Authors: Amy J Miller
“We have to get her down the hill, we can’t wait for the first responders.”
Elan turned hopeless eyes to Randi, and shook his head slowly, signaling his doubt that the baby could be saved.
“Maggie,” Randi asked, “When did the bleeding start?”
“After I rode here…Joe hit me again, and I picked up a kitchen knife and stabbed him… he ran off.” She sucked in a labored breath, “I had to get someplace safe. I knew Elan would know where to look.”
“There’s time, Elan,” Randi said meaningfully, “We have to get her down. We can do a fireman’s carry, Maggie can put her arms around our necks.”
“Okay, yeah.” Elan and Randi helped Maggie up. “Nice and easy.”
When the ambulance arrived, they were almost down the hill. Lee, and another paramedic, had answered the call. Lee surged toward them and took Maggie in his arms and bundled her into the back of the ambulance. Randi hopped in after Lee, “Elan—follow us, but I’ve got this. You can’t do this, you understand?”
Elan nodded, looking shell-shocked. The other medic ran to jump behind the wheel as Lee shut the back door.
“Give me your stethoscope,” Randi asked Lee. She listened to Maggie’s belly and blew out a breath, “There’s a fetal heartbeat, it’s irregular, but the baby is still with us.” She took the stethoscope out of her ears, “Call the hospital in Sierra Blanco. Tell them to prep for an emergency c-section due to abdominal trauma and likely placenta tear.”
Randi held Maggie’s hand while Lee talked on the radio, and then she whispered in her ear, “Elan still loves you Maggie, he wants nothing more than to keep you and the baby safe. You have to hang in there for the three of you.”
Maggie squeezed Randi’s hand, a signal that she understood.
Lee clicked off the radio, “They’ll be ready for us, we’re seven minutes out.” He looked at his sister, his face full of anguish, “I’m sorry Maggie, I’m sorry for everything,” he said.
“Not your fault,” Maggie croaked, “And you have to forgive Elan—not his fault either.”
At the hospital, the obstetrician asked Randi if she wanted to scrub in as the anesthetist went to work, she whispered something in his ear.
“Dr. Booth, come with me, come wash up and we’ll get you gowned.” Elan peeled off his soiled lab coat and handed it to Randi and the two doctors disappeared through a swinging door, leaving Lee and Randi standing in the hallway.
“What was that about?” Lee looked at Randi puzzled.
“Let’s sit down, we need to call Russell and I need to tell you something.” Randi led Lee to a couple of hard plastic chairs. Lee alerted Russell to Maggie’s condition and everyone’s whereabouts.
“They’ve put out an APB on Joe. Now, what do you need to tell me?”
“You’re going to hear this soon enough, so you might as well hear it from me.” Randi paused. “Maggie’s baby? Joe’s not the father.”
Lee blinked incredulously, “Joe’s not the father? How on earth do you know that?”
“Because it’s Elan’s.”
“Oh god, Randi.” Lee rubbed his face. “I almost—almost thought if Joe’s baby didn’t make it, maybe it would be better for Maggie. But if Elan is the father, and something happens…” Lee choked up, his voice a whisper, “Maggie will never be okay.”
“Pray Lee. You’re a spiritual man, now’s the time to put it to work.” Randi reached over and took his hand.
It seemed like no time had passed until Elan came stumbling out to meet them. His face was flushed, but there was a huge smile on his face. Randi crushed Lee’s hand in hers, and jumped up to hug Elan.
“She’s beautiful…a beautiful, strong girl,” Elan said in a dazed voice. “Maggie was amazing, they’re both going to be fine.” And then he broke down and cried on Randi’s shoulder.
Elan took a moment to collect himself, then freed himself from Randi. He turned to face Lee.
“I’m happy for you, Elan…Randi told me. I’ll be happy to have you as my brother.”
###
Soon word was out, and Maggie and Lee’s family started to gather at the hospital. The group gathered at the glass in front of the hospital nursery, as Elan held the baby up for them to see. No one said it, but Randi could tell that everyone was relieved to learn that Elan, not Joe, was the father, and that Maggie was done with Joe for good. Everyone was babbling happily, until Lee’s Uncle Wynn came rushing in.
“Damn it—no one’s phone is on! Lynette has gone missing.”
“Lynette? What do you mean?” Russell asked.
“She was out running with Bobby when I heard about Maggie, so I waited for them—to tell them about Maggie and the baby. I knew Lynette would want to come right away. They said they’d be gone thirty minutes, but when an hour passed, I got worried. And then Bobby came limping in with a broken nose and a twisted ankle—he said Joe grabbed Lynette. Bobby and Lynette both fought like hell, but Joe was cranked up and he shoved her in his car. He told Bobby he was going to have a Yahnaki woman one way or another.”
Randi watched as a wave of fury took control of Lee’s face. “You called the police, right?”
“Of course, and I left Bobby with Lozen at the clinic to get his nose taped up.”
Randi’s heart sunk. This family couldn’t take another daughter getting raped and traumatized, and nothing inflames a libido like methamphetamines, she thought.
Russell thought out loud, “Where would he take her?”
As the family swirled with hypotheses, Randi slipped away, because she was pretty sure that Dr. Bitch knew where Joe was headed. She looked in Elan’s lab coat, found his car keys in the pocket, and took off.
When she pulled in at her cabin, Joe’s car was in the drive and he was sitting on the top of her picnic table, holding Lynette between his legs. There was a bruise on the girl’s face, but she looked otherwise okay. Joe stroked her head with one hand, and had a kitchen knife in the other.
“Hello Joe,” Randi said, trying to muster a calm voice.
“If it ain’t Dr. Bitch. I knew you were a smart one and would figure it out. It’s your fault, you know. You had to go and meddle and make Maggie unhappy.”
“You’re right Joe, it is my fault. Lynette didn’t have anything to do with it. So you let her go, and it’ll be the two of us.”
“You think you’re going to kick me in the nuts again?” Joe spat a laugh. “No, you’re going to watch while I have my way with pretty little Lynette here.”
Randi could see that Lynette was doing her best to stay calm; she was consciously slowing her breathing, and she looked at Randi with sharp eyes, searching for signals to follow. Randi returned her gaze, trying to give both of them strength. “Like Lozen crossing the river,” Randi said to Lynette, and Lynette nodded that she understood.
“What the hell are you babbling about?” Joe said. He brandished the knife in the air as Randi eased her way closer, depending on Joe’s speeding perceptions to not really notice.
“Are you sure you don’t want me?” Randi said. She started slowly unbuttoning her shirt, deliberately provoking Joe’s meth driven sexual desire. Joe licked his lips as Randi shimmied a little, opening her shirt so he could get a good look at her boobs. “She’s just a girl, I’m a real woman.”
Randi’s plan was working. She was using his meth trip against him, knowing that in Joe’s muddled brain, lust would win out over ideas about revenge. “You know you want a taste, Joe. You let Lynette go, and you can have your way with Dr. Bitch. Keep your knife if you want. Might make it more exciting.” Randi could see Joe’s hard-on pushing at his pants, and that’s exactly what she wanted: Joe at his most vulnerable. “Come on Joe, let her go.”
Randi leaned forward and almost involuntarily his hold on Lynette loosened as he salivated at the thought of taking Randi. Joe reached for Randi’s breasts and the instant his grip slackened, Lynette bolted forward, Randi went for Joe’s knife hand, and Lynette spun and punched Joe in the crotch as hard as she could. Joe doubled over, and together the two of him pinned him down.
They sat on top of Joe, breathing hard, as he bucked underneath him. Randi hit the speed dial on her phone, “This is Dr. Bitch…Lynette and I need some badass Indians with guns and badges at my place.”
Lynette gave Randi a weary smile, “You’re pretty badass yourself, Dr. Bitch. Do I still have to run a 10k tomorrow?”
Randi shook her head, “Nah, tomorrow you need to go meet your new cousin.”
###
The final evening of the four-day long Sunrise Ceremony marking the passage of Apache girls into women was upon them. Randi stood with Lozen watching as Lynette and Marianne and two other girls began the all night dance that would bring the grueling ceremony to a close. So far, everything had gone perfectly, the girls had been perfect in their stoic resolve, and Randi had felt herself absorbed into both the Yahnaki and Pinto families. She helped to prepare food for all the guests, and everyone seemed to contribute to instructing her in what the details of the ceremony meant. Randi thought it was beautiful for the families and community to come together as it had, and the sound of rattles and drums and singing had become a comforting soundtrack as she worked with the other women.
“It’s crazy how much has happened in the last weeks, isn’t it?” Lozen commented.
“I know. I’m happy that there is so much to celebrate. Look over there,” Randi gestured. Elan, Maggie and the baby were getting out of a car. “Look how happy they look.”
“And what about you? Are you happy too?”
“Heck, I’ve got a Mountain God, what girl wouldn’t want that?”
Lozen laughed, “I know Lee has been busy with all the preparations for the ceremony, but I take it you two have found time together?”
“He’s a wonderful man, and he’s the right man for me,” Randi said seriously.
The ritual bonfire was lit as darkness fell, and the girls danced inside the teepee while the Mountain Gods made their appearance. They wore white buckskin breeches with fringed aprons, and their upper bodies were painted black and white. A wide red sash wrapped each dancer’s waist, and red ribbons streamed from their upper arms. Their heads and faces were covered with a black hood and a red bandana mask, and on the top of their heads they wore wooden crowns made of carved wooden pieces extending upward. Randi had seen pictures, but nothing had quite prepared her for the effect of the real deal. They were eerily commanding and breathtaking all at the same time. But even masked, she could tell which one was Lee, by his beautifully sculpted torso. She felt proud, and excited, and humbled all at the same time. Most of all Randi felt grateful to witness a beautiful tradition that was carrying on despite all the pressures the tribe faced.
Dawn arrived, and the medicine man ended the ceremony by giving each of the girls their new name as a woman, Marianne was Evening Star, and Lynette was Running Deer. They both looked pleased with their new names. Lee suddenly appeared next to Randi, as everyone present received corn pollen to give the new women their final blessing. He still wore his Mountain God buckskins, but his mask and crown were gone and he had wiped off his body paint. He slipped an arm around Randi and whispered in her ear, “After the ceremony, there’s a surprise for you.”
They threw the pollen, the ceremonial teepee was toppled, and everyone came forward to congratulate the girls. Then Lee led Randi to where the medicine men sat.
The eldest cleared his throat and spoke in a loud voice, so all could hear. “These young woman have proven their strength, their endurance and their wish to be part of this community over the course of the last four days, but you too, Randi Green have through your actions demonstrated your commitment to this community, and shown your strength, and so we have decided to give you an Apache name.”