He had come to work direct from Leilani’s apartment where he had done something that, for him, was unheard of except when he was sick. He had spent an afternoon in bed with Leilani, an afternoon that stretched into the night. After making love to her in mid-afternoon, they left her bed only to go to the bathroom and to rummage in her refrigerator for something to eat. Sometime that night, they filled a tray with small snacks and bottles of water that they consumed in bed.
Much of that time, they lay luxuriating on the sheets, caressing and talking. They made love again at night, and fell asleep. At dawn, they made love a third time, and caressed and talked until Leilani’s alarm clock rang.
Justin sat back and rocked his office chair as far as it could go, back and forth. He gave up trying to work and indulged himself in his vivid memories of the past night. He pulled the lapel on his shirt toward his nose and inhaled. He and Leilani had showered together, but Justin could still smell her on him and his shirt, and feel her caresses on his skin.
“Boss, you’re daydreaming,” said a voice from behind him in a mix of British and Indian accent that could only belong to Danny, the youngest member of his team.
“Yeah, I guess I am.”
Danny peered at his face and grinned. “You look like you’re on cloud nine. Did you finally bed that glorious siren from that Pacific island?”
Justin was surprised to find himself feeling irritated at the remark, but he forced a smile. “That’s off limits, Danny. We don’t talk about her that way, here or anywhere else.”
“Sorry, Justin. Won’t happen again.” Danny stepped back, his face purple underneath his dark skin.
Justin flashed him a reassuring smile. “No harm done. And thank you for jolting me back into the real world.”
At lunch, he rang Leilani up at her office.
He said, “I wanted to hear your voice. How are you?”
“Wonderful. I finally know what it’s like looking at the world with rose-colored glasses. Some of my clients said I looked like I’m glowing—the ones who’re not so engrossed in their problems, anyway.”
“I feel like a different person, too. First time I snapped at a member of my team.”
“Why? What happened?”
“He was too flippant about you. I’ve suddenly gotten sensitive to anything someone says about you.”
“They know about me?”
“Not really. They don’t even know your name, but I had to tell them about the mugging and how I was rescued by this glorious siren from one of the Pacific islands.”
“I hope you didn’t say anything about my gun-toting prowess.”
“Sorely tempted, but I wanted to make you sound like wonder woman who needed no weapons but her brains and her quick moves.”
She chuckled. “You mean like those heroines in Chinese action movies? Anyway, I’m flattered that you think I’m glorious.”
“Glorious is merely the beginning of it, my darling. When do I see you next?”
“This week is hectic. I have a full schedule of patients and several psych reports to write. This Friday evening is the earliest I’ll be free.”
“Let’s get married.”
“You’re joking.”
“Only half-joking. I’ll see you Friday. Your place or mine?”
*****
Many happy weeks rolled by during which Christmas came and went, Justin asked Greg and Elise over for dinner at his apartment, Elise delivered another baby boy, and Justin brought Leilani to a dinner at his parents’ house to celebrate the new addition to the family.
Greg and Elise were not surprised to find Leilani when they arrived at Justin’s apartment for dinner. Elise embraced and kissed Leilani, and whispered to her brother that she and Greg knew all along that he and Leilani would come together.
The second week of March, James Peter Thorpe—named after Greg’s father and Justin’s older brother—was born. Justin and Leilani visited the couple at the hospital to see the new baby.
Greg, sporting a broad smile, grasped Justin’s extended hand, and said, “It’s the most incredible thing witnessing this child come into this world, knowing he came from me and Elise, helping her deliver him. Nothing like anything you’ve ever experienced.”
Justin chuckled. “Better than making love?”
“I didn’t say that. You could say this is more spiritual than physical.”
“And the other is the other way around?”
“The other is both if you are truly making love and not just having sex.”
“Spoken like a pro, bro.”
Greg grinned. “You’ll know what I mean when you get there—to the baby part, I mean. I regret now that I missed Goyo’s birth.”
“That’s my fiercely independent little sister for you. What could you have done when she was all by herself, thought it was her decision to make? So, she called the shots.”
“I think I was to blame for that decision,” Greg said sadly. “Another thing I regret. But … that’s all in the past. We’re together now.”
His gaze wandered toward Leilani and he inclined his head in her direction, “This looks serious, and you’re glowing with happiness.”
Justin grinned. “It is and I am, but I’m biding my time. We’ll get there—where you are.”
A couple of weeks later, Agnieszka Halverson gathered the Thorpe and Halverson families for a dinner to celebrate the new arrival. In addition to the family usually present at such dinners, Greg’s mother was there in one of her rare nights out of her home. She came with Brenda, the niece she raised and treated like a daughter. Justin brought Leilani who was meeting his parents for the first time.
He was anxious for his mother and Leilani to like each other right away, so he steered the conversation between the two toward their shared habit of relaxing with herbal teas.
Mrs. Halverson perked up to find a kindred spirit. “Wonderful. I know my kids snicker behind my back—affectionately, of course—about my ‘tea habit.’ They don’t believe in the soothing powers of herbs. Justin calls it a lot of hype to try to sell a handful of herbs.”
Leilani said, “It might be hype, but if we feel it helps and we fork out just a few pennies, what’s the harm?”
“Well, it sure is relaxing and I’m not about to give up drinking it or serving it.”
Justin said, “Mom, you got us wrong. We like your herbal teas. Elise keeps boxes of it that she offers at breakfast and dinner. And, now, with Leilani totally wired into it, I’m beginning to see its merits.”
“Right,” his mother said. “But you’ve always said, tea is not for real men.”
“Mom, I was kidding.” Justin placed his arm on his mother’s shoulder and pulled her closer.
The tea habit was merely the start of a long conversation between her and Leilani, a conversation that ended only when Mrs. Halverson heard the dinging of the timer on the roast.
*****
Agnieszka Halverson’s dinner party was the first get-together Leilani attended where everyone but her was born and raised in the same culture. Outside of her family and the few friends they had, mostly from Costa Mora, she had seldom been to parties in mixed company.
At first, she stayed close to Justin, uncertain how the Halversons and their other guests regarded someone like her. She was thankful Greg and Elise were there, but they both settled on the couch, their attention claimed by the new baby, the Halversons’ oldest brother, Peter, and Greg’s mother, Mrs. Thorpe. Both never left the armchairs they occupied next to the couch until Mrs. Halverson called everyone to the dinner table.
In the group around Elise, Brenda had pulled a chair facing the couple, leaving no room for anyone else to join them. Leilani noticed that Brenda’s gaze kept wandering in her direction ever since she and Justin arrived.
Later, when she and Justin went into the kitchen to talk to his mother and offer their help, Mrs. Halverson’s warm, gentle manner reassured her, and she started to rel
ax. Their long conversation about herbal brews drifted into other topics and, by dinnertime, she was at ease.
Justin’s father, Dr. Halverson, an economics professor, was witty and engaging to talk to, and Leilani saw that he was much attuned to his wife’s needs. He anticipated and gave her whatever she was going to ask for before she said anything about it. He also seemed quite attached to the Thorpes’ older son, Goyo, who dragged him to a bedroom, presumably to play or read to the little boy. The two came out a few minutes before Mrs. Halverson announced dinner.
At dinner, Leilani sat to the left of Peter who occupied the chair next to Mrs. Halverson’s end of the table. Peter was less garrulous than Justin, but like his brother and sister, he had much to say and was never at a loss for words. Talking to him and Elise, to her left, and feasting on the scrumptious dishes Mrs. Halverson prepared, Leilani passed the best time at a celebration dinner that she ever had.
Later, everyone returned to the living room for after-dinner coffee, where chairs had been rearranged around the coffee table. Leilani sat on one of the chairs and watched as Brenda stood around, as if unable to make up her mind where to sit. Brenda stared at the chair next to hers, but seemed hesitant to take it. She knew Brenda was as ill at ease as she had initially been, so she caught her eye and smiled.
That seemed to be the encouragement Brenda needed. She smiled back and took the seat next to hers.
Brenda said, “So, this is your first time at Elise’s mother’s dinner.
“Uh-huh.”
“I’ve been to a couple myself. They’re nice people, but they talk too much.”
“They seem to have fun talking,” Leilani said.
“Elise, my cousin Greg’s wife—she’s, you know, a feminist type who thinks she can think and do anything a man does. I’m the opposite. Like you.”
Puzzled, Leilani said, “Like me? In what way?”
“You’re from another country, right?”
“Yes, but this is my home now.”
Brenda nodded. “I know. I can tell. I read in an article once that immigrants are more likely to be conservative because they’re anxious to adjust. I believe in the traditional role of women so I’m also conservative.”
“How could you tell I’m an immigrant? I may have been born here.”
“Well, you’re not American, not white, not black so you’re from another country, unless you come from Hawaii, but I don’t think so. More than half the people in this state are immigrants.”
Leilani wanted to laugh at Brenda’s simplistic reasoning, and yet it had a logic to it that was so direct that she could not help admiring it. She smiled and said, “You’re quite observant.”
“Thank you, I try. I’ve been watching you and admiring how feminine you look. You know, delicate features and all. May I touch your skin?”
Brenda’s request dismayed her. She was beginning to like this woman who was painfully aware that she didn’t fit in, but her request struck Leilani as strange, even rude. Still, she could not refuse or she might seem impolite. Maybe, that request also stemmed from Brenda’s simple, direct logic.
Leilani nodded and Brenda touched her skin and her hair.
Brenda said, “Your skin is so smooth and soft. How do you shave the hair on it without making it feel kind of sand-papery?”
“I don’t shave my skin.”
“Oh, I thought … . I guess you don’t straighten your hair, either.”
Leilani did not answer. She was past thinking such remarks offensive. Many people apparently could not distinguish among various shades of brown skin and, across the years, they had mistaken her for one race or another. She had learned to ignore it, but she could not help a few moments of feeling uneasy when someone openly expressed fascination with her color or any other physical characteristic that set her apart from those around her.
With her curiosity apparently satisfied, Brenda found very little else to talk to Leilani about and Leilani did not bother to keep their conversation going. Except for an occasional remark about their drinks or the tiny pastries served with them, the two kept silent.
A little while later, Justin—who had been talking to Peter, Greg, and Elise at the other end of the coffee table—rose from his chair and approached Leilani and Brenda.
He said, “Can I break in on your conversation? There was something I promised to show Leilani.”
Brenda said, “Oh, that’s okay by me. We weren’t talking much. We were both just watching and listening to you all.”
“Good. I hope you’re enjoying yourself.”
Brenda said, “Oh, I’m having fun.”
Leilani had risen from her chair by then. She said, “Good talking to you, Brenda. Shall we go, Justin?”
“I hope that wasn’t too painful?” Justin said, in a low voice, when they were some paces away from where Brenda sat.
Leilani said, also in a low voice, “No. It was actually interesting, and yet, a little sad. Brenda is very much aware that she doesn’t belong in this company.”
“I think she thinks we’re all crazy leftists.”
“Most likely. She touched my skin and was surprised that I didn’t shave.”
“You’re joking.”
“No. A few people have asked me the same thing or said something weird because they see me as different. But, it doesn’t happen that often, especially around here.”
“I’ll never understand what that’s like, but I’m sorry.”
Leilani shrugged. “What were you going to show me? I don’t remember you promising to show me something.”
“Let’s go out on the porch for a minute, so Brenda will think that’s what I’m doing.”
“Was that what this was all about?”
“My way of rescuing you from dull company.”
“Brenda wasn’t all that dull.”
“Is that in your training? Looking for something interesting in everyone?”
“There is always something interesting in everyone. For certain people, you may have to look deeper and longer, but it’s there.”
Out on the porch, Justin said, “You’ve met my off-beat clan. When do I meet your mother?”
“Sooner than you might guess. Mamá called me while I was on the subway to your place this evening. Something has come up about my father.”
“So, what does that have to do with meeting her sooner?”
“She asked me to bring you. I had to tell her a lot about you. My mother is relentless when she wants to know something. We need to set up a time with her. Rudy and General Huang will be there, too.”
XVI. Mamá
Mamá is dying with curiosity about Justin, Leilani thought, after her mother’s call while she was on the train. Quite likely, her mother did have some new information about her father. But, more than that, she meant to look over the young man her daughter finally chose to be interested in, after rejecting everyone else she had introduced to her.
Justin and Leilani arrived at her mother’s house before Rudy and General Huang the following Saturday evening. Mrs. Torres opened the door, nodded at Leilani, and stood for some uncomfortable seconds, peering up at Justin’s face, before casting her eyes downward.
Leilani said, “Mamá, this is Justin.”
“Who else could it be? Come in. Don’t bother taking your shoes off. General Huang doesn’t.” Her mother turned around and led them into her living room.
Leilani pressed her lips together to hold back a stinging retort. She had been taught, early on, never to contradict her mother in front of people who were not family, and that lesson had stuck, along with several other sacrosanct rules on keeping face.
She stared at her mother’s back, gritting her teeth. She had never seen her greet anyone, as if they were not welcome. Her mother had always been a gracious host, even to people she didn’t know.
Her mother said, “Rudy and General Huang will be here soon. I didn’t have time to prepare dinner, so I brought
home some takeout. Something to drink, Justin?”
“No, thank you, Mrs. Torres. I’ll wait until the others are here.”
“Lani, did you tell him that the first thing we always do is have dinner first?”
“Yes, Mamá.” Leilani’s eyes narrowed. She was struggling with irritation at her mother.
Her mother regarded her for some seconds before she averted her eyes. “Come to the kitchen and help me with the takeout, Lani. Justin, please excuse us for a minute. Amuse yourself with those magazines.”
Justin smiled. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Torres, I’m used to amusing myself.”
Leilani heard her mother mutter, “I bet.”
In the kitchen, her mother closed the door and said “I have offended you. I’m sorry.”
“Mamá, I know you’re tense and worried, but is it that hard to show Justin a little more courtesy?”
“Lani, you know I’m not used to people like Justin. They don’t live in this kind of neighborhood. My mahjongg friends, the only friends I have, they’re all immigrants.”
“But you’ve never had problems being gracious to strangers.”
“Yes, but everyone here, at the little markets, the restaurants, the laundromat—they all come from Asian countries and the Pacific Islands. Old people like me? This neighborhood is our world.”
Leilani sighed. “I know that, but still.” She did understand and she hoped Justin understood, as well.
“Tell me, what am I supposed to say to Justin? I can’t make small talk: ‘Great weather today, huh? How’s your poodle, your cat, your bunions?’”
“Bunions?”
“Don’t you know what those are? I get them on the soles of my feet, from walking. They can hurt.”
“Yeah, I know what those are. I get them, too. But I never gave them a name.” Leilani smiled. “Well, we’d better work on this takeout.”
“Let’s put these dishes on plates and we’ll heat them up when everyone is here. I got a large order of broccoli with beef because Americans seem to like them.”
Leilani sighed once more, but she kept silent and hoped her mother would relax as the evening progressed.
Her mother said, “Your boyfriend is as tall as a lamppost, but he’s good-looking, and such blue eyes. He’s too blond, but I’m glad he doesn’t have a big nose.”
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