[Bill and June Montoya are having lunch at Jill Petra’s house in Livonia, Michigan with Sonia and the Montoya’s two newly adopted children of flight victim Violeta Blanco. They are trying desperately to get Sonia Petra to go with them on a train trip to lift her out of her doldrums.]
3-year-old Justin Blanco had wrestled himself down off of the booster seat to Bill’s right. The toddler landed feet-first and walked over to the terrarium without missing a stride.
“Whoa, Justin, where’re you going?” asked Bill, raising his hand then putting it down as he saw no need to stop the boy, or maybe his yelling and food-slinging wouldn’t be missed.
“I think the boy is the, what would you call him?” Bill continued.
June said, whispering loud enough for the women to hear, “Barbarian. They think he has ADHD.”
“Oh, June,” Bill said, “I don’t think they know what you’re talking about. You don’t have to whisper, honey.”
“Mommy used to say I had ADHD!” the little black-haired girl chimed in. Jillian smiled broadly at the four adults. “But not any more!”
“Jeejee,” Justin groaned from the side of the terrarium. He was striking it softly with his fist. The 5-pound Iguana inside the glass box was moving around. It wasn’t fake, after all, he thought. Seeing the movement, Jillian jumped down from her chair to go to her brother’s side. They continued chortling at the animal, who looked at them with only a miniscule tidbit of curiosity.
“What do you call your Iguana, Jill?” Bill asked.
Jill Petra raised her paper napkin to her face and, having finished chewing and wiping, she replied, “My ex named him ‘Whoop-ti-doo’.” The Montoyas chuckled but she didn’t crack a smile. “It stuck, I guess. I don’t really call him anything.”
Bill and June observed Sonia’s older sister sympathetically as she ground down another bite of chicken pot pie. She was pleasant looking but not nearly as beautiful as Sonia. Jill was six years older, having just turned 35 weeks before. Her hair was a sandy brown as opposed to Sonia’s shiny jet-black hair. Sonia could easily pass for a Latina, but Jill looked more European.
June was still chuckling. “Why did he call him ‘Whoop-ti-doo’?” she asked.
“Well, he was actually my idea,” Jill said. “He wanted a pet and I didn’t want anything running around the house. It was hard enough cleaning up after his sloppy…persona. So, he named the animal ‘Whoop-ti-doo’ and I have no clue why. I don’t even know why I married him.”
“It could be,” June began thoughtfully, “that he was mocking…you by calling it that. ‘Whoop-ti-doo’ seems to have undertones that perhaps he was telling you that you got a pet you wanted but it was no big deal to him.”
Bill rubbed his forehead; he sensed a rising sensation of chagrin. “Oh, no, ladies, I present ‘Dr. June’.”
“Oh, no,” replied Jill, “I think she hit the nail on the head! ‘Whoop-ti-doo’ was named for my own vanity.” She glanced over at the terrarium as Jillian was now joining Justin in slapping the plastic surface near where the Iguana was sitting. The bright green reptile slowly rose up and looked toward the commotion. “You know, they taste like chicken. Maybe I should do ‘Whoop-ti-doo’ Potpie?”
“No, Jill,” Sonia said, laughing. “Whoop-ti-doo is your offspring from your old relationship.”
Jill wrinkled her forehead in consternation. “Whoop-ti-doo? I can see the T-shirt now. ‘Worked free for five years as a secretary for a balding slob of a law professor and all I got was this lousy Iguana’! Whoop-ti-doo!”
Bill bit his lip trying to suppress a belly laugh.
Jill looked over at the white-haired man and said firmly, “It’s not all that funny when you think about it,” she said.
June punched Bill lightly on his left upper leg to encourage him to stop giggling. Sometimes she felt like she was married to a 67-year-old college kid.
Bill swiftly recovered and, despite redness in his face, said, “I understand. It’s hard when you dedicate so much time to someone….and then it’s over. Sonia was with Paul, I mean Chad, for, what, eight years?” Bill’s face went even redder as he dropped the P word. No one had referred to Paul Thurber in their 3-plus hour visit thus far.
There was a dead silence. Bill glanced at June, who gave him a scowl to end all scowls. As June was not helping him he looked across the table at Jill, then at Sonia opposite him. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I didn’t mean to mention Paul. But, Chad, you know, Chad was around for - ”
“Eight and a half years,” Sonia finished. “We met on my birthday.” She paused for a moment, thinking of what to add. “He was all right, I guess. We just got bored with each other.”
“No,” Jill started, “you had to look at those two. It was true love. I still have their engagement picture over on the hutch.” She motioned with her chin where there was a gallery of photos several feet to the left of the Iguana’s habitat. An impressive mahogany furnishing rose from the ceramic tile floor with its intricate carvings and useful cabinets. An array of Petra family photos were spread out in an orderly fashion on the main surface under the lighted cabinets.
Sonia jumped up quickly and walked over to the hutch. Bill and June noticed that, although she had changed into a blouse from earlier, she still wore her pajama pants and fluffy rabbit slippers. Jill had complained to them that Sonia didn’t go out of the house for days. Often she’d find her crying over photos of Paul Thurber. Sonia confessed Paul as her true love even though he was gone.
Sonia looked from left to right at the pictures. “You didn’t have a picture of Chad and me before!” she protested.
“Oh, I brought it out for Bill and June, Sonia,” Jill said. “It’s right in the center.”
Then Sonia saw it. They had been on a sailing expedition onto Lake Michigan in summer many years before. She remembered the photograph, and the day. Chad looked superhumanly attractive, she’d thought; his blond wavy hair blowing around his chiseled athletic face. Chad stood six foot two, about the same height as Paul, she thought.
“I noticed that earlier,” June Montoya said. “He sure is good-looking. You know how to find them, girl.”
Sonia turned toward the table, standing in front of the hutch. “Weren’t you going to tell us about some train trip, Bill?” she asked innocently.
“Oh, yes,” Bill started, laughing, “The Lofty Mountaineer. It’s one of the most spectacular train rides in the world!”
As he started speaking, June and Jill turned to look at him. At that moment, Sonia opened a top drawer in the hutch and let the picture fall into it. She closed it slowly; a smile coming to her face a she listened anew to Bill’s train story.
“It starts out in Vancouver, British Columbia,” he continued, “then goes over the Canadian Rockies to Banff and Lake Louise. This time of year is the most beautiful time to go. The scenes are….to die for!” He smiled, impressed with his sales pitch. “So, I’m going to ask you again, Sonia, all expenses paid – it’s a fun trip, will you go with us?”
Sonia walked back to her seat. As she pulled her chair in toward the table, she looked down thoughtfully. After a brief pause, she said, “Well, I’m afraid of heights, you know, especially after the plane crash. Doesn’t the train go through some high mountains?” she asked tentatively.
“Oh, sure it does,” June replied. “But it’s on the ground all the way. On a train, gravity is working for you, not against you!” She looked at Bill to gauge his approval. He smiled at her clever quip. “It’s perfectly safe, “she added. “We’re taking the kids.”
“It’s beautiful, you’ll love it,” Bill coaxed her some more.
“I don’t know,” Sonia started. “You don’t understand how Paul’s death just…devastated me.” She tried hard to cover her emotions. Her voice fluttered a bit just the same. “He was so wonderful. God! When you said the trip was to die for, I thought of something he said…that I was to die for.” She raised a rumpled Kleenex to her nose. “And he died for me..” she whimpered, overcome with emotion. Four months after the crash, her feelings hadn’t faded one iota.
Bill and June and Jill exchanged glances. They knew this wasn’t going to be easy, this getting Sonia to think of something other than brooding over Paul. And the plan the three of them hatched that she has no clue about; having Chad sit near them on the trip, could backfire atomically.
June cleared her throat and said, “Sonia, we love you so much. We know you loved Paul and Paul loved you, but he’d want you to move on.”
Sonia shook her head tearfully. “No, no…”
“He wouldn’t?” June asked. “You’re a young, beautiful girl, Sonia. Please go with us. We’ll pay for everything!” The pleading in June’s voice was undeniable. “We love you, Sonia. We just want to cheer you up.”
Sonia smiled weakly, lowering the Kleenex. “I love you guys.” The sound of the children knocking on the side of the terrarium saying “Whoop-ti-doo” repeatedly momentarily distracted Sonia, but she had finally thought of her trump card. She knew how to get the Montoyas to give up.
“OK, I’ll go on one condition,” Sonia started. “And that is…that Jill goes with us!”
Sonia looked at her sister with a look of triumph. No way would she ever want to go. Her sister didn’t go anywhere. She only had a passport because she went on a fishing trip with her ex once just across the border. Jill was known by family and friends as Mrs. Excitement and, at other times, as The Inspector. Whenever they went to a friend or family members house, Jill would point out all the defects in the doors, the tile, the kitchen cabinets, and so on – hence the Inspector. Jill was a bore as long as her little sister could remember. Jill would never go.
“So, if Jill goes, I go,” Sonia repeated. She looked at her older sister. “What do ya say?”
Jill looked at the Montoyas, then back at Sonia. A smirk of a smile formed beginning at the corner of her mouth. Jill took a deep breath and said, “OK, they already got me a ticket.” She finally burst into a smile. “I was already going.”
Dumbfounded, Sonia glared at the Montoyas. They knew she was going to pull the “if my sister goes” stunt. Jill must have been in on it from the start. Sonia glanced over at the kids who were now banging the glass surface of the Iguana box harder, raising their voices louder in their “Whoop-ti-doo” chorus.
“Kids,” Sonia said, “Don’t bang on that! It’ll break.” She looked over at the Montoyas. There was one tactic left. “So, I know you guys were well off, but I didn’t know…I mean, are you sure you want to do this, pay our way?” Bill and June nodded. “So, where did you get all this money?”
Suddenly, a sheepish look came over Bill’s face like a shadow. Tilting his head down and to the right, he replied wistfully, “Mother died.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Sonia exclaimed.
“Don’t be,” June said, “she was kind of a cold woman.”
“Juuune!” Bill groaned. “Don’t say that. She was a bit cold...but she was my mother, you know.”
Jill reached to her left and grabbed her sister’s right hand. “So, you’re going!” Sonia hadn’t remembered her sister having been as excited about something in a long time. “That’s great! You know what we’re gonna do, girl?”
Sonia shook her head. “No, what’re we going to do?”
“We’re going to get our groove back,” Jill declared. “That’s what!”
“You mean like ‘meet somebody’?” Sonia quizzed her sister.
“Well, actually,” Bill interjected. “You might find that a lot of these folks will be…well, older – “
“Don’t throw water on the fire, Bill!” June scolded. “Us girls are gonna have fun no matter what.” She looked over at the children again. Jillian and Justin were play-kissing Whoop-ti-doo, only they were slobbering on the terrarium glass.
“You can watch the kids,” June said.
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