The Lunas

by Keith R. Rees

Chapter 24

  Peter sat on the couch near the dart board in the lounge at Hoapili dorm. Kaila paced the floor nervously in front of him as he read her paper. After he finished, he rested the pages on his lap and looked at her with an awestruck expression. She froze in her tracks, waiting eagerly for him to say something.

  “Well??” Kaila gasped in anticipation.

  Peter finally opened his mouth. He looked dumbfounded. “Wow,” he calmly said.

  She took a few steps toward him, looking at him quizzically. She threw her hands together as if in prayer. “Wow?” she exclaimed. “Wow what?”

  Peter finally composed himself, snapping back to reality after reading the gripping story. “I mean, wow, you did it! You pulled it off.” He picked the papers up in one hand and while looking at them said, “This is incredible!”

  Kaila’s eyes and mouth opened wide and she excitedly responded, “Really? Yes!!” She leaped into the air and nearly fell on top of him on the sofa. He caught her in his arms and she tumbled next to him laughing all the way. “You really think so?”

  “Yeah, I do! You really nailed it!” He hugged her tightly. “You’re really going to be a writer. Not just a journalist, but a real writer!”

  She was ecstatic and hugged him back. “You really think so?” she asked again.

  “I do! You have real talent, baby.”

  “Ohhh, I’m so relieved! Thank you!” She gave him a quick kiss, hoping no one saw her. “Oh my gosh, I worked so hard on that. It took me so long to finally get myself in gear. But you know what I did?”

  “No, what?” Peter asked. He was so happy for her. And he was incredibly happy to see her as well. He had missed her immensely.

  Kaila straightened herself on the couch and replied, “I got on my scooter one afternoon and just started riding around thinking. I went to all the places that you and I have gone together.” He squeezed her hand as she talked. “And I just sat and thought. I cleared my mind of everything. Then went back to the house and just did it.”

  “Well, you did great, sweetheart. Mr. Tran will give you an A for sure.”

  “Did you finish yours up?” she asked.

  “Yeah, pretty much,” he answered. “I left it in the room. Vince was still working on his when I checked back in earlier.”

  They jumped up and began to play darts again. They were very happy to see each other after the long break. It had been some time since they played darts together too. She was delighted to have him standing next to her again as she took her turn at the darts. His intoxicating, manly scent and just his warm presence made her feel content and completely in love. She was incredibly happy to have reunited with him.

  Peter was overjoyed as well, remembering how lovely her perfume smells on her. How she tossed her ponytail. How she laughed. It had only been a few weeks, but his heart filled with love for her in seeing her again. He never knew he could miss someone as much as he missed Kaila.

  A few days later, Kaila sat in Mister Tran’s literature class. Everyone had turned in their papers days before and was eagerly awaiting their grades on them.

  The teacher walked up and down the aisles handing each student their paper without saying a word. Some students smiled at the grade they received and others gasped in seeing they had not done well. When he reached Kaila’s desk, he handed her the graded paper and smiled at her over his glasses. Kaila raised an eyebrow and she lifted her paper to see what grade she received. A big red letter A was circled on her cover page along with a yellow Post-It note that Mister Tran had placed especially on hers. She looked around the room to see if any other students had the yellow sticky note on theirs but she saw none. She hovered over her desk to conceal it and read the note.

  The note read: This is what I was talking about, Miss Alapai. I knew you had it in you. Excellent work and a fabulous tale. Well done! You have exceeded my expectations! David Malo would be proud. Aloha!

  Kaila smiled proudly. She caught Mister Tran’s attention as he sat down at his desk and nodded to him in appreciation. He smiled and nodded back to her.

  The days began to pass quickly for the seniors and as May approached the excitement among them was growing day by day. A hint of Hawaiian spring was in the air and signs were beginning to show around the island as well as on the school campus. Plumeria trees that were bare during the winter months were beginning to sprout leaves again and clusters of fragrant flower buds began to appear on them as well.

  Many activities were happening nearly every week, including the Honolulu Festival in Waikiki that many of the seniors attended on Oahu. But more importantly for the boarders was the annual David Malo Day hoolaulea. It was fast approaching and boarders played an important part in the yearly festivities.

  David Malo came to Lahaina from the Island of Hawaii in 1823 and studied with the missionaries. He became one of the original students at Lahainaluna in 1831. The year 1836 marked the beginning of the Boarding Department which he helped establish for students all around Hawaii to come and learn. Later on, he worked with Kamehameha III in drafting the first Declaration of Rights in Hawaii and in 1841 he became the first superintendent of schools. At his request, he was buried near the site of the ‘L’ high above the school on Mount Ball, or Pau Pau Pau.

  In mid-April the boarders would commemorate their founder by opening their dorms for an open house, provide a sumptuous lau lau dinner and then join with the school’s Hawaiiana Club to entertain guests with song and dance. It was always the biggest day of the year for the boarders and preparations went into full swing after the winter break.

  Choir practice with Mrs. Song became more focused than ever as they practiced for the upcoming festival as well as graduation. As Mrs. Song directed each student one at a time on where they should stand, Vince fidgeted in his seat.

  “Man, I’ll be glad when we are done with these practices,” he whispered to Peter. “We’re gonna have to go unwind somewhere on a beach after all this is over. All of us.”

  Peter nodded and whispered back, “No doubt, man.”

  Then Vince had a brilliant idea. He leaned over to Peter and whispered, “Hey, let’s start a chain and send a message to everybody in here.”

  “Start a chain?”

  “Yeah,” Vince hissed. “I’ll start it and then you pass it down. And then so on and so on. They’ll get it.”

  “Oh right, OK,” Peter agreed. “So what do you want to pass down?”

  Vince shot a quick glance at Mrs. Song down in front and made sure she was not watching him. He leaned in and whispered, “After -party at Ukumehame. Saturday night with all the boarders. Pass it down.”

  Peter pursed his lips and nodded in agreement. He covertly leaned over to Oki and whispered to him, “After-party at Ukumehame. Saturday night, all the boarders. Pass it down.”

  Oki smiled deviously and agreed. He leaned over to Kai and whispered in his ear the same thing, but of course, a slightly different version. “Party at Ukumehame Saturday night with the boarders. Wear a purple shirt, pass it down.”

  His brother gave him a funny look. Oki urged him to comply and smiled devilishly. Kai smiled and understood: Get the word out about the party, but have some fun with it too. He looked down the row to see Vince smiling like a jackal and gave Kai a thumbs up in saying “Pass it on man!” Kai leaned over to Fin and whispered, “Party afterward Saturday. Ukumehame. Boarders wear purple, go in groups in taxis. Pass it on.”

  Fin looked up. “Huh?”

  “Pass it on, man!” Kai hissed.

  Fin shrugged and obeyed, but he really did not hear what Kai had said. He leaned over to the next boy. “Party at Ukumehame Saturday. Your mama is a taxi groupie. Purple monkey dishwater. Pass it on.”

  The boy began to laugh and Mrs. Song shot a glare towards the upper row with a raised eyebrow. “Let us continue people,” she commanded. “Turn to page twenty-two in your music books.”

  Fin snickered and looked down the row. He could
see Vince pleading for them to keep passing it on. Fin elbowed the boy to continue. He smiled and whispered the message to the boy seated in front of him.

  Soon the message had reached all the way down to the girls in the front rows. Each message was received with snickers and almost boisterous giggling. Vince could not help, but laugh to himself as he watched what he had created mutate down the bleachers. He could barely contain himself from laughter.

  Mrs. Song was not amused at all. “Let’s pay attention people! We have to be ready for this weekend!” She shook her head wearily. “I can see what’s going on with you people and I can only imagine it started with you, Vincent.” He stopped smiling and cowered behind the person in front of him. “Can we please knock it off and get back to choir practice?”

  “Yes ma’am,” Vince said. “I’m sorry.”

  After practice was over the kids gathered their things and all of them were laughing. They had all received the main portion of the message that there was to be a boarder party at the beach park Ukumehame. But the rest of the message had been garbled in such comedic fashion that some were in stitches over it. After all, it had passed through dozens of kids just as Vince had planned.

  Taney in particular was quite amused by it all. As she threw on her sweater she said out loud, “Vince, I know you started this. And don’t bother denying it. I just have one question though. Who the heck are the Purple Monkey’s and how long has yo mama been a gypsy road queen, taxi-drivin’ groupie for them?”

  The whole room burst into laughter as well as Vince. He did not care if the joke was on him. He was just happy at what he had created all during choir practice. To him, it was his crowning moment.

  It was the morning of the annual celebration for David Malo Day. Peter and Kaila were down at the pig pens tending to the pigs. Later that afternoon parents and former alumni would descend upon the campus for the annual lau lau dinner and open house.

  As Peter watered the troughs for the pigs, he called out to Kaila on the other side of the pen. “Hey you know, I’ve been thinking.”

  “Uh oh, don’t hurt yourself,” Kaila joked.

  Peter laughed, “No really. I think we should use some other online messenger to chat with each other. The one we are using seems to be real flaky.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that too,” Kaila agreed. “I keep getting emails telling me to change my password. Let’s use that other one that doesn’t have email.”

  “Yeah, let’s see how that works. We can get an ID created later on. How you comin’ over there?”

  “Sounds good,” Kaila answered. “I’m done, slowpoke. I’m waiting on you.”

  Later that morning Peter setup a user ID using another online chat tool that was not tied into email. He sent Kaila an email telling her he was logged in and what his new username was so she could find him online. Within moments Peter’s phone beeped signaling he had a new message. She was online with her new ID. He smiled at her choice of username, Hulagirl2012. He typed into his phone:

  Hey it works. Hey there Hula girl!

  Hey there! Love the name you chose, DartVader, lol. That should be my name since you are always losing, lol.

  Very funny. What are you doing today before the dinner? I gotta finish some homework and I have a test next week.

  Well, Dartboy, I need to get a few things at the ABC store at the mall. But I’ve got some studying to do too after that. Wanta get it done so we can go to the beach park tonight.

  Yeah, that’ll be fun even though we can’t stay all that long.

  Yeah, it’ll be fun though. I gotta go baby. I’ll ttys. Luv u.

  Luv u too!

  Kaila grabbed her backpack and headed for the door. She walked down the hill and hopped on her scooter and headed downhill towards town.

  She casually walked around the mall and headed towards the ABC store, all the while messaging Peter back at the school.

  People everywhere here today. It’s crazy.

  Oh yeah? Must be ‘Boat Day.’

  Yeah, I think it is. Lots more tourists than usual.

  She browsed through the store taking her time. She walked up and down the fragrance aisle looking for what she needed. Exasperated, she tapped quickly on her phone:

 

  Dang it! I can’t find what I need here.

  What are you looking for, babe?

  I want to get some more of my favorite lotion with the plumeria scent but they are out. I think I am going to check over at the store on Front St. I’ll ttys baby.

  She made her way over from the mall to the crowded downtown main drag of Lahaina. Indeed it was ‘Boat Day’ and tourists were all up and down the busy seaside street. Luckily she was able to find a two-hour parking space on the street, although she did not need that much time.

  It’s chaos down here. I hope they have it though. Not getting my hopes up with all these people.

  I thought I told them to stay on the ship until you were done shopping!

  You need to tell them again Dartboy. 

  It’s DartVader, lol.

  She made it into the busy convenience store and quickly walked over to the lotions. Yes! she muttered to herself, as they had only two more bottles. She grabbed them both and headed for the checkout. As she stood in line she noticed a familiar person flipping through the magazines behind her.

  Her eyes widened when she heard the person walk up behind her and say, “Hey there, hula girl. What you up to?”

  Startled, she turned around to see Jeff. “Huh?” she asked, befuddled. She wondered why he would call her that. “Oh, you’re that guy from the game. What do you want?”

  “Yeah, Pete’s buddy,” he said calmly. He extended his hand and introduced himself. “I’m Jeff. How’s it hangin?’”

  Kaila did not shake his hand though. She just stood and glared at him. “You’re not his buddy from what I have heard. What are you doing here? What do you want?”

  “Ah Peter, he’s just jokin’ around. Nothin’, just doin’ a little shoppin.’” Kaila did not trust him any further than she could throw him. “So where is ol’ Pete anyway?”

  “You should know,” Kaila shot back. “You seem to know every move he makes. Me too for that matter.” She took her lotion to the counter as it was her turn in line. “He’s not interested in whatever you are up to. So just leave us alone.” The clerk behind the counter gave Jeff a suspicious look. Jeff decided it was best if he let it be for now.

  “We’ll let Pete decide on that,” he said coolly. “I better get back to my shopping. Nice runnin’ into you, sweet thing.”

  “Whatever,” Kaila muttered. She smiled at the clerk who checked her out. “Sorry about that. He’s an idiot.”

  “No argument there,” the clerk laughed. “Mahalo and come again.”

  She sat on her scooter outside by the sea wall and tapped the keys on her phone.

  Guess who I just ran into? You will NOT believe!

  Oh no. Who?

  Jeff!

  What??? Oh man, this has got to stop.

  He’s such an a-hole! He just pops up outta nowhere, just like he did with you.

  I’m sorry baby. We may have to call the cops on him. This is getting bad. Tell me about it when you get back. Let’s get off this thing.

  Why? You think he’s up to something?

  I get that feeling. Just doesn’t smell right.

  OK, I’ll see u in a bit. 

  When she returned to the campus Peter was waiting for her to walk up the hill to the school entrance. He hugged her and gave her a quick kiss.

  “What is that jerk doing?” she asked nervously. “Is he following us or what?”

  Peter shook his head. “I dunno. He’s definitely up to something. He followed me around back home and now he’s following you. That pisses me off.”

  “What are we gonna do?”

  He stared at the ground trying to think. “He knows I know
what he does and more than likely is still doing it. If I go to the cops, he’ll just rat me out again. Leave me hangin’ like he did last year. I dunno, I’ll think of something. But I do not want him following you around. I’m so sorry about that. Really ticks me off.”

  Kaila took a deep breath. “It’s OK. I can just tell him off again if I ever see him again. We got this thing today and I still have to study some. We’ll worry about it later.”

  “OK,” Peter said. “Again I’m sorry for what he did. He’s such a moron. I’m glad you got your lotion though. I love the way it smells on you.”

  “That’s why I got it, baby.” She leaned over and kissed him deep and hard, not caring if anyone saw them at the school. “I’ll see you later.”

  Peter just smiled as she walked back to the dorm. Her kisses always brought him to his knees. It made him forget about everything else going on. He loved it.

  The doors were opened to the dormitories and parents and guests and former boarder alumni milled about outside and inside, talking and mingling with each other. The festivities of David Malo Day had begun and all the students were dressed in their best attire to welcome their guests.

  Kaila’s aunt and uncle came, as well as Leilani and Kari. Peter’s parents had called him earlier in the afternoon and apologized for not being there, but said they would be thinking of him. Peter said it was OK and he knew they would be there for graduation next month.

  Mr. Campbell stood proudly at the doorway of the boys’ dorm, welcoming guests. “Mahalo for coming! Please come on in.” Vince came walking in escorting his mother. “Aloha, Mrs. Seau. Welcome back! Vince, I trust your room is in order.”

  “Of course it is!” Vince said proudly.

  “That will be a pleasant surprise,” Mr. Campbell said.

  After the open house, the guests made their way over to Boarders’ Field where the lau lau dinner would be served. Afterwards they would be entertained by the Hawaiiana Club performing various Hawaiian dances and then the Boarders’ Chorus would sing on the steps of the amphitheater.

  The boarder students all helped provide food to their guests in the serving line and even waited at table for them. Others brought out drink refreshments and at the end of the dinner they brought out dessert.

  After dinner, the Hawaiiana Club took to the stage in different groups, dancing various hula dances with boys only, then girls only and then both of them together. The crowd applauded cheerfully after each routine. Parents and family were proud as they watched their children perform for them.

  Finally it was time for the Boarder Chorus to perform. All dressed in white, they took the stage and lined the stone steps as Mrs. Song stood before them as director. She was dressed in a beautiful red outfit to complete the school colors on stage. Peter and Kaila and all the boarders stood and sang proudly the songs they had been practicing all year long. Everyone in the crowd watched intently with broad smiles on their faces. The chorus was doing a wonderful job and it showed on Mrs. Song’s face. The finale was the school alma mater which was everyone’s favorite. The boys and girls sang the duet in a wondrous harmony that rang out across the field and cascaded down the mountain. The crowd cheered and gave them a standing ovation. They had pulled it off and the festivities ended on a successful note. Mrs. Song could not have been more proud of them.