Christy Miller Collection, Vol 2

by Robin Jones Gunn

  “Oh, right!” Todd said, and the next thing Christy knew, he had tipped the raft and dumped her into the water.

  She came up laughing and splashing as Todd tried to get on the raft.

  “Oh, no you don’t!” She tried her best to flip him over but didn’t succeed.

  They both laughed and splashed each other, and then Christy dove under the raft and tried pulling it out from under him. Todd reached under and grabbed her wrist, pulling her up out of the water.

  “Okay, okay, we’ll share.” Todd slipped into the water up to his waist, resting his elbows on the raft. Christy did the same on the other side of the raft.

  Todd didn’t use any words. He spoke only with his eyes. Christy knew what he was asking, and she knew she couldn’t lie.

  “Okay, Paula’s bothering me. She’s changed so much since we were friends back in Wisconsin.”

  “So have you.”

  “Yeah, but I changed for the good when I became a Christian last summer. I know that sounds egotistical, and I don’t mean that I’m perfect now or anything.”

  Todd smiled.

  Christy could guess what he was thinking. “I guess I proved that this morning, didn’t I?”

  “None of us are perfect, Christy.”

  “Right, but the thing about Paula is she’s not even trying to live morally or anything. I wish she’d become a Christian. I’m worried she’ll turn out like Alissa.”

  “Turn out like Alissa? Alissa’s not done yet.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, Shawn, for instance. Now, he’s done. He doesn’t have any more choices or any more chances. He’s dead.”

  It sounded so blunt. Christy winced inwardly and waited for Todd to continue.

  “You know, I prayed for Shawn every day for more than a year. As far as I know, he died without ever surrendering to Christ. And now—” Todd looked away as he spoke—“he’s done. They have a word for it in Hawaiian: pau.”

  “Pow?” Christy repeated.

  “Yeah, pau. Means ‘finished,’ ‘complete,’ ‘no more chances.’ Shawn is pau. But Alissa’s not. And neither is Paula.”

  Christy fluttered her legs in the warm ocean water and felt the sun pounding on her back. She thought she understood what Todd was saying.

  “I’ve been praying for Alissa,” Todd continued, “every day.”

  “And you think that’s what I should be doing with Paula? Praying for her?”

  Todd nodded, his smile returning. “And love her for who she is, not for who you want her to be.”

  “That’s hard to do, Todd. I want her to become a Christian so badly.”

  “That’s good. I want her to become a Christian too. You know, it’s really God’s kindness that leads us to repentance, not His judgment. We have to start praying, Kilikina.”

  Christy recognized that name as the same one Todd had used at the airport. “What does that word mean?”

  “Kilikina? That’s your name in Hawaiian. Actually, it’s Hawaiian for ‘Christina.’ ‘Christy’ would be Kiliki.”

  The word sounded like a wild bird call with the syllables rolling off Todd’s tongue. Christy loved the way he said it. “Say it again.”

  “Kilikina.”

  “How did you know it?”

  Todd looked down, almost as if he was embarrassed to give her his answer. Without looking up he said, “When I was in the third grade here, there was a haole girl—”

  Christy interrupted. “What’s a how-lee?”

  “A white person. You know, blond, fair-skinned, blue-eyed. Someone who’s obviously not Polynesian. Only four of us haoles were in my third-grade class—me, two other guys, and then this girl named Christina.”

  Todd looked at Christy and smiled a third-grader kind of smile. “I had an awful crush on her. The teacher called us all by our Hawaiian names in class, and Kilikina was the first name I learned.”

  Todd looked cute, the sun lighting up his hair, elbows propped up on the raft, confessing his first crush to her.

  “What’s your name in Hawaiian?” Christy asked.

  He hesitated, then smiled and said, “Koka.”

  “Koka?”

  “Yeah. I hated it because all the kids called me Koka Cola.”

  Christy laughed and noticed someone on the shore waving to them. “Is that my uncle?”

  Todd looked across the bright glare on the water. “Looks like he wants us to come up. Come on. I’ll give you a ride.”

  Their time together ended too soon for Christy. Every time she talked to Todd she felt like she learned something new about him, and they became closer to each other as a result.

  When she slid all the way onto the raft and stretched out on her stomach, she took in a sweeping view of the clear sparkling lagoon, the curving shoreline dotted with tourists, and behind the hotels, the smooth green West Maui Mountains wearing their afternoon halo of baby’s breath clouds.

  I will always remember this day … forever. I never would have guessed I’d spend my sixteenth birthday on a tropical island with Todd. Somebody pinch me; I must be dreaming!

  She didn’t need to be pinched. At that very moment, Todd toppled the raft, and the dousing proved to be sufficient evidence that she was awake. They splashed each other some more before Christy resumed her position on top of the raft, then holding on tightly, she called, “Take me to shore, mister, and no more funny stuff!”

  He looked like a sea turtle, sticking his neck out of the water at intervals while tugboating her raft back to shore. Christy laughed aloud with glee, wondering how she could have been so angry this morning or why she ever felt Paula could possibly come between her and Todd.

  “Marti and your mom already headed for the car,” Bob told them when they arrived back at the beach towels, breathless and sparkling with saltwater. “David’s over there by the tide pools, trying to catch a fish, and Paula is about twenty yards down the beach, talking to some guys. We need to get going.”

  “What are we doing for dinner?” Christy asked.

  “That’s our little surprise,” Bob said with a wink. “Why don’t you go find Paula? Todd, you get David, okay?”

  Christy jogged off down the beach and found Paula sitting on a grass mat next to two guys. By the looks of things, they enjoyed her entertaining conversation. Paula introduced them as Jackson and Jonathan, two members of a band called Teralon.

  “We need to get going,” Christy said politely. “It was nice to meet you both.”

  “We’re going to a luau tonight.” Then Paula immediately pressed her hand over her mouth, her baby-doll eyes opening wide, and cutely added, “Oops. You didn’t hear that, Christy.”

  “You’re in trouble now, Paula,” one of the guys teased from behind his dark sunglasses.

  “I’d better go.” She rose to her feet. “Maybe I’ll see you guys again.”

  “You never know,” the other guy said as Christy and Paula walked away. “If not here, then hopefully in heaven!”

  “Were they Christians?” Christy looked back over her shoulder and returned their friendly wave.

  “Slightly!” Paula said. “Of all the guys on the beach, I have to pick two Jesus freaks to talk to. They really were sweet, but all they wanted to talk about was ‘the Lord.’ ” Paula shook her head. “First Todd this morning with all his bits of spiritual wisdom and now these guys. What’s going on here?”

  Christy broke into a wide grin, using all her self-control to keep from laughing aloud.

  Paula saw the grin, though. “What?”

  Christy didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to. Paula came to the same conclusion Christy had and voiced it with an air of disgust.

  “Oh, don’t you dare try to tell me meeting those guys was one of your little God-things!”

  “Okay, Paula.” Christy kept grinning. “I won’t tell you.”

  “Go ahead,” Todd encouraged. “Try some poi. You put two fingers in like this.”

  He stuck his fingers in the sma
ll wooden calabash bowl in the center of the table and quickly drew the sticky gray substance to his lips.

  “It looks too gooey,” Paula said, making a face. “What does it taste like?”

  Todd licked his lips and stuck his fingers back in the bowl. “Like, um, like poi. That’s it! It tastes like poi. Come on, Christy. The birthday girl can’t go to a luau and not eat poi.”

  Christy bravely dipped a finger in and drew it to her lips. “What is this stuff, anyway?”

  “The old Hawaiians ate it. It comes from the root of the taro plant. They pound it to make it mushy like this.”

  Christy touched the tip of her tongue with the poi, which had the color and consistency of wallpaper paste. Paula, sitting directly across from her, watched her reaction.

  “It doesn’t really have a taste.” Christy turned to Todd, who sat next to her. “Did you eat this stuff all the time you lived here?”

  “I’ve had my share. You get enough down there, Bob?”

  Bob, Marti, Mom, and David all reached for their bowl of poi at the same time. Marti was the first to say, “Here, Todd. You can have the rest of ours.”

  They all laughed, and the merry mood continued through the luau. Christy decided to be adventurous and try a few things she didn’t normally eat, like mangoes in the fruit salad and shredded pork wrapped up in ti leaves, which Todd called laulaus.

  Paula, not demonstrating an adventurous spirit, barely ate a thing besides the white rice. Part of Paula’s problem was her sunburn.

  All day at the beach Christy had obediently smeared her skin with sunscreen, but Paula refused, saying she tanned easily and never burned. Even Marti’s warnings bounced off Paula, who seemed determined to soak up as much Hawaiian sun as possible, parading her white flesh up and down the beach in her pink bikini.

  When they dressed for the luau, Christy had covered herself with aloe vera gel, and now in the coolness of the setting sun, she was only a tiny bit sunburned on her back. Paula’s flaming red face proved she’d gotten too much sun. Even her lips and eyelids had swollen. She was hurting, even though she’d convinced all of them on the way to the luau that her stomach felt a little pink, but that was all.

  Todd looked incredibly good in his blue-flowered Hawaiian shirt. Like an island boy. With his tan face, sun-streaked blond hair, and screaming silver-blue eyes, Todd had never looked better.

  Christy wasn’t the only one who noticed how good Todd looked. Paula had once again locked her gaze on him, and all during dinner, every time Christy looked up, she felt something was going on between the two of them.

  By the time the show began and the Polynesian dancers appeared on stage in their ceremonial costumes, Christy had convinced herself that whatever game Paula was playing, Christy could play it too.

  They applauded the talented hula dancers, and when David’s favorite, the fire dancer, jumped onto the stage, Christy moved her chair closer to Todd for a better view. She slightly moved her arm so that she brushed up against the sleeve of Todd’s shirt. She couldn’t tell if he noticed or not. He seemed completely caught up in the show.

  The show’s host came to the microphone and asked for the crowd to “put your hands together” for the fire dancer one more time. Then he asked if there were any birthdays or anniversaries in the group.

  David pointed at Christy, whistling loudly. She shrank down in her seat and prayed they wouldn’t make her stand up or anything. To her relief, all they did was ask the group to sing “Happy Birthday” to the six birthday people. It was kind of fun being sung to, as long as she didn’t have to stand. That would have been too embarrassing.

  “You got off easy.” Todd leaned closer to her. “I thought they were going to call you up on stage.”

  He barely finished speaking before several guys, dressed only in cloths around their waists and wreaths of thin green leaves around their heads, came running through the audience to select their dance partners. One of the brown-skinned dancers appeared at their table and beckoned to Christy, holding out his hand as the drums on the stage beat their commands, “Come, come, come, come …”

  Christy resisted, sinking into her chair, shaking her head. She could feel her pulse begin to beat time with the drums.

  “Go on, Christy,” Paula urged. “Go with him!”

  “No, you go, Paula. Take her!” Christy pointed across the table. Now’s your chance to be as adventurous as you want, Paula!

  “Take both wahines!” Todd shouted to the dancer. “Make both girls go.”

  The dancer stood firm, one arm stretched out to Christy and the other arm now pointing to Paula. In a voice much larger than himself, he spoke. “Both wahines come!”

  And so they did.

  The drums changed into Tahitian dance music the minute Christy and Paula stepped onto the stage. They joined the seven other “victims,” and in front of more than a hundred people, Christy swayed and wiggled and stamped her feet, feeling silly and embarrassed.

  The flowered lei around her neck swished back and forth across her favorite flowered sundress, and she couldn’t tell at all if she looked cute or ridiculous. By the time she’d come up with some kind of pattern for her feet to follow, she had the feeling she looked more like a cheerleader in slow motion than a fluid-moving hula dancer.

  Paula was into the dance, wiggling her hips so her white shorts swished back and forth. She locked her blue-eyed gaze on her native dance partner, who by now had turned his back on Christy, totally ignoring her and having fun showing off with Paula.

  The drums came to an abrupt halt, and the dancer slipped his arm around Paula’s waist and said something Christy couldn’t hear. She wasn’t about to stick around on stage to see if anyone had any secret messages for her.

  Quickly making her way down the stage steps, she was aware some people she passed had video cameras. They might have actually taped her embarrassing moment on stage.

  Good thing I didn’t do anything really embarrassing. I could have ended up on that TV show as one of “America’s funniest.”

  Before she managed to get back in her seat, the girl dancers had spread out in the audience. It didn’t surprise Christy to see that Todd was one of their first selections. He slid past Christy, shrugging his shoulders and obediently following the wahine in the grass skirt.

  David laughed at Christy when she sat down, but Bob, Mom, and Marti had sweet things to say. They repeated the same bits of praise to Paula when she returned to her seat.

  Now it was Todd’s turn. The drums began slowly, and the dancers swished their grass skirts back and forth, inviting the guys to follow their motions. Since Todd had proved to be so familiar with Hawaiian ways, Christy sat back, waiting for him to wow the audience with his expert hula dancing.

  To her surprise and everyone else’s humor, Todd turned out to be a total hula klutz.

  “Guys just can’t move their hips like that,” Paula said in between bursts of laughter. “Look at him! He’s the star of the show.”

  Of the eight or nine men they’d called up on stage, Todd stood out as the worst dancer. A large man in the front row balanced his video camera on his shoulder and taped the whole thing. The funniest part was that Todd seemed to be sincerely trying to hula and didn’t realize how hilarious he looked with his arms in the air and hips doing a sort of offbeat wiggle.

  Before the music ended, all the hula-dancer girls formed a circle with Todd in the middle. They danced around him so all Christy could clearly see were his arms waving in the air.

  “I’d try to hide that kind of dancing too.” Bob chuckled. “A surfer he is; a dancer he’s not.”

  Bob teased Todd when he sat down by patting him on the shoulder. “We all have our strengths and weaknesses, son. Stick to surfing!”

  Christy laughed along with the rest of them, yet she wondered if their teasing hurt Todd’s feelings. If it did, he didn’t show it. He even made some jokes about himself as they left the luau and began a leisurely stroll along the winding Kaanapali Beac
h walkway.

  Christy made sure she was positioned right by Todd’s side while they walked, wondering if she should clutch his arm the way she had at the airport or wait to see if he’d reach for her hand. At the luau Todd had divided his attention equally between Christy and Paula. Now, with the ocean singing its eternal song only a few yards to their left and the velvet sky sprinkled with diamonds high above them, Christy felt hopelessly romantic.

  It’s my birthday, Todd. It’s my sixteenth birthday, and here we are, walking along the beach in Maui. You have to hold my hand or pay some kind of special attention to me. You have to!

  “Todd,” Paula chirped loudly, “wait up!”

  She left the clump of Bob, Marti, Mom, and David and scooted up to Todd’s other side, freely clutching his arm and holding it with both hands.

  “We should make a deal. You teach me to surf, and I’ll teach you to dance. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

  Christy’s mind whirled through a split-second debate on how she could respond to this situation. She could grab Todd’s other arm, she could fall back with the grown-ups to test Todd and see if he came back for her, or she could turn into a cat-woman and scratch Paula’s eyes out.

  Before she could choose the best option, Marti nosed into their threesome and stated, “Paula, I’ve been wanting a chance to talk with you, and this is the perfect opportunity.”

  Marti abruptly linked her arm through Paula’s and pulled her away from Todd, positioning herself and Paula several feet in front of Todd and Christy.

  All right, Aunt Marti! I take back every mean thing I ever thought about you. You really are on my side!

  “I’ve been meaning to tell you, Paula dear, that with a few simple pointers, I believe you could lose some of your Midwest flavor and take on a more West Coast style. First, let’s evaluate the way you walk.” and on Marti went, conducting her unique style of charm school with a rather willing Paula.

  Christy thought of a whole string of things to say to Todd as the gentle evening breeze caressed her shoulders, awakening the sweet fragrance in her plumeria and tuberose lei. But she couldn’t get herself to jump in and start talking because she kept hoping Todd would slip his arm around her or take her hand.