Mahu Fire m-3

by Neil S. Plakcy

  My trough was next to Jimmy’s, and I lay down next to him. He was shivering with fear, and I reached my arm over his shoulders. He started talking again as soon as my ear was near him. “We pulled up in the driveway of this house,” Jimmy said. “He told me to stay in the truck. He came back a little while later, with this big leather bag and a couple of rifles. I was so scared. I was sure he was going to kill me.”

  I heard a boom and a crackle behind us, and knew that the fire had to be close. I squeezed Jimmy’s shoulder, and he continued his story.

  “He drove us up to the park, and he put duct tape on my mouth and made me get in the back of the truck, and covered me up with this thing.”

  Suddenly, the fire was all around us. I’d thought that the flames at the Marriage Project headquarters were bad, but this was a thousand times worse. The noise was overwhelming, and at any moment I was afraid that a tongue of fire would land on one of us.

  I had been in bad situations before, but I’d always felt there was something I could do. Talk down a guy holding a gun, use my weapon, run away. But I felt so helpless there on the ground, knowing there was nothing more I could do to protect myself or the people around me.

  Thankfully, Pele was watching out for us, and she guided the flames along the firebreak Akoni and I had constructed. As quickly as the fire descended on us, it passed us by. I just lay there in my trough for a minute, my whole body shaking, waiting for my heart rate to slow down.

  Almost as soon as the flames passed us, Air-2 passed overhead. The Bambi bucket dropped water on the path below, and the cool breeze swept over us. We all sat up, evaluating our condition. “My skin feels hot,” Kitty said.

  “Mine, too,” Jimmy said.

  “Anybody burned?” I asked. We all looked at each other. Akoni and Saunders, the biggest of us, hadn’t been low enough into the ground, and both their backs had been swept by the flames. Their burns looked superficial, though, just some reddened skin on the parts of their lower arms that hadn’t been covered by their shirts.

  “I think it’s time we get out of here,” I said. It only took us a few minutes to descend the path to the park entrance, though we had to be careful of the slippery trail and any smoking embers still around.

  Sampson saw Kitty coming and ran up the trail toward us, running surprisingly fast for such a big man. “Don’t you ever do that to me again,” he said, grabbing her in his arms.

  I turned aside to give them a chance to share their tears in private, and was surprised to see my parents, Aunt Mei-Mei and Genevieve Pang standing below. My father looked pale and tired, leaning against a black and white police car, my mother standing next to him. Both their faces were wreathed in smiles when they saw me.

  I hurried over to them, and hugged them both. Jimmy followed shyly, though Aunt Mei-Mei enveloped him in a big hug, getting smoke smudged on her face and her white blouse.

  “We need a quick debriefing, and then you can take Jimmy home,” I said to Aunt Mei-Mei. As he and I walked over to Sampson and Kitty, I tried to raise Mike on the radio, to let him know that we were safe, but I couldn’t get him. I told both my brothers to get their teams down to the park entrance, that the fire was too strong and we had to let the fire fighters take over.

  “I thought you said there were kids up there,” Haoa said.

  “There are,” I said. “But we don’t know where any of them were when the fire swept through. It’s too dangerous, Haoa. Mom and Dad are here. You both need to get down.”

  Saunders couldn’t stop coughing, so he went over to the paramedics for treatment. Akoni and I sat at a park bench with Sampson and Kitty, and I relayed most of what Jimmy had told me, ending with him wrapped in a tarpaulin in the back of Jeff White’s pickup.

  “This is where I come in,” Kitty said.

  I saw her squeeze Jimmy’s hand again.

  “I went over to the Hardings’ this morning for the picnic, and Fran and Eli said that we were going to meet the Whites, too. So we all drove over to their house, and I left my car in the Whites’ driveway.”

  “I saw that,” Sampson said. I could see he was struggling to keep a lid on his temper.

  “Everything was going okay,” Kitty said. “Fran and Eli went in the cabin to get the food together, and I took Caitlin and Cole for a walk in the woods.”

  “Where were the Whites?” I asked.

  “I drove up in Sheila’s car with her, following the Hardings. Jeff went off to get some beer. When we got up to the cabin, Sheila started unloading stuff. While I was gone with the kids, Jeff came up in his truck, and I saw him go off into the woods with her.”

  She looked pleadingly at her dad. “Everything was going fine. It was just going to be a picnic.”

  “I’m just glad you’re safe,” he said. “But if you ever scare me this way again I’ll kill you myself.”

  I had a feeling my boss might be capable of just such a thing. There was a wildness in him, lying below the surface, the kind of temperament that let him romp around naked in the mud at a rock concert. I’ll bet he had worked hard to civilize those impulses.

  “I was walking past Jeff’s truck when I heard this thumping. I steered the kids over there, and I saw this big bundle under a tarp. I could see a piece of Jimmy’s hair at the top, and as I was looking his foot snaked out from under the tarp, too, and banged on the side of the rail three times.”

  Kitty looked more sure of herself then, and in that moment I knew that she’d be a damned good police officer some day. “I sent the kids up to the cabin, and once they were out of sight I reached over and pulled back the tarp. That’s when I saw Jimmy. His hands and feet were bound with rope and there was a piece of duct tape over his mouth. He looked scared as hell.”

  “My hero,” Jimmy said.

  “I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew something had to be wrong. I peeled the duct tape off his mouth, and he told me that Jeff was the guy in the picture.”

  She looked over at her dad. “Sometimes it takes me a while to listen to you, but everything you’ve been saying for years finally kicked in. I know I’m not a cop, that the best thing I could do was call you. But I couldn’t get a cell signal up there, so I had to get Jimmy out of there and get down to the bottom of the hill.”

  “Smart thinking,” Sampson said.

  “It took me forever to untie the knots around Jimmy’s wrists. I kept looking up at the cabin, worrying that at any minute, Sheila or Jeff or one of the Hardings would come out and see me there, and know that the game was up. I was so nervous I was sweating, and my fingers and hands were slippery. I finally just made myself stop trembling, and eventually I got the knot undone.”

  She looked over at Jimmy and squeezed his hand again. “We worked together to get his feet loose. Finally he was able to jump out of the truck, and we started going down this trail.”

  “Kitty was awesome,” Jimmy said. “She kept us off the road, because she thought Jeff might come after us in his truck. And then we smelled the smoke, and I was like ready to lose it, and she calmed me down. Then we came to this steep part, and she was so brave. She went first, to make sure it was safe for me.”

  “I wasn’t careful enough,” Kitty said. “I was picking my way down, one step at a time, holding onto rocks and trees, when this little tree I was holding gave way. I lost my balance and started sliding. It was awful. I was scared I was going to hit my head on something and die.”

  She smiled over at Jimmy. “You should have seen Jimmy. He jumped over everything like he was some kind of mountain goat, and he landed right next to me. I hurt my ankle, but he helped me stand up. I wanted him to go on and find help, but he wouldn’t leave me.”

  “We could smell the fire,” Jimmy said.

  “We hobbled on for a while, but my ankle hurt, so we stopped by this big boulder. And then I heard Caitlin Harding crying. We thought that it was Fran and Eli, and I was so relieved.”

  “But it wasn’t,” Jimmy said. “It was creepy Jeff and his wife.
With those other people’s kids.”

  Kitty continued, “We sat behind the rock, and we heard the footsteps coming. As soon as I saw Cole, I was ready to jump up, but Jimmy was smart, and he held me back. That’s when we saw it wasn’t Fran and Eli with the kids, but Jeff and Sheila. She sent Jeff one way down the trail with the kids, and she started coming toward us.”

  She looked over at Jimmy and smiled at him. “Sheila got closer and closer. There was no way we could move without attracting her attention, and there was no way she wouldn’t see us if she kept coming. I was desperately trying to think of a plan when Jimmy got up. I reached for him, miming madly for him to stay put, but he wasn’t paying attention. I was so scared for him when I saw him creeping around through the woods, trying to get around behind Sheila.”

  Her bangle bracelets jangled a little, and I could see her nerves flaring up again. “I was so scared. I just didn’t think Jimmy could do anything.” Looking at him, she said, “I’m sorry, Jimmy. I thought you were just the kind of kid who watched too many violent TV shows and movies, that you thought you could take on the bad guys because on TV the good guys always won.”

  “I surprised myself,” Jimmy said. “But I never would have tried anything if it wasn’t for Kimo.”

  I looked at him, but Kitty had resumed her story. “I tried to get up but my leg wouldn’t hold me. When Jimmy jumped out in front of Sheila, I was totally surprised. He kicked the gun out of her right hand. He stumbled regaining his balance, but he made a fist and swung his arm at her stomach like a club.”

  “That’s what I learned from you,” Jimmy said. “At the teen center. You taught us that stuff.”

  Sampson glanced at me, and I’m sure he was wondering exactly what I was teaching those kids. But Akoni nodded, and I felt good knowing that he trusted me no matter what I did.

  “I could almost hear her breath come out of her body,” Kitty said. “She fell backwards to the ground, and she hit her head on the dirt trail. We’d just left her behind when we ran into you.”

  “You mean Sheila White’s up there on the trail?” I asked. “Why didn’t you say that first?”

  OUT OF THE FIRE

  Both Kitty and Jimmy looked like they were ready to cry.

  “I’m going back up there,” I said to Sampson. “We weren’t that far up the trail when we found the kids, and the fire’s already been past there. If Sheila White’s still up there I can bring her down.”

  “Right behind you, brah,” Akoni said. We hurried up the ridge, and it was good to have my partner back again, even if only for a short while.

  “Be careful,” Sampson called to us. “Keep your radios on.”

  Akoni and I passed Lui and his team coming down. I wanted to embrace my brother, thank him and thank Pele, too, for bringing him safely back, but I was worried about the Harding kids, and what could be happening to them up on the mountain with Jeff and Sheila White.

  The fire had burned to our left, and we were able to take the right-hand trail up to the rise where Kitty and Jimmy had first appeared to us. Because of the shifting wind, it was still unscorched.

  From there, the trail turned, and I crept forward, Akoni covering my back. I could see ahead to where a woman lay sprawled on the path. I listened but I couldn’t hear anything, and I didn’t see her moving. I crept forward, foot by foot, until I reached her.

  Apparently, Sheila White had hit her head on a rock when Jimmy knocked her down, and there was blood pooling all around her. Training my weapon on her, I kneeled down and felt for a pulse.

  There was a faint one, and she stirred at my touch.

  “Jesus, it’s you!”

  I looked up, and ahead of me on the path stood Jeff White. He had two small, blonde children with him, a boy and a girl.

  “Freeze,” Akoni said, drawing his gun.

  I stood up quickly and pointed my gun at White, too. “It’s all over now, Jeff,” I said. “Throw down your weapons and stay right where you are.”

  “It’s not over.” He reached out and pulled the girl in front of him. He held her with his left hand and pointed his gun at her with his right. “What did you do to Sheila?”

  “I didn’t do anything. I’ve been out here looking for you, Jeff, and I just found Sheila here.”

  “I don’t believe you. You killed her.”

  “Your sister’s not dead, Jeff. It looks like she fell and hit her head on the ground. But we’ve got to get her out of here before the fire catches up with us.”

  “I don’t… Sheila is the one who always told me what to do.” Tears began to run down his face, but he kept the girl and the gun in position.

  “Did she know you were gay?”

  “What? I’m not queer.”

  “Sure you are.” I started moving toward him, in tiny increments. “You picked up a male prostitute, didn’t you? He’s just a boy, you know. Sixteen.”

  “I don’t… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “He told me about you. He told me you picked him up to have sex this morning. Straight guys don’t pick up teen-aged boys for sex, Jeff.”

  “It… it… it wasn’t like that. I was just going to give him a lift and he… he came on to me.”

  “Why did you do it, Jeff? Why did you bomb the Marriage Project and then kill Charlie Stahl? Were you scared about being gay?”

  I was only about fifty feet from him by then. “I’m not gay!” he said. “I’m… I’m… confused. If Sheila knew I’d been thinking about guys, she’d have killed me.”

  “Why did you kill the old man? Did you try to have sex with him?”

  “The old man? You mean the homeless guy?”

  “Yeah. His name was Hiroshi Mura.”

  “I didn’t kill him. Sheila did. She’s always been the best at everything. She shoots way better than I do. She’s the one who learned how to make bombs. I just did whatever she told me.”

  “Why don’t you let the little girl go,” I said. “Put the gun down. I’ll take you downtown myself. I promise I’ll take care of you.” He seemed to hesitate.

  I’d been wrong about the fire. I thought it had used up all the fuel in that part of the park, that we were safe. But as I stood there across from Jeff White, I could hear the fire had returned, feel the heat, smell the smoke. The kids were so frightened they were paralyzed, but at any moment they could start crying or screaming again, which would make it that much harder to get Jeff White to focus on me. I was also worried that Haoa and his team were going to stumble on us any minute, adding yet another unpredictable element.

  Then Pele stepped in once again. Although I can’t say I believe in the old Hawaiian religion, as a surfer I’ve often seen the power of nature and felt that it’s possible there is a divine hand guiding it. Maybe Pele was angry that someone else had started a fire, or maybe one of the other gods or goddesses that protect the islands alerted her and asked her intervention.

  First there was a big cracking noise, and some ironwood trees off to the right caught on fire. They lit up the area brightly, distracting all of us for a moment.

  I’ve tried since then to piece together what happened next. I think the little boy, Cole, must have tried to free his sister then, starting to pummel Jeff White’s leg. Jeff lowered the gun hand for a minute to fight the boy off.

  That’s when Haoa and his team came bursting through the trees from the left. Jeff was clearly scared. He turned and let go of Caitlin, then raised his hand and started to shoot, first at me, then at Haoa and his team. I quickly dropped into a crouch, balanced my arm as best I could, and shot, hoping for the best.

  It was all chaos after Jeff White fell to the ground. The fire was raging around us, and the air still rang with the sound of our gunfire.

  I had to take a minute to evaluate. I was feeling shaky, but I hadn’t been hit in the crossfire. Neither had Haoa or the two uniforms with him-Frank Sit, and another guy I didn’t know. Tony Lee and Steve Hart had both gotten what looked like shallow wounds. />
  Jeff White was sitting on the ground sobbing, holding his upper arm, which was bleeding. He’d dropped his gun, and the kids had run to Akoni, who had them both wrapped in his beefy arms. Cole Harding had a bullet wound in his upper chest and he was breathing shallowly, the blood dripping onto Akoni’s shirt as my partner talked soothingly to both kids. Caitlin was sobbing and shaking, but she’d nestled her head against Akoni’s bulk.

  I inched over to Jeff and picked up his gun. But it was clear that all the fight had gone out of him. I helped him stand, and though I knew he had done terrible things, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. I’d been stuck in the closet myself, and I knew what that was like.

  By then it was incredibly hot, and the sweat was pouring down all of us. Haoa took Caitlin Harding from Akoni, and said, “We’ve got to get out of here before the fire comes back.”

  We started down the path, Haoa leading, with the little girl cradled against him. Akoni went next, carrying Cole Harding. When we’d worked together, he and his wife had been thinking about kids, and I hoped that they would start soon. For a big man, he could be very delicate, and like with Haoa, kids could feel the good spirit flowing out of him.

  Steve Hart and Tony Lee went next, holding each other up. Both were bleeding, and I hoped that they were only flesh wounds, and that they’d make it down safely to the paramedics.

  I picked up Sheila White and slung her over my shoulder, just as I’d done with Sandra Guarino after the Marriage Project bombing. Jeff White stumbled behind me, with Frank Sit keeping his gun trained on him. Within moments the flames were licking at our backs, and we had to run, as best we could, down the slippery, twisting mountain path.

  It felt like we were souls trying to escape from hell, noise and heat and flames all around us. I wanted to pray but I was too intent on finding the next safe place to put my foot down, holding onto Sheila White and saying, “Stay with me, bitch. I want to see you alive and behind bars.” And I didn’t want Jimmy Ah Wong to ever feel he’d been responsible for her death.