Over the Rainbow - Book One - 'The Gathering Place' (26 page)

Chris prodded gently, “What happened after
that?”

“
Well-
eventually Buddy found out. It’s ‘ohana’, nothing stays a secret
for long… Anyway, Buddy beat the living shit out of him- almost
killed him, like- for real- to 'teach him a
real
lesson' he said. And then he
never said another word about it. That was the last we saw of Mako-
until tonight.”

“
Why? Where's he been?”

Alani smiled ironically, “Jail- assault with a
deadly weapon. Go figure, right? Looks like he got out early for
good behavior.”

“
Some guys never
learn.” Chris looked back at the twinkling lights in the distance
and mused, “Man, sometimes you wish that Darwinism could be just a
bit more-
selective
.”

Chris and Alani sauntered along the shore, shoes in
one hand and pinkies again clasped demurely as they walked along
the whispering foam-laced waves that washed around their ankles.
Alani pointed down the length of the beach, indicating a
brightly-lit structure in the distance. “...and you see there, down
past the Royal Hawaiian, the Pink one? Waikiki runs past there,
stops just a little ways beyond.”

“
That's it? Really? I always
pictured Waikiki as being a lot- wider, bigger,
longer...”

“
I think it used
to be, a long time ago. It seemed so much bigger when I was a
little girl... it's so-
small
, now. Some people say it's
just because the islands are slowly sinking- maybe the weather, the
waves? Global warming? I don't know any more...” Alani laughed
softly, an ironic coda to her last, and said, “Half the time I
wonder if it isn't the old Hawaiian gods, taking the islands back
from us to show their anger at how- how…” She paused and smiled
ruefully, and then continued, “Never mind, it's
silly.”

“
How
what
?”

“
How our culture is disappearing.
Not just us either, but the whole world, you know-?”

“
Not sure I do. What do you
mean?”

“
Well, it’s
like- like ‘ohana’. We talk the talk, and sort of walk the walk,
but we never truly- I don’t know,
believe
… And then there’s the idea
of ‘Aloha’. Translated literal, it kind of means both ‘hello’ and
‘good-bye’, together with ‘see you again’. We put it on bumper
stickers, signs on the road- ‘Live Aloha’, ‘Drive with Aloha’, blah
blah blah, and so on... We act like its’ some universal form of
unconditional love, and then we turn our backs on each other and
scramble and scratch for our own selfish survival. If
I
were the Gods, I’d
sure be pissed at us.” She turned from him and paused in reflection
of her admission, her glossy locks stirring in the breeze, and then
addressed the distant horizon, “Why do we do that? Why do we have
to be so crazy? It’s- depressing.”

As Alani lapsed back into a disconsolate silence,
the unexpected sound of a faint crystalline tinkling of wind chimes
echoed almost magically down the beach. Alani suddenly smiled
mischievously and started to peel off her dress, a colorful set of
bikini-style bra and panties revealed beneath. She looked sideways
at Chris and asked, “Wanna do something crazy?”

Chris looked almost genuinely aghast, and then a
roguish smile creased the corner of his mouth. “What? Right here,
on the beach?”

Alani threw her dress in his face
and replied with playful scorn, “Don’t even think it, you not gonna
get
that
lucky.”
She waded out into the dark water, her ankles disappearing. “You
ever go body-surfing at
night
?”

“
I’ve never been
body surfing at all…” Chris dropped his shoes onto the sand and
quickly peeled off his shirt, tossing it away on the breeze as he
stepped out of his pants, flinging them in the general direction of
his discarded shirt, and yelled in her direction, “Is this
even
legal
?”

Alani hollered over the crash of a wave, now up to
her hips in the warm embrace of the sea, “Technically- no. But only
if they catch us!” And with that, she dove into an onrushing wave
and disappeared.

Chris loped out to follow and dove over the wave
that had consumed Alani, plunging into the water and washing away
the cares of the night with the warm loving balm of the ocean.

The foamy wavelet splashed over Alani and Chris as
they lay entwined together in the shallow surf. They broke from
their final salty kiss, laughing as the water washed over them, the
low-glinting gleam of the now-setting Moon sparkling like a
pearlescent path to the horizon. The water subsided, racing around
them in miniature rivulets as tiny crabs scuttled away in the
luminescent glow. Chris playfully pecked Alani once more on the
lips, rising from the waves and pulling her to her feet as the
powerful beam of a flashlight illuminated their sodden forms. They
grinned sheepishly like a pair of adolescent teenagers, and Chris
smiled contentedly as he grinned at her sideways and said, “Come
on, we've had enough fun for one night... let's go home.”

As Chris and Alani approached the now-quiet club,
the warm tropical breeze slowly dried their once-sodden
underclothes. It was late, the crowds at the entrance now dispersed
into the night, the lights at the entrance flashing impotently at
the deserted scene. But something was different. They both suddenly
stopped across the street from the silent disco as they mutually
noticed the incongruous splashes of red and blue bouncing off the
walls of the surrounding buildings. As if on cue they both glanced
at each other with curious frowns pasted to their faces, and then
as one they looked to the parking lot in the distance, and the
mysterious source of the lights became clear.

The car-park valet sat forlornly on the ground, a
blood-stained rag held gingerly to his head as the police leaned in
to inspect his wounds. In the background behind him the once
beautiful Mustang was being dragged like a deteriorated carcass
onto the greasy and stained flat-bed of a tow-truck.

As Alani and Chris drew cautiously nearer, the
details of the once-glorious vehicle became clear. The convertible
top was now slashed to ribbons, as were the flattened tires. Long,
jagged scratches scarred the length of the glittering red paint and
the side mirrors hung sadly from their moorings like nearly severed
limbs.

Alani laughed abruptly, an ironic
sound that she stifled with a sputter and then elbowed Chris
playfully in the ribs as she cajoled, “Geez! Do you wreck
everything
you
touch?”

Chris gently swatted her arm in
retaliation and declared, “Unh-uh! No way! That one's
yours
!” Chris turned
abruptly on his heel, and whistled to a passing cab, “Yo! Taxi!”
The cab squealed to a stop, and Chris crossed to it and gallantly
opened the door for Alani. As she stepped into the open door, she
turned and asked, “Uh- Don't you have to do something about
that?”

Chris glanced back at the ruined
car sitting forlornly on the truck-bed, at the police milling about
around it and then shook his head softly with a wry grin tilted on
his face. “Do you
really
want to get involved with that? Tonight?” Chris
smiled with chagrin, “It's a rental- they'll bill me.” He raised
his eyes skyward and muttered, “Thank God I bought the full
insurance.”

The taxi driver in the idling cab was immense, his
massive form filling the entire front seat of the tiny vehicle. A
worn Detroit Lions cap was placed backward on his head, and an
incongruous pair of dark glasses covered his eyes. His gaze fixed
on the carnage at the disco, he asked with a knowing smirk, “Where
to?”

Alani leaned over the seat. “Head toward Waimea,
I'll show you from there...”

The taxi driver stiffened and said, “Waimea? No way
Sistah, dat's all the way over on the other side of the
island-!”

Alani replied with barely restrained sarcasm, “Gee,
you figured dat out all by yo’self? Without GPS?”

The taxi driver continued, adamant, “I ain't goin'
all de way over dere this time o' night, you get yo'self another
cab...”

Chris pulled out his wallet and extracted a bill,
engaging the reluctant driver as he fiddled with the paper in his
hands. “Hey, man, listen... It's late- how about if I make it worth
your while...? Run the meter until we get there, double it to make
up for the return, and add twenty for the inconvenience, what do
you say?”

The driver looked at his watch. “Fifty.”

Chris sighed in exaggeration, still fussing with the
money, “Done.”

“
Give me the fifty-
now.”

“
Patience- patience my
friend…”

“
Take it or leave it, bro, I don’t
need yo money.”

Chris leaned over the seat,
magically
flourishing
the bill in his hand- the bill which was now transformed into a
tiny origami crane. And it was no longer a fifty- it was a
hundred
, the numbers
clearly visible on one wing.

The taxi drivers eyebrows shot above the rims of his
glasses as he exclaimed, “Hey, cool!!! Thanks, bro!” slapping the
flag enthusiastically and starting the meter. He placed the crane
delicately on the dash and stroked it affectionately with a thick
finger and said gustily with a tiny hint of resignation, “Okay,
okay, let's go…” As the cab pulled away from the curb, the
now-compliant driver turned and asked, “Hey, it's a long drive out
there man, you mind if I listen to some tunes?”

Chris replied with a crooked smile, “Sure. You got
anything by IZ?”

The taxi driver looked into the rear-view mirror,
smiling mystically from behind his sunglasses, a slight frown of
amusement twisting his mouth. “I got all of 'em...” Sliding a CD
into a slot in the dash, he plucked a cell phone from the glove
compartment, hit a button on the screen, tucked the phone beneath a
roll of his massive chin and said, “Hey, Marlene? I gonna be a
little late...”

The taxi moved off into the night, a thin blue haze
of smoke leaking from the tailpipes as the soft lullaby of Hawaii-
‘Kaleohano’, drifted from the car, the dulcet tones of IZ
dissolving into the warm night air.

The tires of the taxi crunched noisily on the gravel
of the drive, the brakes squeaking quietly as the car ground slowly
to a halt. Chris emerged first, rounding the car and opening the
door for Alani, who moved to him in a soft embrace and kissed him
gently, lingeringly, and then finally broke away, almost
reluctantly, her head resting lightly on his chest. As they slowly
parted, hands held at waist-height, unwilling to let go, Chris
inquired, “Hey, can I see you tomorrow?”

Alani faked looking at her wrist,
an invisible time-piece telling her what she already knew, “You
mean
tomorrow
-tomorrow? Or just later today?”

“
It’s not tomorrow until I go to
bed. Yes, later- today.”

“
Well, maybe- after
church.”

“
Church? Oh.
Right, it’s Sunday- okay. Anyway- what time are you done?” A gentle
stirring of island breeze rippled his hair and the singular sound
of a crystalline chime drifted by as it passed. Chris suddenly
brightened and said, “Hey, I have an idea- would it be all right if
I came to church with you? I could drive…” Alani scrunched her face
into an amused expression of mocking scorn as Chris laughed lightly
and corrected, “I mean, I could get a car, and
he
could drive.”