Chapter 7: What’s It Like to Be a Mom?

The next morning, John woke up early. He looked at the clock and then heard footsteps upstairs. Before the Earth Changes, he would have taken today off after a marathon like yesterday. He heard the shower running upstairs. He moved and then he felt Jenny move.

“I guess I get to learn what it’s like to be a mom.” Jenny smiled, “Good morning, lover!”

“I love waking up with you. The day is always sunny.” John laughed, “Someone is taking a shower.” Just then from a different spot came another shower sound. John corrected, “Showers.”

John and Jenny both got up and moved to the bathroom. Ten minutes later, the two were drying each other and laughing. John wrapped the towel around himself and answered a knock on the door.

“Just wanted to let you know, the kids are getting ready. We’ve all had a shower and Tony and Sally are getting shoes on everyone.” April reported.

“Thanks, April, we’re all showered and getting clothes on now. We should be out and ready to go in ten minutes.” John smiled.

“Okay, I’ll tell the kids.” April turned and headed for the stairs.

John turned and looked at Jenny. She had shorts and a top on and was combing her hair. “Wow, how’d we get so lucky?”

“So far, I like being a mom a whole lot better than I even enjoyed being a daughter.” Jenny smiled at John.

By shortly before six in the morning, the Taylor clan climbed aboard the RV. Eric and Tami drove up with their fifth-wheel and big house trailer behind them. They looked like they didn’t get much sleep. John gave Tony two hundred-dollar bills and told him to buy breakfast for everybody. “Going after your Aunt and Uncle. I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t bother brother. We’re here” Sheri advised.

John turned in the direction of the voice and gave his sister and brother-in-law a big smile, “How was your visit?” His voice was muffled as he hugged his sister and shook hands with his brother-in-law.

Samuel pulled John into a hug. “Thank you! I feel a hundred pounds lighter.”

“Your future daughter gave us a class.” Sheri smiled.

“I’ve had that class!” John laughed, then added, “Peter built a church to help mankind build a relationship with a representative of Christ who was believed to be the son of God. It was built on faith. It was a necessary step. My church will look like a university, building a personal relationship based on fact with every single person on earth with God. It will have the tenets of love and truth” John shared.

“You are going to take everyone to see and meet God?” Samuel asked.

“Well, not just me, my teachers will take a lot of people.” John thought, “I have openings if you want a job?”

“Errrr, maybe breakfast first?” Sheri was pulling Samuel with her towards the tent.

John was halfway into his breakfast when John and Billy Nation sat down across from him. They had their breakfast, and it took John a minute before he remembered to make introductions, “Chief, these are two of my sons, Johnny and Tony. The rest of my crew is scattered all around you.”

Tony stood and shook hands with the chief and his brother. Johnny followed suit.

John got a tap on his shoulder and turned to Ben, “Gentlemen, this is my third son, Ben.” John got another tap and turned and picked up Willy, “This is my fourth son, Willy, and in just a few more months, I will be introducing my fifth son, Robert Taylor, to this world.”

“Many fine boys!” John Nation observed.

Tony stood again, “Gentlemen, I need your help. My real parents are dead, and God has given me new parents and a new brother and for that, I am most grateful.” Tony put his hand on both John and Johnny’s shoulders, “I want to correct the wrongs my dead parents committed. I want to return the property to their owners.”

“What do you need from us?” John Nation asked.

“I need you to tell me who are the good people and who are not. Then we need to meet, maybe the five of us, and decide what we do with the ones that are not so good.” Tony presented.

“So, you are saying Billy and I will be deciding who gets their homes back.” John Nation said to clarify what he had been hearing. Chief John had seen many wrongs. The banks doing things which caused people to lose their homes that were just criminal. He had tried to stop many of the situations but was simply pushed aside, making him feel worthless. When he got smiles and nods to confirm, his question was easy, “When and where?”

“The bank, after school on Monday. We have hundreds of RVs and a bunch of trucks to empty today.” Tony shared.

“Monday, we will both be there.” John Nation looked to his brother then turned back to the Taylors, “Big fish are being caught at Orondo. Lots of big fish.”

“How far?” Johnny asked, “How long.”

“It’s about a hundred miles. They move up to 20 miles a day.” Billy answered, “It’s been thirty years since we had a fishable run of more than a few thousand.”

Across the street, several RVs were being started, “It must be 7:00 AM. Our time to go.” John stood, and all moved into action. When they got to the bank, there were already a couple of hundred men and women waiting to start the process. The women looked through everything in the RV to make sure it had been emptied. When it checked out, the men climbed in and took it to the newly remodeled trailer park. It would be leveled, plugged in, water piped in, and sewage piped away. The XB had been left at the bank, the car trailer would be stored elsewhere. By the time they had the first one in place, the second one was waiting. By the end of the first hour, the trailer park team had 14 RVs hooked up. By the end of the second hour, they had 45 RVs in place. The third hour saw 92 RVs hooked up. All the gold and silver had been unloaded and at that time a selected group of men and women were sent to make sure everything worked as it should. They would follow along behind checking everything out.

At the bank, the back-vault was filling up with gold and silver. At nine o’clock a husky man showed up demanding to speak to Antonio the bank manager.

April brought him to meet Tony and John. “Hi, Perry,” Tony said.

“Oh, hi Tony, boy am I glad to see you. I got almost two hundred boxes for your dad’s bank. Are your mom or dad here?” Perry asked.

“Dad and mom went to LA and got killed when the San Andreas fault opened up. The company sent John Taylor here from Seattle to run the bank,” Tony ad-libbed.

“I’m sorry to hear that. That’s too bad!” Perry said, even though he thought Tony’s dad was an ass.

“Perry, do you know why somebody ordered all of the cash?” John asked.

“This bank just reached regional status.” Perry looked to John like he should know that.

John turned to Tony, “I’m surprised your dad didn’t mention it.”

He may have, but until just now, I didn’t understand what regional status meant.” Tony was enjoying this.

“I have been in both regional and non-regional banks, but never one that received the change of status while I was there. It has caught me a little flat-footed.” John too was having some fun.

Perry was relaxing as the two carried on. Finally, he made up his mind. “Where do you want them?”

“Along the back wall of the vault,” John answered, “I’ll get you some help.”

Four men peeled off from the RVs and helped Perry unload his truck. Two men moved the many stacks of boxes as the others worked in the vault moving things around enough to hold the boxes in some order. When they were about halfway with the unloading, “Who are you guys and where did you come from?” Perry asked his helpers.

The two men pulled out their Seattle Police badges.

“I’ve heard that Seattle is no longer there,” Perry stated questioningly.

“Not unless you’re a fish!” One man responded, “Or got a boat.”

“Can you imagine swimming around on Queen Anne or Capitol Hill looking into all of the windows? Or even swimming over and around the Space Needle?” The other officer added, “We got to the Cascade Crest and stopped. We looked back as the water came in and covered up everything behind us. It was one of the most unbelievable things to witness.”

“Wow, thank you, guys.” Perry offered, “We don’t get all of the news out at Riverside.” When Perry’s truck was empty, he brought his clipboard into the bank and then into the vault as locked boxes were being opened to determine what was in them, being labeled and then stacked in organized rows. Perry had to be careful as two RVs were being emptied of two tons of silver. There was constant movement as caddies full of silver bars were making their way into the vault.

“What are you going to do now Perry?” Tony asked when he found out this was the last load Perry would ever get.

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll hang my shingle up and tell the world I’m an architect.”

“Did you say, architect?” John was still nearby looking at the list of RVs to do.

Perry looked to John, “You need an architect?”

“Yes, let me show you.” John went over to the table with the roughed-out plans for building a modular home and 400-unit apartment building.

“You need this now.” Perry looked at John and Tony.

“Yes, we have 20,000 to 30,000 people looking for someplace to live. You want a job?” John asked.

“I’ll need to move from Riverside to here. Any place to live?” Perry asked.

John looked at Tony and looked up. Tony nodded, “We have a three-bedroom apartment upstairs you can live in.”

“Tony, can you take Perry upstairs and show him?” John asked.

“Okay, Dad,” Tony responded.

“Dad?’ Perry asked, “You’re not with the National Bank are you, Mr. Taylor?”

“No.” John shared.

“What are you trying to do here then?” Perry asked.

“We are building housing for all those people, so they don’t freeze to death this winter.” John shared.

“The gold and silver, who owns that?” Perry asked.

“My family.” John reached out and hugged Tony, “This young man and his brothers and sisters have joined my family.”

“So, the money I delivered today?” Perry asked, “What about it?”

“We will buy toilets, sinks, windows, showers and high-efficiency stoves from Spokane with the greenbacks. When the cash becomes worthless, then we’ll use gold and silver.

“How much gold and silver?” Perry asked.

John looked at Tony and nodded, “We have twenty tons of gold and fifty tons of silver and a whole bunch of coins.” Tony announced.

“I’m in!” Perry announced, “You have a ton of work here. Let me go home and load up my stuff and move here. See you in the morning?”

Perry shook hands with both Tony and John. They exchanged contact information and John handed Perry a one-ounce gold coin. He called it a handshake bonus. Perry went home to retrieve his dog, cat, and girlfriend Molly and all his worldly possessions and came back the next morning.

John and Tony looked out at the many men and women going through the RVs to be moved and getting them ready for easy removal of the silver or other things like coins. Margaret had set up a table near where the RVs were parked with her list of homes and keys. As people arrived, they would get keys and a map and then drive their RV to the location, unload their clothes and other belongings and then bring it back for unloading of silver or gold and then it was driven to the trailer park. Many times, two or more families would be placed temporarily in one residence. By three o’clock, the hard work of all involved was paying off, and what was left was the RVs to be assigned and Jenny and Patty along with more than twenty other women had checked more than 4,000 names off the list. In total, they had found temporary housing for more than 4,000 families with a sum of over 12,000 people. Not yet a total solution, but a noteworthy accomplishment for the second day in Omak.

Saturday night meetings:

The Taylor family walked onto the football field. There before them were rows of chairs across the field. John opted for the bleachers down on the right side. As they moved, people rose clapped their hands. As they reached the bottom row, John Nation came off the raised dais that covered the center portion of the north end zone.

As he neared, John, Jenny, Johnny, Teresa, and Tony all stood to meet John Nation. He looked well-rested and excited. He shook hands with everybody and called them by name. He came back to John and got a surprise.

“Hi, Chief Nation!” Lucy spoke.

John Nation stuck his hand out, “And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?”

“Lucy Taylor. I’m four.”

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” John Nation asked.

“A doctor. My papa healed me, and I want to heal all the children in the world like I was.” Lucy smiled.

“Lucy Taylor, your daddy and mommy and I will do everything we can to make that happen.” John held out his palm and Lucy met his palm with her own in a high five smack.

“Thank you, Chief.” Lucy became shy again.

“This world will be thanking you, honey. You and the other children are our greatest assets.” The chief looked to John Taylor. Both men had tears in their eyes and big smiles on their faces. John Nation mouthed the word “Wow!” Chief John shook himself and continued, “I think I’ve glimpsed your path, John Taylor. I am asking for the County Council to appoint you as County Executive until next fall when our normal election period ends.” Chief John advised.

“Did you know I hate politics?” John Taylor shared.

“We need, no, I need you in this position. We still have way too much work to do before we button-up for the winter. If we don’t succeed, a lot of people are going to die.” John Nation shared, “Please consider doing this.”

John Taylor looked first to Jenny. She was nodding. He looked to Tony, and he too was nodding. He looked to Johnny.

“The chief may have the right of it, dad.” Johnny shared.

“Okay.” John almost whispered, more defeated than sure of what he was doing.

“Join me on the dais?” The chief asked. “You and Jenny?”

“Okay.” John Taylor felt like he was walking to his death.

The meeting started at 6:00 on the button.

One of the County Commissioners named Howey Anderson called the meeting to order, “We normally pledge allegiance to the United States. The United States as we know it is gone. Any suggestions to open our meeting?”

“The Lord’s Prayer.” John stood, “Stand if you agree. Or raise your hand.” John realized there must be 10,000 people gathered for this meeting.

Howey turned to John when he felt there was enough agreement, “You are a minister? Do you feel comfortable leading the Lord’s Prayer?” Howey backed away as John nodded, then approached the microphone.

John led the group in the Lord’s Prayer.

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name, Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, the power, and the Glory, forever and ever.

When it was over, he asked, “I want to take a few minutes and lead you to a special place. We will only be there for a short time, I promise. We have much to talk about already, but this is important. Take a deep breath.”

They were there, stretched out over a mile on the face of God. The thousands that had the training from Seattle, were spread out and were introducing God to their new neighbors. John asked the chief for a minute, “Chief, I want to cash in all the obligations you may feel you owe me or will ever owe me.”

“What do you want of me?” John Nation asked. He was frowning because he felt the sting of obligation. With a request like that, no matter what, he was going to have to agree. This man had saved his son and maybe, just maybe, he would save his community also.

“I want you to sit down and ask God about your mother and your wife. Find out the truth from God.” John directed.

“And this is important to you?” John Nation asked, “Why?

“You have become a friend. You also have a very large black spot on your aura that will turn into cancer soon. When the body is healed, the mind and spirit also many times need healing.” John Taylor took the chief over to the Christ Ports. Gaia was sitting in one and she got up and motioned for the chief to sit down. She would work with him. Gaia sat back down in his lap. She introduced herself and thanked the chief for carrying on the traditions of the people and doing such a good job in taking care of them. The chief was amazed, here was God and an expression of Mother Earth. This completed his uncle’s prediction.

“Will the fish run be successful?” The chief asked.

“Yes, I have sent hundreds of thousands of big fish in your direction. You are welcome to them. They will be bigger than you expect. Once they spawn, many will return to the ocean and come back again and again. You will need to prepare your cannery to handle many millions of pounds of fish.” Gaia advised.

When the chief understood this information, then Gaia went in a different direction. “You saw your mother with another man after you graduated from high school?” Gaia asked.

“Yes!” John Nation frowned.

“Ask God what that was about.”

“Why?” John Nation asked.

“That incident has formed the basis of how you look towards loving females in your life,” Gaia answered.

John mustered up his courage and asked the question and was blown away by what he was told.

His mother was not having an affair, she was forced to have sex. His mother was being raped. John could have stopped it, there was a hatchet just outside the door that he used to cut wood for the stove. If he would have done that, then Blacky would not have died that day. He wouldn’t have broken his collar bone.

He asked about the man. When his dad came to retrieve him from the Mid Valley Hospital in Omak, the man came back. John’s mother had his dad’s best hunting knife strapped to her upper leg. When the man pushed his way into the house and grabbed her shoulders, she stabbed him in his solar plexus. His eyes got big, and then she pushed with all her might, and he hit the floor hard. He reached for the knife with his right hand and died. She dragged him outside to the family cemetery and when his dad had the time he buried the man in a shallow unmarked grave. John was still for a minute, shaking his head.

“Now ask about Margaret.” Gaia directed.

“No!” John Nation answered, loudly.

“Listen, John, I am an expression of Mother Earth. Do not deny me. It would not be wise.” Gaia did not like pulling rank, but this relationship had to be healed.

“Did Margaret have an affair?” The chief asked, knowing the answer to be yes.

“NO!”

“Has Margaret ever had sex with another man?” The chief asked. It was apparent his foundation had been shaken.

“NO!”

“Does Margaret still love me?”

“You will have to ask Margaret.” Gaia kissed the chief as she got off his lap. John was still crying and had his eyes covered when someone else sat down in his lap.

“You can ask Margaret yourself, John.” The lady sitting in his lap suggested.

“I don’t deserve to be loved.” John said, “I’ve been so very wrong.”

“I agree, but I love you anyway,” Margaret said.

“How am I going to tell Steven?” John Nation asked.

Steven came into view, “Dad, I know. The medicine man told me two years ago. He made me promise not to tell you until after he returned to spirit.” Steven had been standing so his mom hid him from his dad’s view.

“How are you guys doing?” John Taylor asked.

“My life just made a big U-turn.” John Nation tried to smile but failed.

“John, that black mass you had, it is more than half gone. You’ve got some more work to do, but you are making good progress.” John Taylor advised, “Shall we go have a meeting?”

John Nation opened his eyes. He was back on the dais. He shook himself and moved to take the position in front of the microphone. John looked at his watch and realized they’d been gone an hour. He tried three times to get everyone’s attention with, “Ladies and Gentlemen, residents of Okanagan. Would you like to have White Eagle start our next meeting with his prayers?” There was no question, the noise level rose in agreement. “At our next meeting, we will start one hour earlier at 5:00 PM.” There was laughter throughout, “Back to our agenda. The first item, fish are on the way. We have planned for 50,000 fish weighing about 20 pounds each, I just heard from Mother Earth that we are going to have twice the fish and they are going to weigh more than we are prepared for. We have maybe a week. I want the fish committee to plan on meeting Monday morning at eight o’clock.”