-
Borders
- University of Minnesota Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Borders This page intentionally left blank [18.224.67.149] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 16:17 GMT) When I wastwelve, maybe thirteen, my mother announced that we were going to go to Salt Lake City to visit my sister who had left the reserve, moved across the line, and found a job. Laetitia had not left home with my mother's blessing, but over time my mother had come to be proud of the fact that Laetitia had done all of this on her own. "She did real good," my mother would say. Then there were the fine points to Laetitia's going. Shehad not, as my mother liked to tell Mrs. Manyfingers,gone floating after some man like a balloon on a string. Shehadn't snuck out of the house, either, and gone to Vancouver or Edmonton or Toronto to chase rainbows down alleys. And she hadn't been pregnant. "She did real good." I was seven or eight when Laetitia left home. Shewasseventeen . Our father was from Rocky Boy on the Americanside. "Dad's American," Laetitia told my mother, "so I can go and come as I please." "Send us a postcard." 134 « Thomas King Laetitia packed her things, and we headed for the border. Just outside of Milk River, Laetitia told us to watch for the water tower. "Over the next rise. It's the first thing you see." "We got a water tower on the reserve," my mother said. "There's a big one in Lethbridge, too." "You'll be able to see the tops of the flagpoles, too. That's where the border is." When we got to Coutts, my mother stopped at the convenience store and bought her and Laetitia a cup of coffee. I got an Orange Crush. "This is real lousy coffee." "You're just angry because I want to seethe world." "It's the water. From here on down, they got lousy water." "I can catch the bus from Sweetgrass. You don't have to lift a finger." "You're going to have to buy your water in bottles if you want good coffee." There was an old wooden building about a block away, with a tall sign in the yard that said "Museum." Most of the roof had been blown away. Mom told me to go and see when the place was open. There were boards over the windows and doors. You could tell that the place was closed, and I told Mom so, but she said to go and check anyway. Mom and Laetitia stayed by the car. Neither one of them moved. I sat down on the steps of the museum and watched them, and I don't know that they ever said anything to each other. Finally, Laetitia got her bag out of the trunk and gave Mom a hug. I wandered back to the car. The wind had come up, and it blew Laetitia's hair across her face. Mom reached out and pulled the strands out of Laetitia's eyes, and Laetitia let her. Borders ~ 135 "You can still seethe mountain from here/' my mother told Laetitia in Blackfoot. "Lots of mountains in Salt Lake," Laetitia told her in English. "The place is closed," I said. "Just like I told you." Laetitia tucked her hair into her jacket and dragged her bag down the road to the brick building with the American flag flapping on a pole. When she got to where the guards were waiting, she turned, put the bag down, and waved to us. We waved back. Then my mother turned the car around, and we came home. We got postcards from Laetitia regular, and, if she wasn't spreading jelly on the truth, she was happy. She found a good job and rented an apartment with a pool. "And she can't even swim," my mother told Mrs. Manyfingers . Most of the postcards said we should come down and see the city, but whenever I mentioned this, my mother would stiffen up. So I was surprised when she bought two new tires for the car and put on her blue dress with the green and yellowflowers.I had to dress up, too, for my mother did not want us crossing the border looking like Americans. We made sandwiches and put them in a big box with pop and potato chips and some apples and bananas and a big jar of water. "But we can stop at one of those restaurants, too...