Tommy knocked with his middle knuckle for Linda who was sitting closest to the passenger side for some help. She popped out to unlatch the door.  

"Thank you, you can get back in now." The mysterious chef returned with additional  containers, placing everything onto the front floor in an orderly manner. Tommy slammed the trunk shut, climbed into the passenger's seat, bracing his back against a newly procured blanket. "I want to relax and be respectful, facing the two of you." He had a beautifully warm welcoming smile.

"I will say ahead of time,  I'll expect you two to write a rave review when you finish noshing. Help yourselves to anything you'd like." He handed them, several brimming full black- bottomed, clear-topped plastic meal receptacles. 

They opened one container after another. "They're still warm." After Liz said that, she realized how anti-climatic that sounded, with the intense heat from the fires, wrapping around them.

"Now that you say that, I think I want to leave things here in the front seat by the AC. I'm afraid this stuff will spoil. That's a lot of profit loss. First of all, we're clearly not getting to Billings anytime soon. And secondly, to have all of this food rendered inedible would be the crushing blow.

There was a fork and plate to fill with Swedish meatballs, air fryer stuffed mushrooms, sausage balls, and a vegetable, kale chips. "What a feast," they both said. "Thank you so much." 

"It's actually nice to have someone to enjoy it with. It is pretty good, isn't it? Oh well, I guess the festival wasn't meant to be. for us. It'll all work out. Here's a couple of bottles of water. We've got to stay hydrated."

"Why do you think the cars are all backed up on this side? I can understand why they were blocked on the other lane, but why on your side?" Liz inquired.

"The fire probably crossed the highway somewhere down,"-- motioning to his right--" there, and they have to use that part of the road for the firetrucks just like at this end."

When Liz looked up out the window, she saw an airplane pouring the red stuff Linda had seen. "Look, Linda, there's that red stuff again." 

After consideration, Linda said, "I don't think it is a sheet after all.  Tommy, you're from around here. What is the red stuff coming out of that plane?"

"Well, most of it's water, with some thickener in it, so it won't evaporate in this intense heat. So it lands in the right places and stays there." He made a staying gesture with both hands. 

"But why is it red? I have a little idea but let's see if I'm anywhere right. Any idea, Linda?"

"Let's just see what Tommy says. Tommy?"

"The red is meant to stain spots so the firefighters will know what areas have been treated. It also contains a fire retardant."

"Oh," Liz sheepishly said, "I thought it was red so the firefighters would know it was fiercely flooding in their direction, so they wouldn't get in the way. That'd be awful to get that stuff all over you."

"You're probably right in some respects, Liz"

Linda laughed a little. "I was thinking the same thing as you, Liz. Also, we heard a helicopter earlier. Why would they be here?"

"They do the same thing as the planes with water, except on a smaller scale. There's usually someone who picks up buckets of water to dump on smaller fires.

"Enough seriousness for a while, ma ladies. Now, for dessert."

******************* 

For sweets, he had candied pecans, air fryer mini apple pies, and mini pecan pies. As they were munching the precious delicacies, they began asking Tommy more about himself.

"I've learned to carry no shame for my past. I have worked too hard for redemption." He began relating his story about how he'd had to drop out of school. "I was headed for the drug world. There was so much chaos in my household, they couldn't keep track of whether I was in school or not.

"I couldn't seem to break away from those dangerous influences, so it was either 'fight or flight' and I chose to escape. I didn't run very far; but at least I was on my own away from the pressure."

Tommy told of how someone in his tribe took him under their wing. How they had saved him from making a mess of his life. He owed who he had become, to them, through  guidance and an ever watchful, caring eye. 

Liz and Linda looked at each other as they listened, glued to Tommy's every word. His tribe?-- Liz wondered-- Which tribe? There are many in Montana.  She was not going to interrupt his story. She'd see if the subject came up again.


Liz was excited to hear his mentor suggested he go to Job Corp. "That's great, we've had a lot of our kids in the town I used to teach in, go there. Some did very well. But it isn't an easy-out like some think it is or wish it were.


"It wasn't just that. I was going to be away from my home, away from the Reservation, away from our culture, where I feel safe. I didn't want it to be a reenactment of what my grandparents and their grandparents went through when they were stolen from their parents to be imprisoned in Catholic Boarding Schools.

"Many, if not most, lost their culture as children, forbidden to be anything but white Christians." He apologized for his venting and ranting. "It's just that it was a more cloaked way of trafficking like we have going on today."

Liz and Linda faced each other, grimacing.  Another topic to broach later, thought Liz.

He told how they lived in a HUD 2- bedroom home with 3 families. He was old enough to have a section of the couch bed. His 2 sisters were old enough to share with 1 girl and most of the time with another that was really supposed to be sleeping on the floor. 

"They were friends; they couldn't let her be alone on a mat in a sleeping bag. Those homes were sold to our tribe over 50 years ago. How swanky. We have flush toilets and indoor plumbing."

Tommy admitted he got spoiled; Job Corp also had indoor plumbing. He had my own bed and got his GED in 2 years with a certification for his specialty culinary arts.

Liz thought the story of his family living situation sounded awfully familiar. She was aware this could be the facts in any family on any reservation. There was no way to compare notes with Linda. 

Liz could sense her list of questions growing. Hopefully, answers would come.