Chapter 10 #2
“Yes, please.” She remembered her mother’s abundant luggage.
Most of Kimmy’s outfits were still folded in the suitcases.
There was nowhere on the Riggs compound to wear half the clothes she had purchased for this trip.
Theodora shook her head. “You’ll want to send one of the pickups.
Between me and Mama, we have quite a bit of stuff.
” Mentally, she ran through the clothes in her closet and suddenly pictured Javier’s clothes.
What would she do with all of those? Most were uniforms. “I hate to ask, but do all the men have enough uniforms?”
“Uniforms?”
“Yes.” Theodora sniffed back tears. “I don’t know what to do with Javier’s uniforms.”
“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that.” Clint paused for a moment before suggesting, “You might want to take an Army dress uniform home.” She heard him swallow hard. “To bury him in.”
She burst out crying at the mental picture of Javier in a coffin in the uniform he’d last worn at his retirement ceremony.
“Theodora, if you want, I’ll come over and pick one out,” Clint offered.
“Thank you, Clint, but I need to go through his things and decide what to take to Texas. I don’t think it’ll be much. What do I do with the rest? I’ve never seen anything like AmVets or Goodwill around here.”
She could hear his slow exhale before he agreed, “Just leave it. I’ll have somebody come by and take care of everything you leave.
You don’t need to worry about a thing. Do you need help packing?
Maybe I can find one of the staff to help you.
My men will be busy for hours into the night, loading all the equipment we need for the mission. ”
“I think me and Mama can handle everything.” She glanced around the house one more time. “By chance, do you have any boxes or duffel bags that we could use?”
“I’m sure there are some boxes at the big house. I’ll have the staff bring them down to you. I’ll send one of the men to pick you up at seven. Please be ready.” Clint didn’t say or else, but she heard it in his voice. She’d be ready, and so would her mother.
“Thank you, Clint,” she replied, then added, “for everything.”
“You can thank me by being ready tomorrow morning.”
So much for finishing those five projects. She quickly sent off emails, explaining that she was moving back to the United States and would return to their projects within a few days. Theodora just hoped that they wouldn’t fire her. She’d need the references more than money.
“Mama,” she called out. “We’re leaving in the morning. Get yourself packed as quickly as possible because I’m going to need your help.”
After several moves with the Army, Theodora thought she was pretty good at moving. But this time, she was missing a key element–Javier. Her mother didn’t compare. She’d taken what seemed like hours to repack her six suitcases while Theodora had filled two pieces of old luggage with her clothing.
She’d found the dress uniform, and, thankfully, it still had all the badges, ribbons, and pins still attached.
She returned it to the sturdy hanging bag and hung it over the bedroom door.
Twice, she sorted through Javier’s drawers.
Other than underwear, all he had were uniforms, except for two pairs of blue jeans, two polo shirts, a dozen T-shirts with Army emblazoned across the chest, and his running shorts.
She didn’t think anyone would want any of that, but decided to leave it as Clint instructed.
She then opened the small drawer at the top of the tall dresser.
She thought of it as Javier’s junk drawer, but then she began to sort through it.
A large brown box with the Delta team logo on top had been shoved all the way to the back.
Carefully lifting the lid, she saw ribbons and medals unlike the ones on his uniform.
Dozens of them. She carefully wrapped the well-worn box and placed it in a shipping box.
Perhaps their son would find these fascinating someday.
She’d filled one of the boxes from the big house with nice towels and sheets she and her husband had spent half a day in Addis Ababa selecting.
Most of her personal bathroom supplies were nearly empty, so she decided to toss those into the trash.
She’d buy her favorite American brands once she got home.
Tears flowed again as she slid her computer into the fancy backpack Javier had purchased at the exchange just before they had left his last assigned post.
Several hours into packing, she refilled her mug with tea and glanced around the kitchen.
She couldn’t find a single thing there that they owned.
The house had come with plenty of pots and pans, plates, bowls, and cups.
It even had plenty of plastic storage containers.
None of the food could be taken into the United States, so her gaze passed over the pantry.
She opened the cabinet that contained coffee mugs and fought back tears.
She lifted his favorite travel mug and held it to her chest. It was moving with her.
By dawn, only a few boxes and her two suitcases sat by the door, ready to go. Javier’s uniform bag lay as flat as possible over the top. Not much for over a decade together.
The rumble of the big diesel pickup truck as it pulled up in front of the house probably woke up the entire neighborhood. “Mama, we gotta go.”