Lulu in Honolulu (17 page)

• Noelani stands by herself in front of a mirror in Uncle Akamu and Auntie Moana's house. Her legs slide and step. Her arms flow from side to side. She's practicing a beautiful hula, but every time noise is heard from anywhere in the house, she freezes.

BACK TO SCENE

EXT. AUNTIE MOANA AND UNCLE AKAMU'S BACKYARD—ONE HOUR LATER

Sounds of chatting and laughter can be heard. CAMERA PANS the backyard. Khloe and the Cs paint a banner. Liam and Maleko practice the ukulele and drum together. Auntie Moana and Maya roll
laulau
into taro leaves. Uncle Akamu and Caridyn hack open coconuts.

Noelani, however, sits alone at an outdoor table. One last slice of cold Hawaiian pizza sits on a paper plate in front of her. Lulu approaches.

LULU

“Welcome-Home Party Hollywood-style” is in the works!

NOELANI

(looks at her friend)

We've got a little problem. We still don't know when or where my mom's coming home.

LULU

Not a little problem. And not one I haven't thought of. C'mon.

Noelani gets to her feet.

NOELANI

Where are we going?

LULU

We've got to go talk to the guy in charge.

EXT. GUARD POST, MARINE CORPS TRAINING AREA BELLOWS—EARLY AFTERNOON

The Watson Wagon pulls up in front of two SOLDIERS holding big guns. They stand in front of barbed wire and tall, closed gates.

Lulu jumps out first.

LULU

(brightly)

Hi! We come in peace. Don't shoot!

SERGEANT 1

You'll have to move along, ma'am.

LULU

I'm here to see, ummm, Colonel Adams.

SERGEANT 1

(grabs a clipboard)

Do you have an appointment?

Noelani remains seated in the car.

LULU

Ahhh. Not officially. See, I met him on the beach when he resc—

SERGEANT 2

That's where he is again today. Marines have been out there practicing landings all morning.

SERGEANT 1

(to Sergeant 2)

Hey, man, that information was classified. What's wrong with you?

(to Lulu)

Look, ma'am, the beach is now open. Just head down the road.

Watson, in his “LARGE AND IN CHARGE” shirt, waddles over to Lulu

BEEP BEEP!

A car horn TOOTS from inside the gate.

Mrs. Adams, her red hair like a swarm around her smiling face, waves out the window.

SERGEANT 1

(to woman in the car)

Mrs. Adams, you'll have to wait a moment. We have a situation here.

MRS. ADAMS

(trying to hide a chuckle)

A situation?

SERGEANT 1

Yes, ma'am. Concerning your husband.

MRS. ADAMS

(chuckle escapes)

Really? A situation with a chubby pug and an excited little girl?

SERGEANT 2

Yes, ma'am.

MRS. ADAMS

Well, I have a situation myself.

Mrs. Adams exits her car, walks through a side gate, and comes toward Lulu and James. Actually, she waddles as noticeably as Watson. Her hands are around her belly.

MRS. ADAMS

(to Sergeant 2)

I'll take it from here.

(to Lulu)

Hey! Is that you, Lulu?

Lulu wipes her forehead with the back of her hand. Without her ALOHA cap, Lulu has to lather her face with thick, white sunscreen. The goop makes her forehead sweaty.

LULU

Aloha
, Mrs. Adams. Am I glad to see you!

MRS. ADAMS

That must be the pug Colonel Adams fished
oooouuuuch
out of the water.

Mrs. Adams' face twists. It's clear she had a pang of pain. Lulu and James rush toward her.

LULU

Are you OK?

MRS. ADAMS

(waves them off)

Yes. Are you OK? What are you doing here?

LULU

(looks toward the car again)

Well, it's Noelani. We're trying to find out when her mom might be coming back—and where.

MRS. ADAMS

Lieutenant Colonel Nui? It better be soon because this baby is coming. That was our deal. I told Colonel Adams he better take leave and turn over command by the time this baby is born. And he's running
ooooouch
out of time.

LULU

You better get to the hospital or something. I don't think you're OK.

MRS. ADAMS

I'm fine. But I might kill Colonel Adams. He's still hanging
ooooouch
out at the beach somewhere.

JAMES

(bowing slightly)

Madam, allow me to take you to the hospital. Let's get you off your feet.

James puts his arm around Mrs. Adams and walks her to the Watson Wagon.

James makes Mrs. Adams comfortable in the Watson Wagon. He tosses out Lulu's bag, and Watson's leash and sunglasses to allow Mrs. Adams to lie down.

MRS. ADAMS

(smiling)

To the hospital!

JAMES

Yes, ma'am!

MRS. ADAMS

(to Lulu)

Will you find my husband and tell him to get Noelani's mother here noooooow and tooooooo…

(her face twitches in pain)

…get himself to the hospital! ON THE DOUBLE!!

LULU

Yes! Mrs. Adams, count on me.

NOELANI

(small voice)

And me too.

Noelani had quietly gotten out of the car and come around to see Mrs. Adams off.

MRS. ADAMS

(a soft, warm voice)

Oh, your poor mother! Having been away all those months and missing her daughter!

(closes her eyes and takes some deep breaths)

She's supposed to land at Kaneohe at sixteen hundred, but that's going to be tooooo late.

James nudges Lulu and Noelani away so he can shut the door.

JAMES

Girls, I'm on an important mission.

He gives them a little mock salute.

LULU

(eyes wide)

Wait! James, do you speak military? What's 1600 hours?

James dives into the driver's seat and turns on the engine.

JAMES

I speak pooch. That's about it.

The Watson Wagon peels away.

EXT. PICNIC BENCHES, BELLOWS BEACH—TEN MINUTES LATER

The girls stand on top of a picnic table under a shady tree. Noelani scans the beach while Lulu looks at her phone.

LULU

(reading out loud from her phone)

“Military time is simple: 1200 hours is the same as noon. Then you add each hour”…

Pause.

LULU

So, let's see, 1600 would be…

(thinks)

…four p.m.

Lulu grabs Noelani's arm.

LULU

(excitedly)

You could see your mom in, like, three hours!

NOELANI

Let me point out, Lu: My mom's supposed to land at the Marine Corps Air Station at Kaneohe Bay. That's forty-five minutes away 'cause we're stranded here at Bellows Marine Training Area.

Lulu plunks her phone into her tote bag, then reaches in and gives the squeaky shoe a squeeze.

LULU

First things first. Let's help baby Adams. She's about to be born. It's a brand-new
ohana
, Noe! We're big girls. We've been daughters for eleven years! We'll worry about us and our moms next.

NOELANI

(softly)

You're right. We even promised that we'd find Colonel Adams.

Lulu and Noelani now both gaze at the beach from end to end.

CAMERA PANS THE BEACH. It's full of people sunning, tossing balls, making sand castles, or just relaxing.

NOELANI

Finding him this way isn't going to be easy.

Lulu climbs off the bench.

LULU

Exactly why we're going to have to head onto the sand ourselves.

EXT. BELLOWS BEACH SAND—CONTINUOUS

CAMERA ZOOMS IN ON Lulu. She clumsily trudges across the sand. Her hair waves wildly in the moist, salty breeze. Her face shines greasy white thanks to her sweat mingling with sunscreen. Watson, sporting his favorite orange sunglasses with fuchsia lenses, tromps along next to Lulu. Noelani wanders well behind.

LULU

(calls back to Noelani)

Still no sign of the colonel?

Noelani shakes her head.

LULU

(shouting)

Maybe he's not on the beach anymore?

Lulu slogs another few feet, then sits down. Noelani reaches Lulu and sits next to her.

LULU

I've really messed up this day, just like I ruined the whole summer.

LULU

(faces her friend)

Your mom's arriving on the other side of the island, and you're stuck here with me. Mrs. Adams is having her baby any minute, and I didn't tell Colonel Adams.

YAP. YAP. RUFF. RRRRUUUFFF. YAP. YAP.

Watson barks and stomps his paws along the shore, though he's careful not to let his paws touch water.

Lulu rushes to her pug.

LULU

(looks out in the ocean)

What is it? Stay away from the water. I don't have your floaties.

Lulu rubs the sand stuck to her arms when she spots THE ALOHA CAP.

ANGLE: Lulu racing into the vast, blue ocean.

Lulu wades into the rolling waves, shoes and all! When she's on her tippy toes, she ducks under the warm, turquoise water and swims a few feet. She comes up and zeros in on THE ALOHA hat. It's still farther out.

LULU

HEEEEYYYY! Colonel Adams!!

She waves her arms wildly.

A CRASH of salty wave water smacks Lulu in the face. She goes down from the unexpected WHACK and the sting that follows. She struggles up but instantly gets another WALLOP. Underwater, she squats into a ball and pulls herself down so that the wave doesn't tumble her along the ocean bottom.

When Lulu surfaces, water clogging her ears and salt water burning her eyes, she's dumbstruck!

The person wearing the ALOHA hat rides by on a boogie board. The person is a LITTLE GIRL about six years old. Two long, wet, black braids stick to her back. She wears a powder-blue bathing suit covered in rainbows.

ANGLE: Lulu staggers out of the water. Noelani sloshes toward her friend.

LULU

I guess the company made more than one of that ALOHA hat.

NOELANI

Don't feel too bad. Watson didn't know either.

They walk toward Watson but soon break into a RUN. A really tall, muscular man wearing an ALOHA hat has Watson over his massive shoulders and is spinning him around.

LULU

Colonel Adams?! Is that you?

COLONEL ADAMS

I was clear across the beach and all I could hear was this dog yelping his head off—

LULU

(zooming-fast talking)

Colonel Adams, sorry to interrupt you, ummm, sir. But we're looking for you. Mrs. Adams is having the baby! She asked us to tell you to, ummm, well, she said to get to the hospital “on the double.”

OOOOPH. Watson thuds onto the sand. Colonel Adams starts yelling in all directions.

COLONEL ADAMS

(cupping his hands around his mouth)

HELP!! I'm having a baby! Anyone have a phone?

Noelani sprints toward Lulu's bag and in a flash hands Lulu's phone to Colonel Adams.

LULU

Excuse me, Colonel?

Colonel Adams stares at her as he punches numbers into the phone. He's now all business.

LULU

You know how you're having Noelani's mom come in to take over for you?

COLONEL ADAMS

So much for top-secret information. Yes. She's choppering in off
USS America
right now. I'm turning over command to her at 1600.

LULU

We heard. At that other marine place. What's it called, Noe?

Noelani quivers nearby but speaks up when she catches Lulu's eye.

NOELANI

Kaneohe Bay.

LULU

Yeah. And, well, I've done some math. Mrs. Adams went off in the Watson Wagon at about 1300. We've been looking for you for about an hour so now it's about 1400. If you have to shower and change and get to that Kaneohe place, you won't get to the hospital before, well, at least 1900.

Colonel Adams holds the phone away from his ear a moment and looks at Lulu.

LULU

Geez peas! You could totally miss your daughter being born.

COLONEL ADAMS

(phone now down at his side)

What are you suggesting, Lulu?

LULU

Wouldn't it save almost two hours if you landed Lieutenant Colonel Nui right here?

Colonel Adams scans the beach from under the brim of the ALOHA hat.

COLONEL ADAMS

(shouting as a man usually in charge)

This beach is full of people! No way to put a chopper down here!

Lulu, stung by his obvious answer, plops onto the sand, exhausted. Her energy has sputtered out.

Noelani creeps over. She lifts her eyes from her toes to Colonel Adams.

NOELANI

(soft voice sounding firm)

But you guys are United States Marines. You can land anywhere.

Colonel Adams pulls the phone away from his ear one more time and stares from Noelani to Lulu and then back to Noelani.

COLONEL ADAMS

Noelani, YOU have an excellent point.

Colonel Adams takes off. He sprints toward the beach parking lot with Lulu's phone pressed to his ear.

LULU

Geez peas, Noe. That's some serious inner
koa
you have! You acted super-looper courageous just now.

NOELANI

I'm not brave. It's just we promised Mrs. Adams we'd get Colonel Adams to her.

Noelani yanks Lulu up from the sand.

NOELANI

(smiling)

Now we also get to see our moms sooner.

LULU

(not smiling)

We just got one mega-huge problem. Colonel Adams has my phone!

WIDE SHOT showing girls race up the sand.

EXT. BELLOWS BEACH PARK—CONTINUOUS

Lulu's face is boiling and burgundy. She can barely breathe. Noelani looks confused. She has no idea what to do or where to go.