Chapter 9: A New Vision

By the end of March, Spring had swept away the last vestiges of Winter and promised a hot Summer. The Four Corners construction project grew in scale and intensity daily. The road and intersection were quickly formed, with a contemporary traffic circle. Buildings were taking shape, and the torn-up earth was being smoothed over and landscaped in keeping with local tribal customs. The community was excited about the project and the prospects of a better standard for the people and the generation of tourist revenue.

Trink welcomed Kathy into her tiny studio, between two larger buildings, and sat her in the chair of honor. She washed and dried her friend’s hair before turning her toward the mirror. “So, what are we doing today?” she asked with a smile.

Before Kathy could answer, there was a loud thud behind them as something struck the back of her shop.

“Ugh!” Trink muttered as she spun and stormed to the back door. She nearly pulled it from its hinges as she jerked the door open and leaned outside. “C’mon guys!” she yelled angrily. “Not when I’m working! We talked about this.”

“Sorry!” several young voices called out, full of contrition.

“It’s alright,” the hairdresser replied regretfully. “Just give me an hour or so.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

She closed the door and returned to her customer, muttering to herself. “Sorry, Kat,” she said. “That was my fault.”

“What was that about?” Kathy asked curiously.

Trink sighed as she combed the woman’s hair. “Kids use the empty lot behind the studio for a makeshift skate park,” she replied. “I guess Aaron’s board got away from him.”

“You have a skate park behind your studio? How cool!”

Trink shrugged. “If you can call it that. We helped them put it together with donated scrap lumber. They’re good kids who just need something to do and a place to call their own, you know?”

Kathy’s eyes flew open wide, and she emitted a strangled cry as she shot out of the chair. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “How could I be such a heartless bitch!”

Trink stared incredulously as she bolted for the back door, yelling, “Wait! Come back! I need to talk to you!” The thin black shroud flapped around her tall frame. Outside, she found a 20 by 30-foot unpaved area with a diagonal ramp and makeshift half-pipe. Old plywood sheets covered the gravel for tricks. The youths slowly returned, curious as she studied the ‘skate park.’ Trink followed and introduced her to the kids. The oldest was a fourteen-year-old girl named Felicity wearing inline skates. The other seven had worn skateboards or inline skates. One clever duo shared a pair of roller skates, each wearing one.

“You guys built this?” she asked admiringly.

Within seconds, she was surrounded by excited kids, talking all at once about things they could do. Soon, they began showing her their tricks on the sloped panels and half-pipe.

“How could I be so thoughtless?” she moaned as she removed the mylar apron and handed it to the beautician.

“What are you talking about, sweetie?” Trink asked, touching her arm.

Kathy spun dramatically, “What about them?” she demanded. “We’re helping Sue and Brad ‘help’ the community with gas stations, car washes, laundromats, and fucking restaurants!” Her anger was inward. “But ... what about them?”

“Come back inside and sit down, babe,” her friend urged as the children stopped their activities and gathered around them worriedly. “Come,” Trink urged her again.

The children followed them inside and plopped down on the floor along the back wall across from the swivel chair where Kathy sat again. She quietly faced them, and they stared back at her. Emotions played across her face as she studied them individually. They recognized profound sadness and anger, which soon surrendered to deep thoughtfulness and determination.

“Now,” Trink said as she hung the apron on a nearby hook. “What in the Sam Hill were you blathering about out there?”

Kathy didn’t reply as she sniffed and squared her shoulders. Instead, she addressed the children, “I’m so sorry,” she swallowed.

None replied as they glanced between her and the hairdresser.

“My name is Kathy,” she greeted. “You know my husband, Peter Two-Spirit.”

“You rocked the winter festival,” Felicity blurted exuberantly. There was a chorus of agreeable voices.

“Thank you,” Kathy smiled.

“We can’t wait for the new crossroads to be done,” another blurted eagerly.

“I heard they’re adding a video game arcade in Old Begay’s,” added another.

Kathy’s expression and posture suddenly changed. She rose from the chair and sat on the floor before the kids. “Thank you,” she said with a thin smile. “Not for your kind words, but for helping me see the world through younger eyes.” She glanced up at Trink. “We need to do better,” she announced firmly. “And we are starting now.”

“Okay,” the other woman replied dubiously. “What are we starting?”

“We are going to come up with a solution to this problem,” she turned back to the bewildered kids with a determined expression. “And you, beautiful children, will help.” She got to her feet and waved her arm toward the side door, “What you created out there is outstanding,” she assured them. “But we’re gonna build something that blows that away!” She looked around the small studio. “We need a scratch pad ... no! Poster Board ... Several poster boards,” she commented. “And markers. Where can we get art supplies around here?”

“Marv’s” several young voices said at once.

She turned to look at the hairdresser expectantly.

“Marvin’s General Store,” she smirked. “It’s down the street across from the studio,” she pointed.

Kathy grabbed her bag and regarded the group. “Let’s go,” she ordered, leading an excited group of kids across the road to the general store. Trink walked beside her, her arm hooked in Kathy’s.

“I don’t know what in the hell you’re starting,” she murmured conspiratorially, “But I feel good about it!”

“Me too!” Kathy breathed excitedly.

Twenty minutes later, they were back in the tiny salon with arms full of posters, markers, tape, post-it notes, and enough snacks and drinks to fuel an epic brainstorming session. The kids sat on the floor facing the back wall while Kathy and Trink cleared it of the odd print and product display.

“Alright,” Kathy called out to the delightfully curious group. “Our goal today is to develop a concept for a new, totally awesome skate park!” She began taping poster boards together against the wall while Trink carefully printed the title across the top with a bold hand. “This is all about you guys! I need your help to come up with ideas. What would make this park the most awesome park on the freakin’ planet?” She paced before the gathered kids like Patton while they stuffed their faces with chips, cookies, and drinks, watching her intently. “As my husband says—’think big,’” She pointed with her Sharpie. “Felicity, you’re the oldest ... go!”

The fourteen-year-old removed her in-line skates and stood barefoot. She was skinny as a rail with long tan legs and a cropped tank top that exposed her navel. Her hair was straight at her shoulders, and her bangs fell into her eyes. “Well ... there has to be a half-pipe,” she declared to everyone’s agreement. “And it should be along the edge, over here,” she pointed. Kathy handed her the marker, and the girl stuck her tongue out as she diligently sketched a long, open tube-like structure.

“And a big toilet bowl!” a boy submitted.

Kathy gaped at him with an arched eyebrow, “Excuse me?”

The lad jumped to his feet and ran to the wall. “You know ... like a giant bowl ... right here. You set up on the edge and stomp over and down into it. Then you swirl around like a turd!” His intensity set off a fit of youthful giggling.

“Jesus, Quinn,” Felicity growled, smacking him in the head with the Sharpie.

“Why a bowl?” Trink asked. “Why not an oval shape or all stretched-out like a wormy half-pipe?”

“Like a noodle!” the youngest boy, Casper, blurted, spraying chips.

“Yeah!” Quinn agreed eagerly, snatching the Sharpie from the taller girl. “It can curve around here like this. You swoop down from this platform and shoot around this corner ... then pick up speed on the back side until ... whoosh!” He drew a fan-shaped exit. “Right out the butthole!” Felicity glared at her younger colleague as the other children laughed hysterically.

Trink and Kathy gazed at each other incredulously.

“Alrighty then,” Kathy stated, calming the collective mirth. “We got a half-pipe, a bowl, a wormy noodle thing, and a ... butthole,” she grimaced as she pointed each of them out.

“Whoosh!” Quinn emphasized, causing more giggles.

“Oh God!” she groaned, cupping her face. “What have I started?”

Felicity stared at the poster boards with her arms crossed and a thoughtful frown. “We need jacks too,” she murmured, relieving the younger comedian of the Sharpie. “They are like raised platforms ... cross-shaped and rounded so you can roll up the sides and trick on the top.” She sketched several structures.

“We need a wall,” a boy named Aaron said. “With a deck, quarter pipe ... and a bank!”

“I like it!” Felicity waved her Sharpie and studied the sketch for a second before crossing out a section of the half-pipe. “Let’s make it a corner deck with two quarter-pipes and a wedge-shaped bank in the middle.” There was applause as she added it to the drawing.

“Don’t forget the rails!” A boy named Ralf blurted. “We gotta have rails to slide on.”

“What about a basketball court?” Trink suggested.

A chorus of excited yay’s sounded.

Kathy turned to the hairdresser, “What about for smaller kids? You know ... like a playground with a fun house, slides, swings, and stuff?”

That led to a broader discussion about climbing walls, obstacle courses, and a shaded pavilion for parties and picnics. The exciting brainstorming session lasted over an hour, and by the time they were done, all the poster boards were full of ideas and margin notes. Kathy also wrote several pages of notes on a pad.

“Wow!” she breathed happily, “This was incredible!” She got up from the barber’s seat and began peeling the tape off the posters, removing them from the wall, and stacking them in order. “Now we just have to take all this and make a suitable blueprint.”

“And decide where to put it,” Trink added, causing her to straighten with dismay.

“Oh, crap!” Kathy gasped. “Good point.”

“What about the leach field from the old copper mine?” a quiet boy asked. He seemed as old as Felicity but much shorter and stockier. A pigmentation birth defect marred his face. Trink had introduced him as Brody.

When no one answered, Kathy turned to him expectantly. “What is that, Brody?”

He hesitated, expecting ridicule. Then he shrugged, “There was an old copper mine up by Diamond Creek,” he said, pointing north. “It got shut down for poisoning the fish and watershed, like ... a hundred years ago. I guess the process of getting the metal from the ore left a shit-ton of this powdery stuff my dad called heap leach. They made a mountain of it. It’s right next to where the new circle is going.” He referred to the crossroad project managed by Sue and Bradly.

Trink frowned. “I don’t know, dude,” she replied. “That stuff was as bad as the creek poison.” She turned to Kathy. “The mine shut down in the fifties, and the EPA had to haul all that toxic crap off the Rez.” She gestured. “You can see the old leach field behind that tall fence northeast of where the Restaurant and Trading Post will be.” She shrugged sadly. “It’s all fenced off because of the bad soil. Nothing will grow there.”