A month goes by, and even though Austin has temporary custody of the armored car, I know he misses his baby. The three of us take our punishment. We spend our days scraping miles and miles of fence on Juan’s dad’s farm just so we can paint it the same color all over again. Simon’s so happy to be free and outside, he attacks each day with renewed gusto. It’s hard to stay in a bad mood around him.
We drive our armored car down the road toward home, and I can’t help but feel a bit of satisfaction at the widened eyes that stare at us like we’ve come straight from Hollywood or something. We get home from another day of work and I head straight for the shower, like always. I’m anxious to wash the smell of sweat off of me. I’m barely dressed when I hear thumping bass coming from my driveway? I peek out the window, and there sits Austin’s car. I tear down the stairs and out the front door. I’m shocked to see Austin and Hank hugging like there’s no tomorrow,
Austin turns to me. “My baby’s home!”
Hank tosses the keys to Austin before he lifts me off the ground and spins me around. He dives in and kisses my cheek? I almost feel spurned. The other side of the car opens, and out steps a blonde bombshell. He whispers in my ear. “Dad let me keep her.” I cringe at the terminology as I slug him in the side and point my finger in his face.
“Hank. You’d better treat her right. She’s a person, not your property.”
She sidles up to his side and hangs on him like cling wrap. She gives me a glare. “I am Nadia. I am Hank’s voman.”
Hank gives her an extra squeeze and grins from ear to ear. “She’s my wife.”
I stick out my hand. “I’m Amy, Hank’s sister.”
Her narrowed eyes fly open. She’s off of Hank and on to me. She squeezes me hard. “Sister! I’ve alvays vanted a sister. We vill have so much fun. Do you have your own room?”
I nod my head. “Yes!”
She claps her hands. “I vant to see!”
I take her hand and lead her inside. I stop when I see Simon setting the kitchen table. “Simon, your brother’s outside.”
He turns to my mom. “Yo, yo, ma. Can Hank stay for dinner?”
My mom turns to me with her eyebrows raised. I look back at her. “My other brother’s back, and he brought his wife, Nadia.” I stand beside Nadia, feeling plain and boring as I look back at my mom. “She’s a blonde bombshell and a girlie girl, just what you’ve always wanted.”
My mom comes over to me and Nadia. She pats my hand and looks me in the eye. “Amy, you’re my daughter, my flesh-and-blood. You’re exactly what I’ve always wanted.” She looks over at Nadia and pats her hand next. “But you’re welcome to stay, too. My table always has room to grow.”
* * *
Juan comes home in time for dinner. He doesn’t blink an eye as he sits down at the head of the table. He takes in Hank the lumberjack, Simon the boy wonder, and Nadia the Russian blonde bombshell, along with Austin and I. He looks to my mother at the end. “Well, dear. You’ve outdone yourself again. It looks like we have a full house. This table just keeps growing.”
She smiles back at him. “It does. I’ve been meaning to fix up that old apartment above the garage. I think it’d work just fine for a pair of newlyweds.”
Hank jumps up from his chair and gives my mom a huge hug. “Thank you, yo yo ma.” He rushes back to his chair and sits down.
My mom blushes from all the attention as she holds up her glass. “To love and marriage and new beginnings.”
We all hold ours up too, and I call out, “Same here.”
The supper table is awkward for a few seconds, but then Simon livens things up quickly by retelling his day at the farm, and all the things he saw while painting the fence, and soon we are all caught up in his story.
Hank leans back in his chair and passes me a folded piece of paper. I open it under the table, and my eyes fill with tears.
I look up. Simon finished his story, and my mom’s staring at me. “What is it, Amy?”
I hold up the letter. “It’s from Aunt Evalina.”
My mom’s gaze softens. “Would you like to read it?”
I nod my head and sniffle a bit as I start to read.“My dearest Amy,”
Nadia flies out of her chair. “Stop!” I look up at her. She’s crying. She didn’t know my Aunt Evalina. “I have something to say.”
She looks like she’s waiting for me to give her permission. “Okay.”
“Thank you, Amy. Um, I knew your aunt, not Hank.” She sits back down.
Wait, what? My eyes fly between her and Hank, and I don’t know what to think.
She taps Hank’s arm. “You tell the rest. You explain better.”
Hank looks down at the table. He acts all sheepish. “I, ah. Well, please remember that I didn’t know any of you when this all started.”
I can’t look at him, but I answer. “Go on.”
“Yeah, okay. So, when I came here, I did come here for you, Amy, but maybe not in the capacity that you thought.”
Austin slaps the table beside me so hard it makes my fork jump. “Ha! I knew it!”
I growl out, “Austin, let him speak.”
Hank clears his throat. “So, I came here for Amy, but that’s because my dad sent me here when he found out about the finger in the icebox. He kind of freaked out and got scared, so he told me to come down here and take care of things. So I came here with the intentions of hurting you, Amy, and I’m sorry for that.”
Nadia jumps in. “No. No, Amy. He vas going to keel you. He told me himself.”
I nod my head, still unable to look at Hank. “I figured.”
Hank plows on. “Well, that all changed when we kissed in your room. I couldn’t do it after that. I thought I was in love with you, and I just wanted to be near you. Anyway, you know how it went.”
I duck my head even more, if that’s possible. I’m thoroughly embarrassed at my love life being hashed out at the table. “So, I had to keep you close to determine the threat level, and then, of course, your friends had to tag along, and that was a whole other ordeal, and I just didn’t handle it well.”
Austin taps the table again and shifts in his seat. “Well. We’re all still alive, so thanks for that, Hank.”
Hank coughs. “You’re welcome.”
Simon laughs out loud. “You really don’t get sarcasm, big brother.”
I remember Nadia’s words. “So how did you know my Aunt Evalina, Nadia?”
“Oh. I wrote a letter asking for help and sent it out to a bunch of churches. Your aunt is the one who answered me. We wrote each other a few times before I asked her to help my friend, Katrina. She vas stuck in the silo. She vas one of the girls who vas rescued.”
Tears flow from my eyes, and I raise my head to look over at Nadia. “So my Aunt Evalina went to the silo to rescue your friend?”
Nadia’s crying now too. “Yes. I’m so sorry your aunt is dead.”
I get up. I’m overcome with emotion. “It’s okay, Nadia. I am happy to have this memory of my Aunt Evalina. This makes more sense, that she would go in to help a young girl escape from bondage.”
Hank turns to me. “In a way, she helped me escape too, Amy. If I hadn’t met you through your aunt, I might have never seen what true love is or true friendship, and then I wouldn’t have been ready to marry Nadia because I wouldn’t have been the right kind of man for her; but knowing you changed me, and now here I am, a happily married man.”
Nadia stands up and wrings her fingers. “We can leave, if you don’t vant us to stay.”
I step over to her and give her a big hug. “No. Please stay. I know my aunt would love knowing you are here now; you and Hank and Simon.”
Nadia hugs me back. “Thank you, Amy, for not hating me.”
I give her an extra squeeze. “I couldn’t hate you, Nadia. I’m glad we met. Thank you for sharing your story with me.”
She sits back down in her chair and I return to mine.
Simon reaches over and taps my hand. “Are you going to read that letter, or am I?”
I take a deep breath and start over again.
My dearest Amy,
Though I wish we could have met once more this side of heaven, it was not to be, as it seems this time I bit off more than I could chew. I took on a giant I could not defeat, even with the best of intentions. I have gone to meet my Creator and finally I am free, but your life has just begun. Be bold, be loving and kind, be grateful, and Remember Me.
Love, the One and Only, Lady Margaret Evalina Jackson
P.S. If you have my ashes, I would like them scattered on the highest mountain you can climb. Take one last adventure with me, please.
My heart sinks. I’ve been understandably grounded for the entire summer, so I don’t know when the opportunity will come to perform my aunt’s last wishes. We all sit in silence. I don’t know what to say.
My mom tosses down her dinner napkin. “Well, I guess that settles it. Juan, how soon can you get some time off? We’re going to Alaska.”
I can’t believe my ears. “Alaska?”
She looks at me like I’m hard of hearing. “Yes, Amy. Alaska. That is where the highest mountain is in this country, is it not?”
I glance around the dinner table. “Who all is going?”
Her smile starts small, but it slowly grows as we share a meaningful moment. “It’s been a while since we took a family trip. What better way to induct new family members than a trip in the great outdoors?”
Simon slaps the table. “Hotdog! I’m going to Alaska. Maybe I’ll see a bear.” He turns to my mother. “Yo yo ma! Can I bring my Glock?”
She sighs and stares down the table at Juan, who turns to tap Simon’s hand. “Remember what we said, son. This is a no-gun household. I’m sorry. You can’t go hunting bear. That Glock of yours will stay under lock and key until you move out. Whenever that will be.”
Simon, ever optimistic, looks back at Juan. “But what if we’re invaded by aliens?”
Juan gives him a grin and points at his own face. “I think that’s already happened, Simon. And look, you all survived.”
Hank shakes his head. “You’re an alien, Juan?”
Juan grins. “Almost. My mamacita’ had me on the Mexico-Texas border, so my toes were across that line.” He jabs a thumb in the direction of his puffed-out chest. “First generation Americano right here.” He gives us all a bold wink.
Simon shakes his head back and forth. He doesn’t crack a smile, even though the rest of us are cracking up. “Not those kind of aliens, I mean the kind that come from outer space.”
Juan leans in and stares at Simon. He raises his eyebrows. “How do I know you’re not an alien, some sort of A.I. baby created in a doomsday lab?”
Simon slaps the table and frowns. “Very funny, Juan.” Simon pretends to be all wounded. “You know it’s not nice to pick on survivors, especially children.”
Juan’s not done, as he points to Hank. “Maybe you’re human, Simon, but look at your brother, Hank. He’s unnatural. He’s like the bionic man sittin’ over there.”
Hank leans back, flexes his muscles and points a finger at Juan with a wink. “You know it, Juan.”
My mom smiles a little too tight. “Enough of all this nonsense.” She turns to Simon. “Simon. Let’s get you a camera. You can shoot animals with that.”
Simon nods his head. “Can I get one with a detachable lens? Those look pretty sweet.”
I look back at my mom. My eyes fill with tears when I think about my mom getting us together in memory of her sister. I mouth “Thank you.” She gives me a nod and taps the side of her nose.
A hand grabs mine under the table. I blush as Austin’s fingers interlock with mine. We’re so secretive.
My mom looks back down the table. “Bring your first aid kit, Juan, and a fire extinguisher. After all, this trip is for Evalina.” She looks back at Austin and gives him the eye. “Austin. Both hands on the table. Now. If you two are going to start anything, it won’t be in this house. You’ll be off to college next year.”
Austin releases my hand. He’s been properly scolded. “Can’t blame a guy for trying, Yo yo ma. I’ve got great taste.”
I’m speechless. He turns to me and looks all cheesy. “I can wait a year. You’re totally worth the wait.”
Juan frowns in our direction. “Seriously, Austin, out of all the girls in the world, you choose your sister to fall for?”
I want to sink under the table as I mutter under my breath. “Step-sister.”
Juan pounds the table. “No me importa! I do not care. Family is family. We are not redneck hillbillies here.”
Simon rears back to look pointedly at Hank before making a surprised face at Juan. “Yee yee, Juan. Speak for yourself.”
Austin high-fives Simon. “Amen to that.”