Chapter Eleven - Reunion

Up from the South

The Farmington Crew rolled up from the Springs.  They'd camped up a bit, so as to miss the stink down off the flatlands.  The radio had just quit; it wasn't worth it to find another CB.  There was just nothing new to say.

The Free Zone was like a little burg, so of course when they run up the 36 to the University, they slowed down and stopped by what looked to be a Renaissance Faire without the duds, or a Sixties Flash mob, or somebody had gotten into someone's Mushroom Farm, yes THOSE mushrooms, and  had a fit of serious generosity with hallucinogens.

It didn't seem enticing, no, not in the least.  After busting a thousand miles, camping out, and dealing with the Navajo - good people, wonderful neighbors, but exhausting - the expeditioners wanted to

• Not be driving.
• Not talk.
• Sleep in a bed.
• Take a hot shower.
• Be left the hell alone.

That was especially true of Judy, or Sue Dill or whatever they called her, made up a Navajo ID card, stamped right there "NOT TRIBAL MEMBER," and named Sue Dill.  A few Navajo words in the ID, laminated, there ya go.  She hardly ever drank liquor, but she had a sudden craving for a shot of whiskey, a warm glass of milk, and a nap.

They pulled over to see what this fresh nonsense was.  They all walked over to the lawn, where people were cavorting and having a real merry old time.  There were a few barrels of tapped ale at a little stand, which entirely went along with the crowd's merriness.  A bundle of cavorters rushed up to the Farmington Crew and started hooting "It's June!  June is here!!" 

They were bemused.  Okay, some sort of festival, but it was the END of June, past Midsummer, and to tell you the truth, there have been a lot of Summer Junes that have passed on the calendar; this is the one that owned Captain Trips, so if there was ever a month to shut up and slink away, it was this one.  Let's get to the Fourth of July.

The shiny button eyes and the intensity of the glee in the little crowd suggested chemical stimulants of some sort.  "June!  June is here!  She's here!!"   Judy yelled out - "June who?"  and a few cries came back "Your sister!  It's June!"

Judy

 promptly dropped into a pile, looking like abandoned laundry, immobile, for a second as though she had been raptured and left only her duds behind.  Head, between her knees, sobbing.

"WHERE IS SHE?"

"At your house.  Back at your house.  Your house," came the chorus.

That was the party.  That was why all these goofs were dancing around, they got the point, with life and everything, after all this death.  Her twin sister was alive.

Home 

Mr. Sandoval drove her home like he was an uncle taking care of an injured niece.  Judy sat there, looked mostly stunned, kept putting her hands over her face, said nothing.

It was only a mile or so away from the University to Judy's house.  A beat-up muddy trailer and nondescript pickup were pulled up on the road in front.  The Welcome Wagon fandango had departed, wisely so, just leaving June alone to sleep.

Mr. Sandoval and Judy walked in.  The place was quiet, the shades were drawn.  It looked like somebody was trying to sleep.  They walked in the bedroom, and a person or body or something was face-down, fully-dressed, on the pillow.  Judy said "June?" but no answer.  She began to poke at her butt with her finger - "June? June? June?"  A cross and muffled "What?" came through the pillow.  "It's Judy!  You're alive!"

From the pillow, "Hey, Judy.  Sleeping."  Judy felt all the exhaustion from all of the days of pilgrimage catch up to her at once, flooding her body.  She lay down next to June.  Mr. Sandoval put a blanket over them, left them there together.  A long trip, a lot of work, to get together, there.

Downtown

The party rolled on through the dusk, unabated, not damped in the least by the fact that the maids of honor were out like little lights, working up a good case of morning breath.  The party was about the reunion - the participants could be lights-out, let everyone do their own thing.  It wound down when the coyotes howled up in the hills.