Tombstone.
This morning I wandered down the street, needing a break from paperwork, and noticed Jimmy standing in front of the clinic. “Hey there, Jimmy!”
“Hey, Miss Trin,” he frowned.
“Something wrong, kiddo?”
“I...ummm...run away.”
“Wanna come to my office and talk? Then no one will hear us.”
“Yes ma’am,” he nodded and we headed to my office where we sat in the chairs beside each other. “Miss Trin, why no one want me?”
“Oh Jimmy, that ain’t true.... What happened?”
“Mrs Joan say she want dopt me right?”
“Uh huh...”
“Then now she say orphanage say I no live with her till she dopt me..then last night Mr Zeth tell me I have to stay at orphanage too...and I watch him get shot by Mr Mac night before.”
I sighed, knowing he had witnessed that. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Jimmy... That ain’t easy to watch.”
“Now I find out Payton no get dopted either cause her momma a thief.”
“Well you wanna know a secret?”
“What?”
“Natalie was tellin’ me she met Mr. Thomas yesterday... You know him?”
“Yes, I know Mr Thomas, he my frien too.”
“Well... he told Natalie that he really likes you. He thinks you both are special kids. Maybe you could stay with Mr. Thomas..?”
“But how, he live in hotel in Bisbee...”
“Well.... Where are you livin’ now that ya ran from the orphanage and Mrs. Joan’s?”
“Ummm..I find empty shack up hills of Bisbee.”
“Well ain’t a hotel a whole lot nicer? And you wouldn’t be alone... Mr. Thomas could keep you safe... And maybe sometimes you and Mr. Thomas could sleep over with me and Natalie.”
“Really?!”
“Well I don’t know... even if Mr. Thomas stays in the hotel... you could sleep over with us sometimes...”
“How is my best frien Natalie? I not see her in while.”
“Natalie’s worried ‘bout you... She’s helpin’ Mr. Alex in the clinic now.”
“I not sleep or eat good in days Miss Trin...I don know why.”
“I think it’s cause you ran away, kiddo... You should let Mr. Thomas take care of you.”
“What if Miss Joan come lookin fer me?”
“Can you tell me how come you left Miss Joan?”
“She tell me I have stay at orphanage. Afer she tell me she my ma, and gonna dopt me...it no feel like she wan me.”
“But kiddo sometimes that takes a long time... Sometimes you gotta wait for things to happen. You wanna know somethin’? For a long time I thought no one wanted me either. Then I met Mr. Thomas... But until then... people kept leavin’ me. No one wanted to keep dancin’ with me. No one wanted to work with me.”
“But you girl Miss Trin, everybody wants girls, nobody wants us boys.”
“I thought I was just gonna live alone and work all the time.”
“Awww, I wish I old nuf, I work wit you Miss Trin.”
“Then I met Natalie and she needed me. Then I met Mr. Thomas and he wants to be with me. And then I met Mr. James and he wants to work with me. So see... sometimes you just gotta wait but there are people who’ll be there for you. And you know I’m always there for you, Jimmy. And Natalie likes you too. So does Mr. Thomas.”
“Can I show you sumtin I found Miss Trin?”
“Sure.”
He took out a piece of paper and I read:
To my dearest little boy Jimmy!
From your momma,
When you read this letter, I will probably be past on. I am writing this letter to you as I lay here sick in bed. You are but a little thing and wont understand this. You pa loves you very much and promises to take care of you no matter what.
I would like to tell you a little bit about your momma, and where you come from. I am part Apache, and so are you. You dont know it now, but when your pa was trading horses and food to Indians on the reservation, those were you family. They were my brothers, sisters, and other members of the Apache.
I met your pa during a trip to our reservation and he saved me from uncertain death. I love your pa, and I love you too Jimmy. I am so sorry I wont be there to see you grow up into the wonderful man I know you will be.
I hope you will not fear or mistreat the Indians, as they are your family, and I have tried to teach you a few words though I am not sure you will remember them by the time you read this letter.
I love you very much Jimmy, and I will always be looking over you from above with my arms around you.
Loving you Forever,
Your Ma, Mandy Wheeler
I felt my own eyes start to water as I remembered my brother telling me about being part-Apache too. “Oh Jimmy...” I looked over at him.
“I found that in an old shoe..Miss Paisley read it to me..I miss my momma so much Miss Trin.”
I nodded and said, “My pa was part Apache too. He was killed... I miss him a lot too.”
“I jus wanna be loved like my ma loved me. I tired of bein alone. I thought Payton gonna be my sister, but now we back to be orphans all over agin.”
I sighed with understanding and nodded. “I know kiddo, it ain’t easy. But you ain’t really alone..”
“How you mean?”
“Well it’s like I said... you’ve got Natalie and Mr. Thomas and me... and lots of friends at the orphanage..”
“You member Mr. Cole and Miss Rye?”
“Mmhmm. They were friends from long time ago... They used to be with the Cherokee village where I stayed for a bit.”
“They helpin at orphanage now. Mr Cole give us all these funny three wheel things to ride.”
“That’s great! Natalie told me Mrs. Rye gave her a bike.”
“It’s fun to ride, I beat Natalie on mine...” Jimmy chuckled.
“If you ride those train tracks you can go all over the different towns. Mr. Alex and I do that sometimes on our horses.”
“Yeah, but the tracks kinna rough ridin...to bumpy bump.”
“Well then you gotta ride beside ‘em.”
“Have seen Payton today?”
“Nope not today.”
“I think she broke her hand last night...she get so mad, she hit door at orphanage, and we hear a crack.”
“Oh yeah? She see a doctor?”
“I dunno, Mr Cole was there, I know he wrap it up. Maybe she see doc today.”
“I hope so. That ain’t good. Was she mad ‘cause of Miss Ashton?”
“Yeah, she say she...ummmm...well she just mention Miss Ashton and Miss Rikki. Miss Trin?”
“Yeah kiddo?”
“If Miss Ashton stealin horses, do that mean Mrs Joan stealin too?”
“No, kiddo,” I shook my head. “Miss Joan gave Miss Ashton horses the right way.”
“So Mrs Joan give ‘em to Miss Ashton, but Miss Ashton steal ‘em to give Miss Rikki?”
“Miss Ashton and Miss Rikki are doin’ bad things with the horses. It’s... hard to understand.”
Jimmy got up and came over to hug me then and headed back to the orphanage. I went behind my desk and continued to work on reports.
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