The Islands

by Di Morrissey

  The second letter was briefer and hinted at a possible change in orders, quite possibly a visit to New Zealand and Australia.

  What did that mean? Would it mean that he would be away even longer? She rang Julia Bensen to ask what she knew about the manoeuvres, exercises, whatever exactly the men were doing as her husband, Jim, was on the same ship as Bradley.

  ‘They’re not allowed to tell us much at this stage. You know how it is, Catherine. But I think they’re replacing a ship that’s been re-deployed. Anyway, as soon as we know, we’ll know.’

  ‘Has Mrs Goodwin dropped any hints? I just wondered if you’d heard any gossip while I was away on Kauai.’

  ‘How was Kauai? I’m going to suggest we go there when Jim has leave next. You made it sound so lovely.’

  Was Julia being evasive or did she simply have no idea what was happening with their husbands, wondered Catherine. She suspected the latter. Navy wives always seemed to be the last to know anything. ‘How was the last Wives’ Club meeting?’

  ‘The usual. Oh, Sandra Towle mentioned your idea about the children’s culture club but Mrs Goodwin wasn’t enthusiastic.’

  ‘Oh, no! I wanted to raise it. Without all the background and a solid presentation, of course Mrs Goodwin was going to hit the idea on the head,’ cried Catherine.

  ‘She’s not saying no without a reason,’ came back Julia rather defensively. ‘Everyone’s always on the move and she didn’t think it was fair to take on a major local project and then have to walk away from it. What if Bradley gets transferred? How are you going to be able to find someone who is as enthusiastic as you are to take your place in the project? No, I think Mrs Goodwin is right. We should stick to what we’ve been doing. It’s easier.’

  Catherine was thoughtful. ‘I see. I suppose I haven’t kept up with your ideas as well as I should.’

  ‘Well, it’s too bad you weren’t here for the last meeting.’

  Catherine heard the faint censure in her voice. ‘I’ll be there with bells on for the next one. So what’s happening?’

  ‘I hope you don’t mind, but I volunteered your services for the July Fourth picnic. We always make a big thing of it. It’ll be at Fort De Russy on the day, plus a cocktail party at the Goodwins’ and fireworks in the evening.’

  ‘Fine. What am I down for? Cooking hot dogs? The little league game?’ she joked.

  Julia remained serious. ‘It’s one of the most important days in the calendar, Catherine. To celebrate Independence Day and remind everyone how lucky we are to be in America. Oh, and there’s a special church service early in the morning to be followed by a breakfast. That will probably be in the park too, as there’s so much setting up to do.’

  ‘Of course. It all sounds wonderful,’ said Catherine trying to sound enthusiastic.

  ‘We also thought you could take photographs. Souvenir shots you can sell to military families. We thought we’d set up a pretty sort of arbour seat with flags and red, white and blue balloons and a flower arch behind it, you know, Hawaiian looking, where families can pose together. Mrs Goodwin doesn’t expect you to cover the cost of film or developing or anything like that, but we all think that the photos will make the club a lot of money and they can be sent to the navy newsletter and magazine as well.’

  ‘Happy to help. Anything else?’ asked Catherine biting back a facetious comment about having her life organised for her.

  ‘There’s a morning tea. Just a social at Melanie Lindsay’s apartment on Thursday, but we’ll probably talk about July Fourth plans. So we’ll see you there? Ten a.m.’

  ‘Lovely. I’ll bring something.’

  ‘Of course,’ said Julia lightly. ‘We so enjoy your malasadas.’

  Catherine hung up the phone feeling cranky. She didn’t want to go to the morning tea in the slightest and although she could get out of it by pleading a work assignment for the paper, she knew better. She’d go and dammit she’d take the best apple pie they’d ever tasted. Or something. Once she’d figured out where to buy it.

  In the darkroom at the News office she pegged up her negatives and in the dim red light the images of Nirvana, the girls, Pink and Ziggy, Damien and the boys with boards sitting around the campfire at the beach . . . and PJ, all came to life. But instead of the wet black and white negatives, she saw again the bright sunlight, the sapphire ocean, the lush greenery, the brown bodies of the kids and PJ’s deep blue eyes lit by his smile.

  She spread the prints across Vince’s desk.

  ‘I might have gone overboard a bit. Seemed everything I looked at was worth a picture,’ said Catherine as he slowly sifted through them.

  ‘They’re fantastic, Catherine. A whole different side to the postcard Kauai we always see. Of course, you’ll have to write a piece to go with them all. We’ll make some of them photo spreads. The people in them are right with that, aren’t they?’

  ‘They said so. So you think they’re good?’

  ‘Some are very good. But they’re all interesting. Different. Great characters. Good work. Now, which ones do you want to use first?’

  ‘I don’t know. It’s up to you, Vince.’

  ‘Let me have a think. I’ll let you know so you can start writing about them.’

  The following morning Catherine took her prints up to show Lester.

  ‘I’ve missed you, young lady. How was Kauai? Did you see Kiann’e’s mother?’

  ‘I did. I caught up with some of the surfer boys, too. Damien from Australia. And PJ.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘Pinetrees.’

  ‘Did you see Eleanor?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘She might come and see me for herself some time,’ he said gruffly.

  ‘I showed her the pictures I took of you and PJ. She thought you looked terrific.’

  ‘She did, huh?’ He looked pleased and Catherine smiled at his vanity.

  ‘So what’ve you been up to?’

  ‘Same old, same old. Kiann’e’s been in and out. Busy. No time to take an old guy for a drive.’

  ‘I can take you out, Lester, I really don’t have that much to do. Where’d you like to go? I won’t take you in the water, but we could go for a drive up the coast road. Maybe some places I haven’t explored yet. We could take a picnic, how’s that sound?’

  The old man looked mollified. ‘That’d be very nice. What’s that you’ve got there?’

  ‘These are some of the pictures I took on Kauai. I thought you might like to have a look at them. I’ll put the coffee on.’

  When she came back with the tray of coffee things and a plate of his favourite cookies, Lester was staring out the window with a distant look in his eyes, the photos dropped into his lap.

  Catherine poured his coffee, added sugar, stirred and put it on the table in front of him. ‘What do you think?’ When he didn’t answer, she touched his hand. ‘You okay? Here’s your coffee.’

  Lester blinked and took the mug she handed him.

  ‘Did it bring back memories, Lester?’

  ‘Kind of. I was never much of a social person. You must have had a good time. You know all those people?’

  ‘Not really. But they were very hospitable. I liked the girls and their cute kids. But it’s a different way of life from what I’m used to. I’ve never known anything like it,’ said Catherine.

  Lester gave her a long look. ‘Life patterns change. You make changes.’ He paused. ‘Or you don’t. Or you just go on as you always have,’ he added enigmatically.

  He shuffled through the pictures again and held up one of Damien cutting across a wave. ‘Not a bad ride. I surfed the Tunnels and the Cannons a few times in my day on Kauai. Weren’t called that then. Nobody went there much. Just a few of the locals.’

  ‘I’ll take you for a drive, Lester. Maybe Kiann’e’ll come too.’

  Late in the afternoon Kiann’e rang Catherine. ‘Willi has a meeting tonight. Shall I bring around some dinner, or do you want to go out?’

  ‘Come r
ound here, that’d be great. Tell me what to get. We have some wine,’ said Catherine. ‘I’d like to have a meal at home.’

  ‘I’ll bring lau lau . . . Aunty Lani made it, it’s really special. Pork and butterfish steamed in a ti leaf. The rice too.’

  ‘I’ll buy ice cream for dessert then.’

  The two girls curled up on the sofa after their meal, the ice cream bowls scraped clean, nursing their glasses of wine as Carole King’s Tapestry album played softly.

  ‘These pictures are fascinating. I love the ones of my mom’s home, makes me homesick. Now tell me about these people,’ said Kiann’e picking up the photos of Nirvana.

  Catherine talked at length about the women, how unorthodox she found them, yet how free and uncomplicated their lives seemed. She talked about going to the goddess pool and confessed she’d had her first joint.

  ‘You’re joking!’ laughed Kiann’e. ‘What would Bradley think?’

  ‘He’s never going to know. And it’s never going to happen again,’ she said firmly.

  ‘Ooh, did you have a wild trip? See shooting stars, go a bit mad?’ teased Kiann’e. ‘One joint isn’t going to hurt you anyway.’

  ‘I remember most of it. Kind of an out-of-body experience. It was . . . different. But I don’t want to do it again. And that’s not going to happen anyway.’

  ‘Bradley doesn’t seem the type to smoke grass, that’s for sure. I bet he never made love to you in the back seat of a car either,’ giggled Kiann’e.

  ‘No. He didn’t. He didn’t have a car until we got here. We courted in taxis. Not that we ever did anything in the back of taxi,’ Catherine hastily added.

  ‘So are you going to tell me?’

  ‘Tell you what?’ asked Catherine.

  ‘There’s something you’re not telling me,’ said Kiann’e. ‘That’s okay if you don’t want to.’

  ‘I’ve told you I smoked a joint and passed out in a hammock at some virtual strangers’ house. That’s a secret Bradley will never hear.’ She jumped to her feet. ‘Coffee?’

  Catherine realised she had quite a big job on her hands writing even a small article to go with her Kauai pictures. She needed a lot more information. Research. She was learning. While in the library at the Advertiser she asked the helpful librarian about famous dessert dishes of Hawaii.

  ‘I don’t mean traditional luau things. A hapa-haole creation,’ said Catherine. ‘I have to take something to a morning tea where a bunch of women all try to outdo each other. Me buying Mrs Hing’s malasadas every month is going a bit stale.’

  The librarian laughed. ‘Let’s go through old copies of Honolulu Magazine. Or better yet, I’ll ask my mother-in-law. She’s a fantastic cook. Her haupia cake is fab.’

  Catherine sat quietly at the morning tea as most members of the Wives’ Club crammed into the small sitting room and terrace of Melanie Lindsay’s ground-floor apartment on the base. It looked like every other unit in the complex, thought Catherine. It would be easy to come home in the dark and walk into the wrong apartment without realising it.

  Melanie and Julia were acting as co-hostesses, while Mrs Goodwin sat demurely in the centre of the room in the most comfortable chair. Not a hair was ever out of place, not even if a gale had been blowing, thought Catherine. Mrs Goodwin’s hands with their neatly clipped pale pink nails were folded in her lap, her ankles were crossed and she smiled serenely like a school principal watching her graduating class of young ladies perform as expected.

  Catherine’s fresh pink guava chiffon cake topped with lillkoi frosting – which Catherine considered Hawaiian passionfruit – had been baked by the librarian’s mother-in-law. It was a big hit.

  ‘You’re very quiet, Catherine,’ commented one of the women. ‘You’ve been such a leader lately. We missed you at the last get together.’

  ‘Yes, Catherine. Are you well? You look a little tired. Perhaps you’re doing too much,’ said Mrs Goodwin.

  ‘Maybe I’m too relaxed. I’ve just had a week’s holiday in Kauai,’ shot back Catherine with a smile.

  ‘What a shame you couldn’t share it with Bradley. Now, shall we discuss July Fourth? Melanie, please start.’ Mrs Goodwin turned her attention to their hostess who put down a plate of brownies and hurriedly reached for a sheet of paper to read out the points she’d made.

  Catherine tuned out as the women ran through the minutiae of food and volunteers and ribbons and prizes and banners and music. She wondered what Beatrice thought of the irony of a day when the US celebrated its independence when Beatrice, and others, wanted Hawaii to be independent from America.

  As if reading her mind, or because she had heard about Catherine’s appearance at the rally, or possibly because of her friendship with Kiann’e, Mrs Goodwin looked at Catherine as she said firmly, ‘We are here to maintain good relations and friendship between the mainland states and Hawaii. We all have a role to play. We know that, unfortunately, there are elements who do not appreciate the protection and advantages of having our defence presence here. And there are local people who don’t want to be part of our wonderful American way of life. But they are only a minority. So it is up to us to wave the flag and share and show what it means to be American and how proud we are to be part of the greatest country on earth.’

  This speech brought a round of applause, which Catherine joined with a polite clap.

  ‘After the morning service and breakfast there will be a barbecue and softball games for the enlisted men and children. The Marine Corps Naval Air Station men at Kaneohe will set up the evening fireworks, which can be viewed from several places.’

  ‘Where do they set off the fireworks?’ asked Julia.

  ‘I believe from a small island – Rabbit Island – offshore,’ said Mrs Goodwin. ‘The local people come to the beach to see them as well of course.’

  ‘Sounds fun,’ said Catherine, wondering if Mrs Goodwin went to see the fireworks with the local people. Somehow she doubted it.

  Mrs Goodwin rose. ‘I’ll leave the nuts and bolts to you girls to work on. We have invited several local schools to participate in the formal part of the proceedings and I’m sure it’s going to be a wonderful day.’

  There followed a flurry of discussion, lists passed around, jobs assigned.

  Catherine went back to the apartment on her own. She felt such an outsider. Her enthusiasm to get the Wives’ Club more involved in local issues had diminished. They were in a world of their own, an island within an island and a temporary one at that. Would she ever fit in? Did she want to?

  Would all the places that Bradley would be assigned to, be like this? She remembered now his quiet remarks to her about being able to make a life and home wherever they might be would only be possible with the support of the ‘navy family’. God, how claustrophobic it felt to her.

  Nor could she imagine settling into any other place in the same way as she had here in the Hawaiian Islands. Maybe it would have been better if she’d been sent as a new wife to an ugly hardship post where she’d have been grateful for the support of the other wives.

  She tried to be honest with herself. She thought that she would still like to explore, participate and engage with any local community even if she had difficulties like language. It just wasn’t in her nature to retreat within the safety of her husband’s world. Even though she’d come from quite a cloistered society – a small, far-flung rural township – her curiosity about people and their world, a certain fearlessness, an Aussie egalitarianism, a desire to take big bites of her new life and new surroundings, had led her to dive into life in Hawaii.

  But a remark by one of the wives about Catherine taking a job in Hawaii had unnerved her. ‘Well, enjoy it because you can’t do that everywhere, especially outside America.’

  She’d have to sit down and talk seriously to Bradley about these issues when he came home, though quite what they could change about their circumstances defeated her for the moment. In the meantime, she was going to enjoy every second of her time in Ha
waii – her job, her friends and her lifestyle.

  She wrote Bradley a newsy letter about her trip to Kauai, her new photo-essay assignment and a lot of detail of her involvement with the Wives’ Club and the upcoming Fourth of July celebrations.

  A couple of days later there was another letter from Bradley. It was brief, stark in its news, ending:

  Nothing much else to report from shipside. But the news seems to be that we can expect to be away longer than anticipated. I’m afraid, Catherine, dear, I’ll be gone several more weeks at least. I do hope you are managing okay – it sounds like you’re certainly keeping busy! Keep in close touch with Mrs Goodwin and if you need anything she’s the one to see. I love and miss you. Bradley.

  Oh. She sighed and refolded the letter. Thank heavens she had a project to keep her busy. She had managed to spread the assignment out over several days to fill in her time so she didn’t feel she had nothing to do.

  She rang Kiann’e and told her Bradley might be away much longer.

  ‘Don’t be lonely, Catherine. Come and have dinner tonight at Aunty Lani’s. And I’ll see you in the morning for a swim.’

  ‘I don’t feel lonely. I feel so lucky to know you all,’ Catherine said.

  After weeks of endless conversations and meetings to finalise the July Fourth celebrations, the big day arrived and Catherine did her duty by handing out flags, tying red, white and blue balloons to the food stands and then setting up her photographic stand. It proved to be a great success and she worked for hours taking photos of military and naval families to send back home. Heavens, she thought, it is going to take me ages next week to develop them all and send them to the right people.

  ‘We’ll save you a spot with us to watch the game,’ Julia called out later that afternoon. Catherine thanked her but she couldn’t raise much enthusiasm for the softball games. She felt that she had made more than enough contribution to the success of the day and she hoped she could sneak away. She apologised for not being able to make the Goodwins’ celebratory cocktail party telling Mrs Goodwin that she would have to start developing the photos right away to get them all done. Mrs Goodwin seemed impressed by her dedication to her task.