by Albert Wendt
‘Are you threatening me?’ Daniel dares ask.
‘Not you, Dan; the Judge, the rangatira of your Tribe.’ There is no anger, no distress; just a plain, undeniable statement of truth. ‘Don’t get me wrong, Dan. I have genuine aroha for Mere. But, brother, this is business, like Mere’s in the business of dispensing justice. I need to make a deal about this whole affair.’
Daniel needs to breathe, gain time to understand and untangle all the different permutations of the deal Tahu is offering him, and decide the best options to take. And he keeps hoping he can trust Tahu, because he can’t trust Fletch and Bonzy and Feau, and now he is even doubting the members of the Tribe. ‘So the deal is, you want to know what my offer is for your support and loyalty, right?’
‘Right!’
‘How do I know you’ll stick to our deal if one of the other players offers you more, Tahu?’
Clasping his right hand over his mouth, Tahu guffaws. ‘You’ll just have to trust the porridge I’ve cooked, Dan!’
‘And it’s very expensive porridge, eh?’
Tahu nods and says, ’Remember, Dan, it’s homemade, and homemade is always better and more expensive than factory-produced.’ He looks at Daniel, and the moko is shaped into a sly winning smile.
‘Can’t you trust me to make sure “Waioha Enterprises” gets a very fair share of Aaron’s estate?’
‘Just name the bottom line, Dan.’ Tahu places his left hand on Daniel’s shoulder and squeezes gently, calmly. It doesn’t take Daniel long to decide on the package of money and property, and he tells Tahu.
‘Dan, that’s a very generous offer,’ Tahu says.
The car park behind them along the seawall is almost full of vehicles, and many people are now sitting alongside them. A few are walking the beach. The sky is a dome of white light, and the breeze has vanished. ‘I need some good fish ’n’ chips,’ Tahu says. Turning round, he points across the busy main street that runs along the shorefront, at the Fish Pot Restaurant. ‘Shall we go there and seal our deal with some good fish ’n’ chips?’
As they stroll back over the lawn, across which lies the cross-shaped shadow of a tall Norfolk pine, Tahu puts his right arm across Daniel’s shoulder, and Daniel feels Tahu and he are back in Waioha, when they trusted each other unreservedly. They stop on the footpath and, when there is a lull in the traffic, hurry across the road, side by side, and into the restaurant.
When Daniel gets back Laura is waiting for him. After he describes enthusiastically how Tahu is, he pours himself a glass of wine, sits down opposite her, and says, ‘Tahu gave me enough hints to confirm that Feau and Bonzy, who we’ve suspected up to now, killed Aaron.’
‘But why? Over what?’
‘He didn’t say but it must have been over something deadly important.’
‘Should we let the others know?’ she asks, softly.
He nods repeatedly. ‘We have to be prepared for what may happen.’
That night, they ring the senior members of the Tribe: all of them show no surprise.
39
When Laura and Daniel pick up Daniel’s mother and Muta at the airport, at midday, she doesn’t recognise them, even when Cheryl introduces them by their names. Neither is she mistaking him for Aaron. She sits between them on the back seat and, ignoring them, describes their flight in enthusiastic detail to Cheryl, who is driving. There are no disconnections in time, location or sequence in her telling: she is in the present, and looking forward to her new apartment in the city she’d first lived and worked in. Lemu and Mahina and other members of the Tribe are in her story, but Laura and Daniel are absent – as if they’d not existed in her life. But Daniel isn’t upset by that; not then, anyway, because she is well, physically, and he is happy to be with her.
Her furniture and other possessions arrived two days before. Supervised by Cheryl and Laura, a team of workers arranged them in her new apartment the way she’d had them in Wellington. Laura insisted that large photographs of her and Daniel and Phillip, as individuals and as they looked now, be put in her gallery of photos in the sitting room.
‘Ese le magaia o lo‘u apartment, Muta!’ Daniel’s mother congratulates him as she moves round the sitting room; they follow her.
‘Thanks to Laura and Daniel,’ Muta replies. She pauses and glances at Laura and then at Daniel. She is focused, puzzled – then, like a wave of light, a smile of recognition spreads across her face, and she steps into Laura’s fierce embrace.
‘Thank you, Laura. It’s been so long, eh?’ She cries into Laura’s shoulder. ‘Where you been all this time?’
Laura hugs her tightly.’You’re been away so long,’ she whispers.
‘And where’s Dan?’ she asks. When Daniel hears that he almost bursts with hope. ‘Where’s my brainy son?’ Laura turns her round to face Daniel.
She swings away from Laura and into his arms. ‘You still good looking, boy!’ she says, burying her face in his neck. He cries silently into her hair. ‘What’s wrong? O le a le mea ua kupu?’ she asks, pushing him back and gazing up into his face. ‘I’m home, Daniel in the lion’s den. No need to worry; no need.’ She reaches up and wipes his tears away with her fingers. ‘Ku‘u loa lou kagi.’
40
They avoid looking at Aaron’s portrait above them. It is about 7.30 p.m. and, as stipulated in Aaron’s will, only the elders of the Freemans Bay Tribe – Mere, Paul and Cherie, Keith and Langi, Laura and Daniel – and Ripeka and Mason and Katherine Mills, Aaron’s lawyer, are gathered in Mere’s study.
Daniel and Katherine had arrived earlier and discussed Daniel’s queries about the will, and she’d assured him the meeting would go well. But as he watches and listens to the others discussing how well their rangatahi organised Aaron’s tangi and hākari – they all refuse to refer to Feau and Bonzy – and recalls how Ripeka and Mason had talked about Aaron, his apprehension and feelings of inadequacy worsen. He is dreading the Tribe’s reactions to the will and the most enticing wealth ever offered to them. He glances at Laura, and she smiles at him. Over the years, Laura has learned to read him with complex accuracy, especially when he feels insecure or indecisive. Now, as usual, he can see that she feels protective of him.
‘Shall we start?’ Mere opens the meeting. ‘We’re here, as you know, to hear Aaron’s will. Ripeka and Mason were not here when the first section of the will was read to us, so they may want to ask about that.’
Ripeka and Mason shake their heads.
Looking at Mere, Katherine says, ‘Aaron wanted Dan to be his executor, so Dan will read the will and then answer and discuss any questions you may have about it. I’ll help him do that, if it’s necessary.’
Daniel, gazing round the room, says, ‘Most of you know the conditions Aaron has in his will about his tangi; we’ve carried all those out successfully, I believe.’ The others indicate their agreement. ‘Our rangatahi, led by Cheryl, did a splendid job with that …’
‘It could’ve been a balls-up!’ Mere laughs. The others agree.
‘And because we’ve fulfilled that part of his will, I can now reveal the rest,’ Daniel continues, feeling more confident. He begins to read.
‘“My worthless dust is to be scattered in the garden of my Franklin Street home, and in Mere’s garden.”’ Daniel waits for their reactions.
‘Gotta give it to our brother: he was one brave Māori, to want cremation!’ Paul declares. The others chorus in agreement.
‘And braver still to want his ashes scattered in places other than urupā,’ Mere offers.
Without looking at any of them, Daniel says, ‘We have to do one more thing before his property becomes ours.’ He can’t say it, so he gazes at Mere, who looks away. Laura and Katherine hold him in their sympathetic gaze.
‘We’re waiting, Dan,’ Paul demands.
‘Yes, to see what else Aaron has for us,’ Laura says. Daniel
glances at her, and again he experiences the alofa he had for her when they were young.
‘We are to find out who killed him and then …’ he can’t continue.
‘Prosecute them,’ Mere says. But Daniel knows she is deliberately avoiding the word, execute.
Paul and Keith start speaking, but then stop as the dark implications of Aaron’s last wish slide into their reckoning. Laura is on her feet, trembling, arms wrapped round her shoulders as if she is cold. ‘There, I knew it: the other face of our loving, caring brother who lived beyond the law,’ she says.
‘Now for the first time in our lives, he is daring us to live beyond the law too,’ Keith says softly.
‘What are we going to do?’ Daniel is the first to recover.
Laura, with her usual direct honesty, cuts right through their fears. ‘If we don’t want to find and punish his killers?’
Daniel doesn’t need to look to Mere for help. ‘We and his other heirs do not get any of his estate. It goes to the charities we decide it should go to.’
‘What happens if some of us do not want to carry out any of his wishes?’ Paul asks.
‘His will is quite clear on that,’ Katherine emphasises. ‘As the beneficiaries you must all agree to every condition. One dissenter on any condition is enough for charity to get his estate.’
Mere starts laughing and they wonder what she is going to say next. ‘Bloody Aaron always had a strange and profound sense of humour. This last joke is on all of us.’ She pauses, and then adds, ‘You are assuming we have to find his killers and then avenge his death?’ Most of them agree. ‘His will doesn’t say that. We just need to help the police find them, and the law will take its course.’
‘There is no capital punishment any more, so they won’t be executed,’ Laura reminds them.
‘Does the will say they – they have to be executed?’ Cherie asks. They all look at Daniel, who looks at Katherine.
‘I don’t think that is clear in the will,’ Katherine replies.
‘But it is implied, isn’t it?’ Laura pursues her. ‘And knowing our Aaron, that’s what he wants …’
‘Not necessarily.’ Daniel tries to extricate them from that truth about Aaron.
‘The police investigation is continuing,’ Mere again intervenes. ‘Let’s wait and see what happens with that. Meanwhile let’s continue celebrating our devious brother’s life.’
Some of them get drinks and food from the bar and kitchen, but they continue discussing Aaron and his will. Daniel again checks individually with the senior members of the Tribe that they agree on Feau and Bonzy being Aaron’s killers.
‘How are we going to explain his last wish to our kids and his nephews and nieces?’ Paul continues.
‘They’ll love it. They’ll recognise it as a continuation of their loving uncle’s weird and demanding ways,’ Laura says and, when she automatically wheels towards him and hugs him, he almost weeps with the hope that she has forgiven him.
They raise their glasses and drink to Aaron, and then resume their light-hearted conversation, but they know they cannot extricate themselves from the terrible truth of the vengeance Aaron wants.
‘Is it all right to ask what property our brother has – or should I say, had?’ Mason makes the unadorned inquiry. Daniel tries to believe the sadness and aroha that lace Mason’s voice is genuine, despite how Mason and Ripeka have spoken about Aaron. A wary awkwardness now grips the meeting.
Keeping his voice as neutral as possible, Daniel reads out the relevant section.
‘Wow. Apartments, houses, commercial property, shares, etc, etc, etc,’ Mason muses as soon as Daniel ends. ‘I mean, I know our beloved brother was very very enterprising but I …’
‘I never thought our brother was that rich!’ Ripeka says, eyes bright with surprise. ‘He never once told us anything about it.’
‘He was the brightest of us all,’ Laura interrupts, trying to disguise her suspicions of Mason and Ripeka. The others agree with her.
‘There is an attachment of bequests that goes with the will,’ Daniel explains. ‘In that he itemises who is to get what.’
‘Do we have to wait until the final condition of the will is fulfilled before you can read us that section?’ Laura asks.
They are now at the threshold of what they’ve been avoiding: most of them don’t need their shares of Aaron’s estate financially – but they don’t want to find out how much Aaron valued each of them, measured up against one another. They want to believe their cohesion as the Tribe and their aroha for one another will hold against personal greed; the demanding temptation to accept a share of the estate at all costs.
‘No, I can read it out now, if you want?’ Daniel tells Laura. He looks round the room.
Mere nods and says, ‘It’ll be good if you do that, Daniel.’ Some of the others agree. Once again Daniel gazes at Laura, who nods once.
Slowly, deliberately, carefully he reads the attachment, as if he is picking his way through an intricate, dangerous labyrinth, all the time registering the emotional changes that each bequest effects in the beneficiaries. As he ends, he hides his exhilarating satisfaction at the fairly equal way Aaron has shared his estate and the relief most of the others are exuding because of it.
‘Do any of you have queries about what I’ve just revealed?’ he asks, gazing again at Laura for help. He knows the questioning is going to be subtle at first but could then become more accusing; more threatening of his and the Tribe’s integrity.
‘Do you know who those “associates” and companies are, that are benefitting?’ Mere starts. ‘Such as “Waioha Enterprises”?’
‘You know what Aaron was like: he had lots of companies and associates he didn’t want us to know about,’ Daniel replies.
‘I know who they are,’ Katherine helps him. ‘Aaron wants them to remain confidential. Dan and I will make sure they get their bequests.’
As soon as he feels Ripeka’s gaze focusing on him, Daniel becomes guarded. ‘Dan, did I hear correctly that the Salvation Army is getting quite a share of my brother’s estate?’ she starts.
‘Yes, the Sallies were Aaron’s favourite charity,’ he replies, knowing where Ripeka is going.
‘He paid monthly contributions to them,’ Katherine said. ‘Much of it had to do with the Sallies saving him from his drug addiction.’ Some of the others are surprised.
‘Yeah, he must’ve been so grateful to the Sallies: he’s giving them our mother’s home,’ Mason says. ‘Isn’t that what the will says?’
‘Yes, that home and other properties and shares are to be sold and the money is to go to the Salvation Army,’ Daniel replies, tense.
‘But can he sell a home that doesn’t belong to him?’ Ripeka continues.
Daniel looks at Katherine, who says, clearly, ‘The deeds clearly show that Aaron is sole owner of that property.’
‘Our mother told us many times that she was leaving our home to the three of us,’ Ripeka insists, her body hunched up in protest.
‘He has left you your home in Kaitaia, an apartment in Freemans Bay and a packet of shares,’ Katherine answers her challenge, obliquely. But Daniel knows Ripeka and Mason are not going to relent.
‘We’re bloody grateful for that, but the Freemans Bay property is our family home!’ Mason says.
Daniel is ready to confront him, but Mere intervenes. ‘There is an easy way out of that,’ she says. She pauses and, gazing directly at Mason, says, ‘You can sell some of your other inheritance and buy back your family home.’ The others look at Mason and Ripeka. ‘Or you can get your lawyer to challenge Aaron’s ownership of your home,’ Laura says, quietly.
‘But Dan has already said that if any of us challenge Aaron’s will about anything, the whole lot goes to charity?’ Ripeka insists.
‘That is correct,’ Katherine says.
‘So
once again, you jokers, with all your brains and conniving, have a large say in our family affairs,’ Mason objects, and he is not afraid to gaze heatedly at each of them. ‘And you’ve all got a very, very pretty share of his things!’
‘I am Aaron’s lawyer,’ Katherine replies, ‘and I wrote down what Aaron wanted. No other person in this room had any say in his will.’
‘And each beneficiary gets a fairly equal share,’ Daniel emphasises. Visibly, Mason recoils by scrunching up his body and shutting his eyes tightly. They expect him to continue his accusations with greater fury. But Mere is quick.
‘If any of you are dissatisfied with your bequest, there is a simple solution to resolving it,’ Mere says. Ripeka and Mason refuse to look at her. ‘You reject your shares or Aaron’s wish for us to avenge his death, and his property goes to charities we nominate.’ Daniel’s defensive reaction is automatic: he can’t give up his lucrative share. He surveys the others: same reaction; same attempt to disguise it. None of the others want to seriously contemplate Mere’s solution. ‘It’s even simpler than that: just one of us needs to do that, and we all have to give the money to charity.’ Her eyes sparkle, her smile stripping them of cover. ‘Folks, it’s the money or the charities.’
Daniel watches Mason squirming and wants to expose him, so he says, ‘So, Mason, what is it to be?’ The others rivet their gaze on Mason, who is now looking at his sister.
Ripeka does not hesitate. ‘Its okay for you all because – because you’re well off …’
‘But we need the money!’ Mason finishes her declaration.
Daniel immediately realises that Ripeka’s and Mason’s unexpected honesty is having the effect of placing Mere’s choice clearly on him and the others. He doesn’t want to be the first to declare his choice.
Except for Laura, they were all born in 1958, and have known one another since they first met in Miss Baystall’s class, when they were five years old. Like other people, they’ve each suffered pain and loss and failure and joy and happiness and success and many changes and challenges, but one thing has not broken – their alofa for one another, which continues to hold their Tribe together. But they are aware that Aaron is again the largest threat in the room, watching them with sadistic glee, knowing they don’t want to give up their individual shares of his estate.