The 'Ohana Tree

by Rebecca Addison

  "It's the same as every other day except it'll be the weekend."

  She gave me a long, thoughtful look. "It's not the same."

  I tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Say yes. It’ll be the same, except I'll pick you up at home and someone else will make the food."

  She glanced down at my mouth and then back up to meet my eyes. "Yes."

  That time, I couldn't hide my smile.

  We spent the next two hours talking and eating the rest of the food and then she did fall asleep. And I let her. After a while, I covered her with my pareo and walked to the cliff and back and when I returned, she was just waking up. When she saw me, she sat up and narrowed her eyes.

  "Sorry," I said, sitting down on the grass beside her. "You looked too cute. I couldn't do it."

  "How long was I sleeping this time?"

  "A while."

  Her eyes widened like she'd just remembered something and she quickly stood up, walking out from under the tree. "How late is it?"

  I looked at my watch and then back at her. "It's five thirty."

  "Shit." She rushed back to the tree and stuffed the rest of the food and the pareo into the bag. "I need to get back to the house."

  "Do you have to be somewhere?"

  She shook her head. "I can't drive after dark."

  I took the bag from her and picked up the hat she'd left on the ground, pulling it down over her head. "Why not?"

  "I have pretty bad eyesight. I need special glasses to drive, and I can't drive at night. There's a chance that one day I won't be able to drive at all."

  "I'm sorry."

  She lifted one shoulder and raised her eyes to mine. "I'm not ashamed. And you've probably thought it already, anyway. I have albinism, Kai. That's why I look like this." She picked up the length of her hair and dropped it again as if to say, 'See?'

  "You're unbelievably lovely," I said before I stopped myself. My heart hammered in my ears.

  She looked away.

  “Come on,” I said, as I started walking back toward the fruit trees. We were quiet for a while and it didn’t seem to bother her. When she slipped behind the trunk of a big jackfuit tree, I leaned around and caught her wrist. She looked back, her eyes widening with surprise as a small smile played on her lips. I walked around to meet her, closing the gap between us."Don’t run away. How does it affect your vision?"

  She tugged her wrist out of my hand and began walking again, only stopping when she reached the noni trees. I hung back and watched her pick up a fallen fruit, turning it over in her hand. "I have oculocutaneous albinism type 2, so I have a small amount of pigment in my skin and hair and my eyesight is better than it would be if I had OCA1. But I still have trouble with bright lights and I have glasses for driving and reading. I don't see well in the dark."

  "It's going to be dark by the time we get to the house," I said. The light was changing to gray and blue. "I'll drive you home in Garrett's truck. I can walk back to my place from there."

  She threw me the noni fruit and started walking again. "Thanks, that would be great. I can't go home yet, though. I was planning on camping out at one of the cafés in town. Garrett is entertaining."

  "Ah, right." I knew who he was entertaining. Everybody else on the island did, too. But no one talked about it because they knew it would upset my father. Lulu was 48 years old and fierce. She should have been brave enough to stand up to my dad but, like the rest of us, she knew it was easier to just toe the line. We emerged from the cover of the trees and quickly walked across the grass to the kitchen garden gate.

  "We'll take the long way back, then, and pick up some laulau for dinner on the way. It’s pork, wrapped in taro leaves,” I said when I saw her face. “She usually leaves at about nine."

  She stopped with her hand on the gate, turning around so that she leaned on it. "Does everybody here know everyone else's business?"

  "Pretty much."

  "In that case," she said, opening the gate and walking through. "You'd better fill me in on the drive home. If everyone is going to know what I'm up to, then it should, at least, be a level playing field."

  Chapter Nine

  "Hey, Tess," I said the following Saturday as I opened her door. "How's your week been?"

  "Pretty good. I’ve had a hot lunch date every day this week."

  "Is that right?" I said. ''How hot?"

  She raised an eyebrow. "Pretty hot. It's been awkward, though, because before he whisks me away to his beachside mansion, this other guy turns up at the shop every day, and that guy is a real loser.."

  "Really not funny."

  She stepped out and closed the door behind her before threading her arm around mine. "I like my loser just fine. Where are we going? Wait, don't tell me."

  "Aka has been telling us these wild stories about you at dinner every night. Last night he was sitting there way after we'd finished talking about Mumbai."

  She smiled, her eyes lighting up with the memory. "That was a crazy trip. There was this one bar we went to where this man came up to a friend of mine and offered him a snake in exchange for his watch."

  "I know," I laughed, following her down the path to the truck. "Akamu told us. He asked me to find out what kind of snake it was, what you fed it, and where it slept at night."

  I trailed behind her, watching the way she moved and the way she kept pulling her bag back up over her shoulder. It was an ordinary morning, an ordinary moment, and if you asked anyone else they would have said nothing much was happening. But something big was happening to me. Every time I saw her I thought Tess was pretty. She had a soft pink mouth and big blue eyes that really saw me. Her hair was long and silky and even though it was light blonde from a distance, up close it was white, gold and yellow. And it sparkled in the light. Anyone could see that Tessa was a pretty girl. But that afternoon, on that path, was the first time I realized how beautiful she was. I don't remember what she was wearing, or how she'd done her hair. But I do remember the dull, creeping pain as my heart swelled up in my chest when she opened the door and the way I wanted time to stand still just so I could keep looking at her.

  We drove into town and she told me what she'd done that week. She said she was making a map of the island for her travel journal out of watercolors and pencil. I asked her to describe it to me and then she talked about working in the shop while I smiled at the road in front of me. It always made me happy to picture my little brother at work in his shirt and tie, bossing people around.

  "Is it okay if we walk?" I said when we'd parked. "It's not far."

  "Sure."

  I hesitated for a second and then picked up her hand, crossing the road so that we walked in the shade.

  "I just realized I never asked you what you do," she said quickly and I wondered if I was making her nervous.

  "I work with my dad. He has a landscaping business."

  "That makes sense. It must be cool, working outside all day."

  I pulled her closer. "Not really. Being outside is good, I guess, but it's mostly hot, dirty work."

  "Has your family lived here long?"

  "We've been on the island since the beginning."

  "It's so beautiful here. I wake up in the morning and forget where I am for a second, and when I remember, I feel like pinching myself."

  I gave her hand a squeeze.

  We walked to the end of the road, past the last shop and down a long driveway to a car park, then across, over some grass and down a sandy track. There was a wooden building at the bottom, half of it built on a rock shelf and the other half held up by enormous posts so that the front deck was suspended out into the ocean. It had a traditional thatched roof and lanterns lining the open verandah.

  "This is Pete's. It's a cafe by day, club by night," I said as I led her toward the small wooden bridge that had been built on the top of the rock. We got to the bridge and I stopped, glancing down at her hand. The bridge wasn't wide enough for us to walk side by side. Someone was going to have to let go.
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  "The bridge isn't wide enough," she said.

  We were still holding hands.

  "Walk behind me, then."

  She smiled in response so I walked, happy that she didn't want to let go, either. I stepped onto the bridge and bent my arm behind my back so that she could follow me without letting go. Halfway along I glanced over my shoulder and she met my eye, nearly making me trip over my own feet.

  "Aloha!" I called through the doorway.

  "E komo mai!" a voice called back. I tugged her hand and we walked through to a large room with a bar along one wall and a stage on the opposite side. There were a few tables and chairs stacked up and my Aunty Kalea was mopping the floor.

  "Hi Aunty," I said, dropping Tessa's hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shove it into the back pocket of her shorts. I bent down and kissed my aunt on her cheek before turning to Tessa.

  "Aunty, this is Tess. She's new in town. Can we get some lunch?"

  "Aloha," she said, leaning forward to kiss her cheek. "Go and sit outside, I'll bring you some food."

  Tessa followed me out onto the deck and took a seat at a table right on the edge where she could see the water. "I thought you said this was a cafe during the day," she said as soon as I sat down.

  "It is."

  "Then where are the customers?"

  "It's kind of an informal café. It's not open to the public, but family come in to eat if we're in town."

  "So she's your Aunty?"

  "Of course. Why wouldn't she be?"

  "I don't know," she said, "I thought it might be just what people call their elders here. I heard Akamu say 'Aunty Lulu' in the cafe the other day."

  I picked up her hand, rubbing my thumb in little circles on the back of it. It sent goosebumps up and down her arm and I pretended not to see them. "She's also an Aunty. My dad has four sisters. This place is owned by my cousin Pete and his parents."

  "Your favorite!" my Aunty cried as she walked through the doorway with a tray. When she reached the table, she glanced down at our hands before giving me a long, cool stare. She made a sound in the back of her throat and thumped the tray down.

  "This looks good,” Tess said weakly.

  "Just ignore her." I picked up her plate. "Have you tried any of this before?"

  "I've had pulled pork."

  "That's a cool story. But have you had this before?"

  "Well, smarty-pants," she said, "I guess I don't know what that is."

  I loaded her plate then sat back in my chair. "Try it."

  She picked up her fork and I found mine. We each took a bite.

  "It's kalua pork," I said, smiling when I saw her face. "Good, right?"

  "Mmm hmm, it's so good."

  "Ono." I put some more food onto her plate. "We say that when something is delicious. Try the other one."

  She did and told me that it was just as ono as the pork.

  "So how did you get into landscaping?"

  "After we stopped exporting fruit we needed another source of income. The landscaping business is something my dad dreamed up a few years ago. I've been working with him since I finished school."

  "That must be fun," she said, "working with your dad."

  "Well, you've met my dad." I took a big sip of water. "So, Tess, what about you?"

  "What about me?"

  "It's your turn."

  "Who made up these rules?"

  I smiled. "Just tell me something about you."

  She put her fork down next to her plate. "There's not much to say. I've been traveling around the past few years and I'm here now because I've known Garrett since I was a kid, and he's always bugging me to come and visit him."

  "Where have you been?"

  "All over the States, a few places in Central America, South East Asia, most of Europe. You?"

  I shifted in my seat a bit and looked at the sea. "This is it."

  "Do you want to travel?" I met her eyes. She had beautiful eyes.

  "Yeah, I've always wanted to." I dropped my gaze. I didn't feel like telling her the rest of that sentence yet.

  When we'd finished, I let my Aunty know we were leaving and then I led her back through the club to a fire escape on the side of the building. She followed me down the stairs and kicked off her flip flops when she touched the sand. The water glistened and a small cluster of coconut trees bowed to the sand in the distance. I picked up a pebble and threw it into the waves.

  "Feel like a walk?"

  "Sure."

  "Let's go this way."

  We walked for a few minutes in silence, but it didn't feel awkward at all. I was relieved that she didn't feel the need to fill the gaps with small talk like most girls did. I liked quiet. I reckoned she did, too. After a while, the sand met the rocks and I stopped, noticing her bare feet. "You can't walk over those without shoes on."

  "Nope."

  "Can I tell you something?" I asked. I had a feeling I was about to cross a line, but I was going to do it anyway. I'd been working up to it since the first time we'd had lunch. Even then, I knew there shouldn't be any secrets between us.

  "Yes."

  I walked under the shade of a tree, sitting down on the sand and pulling her with me by the hand. "I heard you play your violin. I was out on a run and you were on the lanai at Garrett's place. I stopped and listened. I'm sorry, I should have let you know I was there. But the way you played, Tess, it felt strange. I don't know how to describe it other than it felt like it had energy, it had mana."

  "What do you mean?"

  But I think she knew what I meant.

  "What was that?" I said. "I've never heard anything like it before."

  "I don't know what it is," she said honestly. "I just make it up."

  I kept my eyes on the waves. "You're very talented, you know that?"

  "So people keep saying."

  "I've never met anyone like you before."

  I placed a hand on her knee, my palm buzzing where it touched her skin. She hesitated for a second before leaning in and lightly resting her head on my shoulder.

  "People keep saying that, too."

  Chapter Ten

  She said she had some things to do so I walked her back to town, taking the longest way I knew. When we got to her house, she stopped at the start of the path.

  "Thanks for lunch, I had fun."

  I pulled the gate open and she stepped through, turning around to say goodbye.

  "If you feel like going out tonight, I'll be at Pete's from eight," I said before she disappeared and I missed my chance. "I can introduce you to some people."

  She refused to look at me.

  "Tess," I said, and she reluctantly lifted her eyes to mine. "It doesn't have to be a date. In fact, it can't be a date, because I'll be working."

  She chewed on her bottom lip as she thought. "Maybe I'll stop by later."

  "Do you remember how to get there?"

  She nodded. "See ya later, tree trunk man."

  It was Saturday night in the middle of peak season, so when I arrived at 7.30 pm to set up, I wasn't surprised to see that the tables were full and there was already a line at the bar. I searched every face as soon as I walked in. She wasn't there.

  The rest of the guys arrived one by one and by the time eight o'clock rolled around we were all ready to play. Pete came up to the stage and did his 'Band Manager' bit where he gave us a pep talk and reminded us to play what the girls wanted to hear. The last part was directed at me since I was the one who chose the songs. A big group of girls on a hens’ night made their way into the club and Pete pointed them to a table he'd reserved. It was front and center, and I was going to be singing to them all night. I caught Pete's eye and he grinned at me. I nodded to let him know that I got it. Because of them, he was going to make enough money to cover his expenses for the entire week. More, if I played my cards right.

  "Aloha everyone," I said into the microphone as I sat down on the stool next to me. "Welcome to Pete's." The girls in front screamed and waved
their glasses in the air and the one in the pink bridal veil shook her boobs at me. They'd obviously started their night early. A few other people in the room clapped politely and Pete yelled "Yeah!" from somewhere in the back.

  "We're going to start with a song you all may know," I said as I strummed my ukulele and Sam came in with the opening notes of John Cruz's ‘Island Style’ on his acoustic guitar. Just like every night, people stood to their feet and cheered. Because that was exactly what they wanted to hear when they were on vacation in Hawaii. I got it. I even smiled at the girls as I sang it. When I finished, Pete met my eye and gave me the thumbs up.

  I made my way through the first half of the set list on autopilot. Sing, smile, wink a couple of times. Walk around the tables, choose an unsuspecting guest to go and dance the hula with the girls. Pull the bride to be on the stage, sing a song in Hawaiian, just for her. And the whole time I didn’t stop watching the door, waiting for Tessa to walk through it. By the time we stopped for a half hour break, she still wasn't there and I was so wound up I headed straight for the fire escape. All I wanted was to be alone for a while before I had to go back in there and do it all again.

  "Wait," someone said, putting a hand on my back. I froze with my fingers on the doorknob. Because I was going to have to try damn hard to be polite, and I wasn't sure if I could do it. I turned around slowly, expecting to see one of the girls from the table. Or worse, the bride to be.

  But it was her, of course.

  "You came," I said weakly. "I didn't see you walk in."

  "I've been here since seven," she said. "I've been helping your Aunty Kalea in the kitchen."

  "What? Why?"

  Her smile grew wide. "Why not? I thought she might be one of those people who need to get to know me before they can like me."

  I smiled and shook my head. She was wearing a strapless beach dress that came down to her ankles and her hair was braided loosely and twisted at the nape of her neck. She had bony shoulders. And a neck I desperately wanted to kiss.

  "So did it work?"

  "Well," she said, "I think she likes me now. But she definitely doesn't like me being friends with you. She keeps asking me if I have a boyfriend and when I'm leaving Hawaii."