some very nice work.”

“Thank you.”

We walked back to the apartment and put the letter and copies in the safe. And, Mrs. Harman was impressed by the old safe.

I’m glad that Mrs. Harman drove to Old Town, as both Amy and I had Sangria to drink with dinner. We talked as we ate, and at one point Mrs. Harman said, “Kai, after hearing you talk this afternoon I would hate to argue a case against you.”

I looked at her, and asked, “Why?”

“You demand attention when you speak. You had everyone paying attention to what you’re saying. And you come across in a way that says what I’m saying I believe and you should believe it too.”

“You know why?”

“No, why?”

“Because I do believe in what I’m saying. And I’m going say it in a way that says I do.”

“That you do.”

After dinner, Mrs. Harman dropped us off at the apartment and picked up the letter. As Amy and I were relaxing, there was a knock at the door. I walked over, opened the door, and it was Jackie and Charlie. And, Jackie said, “Hi Kai, I hope we’re not disturbing you?”

“No.”, I said. “Not at all. Come on in.”

As we walked into the living room, Charlie said, “I know that you had that meeting today, and we were wondering how it went.”

I was smiling the whole time that I was telling them about the Board meeting. And when I finished telling the story, I said, “Charlie, if it hadn’t been for you, I would have probably gone in there blind, and been eaten alive. I owe you a big thank you.”

“Kai, you owe me nothing.”, Charlie said. “I did it out of friendship.”

“I know Charlie, but thank you. And I say that from the bottom of my heart.”

Jackie then asked, “So, the President of the University was also there?”

“Yes.”, I said. “He and Dr. Cox, the Chairman of the Board of Regents, don’t get along. And, from what I hear, I think he would do anything to get rid of him.”

We chatted a little more, and then I think that they noticed that we were tired. So, Jackie and Charlie said good night. And we were tired, I guess it was from getting over the Board of Regents thing, and we were quickly in bed.

My first class on Thursday has the boy in it that I figured sent the letter. But I wasn’t quite ready to confront him. So, I went on with the class as if nothing had happened. I handed back the quizzes, lectured for a while, and reminded them that their mid-term exam was next Thursday. Of course, there was a moan.

I taught my second class, went to my grad-level class, and then headed to the lab.

As I walk in the door of the lab, Dr. Joe looked up, and said, “Good morning Dr. Kai.”

I set my briefcase down, put my hands on my hips, and said, “Stop with the doctor stuff.”

“Kai, you should have heard the Deans and the President when we were all together after the meeting yesterday.”

“Why. Do they want to get rid of me?”

“No way. They were very impressed with you.”

“What, in giving one of their own a piece of my mind?”

“That’s part of it. You’re not afraid to stand up for yourself. And you tell it like it is.”

“But, if they ever found out that what was in the letter about me being a boy dressed as a girl was the truth they’d go crazy.”

“Did you forget. They already know.”

“Oh. That’s right.”

“And believe it or not, your secret is safe with them.”

“What about Dean Miller of the grad school?”

“Don’t worry about him. He’s retiring at the end of the quarter.”

“Oh.”

“Also, Dr. Lingham asked what you were studying, and when I said that you were working on your masters, he asked why weren’t you working on your doctoral.”

“Not another one.”

“Dr. Etsitty, also said that after being around you, hearing you speak to groups, and other things, that she also thought that you were doctoral material.”

“Wait till I see her again. What’s going on with the circuit?”

“Changing the subject on me?”

“Yeah, to something important.”

“Kai, I don’t know about you.

“Okay, back to the project. I gave the drawing of the circuit board and the schematic to the guy in the electrical shop that does printed circuit boards, and he only made one small change. And, he’s in the process of making us one.”

“That’s good. Maybe we can get started building the board on Monday.”

“I hope.”

There was a knock on the door, Dr. Joe walked over, opened the door, and said, “Hello, Dean Rutherford.”

“Hello, Dr. Oshie.”, Dean Rutherford said. “May we come in?”

“Of course.”

I looked at the door as Dean Rutherford, and another man walked in. I knew this other man. I smiled and said, “Dr. Fontheim, it’s nice to see you again.”

“Miss Nez.”, Dr. Fontheim said. “What a nice surprise.”

“Dr. Joe.”, I said. “You remember me telling you about meeting Dr. Fontheim at the resort.”

“Yes, one of the people from the Los Alamos National Laboratory.”

“Yes.”, I replied. Then looking at Dr. Fontheim, I said, “So, Dr. Fontheim, have you come to tell us what the circuit is for?”

With a smile and shaking his head, no Dr. Fontheim said, “You don’t give up. Do you young lady.

“And even if I wanted to tell you, I couldn’t. None of you have the proper security clearance.”

“Dr. Fontheim, it won’t be me if I gave up.”

“You can say that again, Miss Nez.”, Dean Rutherford said.

“So, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“I was in town, and decided to stop in and follow up on what you told me at the resort.”, Dr. Fontheim said.

“Were you happy with what you found out?”

“Yes. And I learned some interesting things about you.”

Looking at Dean Rutherford, I said, “Oh!”

“Yes, Miss Nez.”, Dr. Fontheim said. “It appears that the reason that Dr. Kilmer is no longer here is some things that you found out when you started working on the project.”

I again looked at Dean Rutherford, and he nodded yes.

And, I said, “I guess so.”

“And, that you and Dr. Oshie have made some real progress with the circuit.”

“Yes sir, we have. We put together a breadboard mock-up of the circuit, tested it for a week, and now we’re having a printed circuit board done so we can put together a final test. Then it can be given to you.”

“Very good. Could I see the breadboard mock up?”

“Of course.”, Dr. Joe said. “It’s right over here.”

We walked over to where the breadboard set-up was. Dr. Fontheim picked it up, looked it over, and said, “A very nice job of breadboarding, Dr. Oshie.”

“Not me sir.”, Dr. Joe said. “That’s all Kai’s work.”

“Well, Miss Nez, another surprise.”, Dr. Fontheim said.

“I just happen to like neat work.”, I replied.

“When you have the printed circuit board completed could you, and Dr. Oshie bring it to Los Alamos?”

I looked at Dr. Joe, and he said, “We’d be happy to, Dr. Fontheim. I’m guessing it might be Thursday, but more likely Friday.”

“That would be good. We’ll see you then.”, Dr. Fontheim said, and he handed Dr. Joe a business card.

Dean Rutherford and Dr. Fontheim left. I looked at Dr. Joe, and said, “That was interesting.”

“Sure was.”, Dr. Joe said.

“And, I’ll bet that we won’t know any more after we’ve been to Los Alamos than we do now.”

“No bet.”

“Now, Dr. Joe, I want to show you something.”

“What?”, Dr. Joe asked.

I picked up my briefcase, set it on the desk, opened it, took out the copies of the letter and the quiz. I handed them to Dr. Joe, and said, “These. Compare the handwriting on them.”

Dr. Joe looked at the two pieces of paper, and asked, “It this the letter?”

“Yes, a copy of it.”

“And this looks like one of your quizzes?”

“Yes, again a copy of the original. Compare the handwriting on the two.”

He set the two pieces of paper down on the desk and looked at them very carefully. After a minute, he looked up at me, and said, “I think they’re the same.”

“So, do I, and so does Amy, and so does my lawyer.”

“So, one of your students wrote the letter?”

“It appears that way. Do you remember the two Navajo boys that I had to talk to the first day of class?”

“Of course.”

“Mr. Uintillie was one of them.”

“What are you going to do.”

“I’m not sure yet. Maybe do nothing. Just go on as nothing happened. Maybe call Mr. Uintillie into your office and talk with him, with you and maybe the Dean there. Maybe involve the University’s Student Conduct Board.”

“Interesting puzzle.”

“Yeah. Any words of wisdom?”

“First, I think that you’re the one that needs to decide what to do. You were the one that was almost hurt by it.

“What you have to decide is how you feel about what he did? And, what should happen to him. If anything.

“You need to think this through thoroughly before you act. Maybe talk to your medicine man friend. Maybe meditate over it.

“And, I will stand behind you one-hundred percent in whatever you decide.”

“I feel a trip to the resort this weekend is on the agenda.”, I said.

“Well, we have to wait on the printed circuit board before we can do anything more on the project. So, we don’t need to get together on Friday or the weekend. So, I’d say that we both have a free weekend.”

“Sounds good. As long as Amy doesn’t have to work in the ER.”