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He studied me for a moment before he spoke, which was his way "Lady Josephine, there is nothing to forgive" I laughed a little as the memory of my childish wish resurfaced
"Thank you, Sir Samuel," I curtsied deeply, and with clippers in hand, finished tri his hair in silence When I was done, he tipped randmother his arm, and left without a word
I walked wearily ho piano lessons to some very uninspired and obstinate children There was no joy in teaching unwilling students I thought of the quiet house that would greet me Dad would be on shutdown shift for oneahead would be spent alone I felt unusually hts of the leftover chocolate birthday cake fro on fifty
As I nearedonHe rocked slowly in the big wooden swing my dad had fashioned for my mom many years before I tamped down the telltale flip of my traitorous heart as I approached hiht now Exhaustion descended on ht of y earlier that day, I did not want to seereeted him with a tired smile
"Why do you cut hair, Josie?" Samuel said without preamble
"Why not?" I was immediately flustered - couldn’t he just say ‘hello’ like a norrandmother to the beauty shop today I had no idea you would be there Irandma says to you "Samuel needs a haircut," as if you work there I was completely floored You walked back and put the apron on, and I al a little fun at my expense But then you looked back at "
"Was it really so hard to believe?" I slipped off my sandals and stretchedand flexing in relief
"Yes," he clipped, with no ehed in disbelief at the tightness in his eyes, the grim set to his mouth
"Did you alant to work at "Ballow’s Do’s?"
I was hurt by the mockery I heard in his voice and didn’t answer him His shook his head, and there was frustration in his expelled breath
"Do you rehed in disbelief "I can’t keep up with you Sa snide aboutme about classical music!"
"Do you remember the piece?" He insisted
"Yes! But I’m a little surprised that you do!" It was my turn to be snide, and I felt childish in my attempt "It was a favorite of lowered at htly, yankingme behind him
"Samuel! My shoes!" I yelped as I tried to keep up with hiravel he sweptacross the sharp rocks without a hitch in his step I sputtered and squeaked, clinging to his neck for purchase His truck was parked in front of his grandparent’s house across the street about half a block down I felt ridiculous being carried down the er door to his black Chevy truck, slid
He cli up behind us, and roared down the street towards the mountain that jutted up into the sky not a mile frooing without lued to an to ascend into the pretty little canyon with the unattractive name we called Chicken Crick
He didn’t answer me but drove until he found a little turnoff that looked out over the town The teenagers in the valley regularly used it as a trysting spot The ledge wasn’t high, and the town lay just below us, surrounded by the patchwork quilt of far twilight seeping over therows across the gold and green fields, the water fro sun Sa view, and silence flooded the cab of his truck He sat for athe rosy splendor before us He reached over and pushed sonized Pavane for a Dead Princess, immediately I should have known Theup ooseflesh on my arms So beautiful, so melancholy, so intrusive I folded htly I was intensely grateful when Sarandfather was a Marine in World War II He was a code talker He lied about his age when the recruiter carae to create a code that could not be cracked by the Japanese or the Gerned up, but spoke relatively good English, so he was a shoe-in The Navajo code talkers actually created the code using Navajo words to describe military operations - like the word for bos in Navajo The word they used for the United States was ne-he-mah, which means ‘our lish letter, thinking of an English word that started with that letter, and then using the Navajo word thatFor instance, ant stood for the letter "A" The Navajo word for ant is wol-la-chee So the ol-la-chee meant "A" in the code The word for "B" was shush, which e of the Navajo was so unique that it just sounded like gibberish to the code crackers"