7. Lock Haven Yellow #6
When they got to California, they had to figure out a new plan for Katie. She would no longer be attending Purdue in the fall to become a teacher, a school and career Ed and Diane had chosen for her. This gave Katie a chance to choose her own path, and Charlie was all for it.
One of their first nights back in what was now their apartment, Charlie asked what Katie was thinking.
"I actually already know what I want to study," Katie said, surprising Charlie.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I think I've known since listening to Helen's stories when you were always in the garage with Frank. The stories about Great Lakes and the boys who came through; the cultures that held together when everything fell apart." She paused, considering her next words.
"That sounds fascinating," Charlie emphasized.
She'd pulled her legs up underneath her and leaned forward, her whole body turned toward Katie, knowing she was about to tell Charlie something important.
Charlie's eyes were wide and bright, and everything about her posture said keep going, I'm right here, this is yours.
"Cultural anthropology," Katie said. Charlie waited a beat. Katie looked at her expectantly, and Charlie realized she was waiting for her reaction.
"Whoa!" Charlie said with a bit too much drama. "That sounds... awesome?" Katie laughed at Charlie's quizzical look.
"Do you know what it is?"
"I mean," Charlie started. "Kinda?" She smiled sheepishly while raising her shoulders.
"But tell me the full extent of it anyway.
God knows you've heard me ramble on about engines and propulsion enough that I am more than willing to sit here and listen to you tell me what makes you excited.
" Katie smiled, pulling up her knees to sit cross-legged on Charlie's couch, already starting to talk with her hands.
"Well, it's officially the study of how people sustain themselves through crisis."
"That's something you can study?" Charlie asked, curious and secretly stunned in the best way possible.
"Yes, Doctor," Katie said with an eye roll.
"Don't jinx it!" Charlie whispered emphatically. "At least, not yet. But maybe soon." Charlie returned to her normal voice. "But enough about me! Continue." Katie rolled her eyes again, this time Charlie noticing her smile stretch wider before she began speaking again.
"Basically, I'd get to learn and study what people do when things change around them, of what holds and what doesn't, and why."
"So, kind of like that book you read and told me about last summer when you visited. The one about the Amazons, I think?" Charlie asked. Katie stared at her with a blank look.
"Yeah," she started. "You remember that?" Charlie scoffed.
"Of course I do! I remember everything about you." At that, Katie smiled at her, a real genuine smile, and she took Charlie's hand in hers. Charlie couldn't stop admiring her sister, whose eyes had come alive, sparkling in a way she hadn't seen since before Frank's death.
"That all sounds perfect," Charlie replied, Katie's grin sparking one of her own. Katie visibly relaxed and sank back into the couch. Charlie turned fully towards her now, sitting up straight.
"So, where do we start?"
Katie applied to UCLA because of their incredible anthropology pedagogy, and got in. She was slated to start in the spring semester. They celebrated with cheap takeout in Charlie's apartment, and for one evening, things felt like they were going to be okay.
Then the tuition letter arrived.
Without parental support, Katie's financial aid package collapsed.
Loans required a co-signer they didn't have.
Grants only covered a fraction, and Katie had missed most of the application dates since everything had changed so quickly in the last few months.
The gap between what Charlie and Katie had and what UCLA cost was a number that made Charlie stare at the kitchen counter for a long time.
They tried everything. Scholarship applications. Work-study programs. Appeals to the financial aid office. Nothing seemed to close the gap. Even the financial aid advisors that Charlie made appointments with over and over again ran out of options to suggest to her and Katie.
Katie's dream was slipping through their fingers, and Charlie could feel it happening slowly, then all at once.
So, they called Helen.
Helen listened to everything. She asked questions. She told them to think differently, to think outside the box. "What haven't you tried yet?" She walked them through options, most of which they'd already exhausted.
Then Helen said, "Charlie, honey, can I talk to you alone for a minute?"
Katie looked at Charlie, a flicker of uncertainty crossing her face. Helen's voice came through the phone, warm and gentle. "I can hear your silence from here, Katie Wickett. Nothing to worry about, sweetheart. I just have some financial questions for Charlie."
Katie relaxed, handed the phone to Charlie, and stepped into the other room. Charlie pressed the receiver to her ear.
"I want to suggest something," Helen said. "And I want you to hear me out before you say no."
"Okay."
"Let's sell the Cub."
Charlie's hand tightened on the phone. "No."
"I asked you to hear me out."
"Helen, you can't sell Frank's plane."