Second Spirit -14- by Melanie Brown

Second Spirit

By

Melanie Brown

Advisor: Lisa Charlene
Copyright © 2024

Part 14

Carol walked to the door followed by Ms. Nakai. She turned towards ne and said, “I need to go. I want you to be a good girl.” She leaned over and hugged me. “This isn’t good-bye, honey. I’ll pop by periodically to check on how you’re doing. Take care.”

My new mom said, “Thank you for everything.”

I watched as Carol walked to her car and got in. She started the engine and drove away, out of my life. I kinda liked her. I would have liked to have stayed with her.

Ms. Nakai closed the door after Carol had driven away. She turned to look at me. “Well.” She shuffled back and forth on her feet for a moment. She leaned over and gave me a hug. “Welcome, Linda. Let’s go look at your room. And then I’ll show you the kitchen.” Whoopee. The kitchen.

I followed, well, I guess I should start calling her Mom. I could be rude and call her Ms. Nakai, but that would be rude. I followed… um, Mom down a  short hall from the living room. The door was open and we stepped inside.

Mom waved her arm to encompass the room. “This is  your bedroom.” There was a bed, a single twin. The blanket had a colorful Indian pattern. Lying on the pillow was a stuffed bear. There also a chest of drawers, a nightstand beside the bed with a lamp and a largely empty closet. Plenty of room for the clothes Carol had bought me. Oddly there was no desk.

I nodded looking around the room. I asked, “Do I get my own computer?”

Mom’s expectant expression drooped some. “I’m sorry honey. We can’t afford that right now. Honestly, you won’t have time to play games. For school, you can use the one in the living room.”

I nodded and I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed. The room was otherwise neat, tidy and clean. I suspect I’m meant to keep it that way.

Mom smiled weakly. “John’s room is next door. Our room is at the end of the hall. I’ll show you the kitchen.” I followed her out of the room.

There was no door, of course. The kitchen was just around the corner from the living room. I mentally slapped myself for expecting something like a brick oven instead of the old-fashioned but modern stove. And I only say old-fashioned because it’s all an older house. Mom unnecessarily demonstrated how to use the stove.

“You’re going to make dinner tonight. Let’s go to the store and pick up a few items,” said Mom cheerfully.

“But I just got here!” I complained.

“You have a lot of catching up to do!” Mom chuckled. “Why wait?”

“I don’t know how to cook!” I protested.

Mom shook her head. “Time to start learning.”

The doorbell rang.  Saved by the bell.  Maybe.

Mom looked out the kitchen window out to the front yard. “Who can they be?”

I looked out the window. Definitely feds.

I stood behind Mom as she opened the front door. What trouble am I in now?

Outside stood two men who couldn’t look more like feds if they’d tried. Dark suits, shades and buzz cuts. Both had ear pieces. A van was parked by the curb.

“Hello?” Mom said nervously as she opened the door.

The man closest to the door flashed a fake smile. “Good morning, Mrs. Nakai. We’re from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I’m Agent Arsch. We’d like to have a word with the girl. The Navajo Justice Department said we would find her here.”  Sheesh. Thank you, Carol.

Mom who probably knew who they meant asked, “Girl?”

Trained to not look annoyed, Agent Arsch said, “Yes ma’am. The girl the police found at the scene of a missing person. A resort called The Desert Oasis and Spa. May we come in?”

Before Mom could answer I pushed past her. “Do you have a warrant?” I demanded.

Agent Arsch genuinely smiled as he reached inside his coat pocket. Was he going for a gun? He produced a document and handed it to Mom. Looking directly at me, he said, “Actually, I have a warrant to bring you into our Albuquerque field office for questioning.  Personally, I’m fine with performing the interview here.”

After examining the document, Mom said, “This certainly looks very official.”  She glanced at me and then back to Agent Arsch. “Please come in.”

I took a few steps back as the two agents entered our home. I don’t trust the feds ever since federal agents raided my uncle’s business to arrest him for selling used drill pipe across state lines before the pipe had even been removed from the ground. Well, he did. But that’s beside the point. Anyway, I doubted Carol would just set me up.

Mom pointed at the couch. “Please have a seat.”

After the agents had parked their butts on the couch, Agent Arsch pointed at me and said, “Please. Have a seat.”

I scowled at him. “I know my rights. I want a lawyer.”

He chuckled. “You’re not under arrest, miss. Ms. Todacheene has an attorney she can assign to you if you feel it necessary. But you are not under arrest, and you’re not a suspect. We just need to ask you a few questions.”

I glared at the agent for a few moments. I don’t believe Carol would hang me out to dry.  I pulled a chair up next to Mom. “Okay. But I reserve the right to invoke the Fifth Amendment.”

Agent Arsch nodded. “Of course. We’ll only take a few minutes of your time.”

I took Mom’s hand.

“State your full name,” said Agent Arsch as he glanced at some notes.

I almost said “Jack”, but I caught myself and said, “Linda…um I guess now Linda Nakai.” Mom smiled when I said that.

“Date of birth?” I shrugged. “Where were you born?” I shrugged again.

I leaned forward in my chair. “Let’s cut the shit, okay?” Mom frowned at me. “I have no memory of anything before waking in the hotel room. Nothing. It was as if I just appeared by magic.” Am I lying? Am I lying??!

Referring to his notes again, the agent asked, “So you deny being part of any gang that might have kidnapped Mr. McDowell?”

I frowned. I wanted to cry at the mention of my name. I said, “Yes. I don’t know of any gang.”

The agent entered something into his notebook computer. “Did you ah… did you know Jack McDowell prior to the night he was at the resort? Maybe see him at the dinner?”

I looked at the floor and lied out my ass. “I have no idea who he is.”

“And yet you claimed to be him, but magically changed?” The agent stared at me.

Knowing no one will believe me no matter what and resigned to my fate as a Navajo girl, I said, “Look. I woke up in a strange room with some crazy girl screaming at me and then the police came, I made up what I hoped was a good story. Apparently it wasn’t.”

“Why did you run?”

I sighed. Why did I run? “I was scared, Mr. Agent Man. Some old guy I didn’t know who claimed to be some tribal authority I never heard of with cops all around. I didn’t know what to expect, so I ran. I was scared. Honest Injun.” I giggled as I flashed the Cub Scout salute. I could honestly say I was scared shitless. I continued, “If you ask me, I think the giant Window Rock snake ate him.”

Agent Arsch looked up with a curious glance. “Giant snake?”

Mom smiled. “It’s an old, local legend.”

Agent Arsch nodded. “Well, that concludes my questions. The local police have shut down their investigation and concluded Mr. McDowell was drunk and wandered off and died of exposure. Thank you, Linda, for your time. And thank you, Mrs. Nakai. I’ll go through Ms. Todacheene’s office should we have any follow-up questions. We’ll let ourselves out.”

The two agents got up and walked out the door. I heard their van start up and they drove away.

Mom heaved a huge sigh. “Well, that was different. Okay, Linda. Let’s get to the store to get what we need for you to make dinner.”

Was it too late to be hauled off to jail? “I don’t wanna!” I whined.

Mom frowned. “Don’t let Mr. Nakai hear you say that.”

I gulped audibly.

End of Part 14