“On a good day.”
The old man smiled. To Ben, he said, “Try this one.”
Ben looked at a beautifully tooled piece of leather and asked the price. Too expensive. The guy handed him another belt with less tooling. They agreed upon a price, Ben tried it on, and then he bought it. The transaction took about five minutes—typical of the way guys handled purchases. Ben took out his phone. “I have Lilly’s number if you want to call her.”
“Oh sure.” When he started to recite the numbers, she said, “Why don’t I call from your phone?”
“Because she would think that I’m calling her. I have to be careful not to give her any ideas.”
“Yeah, the poor thing does have it bad for you.”
“It’s a harmless crush, but I don’t want to encourage anything.” He gave Ro the number and she placed the call, thanking her for the ring as effusively as she could. She sounded genuinely pleased.
“How’s Berkeley?” she asked.
“We’re on our way to campus. The area is beautiful.”
“That’s nice. I envy you. I can’t wait until I get to college. Thanks for calling, Ro. I’m thrilled that you like the ring.” A pause. “Is Ben there? I’d like to say hi.”
“Of course.” Ro handed him the phone and mouthed, She asked.
He took the cell. “Hey there, kiddo.”
“How’s it going?” Lilly asked. “Ro says it’s beautiful.”
“True that.”
“What do you think about the Berkeley campus?”
“Haven’t been there yet.”
“It’s got a great math and physics department, you know.”
Ben smiled. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“Just sayin’ . . .”
“How’s my sister doing?”
“Haven’t seen her in a couple of days. I thought I might give her and Griff a little time alone.”
“Hmm . . . I don’t know if I like that idea.”
“Don’t worry. She tells me everything.”
“Okay, just so long as it’s G-rated.”
“Maybe PG.”
“More on the G than on the P, Lilly.”
“Gotcha. Have a good time. Just keep an open mind about Berkeley, Ben. All the UCs are sister labs to Los Alamos.”
“Yes, Ms. Busybody, I’m aware of that. I’ll talk to you later.” He hung up and handed Ro back the phone. He kissed her. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” There was something plaintive in his eyes. “What is it?”
“I’m just thinking how much I’ll miss you when you leave River Remez.”
“You can come with me. You’ll certainly get in everywhere I’ll apply to.” No response. “Just think about it, Ben, okay?”
“Sure.” His tone of voice said: Out of the question. “Okay, beautiful. Let’s go raid the campus and see what all the fuss is about.”
Walking through UC Berkeley only confirmed Vicks’s notion that he was a stranger in a strange land: the geography, the amount of people, the vastness. The buildings varied in size and style, very different from the eastern campuses he had seen in pictures. Some Beaux arts buildings would have fit in nicely in Harvard, but other structures were done in California stucco, and of course, there were lots of modern square monoliths that looked like giant office buildings. What set the campus apart was the amount of greenery in the dead of winter.
Ro said, “A little bigger than UNM?”
“I think you could fit all of New Mexico in here.”
“It’s almost January and people are walking around in sweaters and jeans. Trees have leaves on them. The sky is gorgeous and I can already feel a tan on my face.” She shrugged. “I think I’ve found home.” She turned to him. “For both of us. I mean what’s stopping you?”
“Out-of-state tuition,” Vicks said. “I’m sure this is like fifty grand or something per year.”
“You could get a merit scholarship, Vicks.”
Ben didn’t appear to hear her. He kept gawking. “You know this school is one of the birthplaces of modern physics. The math department is renowned. And like Lilly just reminded me, the Berkeley lab is a sister to Los Alamos.”
“The gates are wide open, Vicks.”
“It would be competitive. Look at all these people.” A stare. “And this is Christmas break.”
“They’re international students. It’s a wonder that Taiwan or Vietnam still has any population.” Ro gasped. “Wait a minute, wait a minute.” She grabbed his arm. “Vicks, you’re Native American. Your grandmother is a full-blooded Santa Clara Indian.”
“That’s a technicality. I do have enough blood to be a tribe member, but—”
“Oh my God, Vicks, you have URM status.”
“What the hell is that?”
“Under-represented minority.”
“Are you kidding me?” He looked incredulous. “I’m as much Jewish as I am Indian.”
“Don’t say you’re Jewish. Colleges are filled with smart Jews. That won’t get you anywhere.”
“That’s so racist. I thought you were liberal.”
“What? Jews aren’t smart?”
He shook his head in disbelief. “Ro, I’m happy where I am. I’m certainly not applying anywhere as a represent—what did you call it?”
“Under-represented minority.” She sighed. “I am so exasperated. You’re not only wasting your grades and scores, you’re wasting your minority status. C’mon, Vicks. Haven’t Jews and Indians suffered enough?” Ro made scales with her hands. “Think the Holocaust and Wounded Knee.” When Ben didn’t speak, she said, “Am I making this up?”
“Dorothy, my father’s a lawyer, my mother is a teacher. I’ve got aunts and uncles who have MDs and PhDs. None of us are suffering. I’m not taking minority status away from someone who really needs it.”
“What is wrong with you?” Ro said. “It’s not like you’re cheating or anything. I mean you even speak Indian, don’t you?”
“You mean Tewa?”
“Whatever. You speak it, right?”
“No, Ro, I speak English. I’m American.”
She put her hand to her chest. “You are killing me!” When he laughed, she hit him, then pulled out a camera. “C’mon, Sitting Bull. Take some pictures of me to show my parents that this trip was really about college.”
“Sitting Bull was Sioux—a Plains Indian—totally different culture from Pueblo Indians.”
“It was a joke, Vicks.”
“I know.” He grinned. “I’m a deadpan fool.”
She shoved the camera in his hand. “Take my good side.”
He complied by taking a snapshot of her posing in front of Barrows Hall. She posed here, she posed there, she posed everywhere, making both funny and sultry faces. They took selfies, smiling like idiots. After the photo shoot was done, they took in an early lunch.
Neither ate much. Ro wasn’t hungry and Vicks was antsy. As the clock got closer to interview time, he became downright nervous. He had turned from quiet to silent. He checked his phone. He checked his notepad. Finally, he turned to her. “We should be heading over.”
“You want to walk? We might get there a little early if we drive.”
“I want to factor in getting-lost time.”
According to the GPS, the Rehnquists lived five miles away just outside of Berkeley proper. They had passed the house before coming onto campus.