Tell Us the Mermaid Story

Chapter Two — The Long Flight

The Long Flight

For some reason, in her mind, Roxie played back the conversation she had just had with the stewardess. Once again, the woman made Roxie think of her mother. Her mother had only flown on domestic flights, but to Roxie, it seemed like she was always off somewhere far away.

Her father was also in the hospitality industry, which was how the two had met. But her father was a steward on a cruise ship. His job kept him away from home more than her mother’s job did.

Roxie’s parents were nothing like her and David when it came to child rearing. She knew they loved her, but she had spent most of her childhood living with her grandmother. Her mom and dad provided for her financial needs, without question.

Within reason, she had everything she could possibly want, materially. Her parents lavished her with gifts to reward her for good grades in school. But Roxie suspected that it was also to compensate for not spending time with her, and not being part of her life. That responsibility was left to her mother’s mother.

Her parent’s big beautiful home in the Foothills of Los Angeles was only a vague recollection from when she was very young. She didn’t remember it ever really smelling like home, not like her Big Mama’s house did. The single-level house that her grandmother owned in a middle-class neighborhood of South Los Angeles, that was home.

She had slept in the den of the cramped little one bedroom, and was totally content with the arrangement. Her grandmother was the only other family Roxie had ever met or even knew about. To her knowledge, she had no living aunts, uncles, cousins, or other grandparents.

Whenever her parents weren’t around, which was most of the time; Roxie had learned to be content just being with her grandmother and the friends she had at school.

The time her grandmother had a stroke and was hospitalized, Roxie’s parents were both out of town, so she stayed with her grandmother’s neighbor until her mother arrived the next day.

That was right after the time her parents had finally divorced. Roxie spent the year bouncing between her father’s place, and the new apartment her mother rented for the two of them. But her real home was with her grandmother. That’s where Roxie wanted to go back to when they released her grandmother from the hospital, but her own mother suggested something else.

“Mama, I don’t know why you won’t just come stay at my place. You’ll be really comfortable and you can just kick back, relax and get better.”

“I can relax just fine in my own damn house and my own bed. I might have had a stroke, but last time I checked, ain’t nothing wrong with my brain and I can still think for myself!”

The offer to stay at the fancy two-bedroom apartment Roxie’s mother had started renting didn’t appeal to her grandmother one bit. To Roxie’s relief, her grandmother’s defiance had been the end of the discussion. But that hadn’t stopped her mother from hiring a private nurse to take care of her every day, or from paying for someone to regularly look in on Roxie.

After issuing a series of orders and writing several checks, Roxie’s mother went right back to work and resumed her busy schedule as a flight attendant.

Tragedy struck again, a year after her parent’s divorce and her grandmother’s stroke. Her mother and father both died in a car accident. Ironically, they died together, on their way to see Roxie and bring her some unsettling news. Without her knowledge, Roxie’s father had impulsively married a woman that he met on the cruise ship he worked on.

With her grandmother’s delicate health, and no other relatives to take her, Roxie ended up being shuffled to live with a brand new stepmother she never even met. At age twelve, she moved all the way on the other side of the world, to an island in New Zealand.

The death of Roxie’s parents also caused her to suddenly come into a large fortune. With all the insurance money, as well as the huge nest eggs left by her mother and father, Roxie never had to work a day in her life.

Of course, she had to wait several years before she could take possession of her trust fund, but by the time she actually gained access to the money, her life had already changed considerably.

Her time in New Zealand had managed to create a newfound love for the ocean and everything in it. Eventually, her grandmother became well enough for Roxie to return and live with her. She lived long enough to see Roxie graduate high school at the top of her class.

Later, when Roxie went away to college, she was dead set on becoming a marine biologist. She had also developed a strong love for photography, just like her stepmother, Laura; a woman she eventually came to love and respect. To both their surprise, Roxie ended up pursuing photography as a first choice, and eventually specialized in marine-related photography.

Over the years, she became extremely talented in her work. Now, she was popular enough to command the kind of perks like the flight she was currently on with the kids.

Her and David both made exceptional money. Roxie didn’t even need to rely on her trust fund, which was finally freed up and available for use. This all helped to guarantee that both Roxie and David could literally have their choice of the assignments they accepted.

The memories that were starting to flood into Roxie’s mind were a combination of both bitter and sweet. They helped to remind her how happy and appreciative she was to have her daughters with her all the time. Just like she had told Wanda, whenever she and David traveled, the girls were always with one parent or the other.

She was glad for the kind of work that allowed her to stick to this arrangement, and she was glad for her husband, who was just as committed to her parenting style as she was.

The first time she laid eyes on David, Roxie had fallen in love with him. What was there not to love? Not only was he a handsome black man, but he was sitting in the college library, surrounded by books and actually studying.

A pair of beautiful brown eyes were hidden behind a pair of Clark Kent glasses. In spite of his shy-looking demeanor, she later discovered that he had a definite air of confidence that Roxie was attracted to.

Like her, he was studying to be a marine biologist as well. David was equally impressed with Roxie. Besides being both beautiful and intelligent, she was an avid swimmer.

David used to watch how Roxie’s tall, slender, 5’ 7” frame moved almost effortlessly through the water. It didn’t take long before it was clear that he had fallen head over heels for Roxie, and she soon became a big part of his life.

David was practically a loner when he and Roxie met. In many ways, he had a similar story about losing his parents at an early age. With no other relatives to speak of, he welcomed having a family one day; one that he could always be close to. His desire for a family helped him appreciate Roxie’s fear of losing loved ones.

He completely understood her phobia about the two of them traveling together. Her worst fear was that something would happen to both of them and turn their children into orphans, causing them to deal with life alone. David totally got it. The parenting and traveling style arrangements they worked out were agreed upon long before their kids were even born.

They loved their jobs and they knew that would never change. Since their work often required frequent and last minute travel, they each vowed to honor 3 mandatory rules whenever they had children.

First and foremost, their children would always be cared for by one or both parents. That meant no packing them off to boarding schools, or even leaving them with nannies and sitters for extended periods of time.

The second rule was a little more extreme and less convenient to accommodate, but they somehow made it work. Roxie and David refused to travel together by airplane or boat, not even when planning family vacations.

The final mandatory child-rearing decision was that their kids would receive an education on wherever they were traveling to, and a thorough explanation about why they were going.

So right from the start, the girls began getting the children’s version of why a trip to a particular location was necessary. This really made them feel grown up, like they were part of the assignment.

All three girls were fully aware of the kind of work their parents did, and were extremely proud of both of them. They rarely held back from letting other people know how important David’s work as a dolphin and whale doctor was, or how beautiful Roxie’s pictures of the ocean were. They also understood the importance of their parent’s work.

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As the children continued looking through their books, they occasionally made a comment to one another, but mostly they were too absorbed. They loved the colorful, but informative books their father often brought them. Before he left for New Zealand, he had told them all about Sophie. He tried to explain how whales get confused and turned around sometimes, and it causes them to get beached.

“Is she going to be okay daddy?” Jemeelah’s eyes were brimming with tears when she asked about the pregnant whale. It had already been trapped for several days.

“I don’t know Meelah, but daddy’s going to go over there and do all he can to help it. And so will you when you get there, just like all the volunteers that are over there right now, all trying to help Sophie.”

Her sisters had gathered around, trying to comfort her. Their expressions mirrored the sympathy on Jemeelah’s little face. Watching her daughters react to what the whale was going through made Roxie’s heart swell. If they were this sympathetic to the whales, she could only imagine their worry for the precious undiscovered sea life that they knew nothing about.

This made Roxie think about the unique destination they were heading to. The year she spent there when she was twelve was so unforgettable that it had literally shaped the rest of her life. She couldn’t wait for her girls to see where she had spent such a magical time.

The plane was due to arrive on the South Island and they would have to get transportation to Farrell Spit much later. That would give them time to unwind from the trip and let the girls burn off some energy. At some point, she planned to take them to the island she spent so many months on, when she was slightly older than them.

She suddenly wondered whether her stepmother and father had made arrangements to stay on the island. As if reading her thoughts, Opalene looked up from her book and inquired about her grandparents.

“Mommy, how are we going to see daddy on his job? I thought you said we were going to see grandma and grandpa.”

“We are sweetie. We’re going to do both. Your grandma and grandpa are going to meet us there in a day or two. You remember I told you that they both grew up where we’re going?”

Jemeelah stopped flipping pages, long enough to butt into the conversation. Instinctively, Pearlina glanced up at Roxie and took the earbuds out so she could also hear what was being said.

“Oh yeah, I remember. They lived on an island, right?”

“That’s right. And when they heard we were all flying over here to try and help poor Sophie, they decided to join us. You know they love the ocean as much as we all do.”

“Mommy? You know what that old baldheaded Jonathan Phillips in my classroom had the nerve to say? He said we can’t use a picture of a white grandmother and grandfather for our family tree project. He said because they’re not even our real family anyway?”

“What have I told you about that name calling Jemeelah?”

“Sorry, mommy.”

“So what did you tell his baldheaded ass?”

The other two girls giggled. “Oooh mama?” “Yeah. Oooh mama, you said baldheaded ass.”

“Hush you two. Jemeelah, what did you say to Jonathan? I know you set his little butt straight.”

“Un huh. I told him to mind his own business and don’t worry about my family tree. I told him to worry about his own damn family tree.”

Jemeelah looked so indignant as she recounted the conversation, that her mother let the curse word slide. Meanwhile, her sisters began chiming in suggestions on what she should have said or done to Jonathan, including snapping her fingers and having him talk to the hand.

Roxie put her own hand up and interrupted their brainstorming session. “No. All that’s not even necessary. As long as you girls know who your family really is, it doesn’t matter what other people think or say.

Family is the people who love you, and the people that you love. So don’t any of you ever let somebody try and tell you who you can and can’t love, or who your family really is. Do you understand me?”

“Okay mommy.” Their response was in unison, as it often was. When they went back to looking at their books, they talked among themselves and swapped different facts about the whales. The earlier friction was gone.

It was always funny to Roxie, how they could switch so easily from bickering like alley cats to being the best of buddies. What was even funnier, was no matter which mode they happened to be in, they always remained inseparable. If it weren’t for school, they’d spend every waking moment together. Being in different classes was basically the only time they spent apart.

As an afterthought, Roxie chuckled to herself and was thankful that she and David decided to let the girls be separated in school. Otherwise, poor little Jonathan Phillips would have had to take on all three of her daughters at once; something he would have definitely regretted.

Roxie smiled at their identical faces. They were all a reflection of their father. The girls were the spitting image of David, right down to the caramel-colored skin, soft brown eyes, and long kinky hair. But they also took after their mother.

They may not have had her darker African American features, but when it came to personality, they were all Roxie. Every one of them reminded her of herself when she was growing up; stubborn attitude and all. Her middle daughter suddenly interrupted Roxie’s thoughts.

“Mommy, will you tell us the mermaid story?”

Jemeelah’s eyes began lighting up with excitement. Her sisters repeated the request, and pretty soon all three of them started singing the same song. “The mermaid story! The mermaid story!”

“Alright, alright, but only if you three little monkeys promise not to interrupt me, and just be quiet and let me tell it.”

“We promise.” “Yeah, we promise.”

“Okay, before we start the story, does anyone need to go to the bathroom? If you do, go now.”

They looked at each other and everyone shook their heads no.

“Well, then put your books away and get comfortable so you won’t have to be getting up and down during the story.”

Pearlina burst out with a suggestion. “Ooh, I got an idea. Come on you guys. Let’s make one big chair.” First they put their books away, then they did as Pearlina instructed. Jemeelah lifted the armrest between the two cushy seats her and Pearlina were sitting in across the aisle. Opalene joined them in the seat, as they all laughed and managed to squeeze in together.

Roxie moved over to the empty aisle seat beside her, so she could be closer to the girls. She turned and faced them, and gave them one final warning.

“Okay. You’re all going to have to listen carefully, because I don’t want to talk too loud and disturb the other passengers. And I also don’t want to hear no complaining about she’s touching me or she won’t be still, or anything else.”

“We won’t mommy.” “Yeah, we won’t.” “We’ll be quiet as mice. They all giggled, then Opalene had a thought.”

“Wait, one more thing mommy. Can we have a snack?”

“I don’t care. Look in my bag over there, in the seat in front of you guys. There should be something in there you can snack on.”

Opalene hopped up and retrieved her mother’s small overnight case from one of the empty chairs. “Here mommy.”

Roxie took out three bags of tropical fruit snacks and gave them to Opalene to pass out. She learned a long time ago to just buy the variety bags, otherwise they’d argue over the flavors.

This way, they could eat the ones they liked and trade the ones they didn’t. The girls already knew the standing rule about negotiating their trade deals; no fighting or bickering, and all trades are final.

Roxie sat her bag next to her, in the window seat, and Opalene rejoined her sisters. While they fidgeted around until everyone was comfortable, their mother waited patiently. Finally, she was ready to proceed. “Alright. Here we go. And remember-“

“No interruptions!” They all stated emphatically. Roxie began the story, but she already knew full well, that there would be plenty of interruptions.

Thanks for Reading — “Tell Us the Mermaid Story” was written by Author Beka R. March — aka — Justiss Goode

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