by Kay Hadashi
“Auntie Addie isn’t staying with us anymore?” Thérèse asked, once Josh got the car going up the slope again.
“She can’t stay with us forever, Sweetie.”
“Why not?”
“She has to go home. She lives in Arizona.”
“How far is that?”
“Far, far away. On the other side of the ocean.”
“Can we go there?” the girl asked once they were going in the back door of the house.
“We live here and she lives there. Now, go to your room and take off your Sunday dress, please. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Maybe we can take a nap together?”
Thérèse trotted down the hall, stumbled once, and got up again, instantly running.
Melanie peeked into the living room. “I wonder where Addie is?”
Josh looked down the hall. “Her door is closed. She might be resting.”
“That sounds like a great idea.” Still in the kitchen, she backed up to Josh so he could unzip her dress in back. “I’ll be in Tay’s room, if the world needs me.”
When she went past Addie’s door, Melanie heard crying inside. Now not just tired, but deflated, she wondered what to do. Letting her woman’s instinct kick in, she knocked on the door.
“Addie, would you like some lemonade? We were just going to make a batch.”
“No, thank you.”
Melanie barely heard the reply. But when she heard footsteps cross the floor in the room, she waited until the door opened.
“Can you sit with me?” the woman asked.
“Of course.”
Before they sat, they shared a long hug.
“I’m sorry about keeping you so busy these last couple of days,” Addie said. She looked almost like a child, sitting cross-legged on the bed, with her letters to her son spread in front of her.
Melanie had taken the rocker in the corner. “I think I would’ve been involved anyway. I’m afraid I haven’t been much good to you, though. Maybe you needed to rest and spend time alone instead of having us drive you all over.”
“No, I wanted to see those places, even if it didn’t answer any questions.”
“I heard from the police and from the coroner. It’s just as we thought. It appears your son was beat up before his accident. You don’t have any idea of who might’ve done that to him?”
Addie shook her head. “Not at all. He mentioned names of his friends but I never wrote anything down. Every time we talked, I asked him to send me letters, and he always promised, but never did. Kenny just didn’t seem to be in any trouble here.” She sorted through a few of her letters to him before tossing them down in frustration. “Do they know what happened? How he died?”
Here was a tough answer. Should Melanie tell the woman that any of three different injuries would’ve killed Kenny, his trauma had been so brutal? Would the knowledge that he died instantly and likely without pain be any comfort to her?
“The police have stepped up their investigation, now considering it a possible homicide.”
“Homicide? Someone killed him?” Addie asked.
“That’s what they’re trying to determine. It might be a case of simple manslaughter. He was likely on a surfboard and hit by a boat traveling at a high rate of speed. He would’ve died instantly. The impact probably broke up his board and he drifted back to shore with the next tide. Eventually, his board leash got tangled in some coral at low tide, which was in the middle of the night, which was a good thing. Otherwise, we might never have found him. I know that all sounds so cruel right now, but I don’t want to hide anything from you.”
Addie talked about her son, him growing up without a father at home for most of his life, how he’d been a loner during school. “But when he discovered Maui, it was as if he had a whole new lease on life. He was happy, unconditionally happy for the first time. I wanted so much for him to come home, but I also was afraid he’d fall into his doldrums again. I just had to leave him alone to figure out what was best. Now, I’m sitting here wondering if it would’ve been better for him to come home and be unhappy? At least that way he’d be alive. I’d still have my Kenny.”
Melanie had nothing to say. She’d wrestled with enough deaths of loved ones in her life, but never a child, or even a sibling.
“I guess I could take the philosophical approach and say it was better he died happy than lived unhappily.”
While the woman went on about her son, Melanie thought of Thérèse, and how she would feel if she ever lost her. As high-maintenance and energetic as she was, she was a huge part of her life.
When the woman finally stopped, Melanie said, “Addie, I need to get some rest.”
She needed help to get out of the rocker, and once she was upright, she went straight to Thérèse’s room.
“Hey, little one. Are you and Mister Clunky playing?”
“Mister Crumpet. We were just talking.”
Melanie fell more than lay down on the girl’s bed. “What about?”
“Mister Crumpet is waiting for our brother to come home.”
“Well, I hate to disappoint Mister Crumpet and you, but you’re getting a sister.”
“For real?”
“Yep. For real.”
“No can change her to a boy?”
“Nope, sorry. What’s wrong with a girl?”
“That would be three girls and only one boy at home.” Thérèse held up her fingers to count with. “Number One is you. Number Two is me. And Number Three is baby Sofia. But there’s only Daddy on the boy list.”
“Doesn’t seem fair, does it? But you know what? I think he can handle it.”
Melanie held her breath when Thérèse yawned.
“Guess what? You’re having your tonsils taken out on Wednesday.”
“That’s what Daddy said. I no need them no more?”
“Nope.”
“What about yours?”
“I still got mine.”
“What about Daddy?”
“Pretty sure he still has his, too.”
The girl began to pout. “Why you guys taking mine away from me?”
“Because yours are sort of broken. You know all those sore throats and colds you get? Well, we can solve that by taking out your tonsils. That’s good, right?”
“Guess so.”
“Plus, you’ll sleep better.”
“Sleep better?” the girl asked.
“Big secret: you snore a lot.”
“I do? I never hear it.”
“Because you’re asleep when you’re snoring. And we’re doing it this week because I’m off from work and you start preschool soon. Daddy and I want you in tip-top condition when you start school, okay?”
The girl nodded. “I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“At church today, the two men next to me were holding hands, just like you and Daddy hold hands sometimes.”
“So?”
“I was wondering…”
“Wondering what?”
“Are they in love?”
Here came yet another puzzle for Melanie to work out with her daughter. “I don’t know. But there are many different kinds of love. There’s the kind Daddy and I have for each other, and the kind you and I have for each other, and you and Daddy, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“And when Sofia gets here, you’ll grow up together and love each other as sisters, right?”
“Just like you and Auntie Trinh?”
“Yep, just like us. But that’s not a romantic love where people have babies, but a sisterly love. I know it’s very difficult to understand, even for adults.”
“Brothers, too?”
“I think so, but they don’t show it the same way as sisters usually do.”
“Those men at church, they gonna have a baby?”
“Men can’t have babies, Sweetie, just women.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot. But they’re in love?”
“If they’re holding hands, then yes, I suppose they are.”
“You sure ask hard questions, but I think so. I’ve only been in love with Daddy, so I’m not much of an expert on it.”
“Auntie Trinh loves Unca Harmon?”
“Yep.”
“Unca Harmon loves Auntie Trinh?”
“Yep.”
“Wow, everybody loves someone. What about Aunt Addie?”
“I don’t know. She doesn’t have a husband, though.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Sure is.”
“Maybe we should find one for her?” Thérèse asked.
“Maybe a better idea would be to leave her love life alone, okay?”
Thérèse yawned again, her eyes half-closed. “Will somebody love me someday?”
“Daddy and I already do. So does Trinh and a whole bunch of other people.”
By then the girl was asleep. Melanie cuddled her close as best she could and was soon asleep in the warm room.
***
When Melanie woke, Thérèse was already up from her nap and playing in the living room with Josh. Going to her home office, merely a corner of the master bedroom with a desk, computer, and lamp, Melanie logged onto the internet and found the auction site she’d been watching for the last few days. The items she’d been following had tripled in bid price since she had last looked.
“Okay, that’s it. I don’t know who wants these things or why, but they’re not getting them. I’m going to make it impossible for anyone else to bid higher than me.”
Tripling the highest bid, she offered that for the shark’s tooth clubs and the Hawaiian spear. Before closing the site, she filled out the personal bio of her as a bidder, making up an alternate version of her mother had she still been alive, once again using the name Aiko Murata.
“Good enough. Let’s see how long it takes to get accepted,” she said, closing the computer.
Chapter Eight
Monday morning started with peace and quiet, the way days off should. Melanie could smell coffee and heard the quiet chitchat of three voices come from the kitchen. She was reluctant to get up and leave the tranquility and comfort of bed, but when her usual caffeine headache started to sweep through her, there was no delaying that first cup of green tea, her temporary pregnancy replacement for strong coffee.
Putting on Josh’s largest T-shirt, which stretched tight over her belly, and a pair of shorts, the formality of the last two days of having a guest in her home was gone. Shuffling down the hall, she bundled her messy hair into a knot and secured that with a band.
“Good morning,” she mumbled, going straight to the cabinet with the tea. She packed loose-leaf tea into a strainer and dropped it into her favorite mug, and soaked it with hot water.
“Momma!”
Melanie winced from her daughter’s sudden outburst of excitement.
“Good morning, Melanie,” Addie said.
Josh joined her at the stove, rubbing her shoulders. “You’re tight. Maybe you should get a massage today.”
“Or just go in and have this baby. I mean, really. Can four days really make that much difference?”
“Patience has never been one of your virtues. Just wait. In the meantime, there’s toast, oatmeal, eggs, and juice.”
“Just oatmeal.”
She plunked in her chair at the table and immediately pushed Thérèse’s bowl of oatmeal to in front of her. “Eat some more, little one.”
“Must be nice that you don’t have to go in to the hospital today, Melanie,” Addie said.
“I’d be more excited about it if I had the energy.”
“You do look a little like you went on a bender last night,” Josh said.
“Thanks, buddy. Exactly what a pregnant girl needs to hear.”
“You were in the blender last night, Momma?” Thérèse asked.
“No, Daddy said bender. It means…never mind what it means.” Melanie tried forcing a smile to Addie. “Sorry about the informality around here at breakfast.”
“You mean you’re an ordinary woman raising a happy family?”
“Yes, well, usually I’m a little more energetic than this, and more cheerful. It’s just that I’m done with this pregnancy, even if my OB and the kid aren’t. Right now, it feels like I have an entire basketball team inside me, and they’re all playing defense against my bladder.”
“Maybe you gonna have two babies, Momma? One of each!”
“Twins would be exciting,” Addie said.
“They run in the family. Mom was a twin, and her sister had twin daughters. But to break the cycle of all girls, Thérèse is firmly convinced I’m having a boy, not a girl. But every ultrasound I’ve had indicates otherwise.”
“I tried my best to make a male heir to the throne,” Josh said.
“You making the baby on the potty throne, Momma?” Thérèse asked.
“No, a different kind of throne than the potty throne,” Josh said, pulling the girl’s chair back. “It’s time for your Hebrew lesson. We didn’t go to temple the other day, so now we have to make up for it with an extra long lesson. Can you recite the alphabet?”
The girl hopped down from her chair to follow her father to another room.
“Alef, bet, gimel, dalet…”
“She’s so smart, but Hebrew?” Addie asked, once father and daughter were gone from the kitchen.
“I don’t know why. She’s learning Hawaiian, Japanese, and Spanish, also. I don’t know how she keeps them straight in her mind. When we started, it seemed like a good idea. Now, it would be a shame to quit.”
“She’s a three-year-old ambassador to the United Nations.”
“Pretty much. How are you feeling today, Addie?”
“I’ve been better. Still coming to terms with it all. It’s almost as if he should call me any moment, but I know he never will. I just wish I knew what I was supposed to do.”
“Nobody ever knows,” Melanie said quietly. “This is one of those horrible things that happen to people. We’re all supposed to live a long and healthy life, but sometimes terrible tricks are played on us, tricks that are hard to endure. Children are supposed to outlive their parents.”
“Your parents are both gone?”
Melanie nodded. “Dad died a few years ago. Mom left me twenty years ago when I was still in the Air Force. We all expected Dad’s passing, but when Mom went, it was such a shock. I had a hard time coping with the idea I’d never see her again.”
“Josh said she was a doctor at the hospital?”
“A long time ago, when it first opened. It was pretty small then. She was their first neurosurgeon.”
“What did your father do for work?” Addie asked.
Melanie pushed away her bowl of cold oats and gave the woman a long look. It was a question she’d never figured out how to answer. “He was even busier than me. He was a lawyer, had several businesses, and did some diplomacy work as a politician.”
“Diplomacy work?”
“One of his roles as a politician was Ambassador to Chile for a few years. That makes me half Japanese, half Chilean, and is why Thérèse is learning so many languages.”
“That sounds exciting. Did you enjoy living in Chile?”
“That was before I was born. Mom met him sometime after then when he needed surgery. I’ve read her diary a few times, and in a lot of ways, theirs was a match made in Heaven. But in other ways, maybe not so much. Their relationship was what you could call complicated.”
“Aren’t they all?” Addie asked.
“Maybe theirs was a bit more than most. Anyway, you don’t want to hear about them. Do you have plans for today? I’m sure Josh would be glad to take you anywhere you need to go.”
“I really should find a room in a hotel. Is there an inexpensive one nearby?”
“On Maui? Nothing is inexpensive here. We really do like having you stay here with us. Thérèse is quite taken with you.”
“She’s a doll. I don’t get much chance to
be around kids her age anymore.”
“I keep forgetting to ask what you do for a living? Do you need to be back to work soon?” Melanie asked.
“I just do a lot of volunteer work. My husband did quite well for himself, and when he passed away, he left a substantial insurance policy for us. With just me rambling around in that big house, it seems like such a waste. I’ve been thinking about downsizing. Maybe now will be a good time.”
“Well, you’re welcome to stay here for as long as you need to. And I’ll let Josh know he’s your taxi for the rest of the day.” Melanie struggled up from her chair. “Now, I need to bathe this enormous body of mine and find something to wear that might still fit around my belly.” She stopped to look at Addie. “When you were pregnant with Kenny, did you feel like Noah’s ark?”
Addie smiled. “I felt like an aircraft carrier for as big as I was and as busy as he was inside me. Just enjoy it as much as you can because someday it ends.”
Melanie started walking again. “With any luck, today.”
By the time she was out from her shower and dressed, Josh was gone, Thérèse and Addie with him. A note was left indicating their itinerary for the day, and the first stop was at a beach before going to the mall. Melanie plunked down on the couch to make a call.
“Lailanie, I’m on your schedule for today at noon, right?”
“Yes. Have you decided what you want done?”
“You know what? Turn on your creative genius tap, because I’m feeling a little frivolous. But I want a massage first. Is someone there today?”
“I have someone new. Just come in anytime.”
With an hour to get to her massage appointment and needing only a few minutes to walk there, she made another call.
“Detective Nakatani, you sound like you’re at the beach. Do you have time to talk?”
“I’m at Pohaku Park, but not because I want to be. Official police business.”
“Don’t you ever take a day off?”
“I wish I had today off. Another body has been discovered, in roughly the same condition as the Winston kid. And I mean rough in every sense of the word.”
Melanie swore. “What happened? Who was it?”
“This one washed up onto the beach sometime during the night. Haven’t ID’d him yet, but same deal as with the Winston kid, with the surfboard leash on one leg. There was even a piece of the board attached.”