Community — Still Here
Copyright© 2022 by oyster50
Chapter 14
Dan’s turn:
This isn’t the first time we’ve had a young girl staying with us. As they grew up, the original Munchkins often spent the night here, Cindy working with them to bake something, sometimes a little academics, sometimes a movie. And we’d had Tara Jameson on and off until her dad got his affairs straight after his divorce.
And then I got “Cindy’d”. It happens every so often. Married. College degree. Doctorate. Flying – she’d gotten her ATP – Airline Transport Pilot – license. So many ways that I got to grab her by the waist and swing her, giggling, into my arms. Her attitude is infectious.
So we – that’s her and me – get to work our way through the forest of “I gave birth to a nine-year-old.”
Trouble is, since I first laid eyes on the child, she could easily claim Cindy’s genes, red hair, freckles, preteen frame lanky and tomboyish, but retaining a certain image of grace and purpose. The one departure was Kelly’s eyes were blue. Cindy’s are still emerald green.
Okay, it’s not too big a change. Cindy and I generally do not run around the house nude (any more) and I can easily do shorts or pajamas in the evenings for the sake of decorum. Cindy still leans toward oversized cotton t-shirts. We’ll see how Kelly fits in.
Kelly’s first breakfast with us was that oatmeal that Cindy had put in the rice cooker before bed the night before. And orange juice and milk.
“This is a wonderful breakfast,” she said. “Do y’all do this every day?”
“No,” Cindy answered. “Sometimes it’s eggs, sausage patties and toasted slices of a home-built sourdough bread. Occasionally when both of us have tight schedules, we resort to cereal.”
“I can deal with this,” Kelly returned. “This is good. Somebody cares.”
“We do care.” Cindy sat at the table. “You’re important.”
“What are we doing today?” Kelly asked.
“You need clothes, so we’ll go buy you some. You get to say what we get, but we’re very practical here. We don’t do fads and fancy things. Dan has suits, I have a selection of nice dresses and pantsuits for when we need to dress up. I think you need some of that, and a lot of jeans and shorts and casual stuff.”
“And you’re going to take me?”
“Of course.”
“Can Mandy come with us?”
“Lemme see what her day looks like,” Cindy pulled up the community calendar and looked at Mandy’s posting. Looked free to me. “We can call ‘er.” She turned to me, “We’re going to do a little shopping.”
“How utterly stereotypical,” I snickered. Cindy stuck her tongue at me and they left.
By the end of the week the three lives in this house were coalescing into a routine.
Ruth Bentley’s turn:
Yes, I take my job seriously. Failures hurt me. Successes bring me joy. But never in my career have I seen this much interest from a district attorney nor a retired judge. Curiosity has me in its grips. How best to assuage my concerns? Do that visit that I was practically DARED to do.
Of course they’re outside my normal range and I do not wish to give another office the idea that I might be encroaching on their territory, so I made the call to that local office, got an answer: “Auburn Child Protective Services, Dawn Wilson speaking. How may I help you?”
I said, “Dawn, I’m Ruth Bentley, with CPS down here at Beanpole. We recently arranged for foster care with a family in your area. We need to schedule a follow-up visit to confirm that their care is acceptable. Can you make arrangements?”
She said, “Of course, ma’am. What’s the child’s name, and who are the foster family?”
I said, “The girl is Kelly Boothe, and the foster family is Dan and Cindy Richards. They...”
Explosion of laughter! She said, “Oh Lord, Ruth! You need to come up here yourself I lack the vocabulary to do them justice. Ruth -- you won’t believe it! This kid, Kelly? What does she look like?
“Well, she’s a skinny little redhead, and...”
More laughter, then, “Let me guess, Ruth. Did Cindy fly down there and pick her up at the airport?”
I said, “Yes, her and her sister Mandy. I’ve never seen anything like it -- that kid changed from scared to excited in just about a minute, I think. Cindy put her up front in the right seat, and said she was going to teach her to fly.”
Laughter, and “Ruth, you REALLY need to come up here. Three of ‘em together, I’ll bet they glow in the dark! To your original question, I don’t need to go out there, but it would be kinda funny. YOU come up here, and I’ll go out with you. Let’s get that scheduled.”
So we compared calendars and I made an appointment for Wednesday of the next week.
Sometimes things happen in bunches, like bananas. I had no sooner hung up the phone and turned back to my case files when my phone rang. Hmmm. Not a number I recognize.
“This is Ruth Bentley. How may I help you?”
A little squeal, then “Mizz Ruth, this is Kelly. Boothe. Remember me?”
Ah, is this just a coincidence? “Yes, Kelly, of course I remember you. You sound happy. Are things working out for you?”
“Like I never dreamed. Mizz Ruth, I used to think I was weird. All my “friends” said I was weird.”
“How is that, Kelly?”
“Mizz Ruth, they made fun of my clothes, and my hair -- kinda had to cut it myself, you know.”
“Cindy sent me a picture. Your clothes are different now, and so is your hair. Looks like Cindy’s, actually.”
“Yes, ma’am. We went to her salon, and got it cut the same. I like it, but there’s more.”
“What’s your point?”
Kelly: “All these people are just like ME! I like it here!”
“It brings me joy to hear that, Kelly. I haven’t told Cindy and Dan because I just firmed up the date, but I want to visit you there next Wednesday.”
“Just a second.” I heard her frantically tapping on an electronic device. “Okay, I checked their calendar and Cindy’s supposed to teach an afternoon class, but she dodges those when she needs to. And Mister Dan’s in the office that day.”
“I will call Cindy and make sure...”
“Oh, it’s certain. I looked at the community calendar.”
Question that now, Ruth.
“None the less, I will call Cindy...”
“I know. You need to talk with an adult first.”
“Yes, you do understand.”
“Uh, were you going to drive up here?”
“Yes, why?”
“Because I bet I can get you up here in more style than what got me up here...”
“You left here in an airplane.”
“Yes, ma’am. That was a Cessna 180. It’s over thirty years old. A piston engine. But I bet I can get Cindy to pick you up in a platypus.”
“What does a platypus have to do with flying, Kelly?”
She giggled. “It’s not REALLY a platypus, it’s a Pilatus. Made in Switzerland. The first time I saw one I read the name too fast and got platypus out of it, and now EVERYBODY is saying that.”
Surprise, surprise, as Forrest Gump once said. I made the call to Cindy. Didn’t get a response. Well, maybe her phone is turned off while she teaches. Dunno.
A bit later, “Mizz Ruth, this is Cindy ... Kelly’s bouncing pretty hard right now. You’re coming next week?”
“That’s the plan. Kelly said she checked your calendar...”
“We have a bunch of people going in a bunch of different directions. The community calendar is an app we use to track and inform everybody. She’s learning things fast. She’s very adamant about us flying down to pick you up in what is now a platypus.
“She told me about that. Her mind is so quick ... Excuse me, but I need to end this call. I’m at twenty-eight thousand feet over Tennessee and air traffic control needs an update.”
“Oh my!” I gasped. We can talk later.”
“I’m looking forward to it. Bye for now.” Click.
But about an hour later, my phone buzzed -- caller ID says “Kelly” now, so I immediately answered. “Hello Kelly, what’s up...” Interrupted by “SQUEAL! Mizz Ruth, can you be out at the airport this afternoon? If you can, then Cindy’s going to fly me down so we can get you!”
I said, “Certainly, Kelly, but what’s this all about?”
She said, “Well, Aunt Cindy had to run up to Pittsburgh -- something about stranded lawyers. I don’t know what that’s all about, but Aunt Nikki took a couple of her classes, so that Cindy could fly over to Birmingham to pick up the Citation. She says it’s about two hours each way, so she can have us back in time for dinner tonight.”
I said, “Citation? Isn’t that some sort of jet?”
She said, “Yes, ma’am, it is. I haven’t ridden in one yet -- maybe in a couple of weeks. She has several of them, I think. Anyway, can you be out at the airport at maybe four pm? And stay here for a couple of days? You can have the bedroom across from mine, and maybe we can make cookies tomorrow! Her cookies are REALLY good!”
I said, “Kelly, I’d be delighted to meet you this afternoon and stay for a couple of days. And you’re right -- her cookies ARE good! I tried a couple of ‘em earlier this week, at Mizz Helen’s house.”
She said, “Good! Hey -- gotta go -- it’s time for Mizz Lee and some Shakespeare! That guy wrote some REALLY funny stuff! Did you know he actually made up some words? About seventeen hundred of ‘em, Mizz Lee says. I like Mizz Lee -- she’s almost my favorite grandmother! We’ll see you this afternoon about four pm, I think.”
Then “click”. Kids. Mr. Charlie was right about Shakespeare and algebra, by the sounds of it. That, and cookies, of course.
You ever hear the phrase “short and sassy”? Applies to girls’ hairstyles, sometimes. Used to be more often than it is now, but sometimes ... And it’s what I’m seeing right now. Her hair is now “short and sassy”. And SHE’S “short and sassy”. Just like Cindy and Mandy, now that I think of it. Coincidence? Not likely.
Right on schedule I hear Mr. Randolph’s speakers with a female voice announcing arrival at “Beanpole” airport, followed by a sleek, sparkling airplane landing. Paint is different. Whistles instead of the rumble of the first plane. Nose wheel rather than a tail wheel -- I suppose there’s some reason for that. Kelly probably knows, and there she is, in the right seat.
Once stopped, Kelly and Cindy emerged, wearing identical khaki shorts and Auburn T-shirts. Kelly squealed, “Hi, Mizz Ruth,” and ran over to give me a hug. She held out her shirt and said, “We decided to be twins today! Funny, don’t you think?”
Cindy said, “Let me load your bags. I need to talk to John for a second, and then do a walk-around.” I saw her step over to John and hand him some cash, then return and do an inspection of stuff on the plane. She made a note in a log book, stowed it behind the seat.
She got in, showed me how to use the headset, and started the engine. Taxi to the south end, stop, look at gauges, turn onto the runway, make a radio call, punch some stuff into her iPad, then push the throttle. About 10 seconds later I watched the earth receding some, and the ride got smoother.
She said, “OK, Mizz Ruth. I didn’t do a full pre-flight, since we’d only been on the ground for about fifteen minutes. Short flight -- we’ll be there in about thirty minutes. If you drove a car, it would take you more than two hours, if the traffic cooperated.”
I asked, “So, what happened? Kelly said something about some stranded lawyers.”
Cindy laughed and said, “Yeah, a bunch of ‘em went up to Pittsburgh a few days ago. One of ‘em wanted to take a Gulfstream, but we don’t have any of those, so they used a competitor over at Birmingham. Anyway, the bird that was supposed to bring them back was down for a maintenance issue today, so I went up to rescue them.”
I asked, “Cindy, is this your plane? How long have you had it?”
She smiled and said, “No ma’am, this one belongs to our transportation company. Kelly practically insisted that I fly it down here to get you. Honestly, I didn’t need much convincing.”
“Cindy, I suppose I don’t understand what you people do. I thought you were a teacher, but flying up to Pittsburgh and back?”
She laughed and said, “Ma’am, if you include teaching, we’re involved in about five businesses. We started out in Electrical Engineering, and that’s our principal business.”
“The air charter situation arose almost by accident, and it makes some good revenues, but isn’t as profitable. Doesn’t matter -- Cindy likes jets.” She smiled broadly. “My husband indulges me.”
She looked at her iPad and held up a finger. Keyed a button on the yoke and made a radio call to “3Sigma traffic”. Got a female response, “3Sigma field, no known traffic.” Kelly squealed and said, “That’s Mandy, Mizz Ruth.”
Arriving, landing, and we taxied to some fuel pumps, where some guys were unloading another big, shiny plane like this one. Cindy said, “Looks like Dana got back from Kansas a little early. That’s a good thing!”