Modern Day Cavegirls - Jane

I'm kicking myself. This really should have been posted BEFORE the first Modern Day Cavegirls chapter.

This happens the day before Su-jin meets Jodi.

If you've read that chapter, then you've seen Su-jin's personality come out of her shame and unhappiness.

In this, she's just arrived in New Mexico with not much more in her pocket than a little lint. She'd been terribly unhappy and felt misery and carried a ton of guilt.

About the last person that she's ready to believe in is herself. All of that shows in this chapter.

She laughs because she's dying to laugh for the first time in so long.

She's uncertain and emotional and she's looking for somebody to give her just once chance - so the fighter part of her persona is so well-hidden that she's almost forgotten by Su-jin herself.

0_o

*************

Downtown Business District, Baltimore, Maryland

She was still a little nervous toward the end of the video interview though overall, she felt that it had gone well - a little surprisingly so, considering her newness to things here. As it went on, Su-jin was felt much more comfortable, feeling that she'd gotten to know and understand the client's needs more and more. And though there had been some awkwardness at the beginning, she'd come to even like the client that she was speaking with so she now felt even more hopeful to succeed.

At one point, the woman just chuckled and said, "Ms. Kim, to be honest here, I'm up to my eyes in things that need doing and very few of them have very much to do with anything that I know much about. I can run my business and doing that requires that I sometimes have to hunt work down to get it. Doing that leaves me less time to pull my hair out as I try to do what I've finally decided that I need help for.

As well, the biggest part of my business involves aircraft and to earn any money, those aircraft need to be in the air and flying. We're still a little small and so I'm one of the pilots - and I can't do what I need you for while I'm flying."

The woman smiled over the internet connection, "So what I'm saying is, I very much need your help, and from our talking here and the examples that we've talked about, I think we can come to some arrangement."

They went on to discuss some of the terms - the ones which the agency wasn't in charge of - such as travelling expenses for Su-jin to get there and how she was to do it and whom to call once she'd arrived - and that was only to get to the nearest large airport. From there, she'd be met and flown even further into who knows where.

Her accommodations would be provided in the form of a small house not far from where she'd work, which sounded a little odd until the client explained that the original business - which was still going there - was a large farm.

"We've been farming here for generations - over a hundred and twenty years," the client said, "As I'm sure you know, farming almost anywhere on Earth has changed a great deal over that time. As it grew originally, there was a lot of manual labor involved and for that we needed people. In the 1920s and 30s, there was a large migrant workforce available due to the upheaval of what they call the Great Depression. Our farm would hire these people and provide housing and food as well as pay.

But as we grew larger and as more efficient ways of farming became available, we didn't need all of those workers. By that time, most of them were either back in the work force or they were in the armed forces since there was a war on. The bunkhouses stood vacant for many years and we demolished all of them years ago.

But there are still four buildings there in addition to the farmhouse, and they're not the bunkhouses. They were built as homes for the foremen and their families, since they stayed all year round.

The houses are a little small and they're old, but they have been maintained and improved. I live in one of them myself, so you and I will be neighbors because you will live in one of the other ones. Your morning commute will be about one mile and it is a pleasant walk. I know that because I've been walking it almost all of my life. I was born only a few hundred feet from where you'll be staying.

We're not far from the local airport or the town. Actually, you'll be working at our offices in our hangar at the airport. You could walk or somebody here could drive you if you wanted to go shopping."

She chuckled, "We even have bicycles around here somewhere. Trust me, getting around here is no problem.

We get some snow in the winter, but it's not very cold and there's probably less than where you are now and we have a lot of mountains. If you put those things together, you'll see that our community is a little known as a good place if you like skiing.

She smiled, "We do get a lot of celebrities here in the wintertime."

The agency representative asked about the choice of airport and the client shrugged, "It depends on how Ms. Kim wants to come. The largest airport with direct service by all the major carriers would be Albuquerque International."

Before she could say anything else, the representative said that it sounded best to her.

The client tilted her head, "How do you know what I was about to say? I hadn't said a thing about the other choices. Do you think that you know a thing about my business? At all?

If Ms. Kim flies into Albuquerque, she'd need to catch a smaller flight to get to us and there are no regionals flying to our airport. We're about it - all there is - and we fly out of it, besides one other company, but they don't provide more than air taxi service anyway. We don't like that option for the simple reason that Albuquerque's an international airport and that's why it's landing fees are correspondingly high. So if we don't meet her there, she'd still have to catch a local flight for the last 120 miles."

She rolled her eyes, "Larry's executive transport flying out of the ass-end of Albuquerque terminal from the trailer that's also the hair care center there or some nonsense - and they'd back charge her for the landing fee that they had to pay. They're not going to charge her a hundred bucks to fly her out to us if they have to pay two hundred just to land on the way back, are they?

She could fly into Las Vegas, but it leaves us with having to pay a higher landing fee the same as at Albuquerque.

So that you understand what I'm trying to avoid here, flying into an expensive airport with no goods to make money on hurts, though we'd do it if there was no other option.

I suggest flying into Santa Fe Municipal since it has service by some common American carriers. It's about sixty miles or so from us, about the same as Las Vegas, but the fees are better for us and it's not such a huge place to get lost in. She could take a bus from there, but that would most definitely mean a longer trip over roads. I have no idea how often a bus goes from Santa Fe to Angel Fire these days, I only know that it does, since I've ridden it before myself now and then. We would very much prefer to fly out to get her in order to make her feel welcome."

She leaned forward and made it clear that she was speaking to the representative and not to Su-jin. "I called you to supply for my needs. I've agreed to pay your fees. Don't presume to tell me how to arrange to pick Ms. Kim up. Making aircraft appear when they need to be someplace is what I do.

You just stick to whatever you think that you might be good at and we'll get along fine."

She outlined her suggestions to Su-jin and they agreed with no fuss and she said that she'd email details and phone numbers within the next day.

---------------

It was a little different, Su-jin guessed and the place was ... well as far as she knew, it might as well be on the other side of the moon - which wasn't a completely undesirable thing to Su-jin right now.

She was a bookkeeper as well as an accountant, though she wasn't certified for more than the first one on this continent yet and she knew those things inside and out. though doing that work in a western office and in the ways that it was done here would be a little new, though not a problem to her way of thinking. She'd also studied English and she was very thankful for it now.

It hadn't really been her plan to come here, however, though now she liked living here overall. But one city is alike to another - even if it is nothing much like Seoul. She got used to city life as a child, but she was feeling a little ... well, 'harried' might not be a bad word for it, she guessed.

She'd originally come from the country to the city as a child with her family. She'd lived a normal life there and liked growing up there. As much as she'd been able to afford following the fashions, she thought of herself as a fairly trendy young woman who was pretty popular.

She hadn't liked it as a child, but she had four brothers and no sisters. They all grew up to be tanks - good-sized men - whereas she had somehow inherited the 'diminutive gene' or something. She only stood about five foot eight in western units and she was ...

Ok, she wasn't wasp thin. She had a build more like a lean Caucasian woman, but even that wasn't completely correct. It was just more like what fit for a description.

People told her that she was lovely, but she also knew that she had a ... an understated muscular build. And there was that other thing.

She didn't know why or how or anything, but as she grew up, she began to realize that she was more attracted to girls than boys. No idea what had happened there, but she knew that it was so. To herself, she didn't mind it much, since it felt right to her. But finding people like herself had been tough - really tough.

And as well, ... it had been her downfall, if one wanted to call it that.

In Korean culture, it was nothing for girls to hug each other and walk holding hands. It was just what was done and it had been like that for ... well who knew? Pretty well all girls who were friends did that and no one even saw it because that was the way.

Girls who were much closer - someone like Su-jin had wanted to be with another girl had it pretty easy, one might think. Well, once you had somebody like that for yourself.

That was the trouble.

Su-jin knew somebody and as their friendship deepened, she struggled a little inside of herself, being a little shy, but she could never take the step required. She'd thought about it and decided one day to give it a shot and then watched for a suitable opening.

It had happened at a party just after her paid working internship was done. They'd been drinking a little bit and dancing together a whole lot - even the slow dances so Su-jin took it as a little silent encouragement. In a loud place and a dark corner, she kissed her friend in a way that to her seemed fairly harmless and with a little luck, might tell her where she stood.

The overture - and it really hadn't been that much of one, other than touching a clothed breast for several milliseconds during a kiss - was rebuffed instantly and very loudly. As well, another girl had gotten a flash picture with her phone. Su-jin tried to withdraw, but the other girl kept making it into a mountain, something out of all proportion to Su-jin's mind.

She left as soon as she could, very upset over it all and wanting the whole thing to be forgotten.

But it wasn't.

Worse, many of her friends lived near her and she was known in the neighborhood. After the party, she was known for something else - again, out of proportion with everything. Word of it reached her family, since many of her numerous relations worked together and from there it snowballed crazily.

Her parents yelled at her. Her brothers, once they'd heard of it, distanced themselves. Before this, there had been young men who'd shown interest. She hadn't responded very much, but there had always been the 'Plan B' which was that eventually, if nothing worked out otherwise, she could have picked a nice young man and gotten married and all of that.

Not anymore.

Her father told her one night that perhaps the best thing might be for her to go back to live with her relations in the country. Another option which he favored would be to immigrate to the United States, he said. There were relations of her mother's there near Baltimore and her uncle - a very far stretch of the term - had offered a job helping him in his business.

That was when Su-jin knew that it was a more serious nightmare than even she'd thought if they were reaching that far away to send her. Her mother had been upset, but it was passing. Her father had been angry and it remained. The 'uncle' would sponsor her. Money would be exchanged.

Money.

Some family. Some uncle.

She went, wanting to be away from everything and all of it. Other people had gone there and made good. She was resolute after she left. She'd do alright too, she decided.

The job turned out to be working in a convenience store in a shitty neighborhood so the uncle's kids wouldn't have to. The three times that she'd been robbed had all but been blamed on her by this asshole uncle.

Knowing no one and having no inside connections to anything at all, Su-jin had sought out the agency. They offered temporary and permanent positions, some on contract. She'd spent a bit of time there, trying to learn of the equivalency of her skills and seeing what might be out there.

It was sooner than she'd expected to have to do it, but she'd be on her own, cutting all ties with the uncle and probably ruining something for her family back home. She didn't care anymore.

She'd kissed another girl when she'd been a little drunk - that was it. Her former friend had been a lot more inebriated. What was the big deal? She STILL didn't know. She could have taken 'no' for an answer.

So when the agency had sent her an email that there had been some interest, she got up her courage and went. It led to her eventually 'meeting' the client over the internet in her interview. It was something.

It felt like something to her. She decided to go. She tried to find the place on a map, but it wasn't until she'd searched specifically online that she'd gotten results that told her something.

Hmm, New Mexico.

Wow. That is ... out of the way, she thought.

Still it was a job and on her own terms. The client had seemed to like her and she felt that she liked the client. Whatever happened, it was bound to be an experience.

-----------------------

West of Sulphur Springs, Arkansas, over Jack Lee Lake

The horizon tilted a little more before she leveled out. Jane was up here to unwind and it felt great. She felt like she owned a little of the nice landscape that she could see all around and below her.

She didn't own any of it of course, but she owned Tina and that made everything all right. Tina was a Piper PA-36 Pawnee Brave 375. She was old, built in 1978. As well, she'd had a long and varied past.

The Piper Pawnee and all of the related variants were agricultural aircraft and as such, they tended to live the kind of hard lives which they'd been built for. Tina had been a tug once, used to pull advertising banners through the sky around New York City.

She'd also been a glider towplane in her life at times, used to tow gliders up into the sky where they released themselves to soar freely - while Tina and others like her spiraled down and landed quickly so that they could make more money by hauling another glider skyward.

And sometimes - several times - Tina had been a cropduster.

But that was a while ago now.

Tina had been a birthday present earlier this year from the two closest people in Jane's life. At the time, she'd looked more like a retirement home for barn mice.

There hadn't been much wrong with Tina when she'd been put into storage. But the son of her previous owner had sold her off cheap since she looked like hell with wings then.

But to a girl from very humble beginnings, she was the dream. Jane had spent every spare minute that she could, working on until late in the evening, long after everyone had gone home, helping with the repairs.

And the overhaul.

And the re-fit.

And the sweeping out of the many mouse nests, the removal of a dead and long-dried swallow carcass and ... oh yeah, the two very active hornet's nests. Who could forget that enjoyment?

A lot of it was shitty work, but they formed their bond from it, Tina and Jane. The patient had been ... patient as the doctors and surgeons worked. Jane the intern helped where she could. Tina seemed to notice.

The remains of the corroded spray system had been removed as well as the tanks and hoppers for the chemicals that she used to lay down by the mile. Her very sparse instrumentation had gone into the dumpster for the most part since it was beyond hope and 'as new' refurbished (and certified) items were installed and added to.

She'd been purely a stick and rudder plane then and she still was, though there were now altitude and heading holds available at the touch of a finger. Now Tina even had an aviation-grade GPS.

She'd had a fold-down jump seat in the cockpit since the beginning, but that had needed reupholstery just like the other one.

Jane had spent hours sweating in almost a HazMat suit, cleaning everything over and over to be sure that the residues of the pesticides were completely gone. If Jane had her way, Tina was never going to have to sniff that crap anymore.

Her flight certification had long expired and a major overhaul of Tina's engine was required. The wheels and tires were tossed so she now wore fat and spiffy tundra tires, able to leap um, gopher holes and work from rough airstrips.

She'd been bright white before and she still was, though now the paint was new. There had once been a single yellow stripe which ran along both sides from Tina's nose to her tail. That was gone now - replaced by an even wider stripe of bright, girly pink.

With ghost flames.

And at the rear of the forward cowling just in front of the brand new side cockpit windows - each side, there were a few blades of grass painted on, right where it said "Tiny Tina!" with a little daisy next to it.

All of it had come together like butter as the reward for Jane's years of hard work and study.

Jane had been made out of perhaps the worst reason. She'd been the barbed hook to hold her mother within reach of her father's money. He was considered fairly worthless by his own family for a number of reasons. About the only thing that he'd ever done right was to learn to drive transports so that he could make his money, almost never coming home, which suited his layabout wife just fine.

Once Jane was out of the bag, so to speak, his wife had pretty much ignored her - as much as was possible.

But the infant did have her cousins. A boy and a girl.

They were eight years old and staunch best friends between them when Jane was born and they were cousins all around - the boy to the girl, and both of them to Jane. They came to see her at the hospital after she'd been born and they'd been head over heels over each other ever since - all of them once Jane was old enough to figure it out.

Along the way, life for Jane had gotten a little worse before it had gotten better, but in the end, thanks mostly to the boy and the girl, she'd been taken from her mother by the county and adopted by the girl's father - Jane's grandfather. So Jane had gotten a promotion to be the girl's adopted sister and her young life improved immeasurably from it.

When she was grown, the sister formed a company with her father. It provided crop spraying service from one side and hauled freight on the other. The boy was something of a mystery as far as what he did, though if he was asked, he'd say that he was a trouble-shooter for an elderly businessman and he spent most of his time in far-flung places solving last minute difficulties which prevented business deals from coming together. That was the truth and what he did was legal.