The Road Home

Chapter 17

Harper got ready for the day and then sat on one of the picnic benches outside and waited for Ben. The sun shined brightly and the cool breeze made the purple wildflowers dance across the fields. Spring was right around the corner.

"Where'd you get those glasses?" Ben teased as she got in his Jeep wearing her Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses.

"Rodeo Drive. You like them? I'll get you a pair." She loved the extra large framed sunglasses.

"Don't go to any trouble." He flashed his dimples.

"What are we doing today?"

"I've got to take some things out to the reservation."

The long drive flew by as they chatted about various topics. Soon they were entering the Pine Ridge Reservation. The vast terrain of open prairies scattered with sunflowers and grassy knolls was breathtaking but Harper was shocked as they got closer to town; broken down shacks, yards full of strewn litter, and cars on cinder blocks dotted the driveways. Buildings with boarded windows and smoke rising from chimneys that looked as if they could fall off at any minute were common sites. Time had seemed to stop here.

"What are those?" Harper eyed a group of run down trailers situated close to each other.

"Homes," he said, solemnly.

"People live there?"

He nodded, not taking his eyes off the road. "People survive there would be more accurate." He pointed to a group of buildings off by themselves. "A lot of these places don't have electricity or running water."

"You're kidding?"

Ben shook his head.

"Why don't they tell someone?"

"There's no one to tell. The unemployment rate is nearly ninety percent," Ben heavily sighed. "People here can't afford luxuries."

"Since when are water and electricity considered luxuries?"

"They are here."

"Then why doesn't someone do something about it?" She was outraged that people had to live in such dire circumstances.

"What would they do?" He glanced at her.

"There has to be something." Harper watched as children played in a yard. Shame engulfed her at the thought of her three houses around the world, her cars, and many material possessions. As they came to the small town of Pine Ridge, she noticed a group of men sitting by the side of the road; some were drinking out of beer bottles.

"Here's our first stop." They turned into a small parking lot containing a sign for Oglala Lakota College.

"Do you teach here, too?" The building's odd design was refreshing. The round structure had specks of silver in the brick. It definitely didn't look like it belonged here. West Hollywood, maybe, but not here.

"Not anymore. I taught a couple night classes here a few years ago and try to help out by bringing textbooks and other materials we no longer use. USD is going to develop an off campus program here if we can get the funds allocated." He parked and got out. "You want to wait or come in?"

She had already noticed the one lone car in the parking lot. She jumped out and walked to Ben's side and waited while he removed books and a bag filled with papers from the backseat. "Let me take something."

He handed her a bag and a few books, grabbed a couple boxes of his own, and then led her to the front doors where an older man waited. His long gray hair was braided and hung down on each shoulder. His weathered face held a smiled.