Chapter 9 - STAR WARS

Bert picked us up very early in the morning. Definitely not my time of day, Bobby, Seng, and Annie were ready, and we headed downtown Richmond to a dental clinic, arranged by one of the volunteers. It was where the people on welfare, the poor, and the uninsured went. I was happy there was such a place and felt good that such services were available.

We got there and saw the "waiting room", with cheap folding chairs, in a cold, dingy hall. We went to the reception desk and waited in line and then had even more forms to fill out. I became uneasy, right away, but made myself be calm. I glanced around, saw the faces of the poor, and thought how spoiled I had been, and that I should just be grateful there was a place to go for treatment. So what if the interior wasn't posh? So what if the receptionist was abrupt, verging on rude, so what if the floors were grimy and walls unclean? They didn't have money for frills, I thought. As long as they can get good care, this shouldn't matter. Then waited for the nurse to call.

Bert, we should go in with them, I can see they are all nervous. Bert wholeheartedly agreed, I noticed Bert was fidgeting and looked stressed. I really couldn't handle him having one of his fits today! " I can't believe you didn't eat breakfast before coming, Bert! You know better!" I told him to eat some peanuts, but he had forgotten to carry his jar with him today. Bert was hypoglycemic and was prone to temper tantrums, and emotional outbursts, should his blood sugar go too low, proteins seemed to last longer in his blood. It helped him control things.

Seng and Bobby were called at the same time and directed to opposite ends of the corridor. I smiled at Seng and said, " Don't worry Bert is going with you." I left Annie, nervous and alone, and went with Bobby. I stayed with him for the x-rays and was told to go wait outside. I said I thought I should stay. I said I was responsible for Bobby. The Dentist said he is 18 and an adult, and under no circumstance could I stay while he worked. Bobby said don't worry, he was fine now. He seemed at ease, and smiled at me, so though I was reluctant, I left.

I went down and sat with Annie. After quite some time, Annie's x-rays were taken, but we were told to go back to the waiting room. people came and went. we waited. Finally, Bert and Seng came down the hall. Poor Seng looked shaken and was holding tight to Bert's hand. The Nurse came stomping behind them, obviously irritated. She shoved the appointment papers at me. " We will have to re-schedule the rest of the boy's work on another day. We cannot have such disruptive behavior while the dentist is working. Perhaps someone else could escort the boy for the following appointment."

" Seng," said Bert, jittery. " The boy is Seng." Bert was obviously upset, breathing hard.

" What is it, Bert? what is..." I began to ask but was interrupted by the nurse again. The other boy is under anesthesia and will be drowsy, we had to knock him out."

" Under anesthesia? But today was supposed to be just x-rays, exams? "

" And emergency work," she answered abruptly.

" And emergency work if necessary? " I said, " But no one spoke to me, no one advised me how could you just begin work without consulting me? "

" He is 18. " she quipped

" But he can't understand you. what work have you done? "

" Well we felt his teeth were too far gone, no point in trying to save them, we have extracted them all."

Silence. Bert and I stood and stared at her in disbelief. I felt a chill.

" But he is only 18! " I yelled.

" that is what I said, he is 18, so no need to consult with anyone else."

" But his teeth were not all bad, some were but not all!"

" We felt there was sufficient reason to extract them all. "

"When do you give him his new teeth then, does he get false teeth?"

" No. He is 18. we are paid per extraction, but there is no funding for false teeth. He will have to pay that himself."

I do not remember what else she said, it echoed, and noise, I felt nauseated and dizzy. Then I snapped out of it, thinking of Bobby. He would wake up in one of these shitty rooms all alone and with no teeth in his sweet young head. Jesus! I shrieked, as I tore down the hall, searching. The nurse tried to stop me, telling me to wait in the waiting area, and that they were ready for Annie.

" Don't touch that girl, Annie is not having her appointment here!"

I opened the third door, and saw a sleeping Bobby, in the chair. tears in my eyes, I whispered, " Oh, my god, Bert, how am I going to tell him?" Bobby was beginning to wake, and I saw that Annie was crying, and Seng was worried, Bert's face was pale and so full of emotion, I knew I had to get my little group out of there, and right away. I put Bobby's arm over my shoulder, and whispered, " Sweetie, let's go to Bert's car?" and smiled at the groggy young man. We got him into his seat, and I gave Annie a big tight hug, her English was still not good enough to know what was happening, and she had been scared.

Bert tried to drive and held on as long as he could. But just a block from home he started to have an immediate seizure, caused by emotion and his condition, He gripped the steering wheel tight with both hands, and had a locked jaw, he made a strange squeal, and he ran the van straight into a stop sign. knocking it over. Thankfully no one was hurt. We all just sat there for a few minutes.

" How are you doing, Bobby?"

He whispered, " ok. " " Then let's leave the van here for now. We will walk home, and let Bert get a good meal, and we can all settle down."

Bert never forgot to carry his peanuts again, and Seng and each member of the family got into the habit of asking Bert to eat something before going out. I got on the phone, for hours, and raised hell. Finally found a way to keep them from the horror of that clinic, and still get some dental care. With Lorne's help, I got to talk to the head of the Dental Association in Richmond. We begged, pleaded, and kept at it until we had a group of Dentists willing to volunteer their time for the refugees. each is taking one case and committing to dental care for that person, some were admitted to the University clinic. Here students did the work, but they were all fully supervised and did excellent work. ( but this was restricted to dental problems being studied at the time) After many discussions, and their preliminary treatments the Quakers committed to dental insurance for the youngest 5 children. They were following Bert's example, he had immediately insured Seng and taken him to his own Dentist. Bert was such a heroic nerd!

I realized we would still fall short. How would we pay for the false teeth, the replacement teeth, and the bridges that we would need?

Before they had time to object, the Quakers were holding an auction. The first thing offered was the pool table from my downstairs, another surprise for my husband, oh boy!

Kosei, a Japanese member of the meeting, and an artist donated a beautiful piece of his own ceramic work and an older piece of Kintsugi. he was cleaning out his loft, as he was about to move back to Japan. Jeanne Marie came through as always, complaining, and little by little we accumulated enough things to make a good interesting auction. None of the refugees that I cared for ever went back to that "clinic"

Bobby was recovering well, his swelling had subsided and he had no infections thank god. His depression lingered, and this was understandable. They had only explained that the medicine would make him sleepy, so he would not feel pain. He said no one told him they would take all his teeth. I felt so bad for him. I gave him tons of hugs and was determined to get his false teeth first. And good ones, too! But I was also aware, apart from Bobby's depression, the others were also having a dip in spirits.

People would get lethargic. The study had become tiresome. Tek remained happy on his mower, but on rainy days, he was also grumpy. They were antsy. Ready to start something new? To start their new lives. I had been working as hard and as fast as I could, but as with all government bureaucratic operations, this took time, getting work permits took time, finding jobs took time and finding a home took time. So how to keep your spirits high in the meantime?

I sat for a minute staring at my newspaper and then focused. I called the posse! (Carol and Bert) " We are bringing the whole group and the four little girls, mine and Carol's to the movies!"

" But they won't understand! "

" I think, looking at the ad in the paper, it won't matter in this movie!"

Bert started to giggle as he asked for twenty tickets to Star Wars, at the box office. We had come early and in the afternoon. The movie had been showing there for a while, so it wasn't as crowded as it had been. We got great seats all bunched together in the center. Kan and Hung, Tek and Bobby sat in one row. Li sat behind them with the smaller kids. including Annabelle and Nellie. Betsy and Tess sat with the older kids next row, and Carol sat next to me, then Seng and Bert. Huge tubs of popcorn and candies were passed around. The excitement was electric. Their first Movie, for most. And I told them it was going to be a good one.

Giggles started already with the popcorn and ice cream ads. They didn't need much English for those. Next came three trailers. The first two were not memorable, and then came the Legend of The Lone Ranger. There was a scene of Tonto on his horse, high on a hill, broad-shouldered, with long black hair, and a beautifully rippled chest and back. Naked to the waist, and glistening in the sun. Somewhere in the middle, I lost it. I grabbed Carol's arm and squealed with lusty glee. " Whoa! Jezzus Tonto! whoa! c'mon to my house, and don't bring your shirt!" Not only did Carol laugh, but the whole group also laughed, in fact, the entire audience cracked up.

We started to get the tension release we all needed! Star wars began, and I was right. You don't need much English to follow this saga. Good guys and bad guys are pretty clear-cut. I watched them all sink into the story, mesmerized. I saw heads bounce to the music, and people on the edges of their seats with excitement.

Seng was so excited he stood up. then others stood, terrified of Darth Vader. So, I stood too, and whispered " What the hell! " to Bert and Carol, and started to boo, and throw popcorn at the villain. They all followed suit, laughing like hell until the usher rushed over and asked us to stop. Hollywood supplied us with a bit of much-needed catharsis. I have always been grateful to George Lucas.