Naainish was recovering from the injuries that he suffered in the traffic accident quicker than the doctors thought he would. And while we were visiting with him, we ran into his surgeon that had made a bet with me that Naainish would be in the hospital for at least three weeks, I had said about a week. And his surgeon, Dr. MacCallum, had admitted that he’d lost the bet.

Then Dr. MacCallum and the rest of us got into a discussion about the interaction of the spirits. I think he’s beginning to see that there is some merit to it, especially when he found out that Ajie had put on a seminar for the hospital and had now written a textbook for a class that she would be presenting next spring quarter.

Then, as no surprise to me, the publisher that was looking at Ajie’s textbook wants to publish it. And Vickie told her at lunch. Also, Vickie had said that her book was perfect to use as part of her doctoral dissertation.

Ajie hadn’t come home until two in the morning from a shift in the ER. They must have been busy. And now she was working ten to six today. This is nuts! Two days of four to midnight and then a day of ten to six.

I was awake before she was on Sunday morning and decided to make a good breakfast for her. Yes, it was frybread breakfast tacos. I’d waited until I heard her in the shower before I started to cook things.

I sat in the big room and read. At about eight-thirty, I heard Ajie in the shower, so I went to work cooking. She was quickly finished with her shower and came out to the kitchen in her robe and said, “What smells so good?”

“Frybread breakfast tacos.”, I replied. “Help me finish, and we can eat.”

As we ate, Ajie filled me in on her night. She said it was one car crash after another, two gunshot wounds, and one of those was dead when he got there, and various other things. Then on the way home, she saw another bad accident on the other side of the interstate, she didn’t stop to help as the police, fire department, and two ambulances were already there.

“I hope today won’t be that bad.”, I said.

“It shouldn’t.”, Ajie replied. “What are you going to do?”

“Housework, work on my dissertation, and check out the Corvette for next weekend.”

“Not going for a ride without me?”

“I may take the Vette and put some gas in it. And we may take the ‘57 out for dinner.”

“That would be fun.”

“No problem.”

“Remember, I’ll type up your dissertation for you.”, Ajie said.

“I know, and I appreciate it.”, I replied.

“Anything for you lover. And, surprise me as to where we’re going for dinner..”

“I’ll do that.”

After we finished eating breakfast, Ajie ran back to the master suite and quickly changed into her uniform. I walked with her to the car, we kissed, and she said, “I would rather be here with you.”

Knowing what her answer would be, I said, “Call off.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“I know. I was just tempting you.”

She kissed me again, then said, “I’ve got to go.”

After Ajie left, I did some housework, and that included washing Ajie’s uniforms, as the washing machine was running. I moved some wood from the big pile to the hogan and the courtyard. When I finished with the wash, I went out to the garage, pulled the cover off the ‘57 Chevy, and pulled it outside. I carefully went over it from stem to stern, and it looked to be just fine. Then I moved it over to Ajie’s garage space.

Then I walked over and uncovered the Corvette and pulled it outside. And like with the ‘57, I went over it very carefully, and it too was in good shape, but as I thought it needed gas. So I locked up the house and headed to the gas station at Tramway Boulevard and the interstate.

The guys at the service station have seen both the Vette and the ‘57 Chevy before. So when I pulled in, one of them ran out to the car and asked, “High test. Right?”

“Yep. Fill her up.”, I replied.

“Check the oil and tires?”

“No, just did that.”

The guy shook his head and said, “Lady, I still can’t believe that you know cars as well as you do.”

“It comes from being a Tomboy and a nerd.”, I replied.

“You know we play rock-paper-scissors to see whose going to come out and service your car.”

I smiled and said, “It’s only a car.”

“Yeah. Right, lady. Both of your cars are hot.”

I wondered what they thought about me.

As I paid the attendant for my gas, I noticed a guy filling his tires with air, and he was paying more attention to me and/or the car then I was comfortable with. Something about this guy bothered me. As I started the Vet, I saw him get into his car, and start it. I pulled out of the gas station and headed towards home. Looking in the rearview mirror, I noticed that he pulled out and follow me.

When Ajie and I had gone for drives, we’d explored the area around the house. So, I knew the roads in the area well. If this guy was following me, I was hoping that he didn’t know the roads. And if he was following me, he was in for a ride. The car he was driving had more horsepower than the Corvette but was also heavier. And I knew that the Corvette could handle the curvy mountain roads around here better then his could.

I drove east on Tramway Boulevard until I hit a road that I knew well. This road led to some roads that would make a slithering snake look like a straight line. At this point, he was about a hundred yards behind me. After I’d turned, I watched in the rearview mirror, and I saw him turn onto the road behind me.

The next road that I turned onto was much narrower and curvier, and he followed me. I opened up the Vette, and it went through the turns like the sports car that it is. I turned onto another road, and the switchbacks on it were hairpin. When I was going into the second switchback, I could see the first switchback, and I saw him going into it, but never again.

I continued driving around various roads for a while longer, being careful where I turned to be sure I didn’t go down a dead-end road. I did work my way closer to the house, and I also slowed down. I didn’t want to attract the attention of the local police.

I went to the house using the back roads. But, before I turned down our cul-de-sac road, I sat at the intersection for a few minutes. And no one came along. I finally drove up our road, into our driveway, and into the garage. I don’t know who that guy was, and I don’t think I want to know.

As I got out of the car, I carefully looked it over to be sure that I hadn’t done any damage to it. I’d only been on two short dirt roads. And the only thing that I noticed was that it was dusty and the tires need to be cleaned. An hour later, I was in the shower.

When Ajie came home, she quickly changed, we jumped into ‘57 Chevy and headed for Old Town Albuquerque and the La Placita Dining Rooms. On the way, I filled her in on the guy following me and what I did to lose him. She wasn’t happy about the guy following me and asked me to be careful. I was thinking about carrying one of the pistols with me when I was out alone. I know I’m reasonably proficient in Karate, but you never know. But I didn’t say anything to Ajie about the gun.

As we had a nice leisurely dinner, Ajie asked, “Do you think you would recognize the guy that followed you?”

“I did get a good look at him while they were fueling the Vette. His blond hair will help if I ever see him again.”

When we were back home, I made some fresh sangria, and we spent some time out in the courtyard before bed. One of us was very tired and was quickly asleep. Then I laid there listening to Ajie's slow rhythmic breathing, and then I was quickly asleep.

Monday, it was back to the routine. Both of us had classes to teach, and I had a research project to work on. And there were questions about the circuits in the Apollo spacecraft from students in all of my classes.

When I walked into the office, Dr. Joe said, “Have you seen the Daily Lobo yet?”

“No. Why?”, I asked.

“There’s a copy on the work table for you. Take a look.”

I walked over to the work table, and there was me, on the front page, looking back at me. The headline of the article said, ‘UNM Helps Apollo Program.’

I read the article, and they’d done a very excellent job, except they had me as Dr. Kai Nez. I’ve gotten this before, so no big deal. Then I looked at the caption under the picture of me holding up the small printed circuit board, and it said, ‘Professor Kai Nez of the Electrical Engineering Department holding the computer circuit that she designed and build.’

“Professor!?”, I said. “What the hell!”

I looked at Dr. Joe. He was grinning. Then he said, “Kai, it’s just another title for a Ph.D.”

“I don’t have a Ph.D., And I’m certainly not a professor.”

“Yet.”

“If this keeps up. Never.”

Then, Dr. Joe said, “The Albuquerque paper picked up the article, and it’s in today's edition?”

“If they didn’t change anything, except the caption under the picture, it’ll be fine.”, I said.

“It’s all the same.”

“Oh, Great Spirit!” I picked up my purse, and as I started to walk out the door, I said, “I need to take a walk.”

I left the office and went out on to the campus and walked around for a short time. Then I went back to the office, and Dr. Joe was gone. So, I went to work on the project. I figured that this would take my mind off of things.

After a couple of hours on the project, I met up with Ajie. When she saw me, she said, “Hello, Professor Nez.”

“I scowled at her and said, “Don’t go there.”

“Why not. Get your doctorate, and you can be called that.”

“When and if I get my doctorate, okay. But not before.”

“Sorry.”

We then went over to our lawyer’s office and met with our lawyer, Mary Harman. Ajie wanted her to look at the contract that the publishing company had sent. Mary took a quick look at it and said that it looked like a standard contract. But, that she’d like to have another lawyer look it over before Ajie signed it. And we agreed that it would be fine. We left the contract with her.

After we left our lawyer's office, we found a payphone, and Ajie called the hospital to check on Naainish. After she asked his condition, I saw a smile appear on her face. As she hung up, Ajie said, “They released Naainish early this afternoon.”

“That’s wonderful.”, I said. “I sure hope he went to the resort.”

“We’ll call Aunt Ruth when we get home.”

I took Ajie to her car at the university, and she followed me home. The first thing we did when we were home and had our clothes changed was to call Aunt Ruth and check on Naainish. And he was with them and doing fine. We told her what was going on this weekend, and that we’d try to come up on Saturday to see them and Naainish.

Then I called my friend Zimm from the Albuquerque Parks Department. And when he answered the phone, I said, “Hi, Zim. It’s Kai Nez.”

“Hello, Kai.”, Zimm said. “I haven’t heard from you for a while.”

“Sorry. It’s been crazy. But we think that the Golden Eagle is building a nest just across our property line in the Nation Forest. Isn’t that too close to people?”

“Maybe. The Eagle may start the nest then abandon it. But if he feels safe, he may stay. It’ll be interesting to see what he does.”

“It will.”, I said.

“Do you have any place where I could mount a time-lapse camera?”, Zimm asked.

“How close do you have to be?”

“The closer, the better.”

“My neighbors have a nice tree that right on the property line and is probably less than a hundred feet away from the nesting tree, and it’s accessible from our property.”

“Do you think that they’d let us use it?”

“I can ask.”

“Tell them it won’t hurt the tree.”

We talked a little more, and I told Zimm that I’d let him know as soon as I spoke to my neighbors.

On Tuesday, we got back together with Mary Harman and the other lawyer, a Mr. Benjamin Davis. He explained that it indeed was a standard contract, and it's written so that it protected both the publisher and the writer. And he also said that if Ajie wanted them to publish her book, that she should go ahead and sign the contract and return it. Ajie signed it right then and there, and Mary Harman and Mr. Davis witnessed it.

Mary made two copies of the contract, one for her and one for Ajie. Then Ajie put the original in the postpaid envelope and sealed it. Then on the way home, we stopped, and Ajie ran the envelope into the post office.

I decided that this deserved a celebration dinner. And that made for a stop at our favorite drive-in. As we sat there enjoying our cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes, As we ate, Ajie said, “You know. With these adoptions coming up, I thought that we’d better look into some parenting classes.”

“That might be a good idea.”, I replied. “What have you found?”

“I mentioned it to Vickie. And she said that the College of Education has something like that through the hospital and the pediatric department. I guess nurses and others teach it.”

“Sign us up.”

“Already have.”

“I figured as much.”, I said. “When?”

“They have a three hour class next week on Wednesday evening from seven to ten.”, Ajie replied.

“That works for me.”

“I’m wondering how things are going with the girl.”

“Me too.”

“Think I should call caseworker?”, Ajie asked.

“Couldn’t hurt.”, I replied.

“I’ll do that tomorrow.”

When we were home, I called our next-door neighbors, Hosteen and Jáan Tl'izilani, who own the adobe building company that built our house, and we bought the house from. I talked to Hosteen about them putting a camera in the tree. He was more excited about the Eagle being there than the camera. And he told me that it would be fine to put the camera in the tree.

Wednesday, Ajie did call our caseworker, Mrs. Biakeddy of the Navajo Children and Family Services, and asked how things were going with the girl and the twins. Mrs. Biakeddy told her that as of the girl’s last checkup, everything was on track. Then Ajie told me that she’d reminded Mrs. Biakeddy that we were going to do something for the girl through the American Adoptions’ birth mother scholarship.

I called Lieutenant Zimmerman from the Albuquerque Parks Department and told him first that the Eagle was still hanging around and that I’d spoken with my neighbor, and it was okay to install a camera on the tree. He asked if he could stop by on Friday evening and install it. I said, bring a ladder.

The rest of the week was about the same, except there were no more questions about the Apollo spacecraft. And, Dr. Joe and I were getting close to finishing the project for Los Alamos. And next week will probably see that accomplished.

On Friday after classes, Ajie and I ran to Mrs. Cyl’s shop to pick up our headdresses. She brought the case that we carry headdresses in out from the back room and set it on the counter. I opened it, and we took the headdresses out of the case and looked at them. Mrs. Cyl’s mother had done a fantastic job of adding the new Eagle feathers to the headdresses. We paid and thanked her, and told her to tell her mother that we’d said that she’d done a great job. And that we hoped to see her at the gathering in November. Mrs. Cyl told us that they were planning on being there.

We were sitting out in the courtyard. And at about seven, we heard the ding from the sensor in the driveway. I looked at Ajie and said, “That must be Zimm.” 

Shortly after that, we heard the ding-dong from the sensor on the front courtyard gate. Then quickly, the doorbell rang. Ajie and I walked to the front door, I opened it, and it was Lieutenant Zimmerman and Ranger Franklin from the Albuquerque Parks Department, so Ajie and I said, “Yá’át’ééh. T'áá shoodí wóshde´e´’. - (It is good. Please come in.)

“Kai.”, Zimm said. “I don’t know what you said. But if this is your house, wow!”

“We gave you the greeting we give everyone when they visit.”, I said. “What we said was, ‘It is good. Please come in.’”

“Thank you.”

We walked into the house, and Zimm and Ranger Franklin looked around. And Zimm said, “I thought we were at the wrong place until I saw the mailbox.”

“No, we wanted something away from town and the lights and noise. Then this came on the market, and we jumped on it.”

“You accomplished getting away from town, and I don’t blame you. So, where’s this Eagle?”

“Follow me.”

I led the four of us out through the courtyard to the backyard. Then I pointed to the tree and said, “Right there.”

The two Rangers looked to where I was pointing. They both took out binoculars that they were carrying and looked. And Zimm said, “There is a new nest there. And I think the bird is there too.”

Then, Zimm asked, “Kai, where’s this other tree?”

As I pointed at it, I said, “Right there.”

Zimm looked at it and said, “Perfect.”

Then the four of us walked around the outside of the house to the truck they’d brought. As Zimm and Ranger Franklin carried an extension ladder, Ajie and I carried the parts to the camera.

The two Rangers put the ladder up against the tree, and Ranger Franklin carrying a rope climbed the ladder. He dropped one end of the rope down and pulled the mount for the camera up the tree. Once Ranger Franklin had the mount installed, he pulled the camera up and put the camera on the mount. Then he carefully aimed the camera.

When Ranger Franklin came down the ladder, he said, “All set, Lieutenant.”

“Thanks, Franklin.”, Zimm replied.

Then Zimm said, “Kai, we’ll need to come out once a week and swap cameras. Could we leave the ladder next to your garage.”

“No problem.”, I said.

The two Rangers carried the ladder over next to the garage and carefully laid it against the wall. As they did, Zimm looked into the garage window and said, “Two cars undercover, Kai?”

“Yes.”, I replied.

“Special?”

“Kind of. Wanna see?”

“You’ve piqued my interest. So, yes.”

I took the two Rangers into the garage, and when I pulled the cover off the ‘57 Chevy. Ranger Franklin whistled and said, “Cool!”

“Very nice, Kai.”, Zimm said. “Is it stock?”

“Yes, except for the seat belts.”

Then I walked back to the Corvette and pulled the cover off of it.

The two Rangers just stared. And I said, “It’s going to the car show on Sunday.”

“It has a Chevy emblem on it.”, Zimm said. “But what is it?”

“It’s a ‘53 Corvette Coupe. One of three-hundred that they made.”

“Kai, you keep surprising me.”

The Rangers then helped me recover the cars. And Ajie invited them into the house for something to drink. No, not sangria.

Saturday morning, after breakfast, we headed north to the resort. As we were getting into the car, I asked, “Honey, did you bring the swimsuits?”

“Yes.”, Ajie replied. “But, I don’t know if Naainish has one.”

“If he doesn’t. We’ll figure something out.”

You see, we were planning on getting Naainish into one of the thermal pools to help with his healing.

As we pulled up to my aunt and uncle’s house at the resort, there was a strange car there. We walked in and found everyone in the living room with Naainish in one of the recliners. His arm was, as I expected it would be, still in a cast. And Quah Ah was also here along with my aunt and uncle, and I said, “Yá'át'ééh t'áá ájíltso. Nizhonigó íiná aadóó hozhónahasdlíí. - (Hello everyone. It is good, and all is harmony around us.)”

We received a “Yá’át’ééh abiní, Kai dóó Ajie.” – (Good morning, Kai and Ajie.)” back.

“So, Naainish.”, Ajie asked. “Have you been behaving yourself?”

“If you mean staying out of the hogan. Yes. I can’t walk that far yet.”, Naainish said.

“Have you been to the thermal pools?”

“No.”

“I thought as much.”, Ajie said. “So, guess what we’re going to do today?”

“I can’t get this cast wet.”, Naainish replied.

“No, you can’t.”, Ajie said. “But, you can get in up to your waist.”

“What good will that do?”

“A lot. It’ll help your leg. Plus, inhaling the fumes will help everything else.”

“Isn’t that what we’ve told you.”, Quah Ah said.

“I can’t walk that far.”, Naainish said.

Ajie, in her take-charge voice, said, “Naainish! Stop fighting it. We can drive you closer to the pools and help you walk the rest of the way. I know you were walking some before you left the hospital.”

“And, he’s been walking in the house using only a cane.”, Aunt Ruth said.

“I don’t have anything to wear.”, Naainish said.

Ajie looked at Aunt Ruth, and Aunt Ruth said, “We’ll find you something.”

Naainish sat back, folded his arms, and said, “I’m losing this argument.”

“You’re arguing with Ajie, and that’s never a good thing.”, I said.

Half an hour later, we, Ajie, Quah Ah, and I, were helping Naainish out of the car. And we helped him walk the short distance to the bathhouse and then to one of the pools. We chose the Iron Spring because no one else was there, and it’s supposed to help the blood and immune system.

We helped Naainish into the pool so he wouldn’t get his cast wet. All of his surgery had healed, but this should help the scarring to be at a minimum.

After we’d been in the pool for about fifteen minutes, Naainish said, “This feels good, and I can feel the spirits of the springs.”

“As you should, Naainish.”, I said.

“You should have started this earlier, Naainish.”, Ajie admonished him.

“You’re right.”, Naainish admitted.

“Naainish, I’m going to prescribe two soaks a day for the next five days.”

“You’d better listen to Dr. Ajie.”, Quah Ah said.

“I will.”, Naainish replied.

After we were out of the pools, we went back to the house, and Aunt Ruth put us to work helping her make lunch. As we were eating, we told them about the Apollo launch, and we talked about that for a little while. Then we brought up the car show tomorrow. And when we mentioned the car show, I noticed that it piqued my uncle's interest.

We stayed at the resort and saw to it that Naainish had his second soak in the thermal pools, and then as we were saying hágoónee' - (see you later) to everyone, Quah Ah walked out to the car with us. And she asked, “Kai and Ajie, is Naainish going to be okay?”

“Quah Ah.”, Ajie said. “I feel that he will. He had good doctors and surgeons when he was at the hospital. I know all of them and trust them all. It will just take time for everything to heal.”

Quah Ah looked at me and said, “Kai?”

“His spirits are strong.”, I said. “And today I felt them accept what the spirits of the pools offered. He is making a good recovery.”

“I’m glad.”, Quah Ah said. “I’m planning on hanging around until he recovers.”

“Then, your spirits will help him.”

“Yes, I know. And thank you both for coming up today. Naainish needed Ajie’s strength to get him into the pools.”

“Quah Ah.”, Ajie said. “Naainish means a lot to us. We will do everything in our power to see that he recovers fully.”

The three of us hugged, and then Ajie and I headed back to Albuquerque and home.

As we drove south, Ajie asked, “Do you feel anything between Quah Ah and Naainish?”

“Not really.”, I replied. “I just think that it’s a concern for him. Besides, Naainish is old enough to be Quah Ah’s father.”

When we were back home, and after dinner, we went over the Corvette with a fine-toothed comb. We wanted it to be perfect for tomorrow. I did find a couple of small things that I quickly took care of.

Sunday morning Ajie and I filled our water bottles, put them in the backpack, and headed to the New Mexico State Fairgrounds in Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Classic Car Club car show. We dressed as we do for the barbecues at the resort, long skirts, fancy blouses, and wrap moccasins. I had my hair done in a single braid, and Ajie’s was in a double braid. We kept our headbands simple. And we kept our jewelry to a mild roar, Concho belts, a few bracelets, a few rings, and just the ever-present meteorite necklaces.

Just before eight-thirty, we were in line to enter the fairgrounds, and there were many beautiful cars in the line, some of them on trailers. As we made it to the gate, they asked our name and the year and make of the car. After I told them, they handed me a card with a number on it and told us to place it on the windshield. Then I asked, “Could you tell me where the Albuquerque Classic Car Club tent is?”

The guy gave me directions as he handed me some papers, which I handed to Ajie. And I followed his directions to the tent. As I drove, Ajie asked, “Did you know that this is a judged show?”

“A judged show? No, I didn’t.”

“It is. One of these papers is a judging sheet.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, and the other papers are a list by entry number of everyone that’s registered.”

We quickly found the tent, and I parked in front of it. Ajie stayed in the car as I went looking for Dean Rutherford. When I found him, he said, “Oh, good Miss Nez. You’re here. And you did bring the Corvette. Didn’t you?”

“Yes, sir, we did.”, I replied.

“Let me show you where to put it.”

As we walked, I said, “Sir, I didn’t know that this was a judged show.”

“Didn’t I tell you?”, Dean Rutherford asked.

“No, sir, you didn’t.”

“Would you have come if I did?”

“Yes, but I may have done some different things.”

“Don’t worry. It’s a friendly show.”

He showed me to the place that was reserved for us. And it was the last spot at the east end of the tent. I walked back to the Vette and drove it over to where the Dean had shown me to park and parked it.

As Ajie and I were dusting it off, the Dean and three other men walked over, and the Dean asked, “Miss Nez, has this car ever received a condition rating?”

“Not that I know of.”, I replied. “What’s a condition rating?”

“It’s a rating system for the condition of the car. There are two of them. There’s a one-hundred point system that ranks a car from zero to one-hundred, where one-hundred is the best. And a six-point system, where one is the best. We use the one-hundred point system.”

“I don’t think that my father ever had it done, and I know it hasn't been done since it’s been out here.”

“These three gentlemen would be happy to rate the Corvette if you want them to.”, the Dean said.

“Sure. Go ahead. It’ll be good to know.”

One of the men asked, “Has this car had any restoration?” 

“No, sir.”, I replied. “My father bought it in 1954 from the original owner. And the only modification was when seat belts were added.”

“Interesting. So, do you mind if we go over the car?”

“No, sir. Be my guest.”

“Would you open the hood and trunk for us?”

I opened the hood and trunk and removed the two folding chairs from the trunk.

The Dean stood there with Ajie and me while we watched the three men go over the car. Finally, they put their heads together, and then the one man said, “Young lady, you have a very nice car here.”

“Thank you, sir.”, I said.

“And after giving it a good going over and knowing that you drove it in here, we need to give this car a rating of ninety-one. Which is an excellent rating.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The three men then filled out a certificate, signed it, filled out some other paperwork, and handed me the certificate. The certificate was titled, The Classic Car Club Of America Official Rating. And along with the rating number, it had a description of the car, and Ajie and I listed as owners on it.

As the three men walked away, the Dean said, “I thought that this car was in the high eighty low ninety range, and I was right.”

“I’m surprised.”, I said.

“You shouldn’t be, Miss Nez. It’s a wonderful car.”

“Yes, it is.”

Someone then showed up with a sign that had all the information that I’d given the Dean on the Corvette on it. The man placed the sign in front of the car.

Then I asked the Dean, “So, this is a judged show?”

“Yes.”, the Dean said. “It always has been.”

Just then, I saw him. I saw the guy that had followed me out of the gas station. And he was heading towards us. I asked the Dean, “Dean, who’s the blond-headed guy walking towards us with the two other guys.”

“That’s Edward Price, the president of the local chapter of the Sports Car Club of America.”

“Hmm. Edward Price, Huh.”

“Why?”

I then quickly told the Dean about the guy following me from the gas station. He asked me if I was sure. I told him that I was.

Ajie had heard the Dean and me talking. I turned and looked at her, and I knew she knew how I was feeling right now.

The three men walked up to us and looked at the car, and the blond guy, Edward Price, said, “That is a 1953 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster.”

“Yeah.”, I said. “It’s the one that you chased through the hills and mountains east of the interstate last Sunday.”

He looked at me a little sheepishly and said, “I … I shouldn’t have done that.”

“No, you shouldn’t have! You had me worried. I had no idea who the hell you were or what you wanted. Just be happy you didn’t catch up to me. I carry a gun, a big gun when I’m out driving alone. And I’m not afraid to use it.”

“I’m … I’m … I’m sorry. I saw the car at the gas station, and I wanted to get a better look at it.”

“Why in the hell didn’t you just walk up to me at the gas station?”, I asked.

“I don’t know.”, Edward Price said. “I just wasn’t thinking.”

“Not thinking can cause a lot of trouble for a lot of people.”

“Yeah, it can. … Could we look at the car?”

“That’s what it’s here for.”

Edward Price and his two friends gave the Corvette a good going over. While they did that, I put the certificate of rating that I’d received on the windshield.

Then Edward Price asked, “This is completely stock?”

“Except for the seat belts.”, I replied.

“What a great car!”

“Thanks.”

As the Dean and the three guys walked away together, and I heard Edward Price ask the Dean, “Does she really carry a gun.”

I heard the Dean reply, “Knowing her, yes.”

Ajie asked me, “You didn’t have a gun with you that day, did you?”

“No.”, I replied. “But maybe I’ll start carrying one when I’m out alone.”

That got me a raised eyebrow, and a, “I guess I better not let you out by yourself.”

We set up the two folding chairs, sat by the Vette, and watched other cars come in. There were Fords, Chevys, Chryslers, British cars, motorcycles, police cars, and even a couple of firetrucks. And a number of them were on trailers. We saw Chief Clah and his wife pull in in their Corvette.

Once it appeared that all the cars that were coming were here and just before ten o’clock when they opened up to the public, five guys with clipboards were walking around from car to car. When they reached us, they asked for the score sheet that we'd been given. I handed it to them, the one guy took it, and the five of them took a couple of minutes to go over the car. When they gave the sheet back to me, we had a score of one-hundred-three. We’d gotten perfect scores for the body, interior, engine compartment, and safety. Plus three bonus points for the car being between ten and twenty years old.

At ten, when they opened the gates to the public, we watched as people, a lot of people walked in. They walked around, looking at the cars that were here. Some would slowly walk past, others would stop and look from a distance, and others would come closer for a good look and ask questions.

Then I saw my two uncles, Uncle Paul and Uncle Gaagii, walk up, and say “Yá’át’ééh. - (It is good.)”

Ajie and I returned the yá’át’ééh. And I added, “What are you two doing here?”

“What else.”, Uncle Paul said. “Looking at the cars.”

Uncle Gaagii looked at the Corvette very carefully, then said, “Kai, this is one great car. And that rating they gave it is well deserved.”

“Thanks, Uncle Gaagii.”, I replied. “I’ll tell my dad that you said that.”

“That’s right. This was his.”

“Yes, and he decided to leave it out here.”

“So, he gave it to you?”

“Yes, with the understanding that he could drive it whenever they’re out here.”

“I’d love to take this for a spin sometime.”

“Anytime, Uncle Gaagii. We can bring it to the resort sometime when you’re there, or you can come and visit us. Just let us know.”

“Thanks, Kai. I will.”

Just then, I saw someone that we’d met a while back, and I wondered why he was here. So, I said, “Why’s he here?”

“Who?”, Uncle Gaagii asked.

“Mayor Rodrìguez.”

“He’s out shaking hands. It’s something politicians do.”

The Mayor and a group of others were walking around looking at cars and talking to people. When he was close to us, he stopped and took a good look at our car. Then he, followed by his entourage, walked over to us, and gave the Corvette a close look, then he looked at me and said, “A very nice car.”

“Thank you, Mayor Rodrìguez.”

“Do I know you?”

“Yes, sir. We met at Etsitty’s New Years Day party.”

“Oh, yes. I remember you—the girl with an attitude. Let’s see. Your name is … is … ”

“Kai Nez. And, yes, I’ve been told that I have an attitude at times.”

“Well, Miss Nez, you have a very nice car here.”

“Thank you, sir.”

With that, the mayor and his people walked away.

My uncles looked at me, and Uncle Paul said, “You know him?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”, I said. “We were at a New Years Day party, and he was talking down woman, and I stood up to him.”

“Don’t like him. Do you?”

“Not at all. And if we lived in Albuquerque, I’d be working for his opponent in the next election.”

“You get involved in politics?”

“Not that I’d want to, but in certain cases, I just might.”

My uncles wandered off to look at the rest of the show. We sat, and people watched.

Around one o’clock, Ajie said, “Honey, I’m hungry. Why don’t you go and get us something?”

I grabbed my purse, slung it over my shoulder, and headed to where the food vendors were. It took a while for me to get our food, and when I came back, four rosette ribbons were hanging from the sign that described the car. I stopped and stared. Then Ajie said, “Ten minutes after you went for food, a group of men from the show showed up. And they presented me with these ribbons.”

“You are kidding me!?”, I said.

“No, I’m not kidding.”

The rosettes on the four ribbons had a fancy center that said ‘1968 Albuquerque Classic Car Show’ on them. Then on one of the blue ribbons, it had ‘First Place – Best Corvette’. Another one that was also blue had ‘First Place -- 1950’s Group’ on it. Another one that was white had ‘Third Place – Best Sports Car’. And the fourth one in yellow had, ‘Best in Show – Honorable Mention’.

I just stared for a minute, then Ajie said, “Can I have the food?”

“Oh. Yeah. Sure.”, I replied as I handed her a bag.

Ajie looked in the bag and said, “Hamburgers?”

“It was either that, hot dogs, slices of pizza, or tacos.”

As I handed her another bag, I said, “Here’s the french fries. They may be a little greasy.”

“I’ll pass.”

“Oh, good. More for me.”

Ajie glared at me and said, “Go easy on them.”

I smiled and said, “I will.”

We sat ate, people watched, and answered questions about the car. At about two-thirty, a small group of people was walking towards us. The group included the Mayor and Dean Rutherford.

As they got to where we were, they walked up to us. Ajie and I stood, and then I noticed that someone was carrying a trophy, and there was a photographer with them. I thought, ‘Now what!?’

One of the guys, who was wearing a name tag that said, ‘Thomas Clark, President – A.C.C.C.’, looked at us, and said, “Ladies, I’m Tom Clark, President of the Albuquerque Classic Car Club and I want to thank you for bringing this great car to share with us. And this is the first year that we’ve offered this trophy. We asked the Mayor to come and pick his favorite car, and he’s chosen your Corvette.”

Then looking at the Mayor, Mr. Clark said, “Mr. Mayor, if you’d do the honors.”

“I’d be happy to, Mr. Clark.”, Mayor Rodrìguez said.

“Ladies, come stand with me in front of your car so that they can get some pictures.”, Mayor Rodrìguez said.

The Mayor, Ajie, and I moved in front of the car. The Mayor took the trophy from the guy carrying it and said, “Ladies, it is with great honor that I present the first Mayor’s Trophy at the Albuquerque Classic Car Show to you and this beautiful car.”

He shook our hands and handed the trophy to me.

I said, “Thank you, sir. This is completely unexpected.”

And the photographer took a couple of posed pictures. I smiled but was thinking, ‘I don’t want my picture taken with this guy.’

After the picture taking was all done, the Dean walked over, handed me a soft cloth, and said, “Here. If you want to set the trophy on the hood of the car, you can use the cloth to protect the car.”

I took the cloth from the Dean, folded it in half, placed it on the hood of the Corvette, and placed the trophy on the hood. The photographer took another picture of the trophy and then everyone, but the Dean walked away.

Then the Dean said, “Well, Miss Nez, was it worth it coming to the show?”

“Yes.”, I replied. “It was fun.”

Just then, Chief Clah walked up, and he was smiling. And I said, “Yá’át’ééh, Naat'áanii Clah.”

“Yá’át’ééh, Kai dóó Ajie.”, Chief Clah said. “And congratulations. You did well with your Corvette.”

“Yeah, first timer’s luck.”

“Not at all. Everyone here that has a Corvette loved your car. And they want you to come to one of the Corvette Car Club meetings.”

“Oh. Let me know when and where they are. And we'll try to come.”

“I’ll do that.”

“Have you heard anything from Mrs. Biakeddy on the adoptions?”

“Ajie talked with her the other day, and everything is going as planned. And we’re starting parenting classes this Wednesday.”

“Good idea. Are you still going to do something for the mother?”

“Of course. But we’re not sure what.”

“You do know about the scholarship for people like her. Don’t you?”

“Of course. We know that she’s homeschooling right now and wants to become a teacher. And, that fits into the Chief Todachine Scholarship. But, we feel that it shouldn’t come from that, but from us.”

“Good. Keep me informed as to how things are going. “Hágoónee', Kai dóó Ajie. - (See you later, Kai and Ajie.)

“Hágoónee', Chief Clah.”

I knew that Dean had been standing close and probably overheard what the Chief and I had said. And I was right. The Dean walked closer and said, “Miss Nez, did I hear that you were going to adopt?”

“Yes, sir.”, I said. “If everything works out, it’ll be around the first of December.”

“I didn’t know.”

“Dr. Oshie didn’t tell you?”

“If he knows, he didn’t tell me.”

“He knows. And it surprises me that he didn’t tell at least you.”, I said. “He’s usually not good at keeping secrets. Even though we’re not keeping this secret.”

“Well, he kept this secret.”, the Dean said.

“I guess he did. Then you don’t know that we’re trying to adopt twins and that they are Navajo.”

“Knowing you, I’m not surprised that they’d be Navajo. But being twins is a surprise.”

“I know. It started with us looking for one child, and then we were offered twins because they want to keep them together. And we accepted.”

“And you’re planning on giving the mother a scholarship?”

“It appears that she wants to be a teacher, and if she does and stays local, it should help the Navajo people. So we figure that we can help her.”

“Miss Nez.”, then looking at Ajie, the Dean added, “And you too, Miss Nez. You two amaze me every time I hear about you doing something for the Navajo people.”

“It’s just who we are, Dean Rutherford.”, Ajie said.

“And you know. I’m glad that I know the two of you.”

“Thank you, sir.”, I said.

The car show closed at three-thirty, and it took us until four-thirty to get out of the fairgrounds. As we were sitting waiting to get out of the fairgrounds, Ajie said, “How about we stop and get some good hamburgers for dinner.”

“What I got us for lunch wasn’t good?”, I asked.

“No.”

“Okay, the drive-in?”

“Much better.”

We headed for the drive-in. And as we pulled in with the top down on the Corvette, we drew a lot of attention. I found a parking spot with an empty spot on either side, backed in, and turned on the headlights. And shortly, one of the carhops ran out to us. He stopped, took a good look at the car, walked up to us, and said, “We were trying to guess what kind of car this is?”

“It’s a ‘53 Corvette Coupe.”

“I was right! I said it was a Corvette.”

We placed our order, and as we waited, we listened to the radio. Then Ajie said, “Your Dean was sure surprised with us adopting.”

“I know, and I’d swear that he knew. And he was also surprised about the scholarship.”

“People are surprised when they learn that we do things like that.”

“Yes, they are.”

Just then, a man, not one of the carhops, brought out our food. As he walked up and hung our food on the window, he said, “Hi, I’m Mr. Garver. I own the drive-in, and one of the boys said that this is a ‘53 Corvette, and I just had to see it.”

“He was right.”, I said.

“He usually is. He knows his cars. And this car is a beauty.”

“Thanks. We were just at the car show.”

“I usually go, but I couldn’t this year.”

“We might bring it back to the show next year.”

“I hope you do. Enjoy your food.”

“Thanks. We always do.”

We ate our cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes. And then we headed home with no one following us.

When we were home, we carried all of our prizes into the house. As we looked at them, I said, “What should we do with them?”

Ajie thought for a minute, then said, “We can take a good picture of the Corvette, maybe from the side, with the sign in front of it with the ribbons on the sign. Then put it in a large enough frame to hold the picture, along with the rating certificate and the ribbons.”

“Hmm. I like that. What do we do with the trophy?”

“I don’t know. Maybe put it on the mantel.”

“If we had a basement, I’d say put it down there to chase the mice away.”

“Kai, it’s a nice trophy.”

“I know. It’s just who presented it.”

“We can put it on the bookcase in the office.”

“Okay.”

When we called our parents, one of the things we told them about was the car show, and my dad got a big laugh out of the awards that we’d been given, including the Mayor’s Trophy. Then we told them about Ajie’s book being published. And Naainish being released from the hospital.

With Naainish's early release from the hospital, my mother asked, "Kai. Honey, did you have anything to do with that?"

"Who me?", I said.

"Yes, you."