Thursday, March 24, 2016

Chapter 14: Cindy Pialug's New Home

     Cindy and Tony had hoped to take a 7:00 AM flight from Honolulu, but there was too little time between sunrise and the time the plane would leave.  They agreed that it would be best for them to take Hawaiian Airlines flight 0010 at 8:00 AM, which would arrive in Los Angeles at 4:25 PM.
     To save time, they made the dangerous decision to spend the night in the airport.  Cindy and Tony packed all their belongings in Tony’s boogie bag.  Cindy’s boogie bag was a large traditional palm-leave handbag, and it was loose enough to let air into the bag.  After dark, when Cindy turned into a fox, she crawled into her handbag for the night, and Tony closed the bag. 
     The handbag wasn’t comfortable for Cindy, but they didn’t have much choice.  It was still less uncomfortable than the airport seats where Tony slept.
     Just before dawn, Tony took Cindy—still in her handbag—to the nearest women’s restroom and threw the handbag through the door.  Tony hoped that no one was in the restroom at the time.  As soon as Cindy started to turn into a girl, she came from the handbag and put on her clothes. 
     When Cindy was fully clothed, she looked up and saw a woman staring at her, wide-eyed and open mouthed.  The woman had seen her change from a fox to a girl.  Not knowing what else to say, Cindy said to the woman, “Every now and then, a girl likes to have a new look.”
     The woman, not knowing what else to say, said, “Yes, I can see that,” as she watched Cindy walk from the restroom.
     Tony and Cindy had less than two hours to buy their tickets, check in, and board their plane.  They had to hurry; but, by this time, they were always using the word hurry.
     Their trip to Los Angeles and to America’s East Coast went very smoothly.  At long last, Tony’s parents, sister, brother, and grandmother met Tony and Cindy at Congaree Regional Airport.
     Tony had emailed his parents to let them know that he would take a guest to meet them.  He had said that Cindy would study at Congaree University.  Tony also asked if Cindy could stay with the family until they could find her a place to stay; and Tony’s parents said that Cindy could stay in the family’s guest room. 
     Tony’s email also said that Cindy was a fox.  His mother wrote back to say that it would be more respectful to call her “an attractive young woman.”  The expression, “She’s a fox,” is not disrespectful, but some older people feel uncomfortable with it.
     So far, so good.  The next step in Tony’s plan would come that evening at the supper table.
     Tony’s older brother had already moved out and lived on his own.  His eighteen-year-old sister, who would soon be a freshman at Congaree University, still lived with her parents.  His twelve-year-old brother, of course, also lived with their parents.  I mentioned Tony’s parents, which means two of them.  Tony’s grandmother also lived with them, so the household had six people in all.  With Cindy, there would be seven people at the table for supper.
     Not surprisingly, they all liked Cindy.  Tony’s sister was happy to hear that she and Cindy would be classmates.  Most of the family members asked her the usual questions, such as how she liked the United States and questions about life on Kanifay Island.  Tony’s little brother wanted to know about South Seas island headhunters and was disappointed to hear that Cindy had never met one.
     Tony’s plan had one little problem.  During his six weeks on Kanifay Island, he had seen the sun set sometime after 7:00 PM.  When the family rose from the supper table (later than usual) at 7:10, Tony remembered that the sun set later in places that were farther north than Kanifay Island.  The sun had not yet gone down.
     The family moved to the living room, turned on the living room light, and continued their conversation.  After Tony’s grandmother had finished washing the dishes, she rejoined the rest of the family. 
     The family was still in conversation when the sun went down at 8:23 PM.  There would be a little light for another fifteen minutes or so; then darkness would fall. 
     From Tony’s place on the sofa, he looked out the window and saw that it had become dark outside.  The conversation stopped and everyone became quiet.  In front of Tony’s whole family, Cindy turned into a fox.  Tony’s grandmother leaned forward, cleaned her thick glasses, and looked even more closely at Cindy.
     Tony broke the silence.  “Mama,” he said, “I did tell you that Cindy was a fox.”
     “Yes, you did, Tony,” she said, “but I thought you meant that she was—“   Her voice broke off.
     “And you were right.  She is an attractive young woman.  She’s also my friend.”  Tony quickly told them Cindy’s story and how she had to leave Kanifay Island and go to college in the United States.  He waited for them to say something.
     Tony’s sister was the first one to speak.  She put her right arm around Cindy’s left arm and held her hand.  “Cindy,” she said, “I’m looking forward to us being classmates—and friends.”  She looked at Tony and said, “If she’s your friend, she must be a fine person.”
     Tony’s brother said, “Can I teach her some tricks?”
     Tony said, “No!  She’s not a dog.”  As it would later turn out, Cindy looked forward to learning tricks because it would be good exercise for her.
     Grandmother said, “She’ll get hair on the sofa.”
     After more conversation, Tony’s mother said, “College dormitories are busy places, Tony.  She would never be able to keep her secret in a college dorm.”
     “She would have to stay with a host family,” Tony agreed.
     “You mean us.”
     Tony’s brother’s face lighted up, and he said, “Can we keep her?”
     “What you mean to say is, ‘May she come to live with us?’” his mother corrected.
     Grandmother said, “You’d better keep the windows closed.  If she gets out at night, she’ll turn over the neighbors’ trash cans and throw trash everywhere.”
     “I don’t think Cindy will do anything like that,” Mama said.  She looked at her husband and asked, “What do you think?  Will it be all right if she stays?” 
     Daddy looked at Tony and Cindy.  “Welcome to your new home,” he said to Cindy.
     Cindy’s paperwork for Congaree University went through very quickly.  She started as a freshman that fall and made new friends easily.  As I write these words, Cindy is now in the second semester of her freshman year, she’s enjoying it, and she’s making all A’s and B’s. 
     Keeping Cindy’s secret has been hard for all of them.  One of her new friends found out that Cindy was a fox fairy.  Being the true friend that she was, she never told anyone, and she joined the others in keeping the secret.  From time to time, a teacher or classmate saw Cindy in her fox form, but her friends always managed to convince them that they had just imagined it.
     One day, Cindy had a problem when she went to Dutch Square Mall with Tony’s mother and sister.  Malls don’t have windows, which makes it harder for people to notice what time it is.  Darkness fell, and Cindy became a fox right there in the mall.
     Cindy’s mother did the first thing that came to mind: She quickly picked up Cindy and wrapped Cindy around her neck.  Cindy, knowing what Mama had in mind, bit her own tail to make herself look more like a fox-fur wrap.  It hurt Cindy’s tail to bite it, but Cindy felt she had to make it look realistic.
     As they reached the mall exit, Mama handed sister the car keys.  Sister ran across the parking lot to the car and quickly opened the car door.  Then Cindy jumped from her place around Mama’s neck, ran across the parking lot, and jumped into the car.  Everyone who saw this happen believed that they had seen a woman holding a dog and letting it run to a car.  People are most easily fooled when they fool themselves.

     Cindy has grown to enjoy life in America, and she has another three years of college ahead of her.  As it was on Kanifay Island, her secret life as a fox has become somewhat like a game of hide and seek—except that she doesn’t have to fear for her life.  Cindy does, however, get a little scared when she hears someone say, “She’s a fox.”

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