Part 2: Post Val Edward
by Bobbie Cabot
Bye
The following day, Val woke up early so that she could get a crack at the bathroom ahead of the girls. As it is, she had just finished her shower, put on her panties and groin guard, and then her bathrobe, when the others came bustling in.
“Val!” Arianne exclaimed. “What are you doing! Momo, get her wheelchair.”
Momo-chan sped to Val’s room and came back in less than a minute with her wheelchair, and the girls helped her into it.
“Guys, this is getting too much,” Val said after she was helped into her wheelchair. “I can take care of myself!”
Jazz kissed her on the cheek. “We know that, sweetie. Just indulge us, okay? Soon, you’ll be done getting well and you won’t need the wheelchair.”
“Okay…” Val grumbled and allowed Momo to push her back to her room.
“I’m sorry, Vale-san,” Momo said after parking her in front of their dresser. “I’m sure you’re getting frustrated, but it’s just for a little while. Dr. Penny said you will be back on your feet in a couple of days. But you have to rest and not strain yourself.”
Val reached up and brought Momo’s head down so she could give her a hug around the neck. Momo might not be too into the hugging and everything, but she didn’t mind this time.
“I know it,” Val said. “I’m sorry for being such a surly patient. Thank you for taking care of me, Momo-chan.”
“It is my pleasure, Vale-san,” she grinned. “Now, I have to get back to the bathroom or someone will beat me to the showers.” She rushed out of the room.
Val selected the khaki-colored jumpsuit this time, and wore the white form-fitting turtleneck which Theo got someone to wash, and matched it with some wolly socks and the Chuck Taylor sneakers again. She also got all of her stuff packed and by the time the girls came back, she was all ready to go.
“I’m all set,” Val said from her wheelchair. Would you guys mind, and help me get to the van?”
Rose left and came back with one of those airport baggage carts, and the girls helped and piled it with Val’s three big bags. Ashanti got the wheelie and Val had her backpack and pink blazer on her lap. Holding on to Arianne’s hand, she left her room with her new friends, and went downstairs. Many of the girls in the dorm watched them pass, and Val smiled at them.
Pretty soon, after a quick breakfast in the cafeteria, they were in the parking lot again. Theo was there to help load the bags into the van. He also got the wheelchair and, after pulling a couple of handles, he was able to collapse the chair into a third of its width. He deftly put it in with the other bags, smiled, and went to the front.
“So,” Maia said. “All set?”
“Sure thing, Doc,” Val said.
She turned to the others. “Well, that’s it guys. See you next year then.”
Some of the girls started to cry, especially Momo.
“Stop it, guys,” Val said. She went to Momo. “Don’t cry Momo-chan. I’ll be back. Next semester will be here before you know it. So no crying, okay?”
“Okay, Vale-san,” Momo sniffed.
Val gave each a kiss and a hug, and climbed into the van.
Maia then climbed in after Val and waved.
“See you girls later,” she said, and closed the door.
Val turned to look at them as they pulled away. She waved and they waved back.
Lobsters and Salmon
It was pretty quiet in the van. To break the uneasy silence, Theo turned the car stereo on. He played subdued pop-jazz music, and turned the quiet into a much friendlier kind of quiet.
“I love Depapepe,” Val mumbled.
“You do?” Theo said. “Me, too! I love ‘Start’ the best myself.”
“You’re playing ‘Sunshine Surf,’ right?”
“Yep! To me, it’s the best driving music. Very peppy.”
“I don’t know about that,” Val said. “Have you heard ‘Summer Parade?’”
Theo laughed. “That’s actually queued up next.”
Val giggled. “Cool.” They then had a long discussion about music and bands, and Theo mentioned a band called “Dead Man Fall,” and played a song from them called “Bang your Drum.”
“Cool,” Val said as she listened to the song.
Dr. Penny leaned over and whispered to Theo. “Thank you, dear. You got Val out of her funk.”
Theo shrugged. “No problem,” he whispered back. “I just got lucky.”
“Oh, no!” Val suddenly exclaimed. Penny and Maia turned to her in alarm.
“What, Val!” Penny said.
“Ummm… I just realized I forgot to buy any souvenirs or anything like that for my folks…”
And everyone broke out laughing. Val gave them a sour look.
“No problem, Val,” Theo said. “If you look in the back, there are three sealed styrofoam packing boxes there. Those are a couple of lobsters and a large salmon packed in ice. By the time we get you home, the ice’ll be half melted, but they’ll still be good, and the boxes are meant not to leak. There’s also a big plastic grocery bag there full of packages of dulse seaweed chips.”
“But, Theo,” Val said, “these are yours – I can’t take them! Aren’t they meant for someone?”
“Yes, you can. I bought them just in case, you know? So, please – you’re welcome to them. I’m sure your folks will like the seafood.”
“Well… are you sure?”
“Sure, I’m sure. My pleasure, sweetie.”
Val went forward, hugged Theo around the neck from behind, and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you, Theo.”
“You are very welcome, sweetie.”
She returned to the back. Theo and Penny gave each other a look. “Whoa,” Theo whispered to Penny.
“Guys,” Val called, “if you see a gas station, can we stop? I wanna take off this guard thing. Is that okay, Doc?”
“Sure, sweetie. Best to get comfortable - we have a long drive, eh? But If I remember right, there won’t be any stations or rest stops until after we’ve gone past border control. Can you last ‘til then?”
“Sure, no problem.”
“Hey, maybe your friend, Jacque, will be on duty.”
“That’ll be good, I guess... I’m a little worried about that, though.”
“Why?”
“Well, I don’t understand a guy acting that way.”
“Acting what way?” she giggled. “Val, he was just trying to get on your good side.”
“But I’m not exactly a looker. He must be pretty hard up or something…”
“Not at all, Val! You’re very pretty.”
“Sure, sure,” she answered, not believing her.
“Well, don’t worry about Jacque, okay? If he gets too fresh, Maia and I will take care of him.” She made a mock gesture of slapping someone’s butt.
“Ummm… ’kay?”
Jacque Again
In just a few hours, they were back at the US-Canada border, and knowing the situation, Penny doffed her jacket. She was wearing a gray turtleneck very similar to Val’s. She was also wearing a very, very, very form-fitting pair of leather leggings and a pair of stiletto boots. This time, her top and pants were thermal; she clearly remembered the freezing conditions by the gates.
When they got to border control, one of the security people who met them was one of those who met them before. With a quick call on his walkie-talkie, the other guards from before rushed up to Penny’s window, including Simon and Jacque “to say hi.”
“Good morning, Dr. Castellanos!” Simon said.
“You remembered my name, Simon!” Penny giggled sexily. “I’m flattered.”
“Is Val with you?” Jacque asked.
“Yes, she is. Val?”
“Yeah, Dr. P,” Val said and reluctantly stepped out of the van. She struck up a conversation with Jacque and the other guards (singsong and lilt!), and true to his promise, Jacque gave back her Mace pepper spray. He did make her sign a form and had one of the other guards co-sign as a witness.
“Oooh!” the others reacted. Knowing Val was just sixteen, they kept their conversation completely above board and innuendo-free.
Val thanked Jaque and pocketed the pepper spray and form in a pocket of her jumpsuit. Jacque noticed her awkwardness, and she said it was nothing – just some leftovers from her operation. Jacque offered his arm. Rather than turning him down and being fully aware that they were at the border, she decided not to alienate Jacque and accepted the offer of an arm.
After a few minutes of chit-chat, Penny, Maia and Theo stepped out as well.
“Sorry, Val,” Penny said. “They asked us to step down so that security could inspect the van.” A couple of the new guards tipped their hats and stepped into the van.
“Oh!” Theo exclaimed, and rummaged through his jacket pockets.
“What’s wrong?” Maia asked.
“This is the receipt for the salmon and lobster,” Theo said. “Also a couple of forms from Agriculture and Agri-Food and Fisheries and Oceans. It’s so we can bring them through the border. Excuse me, eh?” He went back in.
“So, Simon,” Penny said, “how’re you doing.” And, just like she did before, charmed the pants off the guards.
Val tried to be a credit to Penny and acted like the innocent but sexy ingenue, and between them, the inspection went without a hitch. Val whispered to Penny if she should use her new passport.
“Of course, Val.”
So she handed her new passport with those of Penny, Theo, and Maia, and, it was no problem at all.
In a short time, they were on their way.
They stopped at an Esso gas station, allowing her to take off the groin guard in their restroom, and was back in a jiffy. They waited for Theo, who had gone to the Tim Hortons next door. He was back shortly, laden with half a dozen Double Doubles and several bags of assorted Timbits.
Val got one of the bags, as well as one of the Double Doubles. They turned out to be a bag of assorted donut holes and a coffee with two creamers and two sugars. She grinned at the names, settled down beside Maia, and enjoyed her Venti double double and Timbits.
While on the way to Bangor Maine, Theo said that he could drive them straight, without a need to check in at a hotel, and they’d be back in Chicago by six AM.
“Is that safe?” I said. “I think we should…”
“That’s a great idea, Theo,” Maia said. “Penny?”
“Sure,” Penny agreed. “You just let me know if you need me to spell you, okay?”
“Doc,” Val whispered to Maia, “is this a good thing? Theo’s gonna need…”
“Not really, Val. Theo will be fine.”
Val looked at her. “If you say so…”
And, indeed, Theo drove them for the rest of the day and through the night. They did stop for gas, food and bathroom breaks but, otherwise, Theo drove for them straight. Val spotted another Jollibee, and they had an early dinner at that place with the big bee. This time, Val didn’t get another “yumburger,” and got something called a “palabok.” It was very good, but she thought she should have gotten a yumburger instead. This time, though, she bought half a dozen of those “peach mango pies” to go, justifying it by saying they were all out of Timbits.
At around eleven, Val took the entire back seat to sleep in. After Val had fallen asleep, Maia clicked seatbelts around her and tucked a blanket she got from her luggage around Val, and, with Theo’s smooth driving, it was no surprise that Val slept through the night.
At around four, Val was awakened with a light kiss on the cheek and a gentle shake.
“Wakey-wakey, Valentine,” Maia said. “You’re home.”
Val sleepily opened her eyes. “I am? What time is it?”
“Just a little after four, hon.” Maia unclicked the seatbelts around her and her sat up. It was still dark out, and they were parked just outside their house. Val sleepily stood, put on her shoes and jacket, shouldered her backpack and stepped out of the van with Maia.
Theo and Penny were at the curb, standing with her luggage.
“Can I borrow the house keys?” Theo asked and Val handed them over.
Theo then brought her four bags up the front steps and into the house. He also brought in the three Styrofoam crates as well as the grocery bag full of the seaweed chips plus her wheelchair (Maia had said to use the chair as much as possible and to wear the groin guard until Sunday evening - for the benefit of her parents. But after that, Maia will send someone to pick them up).
“’Kay. You’re all set,” Theo said.
“You haven’t forgotten anything?” Maia asked.
“I don’t think so,” Val answered.
So after hugs all around, Penny, Maia, and Theo said goodbye and sped off, presumably to a hotel or something to get some rest, and then to Delos High.
“See you at school on Monday!” Maia called.
Val looked at the departing van and waved. It had certainly been a long week, she thought, and lots of things have happened. But she was hopeful for a better future.
She stepped into the house and locked the front door.
She smelled the familiar smells of home, and touched the familiar things in the living room. The house felt different somehow, but she thought maybe it was because of the absence of lights. She switched on the living room lights and lit up the room. It still felt a little different, but it finally clicked into place – that she was home.
She tried lifting the big bag upstairs but found it difficult because of its unwieldiness, so she decided to leave her bags at the foot of the stairs.
She trudged upstairs to her room and switched on the lights. She looked around, surveying her somewhat messy room, and it had the flavor of… of Val Edward. Which felt a little weird somehow. She decided she needed to make some changes.
She looked into her dresser drawers and cabinets and was surprised to find almost all of Val Edward’s clothes gone. Except for a few things like t-shirts, tank tops, crewnecks, sweatshirts, sweatpants, and socks, everything was gone. As for her closet, all that was left were some jeans, slacks, and jackets.
She was about to yell, “Ma!” but caught herself in time. It was not even five AM, and she was sure her parents were still asleep. She’s gonna have to ask her mom later.
So Val took out the clothes from her wheelie and hung them up.
She also decided to transfer all of her new stuff from her bags. She made several trips up and down the stairs and she soon had all of her stuff transferred, segregating the handful of items that needed to be washed. She put all the dirty clothes in the washer, plus all of the pads for her bralettes (she realized she hadn’t washed any of them the whole time), but because Theo washed all of her dirty clothes on Thursday, there weren’t too many of them left. So she went upstairs and changed out of what she was wearing, changed into her old sweatpants and the joke No. 51 Chicago Bears jersey that Carla and Michael gave her for Christmas. 51 was Dick Butkus’ number. Not that he wasn’t a great player back in the day – he was one of the Bears’ greatest players from the seventies - but Val was famously known for not being a football fan, and she found his name hilarious. So they gave her a copy of his jersey for Christmas.
She also wore another of her bralettes – no more padding, anymore this time. She wasn’t intending to, but the jersey felt scratchy on her nipples, so the bralette helped. She sighed as she put them on, and resigned herself that bras would be a permanent part of her future from now on.
She also took off the groin guard and included it in the clothes she brought downstairs. There were instructions on the back of the waistband and the instructions indicated she could include them with the rest of the wash.
As the clothes went through their cycle in the machine, Val took a quick shower. She hadn’t showered this often as she did this past week – daily, sometimes twice a day. But it was just how it was now. The one thing that she found disappointing was, as she rubbed her hair dry, she had essentially washed away her new hairdo. But that was okay – Andre was just around.
By the time she had gone back downstairs, the clothes were all dry. For those that needed ironing, she hung them on the outside of the closet. For the rest, she folded them and put them inside her dresser and cabinets. She put on the newly washed and still-warm groin guard. She wished she didn’t have to wear it but was glad it was only until that night.
It was only five thirty in the morning, and she knew Ma and Dad would get up at around seven or so on Sundays, so she decided to get a couple of hours of shuteye. Setting her much-missed alarm, she slid under the covers and shut her eyes. She didn’t know how tired she still was and fell asleep almost instantly.
- - - - -
“Wakey-wakey, Valentine.”
“I’m awake, Dr. Maia,” Val said sleepily. She realized that she wasn’t in the van anymore, and she snapped her eyes open. “Ma!” she exclaimed.
Ma leaned down and kissed her on the nose. “Good morning, sweetie. You must really have been tired. Feeling rested now?”
“What do you mean? What time is it?”
“It’s half past eleven. It’ll be lunch soon. Dad’s cooking one of the lobsters you brought. Thanks for those, by the way. So – up, up, up!”
Val shook the bedclothes off and got up.
“T’sk, t’sk, t’sk,” her mom said.
“What?”
Her ma reached out to finger a lock of her hair. “You didn’t blow dry before going to bed, huh?”
“Well, no… does it matter?”
Her ma pulled her to her bedroom mirror.
Val saw her hair mussed on one side and totally flat on the side that she slept on. “So? I just need to comb it out.”
Ma giggled. “Try it.”
Val did and, despite all her combing, it really didn’t fix her hair.
“Try this,” Ma said and handed her a round brush.
Val did, and it was better.
“Good!” Ma said. “Let me teach you something – you get your hair wet, and then blow-dry it and brush it out as you do.”
“’kay. But this feels a little too much just for hair. And it’s just a Sunday, Ma. Are we going out later or something?”
Ma sighed. “Val, if you’re going to be a girl, one thing you need to learn is that girls need to look their best whenever they can. And, no, it’s not pride or being too prissy or just being a girly-girl. It’s just how girls are. Girls like you and me.” She smiled and touched Val’s cheek.
“Ma…”
She looked at Val. “Sweetie?”
“You took all of Val Edward’s clothes…”
She looked a little worried. “What do mean, ‘Val Edward’s clothes?’ When did you start doing that, referring to Val Edward as a separate person?”
“Just today…”
“Can you tell me…”
“Ma,” Val said, “when I was in Canada…” she sighed and started all over again. “When you sent me to Troy House and the clinic, I went through a lot. And I felt I was… changing. Don’t get me wrong, Ma – I know that it’s a… done deal, and I need to change along with things. And I think I have. The thing is… the thing is, when I change, I really won’t be Val Edward anymore. I won’t be the old me anymore. I’ll be a different person. I’ll be Faye Valentine…. And when we talked when I called you guys, or when I called Carla and Michael – it was like I… wasn’t interested in the old stuff – the old me. And will I lose those things that were important to me? Like you and Dad…” Val started crying.
“But when I got home today,” she continued, “yeah, it didn’t feel like home right away. But after a while, it started to feel like home again. The things in the house, the smells, the colors, the pictures on the walls – I realized they’re all still part of me, like you guys. I don’t have to lose anything. Yes, I’m Valentine now. And this is Valentine’s home. You guys are home. I don’t know if I’m explaining it good…”
“Good enough, sweetie,” her mom replied and hugged her. She wiped Val’s tears away. “Welcome home, dearest daughter – my dear Faye Valentine.”
They felt another pair of arms around them.
Val smiled. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough,” her dad said.
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Comments
Welcome home
It's not the location, it is her parents that make it a home.