Page 47 of Coast

As Mac, Flirt, and I walked toward the house, I started introductions, “Kiyaya, this is Flirt. I know you heard me mention him.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Young,” Flirt said and stuck out his hand, and Kiyaya grasped it.

“Eh, you can call me Kiyaya. Mister makes me feel old.”

Mac giggled beside me, and I knew she was nervous about meeting my great grandfather.

“Kiyaya, this is Mackenzie. Myáyat, woman. Mackenzie, my great grandfather, Kiyaya Young.”

Kiyaya looked at Mac and tilted his head to the side.

I looked down at Mac and wondered what he saw. Her auburn hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and she had no make-up on, which showed the paleness of her skin and the few freckles she had across the bridge of her nose. And her blues eyes were focused on Kiyaya.

“Back in my great grandfather’s time, the Yakima would have stolen you,” Kiyaya said.

“And if the Yakima warriors and braves looked like your great grandson, I’m not sure I would have put up a fight,” Mac answered without hesitating.

Kiyaya chuckled, then looked at me. “You better take this one as anásham,wife,áswan,boy.”

“Plan to, Kiyaya,” I answered, and Kiyaya nodded.

Flirt and I unhitched the trailer while Kiyaya took Mac and my dad inside. We’d start work the next day on the house.

After we ate dinner with Kiyaya, we’d sat and talked for a bit before my dad and Flirt left for the motel outside the res where they would be staying. Mac and I would be staying at Kiyaya’s. It’d be a tight fit for her and me in the bed, but I wouldn’t ever complain about getting to hold her close.

When Kiyaya pulled out the checkers and asked Mac to play, she smiled and sat across from him. I watched as they played and wondered if Mac was a sore loser. Instead, at the end of the game, she’d won. At Kiyaya’s grunt and the look on his face from losing, I laughed. Kiyaya stood and went to bed.

The next day we’d startedon the roof. With Kiyaya’s house being on the small side, it only had taken eight hours to strip the old material off and put the new on. When I worked laying the last two sheets of shingles, Flirt climbed down the ladder, and then my dad followed him. I finished and was on my way across the roof when two things happened, Mac screamed, and I watched the top of ladder slide to the side, then out of view. When I reached where I could see over the edge, my dad laid flat on his back on the ground with Mac running toward him.

Flirt grabbed the ladder and leaned back against the house, and I hurried down and to my dad’s side. His eyes were closed, and Mac knelt over him as she reached her hand toward his neck.

“I don’t think I’m in need of your services, sweetheart. I can promise no baby is on the way,” my dad said as he opened his eyes and looked up at Mac. “I’m pretty sure that I only knocked the wind out of me.”

“Well, I’m still going to check you out, and you won’t even have to put your legs up.”

“Christ, old man. You scared ten years off me,” I said, and he chuckled.

“Ten years ain’t even close to the years you boys took off me and the other dads with some of your antics. Now, how about helping me up. Got a feeling I’m going to be a little sore later.”

“Not until I make sure you didn’t break anything or injure your back,” Mac said and didn’t give my dad a chance to argue. She started at his neck and worked her way down.

“What happened?” Kiyaya asked as he walked out of the house carrying two glasses. “I go inside and you decide to jump off the roof.”

“Hell, I would have been more prepared if I had. I was three-quarters of the way down and lost my footing. Went off balance, and the damn ladder shifted.”

“You’re not helping tomorrow. Me and Coast can get the windows done by ourselves,” Flirt spoke for the first time, and I knew the brother had been as scared as me.

“Any part of your back hurt? Tingling in your legs?” Mac asked, and my dad shook his head no. She asked him a few more questions, then looked up at me. “Help him sit up. I don’t think he broke anything,” Mac said, and Flirt and I took a side and using our hands behind his shoulders, lifted him to a sitting position.

Mac asked about dizziness and nausea. She felt down his spine. “Alright. Let’s see how he does on his feet.”

Flirt and I each grabbed under an arm and lifted until my dad stood.

“You were lucky, Cruz. And as much as it pains me, I’m going to agree with Flirt. You are benched from helping.”

“You can sit with us.” Kiyaya waved between him and Mac. “And supervise from the porch, Emilo,” Kiyaya said and chuckled when I groaned.

“Damn, we are done,”I said after I finished testing the last window we installed. It opened and closed with ease.

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