“Attorney? You’re not in some kind of trouble, are you Jewels?” asked Wes from the sofa shifting in his seat to get a better look at the man who had entered their home.
Joseph found the question mildly unsettling. Jewel laughed. “No, I don’t think so. Am I?” she asked challenging her uninvited guest.
He took the dare, “Only if you won’t go out with me. To dinner. Or coffee, your choice.” He’d leave it up to her to explain that to her brothers who were exchanging wide eyed looks at that pronouncement.
Both brothers had his complete attention. Lesley laughed and elbowed his sister. She elbowed him back. “Jewels, you never mentioned you met someone,” Wesley teased from his perch on the sofa.
“Oh, I’m wounded.” Joseph clutched at his heart. “That really hurts. She hasn’t mentioned me yet. Ouch!” Both brothers laughed and Lesley offered him a chair at the kitchen table and offered to put on a pot of coffee. Jewel sighed, but nodded her assent.
Joseph took the seat he was proffered. Liking these boys already, he rolled up his sleeves and sat. “Cool tats, what’s it for?” Wesley got up off the sofa to look at the ink revealed by Joseph’s action.
Joseph explained. “Well, these cards obviously represent a poker hand and the casino. And the dice of course, too. On this arm, you see the tiger, but above that I have a dragon. They are doing battle. I just really liked seeing the two powerful animals doing battle. I have a few others too,” he shrugged nonchalantly. He didn’t explain their significance to them. It was personal and had to do with the identity crisis he’d experienced as a young teen, not knowing his father. Knowing he was half white, and that of all his siblings he looked the least Native had affected him. His two identities had been constantly at war within him then. The dragon on his chest with the dagger, and the words emblazoned across his lower abdomen had their special meanings too. But they couldn’t see those. He watched Jewel’s reaction and knew she was wondering about those. He shrugged once more in the silence followed by his words.
“That’s cool.”
“Yeah cool,” repeated his twin.
Jewel had gotten up while he explained the few other tattoos the brothers could easily see. She began to set up the coffee pot but he could tell she was listening with interest.
When she was done, she reminded Wesley to go finish his paper for American Government that he had been working on when Joseph had come in.
“Oh, God! Is that Mrs. Lenore’s dreaded research paper? I remember it well.” The boys laughed that Mrs. Lenore gave the same assignment year after year as their senior project, and claimed to have copies of every paper every student had ever written in Lantern Hill for the last thirty five years.
Jewel joined them setting a steaming cup of coffee before him. She had poured one for herself and one for each of her brothers. Lesley joined them at the table. “I finished mine last night.” He lifted his cup and drank some of his coffee after dumping a ton of sugar and cream into it.
Joseph accepted the sugar bowl from Jewel, but preferred to drink his black enjoying the bitterness.
With the boys present the conversation flowed easily. It made him willing to ask his next question. He very much wanted to know why they did not live on the reservation. When he asked, the room got quiet.
Jewel cleared her throat before speaking. “Um, our parents were killed by a drunk driver two years ago. We were able to stay on the reserve for the six months of mourning, but the boys and I had to move after that. This place, well, it’s not great, but I wanted to be close so they did not have to change schools. We could have stayed with Grams, but she’s got a houseful already. My two uncles are both divorced and back home. Their kids are in and out all the time.”
Joseph knew what she meant, and understood. The housing crisis. The reserve liked to keep the young married couples, or single mothers with young children on the reserve. Private ownership of homes was something they did not believe in. Her parents’ home would have been assigned to some else, and they would have been expected to stay with other members of their extended family. He knew when the casino had paid off its debts, they would finally be able to build more homes on the reserve, and that would be coming soon, but not soon enough for this trio.
“Yeah, Jewels gave up a fancy job at Wahlburgers in Boston to come take care of us.” Lesley’s words were stated with just a hint of guilt, but he heard the respect for his sister in the young man’s voice. It also explained the two year gap in her employment history.
She quickly brushed off Lesley’s remark. “I gave up nothing.” She smiled lovingly at her two brothers who gave her an affectionate smile in return. He saw the admiration and love in the room through the exchange. The tension in the room had passed. Family, that’s what he saw here. And he appreciated Jewel more for her sacrifice though she didn’t see it that way.