Chapter 21: Travel Surprises

Chaos was the only description that can be applied to the Friday and Saturday between Christmas and the Sunday of the double wedding. Ben and Pete met the flight that carried the out of town guests on Friday night. They were to meet Pete's father, Sheila's mother, and Susan's mother. Fortunately, they all arrived on the same flight.

Avasa Delgado, or Ava as she wanted to be called, lived in Lawton Oklahoma. Ava was Sheila's mother and a proud member of the Cherokee Tribe. Avasa means Independent in Cherokee and Ava was the personification of her name. She preferred to be called Ava because, as proud as she was of her heritage, she believed the Cherokee needed to integrate closer with white society while keeping their own identity. Ava believed that names were one things that separated the races. That was why she hadn't selected a traditional name for her daughter. Ava was tall, about 5' 9", willow thin and iron grey hair. The way she carried herself automatically invoked respect for those she met. Her voice was soft and unhurried but precise in a way that clearly conveyed that she would take no nonsense. Ava was flying in from Oklahoma City with a connection in Dallas.

Paul Sandoval, Pete's father, hailed from Port Arthur Texas. He retired from his janitor job after his wife died but discovered that he couldn't live in Dallas on his retirement from the state education fund. Even the 'little extra' that his son sent every month couldn't make ends meet in Dallas. Port Arthur had a much lower cost of living and the fishing around the coast city provided plenty of extra food. The fishing even added a little extra income from some local markets so he moved, and loved it. Paul had considered accepting Pete's invitation to live with him in Arizona but decided against it. A man shouldn't have his parents underfoot when he's getting started in life. Paul ignored the fact that his mother lived with him the last 15 years of her life.

Pete's father had to visit the doctor to get a fish hook cut out of his thumb the day he got the call from his son about his upcoming marriage. He couldn't understand why the doctor said he was only 5' 11". He used to be 6' 1". At least that's what they told him when he took his physical to start working for the school district in Dallas. Paul decided that it didn't matter if he was shrinking. His back was still straight and his head was still high. Paul didn't understand how a person could shrink but he didn't dwell on it long because his son called him soon after he got home from the doctors. His son was getting married and was buying him a ticket to fly to Phoenix.

Paul had never flown in a plane before and flying worried him. Of course, being afraid of flying wasn't manly so he did try to hide it. Another problem was the only airport he had ever been to was the one in Dallas. He had given Pete a ride to the airport several times during Pete's time in the Marines. The Houston airport was only a little over two hours away from Port Arthur to the west. The New Orleans airport was about five hours away to the east. After careful consideration, Paul ignored the closer airports and decided the drive to Dallas, about a six hour drive, was the way to go. Pete's arguments on the phone for the closer airports were met with the simple logic, "You gotta stick with what you know son."

Pete finally sighed in resignation and said, "Fine dad. I'll make the arrangements and have a ticket waiting for you in Dallas."

Abigail Wilson, Susan's mother, was flying from Amarillo Texas but had to change planes in Dallas. Abigail had stayed in Amarillo after her husband was killed stopping a robbery in 1961. Her husband had been hailed a hero because he was credited with saving a mother and her baby during the battle that killed him. The police force, the community, and the family of the mother ensured that Abigail had a place to live the rest of her life by deeding her a small house on the outskirts of town. She also received her dead husbands pension so, with some work in the local hospital, she was able to raise her daughter in a respectable home without many financial difficulties. Abigail had been surprised at the outpouring of support from the black and the white community. That wouldn't have happened in her native Alabama. She voiced her surprise to a friend and was told, "Texas isn't Alabama dear. Texans may have their problems between the races but showing gratitude when it's deserved isn't one of them."

Abigail was surprised when her daughter called to announce that she was getting married. She had given up hope that her daughter would marry and give her some grand babies. In Abigail's time, a woman was married before she was 20 or she was an old maid. Waiting until after 30 to get married was unheard of. So, she cried happy tears on the phone with her daughter and they made the arrangements for her to fly to Phoenix.

Paul Sandoval was walking towards his departure gate with his one, small carryon bag. He wasn't in a hurry because the flight was coming from Oklahoma City and the ticket counter attendant had told him the flight would be about 45 minutes late.

"Yes ma'am," Paul said. "That's to be expected. Everything's late in North Texas." Many Texans considered Oklahoma part of northern Texas. Of course, some Texans considered all land north of Texas to the Canadian border simply undocumented extensions of Texas.

Paul saw a trim little black lady with a sprinkling of grey in her hair walking ahead of him down the concourse of the airport. "She couldn't be more than 5' 2" but she's a mighty nice looking woman," he thought to himself. The woman was struggling with two bags on shoulder straps and two more in her hands. Being the gentleman that he was, Paul offered to help.

"Excuse me ma'am. Could you use some help with those bags?" Paul asked politely.

Abigail looked up and saw a tall, well set up older black man. In truth, Abigail classified anyone taller than her as tall. His hair line was receding but what was left of his hair was close cut and sprinkled with grey. He was dressed in a dark blue suit and had a good shine on his shoes. Her husband had always told her that one indicator of good character was a good shine on a person's shoes. She was wary of strangers when traveling but the laugh wrinkles around the tall man's eyes, and the shiny shoes, seemed to reassure her.

"Ah most certainly could use some hep if yur offern," Abigail replied with a smile. She didn't know why she emphasized her southern accent. She had mostly eliminated it since she moved to Amarillo over 25 years ago.

"Well ma'am, I'm offeren." Paul cleared his throat and said, "I mean I'm offering." He couldn't help but return her smile.

Paul graciously accepted three of her four bags. He managed to distribute them around his body a little better than she had so it wasn't as awkward walking. The woman thanked him profusely for his assistance which he shrugged off with the comment that it was only what any gentleman would do.

"You know, you could have checked these so you wouldn't have so much baggage on the plane," Paul said. He was trying to start a conversation. It had been a lot of years since he had really talked to a woman. There certainly wasn't a woman on the boat. He didn't see many at the cleaning stands where he gutted his fish either. On reflection, he couldn't think of any women that he'd talked to outside of the women he met in the checkout line while grocery shopping. He wasn't quite sure what was acceptable when talking to a strange woman.

"Oh I did," Abigail replied. She chided herself and focused on not letting her Alabama accent creep back into her conversation. Abigail considered herself educated now and didn't think she should talk like that. "Getting three suit cases to the check in counter were a chore. They assured me they would get my luggage switched to my next flight. These are the bags I thought I would need until I get my suitcases back in Phoenix."

"You're going to Phoenix?" Paul asked in surprise. "I'm going to Phoenix too."

"Really?," Abigail asked as they approached their departure gate. "Why are you going to Phoenix?"

"My son's getting married," Paul said with a proud grin. They found seats and sat facing the runway so they could watch their connecting flight arrive. "The way my son described his intended; she's a pretty amazing woman."

"What a coincidence," Abigail said with delight. "My daughter's getting married too. I was beginning to think that she'd never get married and I'd never get any grand babies. She's marrying a policeman. She's had a soft spot for policemen ever since her daddy was killed in the line of duty. He was a policeman," Abigail finished softly.

Paul looked at her with understanding and said, "My son's a policeman, or, ah, he's a state policeman. I think they call it the highway patrol or something like that. I worry about him every day." Paul laughed wryly before saying, "Maybe it's a good thing that he's marrying a nurse."

Abigail stared at Paul for a moment before she quietly said, "My daughter is a nurse. Your last name wouldn't be Sandoval would it?"

"Yes ma'am," Paul answered with a crooked smile as he realized he was talking to his son's mother-in-law. "Paul Sandoval at your service. Would your last name happen to be Wilson?"

"Yes sir it would," Abigail answered. Her smile grew into a grin and her eyes twinkled. "Abigail Wilson is my name. I think we're about to be related."

Paul burst out with a guffaw and, shaking his head said, "By George, I think you're right. Now, that's the strangest thing?"

Abigail was laughing too. It was a belly laugh that sounded genuine to Paul. "My Susan has been telling me about some of the goings on out there in Arizona. She told me to expect to see and hear some strange things while I'm there. She never warned me about strange coincidences before I even get out of Texas."

"Pete's been hinting at some strange things going on too. He said he was fixed right up when he was shot and I'm not talking about laying in the hospital with the doctors for a couple of weeks either," Paul said quietly. "He also said that I couldn't talk about it. Is that the kind of strange things you're talking about?"

Abigail just nodded before saying, "So, let's not talk about it right now. Susan will get a kick out of us meeting like this. And if your son is half the gentleman that you are then Susan will be happy with him."

"He'd better be a gentleman," Paul said with a snort. "His grandmother would rise up from the grave and grab him by the ear if he wasn't a gentleman. She raised him more than I did," Paul admitted in explanation. "I was working most of the time and his mother started working when my momma came to live with us. They didn't get along very well." Paul paused and cocked his head in consideration for a moment before saying, "Let me correct that. If my momma said the sun rose in the east then my wife would say it rose in the west. My wife didn't last much longer than my momma did. I think both of them needed someone to argue with to keep going." Paul didn't know why he was telling this virtual stranger about his family. It felt right though.