There are hummingbirds that fly well beyond their normal migratory boundaries. These birds, called vagrants, will often make do in unusual situations. The word unusual is of extraordinary importance here, since hummingbirds are unusual by bird standards, building their nests from lichen and spider silk, along with their ability to hover and fly backwards. They do all this as one of creation's tiniest birds, the size of a human thumb.
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Portia checked the mailbox everyday after school. When the school year ended, she checked it as many as a dozen times a day.
After eight weeks, the envelope she’d been looking for had finally arrived. The return address was FAFSA – Washington DC. It included a notice of payment. Her Pell Grant had been approved.
“I got it! I got it! I got it!” she shouted, waving the large white envelope above her head.
“What do you have?” asked her mother.
“My grant money!”
“You have a check? Let’s cash it.”
“It’s not for me. It’s for Allegheny Community College.”
“Oh.” Mrs. Gatteau settled back into the couch.
“I’m going to school. Can I take Penny?”
“Why do you want to do that?”
“I just do. Besides, she could use some fresh air.”
“Alright,” said Mrs. Gatteau, waving Portia away.
Portia packed her bag and put Penny into her papoose. They walked to the stop and caught the crosstown bus.
Meanwhile, Alex struggled through work until lunch, eating a handful of painkillers to help him through. He sat in the break room, pressing the top of his wrist between the edge of the table and his chest to dull the pain. Chuck, the foreman, wandered through the break room, handing out paycheck. He came up and sat next to Alex.
“How are you doing?”
“My hand is still hurting.”
“Don’t worry, you only have a week until your benefits kick in.”
“I know.”
“The Union will treat you right. You don’t only get insurance, but job protection, too.”
“And bigger paychecks,” said Alex as he snapped the envelope in his hands.
It was about twenty percent bigger than the paycheck from his last job, more than enough to move back into a place of his own.
“Stop by my office after lunch so we can talk about your insurance electives.”
“Sure thing,” replied Alex. He texted Portia with the news. He also asked her if she wanted to share an apartment with him and Penny. Her reply was sweet and simple.
“I would love to.”
Portia and Penny stopped at the Admissions Office. Portia was glad to see Wendy sitting at the admissions desk.
“It’s good to see you back.”
“It’s good to be back.”
“Is that your daughter?”
“It’s my niece. I’m just watching her while my brother is at work.”
“You ready to enroll for Summer classes?”
Portia nodded, “I’ve got grant money.” She showed the check to Wendy.
“Now you can go to school full-time.”
She handed an enrollment form to Portia. Portia filled it out, taking three classes this quarter instead of one. It was empowering. Portia was on her way.
“Let’s see, you’re taking Civilization I, Beginning English, and Algebra. No science classes?”
“I need these but you like Veterinary Sciences, right?”
“I like ornithology…bird studies.”
“Then take Intro to Biological Science instead of Civ I. Civ I is the class that makes most freshmen drop out.”
“Okay, change it.”
“Good.”
Wendy finished enrolling Portia in Summer Session I, then handed her a printout.
“Take this to the Financial Aid Office so they can process your Pell Grant.”
Portia took the printout across campus. Financial Aid processed the payment and even gave her a refund voucher for the bookstore. She purchased new books, four of them, in fact. They filled her backpack and lugged her bird book in one arm while carrying the pack on her back and Penny on her chest. By the time she arrived at home, she was worn out.
“I’m enrolled for summer classes,” she announced as she unloaded Penny into Mrs. Gatteau’s hands.
“That’s just great,” said Phoebe as she bounced down the stairs. She was dressed to go out on a Saturday night – lycra one-piece dress, hair tie, spiked heels. It was Monday at 1:00 p.m.
“What’s this?” asked Portia.
“Nothing. Gotta go.”
“Like that?”
“I’m meeting one of George’s friends.”
“Who’s George?”
“One of Ace’s friends.”
“Oh.”
The car pulled up, a shiny black SUV with chrome wheels and tinted windows. The music coming from the car shook the windows of the house.
It was Phoebe’s friend, Tracie. Phoebe skipped to the car and got in. They sped away. Portia was glad for that. She could not stand Tracie. In fact, she thought Tracie was just bad news – always stoned or drunk or both and always dragging Phoebe into her dramas. It looked like this summer would be no different.
Phoebe and Tracie headed to the warehouse district, near the airport. A lone building sat in the middle of the field across from one of the private jet hangars.
The neon sign, which looked desolate and dingy in the light of day, said ‘The Executive Club’ – the place where the ladies are.’
Tracie pulled up to the front door and they got out. As they stepped inside, their eyes had to adjust in the shift from bright to dark. A bikni-clad girl approached.
“Hey, are you looking for Danny?”
Tracie nodded. The girl pointed to the back, near the runway. Two men sat at a tiny table, paperwork covering the tabletop. The man glanced over at the girls as they approached.
“Are you Danny?”
“Yeah. You’re Tracie, right?”
Tracie nodded.
“And you are?”
“It’s my friend Phoebe.”
Danny reached out and grabbed Phoebe by the hand. He spun her around as he looked her up and down.
“Good. Show me your punani.”
“What?” she exclaimed sharply.
“Alright, maybe later. You two want to make money tonight?”
“Tonight?” hesitated Phoebe.
“Right now if you want.”
“Sure,” replied Tracie.
Phoebe wasn’t really in the mood to work immediately. In fact, she wasn’t in the mood to work at all, especially here. She imagined the detectives from the late night crime scene shows coming by with a black light, illuminating the entire room in speckled indigo and purple.
“I don’t have a bikini.”
“What you have on underneath should be fine.”
“I don’t have a bra.”
“You won’t be needing a bra here.”
Tracie walked back and forth along the runway. Phoebe stood there for a moment and watched her until Danny pulled up a seat. She sat next to him. Tracie twirled clumsily around one of the stripper poles. Danny stuffed a wad of dollar bills into Phoebe’s hand and shoved her toward the stage. Tracie strutted up to Phoebe and did a little bump and grind. She paused in front of Phoebe, holding out the string of her bikini for Phoebe. Phoebe tucked a dollar into the side of the g-string. Tracie leaned over and kissed her before getting up and going to the man at the other end of the runway.
Back home, Portia was changing Penny’s diapers.
“Hey you. You’re quite the poop factory, aren’t you?”
Penny cooed and giggled at her Auntie. Portia wiped Penny clean and changed diapers.
“As good as new,” she said as she held Penny up in her arms and kissed her all over her face. Just then, they heard the thud of Alex’s boots thudding on the ceiling above.
“Hey, you down there?”
“Yeah,” replied Portia.
“Why didn’t you reply to my texts?”
“What texts?”
Portia checked her phone.
“The battery’s dead.”
“You want to check some places with me?”
“Sure.”
Portia started getting Penny ready for another road trip.
“Leave her with mom.”
“Alright.”
They went upstairs, but Mrs. Gatteau wasn’t there.
“It’s okay,” said Portia, “I can handle her.”
Portia carried Penny while they went apartment shopping. The first place they found was a small two-bedroom near the community college.
“I can walk to school from here.”
“Is it a safe neighborhood?” Alex asked the landlord.
“It’s safe enough,” he replied.
“Can we have an application?”
“There’s a filing fee. It’s $25.”
“I can handle that,” said Alex.
He paid the fee before they’d even filled out the application. Portia tucked the application into her bird book as they returned to the car.
“You shouldn’t have paid him. That was the first place we looked.”
“I want to make sure we get it.”
They drove up and down the streets and alleys near the community college.
“I don’t like that one. It’s not in a good location. It’s too expensive.” he said each time she pointed out a sign.
“I think we should go with that first one we saw.”
“Big brother, you have to be patient.”
“If we wait, we might miss the opportunity. The early bird gets the worm.”
“That reminds me, I haven’t checked on my hummingbirds in awhile.”
“Let’s go home,” said Alex.
“We only picked up one application.”
“That’s more than enough,” said Alex.
Portia remained silent as she rode home. Penny was getting irritable anyway. Her coos turned to grumbles. She’d also spat up a few times – and pooped her pants, too. It was probably time to go home.
When they finally got home, Portia went upstairs to the bedroom in which she hadn’t slept in about two months. Phoebe had taken over in the time Portia was gone. Her clothes were strewn across Portia’s bed and desk. A heap of dirty clothes even covered Portia’s reading nook.
Portia didn’t fuss with any of that, though. For all intents and purposes, she’d moved downstairs. She was too busy looking after her birds.
Although there wasn’t any nectar in the feeder, the backyard was humming with birds of other types, too: mostly orioles and sparrows. In fact, there weren’t just the two birds she’d known, but a whole flock, including another pair of hummingbirds.
Portia unhooked the feeder and took it downstairs. She cleaned out the dead ants and wasps that had drowned in the nectar. She also washed off the outside of the feeder. She filled it with a mix of apple juice and water and returned it to its hook.
It shimmered in the sunlight. As soon as she stepped away, an oriole came up and sat on the perch. He sipped at the nectar, soon to be joined by a hummingbird, then another.
Portia tossed the pile of clothes in her nook on top of her bed. Instead of opening her bird book, she used it to fill out the rental application. She quickly filled it out, visiting with her brother to get all the details she needed from him. When she was finished, she set it aside while she read Audobon’s Book fo Birds.
She read about vagrant birds, like the hummingbirds outside her window. She also thought a lot about her own migratory path. She tucked the application in as a new bookmark and went downstairs. Alex and Penny were both sleeping. She collapsed on the couch beside Penny’s crib.
She woke early in the morning, when Alex got up.
“I finished the application.”
“Good, can you take it to the rental office today?”
“Yeah, I’ll drop it off on my way to school.”
Portia did just as promised and headed to class afterwards. Her classes stretched long into the afternoon, running back-to-back-to-back. She started with Algebra, followed by Composition, before heading to Bio 200.
On her way to her Biology class, she stopped at the vending machines near the cafeteria.
She bought herself a bag of chips and a soda. Before she headed back to class, she looked through the windows into the cafeteria. Marcus was there, sitting at his usual table.
Portia headed to Biology and received her syllabus. She looked it over and scanned the notes. While the teacher went over the basics, Portia dug into her first assignment, reading from the very first page.
Late in the first chapter, there was a sociological discussion on migratory habits – based on evolution, change, and adaptation. It made Portia think – why, exactly was she moving?
It was the natural order of things, right?
Of course it was. Portia was readying for adulthood and all that entailed.
She texted her brother – seeing if he’d had lunch. He had not. Portia offered to bring him something to eat. He asked for Italian subs, so she said she’d be there as soon as she could.
After class, she cut through the Admin building. She had forgotten about Marcus.
“Hey, what are you doing here?”
“You know I’m taking classes.”
“Yeah,” he said, “but I havent’ seen you around otherwise.”
“I know. I’ve just been busy.”
“We should go out sometime soon.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“I’ll call you.”
Portia tilted her head as Marcus leaned toward her. He snagged a little kiss and then she was on her way.
“What the hell am I thinking?” she said to herself. In fact, an entire inner dialogue went on through her head – What was she thinking? - Why didn’t she pull away? – Why did she say yes to a date? – And why did she still swoon when Marcus kissed her?
She knew why. Her feelings for him had not subsided one bit.
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