Chapter 55

 

Jared

 

 

Lillian passed the word through Phyllis, and they assembled in Lillian's room after dinner. Ollie and Mutai, representing the Bahtan household, were on the window seat, which gave a view of the woods and the distant rooftops of the housing development to the south. Issio and Sofi were on the end of the bed with Gina. Dural and Durata, the tallest and shortest D'ubians, sat on the floor by the Bahtan girls, and Jared settled on the floor by the bed with his bride, keeping her hand in his. She tightened her fingers around his. Ann sat on the floor on the other side of Cara. Phyllis occupied the desk chair by the door, and Willis, who had come awkwardly down the hall on his crutches, was in the smaller armchair beside her.

Duran and Duroh and Durakal were down in the front yard with Terry and his guitar; the music drifted up to the windows with the sweetness of a summer breeze, a lovely background. Clena was in the hospital sitting alternately with Clyde, who was in and out of consciousness, and Mimi, who wasn't. The group hoped that they would be able to tell Clyde and Mimi all about it later.

It didn't seem right to be holding a conference without them.

Lillian was enthroned in her armchair by the window. She did, Jared thought, have a regal look in a huge wrapper in dark purple, her bandaged shoulder making a bulge under the fabric, her bad leg propped up on a footstool. Beside her, on a hassock from the living room, was Al, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the toe of his shoe.

"Okay," said Lillian, making sure they were all settled and attentive. "We have an announcement to make, and we wanted to have you all together, so we only have to say it once. We'll tell Clyde and Mimi when they get home. All right?"

Her audience nodded and murmured agreement, and Lillian poked Al with her elbow; he shifted uncomfortably on his hassock, and clasped his hands tightly between his knees with the air of someone who doesn't know quite what to do with them and wants them out of the way.

"So I know," he said, not looking up, "what you're all going to be thinking, a couple of old fools, is what it is, but we've done a lot of thinking since Lillian came back from Linden's World, and we've done a lot of talking, and we think maybe this is the right thing to do, and anyway it's what we want. Because maybe we are old fools, and who knows how much longer we have to do it, after all, you can see about Clyde and Mimi, so you don't know what's ahead, and so maybe we ought to just go ahead and jump in and everything."

He ground to a halt, staring at his shoe.

"So?" said Sofi. "What is it that you intend to jump into?"

Al hesitated, and Lillian poked him again.

"We think maybe it's silly, me running back and forth between my house and this house, and all the time and everything," he said. "And kind of a waste, you know, since I'm not ever there or anything, to have the house, and it would be – " he cleared his throat. "Convenient," he said. "Efficient."

"Efficient," agreed Jared, straight-faced, and Phyllis, by the door, coughed into her hand.

"Exactly," said Al, risking a single quick glance at Jared. "So –" he took a deep breath. "Lillian and I think we might get married," he said in a rush.

"What a good idea!" said Cara at once.

"Excellent," agreed Sofi.

"You can see the savings of time and energy," conceded Ollie. "Although you could achieve this if you only moved in, Al; you would not have to be married."

"Well," said Al, shifting about on the hassock, "I sort of have already kind of moved in. But, we were thinking, being married and all – and then I could just put my old house up for sale. They want me to live here," he explained, looking at Jared again.

"We have so much room," said Phyllis by the door. "It seems like the best idea."

"Efficient," said Jared again, amused, thinking that this accounted for the D'ubian It in its birdcage being in the Hardesty root cellar instead of Al's basement. He had wondered about that. But he had been too tired yesterday to pursue it.

"I believe this is a fine idea," said Issio, and he got up and shook hands with Al, who seemed a little surprised at the gesture, and Jared got up to do the same, and to hug Lillian, and then Gina scrambled off the bed and flung her arms around Lillian and everyone else began to move too. Even Willis offered congratulations from the small arm chair, and Al went over and shook hands with him with grave dignity.

"So when," said Ann, an ominous gleam in her eye, "are you thinking about doing this?"

"Well, not until after the reception," said Lillian, grinning at Jared. "Wouldn't want to steal your thunder, you know," she told him.

"Don't give it a second thought," he said at once, and she laughed.

"A late summer wedding," said Ann, eyeing Lillian as if measuring her for tulle and satin. "Or even – early autumn! All yellows and oranges and browns, and we could decorate with autumn leaves and wreaths, maybe. Harvest wreaths. With all those little miniature fruits and nuts. And candles," she continued, inspired. "There were the greatest candles in that place downtown, with fruit and leaves embedded, and Gina would look perfect in orange, I think, a light orange, and Phyllis could wear a deep orange, and what do you think about yellow, Lillian?"

"We could do it," said Phyllis, possibly swayed by the vision of her sister the bride all in yellow, "in the living room down here. An evening wedding, with the candles."

"We play music," said Dural, showing enthusiasm, and Durata clapped her hands and nodded.

"Someone else can do the cake," Ann assured Al, who was looking alarmed. "Do you think punch and cake and cookies, or –"

"A full sit-down dinner," said Phyllis, "with table runners in orange and yellow. Or maybe there should be a dash of purple?"

"It looks like you're going to be a junior bridesmaid," Jared said to Gina, who was standing beside Phyllis taking it all in, "no matter what." She gave him a little smile.

"Bouquets of fall flowers," said Ann, "and maybe the men could wear boutonnières with leaves and nuts. Brown tuxes," she told Al, who now had a hunted expression. "Yellow shirts?" she asked Phyllis.

"With frills," said Phyllis, "but the groomsmen could wear tan, I guess."

"Would Clyde care for light orange?" asked Ann, and turned to eye Jared. "You'd wear light orange, wouldn't you? A really pretty shirt, with maybe a little frill; we could trim it in yellow lace."

"Under no imaginable circumstances," Jared assured her, hearing Cara giggle.

"It'll give them something to do," Lillian said to Al, who seemed to be looking around for a convenient exit, and she enclosed his hand in hers and turned a bright smile on the wedding planners.

 

Willis stopped Jared as he followed Issio and Sofi and Cara out the bedroom door. "Uh, could I talk to you for a moment?" he asked. "Maybe in my room?"

"Of course," said Jared, and he nodded for Cara to go on ahead and stood aside for Ollie and Mutai, discussing the peculiar Earthian fascination with lace and what was this taffeta stuff Ann kept talking about? Lillian and Phyllis and Ann were at Lillian's screen now, scrolling through bridal shops and pointing out the features of the gowns; Al, sunk in gloom, was sitting with Durata and Dural, one on each side, patting his arms and trying to figure out why he was unhappy.

Gina hesitated beside Willis and he gave her a small brave smile and told her to go see what Terry was up to; since Terry's guitar could be clearly heard from the lawn below, there wasn't much urgency about this, but Gina, picking up on her brother's thoughts, nodded and smiled at Jared and went after Cara and Sofi. She glanced back once when she reached the stairs; she was uneasy.

Jared helped Willis lever himself up out of the chair and stood aside as he got the crutches under his arms and maneuvered himself into the hall. He was moving better, Jared noticed, healing physically, at least.

In his own room he sank down in his armchair and then looked around for a chair for his visitor, but the second armchair had been moved into Lillian's room for the conference; Jared swung the desk chair around and sat on it backwards, with his folded arms on the cushioned back support, waiting for Willis to get his thoughts together. They seemed to be profound and very dark thoughts.

"What I really need," said Willis finally, "is some advice, I guess, because I really don't know the right thing to do."

"Okay," said Jared, waiting.

 

The sun was setting in its mid-summer glory as Jared left the Hardesty house and crossed the street to his own place. The picnic table was deserted and looked lonely. The Monopoly tournament had been suspended. There was some sort of mild rumpus at the Bahtan house, feminine laughter and a scream or two in a male tone, nothing unusual. Mimi's house was dark and empty. He hated seeing it this way. Al's house was dark, which was another matter. It would be interesting to see who eventually bought it. Jared felt a little concern about this; this was not a neighborhood for just anyone.

Sofi and Issio had not turned on lights in their house because they were in his house, sitting in the living room with Cara and Maud.

"Maud," he said, and she nodded graciously to him, her diamonds sparkling in the lamp light. Sofi and Issio sat holding hands on the couch, and Cara perched on a stool by the breakfast bar while Maud held court from the armchair, having kindly left the living room recliner for him. He took it, looking at Cara, but her face told him nothing except that she didn't seem overtly hostile to the visitation.

"How is Willis?" asked Issio.

"Concerned," said Jared frankly, "about income." Maud was, after all, the boy's grandmother, whether she liked the word or not. It was only fair to include her in this discussion. "Seems McIntosh sold most of his own farm land; I suppose he had to support his life style somehow. Their main income is whatever he would have got as farm master, managing the land owned by Lindon's Ag Inc., and a small income from what little land he still owned. Willis – and I agree with him – can't see himself or Gina and Terry returning to Linden's World, so he won't be serving as farm master, and that cuts down their income seriously. He's worried about school fees and boarding fees and all that sort of thing. He's wondering if he should sell the rest of their land, which would buy Gina and Terry a few years, or if he should hold on to the land; he doesn't want the kids to leave their schools, or the neighborhood, I think, but he doesn't see how he can afford it as things are."

"A trifle," said Maud, with a wave of her fingers. "That can be handled."

"He does not have to pay boarding fees for Gina!" exclaimed Sofi.

"He has some pride," said Jared. "He doesn't want to depend on us, and he doesn't want his brother and sister to have to depend on us either. I think," he added, "that if we could persuade him to hold on to the land and make partial payments from his farm income and regard any help from us as a loan, he might agree to it, just because he doesn't want to disrupt Gina and Terry and their lives. But it will take some persuading."

"That is great foolishness," said Issio. "We have Gina. We share her with you others, but she is ours. We will take responsibility for Gina."

"No way," said Cara at once. "You aren't allowed to be selfish about this; we get to help too. She can't go anywhere but Multicultural; that is the only right place for her. You know how smart she is, how talented. And Terry will need the music program at Multicultural when he's old enough, and I do think the program at the University –"

"And Gina also should be at the University," agreed Issio, "but Willis, I believe, should consider programs at the Institute. He has an excellent mind for the sciences."

"He says he's going to get a job at a car repair shop," said Jared, and Issio and Sofi and Cara all stared and shook their heads in unison. "No, it would be okay for right now," Jared said, "so that he feels he's doing something useful, paying his own way, anyhow, but we have to get him to think about his future."

"Their mother, I suppose, is useless," said Maud. Jared shrugged.

"I asked about her too," he said. "It seems that along with the flowers for the funeral, she sent legal papers to Willis; she has terminated her parental responsibilities and signed Gina and Terry over to him. He is their official legal guardian. She wrote that she hoped they would all remain friends."

"Friends," said Issio in a disgusted tone. "Yet what could we expect from her?"

"This is a good thing," said Sofi. "She is no longer a legal encumbrance. We may entirely disregard her."

"She has excellent genes," Maud said. "Those three children are truly remarkable. I don't think we know yet just how remarkable. But as a person, that woman has no redeeming qualities I can think of." She considered. "They do, however, have a father," she said, and Jared and Cara and Issio and Sofi all looked at her.

"Your Chazaerte," said Sofi, "may take Terry and Gina shopping for school clothes. That would be very entertaining. Also perhaps he might oversee their homework, and there will, of course, be teacher's conferences."

"That man-to-man talk," said Jared, unable to resist, "with Terry. Gina, on the other hand –"

"Perhaps I should talk with Gina," said Maud pleasantly. "I can think of many things a young girl entering adolescence should know."

"Mother!" said Cara in a reproving tone, and Jared closed his eyes and tried not to smile, much less laugh. He privately enjoyed the undertones in that word, "Mother!" In a single word, apparently inclusive and affectionate, Cara managed to underscore all of their differences, age, wealth, species, role; with one word she made it clear that Maud was an older woman of secondary importance, nothing as emotionally charged as Jared's former lover improbably resurrected.

Jared found his appreciation for his bride increased daily.

"I think maybe we might leave Gina to Sofi," he said. "But Terry's very own father –"

"Terry would do much better talking with you," said Maud, probably with malice aforethought, and Cara stared and then burst into laughter.

"Mother!" she said again, but, to Jared's surprise, a little more warmly this time, and Maud shrugged and smiled.

"What I'm saying," she said, "if you could all hold your witty comments for a few minutes, is that Chazaerte is their father and does have responsibility, which he himself acknowledges; I see no reason he can't take over whatever piddling expenses they incur here."

A pause.

"Do your people," said Cara carefully, "have, so to speak – credit accounts?"

"You very well know that I do," said Maud.

"You did," acknowledged Jared. "Before your tragic death."

"Those accounts," said Maud, waving them away, "are now your problem. I have other accounts, which are not. Chazaerte has accounts. Perfectly legal credits, which may well be used for the support of his children."

"Since the nest into which he abandoned his eggs," murmured Issio, "has proved to be barren. Unusual behavior in a species practicing brood parasitism." Maud raised her eyebrows at him. "Cuckoos," he said on an explanatory note, and Cara smiled.

"Earthian birds; they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds," she explained to Maud, "and these other birds end up with the responsibility for the young."

"Oh," Maud said, apparently taken aback.

"Although you could certainly ask Chazaerte about it," said Jared. "I imagine you have a better idea how to get hold of him than we do. I don't seem to have his phone number." Maud, for once, seemed uncomfortable. "If he does offer to contribute to the school fees, let me know. I would love to watch him explain this. Especially to Willis."

"What does Willis know about Chazaerte?" asked Cara.

"I think Gina must have told him something," said Jared, "or Phyllis and Lillian, maybe, but he certainly isn't interested in talking about it."

"He has poor experience of fathers," said Issio.

"He's protective of his mother," Jared said. "That isn't uncommon, even if they’re not close. Gina is protective, for that matter; look how long it took her to be able to talk about it. And Willis always wanted to be like all the other boys, sports and cars and girlfriends, with no time for this sort of thing. He's not going to welcome connections to –" there were several things he could say here, but he settled for the least confrontational. "Very different kinds of people," he said.

"Cuckoos," murmured Sofi to her little daughter.

"And that word," said Jared, moving quickly past the more emotionally charged aspects of the conversation, "has all sorts of other connotations to Earthians. It means a bird, of course, as Issio says. But the term 'cuckold' comes from 'cuckoo', meaning a man whose wife has committed adultery; this implies the foreign egg in the nest, you see, the possibility of raising a child not his own, a very big concern in earlier Earthian culture. Probably related to the instinctive drive to preserve your own genetic heritage. "

"The cultural possession of women as reproductive objects," said Cara.

"That too," said Jared, "but that may be secondary to the instinctive drive. A cultural justification for it. And then also, the word 'cuckoo' refers to a fool, or a lunatic."

"Because," said Issio, wading in some confusion through explanations of Earthian thought, "a cuckold would be a fool?"

"Actually, no," said Jared. "The bird has this repetitive monotonous cry, 'Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo,' until people feel that if it doesn't shut up, they're going to go crazy. This no doubt controls the numbers of birds. Angry crazy people kill them."

"Especially if they find foreign eggs in their nest," remarked Cara.

"Dear heaven," murmured Maud, and got to her feet. "I will go and find Chazaerte," she said, "which isn't as easy as you seem to think. I don't have a phone number either, you know. I will be back. Most likely tomorrow."

"By the way," said Jared, "we do want you to know how much we appreciated your wedding present. We found it quite – unforgettable."

"I'm so glad," said Maud, "and I was – touched – to see it on your front porch, holding your broom and your umbrellas. It warmed my heart." She beamed at them all, clutched her pendant, and was gone.