Chapter 9

Still Tara’s turn:

I have a lot to worry about, these days. However, no more “pitiful me” anymore. A little red-headed fireball grabbed me by both ears, shook some sense into me, and introduced me to “Never-never-land” (not the Michael Jackson version, thankyouverymuch.)

In this case, it’s the 3Sigma “Community”, where all the girls are geniuses, they all fly airplanes, have their own airfield, all that. And we’ve been arranging my move here, and my return to an Auburn education.

A somewhat complicating issue is my little brother Derek, and his education, but (as you might suspect) the “Sisterhood” has that one covered, too. And one of the teachers is a lovely old lady named “Mizz Lee”, with whom I was having a conversation this morning, prior to flying back to Savannah.

She was talking about Derek’s vocabulary, and said, “We have to get him up to speed a little, relative to the Munchkins. But he’s a delightful child, very smart, and I think he’ll do well, Tara.”

“Thanks, Mizz Lee. Seeing everything here, I’m very confident about what happens next. But unrelated, I have a peculiar question for you: Could you tell me about your impressions of the Community? Do you think it’s some sort of mechanism entirely set up for women?”

Mizz Lee was silent for a moment, and then said, “Tara, that’s a simple question with a complicated answer. The “Community” was set up by the men, in response to an odd idea by Cindy. If you think about it, the original 3Sigma company was established by a consortium of husbands, to support their wives while they were pursuing their educations.

“It all began there, and the rest has simply grown from that beginning. But now you must revert to the dictionary definition of “husband” to understand what happened, and why. When most people think of “husband”, they simply consider that he’s the male partner in an ordinary marriage. That’s one definition for the noun.

“But if you look to the VERB part of the definition, you’ll find a more accurate description. A REAL HUSBAND takes care of his family, and helps it grow. As an example, a farmer is more like the real meaning of “husband”, because he cares for his fields, crops, and livestock, seeing to their needs so that they can grow and be productive for him. Just about the only time you see any reference to that origin is in the term ‘animal husbandry’.

“If you consider the “husbands” in this community, you’ll quickly see that they support their wives and children very much like a farmer supports all the parts of his farm. These are REAL husbands, and they care very much for the people in their lives. They understand that life is much more than “the bar on Saturday and Church on Sunday.” And when it comes to their women, they’re ready to sacrifice everything, if needed, to make sure that their women can do anything they need, and the same is true for their kids.”

“Mizz Lee, are you telling me that this whole thing, the houses, the labs, the airfield, the aircraft, are all about what the MEN think of their women?”

“Yes, Tara. Frankly, I don’t know if the Sisterhood understands it, much less the Munchkins. It was obvious to me on the first day I arrived here, but I don’t know if any of them even thinks about it -- they just instinctively do it. And if you’re lucky, you’ll eventually meet a man who feels the same. And Derek will simply grow into it, and never wonder why he feels that way.”

I smiled. This sweet lady clearly has observed and thought about the community I’m thinking of joining. Her genteel, timeless demeanor gives me more confidence in the growing decision to uproot from Savannah and move here.

After I finished with Mizz Lee, I cornered Alan.

“Mister Addison,” I started.

“Alan,” he corrected. “I’m Alan to everyone who’s part of this thing.”

“Okay, Alan, then. Cindy says that I’d be an employee of 3Sigma if I moved into the apartment you’re offering.”

“The apartment is an employee perk,” Alan said. “We do not advertise nor in any way make them available to the public. Legal stuff.”

“Oh.”

“So the job would be titular, for the most part. You’d be expected to put some hours in at the office, but the truth is that you would not be expected to do much but use it for a study hole. If you decide you want to do something to ease your conscience, you’re welcome to look around. We have lots of data entry jobs, some gofer work, that sort of thing. Or if you get a little deeper...”

“Whose idea is this?”

“What part? The apartment restriction to employees, that’s on the advice of our attorneys.”

“No, putting ME in it?”

“I defer to Cindy and Nikki and Mizz Patel. Cindy and Nikki say it’s what we’re supposed to do, Mizz Aneeta says you’re somebody who would benefit, so here you are.”

Tina came walking up. Alan told her that I sounded nervous.

“Relax, Tara. It’s all very benign. Seriously. If Mizz Aneeta says YOU are an academic fit, then this is the place to be. Mizz Lee’s going forward with Derek’s testing, but her initial impression is that he won’t be giving anything away as far as leaving the traditional school system for our home-schooling.”

“I don’t know what to say,” I told her. “It’s all overwhelming me.”

“Then relax,” Alan said. “There’s always something going on. I need to go back home if you wanna ride with me.”

“Sure,” I said. “Uh, where’s Derek?”

“Mizz Lee took him to the local school board office. They graciously offer to test our kids.”

“And he doesn’t need me?”

“Not for that. Mizz Lee knows the people at the school board and they’re used to our strangeness. Auburn’s like that, too. When you go to meet your professors, take Cindy or Nikki with you. Some of ‘em will curl up into a fetal position when they see them coming.”

“I am NOT that bad,” Cindy said, walking up.

“Yes, you are,” Tina giggled.

“Well, I only use my powers for good, not evil.”

“So what’s on YOUR agenda, Cin?” Tina asked.

“That crew in Missouri’s ready to come home. I’m taking Songbird up there to get them.”

“Songbird?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Cindy smiled. “That big twin-engined plane you were asking about. Hey, if you want ... I have room. It’s seven hundred miles and we’ll be back this evening.”

“Barring any disasters,” Tina said.

“What about Derek?”

“You know, Tara, I watched Derek heading out yesterday afternoon with the Munchkins. He doesn’t seem like he’s tied to your shirt-tail.”

“No, my little brother’s growing up.”

“He’s in a new peer group, too, and NONE of the Munchkins act the least bit dependent. We’ll make sure he’s taken care of. Nikki’s gonna be with the Munchkins today. When Derek’s finished, he’ll just join them. Terri says he’s her new project.”

“Project?”

“Yeah,” Tina said. “She says he’s smart, he’s supposed to be here, and they’ll make sure he gets up to speed fast.” She could read my face. “Oh, look, Terri and Rachel took Vicki in, it was painless. Derek’ll fit in.”

“Okay ... I guess I need to get used to this.”

“Then come on,” Cindy said. “The plane’s fueled, fluids are topped off. We pre-flight ‘er and go. Good weather the whole way.”

“Adventure,” I said.

Cindy shook her head. “No, if you want adventure, wait until Johanna and Stoney are here. We’ll get some time in their Micco. It’s aerobatic. We can do THINGS!” she said, her eyes twinkling.

“I dunno if I’m that adventurous.”

“Then come on. We got miles to go.”

We passed Alan’s door on the way out. I stuck my head in. “Alan?”

He turned. “Yes?”

“Thanks!”

“It’s Cindy’s fault,” he laughed, because she had her head in the door, too.

Cindy bounces. She bounced to her husband’s office, walked in, kissed him. “I’m off, baby. Taking Tara with me. We’ll be back before dark.”

“Be careful,” he said. He looked at me. “Tara, keep ‘er out of trouble.”

“I’ll try,” I said. “See ya.”

We rode from the office to the airfield in Cindy’s SUV. “Are you absorbing all this?” she asked.

“There’s a lot to absorb,” I said.

“Well, we’ll kick back and relax for about three and a half hours, one way. I’ll be flying, so nobody expects me to do anything else. You and I, we can talk about whatever you want, watch the countryside go by.”

“I’m looking forward to it. This ‘flying’ thing, I never imagined...”

We got to the airfield. Cindy did her preflight checks. I followed, letting her explain each step. I get the feeling that she’s a good teacher. That’s great. I’m going to need good teaching in the next few years.

She pulled her iPhone. “Activating our flight plan,” she said. “We don’t really have to file one. We’re flying VFR – visual flight rules – so we don’t need a flight plan, but it’s kinda like telling your friends that you’re taking a trip and when you expect to get there. If you don’t show up, they’ll know to start looking.”

“That never happens, right?”

“We completed the most dangerous part of the trip when we drove over here.” She waved at Wally and we got into the plane. I looked at the six seats. “Not you. Right seat. You’re my co-pilot.” She saw my surprised look. “If you want. I’m not giving orders. Most people...”

I smiled. “Just let me know what you need.” As I followed her lead, buckling myself into the right front seat, I marveled. This is definitely a different path than I ever saw myself walking. There are dials and gauges and lights and displays and switches and controls all over in front of me. It looks like entirely too much to comprehend, but my red-headed partner in the left seat seems totally at home. She hands me a binder.

“Turn to the tab that says ‘engine start’.”

“Okay,” I said. “Uh, it says ‘before starting engines’ first.”

“Good place to start.”

“Okay,” I said. Reading, “Preflight complete.”

“Check,” Cindy said.

We went through the whole thing, two engines were turning, we were taxiing to the end of the runway. More checklists, then she pushed the throttles forward (I was learning. I can find a throttle now) and we were off the ground.

“Wow!” I said. “That’s a lot of steps.”

“Yeah,” Cindy said. “For that little Cessna 152 trainer, the checklist is two sides of a half-page laminated card. This one’s at the point that you really want to use checklists. I was kinda mean to you, though. I have the checklists on an app we did for the iPad.”

“I was wondering how you did that if you were flying solo.”