Coming Home

This chapter introduces Jacy to the reader and attempts to set the stage for the first part of the book.

     As he stood staring at out from the bluffs into the sunset, the young man thought about how long it had been since he had been there.  “Too long,” he muttered to himself as he turned back to his car.  The young man was Jacy Swiftfoot Sanderson, although his friends back in Boston knew him as Jay.  Today, Jacy was standing on the bluffs overlooking the Navajo Nation reservation in the great state of Utah; the place that had been his home for the first eighteen years of his life and he was finally coming home.

      Jacy left the reservation when he graduated high school to study medicine at Harvard University.  He had been lucky.  Lucky that he got the scholarships for his grades and his performance in sports, and lucky that his mother even let him leave the reservation.  While he had always been his own man, he still had always deferred to his mother when it came to important decisions in his life.

      Here he was, sixteen long years after leaving the reservation and his mother, finally returning to his place of birth. Truth be told, Jay had always felt more at ease on the reservation.  It was the one place where he didn’t get sideways glances for his rich, long mahogany hair (which was always kept back, held by a single hair tie), almond-shaped dark chocolate eyes, and dark caramel colored skin.  He somehow knew that people could never tell what to make of him.  They were always wondering where he was from.  He had been asked on more than one occasion if he was Filipino, which he never really understood.

      As Jacy made his way down the mountains and into the Navajo Nation, he picked up his cell phone. “Siri, Call Shimá”, he said in his rich baritone voice.  He heard the phone ring four times on the other end before a soft voice answered, “Aoo’”.  It was his mother, Kai. Kai was a small woman with a gentle demeanor.  “Amá, it’s me, Jacy”, he said, barely able to hold the emotion in.  Jacy was moved to hear his mother’s voice yet worried because she sounded so frail.  “Jacy, my son!”, she exclaimed, “I am so glad to hear from you. Please, baby, come home. We need you.”  His strength almost broke in that moment and tears filled his eyes.  “Amá, I am almost there. But can you tell me what’s happening?”, he asked.  “No, son, this is something you need to see for yourself”, was Kai’s mysterious reply.

      Hanging up the phone, Jay’s mind began to race. “What could be happening that has mother so frightened?”, he thought to himself. There had only been one other time in his life that he had heard such fear in her voice and that was so long ago that it seemed more like a dream than a memory.  As he tried to think of reasons for his mother’s distress, Jacy turned the radio on to save himself from his own thoughts.  He tended to get pensive and distraught whenever his mother was upset and that was not something that he needed right now.  He needed to keep his head clear to be able to face whatever it was that had his mother in such a state.

      Jacy figured that as long as no animal crossed his path (as animals are wont to do in the Utah mountains and deserts), then he should be home in about ten minutes since he was only about fifteen miles from the reservation. The local rock station was playing an AC/DC tribute and “Shoot to Thrill” had just ended.  “Next up, ‘Highway to Hell’ on today’s AC/DC tribute marathon, stay tuned!”, announced the DJ.  “Hell, yeah!”, exclaimed Jacy, turning the song up as the first few notes began.  Little did he know, that was exactly what he was driving into at home.

Author's Note

Please be honest with your reviews, let me know what you think. Does it feel too slow, should it be longer? I am open to any and all suggestions.