Kahana-The Untold Stories

by Ann Kennedy

  Art jumps up and is ready to punch Kim, but a waiter trips Art before he can make a move. Art falls on the floor. The waiters burst out laughing. Then some of the guests seated at the other tables are cheering. Meanwhile, Kim rushes to the exit door.

  The ship’s captain has walked in with two members of his staff. Spotting the captain, Art starts yelling at him. He wants to press charges against Kim and the cruise line.

  Kim sneaks out the door. Ikaia follows him and blocks the door from the other side so that the captain cannot get out. One of the waiters causes a commotion when he purposely drops a tray of drinks by the exit door. Another worker blocks the door while he scoops up the broken glass on the floor. A third waiter runs to the area and begins to mop up the spilled drinks.

  By the time, the captain gets out of the room, Kim has already grabbed a life jacket and jumped overboard. He knows he will have a long swim to get to Hawaii, but he believes he can make it. After all, the Hawaiian Islands were in sight before he jumped overboard.

  A few hours later, he does make it to the shore. It has been a long, hard journey. He struggles to crawl thirty feet up the sandy beach. He is weak and dehydrated. He finally collapses from exhaustion; within minutes, he is sound asleep.

  After an hour, he wakes up to the loud sounds of giggles from three children. They are playing near him. There is also a beautiful eighteen-year-old girl kneeling beside him. She looks like an angel. He pinches his cheeks because he wants to make sure he is awake and not dreaming.

  The lovely girl says, “Afio Mao.” Then she uses her ladle to scoop up fresh water from her bucket. She puts the spoon of the ladle to his mouth and tells him “Ua e in ai.” Kim begins to gulp the water down his parched throat. He motions to her that he wants more water, so she says, “Okay,” and gives him another big spoonful.

  He knows that she is speaking a language from one of the islands, not English. He thinks that she must know some English, though, since she said, “Okay.” He asks her in English, “Who are you?”

  She is a fast talker and eager to answer him. “My name is Thalia. It means ‘to wait.’” She pauses and takes a deep breath and then she continues. “I found you an hour ago. You looked like you needed help, so I ran back to my house with my younger brothers and sisters. We got two buckets of water, a blanket, a cloth, a dry shirt, pants, and a ladle and carried them to you.” “I used the water from one of the buckets and the cloth to wipe the seawater off your face,” she explains. “Then I took your shirt and pants off with my brothers’ and sisters’ help. I wiped off your chest, back, and legs. After that, we put my brother’s dry shirt and pants on you and covered you with a blanket.”

  Kim is astonished. Her story makes him come to life. Sitting up, he says, “You took off my pants? Why did you take off my pants?”

  In a straightforward, down-to-earth manner, she answers, “I did not want you to catch pneumonia. I knew what to do. I am studying at the Island School to be a nurse. I felt it was my duty to take care of you.”

  Conceding the point, he tells her that his name is Kim.

  She giggles. “Silly, I know that. You did a lot of mumbling and talking about yourself while you slept. You sounded cuckoo. You were out of your head.” Then she boastfully adds, “I knew by the clothes you were wearing that you either jumped ship or fell overboard. Which was it?”

  He feels compelled to tell her the truth. “I was a waiter on a cruise ship that was headed to Hawaii. Something happened, and a fight broke out. I had to get off that ship.” Then he sighs, “At least I’m back home in Hawaii.”

  Thalia and the children start howling with laughter. Thalia says, “Hawaii? You’re not in Hawaii.

  You are in American Samoa.” Kim stares at her in disbelief.

  Chapter 10

  Dancing with Fire

  Thalia tells Kim, “It’s time for us to go home. You will be our house guest for a while. You know, until you get on your feet.” Kim accepts her proposal and walks alongside of her, while her brothers and sisters trail behind them. Kim questions her about how far he is from Hawaii. Thalia responds that American Samoa is half-way between Hawaii and New Zealand.

  Then Thalia declares, “My homeland is enchanting too. It’s beautiful like Hawaii. Our island is known for its colorful, fringe reefs, pearly white sandy beaches and heavily wooded mountain slopes.”

  Kim looks up at the mountains and says, “They look like they are about three-hundred feet. It is nice here. I like it.”

  She smiles at him, and then in a bossy tone, she says, “I already made a plan for you. Once we get home, I want you to see the room that you will share with my brothers. While you are doing this, I will be making lunch. Then, when we finish eating, I will take you to my neighbors, so you can meet them.”

  Kim shrugs his shoulders and responds, “I guess, it sounds like a good plan, but why do I have to meet your neighbors?”

  She answers, “My neighbors, Tane and Safina, have a small copra farm and they are always looking for help. I will introduce you to them. Then you will ask them for a job. You do want a job, don’t you?”

  Kim can only nod his head in agreement. He knows that he is stuck with her right now and must do whatever she wants him to do.

  After lunch, they head to her neighbor’s copra farm. Tane, the owner, is working outside. Thalia and Kim walk over to greet him. Thalia says, “Tane, we’ve come to visit you. I want you to meet my friend, Kim. He needs a job.”

  Tane laughs and then responds. “That’s what I like about you. You always get right to the point.” He asks Kim if he ever cut copra before. Kim says, “No, but I worked a long time on the sugar plantations in Hawaii. I don’t think cutting copra would be much different.”

  Tane agrees and then tells Kim that his small copra farm is about three-hundred feet behind his house. He explains to Kim that his job would be to cut the copra, which is the dried meat of the coconut, and then remove the coconut oil. The removal of copra has been around since the 1st century. It’s used for livestock feed, dry fruit, native ceremonies and celebrations.”

  After Kim hears about the job, he tells Tane that he wants to work for him. Tane says, “Good, we can use you. Be here at 6:00 o’clock tomorrow morning to start work.”

  When Thalia and Kim begin walking home, she triumphantly announces. “The first part of my plan is done. You have a job and you will be staying with me and my family. Thalia’s comments agitate Kim.

  He defiantly answers her back. “I had a plan a long time ago, but things didn’t work out just because I had a plan.” She replies, “Yes, they did. You just don’t know it yet. You are meant to be here. There is a higher purpose. I was also supposed to be on the beach at that moment to rescue you. Have some faith and it will all be shown to you.”

  Kim does not answer her. He does not want to get into a big philosophical discussion with her about faith. He also figures, even if she does act like a ‘Miss Know It All,’ she has been good to him.

  On their walk home, Thalia sees two of her friends swinging heavy balls on a string. She tells Kim, “Those two boys, Iakopo and Havana, are my friends. They work at Tane’s copra farm. Let’s go over and talk to them.”

  Kim pulls her gently back and whispers to her, “What are they doing?” She answers him. “They’re using ropes to swing their handmade poi balls to make their wrists stronger and more flexible to handle weapons and tools. A long time ago, our warriors used the poi balls to train for battles.”

  The two teenage boys stop exercising when Thalia and Kim approach them. She introduces Kim and tells Iakopo and Havana that Kim will be working with them on Tane’s copra farm. They begin talking about what it is like to work on Tane’s farm. Then Kim sees clubs, machetes and swords laying on the ground beside them. Havana, who is a tall, muscular eighteen-year-old teenager, notices that Kim is staring at his weapons.

  He asks Kim if he wants to try to swing the poi. Kim is anxious to try it. He picks up the rope with the poi on the end
of it. Then Havana gives him a few instructions on how to swing it. Kim follows Havana’s instructions and within a few minutes, he gets the hang of it.

  Havana becomes excited as he watches Kim. He picks up one of the clubs that is on the ground and tells Kim, “Go on, and swing this. I bet you can do it on your first try.” Havana is right. Kim easily swings the club.

  Iakopo picks up a Samoan knife and tells Kim that it’s called the Ailao and it’s dangerous.” Kim stares at the blade and then says that he wants to swing it. Without saying a word, Iakopo slowly hands the sword to him. Then Kim proceeds to spin, twist, and whirl the sword around his body. Thalia, Iakopo and Havana are awe struck by Kim’s swift movements and natural talent.

  Havana enthusiastically tells Kim, “Iakopo and I practice whenever we can. Everything you have done has taken us years to learn. You are a natural. You should be a fire sword dancer.”

  Iakopo chimes in, “Havana is right. You could do it!” Our Samoan dancers use those knives, along with machetes, and clubs to perform their dangerous fire sword dance.

  Iakopo, Havana and Thalia then begin to share the stories and history of the Samoan fire sword dancers. Kim listens to their stories for an hour. Then Thalia becomes impatient and says, “Kim, say good-bye to your new friends. We must go home.”

  Havana then begs Kim to come with them to the Native Celebration tomorrow night. He says, “We can all go together after work. You’ll see the great Chief Santini and his troupe perform the ritual, sword fire dance.” Kim answers, “I’d like to do that.”

  Thalia angrily tells Havana and Iakopo, “I wanted to go too, but neither one of you asked me.” Iakopo and Havana are embarrassed. It is obvious that they hurt Thalia’s feelings.

  Havana responds to Thalia. “Awe, you know we wanted you to come too.” She half-heartily accepts his off-handed apology. She manages to calm her anger and tells them that she knows that they didn’t mean to leave her out.

  Then Iakopo tells her that they hope she can meet them after work or at the celebration. Thalia smiles and then tells them that she will try.

  The next day Kim works at Tane’s copra farm alongside his new friends, Iakopo and Havana. After work, they begin to walk to the gathering area. Then they see Thalia running as fast as she can to catch up with them. They hear her shouting, “Wait for me.” The three boys smile at each other and stop to wait for her.

  Kim asks them to tell him about what goes on at their native celebration. Iakopo says, “The native celebration is important to us. The story of how it began has been told from one generation to the next. It started a long time ago when the Togans ruled our country for about two-hundred years. On their king’s birthday, a troupe of our Samoan knife dancers had to perform for his birthday celebration.”

  Havana interrupts him and says, “They did more than perform! They had a plan for our freedom! Before the celebration, they hid their weapons, which were the dangerous bush knives, in the sand around the area. The bush knives were used a long time ago in battles by our warriors to behead our enemies. After a beheading, they would use the hook on their knife to hold the victim’s head and then proudly carry it as their trophy.”

  Iakopo then announces that he will tell the rest of the story. “Before the king’s celebration, our performers had wrapped both ends of their knives with dry palm leaves that were intertwined together. Then our knife dancers waited until the king, his warriors and guests drank their bush gin. When they got drunk our warriors dipped the end of their knives into the fires, and it created a blaze on the end of them.

  Havana needles Iakopo. “You forgot to tell him the most important part of the story.” He looks at Kim and dramatically says, “Our Samoan warriors were also waiting on the beach in their canoes. As soon as the dance began, they stormed the beach. Our warriors ran to the gathering area to surprise and attack the king and his guests They looked at our fire dancers for direction during their attack. The dancers would point to where they had buried the bush knives. And, that’s how they drove the Tongans off our land for good.”

  Kim excitedly responds, “What a story!”

  Iahkop goes on to tell Kim that there is another story about the fire sword dance. He tells him that a few years ago, Freddie Le Tuli, the Samoan knife dancer, created a different fire sword and fire sword dance. He used his new type of sword for entertainment.”

  Thalia clears her throat and exclaims that she has a neat story about Freddie Letuli. She says, “During the war, he performed for the military. They issued him an identification card so that he could perform on the bases. I think that is so special.”

  Iakopo adds to the conversation. “After the war, he did something else that was incredible. One day, before one of his performances, he saw two other performers rehearsing their acts before they went on stage. One was a fire eater and the other was a girl twirling her baton that had light bulbs on the end of it. That is when he got an idea. He asked the fire eater for some of his fuel and wrapped a towel around the blade of his knives. Then he performed the new Samoan Fire Sword Dance.”

  Havana excitedly interrupts, “His Samoan Fire Sword Dance was a smash hit and he got bookings on the mainland and all over the world. He even had lots of offers from Hollywood. That is why he lives in Hollywood and set up his headquarters there. He’s a big, big star and he put together a troupe to perform with him.”

  Kim listens intently to their tribute to Freddie Le Tuli. Their conversation impels him to tell his friends that he wants to be a fire sword dancer.

  Iakopo says, “It’s dangerous. You must dance with fiery machetes and swords.”

  Kim responds, “I don’t care. I’m not afraid of nothing.”

  Kim and his new friends arrive at the gathering area. When the torches are lit, the boisterous crowd becomes silent. The Samoan Fire Knife Dancing Troupe are ready to perform. Once they are in position, Santini, their leader, enters.

  Then the ghostly night transforms the island into a spiritual odyssey. Tribal men hold torches high above their heads. Fire sparks and crackles as if ten thousand fire flies are swarming.

  Santini swings the deadly swords of blazing fire swiftly around his body as his performance becomes more heated. Kim is in awe as he watches the troupe maneuver the swords and machetes to their deadliest potential.

  The troupe finishes performing, and the audience shows their gratitude by thunderous applause. Half the crowd stays after the performance. Some want to keep talking about the show. Others want to stay to congratulate Santini and his troupe.

  Kim knows this is his chance to approach Santini and ask him for an audition to become a member of his troupe. Kim moves slowly through the crowd and approaches Santini. He is a determined young man. He is not shy to ask him for an audition. After he asks Santini, he is flabbergasted by his response.

  Santini doesn’t hesitate to tell Kim that if he wants to audition for his troupe that he needs to do it now.

  Some of the audience overhear Kim and Santini’s conversation. They begin to whisper to each other about what is going to happen. Their conversation spreads like wild fire amongst the remaining crowd.

  Kim’s audition begins. One member of Santini’s troupe plays the drums for him. Another member lights the end of the machete that Kim is holding.

  Santini tells Kim, “It’s time to start. Show me what you can do.”

  Kim twirls and spins the flaming sword in front of him and behind his back. Then he throws the glimmering sharp blade high into the air and catches the deadly weapon. Kim performs like he has been a fire sword dancer all his life. The audience is clapping loudly in response to his stellar performance. Then Kim puts out the flame and bows to the audience.

  After his audition, Santini tells Kim that he has made the grade. He wants Kim to train with his troupe over the next two weeks to learn the routines of the ritual dance. Then if he is ready, he will go with Santini’s troupe on their two-week engagement to Tahiti.

  Kim asks him when he will star
t rehearsal. Santini says, “Tell your boss that you will be starting with me in three days. Rehearsal and training for you will be every day for two weeks from sun up to sun down.”

  Thalia, Iakopo and Havana are beside themselves with happiness and congratulate him. Thalia hugs him as she says, “I knew you could do it.” She then adds, “It was meant to be.” Kim is starting to believe her and does not think she is that looney anymore.

  Chapter 11

  The Korean War

  Kim’s two-week engagement with Santini’s Fire Sword Troupe in Tahiti was everything he hoped it would be. While he was there, he also learned how to play the Tahitian wood blocks and shark skin drums. He even learned how to dance to the fiery Tahitian beat.

  Kim and the troupe get back to American Samoa in June 1950. As soon as he arrives, he goes to visit Thalia. She hugs him the minute she sees him. They talk awhile and then they walk down the road to meet Iakopo and Havana.

  He surprises them when he gives each one of them a present. He also gives Thalia an envelope. When she opens it, she is surprised to see that there is money in it. At first, she is at a loss for words. Then she tells him that there’s a lot of money in it. He tells her that he wants her to give it to her family for always letting him stay with them. She responds that it’s too much money.

  Kim feels like a big shot and laughs as he brags to her, “Don’t worry about it. I can afford it. I’ll be going back for another tour to Tahiti in two weeks. He’s having a wonderful time with his friends and he does not want the day to end. Two weeks go by very quickly and Kim goes back to Tahiti to perform.

  A month later, on June 27th, he returns to Samoa. Two days later, on June 29th, Kim, Thalia, her brothers, and sisters are sitting outside her house. Iakopo and Havana are running towards them as they frantically, shout, “Stop what you’re doing. We have something to tell you.” They are out of breath when they finally reach Thalia and Kim.