Chapter1
9 AM: Sioux Falls Regional Airport (Joe Foss Field),
SouthDakota.
I’m glad that the car ride so far has been quiet. I can collect my thoughts and take a short nap. The airport is about an hour away by car, so I’ll get there in plenty of time for my flight. My brother Robby, short for Robert, is zoned out with his headphones. He wanted to stay home and play video games but that was shot down by my parents. My mom is riding shotgun while my dad drives with this stern look on his face. He is not in favor of my trip, but so far has accepted that I’mleaving.
When I first mentioned going away for ten days, he went ballistic! He still considers me his little girl even though I’m an adult. A little about me: I’m Michaela Brightstar. I’m a Native American from the Oxbow Lakota Sioux tribe in South Dakota. I’m 24 yrs. old with a Masters degree in Education. I’m 5’2” with skin the color of honey. I have long, dark hair that goes down my back and dark brown eyes. I consider myself in good shape. I was on the cross-country team in high school. I also hold a brown belt in Chowa Kai Karate-do. My father is the chief of our small group of Sioux. Since I’m the eldest, I’m next in line to lead ourgroup.
I’ve lived on my own all throughout school with everything paid for by scholarships and a part time job. I only moved back home because I needed a break from looking for work. I also missed home. I miss the mountains and cliffs, the lake near my home, and the few friends I grew up with. I realized too late that moving back home was a mistake. My father clamped down on me as if I’m 10 years old again. Don’t get me wrong..I understand that I must live under my parents’ rules. I don’t pay for rent, food, or utilities. I just feel like my dad has it in for me! He complains about the few friends I do have, how I dress, what I eat, what I read, etc. It’s as if he wants to shape me into his idea of the perfect daughter andChief.
When we have visitors at our home, I feel like a show pony the way he struts out his college graduate daughter. My mother says nothing of course. She’s simply happy that a woman for the first time is allowed to be chief. I remember one night that I went to check the mail and received a letter that would change my immediate future. It was a promotional booklet from an adv
