Page 34 of Signs and Signals

Haven was excited to be able to learn about insects and marine life, in the discovery area of the building, and for it to be hands on, thrilled her like I have never seen.

She grabs two stuffed animals from the gift shop, even though the guys were trying to get her one of everything, she settled for a stuffed butterfly and a stuffed fish.

She named the butterfly Zan and the fish Atlas. Amara and I thought it was hilarious. They both seemed to be standing a little taller and a little prouder, as we walked out of the building and headed back to the airfield.

We load the plane, and something is different. Everything still looks the same, the chairs, the carpet, the location of the bathroom and cabins. It feels different.

We all sit in the same seats, and before we take off, two people come from behind the curtain of the front cabin. Rebecca, and a tall lanky guy with a bright yellow bow tie around his neck and matching suspenders. He is wearing a name tag that says, ‘Fly with me, I’m Quency.’ He has a huge friendly smile on his face, while Rebecca is the opposite. She looks as though she ate something sour and smells something raunchy, her face is pinched so tight.

“I would like to apologize for my inappropriate behavior during the flight. I have been replaced, so unfortunately, I will not be on the flight with you to return back to Minneapolis. Again, my apologies.” Rebecca says all this is the most monotone voice I have ever heard. She doesn’t think how she acted was wrong.

We all sit there and watch as she walks off the plane with a security guard leading the way. Atlas is laughing so hard his body is shaking. He must think it is hilarious that Rebecca is being booted with an escort. I look over to Zander and he looks at me with a smirk, then goes back to putting a princess puzzle together with Haven. That must have been one of the items in the gift bag he gave her.

Zander looks up again, nodding to Quency and he nods to someone outside the opening of the door.

Once the doors have been closed, Quency begins his spiel that Rebecca completely missed. He goes over all the plane safety measures, Amara signs to Haven so she knowswhat is going on around her. The atmosphere is much better, relaxed, and comfortable.

After the safety speech, Quency remains standing in front of us, making eye contact with everyone, putting everyone at ease. I swear, if he lived in Riverside, he would be our new best friend. Then he goes to take everyone’s orders.

“Okay, so we have two waters, two colas, no snacks for anyone. Hmm, I feel like I missed someone. Who did I miss?” He is looking around as if he doesn’t know who was missed. Haven is waving her little arms around, pulling on Zander's arm and pointing at Quency.

Quency walks over to Haven, then turns to Amara and says, “Is there any way I can get you to move to that seat for just one moment, please, queen?” He points to the seat and Amara moves over, so now she is in front of Zander, and Quincy is in front of Haven.

I think we all gasp when he starts signing to her, but he isn’t speaking as he signs. He wants it to be just the two of them in this conversation, even though Amara and I can tell everything he is saying to her.

“What is he signing?” Atlas asks me, pretty much leaning across my lap trying to get closer without getting out of his seat.

“He told her he heard there was a real-life princess on board, and he just had to come and have the evil queen removed. He wants to know if chocolate milk and cupcakes sound good for her trip back to the enchanted castle. Then she tells him it’s a hotel, not a castle,” I say ending on a laugh.

“Where did you learn to sign ASL, Quency,” Atlas asks him.

“Oh, I have known it my entire life. Looking back, I always remember this is how we communicated with my gran and my little brother, growing up. My gran is long gone now, but my little brother is no longer little, he is in his thirties and livinghis best life. It is always a pleasure to put my first language to good use; I don’t get to use sign language much anymore. My brother lives in New York and my home base is in Chicago, so we don’t see each other as often as we like. Enough about me, let me go grab the drinks and snacks, for you all. Be back in a jiff,” Quincy floats away behind the curtain.

“I didn’t realize the deaf community was so large. It is kind of amazing meeting people who understand what it is like growing up around the hearing and hearing impaired. It almost makes me jealous how good he is at signing, and he is able to talk to her about anything. I probably sound like an infant talking to Haven,” Atlas pouts.

“You will get there, Atlas, you just have to practice a lot. Quency has been doing this his entire life. You heard him, ASL is hisfirstlanguage, meaning English is his second. His house only signed, which makes him fluent in the language.” I pat him on the thigh, leaning my head against his shoulder.

We landed back in Minneapolis, around eight, so we had a late dinner, stopping at a fast-food place and grabbed some burgers, and went back to the hotel.

Amara and Haven went to bed about an hour ago, and Zander went back to his room down the hall. Atlas, stood from the couch, “I should probably get going, we have a game at one and Minneapolis is no joke when it comes to baseball. I want to be on top of my game.”

“You can sleep here, with me, if you’d like,” I tell him, hoping he says yes. I want to wake up in his arms one more time, before we go home tomorrow after the game.

“I thought you would never ask,” he responds.

Suddenly I am being lifted high in the air and thrown over his shoulder, I get smacked on the ass, then Atlas tells me, “I don’t know if this is going to be good for my game, staying the night with you, but it will be fucking worth it.”

Chapter Sixteen

Indya

The Legends wins the game against Minneapolis, though it was a very close call. They won by one run, the other team, I can’t remember who they were, were winning by two at the start of the ninth inning. The Legends were up to bat and the bases were loaded. Their jerseys say Ortiz is on second, Simmons is on first, and Layne is on third. The Legends have two outs by the time Atlas walks up to take his turn at bat.

Again, Haven has her face squished against the window, fogging it up, and pissing her off because she can’t see her best friend. I pull her back just a bit and remind her of the fog that happens on windows when you are breathing on them. At this point I think she could care less about anything I have to say to her.

I turn to say something to Amara, but her hand is over her mouth, while she is trying to cover a laugh, and she is looking at Haven. I turn back around, and where is my daughter, standing on the ledge of the window, fogging the glass higher up than where she was. I swear this girl will be the death of me one day.

She starts pounding on the window, and clapping her hands. I turn to see what she keeps pointing to and I can’t help the smile that takes over my face.

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