Mr. Olie nodded. “It doesn’t happen very often,” he said. “But in this situation, the state of Hawai’i really hurt Charlie and, in the process, Noelani too. I worked hard to try to rebuild that trust, and now Charlie’s the only one left to make things up to.”
“Officer Wington, the officer I talked to this morning, said something about having met Noelani before all this happened. Do you know what that was about?”
Mr. Olie bobbed his head. “A few months after she finished rehab, a guy she’d gone through the program with was picked up for distribution. He tried to finger some of the other people from the rehab as his accomplices. Noelani was one of them, and, because of her history, she was considered a person of interest for awhile. In the end, the guy recanted and admitted he’d named those people he’d had conflicts with. I guess Noelani had turned him in for stashing beer in his room during treatment. She had nothing to do with the drug deals.”
“I see,” Sadie said. “Was she upset they questioned her?”
“Very. She wasn’t very trusting of police, or anyone in authority really, and that certainly didn’t help. I hope the officer you spoke to didn’t imply she had some involvement in that.”
“No,” Sadie said. “He just mentioned he knew her before is all. I wondered why.”
They were both quiet for a few seconds, then Sadie pulled her confidence together, took a deep breath and offered a smile as Mr. Olie leaned back in his chair and fully enjoyed his final bite.
“I’m ready when you are,” she said.
Macadamia Nut Pancakes with Coconut Syrup
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk or sour milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
Coconut Syrup
1 (14-ounce) can of coconut milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Heat griddle or frying pan to medium-high heat. Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl, whisk together. Add wet ingredients and stir together to form a batter, adding more flour or water to get the right consistency. Add nuts, and mix to combine. Spray heated griddle or frying pan with nonstick spray, or lightly brush with butter or vegetable oil. Drop batter by one-third cup portions onto hot, greased pan. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until edges of pancakes are dry. Turn pancakes and cook 1 to 2 additional minutes, or until cooked through. Remove to a plate and butter immediately.
To make syrup, strain coconut solids from the coconut milk. Save 1/2 cup of the resulting coconut water and combine with sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Simmer about 5 minutes, or until mixture begins to thicken. Add coconut solids and simmer another 2 to 3 minutes, until mixture is combined and smooth. Add sea salt and vanilla. Stir to combine flavors. Serve over hot, buttered pancakes. (You can also use traditional maple syrup with macadamia nut pancakes.)
Serves 6.
Note: For a thicker syrup, make a slurry from 1 teaspoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon coconut water, add with solids.
Note: Add 1 ripe mashed banana to batter for Banana Macadamia Nut Pancakes.
Chapter 17
Kalaheo was bigger than Puhi, but not close to a larger town like Lihue was, thus a bit more self-sustaining. Where was the motel where Noelani lived and worked? Did she and Charlie see each other often? Was being able to be in the same town part of the special conditions of their situation with DHS?
Mr. Olie dropped Sadie off at a street corner and pointed to a café where they’d meet when she finished. She looked at the two-story cement apartment building on the right, painted bright blue. The white railing on the stairs and the balcony was pockmarked with rust. Power lines hung heavily across the street, connecting to a ramshackle hut across from the apartments that was surrounded by a weathered wooden fence. A couple of chickens pecked at the dirt, and Sadie reviewed the instructions Mr. Olie had given her when he dropped her off a block away. First yellow house on the right after the two-story blue apartments.
It took another minute to reach the foster home, and Sadie inhaled the heavy scent in the air—sweet, fruity, but yeasty too. She couldn’t be certain it was coming from Charlie’s foster home, but in case it was, she wished she was coming on behalf of a more social visit. It smelled delicious.
Sadie walked up the somewhat overgrown flagstone path. It was a nice plantation-style home painted bright yellow with green trim. Two rocking chairs sat on a large wraparound wooden deck. A hedge skirted the property, and hibiscus bushes lined the front of the house while Mount Wai’ale’ale rose behind it. Yellow flowers with red centers, called Hula Girls, were scattered here and there around the yard and matched the house, further emphasizing the cheery look of the home.
A tiny rooster came around the corner of the house, one of the thousands of feral animals on the island. Without natural predators, chickens, goats, wild pigs, and cat populations were out of control. Tanya had a trapping company that took care of the cats around the condos—spaying or neutering them before rereleasing them—and Sadie hadn’t had any run-ins with the pigs or goats since she stayed away from the mountains. She didn’t mind the chickens, though; they were kind of cute. This one had a rust-colored head, black body, and a cream-colored tail that arched nearly to the ground. Classy . . . for poultry, anyway.
Sadie walked up the concrete steps. A twelve-inch plastic butterfly was mounted on the front door beside a nameplate that read “Kahuali.” Sadie knocked on the door before taking a step back. She took a deep breath, planning how she was going to go about this, anticipating the reaction of Charlie’s foster mother, and praying for a little help in knowing exactly how to move forward. Her goal was simple—find out why CeeCee Kahuali had lied to the social worker who considered her one of his best foster homes. No problem, right?
All her words stuck in her throat, however, when the door opened and none other than Charlie himself looked up at her, his wide eyes going even wider as Sadie blinked at him. They stared at each other for a few seconds until Sadie found her voice.
“Charlie?” she breathed. “Uh, how—”
“Who is it, Charlie?”
The woman’s voice pulled Sadie’s attention away from Charlie, and she looked up as a top-heavy woman wearing an apron over a tank top and casual knee-length skirt approached from behind him. She was older than Sadie had expected, possibly older than Sadie herself, and was drying her hands on a dish towel as she approached them. When she arrived at the door, she placed one hand on Charlie’s shoulder like any mother would. She was an over-tanned Caucasian with somewhat frizzy bottle-blonde hair, mostly covered by a turquoise bandana that matched her skirt. She had green eyes and pronounced crow’s feet when she smiled, revealing a gap between her two front teeth that was very Lauren Bacall, island-style.
“Aloha,” she said, inclining her head slightly.
“Aloha,” Sadie replied automatically.
“Can I help you?”
“Uh,” Sadie hedged, trying to remember why she was there. “I, uh, wondered if I could talk to you for a few minutes.” She tried to ignore Charlie’s expression of fear. Her heart tightened. Was her coming here going to get him in trouble? What if she did or said something that made everything worse? Then again, maybe he needed to get in trouble. Just not too much. Her discomfort seemed to pull her anxiety out of hiding. She didn’t know how to move forward; it all felt so awkward.
A buzzer went off from somewhere behind them, and CeeCee stepped forward to wave Sadie inside. “Oh, those are my rolls. I’ve got a big order due for a wedding in the morning, and I’m in a rush to get them baked up. Wait here for a minute, will you?”
That explained the heavenly aroma from the street; Sadie realized it was even stronger now that she
was inside. CeeCee reached around Sadie, ushering her in as she did so, and shut the door before heading toward the back of the house. Sadie could see an outdoor kitchen through the screen door at the back—common in Hawai’i to keep from overheating the house. There was a pile of shoes and rubber slippahs by the door, and Sadie slipped off her own.
“Have a seat,” CeeCee called over her shoulder. “Charlie, will you get her a drink, dear?”
Charlie, however, had backed up as though intent on disappearing. Sadie honed in on him as soon as they were alone, and at her look, he slipped down the hallway. She automatically headed in his direction. He entered a room, and she didn’t hesitate to follow him. Her building anxiety about this meeting, culminating with the shock of seeing Charlie, had her reeling and unsure of what to do, which meant she couldn’t control her feelings as well as she liked. She was suddenly mad and didn’t fully understand why. She’d come here in hopes of helping him, yet right now she just wanted to put him in time out.
Charlie stood in the middle of a bedroom, looking terrified of her as she put her hands on her hips and stared him down from the doorway.
“I think you have something to say to me, young man,” she said sharply, trying to control the feelings churning inside of her, but finding it difficult to sort through them all. Was she more upset about the money than she realized? Or was this some new coping mechanism that masked her anxiety with anger?
He stood there, looking scared, and then his eyes darted to the right at the same time someone on far side of the room cleared his throat.
Sweet Hawaiian Dinner Rolls
4 to 5 cups of all-purpose flour, divided
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons dry milk
1 tablespoon instant yeast (To use regular yeast, reduce pineapple juice to 1 cup and add yeast to 1/2 cup warm water. Add proofed yeast with other liquids.)
1 teaspoon salt
11/2 cups pineapple juice, heated
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 egg
11/2 teaspoons vanilla
Preheat oven to 150 degrees (or as low as it will go). Mix one-half of the flour and the rest of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. In a saucepan, heat pineapple juice until warm, but not hot. Add butter and honey to warmed pineapple juice. Stir until butter is melted and honey is incorporated. Add to dry ingredients. Add egg and vanilla. Mix everything until smooth.
Add remaining flour a little at a time until dough is tacky but does not stick to fingers when touched. Knead 5 minutes. Form dough into balls (a little larger than a golf ball) and place 1-inch apart on greased jelly roll pan. Turn off oven. Cover rolls with a dish towel and put pan of rolls into still-warm oven. Allow rolls to rise 40 minutes or until just doubled. Leave rolls in the oven, but remove towel and turn heat to 350 degrees. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until rolls are a golden brown. Immediately brush tops with butter.
Note: For a lighter roll, allow to rise the first time right after kneading, still in mixing bowl. Follow the directions here for the second (shaped) rise.
Chapter 18
Sadie’s head turned toward the throat-clearer in slow motion, and her heart seemed to stop for at least two full seconds. The old Sadie might have a quick explanation for why she’d followed a boy down the hallway of his own house and confronted him in his bedroom but the new Sadie had nothing.
When her eyes met those of the other person in the room, she relaxed a little bit. Instead of an intimidating man with immense shoulders and glowering eyes—like Mr. Olie—she was face-to-face with a small, thin man, at least part Asian, she guessed, with a sparse mustache and closely cropped hair that spiked up into one of those short Mohawks that were all the rage. He wore board shorts and a gray surf shop T-shirt with the sleeves cut off.
“Um, hi,” the man said in a tone that bespoke of suspension of his judgment. At least for now. “Can I, um, help you?”
Sadie dropped her hands from her hips as the stance felt superfluous all of a sudden. She scrambled for an explanation but realized there was nothing to tell but the truth. “My name is Sadie Hoffmiller. Who are you?”
“Who are you?” he countered, crossing his arms over his chest with a lot more confidence than Sadie would have liked. Clearly, he wasn’t intimidated by her. This would be much easier if he was.
Seeing as how she was in someone else’s house and had just chased a little boy down the hallway, Sadie felt she had no choice but to cut to the chase in order to justify her actions. “Charlie robbed me.”
The man’s eyebrows went up, and his head snapped toward Charlie, who looked suddenly trapped. “What?”
His surprise gave Sadie the confidence she needed, and she decided to answer before Charlie could put any kind of spin on it. “I won’t give details until I know who you are. Otherwise, this is between Charlie and me.”
The man looked at her. “I’m Charlie’s brother, Nat.”
“Brother?” Sadie asked, looking between the two of them again. Nat’s features were sharp and dark, nothing like Charlie’s softer ones. Nat didn’t look anything like CeeCee either.
“Foster brother,” Nat clarified.
But that didn’t help. Nat had a small build, but he was most definitely in his twenties. “Aren’t you a little old to be in foster care?”
Nat’s jaw tensed, and she cringed. She hadn’t meant to insult him.
“I’m one of CeeCee’s adopted sons—there’s four of us. That makes me Charlie’s foster brother.”
Oh. Sadie cleared her throat and remembered Mr. Olie giving her the status of CeeCee’s sons—all grown, two married with kids, one in the military, and . . . Nat, she supposed.
He raised his eyebrows at her, reminding her that it was her turn to explain her side of things.
“Charlie came to my house on Tuesday, looking for information about his mother. I told him I didn’t have what he was looking for, and . . . he stole almost a hundred dollars from my wallet.”
“Is that true?” Nat snapped at Charlie. “That’s where you went?”
Charlie looked between Sadie and Nat, and Sadie felt her protective instincts rising at the increased look of fear on the little boy’s face.
“I’m not here to get him in trouble,” she quickly amended, gratified to have an admission that Charlie had been gone. That was a step toward the information Mr. Olie needed her to get.
Nat looked back at her. “Why else would you be here? If he stole from you, he—”
Sadie turned to Charlie, not wanting the conversation to go this direction. “I came here because I was worried about you,” she said to him, though her tone still sounded angry. She was going to have to work on that. “And I didn’t want to get you in trouble by going to the police before I talked to your foster mother about what happened. When did you come back?”
“This morning,” he mumbled, looking at the ground.
“And your foster mother wasn’t angry?”
He shrugged and glanced at Nat. Sadie did too and saw a guilty expression in Nat’s eyes before he looked away. Sadie knew a shared secret when she saw one. “She doesn’t know, does she?” Yet CeeCee had still lied to Mr. Olie; Sadie wondered why.
“Where’s the money, Charlie?” Nat asked, looking at Charlie and answering her question without saying a word in direct response.
“Um, I, uh, don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Nat and Sadie said in unison. They shared a quick glance, and Sadie inclined her chin, indicating for Nat to continue . . . for now.
“I lost it,” Charlie said.
Nat cocked his head to the side, giving Charlie a look that said he wasn’t buying it. “You lost a hundred dollars.”
Charlie nodded, but Sadie had no doubt he was lying.
“We’ll talk about that later.” Nat moved toward a desk in the room that must be his—the room was too clean and too grown up to be Charlie’s. He fumbled in a drawer before pulling out a wallet. “I’ll make hi
m pay me back.”
“I don’t care about the money,” Sadie said. She quickly heard her own words and looked hard at Charlie. “Although what you did was wrong.”
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