Shark Dialogues

by Davenport, Kiana

  Her heart pounded so violently, she felt her hair shiver. Skin stood up on her neck and arms.

  “Vanya! Oh, Vanya ...” Then she remembered Simon Weir. “Do you know what happened to the haole? The man who was with her?”

  The boy turned and looked at her. His eyes were sad. He raked a stick across the sand, drawing a cross.

  “He dreamin’ now in soil of Waipi‘o.”

  Jess cried again, her head still, but her body shaking. Vanya had hinted at Simon’s past and now Jess thought, Maybe death for him wasn’t the end of life. Maybe it was the end of guilt. After a while the sobbing subsided to a deeper place. When her eyes cleared, when she was calm, the boy said one more thing.

  “She send one word for you.” Very casually he raked the stick across the sand again.

  IMUA. Go forward! Press on!

  It was as if he had raked a coal across her brain, the word imbedded there forever. After a while he strolled back to the water. She sat very still, so full of the moment, she could not move, did not know what the next move was. Time passed, it was the hour of tides, the ocean seemed to moan. Then, by a play of light, Jess saw countless images spring up before her in the waves, the light like a well chain drawing up not water, but faces, all, each of them, faces from other eras, and those more recent, their history more beautiful in remembering. She spoke their names, Kelonikoa, and Emmaline, and Lili, Pono, Duke, and Emma, Mina, Hernando, Ming, even Hiro, lives still attached and flowing, in myths, dreams, imaginings. Lives permanent because someone, Jess, was there to pass them on.

  From the water’s edge the boy waved, pointing to an old woman far in the distance, casting her fishing net. The net flew up and spread out of her hands, a bird opening its wings. Jess wondered why she was there, net-casting in dangerous shark waters. The old woman worked patiently and slowly with her net, drawing it in, untwisting and unfolding. Then she cast it out again, leaping, billowing, the four corners stretched, the center slack, like a great suspended awning. It hung in the air a long time, an eternity.

  The old woman raised her arms, praising her mastery, the haiku of net-casting. She clasped her breast, then raised her arms again, as if flinging her heart up to join the net, still floating beyond the pull of gravity, of logic. Then the old woman turned her head and gazed at Jess. Their look held, steadfast, for the longest time. Jess felt such sudden peace, she closed her eyes, and for a while she dozed. When she looked again, the net had fallen to the water, floating now like moving skin. The old woman had disappeared. But one single fin huge, dark and brilliant, bladed toward the horizon.

  “PONO!”

  They were all out there watching, assembled, in formation, in ancient dialogues. She was not abandoned, she would never be alone. As long as they lived, she lived. She looked down at the sand. Wind had blown it clean. And yet the simple, potent word remained.

  IMUA.

  It hovered in the air round her, a sound of spirits soaring, a sound ringing and pure. A sound that echoed ancestral beliefs that would flow on forever, beyond the measure of human life. Beyond the measure of time.

  Slowly, as in a trance, Jess drew from her bag a pen and sheet of paper. She would start with the story she knew best. Pono and Grandfather. She would work her way backward. What she did not know, they would tell her. They would come from other eras, other generations, each and each, they would come to her in dreams. She clutched the black pearl in her hand, rubbing it like a heart she had to keep beating. She felt its warmth reflected in her palm. Her pen was poised.

  And she began:

  “. . . Peacocks skittered on polished floors . . . He was dark, and tall and noble .. . She was dark and beautiful . . . She wore a Paris gown . .. they waltzed. Soon they would be running through green fire . . .”

  IMUA

  Glossary

  Hawaiian-English Glossary

  * * *

  ‘A‘Ā (ah-ah) . . . Sharp, rough hunks of lava

  ‘AHI (ah-hee) ... Tunafish

  Ā (ein-ah) . . . Land, earth

  AKAMAI (ah-kah-my) . . . Smart, clever

  AKU (ah-koo) . . . Skipjack tuna

  ALI‘I (ah-lee-ee) . . . Noble, royal, former kings and queens

  ALOHA (ah-lo-hah) . . . Love, mercy, greetings

  ALOHA ‘OHANA (o-hah-nah) ... Love for the family

  ANIANI (ah-nee-ah-nee) . . . Mirror

  ‘AUMAKUA (ow-mah-ku-ah) . . . Family or personal god (Plural: ‘AU-MĀKUA)

  AUWVĒ (ow-we) . .. Alas!

  ‘AWA (ah-vah) . . . Slightly narcotic tea from kava root

  BRAH (bra) . . . Pidgin-English for “brother”

  CALABASH (cal-a-bash). . . Mixing bowl. Also people not blood-related, but “family” because they eat from the same bowl.

  DA KINE (da-kine) ... Pidgin-English for “the kind”

  E PŪPŪKAHI (ay-poo-poo-kah-hee) ... We are one

  FLIP (flip) ... Slang for Filipino

  HA‘AHEO (hah-ah-he-o) ... Pride

  HALE MAKE (hah-le-mah-ke) ... House of death

  HALENANI (hah-le-na-ne) ... House of Splendor

  HĀNĀI (ha-ni) .. . Foster child, adopted child

  HANA MAKE (hah-nah-mah-ke) ... Killer, thing of destruction

  HANOHANO (hah-no-hah-no) ... Dignified

  HAOLE (how-lee) ... White, Caucasian, foreigner

  HAOLEFIED (how-lee-fied) ... Made white

  HAPA (hah-pah) ... Of mixed blood

  HAPA HAOLE (hah-pah-how-lee) ... Half white, half Hawaiian

  HAPA-PĀKĒ (hah-pah-pah-ke) ... Half Chinese

  HĀPU‘U (hah-poo-oo) ... Medicinal tree fern

  HAU‘OLI MAKAHIKI HOU (hey-oo-lee-mah-kah-he-ke-ho)... Happy New Year

  HAWAI‘I PONI‘Ī (hah-vy-ee-po-no-ee) .. . Hawaii’s own people

  HE‘E (hey-ey) . .. Octopus

  HEIAU (hey-ee-ow) ... Ancestral temple of worship

  HIKIE‘E (hee-kee-e) ... Large movable Hawaiian couch

  HILAHILA (hee-la-hee-la) ... Bashful, shy, embarrassed

  HŌHĒ (ho-he) ... Coward

  HOLOKŪ (ho-lo-koo) ... Long formal dress with train

  HO‘OMAKE (ho-o-mah-ke) ... To kill

  HO‘OMANA‘O (ho-o-mah-nah-o) ... Remember, commemorate

  HOWZIT (how-zit) ... Pidgin-English, Hi! How are things?

  HUHŪ (hoo-hoo) ... Angry

  HUKIHUKI (hoo-kee-hoo-kee) ... Disagree, quarrel

  HUKILAU (hoo-kee-lau) ... fish with a seine, fishing feast

  HULI (hoo-lee) ... Short for ho‘auhuli, revolution, to overthrow

  IKAIKA (ee-kah-ee-kah) ... Psychologically strong, powerful

  IKI (ee-kee) ... Little

  ‘ILI‘ILI (ee-lee-ee-lee) . . . Stone

  ‘IMI ŌLELO (ee-me-o-lay-lo) .. . Slander

  I MUA (ee-moo-ah) ... Go forward! Press on! Spoken as one word

  KAHIKO (kah-hee-ko) . . . Old, ancient person (Plural: KĀHIKO)

  KAHUNA (kah-hoo-nah) . .. Prophet, seer, priest (Plural: KĀHUNA)

  KAIKU‘ANA (ki-koo-ah-nah) ... Sister, formal

  KALAHALA (kah-la-hah-la) ... To forgive

  KALAIMA (kah-leem-a) ... Criminal

  KALIKIMAKA (kah-lee-kee-mah-ka) ... Christmas

  KĀLUA (kah-loo-ah) . .. Bake in ground oven

  KAMA‘ĀlNA (kah-mah-ein-ah) ... Old-timer, native-born

  KAMALI‘I (kah-mah-lee-ee) .. . Children, plural of child

  KANAKA (kah-nak-ah) ... Slang, for Hawaiian (Plural: KĀNAKA)

  KANE (kah-ne) ... Man

  KAPU (kah-poo) .. . Forbidden, taboo

  KEIKI (kee-kee) ... Child

  KEIKI KĀNE (kee-kee-kah-ne) ... Boy, male child

  KEIKI MANUAHI (kee-kee-mah-noo-ah-hee) .. . Illegitimate child

  KĪKEPA (kee-ke-pah) ... Sarong, also pa‘u

  KINIPŌPŌ (kee-nee-po-po) . . . Baseball

  KOA (ko-ah) . .. Fearlessness, also a type of Hawaiian wood

  KOALI (ko-ah-lee) ... Kind of morning glory

  KŌKUA (ko-koo-a
h) ... Helper, assistant

  KŌKUA ‘OHANA (ko-koo-ah-o-hah-nah) ... Help the family

  KONAKONA (ko-nah-ko-nah) ... Strong, muscled

  KUKUI (koo-koo-ee) ... Candlenut used for oil, cooking, jewelry

  KUMU (koo-moo) ... Base, foundation, beginnings

  KUPUNA (koo-poo-nah)... Ancestor, grandparent (Plural: KŪPUNA)

  KUPUNA KĀNE (koo-poo-nah-kah-ne) . . . (Formal) grandfather

  KUPUNA WAHINE (koo-poo-nah-va-hee-ne) ... (Formal) grandmother

  LĀNAI (lah-ny) . . . Porch, veranda, balcony

  LANI (lah-nee) . . . Sky, heaven, highborn

  LĀ‘Ī (lah-ee) ... Ti leaf

  LAULAU (lau-lau) . .. Meat wrapped in steamed ti leaf, banana leaf

  LEI (lay) ... Flowered necklace, wreath for the neck

  LELE KOKE (le-le-ko-ke) ... Quick to fight

  LEPOLEPO (lepo-lepo) ... Filthy, contaminated

  LILIKO‘I (lee-lee-koy) ... Passion fruit, the juice

  LOKAHI (lo-kah-ee) . . . Unity, agreement

  LOKO ‘INO (lo-ko-ee-no) ... Evil

  LŌLŌ (lo-lo) ... Feeble-minded

  LOMI (lo-mee) . . . Pressed raw salmon, tomato, and onion

  LŪ‘AU (loo-ow) ... Hawaiian feast

  LUNA (loo-nah) ... Foreman

  MAHALO (mah-hah-lo) ... Thank you

  MAHIMAHI (mah-hee-mah-hee) ... Sweet dorado fish

  MAILE (my-le) . . . Native twining shrub for lei

  MA‘I PĀKĒ (my-pah-kee) . . . Leprosy (literally, Chinese sickness)

  MAKA (mah-kah) ... Eye

  MĀKA‘! (mah-kah-ee) ... Police

  MAKAPŌ (mah-kah-po) .. . Blind

  MAKA‘U (mah-kah-oo) ... Afraid

  MAKA‘U WALE (mah-kah-oo-wah-lee) ... Coward

  MAKE (mah-ke) ... To die

  MAKIKA (mah-kee-kah) . .. Mosquito

  MALIHINI (mah-lee-hee-nee) ... Newcomer to the islands

  MĀLAMA ‘AINA (mah-lah-mah-ein-ah)... Preserve, care for, the land

  MALO (mah-lo) .. . Loincloth worn by men

  MANA (mah-nah) .. . Divine power

  MANAKĀ (mah-nah-ka) ... Boring

  MANA PĀLUA (mah-nah-pah-loo-ah). . . Doubly endowed with divine power

  MANŌ (mah-no) ... Shark

  MANè ‘AUMĀKUA (mah-no-ow-mah-koo-ah) ... Shark ancestors

  MEA HUNA (me-ah-hoo-nah) . .. Possessor of a secret

  MELE KALIKIMAKA (may-lay-kah-lee-kee-mak-ah) ... Merry Christmas

  MENEHUNE (mee-nee-hoo-nee) ... Legendary race of small people

  MIKANELE (me-kah-ne-le) ... Missionary

  MILIMILI (mee-lee-mee-lee) ... Dearest, beloved

  MIMI (mee-mee) ... Urine

  MOAMAHI (mo-ah-mah-ee) ... Fighting bird

  MO‘O (mo-o) ... Lizard, dragon, reptile

  MU‘UMU‘U (moo-oo-moo-oo) ... Long, shapeless Mother Hubbard dress

  NĀ MANAWALE‘A (na-mah-nah-way-lee-ah) ... The caring hearts

  NELE (ne-le) ... Lacking, without

  NIU (nee-oo) ... Coconut

  NONI (naw-nee) ... Medicinal roots and fruit of mulberry tree

  NUI LOA (noo-ee-lo-ah) ... With very much (love, thanks)

  ‘OHANA (o-hah-nah) ... Family, extended family

  ŌKOLE (o-ko-le) .. . Behind, the buttocks

  ‘ŌKOLEHAO (o-ko-le-how) . . . Liquor from fermented rice, pineapple

  ŌKOLE MALUNA (o-ko-lee-mah-loo-nah) ... Bottom‘s up! A drinking toast

  ‘OLE (oh-le) ... Nothingness

  OLE KINE (ol-kine) ... Pidgin-English for old-fashioned

  ONE-FINGAH POI (one-fing-ah-poy) ... Pidgin-English, poi thick enough to scoop with one finger

  ONE MIMIKI (own-ee-mee-mee-ke) ... Quicksand

  ‘ONIPA‘A (oh-nee-pah-ah) ... Steadfast, determined

  ‘ONO (oh-no) ... Good, delicious

  ‘ŌPAE (oh-pay-ee) ... Prawns

  ‘ŌPAKAPAKA (oh-pah-ka-pah-ka) ... Snapper

  ‘ŌPIHI (oh-pee-hee) ... Limpet

  ‘ŌPŪ (oh-poo) . .. Belly, stomach

  PA‘A (pah-ah) . . . Strong, firm, solid.

  PĀHOEHOE (pah-hoy-hoy) ... Smooth, unbroken lava

  PAHU HULA (pah-hoo-hoo-lah) ... Hula drum

  PĀKĒ KANAKA (pah-ke-kah-nak-ah) ... Chinese-Hawaiian (slang)

  PANIOLO (pan-ee-o-lo) .. . Hawaiian cowboy, derived from Español

  PANIPANI (pah-nee-pah-nee) .. . Sexual intercourse (vulgar, slang)

  PAU (pow) . .. Finished

  PAU HANA (pow-hah-nah) .. . Finished work

  PAU MANŌ (pow-mah-no) ... Eaten by shark

  PELE (pe-le) ... Goddess of volcanoes, of fire

  PĪKAKE (pee-kah-kee) . . . Jasmine

  PILAU (pee-lau) ... Rotten, contaminated

  PILIKUA (pee-lee-koo-ah) . . . Powerful, from manual labor

  POI (poy) .. . Pudding of taro root

  POMELO (po-me-lo) ... Hawaiian grapefruit

  PONO (po-no) .. . Goodness, morality, excellence

  PŌPOLO (po-po-lo) ... Nightshade plant

  PRIMO (pree-mo) ... Brand of beer

  PUA KALA (poo-ah-ka-la)... Prickly poppy, juice of which is narcotic

  PŪ‘ALI (poo-ah-lee) ... Warrior

  PUMEHANA (poo-me-hah-nah) ... Warmth, affection

  PŪNANA LEO (poo-nah-nah-le-o) ... The Language Nest, Hawaiian-language immersion preschool program.

  PUPULE (poo-poo-le) ... Crazy

  PUPULE HAPA (poo-poo-lee-hah-pah) . .. Crazy mixed-blood

  PU‘U ‘O‘Ō (poo-oo-o-o) ... Leaping, bleeding peak

  SHAKA (sha-kah) .. . Greeting by wriggling little finger and thumb

  SOAH (so-ah) . . . Pidgin-English, sore

  TITA (tee-ta) ... Sister (informal)

  TŪTŪ (too-too) . .. Grandmother (informal)

  ‘UKULELE (oo-koo-le-le) . . . Hawaiian guitar, literally “leaping flea”

  VOG (vog) ... Volcanic ash and fog mixed

  WAIWAI (why-ee-why-ee) ... Rich, wealth

  WAHINE (va-hee-nee) .. . Woman (Plural: WĀHINE)

  WELA (we-lah) ... Hot, fiery

  WIKIWIKI (wee-kee-wee-kee) .. . Hurry, quick!

  Japanese-English Glossary

  * * *

  FUGU ... Poisonous puffer fish

  GAMAN SURU .. To endure

  GANBARU ... To presevere

  GETA ... Clogs

  GOMEN NASAI ... I am sorry

  HAI (hi) ... Yes!

  HARIGATA ... Artificial penis

  HIGOZUKI ... Cage put between the legs

  HOSHIDANA ... Sun-drying roof for coffee beans

  ISSEI ... First-generation Japanese, immigrant to United States

  KIBEI . .. Japanese-American born in Hawai‘i

  KOI ... Carp fish

  MIZU SHOBAI ... The low life, underworld

  OKONOMI MAME . . . Rice and nut snacks

  SAIMIN . .. Type of noodle soup

  SENSEI ... Master teacher

  SHODO ... Superior art of writing

  SHOYU ... Soy sauce

  TABI ... Toed socks (often of rubber for fishing on rocks)

  TATAMI ... Rush mats

  TSUNAMI . . . Tidal wave

  YAKUZA ... Japanese Mafia

  YUKATA ... short jacket

  Chinese-English Glossary

  * * *

  BAIJIU ... Rice liquor

  CHEONGSAM ... Mandarin-collared, form-fitting dress

  DIM SUM ... Assorted steamed or fried dumplings

  GWAI GOO ... Ghost stories

  KOWTOW ... Bow in a servile way

  MI YAO ... Stupefying powder

  Personal Acknowledgments

  Mahalo ‘a nui to the people whose assistance, love and faith made writing this novel possible.

  On the U.S. mainland: Kaye Burnett and Morris Shaxon, Peter Dee and Ed Nemeth, Kimiko Hahn and Ted Hanna, Camille Hykes, Edith Konecky, Florence Ladd and Bill Harris, Richard Miller, Joyce and John McGinnis, Nancy Nordhoff, Elizabeth Nunez-Harrell, Tillie Olsen, Kathrin Perutz, Patricia Powel
l and Teresa Langle, Alix Kates Shulman and Scott York, Mary TallMountain. And my mainland family, Mary and Braxton B. Davenport, Anita Bergin, Braxton R. Davenport, Denise Davenport, and Pauline Kreitz.

  In the South Pacific: Peau Lomu, Momata, and Suliana Fifita, Vava‘u, Tonga; Peter Kafcaloudis, Brisbane, Australia; Jeanette and Sanele Mageo, Pago Pago, American Samoa; Papu and Alofa Va‘ai, Savai‘i, Western Samoa; Captain John Sloane, Papua New Guinea; and Buffer Joe and Jim Jim, singing their Dreaming through Arnhem Land.

  In Honolulu: Marie Hara, and Esther Kiki Mo‘okini.

  On the Big Island of Hawai‘i: Lana and Lorenzo Aduca of Honaunau; Gus and Flo Beckldund of Kailua; Paul Gomes of Kapa‘au; Jill Olsen, Kona Historical Society; Fusao Sugai and Lee Sugai of Sugai Kona Coffee, Kealakekua; Luke and Ron of the Ocean View Inn, Kailua; the Manago family of Captain Cook.

  Special alohas to my ‘Ohana in Honolulu for guidance and assistance in tracing our family genealogy: Lucille and Daniel True Houghtailing, Jr., Helene and Calvin Bailey, Hazel Stone, Evelyn and Richard Liu, Pearly and George Kam, Jr., Leinaala and Arthur Kam, Rosemond Aho, Teddy and Mary Houghtailing, Raenette Ing, Aileen Rodriques, George Stone, Vernon Stone, Marshell and Richard Raymond, Dannette and Bill Gardner, Kathleen Viela, Pat and Clifford Everett, Carrie and Sonny Chang.

  And to Uncle George Ayau Kam, Sr., ninety-three years old, husband of Minnie Kelomika for sixty-eight years. A love story.

  E Pūpūkahi

  Author’s Note

  While some of the characters in this book are based on historical figures, and while many of the areas described—such as Kalaupapa on the island of Moloka‘i, and Waipi‘o Valley on the Big Island—exist, this is a work of fiction. Portraits of the characters who appear in it are fictional, as are some of the events.

  Conversely, it is important to stress that the overthrow of our queen, Lili‘uokalani, in 1893, by forces seeking an American alliance, and the illegal annexation of the Hawaiian Islands by the U.S. government in 1898, is documented fact. The tragic history of leprosy in Hawai‘i, and the development of the Kalaupapa Settlement on Moloka‘i, is historically accurate.