Amy and I had taken a hike on the Armijo Trail to enjoy one of the picnic areas, and we’d met one of the local bears. Luckily it was a peaceful meeting with him finally wandering off deeper into the woods. When we’d come off the trail, our ranger friend was there and was interested in what we had to say about the bear.

I made a trip to the College of Engineering’s Dean’s office to pick up the books and paperwork for the two classes that I’d be teaching. And I’d met Dr. O’Riley, who I’m going to stay as far away from as possible. The Dean’s secretary told me that he’s a womanizer.

When I finally looked at the books, I found that they were well out of date and would not be suitable as a college textbook. I called Dr. Joe, and he was coming over. And I was now on my way to the University’s Bookstore to see what they were selling to students.

Did Dr. Kilmer do this on purpose or is someone screwing with me?

When I reached the bookstore, they were still open and not very busy. I walked in and started looking for the books that were for the courses I was teaching. One of the clerks walked up to me and asked, “Miss, is there something that I can help you find?”

“Yes.”, I replied. “I’m a grad assistant, and I’m going to be teaching two courses, and I’m looking for the books for the class.”

“Which classes?”

“Electric Circuits, and Electronic Circuits and Systems.”

“They would be over here, Miss.”

I followed the clerk over to another part of the store, and she pointed out the books. I picked them up, looked at the edition number, shook my head, and said, “These books are out of date and shouldn’t be used for the course.”

“Miss?”

“I’m the new instructor for these courses. These books were published more than five years ago, and the information in them is out of date. And they shouldn’t be used.”

“Let's go talk to the manager.”

I followed the clerk to the bookstore office, and when we got there, the clerk said to the manager, “Mrs. Black, this lady is a grad assistant, she’s teaching two courses, and she’s saying that the books are out of date.”

Mrs. Black looked at me, and said, “And you are?”

“I’m, Kai Nez.”, I said. “I’m a graduate assistant, and I’m teaching Electric Circuits, and Electronic Circuits and Systems this quarter. And I was just given the books for the course today. I looked them over, and they are over five years out of date.”

“Oh. It’s what we were told to order for those classes.”

“Do you know who told you that?”

“Of course. Let me look.”

She got up, went to a file cabinet, pulled out a file, and looked through it. She found what she was looking for, and said, “A Dr. Kilmer ordered them.”

“Figures.”, I said. “What can we do?”

“Not much. It’s too late to order any replacement books before school starts.”

“I’m meeting with my faculty advisor in a little bit, and I think we’ll be back tomorrow morning to see what we can do.”

“That would be good. The day staff can help you better than I can.”

I headed back to the apartment, and when I got there Dr. Joe’s car was in the driveway. When I walked in, Dr. Joe and Mary were there with Amy.

Dr. Joe looked at me, and said, “Well?”

I walked over to the table, picked up the books, showed them to him, and told him what I found out. Then I said, “And they have them on the shelves at the bookstore for the students.”

“Not good.” Then looking at his watch, he said, “Good they're still open. Let me make a phone call.”

Dr. Joe picked up the phone and dialed, then told whoever answered that he wanted the bookstore. When he reached the bookstore, he told them who he was and that I’d been in earlier, and that he wanted the books pulled off the shelves and a note posted where the books were that the students need to attend class before buying a book.

After he hung up, Dr. Joe said, “Now what do we do?”

“I know of a couple of books that would work.”, I said. “I saw them in the bookstore at Ohio State before we came out here. What they are are more current editions of the same books. And I think that they were published this year.”

“But it would take them forever to get here.”

“True. … Hmm … I wonder. … ”

“Wonder what?”

“I wonder if we could find at least one copy of each of the books that I have in mind, and I could write up what was important in the first few chapters, get it copied, and use it as handouts until the books arrive.”

“You would do that?”

“Why not. We’re here to teach. Aren’t we? And I need the tools to do that.”

“A couple of the secretaries are exceptionally good at shorthand and typing, and we could probably have them type them up and make the necessary copies. But, why would Dr. Kilmer do this?”

“Laziness. He just figured that he could use the same information every term. Not have to rework his lectures, and get away with it. And he has.”

“Wait until we talk to the Dean.”

“We?”

“First thing tomorrow I’m going to pick you up, and we’ll go to the bookstore, and try to straighten that out. Then we’ll go to the Dean’s office and let him know what’s going on.”

“That’ll be fun. Not!”

“Don’t worry. We’ll get this all figured out.”

“I sure hope so. At first, I thought that someone was messing with me. But it turns out that Dr. Kilmer was messing with all of his students just because he was too lazy to find new up to date text books.”

Dr. Joe and Mary left, and Amy and I relaxed for a little while before bedtime.

Friday morning when we got up and were eating breakfast, Amy said, “You impressed Mary last night.”

“Impressed her.”, I said. “In what way?”

“The way you took over the problem and solved it.”

“It’s not solved yet.”

“Yeah. But you have a great idea.”

“We’ll see.”

After I walked Amy to the hospital, I came back to the apartment and waited for Dr. Joe. Right at eight o’clock, he pulled up. I’d been sitting on the patio waiting for him, so I just walked out to his car, got in, fastened the seat belt, and we made the five-minute drive to the faculty parking lot.

We walked to the student center and the bookstore, and Dr. Joe asked for the manager. When he came out, we introduced ourselves and told him the problem. He said that the night manager had left him a note. So he knew most of the story.

I told him that there was a new edition of both books that was published earlier this year that we needed to find. He said that shouldn’t be a problem. But getting them delivered quickly was.

Then I asked, “How long?”

“It could take as long as a month.”, he replied. “If they have them in stock. If not, it could take a lot longer.”

“If they have them in stock, is there a faster way to ship them?”

“They’re books, so they’re heavy. So they come by truck.”

“How many books are we talking?”

“Let me look.”

He went to the same file cabinet the night manager did last night. Took out the same file and looked at it. Then he said, “As I thought. It’s a minimum of one-hundred copies of each title. So we’d have to order a hundred of each.”

I asked, “Why didn’t the publisher ship the latest edition?”

He looked at the paperwork again, and said, “Dr. Kilmer requested that edition.”

I just shook my head. Then I said, “Let's get them ordered today. And if shipping them by air will get them here quicker, I’ll pay the difference.”

“What!”, Dr. Joe said.

“I don’t know if we can do that?”, the manager said.

“Find out and let me know.”, I said. “Now, how can I quickly get a copy of those two books? Even if I have to go and get them.”

“Let me make some calls.”

“Okay. I’ll stop back after we see the Dean about this mess.”

As Dr. Joe and I walked towards the engineering building, he said, “I can’t believe that you offered to pay to have those books air shipped.

“Remember when we first met and you picked up the lunch checks?”, I said.

“Yes.”

“Do you remember what I said?”

“Not really.”

“I said, I wasn’t a poor college student. And I’m not. I figure that if Amy and I can fund a scholarship program for Navajo high school students that the least I can do is pay to ship some books for college students.”

Dr. Joe stopped in his tracks, looked at me, and said, “Kai. You and Amy are the ones that did that scholarship for the Chief that past away. Aren’t you?”

I grinned, as I said, “You just figured that out?”

“I guess I should have figured that out earlier. I’ve read all the articles about it. But with trying to get them to let Kai teach these courses, I’ve had other things on my mind.”

“I guess you have. Have you read the Navajo Times articles about the scholarship?”

“No.”

“You should. They hit the nail on the head without pulling any punches.”

“You two are so down to earth. I would never expect something like that out of you.”

I smiled, as I said, “We like it that way.”

We continued our walk to the Dean’s office. When we arrived, Dr. Joe told the secretary that it was important that we see the Dean as soon as possible. She called back and told the Dean that we were here. Then she told us that it would be a few minutes and the Dean would be free.

Dr. Joe and I sat and waited. Maybe five minutes after we sat, the secretary’s phone rang, she answered it, and then told us that the Dean would see us.

Dr. Joe and I walked back to the Dean’s office, knocked on the door, and we heard a, “Come in.”

We walked in, the Dean looked at us, and said, “What’s so important.”

“We have a problem.”, Dr. Joe said.

“Oh, what kind of a problem?”

“Kai has found that the books that were ordered for the two class that she’s going to teach are out of date by more than five years.”

“Who did that?”

“Dr. Kilmer.”, I said. “It appears that he’s been using the same text for over five years. And with a subject like circuits that is way too long. The subject matter changes too fast.”

“What are we doing about it?”

“We’ve stopped at the bookstore … ”, and we went on to tell him what we'd done at the bookstore. Then we told him what I proposed to do about providing something for the students until the books arrived. And that we’d need help typing up and duplicating the information that I wanted to use.

The first thing the Dean did was call the bookstore to be sure that the new books were being ordered. While he was talking, he looked at me, and said, “She did!?”

Then he said, “Go ahead and do that, and put it on the Engineering Colleges account.”

And as he hung up the phone, he looked at me, and said, “Young lady, I’ve just been told that you offered to pay the charges for air shipping.”

“Yes, sir.”, I said.

“Why?”

I told the Dean the same thing that I told Dr. Joe, “I figure that if I can fund a scholarship program for high school students that the least I can do is pay to ship some books for college students.”

“Just who are you?”

“I’m just Kai Nez.”

“Sir.”, Dr. Joe said. “She and a friend are the ones who set up and funded that scholarship in memory of the Navajo Chief.”

The Dean just looked at me for a minute, then he picked up the phone again, dialed, and when it was answered, he said, “Sara would you please come to my office for a minute.”

A minute later there was a knock on the door, and the Dean said, “Come.”

The Dean’s secretary walked into the room and asked, “You wanted to see me, sir?”

“Yes, Sara. This young lady is Kai Nez, she’s a grad assistant, and she has found a problem with some of the books for the two classes she’s teaching. … ” And he went on to tell her what had happened. Then he told her of my idea, and that he would like her to help me by taking my dictation, typing it up, and making the necessary copies.

Sara looked at me, and said, “I’ve never heard of anyone doing something like this before. And I will be more than happy to help.”

I smiled, and said, “Thank you, Sara. Hopefully, I’ll have something for you early next week.”

“That will be fine, Miss Nez. Just call and let me know when you’ll be in.”

“Thank you, Sara. And please call me Kai.”

“Thank you, Kai.”

After we left the Dean’s office, Dr. Joe went to his office, and I headed back to the bookstore. I found out that they had found the books that I needed, and that they’d be here this afternoon. And there was a plus. They had also found the teacher’s guides for both books.

I thanked them and told them that I’d be back around three to see if books had arrived.

I went back to the apartment and called my aunt and explained what was going on. She was excited for me and concerned about the books. Then I told her that we might be up to the resort either late tonight or early tomorrow depending on when the books arrived, but that we’d let her know when we were on the way. She said that she understood.

Then my aunt told me that the guys that work for the resort had built a very nice and secure display case to display Kilchii Nez’s tools and some of his work and that she had also gotten a copy of his picture to put in it. Plus she had a squash blossom necklace that he’d made and was going to put that in the display case. I told her that we’d bring the box, tools, and a couple of pieces of his work with us.

When I picked up Amy at the hospital, I told her that we needed to stop by the bookstore to see if the books were in yet. And they weren’t. I left our phone number so that they could call. Then we headed to the apartment. As we walked, I told Amy about my day, and she said it was more interesting than hers. The most interesting thing that they had was a burst appendix, and she went into details. That’s was more information than I needed or wanted.

Amy started getting her things ready for a weekend at the resort, and I was waiting for the phone to ring. Finally, an hour after we’d arrived home, it finally rang. I answered it, and the books that I wanted were at the bookstore. I told them that I’d be right there.

Once I’d hung up the phone, I said, “Honey, you want to walk to the bookstore with me?”

“No thanks.”, Amy replied. “I’ve been on my feet all week, besides I want to take a shower.”

“Sound like you need a real foot massage tonight?”

“I wouldn’t say no to it.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

I walked over to the bookstore, told the clerk who I was, and they got the manager. Who, when he came out of his office, was carrying two books and two teacher’s guides. I looked them over, and they were exactly what I wanted. So, I smiled, and said, “These are just what the doctor ordered. Thank you.”

“No.”, he said. “Thank you. Thank you for pointing out that we had the wrong books.”

“I couldn’t have my students not learning the current things.”

“If everything works out, the books should be here in two weeks. And I can’t believe that Dean Rutherford authorized air shipping.”

I grinned, and said, “Maybe he couldn’t stand me showing him up.”

He smiled, and said, “Could be.”

“Let me know when the books are here so I can tell my students.”

“I will. And anyone that bought one of the wrong ones, have them bring it back and we’ll trade for a new one.”

“Good. I’ll tell them that.”

I was quickly back at the apartment. When I walked in, Ajie was there waiting for me. She had on a long skirt, a fancy blouse and moccasins. With a few pieces of jewelry added for effect. Her hair was done in a two braid look and laying over her shoulders. I smiled, and said, “Ayóó anííníshní aldó’, Ajie.” (I love you, Ajie.)

She smiled, and said “Ayóó anííníshní aldó’, Kai.”

I was still in the shorts, a blouse, and sneakers that I’d put on this morning. I quickly ran upstairs and changed into a long skirt, fancy blouse, and wrap moccasins. I was already wearing a few pieces of jewelry, so I didn’t add anything. My hair was in a single braid, so I left it that way.

Then I ran downstairs, called my aunt and told her that we’d be on the way in a few minutes, and to go ahead and have dinner without us. But she said that they’d wait.

Amy and I put everything in the car, including the books, and headed north. And two hours later we were pulling up to my aunt and uncle’s house. We pulled everything out of the car and took it into the house. After we said hello to my aunt and uncle, we took everything to our room. And the jewelry that we brought with us went into the floor safe.

When we walked back out into the main part of the house, we didn’t see or smell and food. And my aunt said, “Come on. We’re going to the restaurant. I don’t cook on Friday nights.”

As we walked towards the hotel, we started telling them what had been going on. They were surprised, happy, and concerned. And as we ate we continued to talk about what was going on. My aunt’s only comment was, “So, you’re now Kai all the time?”

“Aunt Ruth, to be completely honest with you.”, I said. “When I’ve been out here, I’ve always been Kai. At times I may have looked like Tom, but underneath I was Kai.”

My aunt looked at Ajie, and asked, “Ajie, how do you feel about all of this?”

“Aunt Ruth, like I've told Kai. I love Tommy, and I love her equally. So I have no problem with it.”

Aunt Ruth just smiled.

After we’d finished dinner, we walked through the hotel’s lobby, and Uncle Paul took us over to the display case that had been built to show off Grandpa Nez’s tools and jewelry. It looked very nice. It appeared that the frame was made out of stainless steel welded together, and it was securely fastened to the wall. The shelf where we were going to place everything was covered in dark red velvet. There were two locks on the front that held the front of the case closed. And I asked, “Uncle Paul, are those locks strong?”

“Kai.”, Uncle Paul said. “They’re high-security locks.”

“Who has the keys?”

“I have one. Your aunt has one.” And as he handed me a key, he added, “And now you have one.”

I asked, “How strong is the glass?”

“It’s the same glass that museums use.”

I just smiled and nodded yes.

Then my aunt asked, “When do you want to set it up?”

“Any time.”

“I have a have a copy of Grandpa Nez’s picture in a frame and a squash blossom necklace to put in there.”

“We brought the box, the tools, a couple of the silver dollars, a bracelet, two rings, and the two Conchos that were in the box.”

“Want to do it now?”

We went back to the house, gathered up what we were going to put in the case, and went back to the hotel lobby. My uncle went with us and brought a camera. Before we placed anything in the display case, we photographed it and added it to an itemized list.

It took Aunt Ruth, Ajie, and I the better part of an hour to arrange and rearrange the items in the case, while Uncle Paul watched. When we were happy with the way things looked, I locked the case. We stood back and looked at the display, and the four of us liked what we were seeing. Uncle Paul then handed me a piece of paper, and said, “Here’s the agreement from the owners of the resort that the contents of the display case belong to you and Ajie, and are a loan. And that the contents are properly insured.”

As I read it over, I said, “Wait. It says that all of the contents belong to Ajie and me. What about the squash blossom necklace, doesn’t that belong to Aunt Ruth?”

Aunt Ruth looked at me, and said, “Kai and Ajie, I want you to have it when it’s removed from the display.”

“Aunt Ruth!”, both Ajie and I said.

“Kids, don’t argue with your elders. We know that you appreciate these things, especial since our ancestor made it. Plus we don’t have anyone to leave it to.”

“Aunt Ruth.”, I said. “Thank you.”

That night Ajie and I turned in early. And I did give Ajie a real foot massage, and of course that turned into more. Much more.

Saturday morning Ajie and I overslept. But we only slept in until we smelled Aunt Ruth cooking breakfast. We got out of bed, put on our robes, and wandered to the kitchen. Aunt Ruth saw us, and said, “Good morning sleepyheads. I figured that you went to watch the Sunrise.”

“No.”, I said. “We both were sleeping so well that we had no idea what time it was.”

“I’m sorry that I woke you.”

“Don’t be, Aunt Ruth.”, Ajie said. “Smelling your cooking is the best alarm clock in the world. What can we do to help?”

“It’s almost ready. You could set the table.”

After we’d eaten and helped clean up, we went back to our room to get dressed. As we started dressing, Ajie asked, “What do you want to do today?”

“I think we both need to relax.”, I replied.

“You’re right.”

“But, I’d like to get started on the things that I need to do for class.”

“A quiet place would be the best place to do that.”

“And maybe away from here.”

“Uh huh. How about the pond by the remote hogan? There are some nice trees there for shade. And I have a book with me that I’d like to read.”

“I like your thoughts.”

We dressed in our hiking clothes, and instead of driving, we hiked to the lake by the remote hogan. We did take the backpack with the blanket and canteens in it. At the pond, we found a lovely shade tree, spread our blanket out, Ajie read her book, and I started going through the instructor’s guide for one of the courses, and then the book for the same course.

It wasn’t long until I knew what I needed to do. Then as I read the book, I would highlight passages that I thought were important and it didn’t take me long to go through the first two chapters, these weren’t the heavy technical chapters. Plus knowing the subject helps.

As I closed the book, I said, “That’s one week.”

“Already?”, Amy said.

“Yeah. I think, as long as the books arrive before we get into the technical stuff it won’t be hard. The circuits and systems class may take a little longer as it’s more technical. How long was I at it?”

“About an hour and a half.”

“Not bad. Do you mind if I do another hour on the circuits and systems class, and then we’ll do something?”

“No. Go ahead.”

“Thanks. How are you working at the hospital this week?”

“The same, except for Friday. And that’s orientation for the incoming nursing class, and I have to be there for that.”

A little over an hour later we were walking into my aunt and uncle’s house, and my aunt and grandmother were there. Grandma saw us, and as usual, she smiled, and said, “There’s my girls.” And there were hugs all around.

Amy said, “Yá’át’ééh, amá sání.” (Hello, maternal grandmother.)

And I said, “Do I smell dah diniilghaazh? - (frybread)

My aunt grinned, and said, “I thought that you might like frybread tacos for lunch.”

“Oh yum! More like love.”

We helped Aunt Ruth make the frybread tacos, and grandma just watched. Just as we were finishing Uncle Paul walked in followed by Naainish, who said, “Yá’át’ééh, t'áá ájíltso.” (It is good, everyone.)

We all returned a “Yá’át’ééh, Naainish.”

It’s lucky that Aunt Ruth always made extra. We ended up making six frybread tacos for lunch. And as we usually do, we talked while we were eating. Just as we were finishing, I asked, “Naainish, the old sheep rancher that we visited. Who was he?”

Naainish looked at me for a few seconds, then quietly said, “Shizhé’é.” (my father)

I sat back in my chair, looked at Naainish for a few seconds, then said, “I’m sorry, Naainish. I didn’t know.”

“Kai, do not be sorry. He lived a long life. And his spirit still lives. You helped him and the family more than even I could. And as he should have been, he was at peace when he passed.”

“Naainish, I was happy that I could help him.”

Naainish smiled, and said, “I know.”