Of course, there was more work on the project for Los Alamos. We got it to the point where we started running tests on the breadboard circuit and were planning on a long term test for the next week.

I’d talked with my Uncle Paul and had him set up a time where Amy and I could go through the interior of the adobe house. He set something up for Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday afternoon, Ajie and I had dressed up to go to the adobe house. Along with seeing Sam Tl'izilani again, who is the owner's son, we met his wife, sister, and brother-in-law. Sam and his sister showed Ajie, Aunt Ruth, Uncle Paul, and me around the house. And, I hate to say this, but this house is our dream house. We also found out that most of the furnishings were going to be sold.

I had also felt sadness from Sam’s sister, Dezba. I’d talked with her, and then we’d gone out on the back courtyard, and she and I sat and talked. I think I was able to help her. Time will tell.

After we’d said hágoónee' - (see you later) to Sam and the members of his family. And my aunt, uncle, Ajie, and I were walking to our cars, my uncle said, “Where would you like to go to dinner?”

“You buying, Uncle Paul?”, I asked.

My uncle shook his head and said, “Kai.”

“Yes, he’s buying.”, my Aunt Ruth said.

My uncle looked at my aunt and frowned. Then he said, “Thanks.”

“So, where would everyone like to go?”, I asked.

“Since I’m buying. Can I pick?”

“Sure thing, Uncle Paul.”

“Okay, I haven’t been to Old Town and the La Placita Dining Rooms in a long time.”

“Good choice, Uncle Paul.”, Ajie said.

“That’s only twenty minutes from here.”, I said. “We’ll see you there.”

We got into our cars and headed towards Old Town. Ajie and I were quiet on our drive to Old Town. Each of us was alone with our thoughts. I know that mine was about the house and I figured that Ajie’s were too. Once we were at the La Placita Dining Rooms, we parked, and the four of us walked together to the restaurant. They seated us in the room where the cottonwood tree grows up through the roof.

We ordered an appetizer, and a pitcher of sangria for Aunt Ruth, Ajie, and me to share. And, since Uncle Paul doesn’t drink, he ordered ice tea.

As we waited on our food, we talked. Uncle Paul asked, “So, kids, what did you think of the house?”

I looked at Uncle Paul, and said, “Well … I think it exceeded our expectations. Didn’t it, Ajie?”

“You know it did.”, Ajie said. “And, Uncle Paul, I hate you.”

“Hate me!”, Uncle Paul said. “Why?”

“You told us about that house. And it fits everything that we want.”

“But you hate me?”

“Yeah. Because now we want it.”

“I don’t.”, I said.

“You don’t!?”, Ajie said.

“No. We’ll no longer be able to walk to Nunzio's pizza.”

“They have a nice parking lot, and it would only be twenty minutes away. Besides we could stop there for dinner before we drive home from the university.”

“We couldn’t walk to the university.”

“They have nice faculty parking lots. And, lots for the hospital staff.”

“We couldn't walk to the pharmacy.”

“Kai, you’re just being silly. We’ve talked about getting out of the city, and this house does that. Plus it has everything else that we want.”

“I know.”, I said. “I did fall in love with it. I’m trying to talk myself out of it. But it’s not working.”

“I know you fell in love with it, silly. And, you won’t be able to talk yourself out of it.”

“I’m glad that you two like the house that much.”, Aunt Ruth said. “That house is you.”

“I’m glad too.”, Uncle Paul said. “It’s a very well built house, and has been well taken care of.”

“I could tell.”, I said. “My only concern is, is how much they’re going to want for it.”

“I understand that.”

“Are we going to be able to pay cash for it or would we need to take out a loan.”

“Cash?”, my uncle said. “You can do that?”

“Probably.”, I said. “Remember what we told you about our investments.”

“Oh. Yeah. But, do you want to use that much of your investments?”

“That’s what I’m not sure of. But, we've been told that real estate can be a good investment.”

“Kai, wouldn’t it be a good thing for us to start building a credit rating?”, Ajie asked.

“It might be.”, I replied.

“It probably would be.”, Uncle Paul said. “Give them a down payment and then set up a loan through your bank for the remainder. And maybe stop in the bank and talk to them before you close the deal.”

“Good idea, Uncle Paul.”

We finished our meal. Uncle Paul did pay, but I left the tip. We said so long in the parking, and my aunt and uncle headed back to the resort, and Ajie and I headed back to the apartment.

As we pulled up to the apartment, we saw Charlie and Jackie sitting on their front porch. I pulled the car into the garage, and we walked over to say hello to Charlie and Jackie.

“Hi, you two.”, Charlie said. “We haven’t seen you all weekend. And, you’re really dressed up.”

“It’s been a busy couple of days. Amy worked a late shift on Friday night at the ER and ended up working over, so we slept in. Then we went up on the Crest for a hike.

“Then today, we were able to see the inside of the adobe house that we saw with you last weekend.”

“What’s it like.”

“Gorgeous.”, Amy said.

“Really?”, Jackie said.

“Yes.”

“Is it what you’re looking for?”

“We think so.”

“So, you’re going to be moving.”

“Maybe. But, we're not sure yet. We don’t know what they’re going to be asking.”

“We’ll miss you guys.”, Charlie said.

“We won’t be that far away.”, I said. “Plus, we’ll be on campus all the time.”

“I know, but we won’t be able to just walk next door and see you. We don’t have a car.”

“I know.”

“You could leave the ‘57 Chevy here.”

“In your dreams, Charlie. But we’ll work it out.”

“We’ll see.”

“Plus this summer you’ll be at the resort, and you’ll see us every weekend.”

“I almost forgot about that.”

“So, tell us about the inside of the house.”, Jackie said.

“I took pictures.”, Amy said. “Can you wait until I get them developed?”

“I guess we can.”

Once Amy and I were back in our apartment, we changed into shorts and top, and called our parents. We told them about looking at the house, and both sets of parents were surprised when we filled them in on the details of the house. And, we both admitted to them that we love the house and that Uncle Paul was happy with its condition. My dad being my dad, was worried about the cost. And when I told him that we wouldn’t know until the middle of April what they’d be asking, he said to be sure to come back with a counteroffer. And, I told him that we would. We also told them that we’d have pictures when we were home the weekend of April 7th.

Then Amy and I cuddled on the couch listening to music from the university’s radio station. And we talked. We talked about the house. What we liked, which was just about everything. And about what we didn’t like, and it was hard to find anything. The only thing that I didn’t like about the house was that it didn’t have a basement, and I guess that isn’t unusual.

Later as we were cuddling in bed, I said, “Honey, you know. I think I’ve resigned myself to the fact that if we can, we’ll buy the house.”

Amy rolled over, looked at me, smiled, and said, “Honey, I’m glad. I think that that house is what we want. And we’ll be happy there.”

“But, just the two of us rattling around in that big house. We’ll get lost.”

“Well, we can fill it up with children.”

I grinned and said, “That could be fun.”

Monday when I walked into Dr. Joe’s office, he looked up at me and said, “Well?”

“Well, what?”, I asked.

“Did you buy it?”

“Buy what?”

“The house.”

“No. It’s not even on the market yet.”

“Did you like it?”

“What’s not to like.”

“So, will you buy it when it comes on the market?”

“Maybe. Depending on what they’re going to ask for it.”

I wanted to change the subject, so I walked over to the file cabinet, took out the breadboard circuit and set it on Dr. Joe’s work table. Then, I said, “I’ll go and get everything that we need to run the tests from the lab.”

“You’re going to set up the test in here?”, Dr. Joe asked.

“Have to. It’s the only secure place that we have access to.”

“Oh yeah. You’re right.”

“And, you’ll have to sleep here while we’re running the long term test.”

“What!?”

“Can’t leave it unattended. Can we?”

“Oh. I guess we can’t. But, you’re my grad assistant, and you’ll need to sleep here.”

“I’m not a grad assistant any longer. I’m an instructor and a research fellow.”

“Arg!”

I looked at Dr. Joe, grinned, and said, “We’ll figure something out.”

“I’d hate to tear the test down every night and set it up every morning.”, Dr. Joe said.

“If we do that we won’t be getting a long-time test. I wonder if Los Alamos would consider your office secure enough for the test to be run unattended?”

“They might with the high-security lock. Plus the door is steel, and the glass is high security. I’ll call Dr. Fontheim while you get the things from the lab.”

When I returned from the lab with what we’d need to run the test, Dean Rutherford was walking up to Dr. Oshie’s door. He saw me pushing a cart loaded with test equipment, and said, “Miss Nez, it looks like you emptied the lab of all the equipment.”

“Hi, Dean Rutherford. We’re getting ready to start a long term test on the circuit we did for Los Alamos. And, we feel that we have to do it in Dr. Oshie’s office for security reasons.”

“I see.”

“Dr. Oshie was calling Dr. Fontheim to see what Los Alamos feels about the security of his office.”

The Dean and I walked into Dr. Oshie’s office just as he was hanging up the phone. He looked up and said, “Hello, Dean Rutherford.”

“Dr. Oshie.”, Dean Rutherford said. “I just stopped by to see how the circuit for Los Alamos was coming, and Miss Nez tells me that you’re ready for the long term test.”

“Yes, sir.”, Dr. Oshie said. “And Dr. Fontheim says that the security of my office is good and should suffice so that we don’t have to be present the whole time. Especially since you, Miss Nez, and I are the only ones with keys.”

“That’s good. We could also, just to be sure, close the security gates that close off this wing of the building. We’re between quarters and no one should be around.”

“That would make me feel better.”

“So, how do we get in?”, I asked.

“I’ll have keys to the gates to you by the end of the day.”, Dean Rutherford said.

The Dean left, and we proceeded to set up the test for the circuit. Once everything was set up, I carefully applied power to the circuit. And, the output meters started to come to life. Once I hit the nominal input power, Dr. Joe and I wrote down all the output readings. Then I applied the input signals, and again, we wrote down the meter readings. We compared them to what we had last Friday, and they were right on the money.

Something like this scares me a little. It was working this good right out of the gate. Did we do that good of a job? I never said anything for fear of jinxing us.

Dr. Joe had a meeting to go to, so I volunteered to stay here, and babysit the testing, and start the design of the printed circuit board for the project. As Dr. Joe was leaving, I said, “Will you lock the door on your way out?”

“Sure, Kai.”, Dr. Joe said. “And I should be back by lunch.”

“Good. I’ll be hungry by then.”

I started looking over my circuit design, and decided, just like with the last project, that this was going to take a two-sided circuit board. And, the circuit board was going to be bigger than the last one because there were five integrated circuits on it.

Then I took the binder that we’d gotten from Los Alamos and looked it over again. And I’m glad I did. There was a maximum size requirement for the circuit board, so that will crowd thing a bit, but it’s doable.

Later that day when I was back at the apartment, Amy said, that she’s did some grocery shopping and had dropped the film off at the drug store to be developed.

I’m not going to bore you with the details of our testing and designing of the printed circuit board. But, I’ll give you the highlights.

Late Wednesday morning, Dr. Joe and I were running the signal inputs through their range and recording the input and output readings, when we heard a key in the door. We both looked up and watched as the Dean and Dr. Fontheim walked into Dr. Joe’s office. Dr. Joe said, “Hello, Dean. Hello, Dr. Fontheim.”

Dr. Fontheim said, “Hello. I wanted to stop in and see how your research was going.”

“We started a long time test on the circuit Monday morning. And, Miss Nez almost has the printed circuit design finished.”

As Dr. Fontheim looked over our test set up, he said, “I’m pleased that you’re this far along.”

“Most of the credit goes to Miss Nez.”

“We’ve had a couple of minor stumbling blocks.”, I said. “But, we worked them out.”

“I’m not surprised, Miss Nez.”, Dr. Fontheim said. “You appear to be a good problem solver.”

“I try to be, but I don’t like someone deliberately throwing me a curve as your security people did.”

“Miss Nez. I still feel horrible about that. But, it has brought changes to our policies and procedures.”

“I hope for the better.”

“Yes, Miss Nez, it has. And, I hope that it’s now water over the dam.”

“So, do I, Dr. Fontheim. So, do I.”

“Do you and Dr. Oshie have time for lunch?”

I looked at Dr. Joe, and he said, “Yes. Give us a couple of minutes to set everything back to the nominal inputs, and check that everything still looks good.”

The Dean and Dr. Fontheim watched as I adjusted the inputs to the circuit, and Dr. Joe checked the outputs. When we finished, Dr. Joe said, “Everything looks good, Kai.”

I looked at Dr. Fontheim and said, “Where are we going for lunch?”

Dr. Joe said, “Nunzio's?”

“Works for me. They have good lunches.”

“Nunzio's? What’s that?”, Dr. Fontheim asked.

“That’s the favorite pizza hang out for the college crowd.”, the Dean replied.

“So, it’s good?”

“Trust me.”, I said. “It’s good.”

We drove over to Nunzio's and had a nice lunch, and we didn’t talk business. Dr. Joe let it drop that Amy and I were looking at a house. And, of course, I had to tell them about that.

As we were finishing up, Dr. Fontheim asked, “When do you see being finished with the project.”

“Well.”, Dr. Joe said. “Classes start next Wednesday. And, I know that Kai will be out of town the weekend of April 6th and 7th. What do you think, Kai, maybe by the middle of April?”

“I think that’s doable.”, I said. “As long as we have the printed circuit board in time.”

“That would be fantastic.”, Dr. Fontheim said. “Miss Nez, I have to ask … ”

“Dr. Fontheim, please don’t go there. We’ve gone through this before, and I’m happy in the university setting and especially here.”

“I’m sorry. But, I just had to try.”

I saw a little smile on the Dean’s face.

When Dr. Joe and I were back in his office, we checked the circuit, and everything looked good. Then I said, “I wish the people from Los Alamos would stop asking me if I want to work for them.”

“He may be following orders.”, Dr. Joe said. “Someone there may want you.”

“They’re out of luck.”

“I think the Dean liked what you said to Dr. Fontheim.”

I smiled, as I said, “I know, I saw his smile.”

Thursday afternoon, after spending the morning checking things on the circuit, Amy and I ran up to see the Eagles. When we pulled into the parking area for the reservoir, it looked like Iz was here. Remember Iz is Izusa Yupanqui and he’s the whole Santa Ana Pueblo’s Parks Department.

Amy and I started walking down the trail, and we saw Iz walking towards us. As we got closer, we saw Iz smile as he recognized us. Then he said, “Hello, you two.”

“Yá’át’ééh - (it is good), Iz.”, I said. “It’s good to see you.”

“And, seeing the two of you brings a smile to my heart. Have you seen any signs of young Eagles yet?”

“Come with us, and you might hear them. We did last week.”

The three of us walked to a good spot to view the nest and waited a minute or two before one of the Eagles flew in with a fish. Then he hopped over to the side of the nest where we were. He looked down at us and squawked. I smiled.

Shortly the other Eagle came to the edge of the nest with the other one. Then I said to Iz, “Listen carefully, and you may hear the young Eagles.”

We listened, then I whispered, “Hear that?”

“Yes.”, Iz whispered.

Then I whispered, “And, there’s the other one.”

“Yes. Yes. I heard them.”, Iz whispered excitedly.

“We should be able to see them in another week or two.”

“I’m so glad that you two showed up.”

“We’ve been coming up at least once a week to see them.”

“Please let me know when you see the young ones.”

“We will.”

The three of us walked back to the parking area, said hágoónee' - (see you later) to each other. And we headed back to Albuquerque.

Friday, Amy was working from seven to three in the ER, so I walked her to the hospital, and then went to Dr. Joe’s office. He wasn’t going to be here at all today. He and Mary were going away for the weekend. So, it was just me and the project.

I did the usual checks on the circuit, and everything was rock steady. I’d brought the book, the teachers guide, and my notes for the new course on computer design that I was going to be teaching spring quarter. And I spent most of the day going over everything for the new class, except for a lunch break and giving my design to the guy that is really good at making printed circuit boards.

Dr. Joe and I had decided to let the test run on the circuit over the weekend, and I’d stop in a few times to check on. So, at two-thirty, I took readings on all of the inputs and outputs, and things looked great.

Then just before three, I walked into the ER waiting room, and shortly, Amy walked out of the ER. On the way to the apartment, Amy and I stopped by the drug store and picked up the pictures that she’d taken of the inside of adobe house. At the apartment, I went and put my briefcase in the small room, and Amy went upstairs to change.

When Amy came back downstairs, she said, “Kai, the light is blinking on the answering machine.”

I looked at the answering machine, and sure enough, the light was blinking. I walked over to it and rewound the tape. It was a quick rewind, which usually meant that there was only one message.

I pressed play, and you could hear someone hang up four times. That told me that we’d been called four times, but no messages were left. Strange. I rewound the tape and reset the machine.

Before supper, we looked through the pictures that Amy had taken of the house. And, as her photographs usually do, they turned out really nice. There were two prints of each, so we separated them.

As we ate dinner, Amy said, “I’d love to go to the resort this weekend.”

“You know we can’t.”, I said. “I’ve got to babysit the test.”

“I know. Maybe we can go up for a day or two before classes start.”

“That could be possible. I’m going to shut down the tests early on Sunday afternoon. Then maybe we could go up on Sunday evening.”

“Sounds good to me.”

We called my aunt and uncle and asked if we could come up on Sunday and spend a couple of nights. I got a lecture from my aunt about not asking and that we should just show up.

Then I went and invited Charlie and Jackie to come over and look at the pictures of the house. They came back with me, and we sat at the kitchen table, Amy had drinks for us, and we went through the pictures with them. Charlie and Jackie
were surprised as to how the inside of the house looked. And, Jackie said, “Now I can see why you fell in love with this place.”

“I know.”, Amy said. “The more we saw, the more we fell in love with it.”

“I can’t wait to see it in person.”

Just before Noon on Sunday, I started shutting down the test. I took some final readings and started powering everything down. Then I disconnected the leads of the test equipment, put the breadboard circuit in the file cabinet, and returned the test equipment to the lab. Then I left Dr. Joe a note telling him that we’d be at the resort and would be back some time on Tuesday.

When I was at the apartment Amy, or should I say Ajie, was dressed to go to the resort. Long skirt, fancy blouse, moccasins, her hair in a ponytail, a simple headband, and a little jewelry. I ran upstairs and saw the same things laying on our bed. So I quickly changed. Then I ran downstairs and filled the camera bag with the silver jewelry.

Ajie had packed everything that we needed for two nights. So, after I checked the front door to be sure that it was locked, I grabbed the suitcase and camera bag, and we went to the garage, put everything in the car, and headed to the resort.

Just about two hours later we were pulling into the resort and up to my aunt and uncles house. And, a familiar pickup truck was also parked at the house. It was Naainish’s pickup. I looked at Ajie and said, “It looks like Naainish knew that we were coming.”

“Doesn’t he always.”, Ajie replied.

We took everything out of the car and walked into the house. We found my aunt, uncle, and Naainish sitting in the kitchen dressed up more than usual. I said, “Yá’át’ééh alní'íní - (good evening).”

Everyone returned, “Yá’át’ééh.”

“Kai. Ajie.”, Naainish said. “I need you to go with me this evening.”

“What’s wrong, Naainish?”, I asked.

“I know that you have met some of the Tl'izilani family.”

“Yes, we’ve met Sam Tl'izilani, his wife, his sister Dezba, and her husband. Why?”

“Did they tell you that their mother was very ill and in a nursing home?”

“Yes.”

“Naainish.”, Ajie asked. “What’s happened?”

“Mrs. Tl'izilani has taken a turn for the worse and has lost her will to live.”

“No.”, I said.

“Yes, Kai. And, I need you and Ajie to go with me tonight to the nursing home in Santa Fe.”

“Tonight?”

“Yes, Kai, tonight.”

I looked at my aunt, and she said, “Kai, you should go.”

“I know Aunt Ruth and we will.”, I said.

We took our suitcase and camera bag back to our room and cleaned up a little. I added the choker that my grandfathers had made. Changed the headband that I was wearing for the braided leather one with the feathers hanging from it. I also added two bracelets and a couple of rings. Ajie did almost the same thing.

We walked out into the kitchen, and my aunt said, “Very nice girls.”

“Thank you, Aunt Ruth.”, Ajie said.

I looked at Naainish and said, “Are you ready to go Naainish?”

As he got up, Naainish said, “Yes. Can you drive?”

“Of course.”

A little over an hour later, we were in Santa Fe and following Naainish’s directions to the nursing home. As we pulled into the nursing home, Naainish said, “Most of the family will be here, and they know that we’re coming.”

I didn’t respond. I parked the car, and we got out and walked into the nursing home. The receptionist greeted us, and after Naainish told her that we were looking for the Tl'izilani family, she told us that the family was in a private room and she showed us to the room.

As we walked into the private room, there appeared to be about twenty people there, from older people to very young people. Then I saw Sam Tl'izilani and his sister Dezba, they saw us, and they walked over. Dezba hugged me and whispered, “Kai, thank you so much for coming.”

“Dezba.”, I whispered back. “I promised you that I would come when you needed me.”

“I know, and thank you so much.”

Then Sam turned to those in the room, who were looking at us, and said, “Everyone. I think you know Naainish Yazzie, the medicine man.” Then he put his arm around me, and said, “This is Kai Nez. She is the Nádleeh - (two spirit person) that you’ve heard about. And, this other young lady is Ajie Nez, her cousin.”

Two men walked up, and Sam said, “Kai and Ajie. These are my brothers, Hosteen and Jáan.”

We exchanged greetings. Then I asked, “Sam, where is your mother?”

“She is in her room.”

“Would you, your sister, and your brothers show us the way.”

I whispered to Naainish, “I feel that we don’t have much time.”

“I know, Kai.”, Naainish whispered back.

The seven of us walked down a hallway. As we walked, I asked Sam, “Sam. What is your mother’s name?”

“Haseya.”, he replied.

I stopped and looked at Sam, and he asked, “Kai, is something wrong?”

“No, Sam.”, I said. “It’s just that Haseya was my grandmother’s name.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No. It was just hearing it again.”

Then as we walked up to the room, a nurse walked out of the door, she saw us, and said, “I’m sorry you all can’t go in there.”

I just looked at her.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”, the nurse said. “Go on in.”

And, she held the door open for us. I looked at her and smiled.

We walked in, and Sam and Dezba walked over to their mother's bed. Dezba said, “Mother, we’ve brought some special people to see you.”

Ajie, Naainish, and I walked over next to the bed and stood with Sam and Dezba. Mrs. Tl'izilani opened her eyes, looked at Ajie and me, smiled, and in a soft voice said, “Daughter, you have brought me two angels.”

“Mother, this is Kai Nez and Ajie Nez. Kai is a special Nádleeh - (two spirit person), and Ajie is her cousin.”

“They are both so pretty that they must be angels.”

I sat down on the bed, took both of Mrs. Tl'izilani hands in mine, and quietly said, “You share your first name with my grandmother.”

“Is she still with us?”

“No, she is with her ancestors. When I heard your name, I had to smile as it brought fond memories to me.”

“My dear, seeing your smiling face brings joy to my heart and peace to my spirit.”

“I’m so happy for you.”

Mrs. Tl'izilani closed her eyes. And I felt the same thing I did with Naainish’s father. I felt her spirit leave her. I looked at Naainish, and he started chanting. Then Ajie and I joined him in the chant. I then sensed people leave the room. When I finally looked, only Sam and Dezba were still with us.

A few seconds later, a nurse rushed in. I looked at her. She stopped and backed out of the room.

When we finished the chant, I stood up, looked at Dezba, and saw her tears. I walked over to her, hugged her, and whispered, “Remember, the spirits do not like the showing of grief. Also, remember the last line of the prayer, ‘Forget not. Remember with a smile.’”

Dezba stepped back a little and said, “Thank you, Kai. You helped her pass on, and you’ve helped me accept it.”

“I’m glad I could do that, Dezba.”, I said.

The five of us walked out of the room, and the nurse was standing there, I looked at her and said, “She has passed on.”

The nurse just nodded her head.

We walked back to the private room where everyone was. As we walked in, everyone looked at us, and Sam said, “Mother has passed on. And, Miss Nez made it easier for her.”

Then, Dezba said, “The other day when I first met Kai Nez, she sensed my sadness over mothers condition, and she comforted me. She recited a prayer that brought comfort to me. Kai, would you please recite the prayer for everyone here.”

I recited the prayer that ends in, ‘Forget not. Remember with a smile.’

I received a nice hug from Dezba, and so did Ajie. Then, Sam said, “Kai, you, Ajie, and Naainish helped us all through this hard time. You made mother’s last few minutes easy for her and us. Thank you.”

“Sam.”, I said. “I’m happy that I could help. And, I know that Ajie and Naainish feel the same way.”

Then we said, “Hágoónee' t'áá ájíltso - (See you later all people [everyone]).” Then I turned and followed by Ajie and Naainish, we walked out of the room. As the door closed, I stopped and leaned against a wall. I felt drained. Ajie asked, “Kai, are you alright?”

“I will be.”, I said. “I just need to rest for a minute.”

Then as we walked to the car, I said, “Ajie, honey. Could you drive back to the resort?”

“Sure. What’s wrong.”

“I’m just tired, and don’t want to fall asleep while I’m driving.”

I remember getting in the car and then nothing until Ajie woke me when we were at the resort. As we walked into my aunt and uncle’s house, Ajie said, “I’m worried about you.”

“I’m fine.”, I said. “That just took a lot out of me.”

“I hope that’s all it is.”

“Ajie.”, Naainish said. “Kai is fine. Sometimes doing what she does takes a toll on the body that a good rest takes care of.”

“Okay, Naainish. I hope you’re right.”

“I am. Let her sleep, and she will be fine when she wakes herself.”

I remember walking into the house, saying goodnight to my aunt and uncle, having Ajie help me undress, laying down on the bed, and nothing more until the next morning when mother nature called. I rolled over, looked at the clock, and it was just after ten-thirty in the morning. I rolled back over, and Ajie wasn’t in bed.

I got out of bed, made a stop in the bathroom, tossed on my robe, and went out into the main part of the house. Ajie saw me, and said, “Well, good morning sleepy head. Sleep well.”

“I think so.”, I replied. “But, I’m starved.”

“You missed dinner last night. Want me to fix you some breakfast?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“I’ll never mind doing anything for you.”

“Where’s Aunt Ruth and Uncle Paul?”

“At the hotel, the management team is here.”

“Oh. Anything important going on.”

“I don’t think so. Your aunt said it was a regular quarterly meeting.”

Ajie fixed me an excellent breakfast. Then we changed into our bathing suits, tossed on our robes, and headed to the thermal pools. Soaking in one of the pools felt so good.

When we were back at the house, my aunt and uncle were there. My uncle said, “I see that sleeping beauty is finally up.”

I glared at him and said, “You’ll pay.”

“I always do.”

As Ajie and I were helping Aunt Ruth make lunch, there was a knock on the door. My aunt said, “Kai, would you see who that is?”

“Sure Aunt Ruth.”, I said as I walked towards the back door.

I opened the door, and Naainish was standing there. So, I said, “Yá’át’ééh, Naainish.”

“Yá’át’ééh, Kai. I see you survived last night.”

“Yes, I’ve never been so physically tired.”

“Dealing with the spirits the way you do can be tiring.”

“So, I’m learning.”

We walked into the kitchen, and Aunt Ruth saw Naainish, and said, “Care to join us for a taco salad lunch, Naainish.”

“That would be nice. Thank you.”

As we ate, Naainish told us that Haseya Tl'izilani had been buried this morning. I said, “They must follow the old ways.”

“Yes, Kai, they do.”, Naainish said. “They will hold a feast to honor her, and they would like you, Ajie, and your aunt and uncle there.”

“That would be fine. When is it?”

“They haven’t set a date for it.”

“We’re going to be out of town this coming weekend.”

“It won’t be that soon.”

“Good. We don’t want to miss it.”

There was no bonfire tonight, so Ajie and I went up the cliff trail and watched the sunset.

On Tuesday, we were up early and helped Aunt Ruth make breakfast tacos. Since we had a few things to do before classes for spring quarter started on Wednesday, plus there was a stop that we needed to make on the way home, we left the resort right after breakfast.

And instead of heading south to Albuquerque, we headed north towards Taos. And, right after crossing the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge we turned south and followed some dirt roads. I was a little worried about getting lost, but I didn’t.

Finally, we pulled up in front of The Rug House. We parked and went in, and I’d swear that she had more rugs and blankets then last time. The woman walked up to us and said in Navajo, “Can I help you?”

(The following was in Navajo.)

“Yes.”, I said. “Mrs. Tsosi, we are looking for a special blanket for a christening.”

“Do I know you?”

“Yes, we were in here a while back with my grandmother and aunt. I’m Kai Nez and this is Ajie Nez.”

“Oh, yes. I remember now. It's nice that you’ve come back to my little store. You need something for a christening?”

“Yes. For a boy.”

“Yes. A soft blanket. I have just the thing.”

We followed Mrs. Tsosi to a table, and there were some beautiful blankets on it. She showed us the ones that were for boys. Ajie picked one up and said, “Feel how soft this is.”

I touched the blanket, and it was very soft. We found one that had a lovely pattern woven into it and purchased it. I know that Mrs. Tsosi didn’t charge us what it was worth.

(We’re back to English.)

Then it was back to the apartment. And, as we walked into the apartment, I looked at the answering machine, and the light was blinking. I rewound the tape, pressed play, and heard, “Kai, it’s Dr. Joe. Give me a call when you’re back in town. Nothing major, I just have some information for you.”

Instead of putting it off till later, I called Dr. Joe. What he had to tell me was that the guy that does the printed circuit boards had finished it. And he had done two boards for us. So, it looks like I can start building the actual circuit board for the project on Wednesday.

Amy and I spent the rest of Tuesday making sure that we had everything we needed for the first week of classes. We then had a nice dinner and a relaxing evening.

Later as we were cuddled together in bed, I said, “I’ve been thinking.”

“Okay.”, Amy said. “About what.”

“I noticed that grandma’s car is still sitting outside at Aunt Ruth’s house. And, it doesn’t look like it’s been driven since she passed.”

“Yeah. So?”

“Someone we know needs a car.”

“Hmm. Yeah. But they don’t have much money.”

“I know. I’ve got to think about how we can do this for them.”

Amy had her class in Nursing Fundamentals today at eight and nine, so I walked her to her classroom and then went to Dr, Joe’s office. The light was on, so he was there. I knocked, and heard Dr. Joe say, “Come.”

I walked in and said, “Yá’át’ééh abiní, Dr. Joe. I just thought that I’d stop and check-in.”

“Well, good morning, Miss Nez.”, Dr. Joe said.

“Aren’t we being formal this morning.”

“Yes, I broke my coffee pot this morning.”

“So, you haven’t had your coffee yet?”

“No.”

“I’m leaving. You are as grumpy as an old bear when you haven’t had your coffee.”

“No. I’m not.”

“Oh, yes, you are. Go get some coffee, and I’ll see you after my grad level class.”

“Okay. Go on.”

I left and walked over to my classroom. No one else was there yet, so I sat at the desk and got everything set up. Finally, some of my students started wandering in and taking their seats.

At nine o’clock, I gave them my welcome back speech — all one minute of it. Then surprise, surprise, surprise, I gave them one of my little quizzes. Then I taught my class. And I did the same thing for my ten o’clock class. After my eleven o’clock grad level class, I took a chance and went back to Dr. Joe’s office. He was there, so I knocked. And, I heard, “Come.”

I opened the door, stuck my head in, and asked, “Is it safe to come in?”

“Yes, Kai.”, Dr. Joe said. “It’s safe.”

I walked in and saw a cup of coffee from the student union sitting on his desk. So, I figured that I was safe. And, I said, “So, you have the printed circuit boards.”

“They’re in the file cabinet.”

I walked over to the file cabinet, unlock and opened it. I saw the boards sitting on top of everything else. I took them out, sat down at the work table, and took a close look at them. After a few minutes, I said, “These look great.”

“So, get busy getting the parts mounted.”

I looked at Dr. Joe and said, “It sounds like you need more coffee.”

“I might. But what I really need is lunch. Shall we.”

Dr. Joe and I went to the faculty dining room and had lunch. As we ate, he asked, “Are you a little nervous about starting the new class tomorrow?”

“Not as nervous as I was when I taught my first class this past fall.”, I replied.

“You’ll do fine.”

“Going to sit in.”

“No, you are an excellent instructor and don’t need someone watching over you.”

“Thank you.”

“Kai, it’s the truth.”

After lunch, I made a list of the parts that I’d need and went to the supply room to start pulling them. The only thing that they didn’t have was a socket for one of the integrated circuits. And, that had to be ordered. This wouldn’t put me behind as I’d work around it.

Dr. Joe and I called it a day at about four o’clock, and I walked back to the apartment. Amy was already there, and she was working on dinner. And, I asked, “So, how was your class?”

“It was great. These girls have a want to learn.”

“They have a great instructor.”

“I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“Only one. You.”

“How was your day?”

“I found out that I don’t want to be around Dr. Joe until after he’s had his coffee.”

“That’s what Mary told me. She doesn’t talk to him until he’s had coffee.”

“Well, he didn’t have it this morning. He broke his coffee maker.”