Jack & Jill - The Move

After much thought & prayer Jill agrees to travel across the country to live with her boyfriend, Jack. They'd talked about it for months but she was still skeptical of the outcome. Her finances were low and even though Jack had promised to take care of the entire moving expenses, Jill had an uneasy feeling about this. Its just nerves, her girlfriend had said last night. Its a big deal what you're about to do, so its alright to be a little scared. Yes I suppose you are right, replied Jill. They were to have dinner together at La Pointe hotel on Saturday, along with another friend. Saying goodbye was never fun but at least they'd already talked about meeting up in Montgomery in a few months. Jill's host parents from college had invited them all to spend a week with the family to celebrate their sixtieth birthday. Both husband and wife had the same birthday- kind of cool. Now it was time to finish the last of the packing and wait for the shippers who were expected in about four hours. Just then Missy called. She wanted to stop by but Jill had lots to get done. I'll help you, volunteered Missy who was already missing her big sister. Well, she wasn't her real big sister but ever since Jill had worked at Maris summer camp three years ago in Clover, near Rochester, the now nineteen year old Missy had grown attached to her. Jill was equally fond of her.

Straight away the two girls had clicked. Their friendship was instantaneous. Missy was dark and often mistaken to be Latina, Italian or Greek. In fact she was none of them. Her father was Scottish and mother Japanese. Her dark waist-long hair always attracted compliments wherever she went. She had other siblings who were much older than her, in fact much older than Jill too, so Missy spent much of her time alone. Her parents were still out in California yet Missy had chosen to attend university on the east coast after the college of her choice offered her a scholarship to study psychology. Already in her third year she was thinking of moving back home for graduate school, just because she'd be closer to Jill. Her family resided about 85 miles east of San Diego on the outskirts of Borrego Springs. Jill was relocating to Avondale right outside of Phoenix. She planned to check out the programs offered at University of California at La Jolla and California State at San Marcos campus. Her course advisor had informed her that UC had a Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology whereas the latter had an MA in Psychology course.

Jill had majored in Architecture and taken a minor in Photography during her undergraduate years at UMass and was ready to commence a Master's Program in Photography. She had contemplated colleges in Arizona but proved unsuccessful in finding a suitable course. Unknown to Missy was the fact that she had received an acceptance letter from La Jolla earlier in the week, so both girls might end up attending the same school. Missy would be thrilled. Jill was eight years her senior and equally dark in complexion. On occasion they had been assumed to be siblings. They differed in that Jill kept her hair so short that it barely touched her shoulders. It was usually pinned back like in the style of the fifties. It suited her. Both girls were about five feet and six inches tall, muscular and lovers of the outdoors. The older girl was of Jewish ancestry. She was named Jael but mostly her family called her that now. She remembered the first day at a new school when she'd gone home in tears, announcing to grandpa that she wanted to be called Jill. The kids had teased her because of her name. Her grandfather had cradled her in his arms and laughed a long time. Then he had told her this story: There was a cruel leader who ruled his people mercilessly for a long time. One day his soldiers were caught off guard and attacked but he managed to escape. He ran into Jael's tent begging for safety. She took him in while her husband was still at war. That night she waited for him to sleep and then killed him. She was very brave and saved her people from further trouble by that cruel general . Grandpa had been kind but she had asked everyone to call her Jill anyway. In a moment of introspection she decided that she would revert to using her Hebrew name.

The Heskels, her father's parents, had emigrated from Iraq around 1950 and settled in Israel for a few years. She recalled many of her grandfather's stories. They had been part of the rescue en masse of thousands of Iraqi Jews by the Israeli government. It had been a perilous time. They had come to America a decade later in the wake of some shift in Israel's economy, settling in Southern California. Anyway, she spoke Arabic and Hebrew fluently as a result of spending her summers studying at language institutes all through high school. Regardless she considered herself to be a second generation American. Well she was. She made a mental note to call grandpa before she left this weekend. She missed him. They had been very close. These days she hardly had time to visit him, especially since she'd lived between Massachusetts, New York and Maryland these past few years. Disengaging from her thoughts she glanced across at the clock.

It was agreed that Missy would come and help her. She had relented partly because Missy would not make the dinner date on Saturday. She had stuff to do at school. Before long her cell phone rang again- Missy was outside and Jill buzzed her in. Wow, you're all set girl, Missy declared cheerfully. Pretty much I guess, Jill responded. Okay, so what do you need me to do?, the younger girl questioned as she took off her outer coat. They spent the next few hours taping boxes, labeling them and positioning them by the door. At exactly six thirty the phone rang. This time it was the shipper. He parked the moving van as close to the building as he could then he and the girls set about loading the cartons into the van. It was a small van with a trailer behind. Definitely not what she'd expected, but what to do? It took them an hour to empty her apartment. Jill paid a small deposit after which Mr. Jameson departed, promising her safe delivery of her belongings in ten days. Tired, she allowed Missy to order Chinese shrimps & broccoli with the sweet iced tea she enjoyed. The take-out place was only down the road so the food arrived in less than twenty minutes. After eating they settled down to watch some movies on her laptop. The house was empty and their voices echoed. She asked Missy to spend the night and she gladly agreed. It would be collapsed and folded boxes for beds tonight. Tomorrow Jill would move to the small hotel downtown where she would remain until her travel on Sunday night.

Before they turned in for the night, Jill called Jack to give him an update. They chatted briefly before bidding each other good night. By the time she finished, Missy was long asleep and her gentle breathing resounded in the unusually quiet apartment. The temperature was expected to drop and Jill placed another blanket over her friend. She decided to sleep with her warm dressing gown on, then pulled part of the blanket over herself too. With that, her head touched the pillow and next she knew it was morning.