Coyote Holds a Full House in His Hand
...ar she disapproves of the perfumed, pastel letters sent to him by Mrs. Sekakaku. Coyote is hopeful that, with Mrs. Sekakaku in another village, he will have a fresh start, away from where “nobody understood just what kind of man he was. They thought he was sort of good for nothing, he knew that…” So he woos Mrs. Sekakaku and hints he would like to “see the beautiful Hopi mesas with snow on them.” When she continues to ignore his hints, he sends a big poinsettia via the mail bus to her. He believes she “finally realized the kind of man he was” and began hinting that he should come see her at Bean Dance time. Coyote reminisces about his life and all the reasons he believes his life is the way it is. He thinks about his chance to marry when he was young: When Mildred told him she was marrying that Hopi, he didn’t try to stop her although she stood there for a long time like she was waiting for him to say something…Her mother and aunts owned so many fields they expected a husband to hoe…but after Mildred’s wedding, people…started joking about how he had lost out to a Hopi. Later, the older men of his village comfort him with stories about how they had also lost women to Hopi men; and how all the stories about what wonderful lovers Hopi men are, are made up by the Hopi men themselves. He thinks about how he “could be a good lawyer because he was so good at making up stories to justify why things happened they way they did.” So he decides to climb on the mail bus to go see Mrs. Sekakaku, not because of Mildred and the Hopi stories, but because of the Hopi woman’s letters and “because it was lonely living in a place where no one appreciates you even when you keep trying and trying.” Arriving on Mrs. Sekakaku’s door step his hopes begin to unravel as he finds her not at home and his presence loudly proclaimed to the neighbors by her dog. He feels foolish as she comes up behind him and explains her absence while directing her words and attention to the dog. Inside, she warms up leftovers for lunch and then leaves him alone on the sofa when her niece comes over to discuss her Aunt Mamie’s dizzy spells. He begins to figure out that he has been set up and used by the widow. She is not the woman she has presented herself as. She is not wearing the perfume she wore at the Laguna feast he met her at and that she also sprinkled on her letters. She is not the woman who allowed the wind to blow her skirt up and reveal the fleshy legs he finds so appealing. She is not the vulnerable widow in a “big, lonely house.” “She had lured his letters and snapshots and the big poinsettia plant to show off to her sisters and aunts, and now his visit so she could pretend he had come uninvited, overcome with desire for her. He should have seen it all along…” These were his thoughts as Mrs. Sekakaku sat yacking with her niece about the old aunt’s troubles. Coyote feels bitter, and determines to get the old aunt out of her bed and ‘fix’ things. He decides to run his own scam. He uses what he knows of the Hopi women and their culture and presents himself as a medicine man and offers his services at “no charge” “because these Hopi ladies were like all the other Pueblo women…always worrying about saving money.” He begins to experience a change in the widow and her niece’s treatment of him right away. They immediately serve him a meal. Then he tells them to gather all Aunt Mamie’s clanswomen together. There were to be no men around. He knew the Hop...