“I am really not excited about you meeting my parents,” she said.

“I don’t know what you are so worried about Sam.  Everything will be fine.”

“You don’t get it.  My family is, well, I hate saying it, but my family is a bunch of hicks.”

“It’s just the weekend,” I said.  “Don’t worry so much.”

                                                ____________________  

Sam was from Indiana, somewhere in the “Middle of Nowhere” country.  There is more corn and soybeans in Indiana than anywhere else in the world, at least from my personal experience.  We drove by her high school.  It was an island surrounded by corn, literally. 

She isn’t too fond of where she came from.  And even less fond of her parents.  That is why she had moved to Phoenix. It was as far away and as different from her parents (and Indiana) as possible. 

I know that she was worried about me meeting her family.  I was nervous, too.  I didn’t know quite why. I had met many girls family’s before.  Sam was different though, at least at the time I thought she was.  She was beautiful, tall, with dark hair, dark skin, and dark eyes.  She always wore her hair about shoulder length and straight.  She had a fantastic smell that surrounded her.  You could tell just by the air that she had entered the room.  Anyway, I think that was the main reason that I was nervous to meet her family.  I was in love.

We arrived at her house late in the afternoon.  The air was heavy and electric.  You could tell that a storm was soon to arrive.  She told me once that the only things that she ever missed about home were the storms and the autumn.  Her father was on the porch, sitting in his rocking chair.  He was a picture out of a Norman Rockwell collection.   He was approaching sixty at the time.  He wore baseball cap that was khaki colored and looked badly beaten, a blue plaid over shirt that was not buttoned, with a white tee shirt underneath.  His jeans were faded at the knees and he had working boots on, that honestly looked as if they had been over worked.

“Jason, is it?” he said as he got out of his rocking chair.  He extended his hand out to shake mine.

“Yes sir, it’s Jason.”

“I remembered,” he said.  “I hain’t heard a lot about you.  All I know is, Samantha called us up and told us that she was a comin’ home and she was bringing her boyfriend Jason.”

“That’s me,” I said.  I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“So what is it that you do Jason?  For a livin’.”  We discussed my job as a loan originator for a mortgage company in Phoenix.  We talked about a number of different things about me, mostly my job.  He was impressed when I told him that the company I worked for had it’s home office located in Fort Wayne.

“Fort Wayne, huh, I work just south of Fort Wayne.  I work at the GM plant out there,” he said.  “You want to know something about that building…That building is so large that they had to take into consideration the curvature of the earth when building it.  You ever hear of such thing Jason?”

“No, sir, I haven’t,” I replied.  Sam had gone into the house and I was hoping desperately that she would soon come out and save me.

“Don’t keep callin’ me sir; makes me feel like I am in the Army.  And don’t start callin’ me Mr. Denison either.  I ain’t old enough to be a Mister,” he continued, amused by his remark “You know Jason, I been at GM now for 33 years this comin’ October.  I’m a gonna retire in another five, six years.  Then I’m just gonna farm.”

“Jason,” said Sam from the front door, “Come in here and meet my mom.” I turned to shake Mr. Denison’s hand.  I told him it was nice to meet him.  I didn’t know how I should address him, since sir and Mr. Denison were out of the question and he had not given me his first name.

“Get on in there boy.  It is gonna storm within the next hour or so.  Best to be inside,” her dad said.

The house was a traditional farmhouse, complete with the banging screen door that you always saw in the movies.  It reminded of the house in the movie Forrest Gump, just not located in the south.  It was huge, white, and old.  Once inside, the living room was directly to your left, the stairs in front of you, and the dining room to your right.  The décor was, of course, country.  From where I stood at the front door, you could see a giant picture of a rooster hanging above one of the couches in the living room.  Sam took my hand and started to lead me over to the dining room.  I noticed on the near wall, there was a table which had an old style radio sitting on it.  I then noticed that it had a microphone sitting next to the radio.  I motioned to Sam, questioning what it was.  

She told me that it was a CB radio.  I had never seen one before.  I thought CB’s were only in semi trucks.

“So this is the guy that I have been hearin’ all about,” Sam’s mother said from the kitchen.  She was standing at the sink, drying off her hands.  I shot Sam a look of surprise.  She pursed her lips tightly.  I knew that she had told her mother little to nothing about me.  I shook her hand and then she took a step back to look at me.

“You sure are a tall thin thing aren’t you?  We will set you up right with a good home cooked meal.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

”Don’t thank me.  I am just glad to have my Samantha back in this house. We have missed her so much since she has been gone.  She tell you it has been a year and a half since she has been to visit?”

“Mom,” Sam started to protest.

“Oh no, no, no, Samantha, I am not tryin’ to start a fight.  I have just missed you honey.  So has your dad and your brother.”

“I know mom.  It is just so hard to get out here.”

“You was the one that wanted to move to Phoenix.  So, don’t give me that it is hard to get out here,” her mom said with a smile on her face as she moved past me with the mashed potatoes.  Sam glared at me with a face that said ‘I told you so’.  I smiled at her.  I thought her mom’s comment was what any mother would say who hadn’t seen their child in awhile.  Her mother continued by telling us to, “…run upstairs and get situated because dinner will be ready in a few,” as I heard the first distinct rumble of thunder.

                                    ____________________

“We have been here for an hour and I am ready to go back home,” Sam said as she opened up the lid to her suitcase.  “I can’t believe that she would make that comment in front of you.”

“What comment?”

“Oh, about my not being home for eighteen months.  And she had that little smile on her face that I just wanted rip it off,” she snapped as Sam roughly opened the drawers to the dresser and then started to throw her clothes in.

“She is being a mom, relax.  What is your dad’s name anyway?”

“Why?”

“Just wanted to know.  You know, your dad, he is pretty interesting,” I said with a sly grin.  Sam couldn’t help but smile.  Her face had been flush and now her eyes glimmered wanting to know what I had been told.  “I had no idea that they had to take in the curvature of the earth to build the plant that he works at.”

“Christ,” was all she could say as she shook her head.  I grabbed her in my arms and gave her a kiss.  “Just relax,” I said, “it will be alright.”

                                    _____________________

Dinner did really start in a few, with her mother yelling up the stairs for us to come down.  Her dad was already at the table scooping up some meat in gravy sauce that I had never seen before.  Her brother was coming in from outside, his green plaid overcoat looked a little wet as it had started to rain.  Sam’s mother was still floating around putting salt and pepper on the table, a plate full of bread, some real butter, and then brought out what they called “pickles”.  It was in a Country Crock container. And I have never seen anything like it before, or since.  I did not eat it then and I will never eat a purple pickle that smells like vinegar and looks like it has gone through a vegetable peeler. 

Everyone piled the food onto their plates and then grasped hands to pray.  I felt just a little strange at holding both Sam’s and her brother’s hand at the same time.  Her father asked if I would like to say Grace, to which Sam let out a short snort in response.  I kindly declined and suggested the host should say the prayer.  Sam’s mother promptly started.

            “So, you hain’t ever had Salisbury steak before?” he father asked, looking quite confused.

            “No, (I would have called him sir, or Mr. Denison, or his first name here) I don’t think I ever have.”

            “So did you mother never cook?”

            “Dad…” Sam spoke up.

            “Don’t get all riled up Samantha.  I just can’t believe this boy hain’t ever had Salisbury steak before.”

            “Do you like it Jason?” her mother asked very sweetly.  And just then the rain started heavily on the roof.  I paused for a moment and looked up at the ceiling.

            “Yeah, it’s good.  I have heard of Salisbury steak before.  I had just never had it before now.  But it is very good.  I like it.”

            Dinner continued with small chit-chat between myself, Sam, her mother and her father.  Her brother didn’t say much.  Most of his time was dedicated to his plate.  We had a chocolate pudding pie that her mother ceremoniously served, with new plates and forks.  After dinner, we all headed for the living room.  The storm was at its peak outside.  The thunder would boom so loudly, every once in a while, that you could not hear what the person seated next to you was saying. 

They asked about my family and as I was starting to tell a story about my younger brother, myself, and a girl named April Kelly when her mother went from looking me dead in the eye to peering at Sam and said, “Have you gone to the gravesite yet?”

“No,” Sam replied looking down at her now clasped hands.

“You hain’t been out there since he died,” her father said.

“I know.  I just can’t.”

“You know that you should go out and see him,” Sam’s mother stated as she continued to stare Sam down.

“You just don’t understand…”

“I don’t understand?” her mother broke in, “You say I don’t understand?  I am out there every Wednesday and every other Saturday with the ladies.  Not to mention we stop and say a little prayer for him every Sunday.  I understand better than you do young lady.  Don’t you tell me that I don’t understand!  I know.  I know.”

I was thoroughly confused.  Sam just kept her head low and made a few muffled sob like sounds.  I had no idea who they were talking about.  So, I asked.

“You never told him about J.J?” her brother said.  Sam just shook her head and kept making the muffled sob sounds.

“It figures,” her mother said as she got up out of her chair.  I thought that she was going to consol Sam but she kept waddling right on past her towards a bookcase that was on the far wall.

“You never told him about J.J?” her brother repeated.  I was surprised that he could speak, so I decided to ask him.

“And J.J is…?”

“Her brother,” he said looking confused and turning a bit pale.

“J.J and Alan here was twins,” her mother said as dropped a family portrait in my lap.  And there they all were, all five of them.  Sam’s mother was wearing a blue dress with a green floral pattern.  Her father wore a gray suit with a red tie and a white shirt.  His hair was slicked back and on his face he wore a goofy looking smile.  The boys were in matching blue suits with green ties and also matched in their father’s goofy smile.  And then Sam, wearing a yellowish-orange dress with big curly hair, it was a portrait from maybe ten years ago.

“You never told him about J.J?” her brother repeated again. 

“No, she never told me about J.J,” I replied too quickly.  His faced turned from an ash color to a shade of deep red.  “I am sorry, I am just surprised.  I never knew.”

“I’m sorry,” Sam spoke up finally, “I wasn’t ready to tell you.”

“May I ask how he past?” I said trying to be as tactful as I could.

“He drowned,” her father said.

“Three years ago,” her mother added.

“Oh,” I wasn’t prepared for all of this.  A few minutes ago, I had no idea that she had twin brothers or that one of those brothers died by drowning.  It was lot to take in; especially, meeting her family for the first time.

                                    ____________________

We sat for a moment in silence.  The rain was starting to abate.  I was feeling uneasy, my experience was not going so well.  So, she had a brother that drowned, I thought. It must be tough.  I wanted to know more, but was afraid to ask.  After another moment of silence my curiosity got the better of me, “How did it happen?”

Sam’s mother looked up from her thoughts and looked over at Sam, “You want to tell him Samantha or do you want me to?”

“Go ahead mom.”

Sam’s mother wiggled around a little in her chair, preparing herself for the story.  She took a drink of her water and began.

“Jason, you superstitious?” I shook my head that I was not. “Well, I am a superstitious woman; Always’ have been.  And one thing that I believe is that bad things always happen in threes.  I am sure that you have heard that before.  Well, it was May 28th, about week after it started to get warm around here when it happened.  We had this bull named Buster.  Buster got himself tangled up in the electric fence and died.  He had a heart attack getting tangled up and all.  Big dummy, all he had to do was to put his head down and then back away from the fence and he woulda been alright,” she paused to take a breath.  She made the hand gesture to what Buster would have had to do to get free from the fence.

“You know anything about cattle?” she asked.

“Nope, never even milked one before,” I replied.  I got a look from them that I must be the dumbest person on the face of the earth.

“The thing about cattle is that they make bonds with one another.  Not like they are married but they have their group that they hang around with.  I guess you’d call it a clique.  Jezibelle was one of the cows that Buster mated with and when she figured out that Buster was dead, she went nuts.  She started running into the barn as hard as she could like she was trying to knock it down or kill herself.  She started kicking and charging at everything around her.  We had to get her calmed down before she hurt herself too badly and we didn’t want any other cows to start actin’ crazy neither.  So while Dad and I worked on getting Buster free, we sent the boys to go calm down Jezi.  Now, Jerry Junior was much better with the cattle than Alan ever was,” she continued.  Alan nodded in agreement. “They just about had Jezi calmed down.  She wasn’t running into the barn no more but you could tell that she was still shook.  About that time, Reggie, Buster and Jezibelle offspring, from the previous season, was down by the pond and fell in.  I don’t know if it was seeing his Daddy dead and his Mother acting all crazy or if it was just a plain old accident.  But he fell in nonetheless,” she cleared her throat and grabbed her glass for another drink.

“Now the pond ain’t your normal pond.  You fall in and you are in deep water fast.  J.J saw Reggie fall in.  He told Alan to stay with Jezi and started running as fast as he could towards the pond.  That was about the time Dad and I saw him.  We yelled after him ‘What in the hell are you doing?’ and he told us that Reggie had fallen into the pond.  So we started for the pond too.  J.J was stripping off his clothes as he got closer and we had to yell for him not to jump into the pond, wait to see if Reggie comes up…”
           

“Cows can swim?” I interrupted

“Of course cows can swim,” Sam’s mother said.  “About as good as a horse.”

“As good, or better, than a horse,” her father chimed in.  I didn’t want to admit that I didn’t know horses could swim either. 

“So we stood at the edge of the pond for a moment waiting to see if Reggie would come up.  J.J was really uptight.  He was the one that delivered Reggie.  And once you deliver an animal, you have a special bond with it.  And like I said, J.J was good with the cattle.  After about a moment of standing he couldn’t take it any longer and said, ‘I got to go get him’.  He jumped in and never came back up.  Dad jumped in just a little bit afterward but he ain’t a good swimmer. He can barely get under the water and me I can’t swim at all.  I started yelling for Alan to come and help.  Alan found him about five minutes later.  None of us knew CPR except from watching the TV.  We tried the best we could, but it was too late.  By the time the ambulance got there Junior was this awful shade of gray that I never want to see again.”

“Where were you when all of this happened, Sam?” I asked

“She was in Chicago, watching some concert,” her mother quipped. 

“Did he get pinned under the cow or what?” I asked quickly trying not to make Sam more upset than what she was already. 

“Reggie was a bull.  And I really couldn’t tell you what happened down there.  He coulda got stuck in the mud bottom trying to get Reggie out.  Alan said he had to do a lot of pulling to get him free.  Reggie is still to this day at the bottom of that pond.  He is gonna stay there too.”

There was a pause.  Everyone let the story sink in.  I didn’t get it, though I was trying hard to understand why he would risk his life for a cow/bull that had fallen into a pond.

“So you see Jason, bad things happen in threes.  I lost a bull, a cow, and a son all on the same day,” she concluded sternly. 

                                                ___________________________

Author’s note: Sam and I are no longer together as I alluded to above.  She had more secrets than just the death of her brother.  But I still think of her, and her family, but especially her brother.  He lost his life trying to save a bull that fell into a damn pond.