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"Who's Brenda?" Alex asked. They had spent a few hours exploring the farm. None of it was familar, but somehow he felt good. Being outdoors was good. "Brenda is a second cousin on Daddy's side of the family." Charlie said. "Or something like that. Let me think. Never mind, Daddy had some nieces and nephews almost his age. Or at least closer than usual, so they seemed like uncles and aunts, age-wise. One of them, his father married a Cherokee woman, from the nations. Brenda is one of her grandchildren." "What does she do?" Alex asked. "She's a nurse." Charlie replied. "She went back to Oklahoma, to explore her roots. She worked in a hospital there for a while, working with tribal doctors. She still spends some time there, visiting several times a year. She now works in a hospital near Oklahoma City. I'll call her. We haven't talked in a while, and she usually only comes to visit on holidays. She'd be interested in your case, for sure." "Sounds like a good idea." Alex said. "I've certainly got plenty of time." "She helped me a lot after my surgery." Charlie said. "I'd probably be a vegetable if I'd relied on the doctors. As you would have been if we hadn't gotten you out of there." I guess I wouldn't know the difference if I never woke up. And somebody gettin' paid big money to keep me that way. Why they did it? Why else? "Talk to her and let us know." Jessica said. "We're completely flexible on everything." "You want to take a tour of the place?" Bill asked. "It might refresh your memory some."
They took a ride around the nearly two square miles of the estate. It was mostly farmland, but here and there a small patch or forest or a lake looked interesting. No memories, but maybe in time he would remember. "You used to fish in the that lake over there." Sam told him, as Bill drove along the edge. "And shot bullfrogs down there in the lowland, along those canals. Illegal as all get-out, but game wardens weren't going to come out here. And you could see them coming if they did." Shooting frogs? Yeah, you eat them. Or their legs. Guess I knew that, or did I just remember? Spend some time out here? Can't hurt. Bill drove them along a levee enclosing a large flooded area. "Daddy had that hundred acres or so closed in when he bought the place." Sam said. "You were only about five or six, I guess. It seems like a long time ago. "We raised rice there, it was easy to irrigate. The last few years he left it flooded." "Pretty good fishing." Bill said. "I keep a boat down there. Come out sometime when it warms up and we'll do some fishing." Do I remember hunting and fishing? Will I? "I'd like that." Alex said. "Maybe it'll help me remember. If I lived here so long." "We can come out early some day." Jessica said. "Spend more time here. Charlie or Sam might be able to come along, tell us about their time here." "We're here to help out any time." Bill said. "Kitty and I always like seeing you." "We'll be out again soon." Jessica said. "For now we'd better get back and see what's going on at home." |
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