Chapter 28: Comes The Stranger

As soon as I pulled into the driveway, Susan came outside to help carry my suitcase; Elena held the door open for her.

"Have a good time?" Elena asked, a smirk on her face.

"Oh yes!"

Susan put my suitcase on my bed and then gave me a hug. "I'm glad you're back."

I hugged her in return, then kissed her on the cheek. "It's true I thought about all of you this weekend, but there was so much else to think about..."

I looked around. "Where's Sherrie?"

"Boyfriend!" Susan and Elena chorused.

I looked around at the familiar house, the bright faces. "Would you all be offended if I said what I most wanted right now was a chance to soak in the pool?"

"Why would we be offended?" Elena asked, obviously curious.

"Oh, I go off for the weekend, meeting all sorts of interesting people, reading some of the most interesting writing I've ever read... and all I want to do is come home and soak my head."

Susan giggled, and turning to Elena said, "She's like that."

A few minutes later I wasn't exactly soaking my head as that was the only part of me sticking out of the water. I just relaxed, letting everything flow away for a few minutes.

I don't think I slept, but the passage of time went unnoticed.

Could you teach duty and honor to someone my daughter's age? For that was what we had to do. How do you teach duty and honor? Start instilling the virtues with your mother's milk, I guessed. Or was it something else? Was it society itself that taught such things? Was it the example of all the others around you that provided a guide, a matrix for our actions? Over and over, around and around, I chased my thoughts.

I looked around and saw Elena sitting a few feet away on the edge of the pool, contemplating me. It took me a second to realize that she was between the sun and me. She realized I was watching her and she grinned. "Think of me as a mobile umbrella." Elena was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, but she was dabbling her legs in the water.

I hauled myself out of the pool and sat next to her. "Missed you," I said simply.

She grinned. "I missed you. But, like you, I found ways to occupy myself."

"I met Peggy Brewster this afternoon."

She looked at me and shrugged. "I know she lives in the Phoenix area. A name from history lessons. She spoke a few times at retreats and award dinners. The winningest high school woman's basketball coach."

"And so very much more," I said softly. "So very much more."

I was silent for a few minutes. I turned to Elena, "Do you really think it's okay for older women to sleep with young girls?"

"I've thought about it," Elena told me. "Who hasn't? I've done it, but as a young girl with someone older and now as someone older with someone much younger. Part of it is sex, but it's different then just sex for the sake of sex. At least, it is for me. Marybeth, Coach... when you're with them it's clear that they like the sex, but they are interested in you as a person. They care about how you're doing in school, how you do on the squad... family life, friends. It's the full-meal deal."

I laughed.

"No, I mean it. It's a package deal. The ones who care, call it the best of the women, are there for us. From the beginning to the end. When I was a freshman, one of the seniors on the squad got pregnant. She'd gone to the prom with a guy that her parents set her up with. He gave her something and she woke up in bed with the bastard the next day. A few weeks later she missed her period."

"There aren't words to describe someone who'd do that," I told her, outraged.

"Sure there are. Date rape and all that. Little words that have big meanings. They pull a lot of freight when it's someone you know. She didn't want to tell her parents. It was the son of her father's boss; she was afraid her father would lose his job. She went to Marybeth. Marybeth took care of it. Took her to a clinic, paid for it. Everything. Held her hand more than a few times in the next year or so when she thought about it and started crying.

"Laura, that's what I wanted to be when I grew up. Like Marybeth. Like you. Like all those women who went before, the healers and fixers."

I patted her hand. "Dearest Elena, you are grown up."

She laughed. "Tell that to my conscience. I work in a toy shop."

"An adult toy shop," I said, laughing.

Susan appeared, phone in hand. "Mom, it's Carolyn."

"Hi," I said into the phone. "How are you?"

"Hi yourself! Okay. I wanted to say thank you. Tomorrow I'm going with June and her mom to visit her coach. My mom says that she's not sure what she wants for me, but it pretty much has to be something I want too."

"That sounds good," I told her enthusiastically. "I hope you do well tomorrow."

"Oh, sure. That's no problem! June was showing me things." I think I could feel the blush over the phone. "Diving things," Carolyn said quickly.

"I understand. Well, good luck, Carolyn."

"I just wanted to say thanks. My dad says you've been a big help."

"Well, that's what friends do for each other, Carolyn."

We talked for a few more minutes and I put the phone behind me on the concrete.

"Another success story," Elena said.

"I hope so. I talked to Denise this weekend. Would you feel comfortable if she came to work for me?"

Elena shrugged. "Not a problem."

I laughed. "No, probably never again. But I do need a bookkeeper. I think I want to start focusing on the big picture and there are getting to be a lot of details. A bookkeeper, personal assistant sort of position."

"I wasn't jealous," Elena said, aggrieved.

"I know, dear heart. But it did happen. Once."

"You don't owe me anything, Laura."

"An explanation, if nothing else," I contradicted her.

"You spent the weekend at Marybeth's," Elena said, grinning. "It goes without saying. Not quite orgies, but close to it. I've been there and done that. Lost more than my t-shirt. It will probably happen again, probably for both of us. We have to trust each other, Laura."

"I know. I'm still just getting used to half of the ideas. It's not what I learned growing up. Unlike some."

We had a quiet dinner. Sherrie came back and spent some time studying while Elena and I fixed the meal. Susan was sitting in the living room, actually, lying on the living room couch, reading her history book.

After dinner, Elena and I went for a walk. I led us to the house I was thinking about buying. I stood looking at it for a few minutes, Elena silently by my side.

"Second thoughts?" she asked.

"Well, more like first thoughts. I feel like that guy who ran for vice president with Ross Perot. Who am I and what am I doing here? For me it's more like what do I want to do with my life."

I turned to her. "One thing that keeps sticking in my mind, something I read. A hundred years ago two women couldn't walk down the street holding hands as lovers. And now we can. We've gone from there to here, then to now. I want to be a part of it. I'd like to help change things. There's not so much to do, I suppose, but the job's not complete. There's still a ways to go."

"Yes there is," Elena said. She waved at the house. "And this is going to help, how?"

"Let me ask another question. You want to be a teacher?"

Elena nodded.

"How would you go about teaching students about duty and honor? How would you go about making the case for such abstract concepts that aren't in much evidence in the world around us?"

"You don't ask easy questions, do you?"

"The easy ones are just practice," I said.

She punched me lightly in the ribs. "Okay, the answer is, if there is an answer, is you say the words, you describe why it's a good thing... and then live your own life as an example of what you mean."

"And if the rest of the world is out there every day showing people that honor, duty, following the rules... all of that, are just for clueless? That if you really want to get ahead, you do what you have to do?"

"Don't you just wish you could go off to another planet, sometimes, and leave all the rest of it behind?" Elena asked.

"Except I honestly don't think that would work. You might start out with like-minded people, but they would have children and their children would have children. At some point, we could wind up back where we are now."

"That's a chilling thought. But you said, 'could.'"

"Well, until we can travel to another planet, it's all rather speculative. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if it is to work, you have to somehow insulate or inoculate."

"I hate shots!" Elena said emphatically.

"I've never met anyone who admitted liking them," I told her. "In fact, most people hate them. But when the time comes to get poked, they go get poked. I'm just thinking out loud, here."

"Good... that means we can change the subject. Needles!" She shivered theatrically.

"I like the house I have now," I told her. "It's comfortable. I don't know how to explain it. The house we had on Long Island was okay, but I didn't like it as much as this one. There, I always thought of myself as a visitor. And it was just another tract house, just like this one. I don't know the difference. The new house," I grinned at the thought, "isn't a tract house. How comfortable it feels time will tell."

"Maybe it's how much input you had on it in the first place."

"Roger was a good, kind and decent man. We looked together and made up our minds together. He didn't push me one way or another. And I didn't push him. We chose the house based on location, schools, shopping... all very careful and methodical. Here, I sent an agent a list of my requirements, and when I got here he took me around to a few places. This was like number two. It had everything I wanted and that was it."

"Maybe you need to go with your gut, then."

I nodded. "And my gut is saying this is the future. It may not be as comfortable, but there are other things as important as comfort."

When we turned to go home, we twined our fingers together and grinned at each other like schoolgirls as we walked.

Later we made languid love, taking our time, just kissing and caressing each other. Our passion was lurking below the surface and eventually Elena got more aggressive and that stirred me as well. Then it was like swirls of different colored smoke rising into the air, twisting and curling together, but also separate strands as well. We sank back, finally, pleased and content, our arms wrapped around each other.

We slept like that until it was time to get up, then we limited ourselves to a few kisses. June was already seated at the poolside when we came out, and shortly all of us were swimming.

The morning was a little cooler than it had been, about what it was like on Long Island most summer days. That made me swim a little faster for a little longer and stay an even shorter time wet alongside the pool.

Then it was hurry-up time. I got Susan up and going, Sherrie joining us for breakfast. By the time I got back from taking Susan to school, Sherrie was just leaving and Elena was showering. "I have an early morning of it," she told me. "We go through the store, making sure everything is arranged and put up any stock we have on the shelves in the back. Tuesday is the day we get in new stock, mostly, and we need to be ready for that."

I nodded, kissed her goodbye and sat down in front of the phone. I called my father-in-law who reported things well under way, going offshore. There were a few details of interest, and then I was talking to Andy Wright, the real estate agent. Yes, the offer had been accepted, yes, I could rent the place between now and the official closing date.

Andy went on to say, "He's going to fly back this afternoon. If you can meet him around four, that would be cool. Sign a rental agreement, give him some money, you get the keys and you can ask any questions you might have about the place."

I agreed, and then I sat back, contemplating life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I smiled to myself. I was about to start spending a lot more money than I'd ever spent in my life. And how was I reacting to it? Nervous apprehension? Nope, I felt horny. I stared at the phone, contemplating calling Marybeth to see if she was at loose ends. Instead, there was a knock on the door.

I remembered what had been said about foster parents and the way the Children Services people might retaliate. So, I expected to see Sanchez when I opened the door. Instead, it was Gus Courdes.

"Good morning, Laura,"

"Morning, Gus," I said cheerfully. "What can I do for you this morning?"

"I wanted to talk to you about the same topic we discussed the other day."

I nodded and she came in. I offered her something to drink, but she declined. "I'm here on my own," she told me. "I'm not so much sneaking behind everyone else's back as just making sure that you understand what we meant."

"I'm sure it was clear enough," I said with a laugh. "In fact, I think I'm going to put it into practice. This weekend one of the topics of conversation was the growing acceptance of gays in society. We can't get married yet, but more and more places accept civil unions. One day, if that's what we want, we'll be able to get married. And if they let gays marry, then for the life of me, I can't see how they could object to four people who love each other getting married either."

She grimaced. "We didn't much get into politics. We're kind of libertarians. Small "L" libertarians, we don't belong to the party or anything. We've had too many visits from the nanny-government to be comfortable."

"Pain-in-the-ass busybodies," I said, agreeing.

She laughed. "Exactly. But scary, sometimes as well."

I nodded. "The government doesn't see the rest of us, they just have their rule books and their turf; they have nothing better to do than refer to the former and protect the latter. And if someone gets hurt..." I shook my head. "They don't notice."

"Yeah," Gus said. She looked at me steadily. "I worry about my daughters. Not because they're close, but because of what those stupid rules mean to them. They're legally sisters."

"And you worry that one day someone might find out that they are closer than most sisters are permitted to be."

She nodded. "None of us mind, we think they are old enough to make that sort of choice. We never minded when the three of them played around when they were a little younger. But lately, Toni and Sylvia are so in love... to me it's as obvious as night and day. I'm afraid someone else will notice."

I'd noticed, but I was fairly sure I'd been supposed to notice.

"Tell me I not being foolish?"

"I don't know. I think if you haven't had a talk with them, you should. Make sure they understand what's involved if they mess up."

"We've done that. I don't think it would be something that would happen deliberately, but as an accident..."

"If you've talked to them, if they are being as careful as they can... then it's like letting them drive a car. There's no doubt that kids and cars can be dangerous. But at some point in time they have to fly from the nest; no matter how much it scares us, we just have to try not to dwell on the risks."

She looked at me and grinned. "Why worry, eh?"

"It's human to worry. But after a while, you have to let it go or you can end up making a big mess on your own."

"It's the hardest thing I've found about being a mother. Worrying about my own mistakes, and how they would affect Toni and Sylvia."

"Oh yeah! But, I think we have wonderful daughters and we should worry less about them now and savor what time we have with them."

"One reason we wanted to raise them in our lifestyle," Gus said, "was the hope that they'd bring lovers home to us, rather than going away on their own."

She was silent for a second, and then she looked at me. "I met Elena this weekend. She's very nice."

I nodded, smiling slightly.

"You and she..." Gus said, and then shook her head. "That's none of my business."

"Elena and I, yep," I told her. "I don't plan on hiding my affection for her."

She lifted her eyes and met mine. I could read her mind easily.

"No," I went on, "the age difference isn't important to either of us."

Gus giggled. "No I wasn't thinking that. I was just being mildly jealous."

I looked at her and she looked at me. It seemed pretty clear we were both thinking pretty much the same thing.

"I'm not being very smart, I guess. Karen and I talked and we both are interested in you. We really wish there was a way to talk you into joining our family. But neither of us think there is any chance of that happening."

"Probably not, but probably not for the reasons you think."

"The guys?"

"That, some of it. But there's something else."

I could see the question on her face.

I took a deep breath. "You have three very nice daughters, it would be very easy for me to be attracted to them."

She didn't flinch or even blink. Instead she looked at me steadily. "You like them?"

"I like all sorts of people," I told her. "Some more than others. One group of people I like quite a lot is young women who are confident, assured, smart and happy."

Gus smiled slightly. "What's not to like about people like that? It's one reason I loved Karen. She sparkles; even when she was at her worst, she sparkles. I think it bothered me more than it bothered her after she was attacked."

Gus let out a sigh, "And I'm not perfect in that regard myself. June can be very persistent."

"Do you think it's going to stunt her growth? Either literally or metaphorically?"

Gus laughed. "No, I was just one more experiment. June is an avid experimenter."

"I've come to believe that not only isn't it going to stunt someone's growth, but it can actually do good. I suppose that sounds self-serving, but it's what I think."

"When I was in grade school, I had a teacher who let me stay at her house a couple of times, when I was in her class. That was fourth grade. We've stayed friends over the years. It was her that brought me out, when I was starting eighth grade. It was a good thing for me because I was starting to get pretty confused between what I felt inside and what I saw going on around me."

"I think there are as many reasons as there are girls," I told her. "Once I got over my guilt trip I thought about it a lot." I smiled. "My first time with another woman was the work of someone just as persistent as June."

"One of the foundations of our relationship is that sex is two-headed. It is how we show our affection for each other, but at the same time, we don't believe in hoarding our emotional side from people we meet, if that's how we feel about them."

"I have lovers," I told her bluntly. "Some are more important to me than others. Some are just important to me. I understand that the same is true for you."

"So if I were to come over there and kiss you, you wouldn't be shocked or offended?"

"No, nor would you be in any danger of being kicked out of bed."

The doorbell went off. The two of us looked at each other then laughed.

I got up and went to answer it, smiling to myself. A good thing, because I needed it. Sanchez was there, smiling at me.

"May I have a moment of your time, Mrs. Hunt?"

Gus appeared, nodded to the women. "I'll be back in a while, Laura," she told me.

"Later, Gus."

I turned to Sanchez, opening the door. "Come on in."

She came in, and I waved for her to sit down. It wasn't an accident that I waved her to where Gus had just been sitting; it was to remind me of the difference between them.

"We don't like each other," she said.

"No, I can't say as we do."

"Nonetheless, I have my job. I've asked around about you, you know."

I shrugged. "Feel free."

"People tell me that you do really well with girls. Particularly teenage girls. That you can communicate with them."

"I don't walk on water," I replied.

"But you do have some skills, do you not? Beyond those of the average parent?"

"So people say."

"There are girls in the system that do not benefit from it," she stated flatly. "I would be remiss if I wasn't aware of that fact. We are supposed to be even-handed, but there are some whose needs are greater than others. You said you might be able to solve the room problem you have with that on rather short notice."

"I can, I have," I told her. "I bought a new house. A much larger place."

She grimaced. "And is it your intention to see how many girls you can supervise?"

"No, it is my intent to have enough space for me and my friends. I'm going to need another of those forms for long-term guests in my house."

"I have them in my car, I'll bring you one before I leave. You impressed me by getting the fingerprint done so quickly. I called the Highway Patrol and talked to a couple of supervisors. They were a little defensive but admitted to going the extra mile for a 9/11 family member."

"I didn't ask for it, but since that day there have been few freely offered gifts I've turned down."

"How soon, do you think, will you have an extra bedroom? One where you will be available, at need, to supervise a young woman?"

"Tomorrow," I told her. "I'm renting the house I'm buying, it's already empty. I sign the papers on that tonight. The place is furnished, and occupancy would be immediate."

"It's true then, that money talks," she had a sour look on her face when she spoke.

"Money isn't talk, because talk is cheap. Money is like the volume knob on a boom box. The difference between a whisper and a low-rider's throbbing beat."

"Her name is Rachael Avilla. Half black, half Hispanic and all attitude. She has an IQ higher than 150. She can drink, cuss and carry on as well as any sailor. She is currently addicted to heroin and has herpes and gonorrhea. Yesterday she was in a fight in Juvenile Detention and now has a stab wound in her thigh. Sixteen years old in two weeks."

"And you want me to bring this paragon of virtue into my house," I said bitterly. "A house where my daughter lives?"

"You know the Bowden's will have their application approved. I think that's wrong, but I've been wrong so many times, what's one more? You can just tell me to go roll my hoop someplace else, I can find someone else, someone who at least cares about the money we'll pay them."

"You're right about the last. I don't care about the money. I have no idea how to treat, and I mean medically, someone as messed up as this Rachael Avilla."

"We have doctors, we can set up an appointment with one. Or you can use your own."

I mentally kicked myself. I hadn't needed to see a doctor; Susan hadn't needed to see one. That was on my list of things I was going to get to one of these days. I made a mental note: ask Marybeth about a good doctor.

"I'll see what's best. Tomorrow, you say?"

"Yes, there will be some formalities. Papers you will have to sign. At first it will be temporary custody, seventy-two hours. If you get through that, we would apply for thirty days, which will need a judge to sign off on. Miss Avilla has a court-appointed ombudsman, but she has refused to see him."

"How about making it a her?" I asked.

"We have a rotation," she told me.

"Rotate the guy out, put a woman in."

"Her father was having sex with her, her uncles. Some others. They beat her if she didn't perform up to expectations. Perhaps you're right."

"Like I said, change the ombudsperson."

She glared at me. "You despise me, don't you?" she asked.

I laughed. "And you hold me in high esteem. Ms. Sanchez, this isn't about us. This is about a troubled young woman."

"Do you really think money will buy her happiness?"

I laughed harder. "I have no intentions of trying to buy her happiness. Happiness is found inside ourselves. No man may be an island, but the fact is, how we look at the world is internal to each of us. You can't impose a worldview on someone. She will have to find happiness inside herself. I can't buy it, I can't give it to her... all I can do is give her some words of encouragement and a safe place to think about her life."

"Ten tomorrow, then. I will need your new address."

"I'll have it for you tomorrow. Come here, first."

She stood up. "I'll get that form for you. Who is it?"

"My new significant other. This will be the one time you can complain about the fact it's a young woman of twenty-five."

She literally closed her eyes. "And you think this makes you a suitable role-model for your daughter?"

"I think my personal life is my personal life. My daughter doesn't have a problem with this."

"You've talked to her?"

"Yes, of course."

She started to leave, and I reached out and touched her arm. She shrugged away, as if I was a plague carrier.

"I don't know about your personal circumstances," I told her. "It's truly none of my business. But I doubt if you have children. Maybe the people you meet in your line of business don't talk to their kids, but I do. Maybe not about every little thing, but that's because I'm human. You might want to contemplate what it means to be human."

"I'm single. I have my work. I give my job all of my attention."

"Once upon a time such people were called the 'Brides of Christ, '" I told her. "Nuns by any other name."

She recoiled in horror, as if I was accusing her of the most terrible crime. "Religion has nothing to do with this."

"It's easy in the modern world to deny religion," I told her. "But it's something my husband told me. A lot of the people who deny religion want you to take their word based on faith in their premises. Pretty much the same way as religious people ask you to accept their premises. Better, my husband said, to keep your eyes and mind open. Think for yourself."

"I think for myself," she retorted and went through the door. A minute later I had the papers in my hand and watched her drive away.

I mentally crossed my fingers. I hoped Gus wasn't watching; I hoped she wasn't going to rush over and want to pick up where we'd left off. The mood had passed and I was going to need something much better to take the taste out of my mouth.

That turned out to be Gus, only this time with Karen and their daughters, in a group.

"We're going on a field trip," Gus said, her eyes sparkling. "Scottsdale Mall. Where we will find something to eat at the food court and then watch a movie."

"A movie?" I was wary. I wasn't a big fan of movies.

"A movie," Karen said. "Trust me. We will be back in plenty of time for you to pick up Susan."

Well, I'd wanted something to get the taste of Sanchez out of my mouth. I smiled at the thought. I was tolerably sure that she would be horrified at the thought of it being literally true.

So, I went.

I've eaten hot cross buns for breakfast before; in fact, growing up, we had hot hot cross buns for Sunday breakfast most weeks. I'd never had them for lunch, but the smell tickled something deep inside me and I just smiled at the expressions of the others as I ate my lunch of choice.

Then we sat down in a theater to see something called "Ice Age." I had not a clue what it was about, and once the previews were past, it took about a minute of the movie before I was giggling hysterically, like all the rest of them.

For all of that, the movie dealt with serious themes in a serious, but comedic way. Funny? Yes? But there was more of that duty, honor and loyalty that I despaired so about. And afterwards, on the drive home, it was clear that June, Toni and Sylvia had understood the major messages. It was cheering.

Karen and Gus bade the girls go home, while the two of them invited themselves inside. The movie hadn't been that long, and I still had a half hour before I had to leave to get Susan.

"I'm glad we did this," I told them.

"You looked pretty upset," Gus said. "Those people..."

"We didn't want to upset you," Karen told me seriously. "This seemed like as good a way as any. We like to go to the movies on weekdays... you may have noticed we were the only ones in the theater."

I blinked. So we had been.

"Our own private showing," Gus chimed in.

"If there's anything we can do to help..." Karen told me.

"I'll think of you, I'm sure," I told them. "But my friends were right. They are giving me a girl who's a drug addict, has been diddled by every male in her family, who's got a couple of kinds of VD and is mixed race. She's smarter than June or Carolyn, I suspect, and I guess, an attitude to match. Tomorrow morning at ten."

I looked at them and took a deep breath. "I think for the first day or two, just Elena and I will be at the other house. Susan and Sherrie will stay here. June will have to ask Sherrie if she's willing to get up early. Sherrie's kind of a sleepy head."

"June used to be," Karen said with a laugh. "Now she's motivated. I don't know if it will last. I hope so." She looked at me. "I don't have a problem with her walking a few doors down the street at that time of day. I'm going to have a problem with her going a mile or so."