lets go inside and get something to eat

Che’(Chay-Grandfather) was getting up there in years, he was
alone now and had been that way for a while, Ninibah had been gone for
almost twenty years now, but he kept himself pretty handy around the
house. One day one of his sons came to stay with him a while since he
had broken up with his wife and they weren’t together anymore.
Pretty soon the days become months and then years and the son became
the father of Che’, helping to get up and to take a bath,
helping him get around the place. The sheep were too much for him to
take care of and he couldn’t lift a bale of hay. The son worked
a day job at the boarding school as a dorm aide so the sheep
didn’t get out much.
A day came when a truck came and Che’ watched as the sheep were
taken a few at a time. He stood at the screen door and looking at the
distant mesas he could see the trail he had worn through the
sagebrush, as he took out the sheep everyday. He couldn’t walk
that far anymore, it was a hard time for him to get around outside the
house. His son was a good man, but found he had no life for himself,
he got up and washed himself and then helped the Che’ up, fixing
him breakfast and getting him ready to stay in the house. Che’
used a cane and his eyes were not so good anymore, so they made a rope
go from the house to the outhouse and corral so he could find his way.
He kept pretty much to himself, but as time went on he didn’t go
outside much and sat much of the day waiting for his son.
What does a person think about when they are home all alone and no one
is around, the sound of children long gone, just a dog or two that
hung around. He waited for his son at noon and asked him what was
going on at the school, they would talk about that Topahanso lady, the
cook, she had daughter who was going off to school and Mrs. Watchman
was buying a new wood stove the kind that have pellets, like hay
pellets, you don’t have to chop wood for that kind. Che’
thought how does she get her wood. His son said she has buy it in
Farmington. The Che’ laughed when he thought what would happen
in bad weather if she couldn’t get the 65 miles into town to buy
them pellets, she would have to spend all night whittling kindling to
feed her stove. His son said she probably had it all figured out.
He asked his son to take him to the store to check the mail, so they
drove up there to pick it up, the other old ones there would shake
hands and talk with one another exchanging jokes and talking about
what was going on. His son would have to tell him, let’s go, I
have to get back to work and would cut Che’ off so he could take
him back. After a while it was too much for Che’ to get out of
the truck and walk up the steps, so his son would run in, after a
while, his son quit taking him up there and just picked up the mail
before he got home and drop it off and fix him some soup.
On bath day his son would boil water and pour it into a big tub and
the Che’ would crawl in and his son would wash him up, his son
was pretty good at cutting hair that he learned at boarding school a
long time ago. Che’ had a schedule and if his son was late he
got mad, saying he was going to go off on his own and find a new place
to live. It cost a lot to get a phone in, every call was long distance
but his son put one in so he could call him during the day to check on
him.
On Saturdays they went to town, Gallup or Farmington and they would
eat at one of those old fashioned cafes, those Navajo waitresses knew
them and when they saw them coming put their order on the grill,
because the knew the Che’ liked pancakes and his son usually had
waffles.
Sometimes when his son would get home, the house was empty and he
would run outside to see where the Che’ had gone. He usually
found him by the corral, wiring it up with old rusty wire talking
about how he was going to get some more fat sheep and get started
herding them again. The corral had been empty for some time now.
The brother's sister, Barbara Jean and her husband came to visit, she
had four kids and it was good to have them there. After supper, when
Che’ went to sleep, she asked them how they were doing. Her
brother told her it was hard taking care of the Che’ and he was
tired of it. He asked her to help him, but she started talking about
something else.
He said, “I am tired of taking care of him all by myself, I
don’t have a life. I would like to get out once in a while to
see a movie or to take off for weekend. Right now I can’t go to
any workshops for work, I have to make up some kind of excuse to not
go. I have one coming up that means I have to be gone for one week.
Will you come and stay with Che’?” She said ok; he said I
will get everything ready, what his schedule is and what he likes to
eat. She said ok and took the week off to stay with him way out there
in the sticks.
When she got there her brother had gotten up early and fixed a good
breakfast. She sat with Che’ as he took his time eating and his
son left to go to Albuquerque for his workshop. Her name was Barbara
Jean, but Che’ called her Sissy, the name she had as a child.
She took him for a walk through the cedars to a high spot, it took all
morning. Che’ went through the stories of the family and how
they came to be in this place. He couldn’t see very good but he
knew by heart the places that were important. She found him one
afternoon where he had fallen in the dirt and she picked him up and
took him inside. He cried sometimes over the children who had gone on
before. Sometimes he was like a small child. It was a hard thing to
do. As the week ended she waited for her brother and he didn’t
come home. She waited through Sunday and he still wasn’t home.
That evening she called her husband and said she wasn’t sure
what happened to him. He said he would check around to see if
something was wrong.
She thought what if he doesn’t come home what am I going to do.
I am not ready for this. I can’t stay here, none of my other
brothers live close and none of them will want to come back here and
take care of Che’. There is the nursing home, but I don’t
know how to put someone there, I will have to go see tribal social
services, but how can I do it with him along. Her father asked her
where is your brother, he is supposed to be back, how come he
isn’t home. He is supposed to be here, if he isn’t back
tomorrow then I am going to go the Albuquerque to look for him. The
Che’ started to cry after him and she didn’t know what to
say. This was much more than what I wanted. What am I going to do?
The sun came up early and she heard Che’ go outside and he stood
in the early light of day. She followed him out and watched as he took
out his buckskin pouch and took a pinch full of yellow corn pollen and
called over to him and offered her some. As she took the corn pollen
he started to say, Hozhogo Nahasdlii …In beauty it
begins…”
He offered a prayer as fathers often do to bless all his children and
they stood together as he had done so many times before and prayed for
them. He then took a pinch and put some on her head and in her mouth.
As the sun turned the ground pink, blue and gold, they stood bathed in
the new light. It was a new beginning, yester day and all it’s
problems were gone, it was a new day. Just then her brother came
driving over the hill and she realized that her greatest gift would be
to spend time with the Che’ and her brother. It made her realize
it was too much for one person to handle. When he pulled up in his old
Chevy pickup, his black hair was colored gold as he stepped out and
walked toward them. She told him, I am you sister and I will share the
time you spend with our father and will be here so you can have some
time for yourself.
The Che’ stood there and got after his son, telling him he was
getting ready to hitchhike to Albuquerque to look for him and maybe
find a new wife to take care of him. Chef said, that woman Old Lady
Jumbo used to follow him around when he was herding sheep and sit on
the rocks so he could see her. His daughter listened as he talked
about her and she asked him when did this happen. His son looked at
her and said, that was long time ago, before we were born, back in
1918. Che’ said, she still looks at me that way, I saw her at
the trading post the other day by the ice box that holds ice cream.
She wanted me to buy her one. I know that one still wants to go round
with me at the squaw dance.
His son looked at his sister standing there in the early light with a
new wisdom in her eyes, and they all started laughing, Che’
said, I guess I am going to have to go over the Bitsillies for the
Second Night Squaw Dance and go round with hers. They stood there and
laughed at the thought of it. Sissy then told them,
“Let’s go inside and get something to eat”.
Rustywire