Rowena pauses and looks at the ground. After a brief moment, she looks back up at the boys and says, “It’s true. It is. All of that did happen and I don’t know what else to say except I’m sorry.” The boys nod, but don’t say anything. They await, wanting to hear more.
“It’s not like I planned on abandoning you kids. It just sort of happened. I know that doesn’t make any sense…” Rowena stops to collect herself. She realizes that she needs to explain in deeper detail.
“I was 23 and I already had three children. I panicked. I wasn’t ready to be a mom. I couldn’t take care of three kids, I could barely even take care of myself! I tried to suck it up and accept my fate, but when your father told me he was going to turn into a woman, I… I lost it. I freaked out.” Rowena breathes heavily. She always knew this day would come.
“It was selfish and I know that now, but I was young and dumb and… I just wanted to escape reality for a bit. I started partying a little again and then a little turned into a lot. I went out with some of my old friends and then got mixed up with the wrong crowds. Pretty soon, I found myself away from you boys for so long, that I felt embarrassed to come home. I don’t know how to explain it, but… I was too ashamed to come back. I didn’t know how to come back. So, I just didn’t… and there’s no excuse for that.” Rowena covers her face as she starts to cry.
“I live with that guilt every day of my life, I do, but after being out of your lives for so long, I figured it would be easier for you guys if I just stayed out, since I was the one, who left in the first place.” She continues to wipe away tears from her eyes, “I hope you boys can find it somewhere in your heart to forgive me. Maybe not right away, but eventually.”
Malu, with the toughest exterior, but softest heart, goes up to Rowena and gives her a huge hug. Kaleo and Lopaka stand back and let their brother have his moment.
Curious, Kaleo asks, “How did you hear about Robin’s passing?”
“Well, Robbie and I were friends on Facebook and someone posted on her page that they were holding a funeral service here at the beach, so—”
“That was me,” Chyna cuts in. “I’m glad to see that my posts were worth it.” She looks around at all the guests that are present.
“Who knew? All we would’ve had to do was search on Facebook and we would’ve found our mom,” Lopaka chimes in slightly sarcastically. He’s still unconvinced as to why he should get to know her or even care that she’s here.
All of a sudden, Robin’s voice echoes through Kaleo’s head, Find your mom...Tell her I’m sorry. His mind quickly flashes back to Robin laying on a hospital bed and then snaps back to the present moment. With Rowena standing right in front of him and without seconding guessing himself, he blurts out, “Robin says she’s sorry.”
“What?” Rowena is completely caught off guard.
“She wanted us to find you and say sorry,” Kaleo explains, sounding like he just spoke to Robin’s spirit.
“What are you talking about, Leo?” Lopaka, having not heard Robin’s dying wish, asks in confusion.
“It’s true,” Chyna cuts in. “On her deathbed, she asked the boys to find you and apologize for her. I’m not exactly sure why, but I know she’s always felt responsible for your disappearance.”
Rowena covers her face and bursts into tears, she never thought anyone would understand why she left. However, knowing that Robin, the main person she abandoned, ultimately understood, there’s a feeling of relief that starts to unlock within her.
While Rowena gathers herself and calms her breathing, the two girls that she came with step forward and start to console her. Up until now, they have been standing back a few steps and letting Rowena and the boys figure things out.
“And who are they?” Lopaka motions to the two girls. He’s still confused as to what exactly is going on.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Rowena apologizes, still wiping away a few tears, “These are my daughters, Kaimana and Kehau.”
“Wait. What?” Lopaka is stunned.
“Daughters?” Kaleo wants to make sure he heard correctly.
“You mean to say that, all of sudden, we now have a mom AND sisters?” Lopaka can’t seem to believe the situation.
“Half-sisters,” Rowena clarifies, “but yes.”
“Look at that boys, a three for one deal,” Chyna tries to joke and keep the mood light-hearted. She hopes the boys can stay distracted enough, so they don’t realize that she knew Kaimana and Kehau existed this whole time.
“Damn, she does look like you, Kaleo,” Malu mentions the resemblance between Kaleo and Kaimana. The two girls wave kindly at the three brothers.
“I’m sorry, but this is way too much for me right now.” Having just found out that Robin died yesterday and now having his long lost mother standing right in front of him, Lopaka’s mind is on overload. Needing a moment to decompress and comprehend the reality of the situation at hand, he turns and walks away.
“Lopaka!” Kaleo yells for his brother, but Lopaka continues to walk further away. “I’m sorry. It was nice meeting you all,” Kaleo addresses Rowena and his two newly found half-sisters. He turns around and chases after Lopaka, leaving Malu as the last brother standing.
Malu looks at Kaimana and Kehau, “So… I have sisters, huh? Right on!” He walks up to them and gives them each a hug. “I don’t care what my brothers say, I think it’s pretty cool. And don’t worry. They’ll come around.”
Malu smiles, then has a quick change of thought, “Hey, do you guys wanna meet my kids? They’ll be stoked to know that they finally have aunties and not just uncles.” Malu takes Rowena and his two sisters over to where Ashley and his kids are playing.
On his way trying to catch up to Lopaka, Kaleo runs into Parker.
“Yo!” Parker says jumping in his path. He’s holding Chico’s dog, José.
“Hey!” Kaleo is slightly startled. Being too focused on catching his brother, he didn’t see Parker coming. He notices José in Parker’s arm and talks to him, “Hi José. Hey little buddy!”
“You wanna hold him?” Parker offers.
“Sure!” Needing a little warm cuddly love on such a heavy day, Kaleo takes José from Parker and snuggles him tight to his chest.
“Everything ok? I saw you and Lopaka beefing earlier,” Parker inquires.
“Yeah, we’re all good, but now we have another situation on our hands,” Kaleo confesses.
“What do you mean?” Parker questions.
“You see those girls that Malu is walking with over there?” Kaleo tilts his head over and looks in Rowena’s direction. He doesn’t want to point directly to avoid being too obvious.
“Yeah, I saw Chyna talking to them earlier. Who’s that?” Parker asks.
“Well… the older lady is my mom and the other two girls are my sisters that I didn’t even know I had,” Kaleo discloses matter-of-factly.
“WHAT?!” Parker’s eyes widen with sheer shock.
“Yup. Just when I thought this day couldn’t get any crazier, BAM! I was wrong.” Still holding José, Kaleo shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders.
“I thought you said your mom was some sort of crack head and maybe died on the street or something.” Parker repeats what was told to him awhile ago.
“Yeah, that’s what we thought too,” Kaleo nods his head in agreement.
“She doesn’t look like a crackhead,” Parker states.
“She’s not. I mean, I don’t think she is. Maybe she was, but yeah… I don’t know.” Kaleo’s mind races trying to piece together the puzzle of Rowena’s life, but having too much on his mind, he can’t think clearly.
“Shit, that’s crazy, Leo! How are they? How’s your mom. Is she cool? Jeez, that sounds so weird coming out of my mouth… your mom.”
“Trust me, I know. Her name is Rowena. I never even heard Robin mention her name before, but apparently they still kind of kept in contact over Facebook. Leave it to Robin to keep secrets,” Kaleo says sarcastically, implying that she
kept her health a secret from everyone. “I mean, she’s cool, I guess. She apologized for abandoning us and started crying, but I don’t know. It’s hard to feel anything cause we’ve lived without her for so long. It’s just something that’s gonna take time I think.”
Just as Kaleo finishes his last sentence, José jumps out of his arms and starts running away from them. “Shit!”
“José come back!” Parker yells.
“I’ll get him.” Kaleo starts running after him feeling like it was his fault.
“No no no, you’ve got enough on your plate. I’ll go get him.” Parker stops Kaleo and then runs past him. “I’ll catch up with you later.” Parker runs after José and Kaleo continues his chase for Lopaka.
“Damn, he’s a speedy little fucker,” Parker says to himself under breath as he runs after José. He thinks to himself, I better catch this dog or Chico and Riley are gonna be pissed. Parker continues in pursuit of José, always trailing just far enough behind him, until he sees José and another dog collide. The two dogs pounce on each other and tumble around on the sand while their tails wag joyfully. Ah! He probably smelled or heard this dog and wanted to play. Now knowing that the dogs are playing just a few feet away, Parker stops running and walks up to the two dogs easily.
“José! Come here,” Parker commands. Finally paying attention, José turns around and runs up to Parker’s legs. Parker kneels down and picks him up and holds him tight, making sure he doesn’t run away again. While on one knee, the other dog comes up to Parker and licks him on the hand. It’s a small, cute, white Yorkshire Terrier.
Parker pets the other dog and speaks to him kindly, “Hey buddy. Where’s your owner, huh?” As he’s petting the dog, he realizes that he’s seen this dog before. “Wait, I know you.” He grabs the the dog’s collar and reads the dog tag that’s attached.
“Casper! Casper! Come here, Casper!” A female’s voice yells in the distance.
Parker looks up and sees Simone, the girl from the ice cream shop, looking around for her dog. “That’s how I know!” Parker picks up Casper. Now with José in his left arm and Casper in his right, he walks over to a slightly distressed Simone.
“Hey!” Parker yells while walking in her direction. “I found your dog.”
Not noticing that it’s Parker yet, Simone comes running over in her Brazilian cut Bikini. “Oh my God! Thank you so much. I was looking all over for him. One minute he was there and then the next—” Finally reaching Parker and the dogs, she realizes who exactly is holding her dog. “Uh— Hi.”
“Hey,” Parker says with a smile, knowing by her reaction that she remembers him. “Haven’t seen you in awhile. How you been?”
“Yeah, I… I’ve been good… busy,” Simone stutters.
“Oh, here’s Casper.” He hands Casper over to Simone. “I think they like each other. I had to chase this little one all the way over here.”
“Yeah, he tends to like other dogs. Male dogs specifically,” Simone confesses.
“Yeah, this guy too. Apparently, he’s a little charmer and brings all the boys to the yard,” Parker jokes. They both put their dogs down and let them play around with each other while they catch up.
“Is he yours?” Simone asks.
“No. He belongs to a friend of mine. He’s a bartender too. Oh, Chico! The latino guy, who works the front bar with me. You probably saw him.” Parker tries to jog her memory.
Simone shakes her head. “Sorry. I only went that one time and that night is kind of a blur.” She looks away awkwardly, trying to avoid eye contact with Parker.
“Yeah, what happened that night?” The details of that night are still a bit of a mystery to Parker.
“Oh, nothing. I just had to go. In fact, I should probably be getting back to my party.” Feeling uncomfortable, Simone tries to back out of the conversation.
“Yeah, right. Sorry to keep you.” Parker realizes he probably pushed too far. “Well, it was nice seeing you again.”
“Yeah, you too. Come on, Casper.” She turns around and walks back to her party, kindly scolding Casper as he walks alongside her.
“Hey wait!” He runs up to her. José runs up too. He starts up in conversation again, “Hey, look… I know this is probably a long shot, but… do you wanna go out some time?”
Completely confused, Simone asks, “Don’t you have a girlfriend?”
“Oh, Momi? Yeah, she was my girlfriend, until she realized that she’s a lesbian, so… that’s how that worked out,” Parker discloses what happened between him and Momi in a short and sweet manner.
“You think?” Simone says strongly and sarcastically. “She basically had her hands down my pants at your club.”
“Oh so you do remember what happened that night?” Parker catches her in her lie.
Simone scoffs playfully and smiles. Knowing that she’s been caught. “I might have some memories,” she admits.
“I really don’t know what happened between the two of you that night, but I’m sorry for putting you in that situation,” Parker apologizes sincerely.
“It wasn’t your fault. I was the one that decided to come.” Simone takes the blame.
“I promise Violet’s not always like that.” Parker does his best at convincing her. “And, if it makes you feel any better, Momi is happily with another woman.”
“And you?” Not wanting to play any more games, Simone asks Parker what his relationship status is outright.
“Me? Nah, I’m still waiting for the right woman to come along. Hopefully one that loves dogs and ice cream, too…” Parker plays her game, but in his own way. Simone rolls her eyes playfully. “We have a lot of food back over there.” He points toward the tents. “You should come by. We’re celebrating my friend’s parent passing.”
“A funeral?” She scrunches up her face, “Nah, I’d feel too awkward.”
“What about tomorrow then?” Parker comes back with quickly, not wanting to give up on this fate-placed opportunity. “Can I take you out? Maybe some ice cream. I know you like ice cream.”
“You know what…” Simone pauses, looks at Casper and José playing and having a good time, then answers, “Sure. Why not?”
“Uh, I don’t have my phone on me,” Parker just realizes.
“Yeah, neither do I.” They both ran to find their dogs leaving their phones behind.
“Alright, well, let’s do this…” Parker comes with a plan, “Let’s meet up at the ice cream place just around the corner from Violet at 6pm. We’ll get dessert first and then get some dinner.”
“At the place where we first met?” Simone raises one eyebrow. “You think you’re so sly, huh?”
“I didn’t even realize that. I promise!” Parker pleads.
“Alright, fine, but don’t be late or I’m leaving.” Simone finally realizes that the ball is in her court now.
“Ok. Yeah, I won’t,” Parker obeys.
“Come on, Casper. Let’s go.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow!” Parker says with a huge grin. She looks back at him, smiles and then runs back to her party.
Back at the tents, everyone is drinking, getting loose and having a good time. Music plays loudly over the big portable speaker that Sam brought and the guests socialize, recalling their best memories of Robin.
Parker hands José back to Chico, but Chico just puts him down and lets him roam freely. Malu and Ashley are joking back and forth with Kaimana and Kehau, while Chyna and Rowena talk about old times. Momi, Tisha, Sam and Yuki swim in the shore break as the Fish y Chicks stand in a circle, trying to keep the volleyball up as long as they can.
Beau, having had one too many beers, notices the Fish y Chicks and decides he wants to play too. Stumbling in their direction, he trips and faceplants, spilling his beer everywhere. The Fish y chicks crack up at Beau’s expense, all except Karmen Sense.
Karmen runs over to check on him, “Oh my God! Are you ok?”
Beau hops up quickly and dusts himself off, “I’m good. I did that on
purpose.”
Karmen chuckles, “No, you didn’t. You ate it.”
“Not!” Beau has no other come back.
“Oh my God! Look at your knee!” Karmen gets Beau to look down at his knee which he managed to scrape when he fell. A tiny little cut, with the smallest amount of blood, starts to bleed out. Beau sees this minuscule amount of blood and immediately faints.
Karmen slaps his face, but Beau is out cold. Having done a lot of weight lifting before she transitioned, Karmen gets herself into a proper stance and picks Beau up. Hoisting him over her shoulder, Beau’s dead weight doesn’t phase Karmen in the slightest.
She looks back at the Fish y Chicks and tells them, “I’ll be back.” Not knowing what just happened or why Karmen is wasting her time on him, the Fish y Chicks go back to lofting the volleyball back and forth.
Karmen carries him all the way to Alexus’ Toyota Camry. Figuring the car would be within sight distance, the Fish y Chicks left the doors unlocked. Karmen opens the door to the back seat and plops him down inside. As he hits the cushion of the back seat, he starts to come back to his senses.
Still drunk and only half conscious, Beau looks up at Karmen, who is standing at the open back door looking down at him. With the sun shining from Karmen’s back, it makes her look as if she’s glowing.
“Wow, I must be in heaven,” Beau slurs.
“What?” Karmen can’t make out what Beau just said.
“This must be my reward for being such a good person on Earth.” In his delirious state, Beau thinks he died and is now in heaven. “Come here, angel. Beau’s got a big present for you.” Already shirtless and just in his surf shorts, he pulls down his shorts and exposes his dick.
Karmen, having seen a lot dicks in her days, looks at Beau’s and tilts her head, I thought it would be bigger. She shrugs her shoulders and smiles, she never passes up a fun time. She hops in the back seat with him, closes the door and the two of them go at it like two horned up jack rabbits.
The Fish y Chicks look back at Alexus’ Toyota Camry that’s now bouncing up and down.
On the Rocks Page 20