26. Dark and Stormy
- 2 oz Black Rum
- 4 oz Ginger Beer
“Here she is,” Dr. Pike says as he finishes ushering Kaleo, Malu and Chyna to a random hospital room. “Remember, she’s not in great shape. I’ll give you a moment with her.” He turns around and walks away.
At the door to the room, the three ‘blood-relatives’ share a brief moment. They are unsure of what they are about to see. Chyna takes a big breath for the group and exhales audibly. “Let’s go, boys.”
As they enter, they see Robin on a hospital bed completely incapacitated. She’s pale and still. There’s numerous tubes going in and out of her body, her heart beats on the monitor and even with everything helping her, they can tell she’s having a hard time breathing. Completely deprived of strength and energy, she closes her eyes and drifts in and out of consciousness. The trio walk up to her bedside and gently try to get her to open her eyes.
“Hey sis,” Chyna starts. “We’re here.” She pulls up a chair next to the bed and touches her arm softly to try to wake her up.
“Hi Robin,” Kaleo takes his turn from the other side of the bed. “Are you awake?”
At an early age, the boys saw their father physically turn into a female. But being so young, they barely have any memories of it. Knowing that she didn’t want them to continue calling her ‘Dad’ after or during her transition, Robin thought it best that the boys would simply call her by her name. So, that’s what they did. When speaking about her or to her, ‘Robin’ was the selected proper noun. Robin did think of having her sons call her ‘Mom’, but she didn’t want to disrespect Rowena. They have a mother, she thought, she’s just not present.
At the foot of the bed, but keeping his distance, Malu is silent. He’s unsure of what he’s feeling and what to say. Leaning with his back up against the wall and arms crossed, he decides to let Chyna and Kaleo do the talking.
“Robin, we’re here,” Kaleo tries again. “Wake up.”
Struggling to open her eyes, Robin slowly opens one eye and then the other. She looks straight ahead and notices Malu first, “My son…” She musters enough energy to say those two words. That one line alone causes her to lose her breath and start into a violent coughing fit.
That’s all it takes, Malu’s backseat approach quickly dissolves. He bursts into tears and runs to her side, kneeling right next to Kaleo.
“I’m sorry, Robin,” Malu says with tears streaming down his face. Kaleo hugs his brother tight and starts to cry himself. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Robin.” He’s not sure what he’s saying, but it’s all that he can manage to get out.
Finally catching her breath, Robin moves her right hand and touches Malu’s face. “Ssshh.” She smiles weakly and looks at her two boys. She looks over at Chyna and her face immediately breaks as if she’s gonna cry, but she doesn’t have enough energy to actually do so.
“Rest, sis. It’s ok,” Chyna says trying to comfort her best friend. Now with tears in her eyes as well, she pets Robin’s forehead and continues saying, “Rest, babe.”
After gathering enough breath, Robin weakly asks, “Lopaka?”
None of them know exactly how to answer, so Chyna takes the lead, “He’s in LA, babe. Remember?” Robin nods, having had her memory jogged. She wishes all three of her sons were there, but doesn’t harp on it.
Kaleo takes out his phone and quickly texts Lopaka again, GET YOUR ASS HOME NOW!
“This is just like him, always missing when something important happens, when we need him!” Kaleo says with contempt. His frustration with always having to act like the oldest brother has reached its peak.
“Ssshhh,” Robin hushes her son. “It’s ok. Love him. Take care of him. Take care of each other. Promise me.” Kaleo and Malu both nod in assurance. She looks to Chyna and touches her chest, “Thank you. Thank you, my friend.” She pauses as tears fall from her face. “Take care of my boys, ok? I love you.” Chyna nods while crying and trying to put on a smile for her friend.
With barely any breath left in her body, she looks back to her sons and smiles weakly, “Find your mom… Tell her I’m sorry.” The boys look at each other in confusion. They were always told that their mother was a deadbeat drug addict not worth knowing, but wanting to give Robin whatever she wants, they nod in agreement. “I love you… with all my heart…”
Her eyes roll back and shut. Her head plops back heavily against the pillow and her heart monitor flat lines. The moment they were all fearing had finally arrived.
Chyna immediately runs out into the hallway and yells, “HELP! PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!”
A couple of nurses nearby run into the room and start working on Robin right away. “I’m going to need you to step back please,” one of the nurses asks of Kaleo and Malu. Malu, who has been holding Robin’s hand, doesn’t want to let go. “I’m sorry sir, I’m going to need you step back please,” the nurse reiterates. Knowing that this is their only chance at reviving their father, Kaleo grabs his brother and pulls him back. He bears hugs him from behind and they both watch the nurses go to work.
Dr. Pike finally walks in and starts speaking to the nurses in medical lingo. “Is the defibrillator ready?” They hook Robin up to the machine and send an electrical current through her body to get her heart to start up again.
With everything feeling like it’s going in slow-motion, Kaleo looks over at Chyna, who has also stepped back and watches with her hands over her mouth. He looks at his brother, who is crying in his arms and then looks at Robin. He notices her body and face is lifeless and realizes… she’s gone.
The group of medical professionals continue this routine for what seems like hours, but in actuality has only been a few minutes. The nurses continue to perform, but look to Dr. Pike for the next orders. Dr. Pike looks down and realizes there’s no use continuing. “Damn it,” he whispers under his breath, then to one of the nurses says, “Call it.”
“Calling it. Time of Death, 1:32am.”
Having been restricted to the lobby of the hospital, the group of Violet employees have run out of things to talk about. All sitting quietly and staring at their phones, they wait for any sort of news; good or bad.
Ashley texts Malu for the sixth time, “How’s she doing?” but again there’s no reply. He must’ve left his phone in his hospital room. She’s been resisting the urge to text Kaleo to give him space, but her need to know how Robin is doing has finally taken over. She opens up a text to him, but just as she does, Kaleo, Malu and Chyna come walking out into the lobby.
Ashley and Momi are the first to notice. They get up out of their seats and run to the trio. The other employees get up a second later and start heading in that direction as well.
“What happened? Is she ok? Can we go see her?” Ashley spits a million questions a minute. Malu looks at his girlfriend and without saying anything, shakes his head.
“She’s gone.” Kaleo delivers the bad news, then begins to cry heavily. Having held it together until that moment, he covers his face and begins to shake. Chyna grabs him and hugs him tight. She tries to console him, but starts to cry herself.
“It’s ok, baby. It’s ok. Let it out,” Chyna whispers to him.
Parker walks up to the two of them and silently lips the words “I got it,” to Chyna. He motions to hand Kaleo over to him and she does. Kaleo looks up and sees his best friend with open arms. He quickly latches on to him hugging him tight and crying into his chest. Parker hugs him back, kisses his forehead and lets him get it all out. Being much taller than Kaleo, Parker rests his chin on the top of Kaleo’s head. “Sshh, it’s ok.”
Ashley immediately hugs Malu and thinks about how she could’ve lost him tonight as well. “I’m so sorry baby, I’m so so sorry,” she sniffles. Malu nods, but doesn’t say anything. He does his best not to cry in front of everybody.
Sam walks up to the couple and let them have their moment of intimacy. Once Ashley breaks away, Sam swoops in and hugs Malu, picking him up o
ff the floor.
“Ow! Ow!” Malu shouts out. His puncture from getting stabbed is still sensitive.
“Oh shit! Sorry bro.” Sam puts him down and goes for the bro-hug instead. “I’m sorry, man. I wasn’t there for you. That’s messed up.”
“Nah, it’s not like that,” Malu reassures his friend. “There were like five guys acting all dumb, so I let ‘em. I told them just to move along, you know how we do, try and keep calm, but then they tried to go in the club. I stopped them and then they got all nuts. Brah, I would’ve had all of those guys too if it wasn’t for that one guy with the knife. It was a cheap shot, sneak attack.”
“Brah, I’m sorry. For real,” Sam continues to apologize.
“Sam, stop. It’s not your fault. K?” Malu looks his friend right in the eyes. Sam nods in agreement.
“I’m sorry about Robin.”
“Me too, man. Me too.”
27. Bay Breeze
- 1 1/2 oz Vodka
- 2 oz Cranberry Juice
- 2 oz Pineapple Juice
About a month goes by and while things have settled, keeping Violet open and running is still a high point of stress. With the fundraiser having been a mediocre success, they were still able to come up with enough money to pay off all the past debts and cover three more months of rent; this month and the next two months. However, still needing money for the future, Kaleo wonders how he’s supposed to pay the Wongs once these next two months are over.
“What are we gonna do? Have a fundraiser every month?! That’s gonna look so suspicious, especially when nothing changes at the club. Everybody’s gonna wonder where their fundraising money is going to,” Kaleo asks Chyna all stressed out.
“Don’t worry about that now, babe,” Chyna consoles, but knows that she has no clue either. “Let’s just focus on this and enjoy today. Let’s not let it pass us by because that would be unfair to her.”
Today is Robin’s funeral or a celebration of Robin’s life, as they would prefer it to be called. Different than most funerals, Kaleo, Malu and Chyna decided to hold the commemoration at her favorite beach on the west side of O`ahu named Yokohama. Seeing that Yokohama, or Yokes to the locals, was where Robin basically grew up and brought her sons when they were growing up, they knew it had to be her final resting place.
“Do you have the ashes?” Kaleo asks Malu.
“Yeah, I set it up on the table, next to her photo,” Malu answers.
For her ceremony, there’s two large tents made of silver pipes with gray tarp roofing and there’s tables and chairs by the many. Toward the center of the two tents, a smaller table is placed with a photo of Robin smiling and an urn of her ashes. With more flower leis than can fit the tiny table, Malu starts dressing the ground around the table with flowers as a next best option.
“How many people do we expect to come out?” Malu looks to his brother and Chyna as he continues to set up.
Kaleo shrugs, “I don’t know.”
“I put the word out there in the newspaper and on every social media platform, so we’ll see. She knows a lot of people,” Chyna informs.
“Thanks for doing that, by the way,” Kaleo thanks.
“Of course. Anything for my best friend,” Chyna responds. She looks over to the photo and smiles. “Love you, sis,” she whispers to herself. She blows a kiss to the photo and goes back to work.
Having come down to the beach early to reserve the best spot, Kaleo, Malu and Chyna are the only three setting up. Wanting this celebration to be less formal and more casual, like a picnic with friends, they figured they wouldn’t need that much help getting everything arranged, but now they wish they had a few other hands.
“Sup bitches!”A voice comes from behind them. It’s Yuki walking toward them with his arms full of paper plates, cups and utensils. “Oh, shit, sorry. Am I not supposed to swear at this kind of thing. Oh shit, I said shit.” Almost like instant karma, and in true Yuki fashion, he trips and falls, throwing everything he is holding into the air. “I’m ok. I’m ok.”
Behind him, Parker and Sam follow Yuki carrying trays of food and other decorations. “We come bearing gifts,” Parker announces from a few feet away.
Kaleo’s face lights up when he sees his best friend. He didn’t expect to see them ’til much later. “Hey!” Kaleo greets Parker and they do their secret handshake from high school.
“We made it!” Sam says and bro-hugs his best friend, Malu.
“Sup Samoan,” Malu says
“Sup Hawaiian. How’s the ribs?” Sam asks.
Malu lifts up his shirt and shows his scar that’s still healing. “Brah, cherry! Ready for round two!”
“Das right! And I’ll be there this time! We goin’ lick those fuckahs!” Sam eggs his friend on. They both scream, “CHEEEEE-HOOOOOOO!”
“Alright, calm down you two bozos,” Chyna interjects.
“Malu, how are you gonna beat anybody up when you cannot even get in the ocean? The salt water would kick your ass,” Kaleo makes fun of his brother.
“I’m melting, I’m melting,” Yuki teases with a reference from The Wizard of Oz.
“Shut up, Yuki!” Malu flexes and fake advances at Yuki. Yuki cowers to the other side of the tent.
“Anyway, thank you guys for coming. I know it’s early,” Kaleo says to the three who just arrived, but mostly to Parker. “Is it only the three of you?”
“Well, I picked the two of them up and we carpooled it here. Chico and his boyfriend were following me in their own car, but I think I lost them. You know how they are… ‘slower.’” Parker puts and imaginary doobie to his lips and implies that they probably smoked a bunch of weed and got sidetracked. He looks back to where his car is parked and sees another car parking right behind him. “Actually, I think that’s them pulling up now.” Parker changes gears, “Ok, what needs to be done?”
“Well, if you guys want to start setting up the food table, that would really help.”
“I’m on it.” Parker heads over to the far side of the tent and puts his trays of food down.
With their eyes all red and walking at a leisurely pace, Chico and his boyfriend Riley finally reach the tents. In one hand, chico holds a bouquet of flowers and in the other, he holds a tiny chihuahua-fox terrier.
“Oh my God! He’s so cute!” Chyna puts her face right up to the puppy and he licks her on the nose. “Awww, can I carry him?”
“Sure.” Chico hands the dog over to her.
“He’s so small. What’s his name? Is it even a boy?” Chyna flips the dog on his back to check if he has a penis.
Chico laughs, “Yes, he’s a boy.”
“A gay boy!” Riley adds. The whole group laughs.
“Yes, our little gay baby boy,” Chico corrects himself. “We named him José, after my cousin.”
“Awww, that’s so sweet,” Chyna comments. José starts to squirm, so she puts him down on the ground. He runs right up to Sam and stops. He looks up and just stares.
“Look guys, David and Goliath,” Yuki jokes looking at the huge size difference between Sam and the puppy.
“He likes you,” Chico says to Sam.
“Oh yeah?” Sam picks up the dog and places him on his left shoulder. José doesn’t get scared. In fact, he looks comfortable as if he’s been up there a million times before. “I like him too.”
“Makes sense,” Chico starts, “If José were still with us, the both of you would’ve gotten along really well.”
Sam looks at the puppy on his shoulder and smiles. He starts talking to him quietly. “Sup José. You wanna help us set up this table?”
An hour goes by and the rest of the Violet employees start to filter in. Momi and Tisha arrive together, Beau drives himself and the four Fish y Chicks show up crammed in Alexus’ beat up Toyota Camry. Ashley is the last of the employees to show up, but with her kids and parents in tow, it came as no surprise to anyone.
“Hey cuz!” Momi says to Ashley as she and her family arrive.
“Hi cou
sin!” Ashley responds. “Sorry we’re late. Had to wrangle these kolohes (kolohe is a hawaiian word meaning ‘rascal’)!” She motions to her kids.
“Hi Uncle! Hi Aunty!” Momi says to Ashley’s parents as they walk up. She kisses them both on the cheek.
“Eh behbeh girl! How you?” Ashley’s dad, Bruce, greets his niece. Nearby and hearing a familiar voice, Chyna turns around and notices her old friends.
“Eh Bruce! Oh my God, Grace! I haven’t seen you guys in forever.” Chyna heads over to greet Ashley’s parents.
“You guys know each other?” Ashley and Momi say in unison. They didn’t know Ashley’s parents knew Chyna.
“Oh we go way back when! From high school time,” Ashley’s mom, Grace, enlightens the two girls.
“Back when she was Chuckie,” Ashley’s dad says nonchalantly.
“Bruce!” Grace whacks her husband on the arm.
“What? She was.” Bruce is confused. He questions himself, That is Chuckie, right?
“Sorry. He doesn’t know any better,” Grace apologizes for her husband.
Chyna drops her voice low to a male’s bass level, “Oh you mean, when I would talk like this?” The three old friends crack up.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Grace offers, “We came to pay our respects. I know how close you two were.”
“Yeah, we were. We had a good run, though.” Chyna looks over at Robin’s photo and talks to it as if Robin were standing there herself, “Yeah, you old bitch?” The three old friends share a laugh again.
A few more hours go by and the group gets larger and larger, expanding past the two tents that were originally set up. Thankfully, in true Hawaiian style, a lot of people brought their own tents and umbrellas and set up on the beach around the site respectfully. Friends and family from all over come to celebrate Robin’s life; people who haven’t seen each other in years. Kaleo, Malu and Chyna stand near each other and take a look around.
On the Rocks Page 18