Chapter 7

Saturday 21 May 2022

After a very early night, trying to get ahead of the timezone thing, they arrived at the airport long before dawn to check in. Not long after, Joe and Layna arrived, and then the rest of their families and the project team started arriving. Wow, even Steph arrived with Rachel, all masked up. Larissa held her tight and asked her how she was going. Steph shrugged and said she was going to be just fine, without Larissa to bug her for a whole week. When everyone stopped laughing, she said very quietly so that only Larissa could hear, “I’m only here because I couldn’t sleep, and I need a big long hug before you go away for a week.” Larissa made sure she gave Steph a big long hug that was only interrupted by hugging other people before they left, and letting go of Steph was the very last thing she did before finally boarding. No one said anything, but Larissa could see that they all did everything they could to make it easy for her to do that.

Their first flight was from Melbourne to Sydney. From there, they were guided to the first class lounge in Sydney, and sat in the free restaurant, which was lovely. The staff recognised them - they were getting pretty high profile indeed now, and so they got particularly first class service, and they got some comment about yesterday’s fiery video about the election. From there, it was time for the big flight, direct to Dallas on the A380. Larissa was a bit excited by this now, as they all were, going to USA for the first time. On the plane, they were shown to their seats, a pair of window side seats, Joe and Layna in the row in front of Julian and Larissa. Julian said it was Larissa’s turn for the window seat, so she sat and watched out the window for a few minutes, but almost straight away the plane headed out over the ocean, and it was a long way to land again - when the plane flew over Mexico. For a while, she sat and read her statistics text book and played with her stats software on her laptop, but that was a sure a way to send her to sleep. She stopped and watched a movie, but not long after, it was sleep time at their destination, so she went back to her stats book, and then down to sleep. Julian was doing the same.

When she woke up, they were well over Mexico, and she spent a while looking down at Mexico - it looked quite green and lush, more than she expected, but otherwise it looked like home - roads, villages, farms, mountains. She took photos for her daily trip report and then they were out over the gulf of Mexico, and it was breakfast time. Finally, they were back over land, Texas, and the flight was nearly over. Larissa had plenty of space and a lovely sleep, and she actually felt pretty good. Julian agreed, and they were looking forward to landing in America.

As they prepared to descend, the captain came on the PA and made an announcement about the election, that most of the seats had been called, and Labor had won convincingly, enough that it was sure to be able to form a government, maybe even without the independents, and there were a lot of those. The government had been hammered, he confirmed. Oh, yes, Larissa was thrilled, and she pumped her fists and called out in triumph. Julian laughed with her, and gave her a high five, and then she jumped up and leaned over the seat in front of her, and Layna stretched up so they could kiss in celebration. She didn’t know whether the new government would be better at the policy level, but they just wouldn’t have the malice to the things she cared about that Scott Morrison had.

The man sitting across the aisle from Julian leaned across and said, “I don’t know why you’re celebrating that, the new government will be a disaster for Australia.” Right, not everyone was happy. But Larissa wondered what his woman would think. If he had one. But she could let Julian deal with that, and even he couldn’t be bothered.

Their connection was tight, but the flight was on time so they didn’t have to fall back to the next flight. Being up the front of the plane meant that they were out first, and their luggage was out quickly too, and passing the formalities was relatively quick and straight forward. They found the gate for their next flight and sat on the floor and caught up with their messaging. Mostly election related - Larissa didn’t know whether it was because it was the first time she’d been invested in an election, or whether it was this particular election, but it had seemed very consuming for everyone. She did message Steph, and got an answer straight back; Steph wasn’t sleeping well and was well aware that Larissa had just landed - she’d been watching the flight on the flight app, so they messaged each other while she caught up on everything else. Julian showed her the election results - as they thought, Labor had won easily in their electorate and James and Sophie’s electorate. Sophie, at least, would be happy. James, not so much - he thought of himself as a classic Liberal voter, but they’d completely lost him recently, so he thought of himself as politically homeless and hoped that this election was a shock that would reset the liberals back to their historical policy. Reasonable and rational would be a start. The independent in the next electorate north had romped home, as they’d thought, but the government had won in the retiree electorate further south where Julian had focused his efforts. Julian shrugged, that’s what they’d expected, but it had been closer than they hoped for. And Darren had romped home, even registering a swing his way, one of the few swings towards the government. From Larissa’s point of view, that was deserved, since he’d come out against the government and for rational action on climate change. Also, he’d had plenty to say about the position of women - Julian had told her about that.

She had a scan of Twitter about the election, and found a picture that really surprised her: Bob was at Darren’s victory party, of course, with Mary and her mum. But there was a fourth person with them, arm around Mary: that athlete she’d introduced Mary to the other night, Louise. Well, that was interesting. She took a shot of that and forwarded that to her mum with the caption ‘wow!’ to see what she said. Still too early in the morning in Australia for anyone but Steph to be awake.

Once she’d caught up, she got up and looked in the airport shops, trying to get a feel for what USA was like. Rapidly she realised that the answer was: quite different brands and trademarks, but pretty much the same kind of shopping experience. Layna joined her, and they wandered around a bit. “This is lovely,” Layna said. “No one’s going to recognise me here!” Layna had fans in USA, but it wasn’t anything like Australia where her profile was quite high. And they hadn’t said anything about being in USA to the patreons, so there would no reason for anyone to be looking out for her.

Then it was time for the next flight, off to Baltimore. Late afternoon, they arrived at their final airport for the day, retrieved their bags, and then headed off to the rental place to get their car. Deciding what to do on arrival had been the difficult decision for the trip. The later part of the trip was all organised for them, but the question was what to do while they adjusted to the timezone changes. Julian had suggested that they go somewhere fun and interesting like Yellowstone, and they’d all have loved that, but when they looked at their time and financial constraints, it wasn’t a very good idea. But they still wanted to do something outdoorsy. The obvious solution was that Joe had an aunt and cousins he hadn’t met for ten years living in Maryland, a farming family, and his mum had really wanted Joe to catch up with them. So they’d decided to do that, and then it turned out that Joe’s cousin Lisa, who was a couple of years younger than Joe, was going to a uni up near Annapolis, and her room mate was doing biology and had become a huge fan of Layna, and they’d organised an overnight kayak trip on Chesapeake Bay using their department’s equipment. So their first stop was Lisa’s farm, but they had to drive there first. On the wrong side of the road.

Larissa wanted nothing to do with that; way too hard for her to get her head around that, but Joe and Julian had declared they were good for that challenge. So those two were going to drive, while Layna and Larissa hid in the back seat and hoped for the best. Their insurance excess was pretty excessive, given their age, so Larissa hoped very much that nothing went wrong, and then they were on the road, down towards Annapolis, across the mighty Chesapeake Bay bridge - definitely the biggest bridge Larissa had ever crossed by a big margin - and then south down the peninsula, though they stopped to stretch their legs quickly at the Chesapeake Bay Environment Center, which they all loved, so peaceful and calm.

Layna and Larissa sat in the back seat, watching the scenary with interest, and staying on top of social media. Ahh, she got a message from her mum, and had a quick exchange with her.

✉ Raychelle: Ah yes, we had a great night last night
✉ Larissa: I’m surprised to see Louise in that photo
✉ Raychelle: Who? Darren asked us to thank Julian for helping him. He says his youth vote held up, and he thinks Julian was important
✉ Larissa: Mum! You know what I mean
✉ Raychelle: No?
✉ Larissa: You’re just being cruel
✉ Raychelle: Hah! Well, we had breakfast with Louise the next morning before Sydney
✉ Raychelle: Then she came to the show with us on Friday night
✉ Raychelle: Bob and Mary decided that it’s Mary’s turn with her now
✉ Larissa: Umm, and how do you feel about that?
✉ Rachelle: Very very very happy! I’m having lots of fun
✉ Raychelle: I know you love me very much and you’re concerned for me. Thanks, and I love you a lot for it. But this time, you should be jealous :-)

Well, there was no doubt about how her mum felt, nor about what they were up to. For a second, she wondered whether she should feel guilty, but no, they were all grown ups, and capable of making their own bed. And she really shouldn’t be surprised Louise played for both sides - she’d never have been a serious candidate for Bob if she didn’t.

✉ Larissa: I’m glad it’s making you happy, and tell Mary I’m happy if you’re all happy. Love you

A few minutes later, she got a message from a number she didn’t recognise

✉ (anonymous): Hi. It’s Louise here. Your mum tells me you saw a photo of us from last night
✉ Larissa: Hi. I sure did. You looked happy. Are you?
✉ Louise: Yes, very much. Thank you for making that introduction
✉ Larissa: I’m happy I did. Though I didn’t expect things to go in this direction
✉ Louise: I’d never have guessed either. But it’s good for me, thanks!
✉ Larissa: Great. As long as it works for all you
✉ Louise: Bob and Mary think very highly of you. Your mum, of course, couldn’t worship you more. It’s lovely
✉ Larissa: Thanks. I’m happy for her and enjoying being part of their family
✉ Louise: I’m looking forward to seeing you again when you get back. Enjoy USA
✉ Larissa: Thanks. Just settling in now. Look forward to getting back
✉ Louise: Btw I have daughters, 15 & 13. I talked to them about what you said in your talk
✉ Louise: It was a very good discussion with them, thank you. We agree about alcohol
✉ Louise: It would be lovely if you would meet them
✉ Larissa: Of course I’m happy to meet them. I would love to. Where are they?
✉ Louise: Traralgon here with me
✉ Larissa: We’re coming to Bob’s place next Sunday. So sometime that afternoon?
✉ Louise: Great, see you then! Thanks

She hadn’t got around to telling Julian about Louise, she’d have to remember to do that later. She loved Layna a lot, but this was probably a family subject Layna didn’t need to know about.

After an hour of driving, Julian and Joe switched, and Julian drove while Joe navigated; his cousin’s farm was down a road that didn’t even feature on their map. So far, Joe hadn’t put a foot wrong, but they swapped in the carpark of a road side service station, and Julian pulled straight out onto the wrong side of the road, and only realised what he’d done when someone came the other way. “Shit!” Julian cried. “I’m sorry. I won’t get it wrong again.”

Another thirty minutes, and Joe sent them down a tiny dirt lane that eventually passed a gate with the name ‘Haberfeld’ on it. “We’re here!” Joe said, “Turn in here and down the drive.” At the end of the drive, they pulled up, and then all got out of the car and looked around - a big farm house, a barn behind that, and a shed full of tractors and farm gear. Quite like her granddad’s farm back when she was a kid, and she’d spent quite a bit of time at his farm. At first, there was no one around, and then an excited girl, a little younger than them, came around the corner. “Joe! I’m Lisa” she called out, and ran at him and hugged him tight.

“Lisa! It’s been such a long time!” Joe had last seen her when she was nine, ten years earlier. “It’s lovely to be here with you at last. Let me introduce you to Layna.”

Lisa stepped back and looked at Layna. “Layna! Lovely to meet you. I about fell off my bed when I found out you’re Joe’s girlfriend, and I’ve been stalking you ever since. I’m a huge fan!”

Layna smiled and said, “Lovely to meet you, Lisa. Thank you for all you’ve done to host us.” Lisa hugged her too, and then Layna said, “And this is Larissa and Julian, our best friends and collaborators.”

“I know!” She let go of Layna and hugged both Julian and Larissa at once. Larissa smiled because Lisa was definitely a hugger. She had a feeling she was going to get on just fine with Lisa.

“Mum’s in the kitchen, and all the guys are out finishing up on the farm. I’ll take you in to meet mum, but first, see that fence there?” Lisa showed them the front half the farm, visible from where they were, an orchard, a field currently growing corn, and a large grass field with goats on it. Behind the barn, was a huge indoor chicken run - their main product, and some more fields and orchards. “So we’ve had some lean years,” Lisa said, “but mostly we make ends meet.”

Right, Larissa thought, looking at the brand new trucks parked in front of the barn, making ends meet is relative; Jane’s family didn’t have vehicles like that. Still, it was relative to the people around them, and farmers were always on the ropes - an inevitable result of capitalism. Instead of pursuing that, she asked Lisa about herself as they walked around the back of the house.

“Oh, there’s not much to say, really. I grew up here on the farm, and I like it and I’ve always helped out, but I’m not going to be a farmer’s wife, that’s for sure. So this year I did nursing, and then I’m planning to travel once I’ve finished.”

Lisa’s mum was Mitzy, short for Melissa. “Don’t ask how that’s the short form - it’s something in Biff’s family.” She hugged Joe and said, “I haven’t seen you for a decade! You’re so grown up! Well, I haven’t seen anyone in the family for five years, actually.” Then she turned to Layna. “Wow, lovely to meet you. Susan’s so thrilled about you.” She shot a look at Joe. “I think you weren’t quite what she was expecting for Joe.”

Layna grinned and said, “I do like to surprise people.” Both Mitzy and Lisa laughed at that. “And this is my best two friends in the whole world, Larissa and Julian.”

Mitzy was super welcoming and Larissa felt right at home, and no doubt it helped that all of them started helping getting dinner ready. Not long after that, Biff turned up with three boys in tow. Biff was everything Larissa would have expected from a US farmer - tall, loud, and gruff. The three boys were Lisa’s two younger brothers, and a cousin from Biff’s side of the family. “Wow,” Layna said, “you banged them out in a hurry.”

Mitzy laughed. “Actually, they’re not as close as they look - nearly eighteen and just sixteen. But two peas in a pod, including how good they are at getting into trouble.” The two sons in question gave her cheesy grins and sat down for dinner, clearly expecting to be waited on.

Over dinner, Larissa watched and listened as they pumped Joe and Layna for information, getting to know them, and ragged on each other as well. Discussion quickly turned to Joe and Layna’s relationship.

“Hey Joe,” Lisa’s younger brother asked, “how on earth did you land Layna?”

Well, that was a pretty blunt question. Typical brash teenager, and Lisa’s brothers certainly were that. Surely Joe knew exactly what he meant, but he just shrugged and said, “Well, we met at a few parties, and then we had coffee a few times, and we just clicked, so here we are. I mean, how else does it happen?”

“Well, nah,” her brother said, “I mean, Layna’s a pretty attractive girl, and you’re ... not.” The rest of the family giggled a bit for that. “I asked Lisa, and she said you’re not!” Right, and Lisa was looking daggers at him for that.

Joe smiled. “Sure, I’m not much to look at. I’ve always known that. But you’re wrong about Layna. She’s not just pretty attractive, she’s the most beautiful woman in the world.”

They snorted a bit for that, so Lisa grabbed her phone and looked up a photo of the two of them on the red carpet, and showed the boys. “See, this is them this week,” Lisa said. “Both of them, the most beautiful, and they got big write ups for it in Australian social media.”

The boys were looking at them, stunned. Layna smiled at them and said, “You boys have it all wrong. We happen to be good looking, but so what? That’s only skin deep, and I’ve got enough of that. Too much for me. When I went looking for a partner, I was looking for someone who was beautiful inside, all the way through. And that search led me to Joe.”

“And I was looking for the same thing,” Joe said. “So we both think we’re perfect for each other.”

“Sometimes, boys, I go out and about with Layna,” Larissa said. “You should see the hot guys, posing in front of her, thinking that’ll do something for her.” She laughed. “All they’re doing is advertising how ugly they are.”

Mitzy agreed strongly. “Thanks Larissa. I’ve told you boys this again and again, and you won’t get any girls interested in you until you listen.”

“Yeah, boys, wanna get laid, listen to what girls tell you,” Lisa said.

The older brother stuck is tongue out at her, and said, “Well, what’s going wrong for you then?”

Mitzy said, “Too many boys who aren’t listening, like you. Enough. Joe, how are your sisters doing?”

Hmm. Larissa decided to be alert to opportunities to follow up about that with Lisa. But they were talking about old family history now, and the subject didn’t come up again.

When dinner was over, one of the brothers said, “Hey, guys, we should do some shooting!”

Larissa nearly laughed at the theatrical way Lisa rolled her eyes, but she managed not to.

“Yeah,” the other said. “You Australian guys won’t know anything about guns! We should give you an education. Have you guys ever touched a gun?”

“Umm,” Julian said, after a pause. “What would we be shooting?”

“We have some targets set up on an empty field out behind the barn,” Biff said. Presumably, from the way he said it and how they frowned briefly, that was instructing them on what to chose.

“Umm, OK,” Julian said. “I have used a gun, once. What about you Joe?”

“Yes, a couple of times, up at Peter’s place, shooting rabbits.”

“Let’s go, then,” the old brother said. “Oh, you girls, you interested?” He clearly didn’t think they would be.

“I don’t think that girls like Larissa and Layna are going to be interested in guns!” Lisa said.

Larissa hadn’t been going to say anything, but Julian said, “Actually, Larissa is the one that usually uses a gun.”

That caused a surprised silence, and then Mitzy said, “You use a gun, dear? What do you do that for?”

Larissa nodded, and said, quietly, “Yes, I carry a gun when I’m working. And I use it sometimes, to kill wildlife that I can’t save. It’s a cheap and safe way to put animals out of their pain, like I put pets to sleep with a sedative overdose. Mostly, I use it after car accidents. You know, someone hit an animal, whatever, damn animal bent my car, and drives on, leaving the poor animal on the side of the road. Then I come along later, and have to decide, can we afford to fix them up, give them life, or do I just shoot them and be done with it.”

“Wow,” Lisa said, “that sounds like a difficult thing to do.”

“Yes, it’s very challenging for me. I do what I do to save lives, and the fact that I have to kill, it took me a long time to be ready to do that. It’s hard whether I’m ending the life of a very loved personal pet of a lonely old woman dying from cancer with an injection, or putting a severely malnourished puppy to sleep that’s owners were too drunk to feed it, or shooting a koala that a little girl’s got her heart set on me saving, but I have to do it in all those cases. Or shooting a little baby kangaroo, not much bigger than the bullet, because it’s mum died after being hit by a car. And it’s very personal when I do it. I have a rifle, but they’re almost always right in front of me, looking in my face. And then I have a little cry inside while I’m doing the paperwork, and figuring out what to do with the body.”