Banana Split

by Josi S. Kilpack

He looked at the floor again, and Sadie turned back to Nat. “But I want to know what’s going on. Why was Charlie alone?”

  “It wasn’t Nat’s fault,” Charlie said. He shrugged and cast a nervous glance at Nat. “He just took me fishing.”

  “You weren’t fishing from my avocado tree at three o’clock in the morning,” Sadie said, staring at both boys. The situation had reached the point where it was completely appropriate for her to put her hands back on her hips, but she didn’t. It felt a little too postured now.

  Nat tried to look away, but Sadie had perfected her stare through two dozen second-grade classes and two children of her own. Finally, Nat crumpled and looked at Charlie. “Go see if Makuahine needs any help. I’ll be there in a minute.” Sadie had heard the word makuahine before and knew it meant mother.

  Charlie didn’t jump to action, showing that he was more interested in what was happening here, but Nat gave Charlie a look that didn’t allow argument, and the boy slinked away. Nat waited a few seconds, then closed the door and faced Sadie. “It would be helpful if you wouldn’t pull CeeCee into this,” he said evenly. “It will not help things.”

  “I’m not so sure,” Sadie said, making no promises. “An eleven-year-old boy has no right being left alone, especially at night.”

  “He was in my care,” Nat said, then after considering his own words added. “Mostly.”

  Sadie raised her eyebrows, and Nat sighed before glancing quickly at the door. Sadie didn’t want to be interrupted either but knew it was only a matter of time before CeeCee realized Sadie wasn’t waiting in the living room. This was an explanation she couldn’t step away from, however.

  Nat started talking. “Charlie went to his mom’s memorial service Tuesday morning. He didn’t want to go to school afterward, but CeeCee had a catering job so I stayed with him. Within half an hour of coming home, I caught him trying to sneak out. I took him into town for a shave ice, and he told me he was planning to go look for his mom.”

  “So he doesn’t think she’s dead,” Sadie said, feeling validated in her hypothesis.

  Nat shook his head. “He’s used to her being gone—she’s been gone for a lot of his life—but he’d never considered that they wouldn’t be together again. Because of the condition of the . . . body, there was no way he could see her, and so he was left having to take the word of a whole bunch of people he doesn’t trust. After I talked to him, I called CeeCee and said we were going fishing, but I told him we were going to go to Anahola, where his mom was found, and have our own ceremony. I had hoped it would help him let go. Release his demons.”

  Sadie thought it was a sweet gesture that had obviously gone awry. “How did he end up in Puhi?”

  “We stopped there to buy a lei we could take out to where his mother had been found. There’s a flower stand off the highway.”

  “I know it,” Sadie said. She used to walk the mile or so to the stand every few days and talk to the old man, Leloy, who ran the shop with his grandsons. They did the picking while he sold the flowers and the leis he made during the day. She hadn’t been there in more than six weeks.

  “Did he talk to the old man?” She could imagine him confirming to Charlie where she lived if Charlie had had the gumption to ask for her by name. The towns on Kaua’i were all so small, a few thousand people in each village, if that. Leloy knew everyone in Puhi.

  Nat pulled his eyebrows together, then nodded. “I had to take a phone call so I gave him the money for the flowers and stayed in the car. We got back in the car, but then Charlie said he needed to use the bathroom. We stopped at a gas station a couple of blocks later.”

  “Sid’s Texaco,” Sadie said with a nod. Right up the street. “That’s when he ran off?”

  Nat nodded again.

  Sadie smiled. “I live a few blocks down from Sid’s. What time was this?”

  “Around three thirty.”

  Sadie nodded. “That’s about right.”

  “I waited there for an hour, thinking he’d come back. When he didn’t, I spent the rest of the day looking for him, panicking. I called Mom and told her I’d have him home in time for school the next day. She has enough to worry about right now, and I knew she’d get in trouble if his disappearance was reported. I looked everywhere, and then, about six in the morning, when I’d finally given up, I found him walking alongside the highway on his way back to Kalaheo.”

  “He’d been out of your care for fourteen hours,” Sadie said. “That’s a very long time.”

  “I know,” Nat said, “but I knew what could happen if I reported him. He’s a good kid, but he can be sneaky too. It would have killed CeeCee to know he’d run away again. He did it once before, soon after placement. I couldn’t tell her or anyone else until I knew for sure. I was so relieved when I found him and figured he’d had his own . . . aloha for his mother. Sometimes people need solitude.”

  “You didn’t ask him where he’d gone?”

  “No. He’s becoming a kane; I can respect that.”

  Sadie had seen the word “kane” on many a bathroom door with a stick man below it so she knew what it meant. “He’s eleven,” she reminded him. “He’s not ready to become a man. What if something had happened to him? What if I wasn’t who I am, and he’d been turned into the police, or hurt? He could have been taken away from the only family he has left.” And yet even as Sadie delivered the lecture, she was glad she hadn’t called the police either. She didn’t know what Charlie felt for his foster mother, but she sensed he had a bond with Nat.

  “You don’t think that’s exactly what I was thinking?” Nat countered. “I was relieved when I found him. He promised he wouldn’t leave again.”

  There was still the issue of CeeCee telling Mr. Olie that Charlie had been home all day Tuesday. But to ask that would be admitting that Sadie was here on Mr. Olie’s orders.

  “Your mother didn’t ask about the trip?”

  “Not details, no,” Nat said. “It’s been an overwhelming time for her. She’s worried about Charlie, busy with her work. She wants what’s best for him, really.”

  Sadie nodded, but knew she still needed to talk to CeeCee.

  “He came to you about his mother?” Nat asked.

  Sadie nodded. “He must have misunderstood the context of my name in an article. I’d never met her while she was . . . alive.”

  “What?” he asked, looking a bit stunned. This must be a painful thing to discuss.

  “I found her body.”

  Nat’s eyes went wide. The room went silent.

  “Why did you really come here? You said you didn’t want the money back,” Nat asked, once he’d absorbed what Sadie had said.

  “I wanted to make sure Charlie was okay,” Sadie said. It was the truth. “And . . . I want to help him, if I can.” That was true too. “He had a list of questions he left at my house, and I thought that, maybe, if I could answer those, he’d find some peace.”

  “No one knows what happened to his mom,” Nat said. “Last I heard, the police didn’t have any leads.”

  “I know,” Sadie said. “But sometimes they miss things, and this isn’t really about the police so much as it’s about Charlie. I just wanted to help him, and I’m glad to know he has people who care about him.”

  “That’s the help Charlie needs most right now—recognizing how good he has it,” Nat said. “He only came to Kaua’i because she did—because the judge wanted them together again. Now that she’s gone, everything’s changed for him.” He pointed to himself. “I can see what he has here, with us. We love him, and we want him here. I can also see that his mother would never have been able to give him this much stability, but he can only mourn what he hoped for. When we got home this morning, CeeCee let him sleep until lunch, then took him to school. He seems to be feeling better, at least as much as he can be.”

  “Why?” Sadie asked. “Why is he feeling better? I didn’t have answers for him.”

  Nat shrugged, shaking his head and looking troubled.
>
  “Nat?” a woman’s voice called from outside the room. CeeCee.

  His eyebrows went up, and he began looking around just as his mother pushed open the bedroom door.

  Sadie tried to force a smile as her cheeks heated up with embarrassment. She’d been found with a young man behind the closed door of a bedroom. How humiliating.

  CeeCee wasn’t impressed either. “What are you doing in here?” she asked Sadie, looking at her with justifiable concern, deep lines on her forehead.

  “Uh,” Sadie said, struggling for an explanation.

  “She was interested in ordering some rolls and maybe a cake for her daughter’s wedding,” Nat said.

  “Oh,” CeeCee said, though she still looked confused. Sadie didn’t blame her; she was confused too. “Why is she in here, then?”

  “I was showing her the new flier I made up, yeah?” He grabbed a paper off the printer by the computer and handed it to Sadie.

  CeeCee looked at Sadie, still doubtful. “Your daughter’s getting married?”

  “Well, yes, actually,” Sadie said. Breanna was getting married, never mind that the wedding was going to take place in either Colorado or England, not Hawai’i.

  CeeCee immediately smiled and all doubt and confusion disappeared. “Well, then you’ve got to try one of my Hawaiian rolls, fresh out of the oven.” She grabbed Sadie’s hand and pulled her toward the bedroom door.

  Sadie glanced over her shoulder, and Nat attempted a smile. He didn’t follow her, didn’t rescue her at all. Sadie fell in step behind CeeCee who started explaining how she’d worked in the bakery of a hotel for years before she’d retired after her husband died and now she ran a small catering company with select items—her specialties—from her home. “Keeps my hands in the dough,” CeeCee said once they arrived in the kitchen and she’d ordered Sadie into a seat.

  She pulled a hot roll off the pan, tossing it from hand to hand to cool it slightly as she continued to talk about her catering. Sadie nodded when appropriate, commented when the time was right, and thoroughly enjoyed the roll, but she didn’t get to see Charlie again.

  Chapter 19

  It was almost an hour later before Sadie left with CeeCee’s number written on the back of the flyer and two more sweet rolls wrapped in a paper towel. She hurried down the street toward the café where she was meeting Mr. Olie. She hoped the rolls would be an adequate peace offering. It was dark, and the jungle bug sounds that always increased at night made her jumpy.

  It was a relief when she turned the corner and saw the café. She picked up the pace, almost getting run over by a guy on a bike who called her a “stupid haole.” She apologized as he disappeared around the corner, but she didn’t think he heard it. She felt better for having said she was sorry, though, even if he’d insulted her.

  Mr. Olie was not happy about how long she’d taken, and, without a word, he drained his coffee cup, refolded the paper he’d been reading, and got up from the booth. Sadie followed him to his truck. She offered up the rolls, and he took them with a grunt, placing them on the seat between them in the truck. Once they were on their way back to Puhi, she filled him in on what had happened.

  “You didn’t talk to CeeCee about Charlie being gone?” he asked.

  Sadie felt the accusation of his question. It was the one thing she had been supposed to do, and she hadn’t done it.

  “I didn’t get the chance,” she said. “But I still got the information you wanted, right? We know where Charlie was.”

  “Nat’s not even supposed to be living there,” Mr. Olie said.

  The comment sent a tremor down her spine as she realized how easily she’d believed what Nat had told her. Was he not trustworthy? “Why not?”

  “It’s not that big a deal,” Mr. Olie said, perhaps hearing the concern in her voice. “It’s just that CeeCee’s supposed to notify me if anyone else lives in the house. Nat moved up to Hanalei about a year ago; I didn’t know he was back. CeeCee’s a certified foster parent, but Nat isn’t trained through the state to act as a caretaker. For Charlie to be in Nat’s care violates her agreements.”

  “That must be why she lied to you, then,” Sadie said. “Because she knew he wasn’t certified. From what Nat said, she really wants Charlie to stay—like you said before—and I think she’s working hard to ensure he can. I don’t feel like there was anything . . . sinister behind it.”

  Mr. Olie nodded. Did that mean he wouldn’t write up CeeCee?

  “Nat and Charlie seem to be pretty close,” Sadie said. “It might be good to have a male figure in his life to help with the transition. When my husband died, my brother filled that role for my son, and I’ve always been so grateful he was there for Shawn. I don’t think I could have given Shawn what he needed, but Jack did. It was a blessing.”

  Mr. Olie nodded once, sharp, and returned to his customary thoughtful silence.

  Sadie didn’t want to let her thoughts turn to the dark spectrum of things, but CeeCee letting Nat live there without approval couldn’t be ignored. CeeCee had a good reputation with Mr. Olie—what would motivate her to put that in danger? She must have been in a full-on panic when Mr. Olie had dropped in for a surprise visit and asked about Charlie being out and about on Tuesday. Was she hiding something? Sadie wondered. It seemed impossible. CeeCee appeared to be kind and open. But what if Charlie wasn’t as safe there as Sadie wanted to believe? What if that household wasn’t a good place for him? The thought was depressing. Where else could he go?

  Beyond her questions was a truth that sat like a stone in Sadie’s stomach—if Noelani were still alive, CeeCee would not be able to adopt Charlie.

  “Did CeeCee and Noelani know each other?” Sadie asked.

  Mr. Olie nodded. “Noelani had visitation rights. She would pick up Charlie and drop him off.”

  “Did they talk, ever? I mean, did CeeCee know where Noelani lived and worked? Did they get along?”

  Mr. Olie was quiet, and Sadie tensed as she considered the thoughts her questions must be raising in his own mind. He didn’t answer her, and she couldn’t decide if she was grateful for that. Maybe she didn’t want to know. The idea that Charlie wasn’t safe where he was, that the one hope for his future wasn’t so hopeful, was an awful consideration. She could only imagine that for the man who was inextricably involved in this situation, it was even worse.

  Sadie spent the rest of the drive waiting for Mr. Olie to talk to her, but he didn’t. It wasn’t until she started recognizing landmarks indicating they were close to Puhi that she realized she’d pulled off the meeting with barely a ripple in her emotional state. She hadn’t freaked out. She hadn’t failed to get the information. Sure, her mind had blanked a time or two, but her fear going into the meeting was that she wouldn’t be able to get what Mr. Olie needed. But she had, and despite Mr. Olie’s lukewarm reception of what she’d discovered, and despite the concern Sadie had about the circumstances involving Charlie’s foster family, she felt a bubbling pride at having achieved her purpose.

  A few minutes later, Mr. Olie pulled up in front of her condo, and she got out of the truck.

  “Well, I hope I helped,” Sadie said, holding the door open.

  “Yeah,” he answered, sounding distracted. “Me too.”

  Sadie shut the door and frowned as Mr. Olie drove off. She really wanted to like him, and she did feel sympathy for his discouragement, but other than answering some of her questions and graciously enjoying her food, he wasn’t very nice. Had he always been like that, she wondered, or was his current personality a result of the hard times he’d had of late? Maybe with his past health issues and disappointing work situation he’d given up on making room for the niceties of life. If that were true, it was a shame.

  When Sadie entered her condo, she flipped on the lights and finished cleaning up the mess leftover from making pancakes. She’d learned the hard way that leaving any food out invited bugs—ants, cockroaches, and anything else that crawled—so she’d already rinsed everything out,
but her dishes still needed to be washed.

  It was somewhat shocking that after so many days of such little texture, today could be so full. She’d done Internet research on Noelani, talked to the officer overseeing her case, met Mr. Olie, gotten her hair fixed, met CeeCee and Nat, and seen that Charlie was okay.

  Sadie’s thoughts turned to CeeCee. She seemed like a kind woman. She was also a good homemaker, if a bit cluttery with knickknacks and cheap artwork on the wall. She loved her children—foster and adopted—and had an entire wall in her living room brimming with pictures of the boys she’d cared for. And she was a great cook. Sadie wanted to like her. Wanted to trust her. Wanted to believe she was a bright light in Charlie’s life. Could she believe in those good things? At least for now?

  Chapter 20