Over the Rainbow - Book One - 'The Gathering Place' (34 page)

A shocked gasp, sharply cut off, caused Alani and
Chris to whirl around in unison- he with a shock of surprise, she
with a quick outward breath of exasperation. Standing just behind
them were two elderly women, one tall and slender, one tiny and
compact- Alani’s tutu’s, Lei-lei and Kei-kei. The two women huddled
together, their heads touching, their eyes never leaving Chris, and
they chattered excitedly in Hawaiian.

“
Look!” said the
tall, slender one, trying unsuccessfully
not
to point at Chris, “This must be
the boy our ‘Lani found- remember, the one who fell from the
sky!”

The short one, dressed simply in gray gardening
dress, admonished her partner, “Shut up! You talking crazy again!
He came in an airplane.”

The taller one stood erect,
clearly taking offence. “
I'm
talking crazy?
You're
the one smoking dope!” Now
restraining her hands by folding them in front of her, she nodded
her head toward Chris insistently, “No, no, look- look at his hair!
It's like Pa’hia said-‘A golden halo will surround
him.’”

The shorter one snorted in
derision, “Pfft! He’s just blonde- like
you!”

The woman known as Lei-lei gasped,
“I am
NOT
blonde!”

Kei-kei replied, scoffing, “It’s not just a hair
color, you nitwit!”

“
OH!” Defeated by her diminutive
colleague, Lei-lei straightened and smiled, switching to a
flawless, grammar-school inflected English as she stepped forward,
gliding silently toward Alani and Chris with hands outstretched.
She looked at Chris and radiated a wide, warm smile as she
addressed him directly, “Welcome, you must be Christopher!” Taking
both of his hands in hers, she held him at arm’s length, taking him
in with a long, knowing glance, as if inventorying items and
details she already knew.

Chris studied her in silence, seeing at a glance
where Alani got her exotic looks. Even at her age, undetermined as
it was, Lei-lei was still extraordinarily beautiful, her delicately
carved cheekbones, long slender neck and dark jade eyes leaving no
mistake as to who her granddaughter was.

Chris turned to the other woman who had materialized
out of the maze of green. The woman, known simply by the nickname
‘Kei-kei’ reminded him of a sparrow, her eyes dark and bright,
sparkling with hidden merriment, the obvious source of Alani’s
biting wit and mischievous demeanor. But she held back, almost as
if unwilling to approach, one hand held behind her back, the arm
quivering slightly, a Cheshire-cat like grin on her wide face, and
she suddenly asked without warning, “You like flowers?”

Chris looked quickly to Alani, clearly caught off
guard by her grandmother’s sudden change of language in his
direction, and then responded awkwardly, “Do I like-? Oh, yes,
they're very- beautiful. They smell wonderful.” And then without
warning, Kei-kei yelled, a high-pitched squeal, startling the
entire group with its volume and suddenness.

“
AIIEEE! Shit!” Kei-kei flung the
burning end of the joint to the floor, covered it quickly with her
foot and smiled sheepishly up at Alani, who merely glared back at
her in return. Chris just stared, open mouthed, eyes darting from
one enigmatic woman to the other, and then to the smoldering foot
on the earthen floor.

Alani groaned in exasperation and abruptly whirled
Chris around, pulling him by the elbow and nearly shoving him
toward the door in a hasty departure. Chris stumbled out of the
greenhouse, tripping over the high threshold, waving in farewell as
he called back over his shoulder, “Nice to meet you-!”

Lei-lei and Kei-kei burst into hysterical laughter
with tears streaming down their faces as they huddled together
again, smiling and waving like a pair of giddy schoolgirls as the
door slammed closed.

Alani shoved Chris with both hands in the small his
back and her head lowered like a bulldozer as he turned and
exclaimed, “Hey! What?!” Finally, after a few yards, Alani released
him with a laborious sigh and straightened, looking back over her
shoulder with a mortified glare of resignation. Chris continued,
inquiring with a smirk, “Hey, am I just imagining this, or were
they smoking-?”

Alani interrupted, clearly embarrassed, “No. Okay,
maybe, but-” She changed the subject, knowing that her next
introduction was to be even more out of the ordinary, “C'mon, let's
get this over with- you need to meet my Grandpa Satoshi, he's
expectin' to see you...”

“
He- how does he
even know I'm
here?”

Alani sighed gustily, her eyes again rolling back in
her head as her shoulders sagged, “Trust me- he just does...”

Satoshi Nakamura, his ragged pith helmet decorated
with a variety of multi-colored bird droppings, peered up at a
fluttering pair of iridescent vermillion wings, the wings attached
to a flustered and panicky bird. The bird was trapped, its’ feet
stuck fast to a sap-sticky vine, fooled by the wealth of seeds that
were stuck to the vine as well, a tasty treat that proved an unwise
endeavor by the tiny avian creature.

Satoshi ‘Tsk-tsk’-ed under his
breath, and carefully removed the bird from its bondage. He chirped
at the tiny creature, two short low notes followed by one crisp
‘tweet’ and then addressed the animal in Japanese, “Little brother,
you are becoming too greedy…” Satoshi peered at him closely,
“...and fat. How many times this week have I freed you?” He tossed
the bird into the air with a sigh and watched it disappear into the
jungle, a single chirp of thanks as it departed. Satoshi raised a
hand in farewell, and called in rejoinder, “And try to find
somewhere
else
to eat, okay?” Shaking his head with a wry
chuckle, Satoshi moved to another dangling vine, where two more of
the beautiful creatures were ensnared.

Satoshi carefully unwound each one from the vine in
turn, inspected them with a small smile of satisfaction, and then
removed several choice feathers from their backs, touching his
forehead in an odd gesture of thanks after releasing them both back
into the wild. Muttering to himself, he meandered around the back
of the rust-painted shed and shuffled toward the aviary, where the
chirping of dozens of birds rose in volume to a cacophony of sound
as he approached. Reaching into a pouch at his side, he pulled
forth a generous handful of seed and tossed it into the cage.
Turning from his charges with a satisfied tilt of his head, he
turned and pulled open a creaking, rusty door in the half-round end
of the shed, and disappeared into the dark, shapeless void
within.

Alani and Chris rounded a corner
in the dense foliage and approached the shed, the dark rust of the
ancient Quonset hut seeming to almost blend into the matching
ground. Alani snagged Chris by the elbow and leaned in to him,
saying, “...and if he tells you a little bird told him- don't
laugh, it's
probably
true.” Alani knocked on the doorjamb, and then pulled open
the rusty door and called inside, “Granpa Satoshi? Kapuna, are you
there...?”

A voice replied from the shadowy
depths-
in Japanese
, “Hai! Friend-? Or foe?”

Alani called to the darkness, “Kapuna, it's me!”

Lights slowly flickered on, their flutterings
suggesting that they got their power from a generator rather than
regular AC. As they steadily increased in brightness, Chris saw in
detail the contents of the enigmatic shed. Row upon row of farm
tools; hoes, rakes, shovels, hoses- wheelbarrows stacked five or
six deep, bicycles, car parts and God knew what else packed in
precarious piles from floor to ceiling. In short, the 'tool shed'
looked like a repository for everything not nailed down within a
five-mile radius.

Satoshi popped up from around a distant corner of
debris, a vintage pair of binoculars to his eyes, looking for all
the world like an extra from a World War II movie set. He smiled
and addressed Alani in Japanese, “Ah, my beautiful flower... did
you forget our secret knock?”

Alani responded in English, her tone slightly
confused, “Our secret- knock?” And then she smiled brightly and
nodded with vigorous affirmation, “Oh, yes, yes of course- the
secret knock! Right, right! I'm so sorry, I forgot...”

Satoshi continued in his native language, “You can't
be too careful... Who is your handsome friend?”

“
Kapuna, this is Chris- he's the
one-”

Satoshi interrupted with a burst of realization,
this time in highly accented English, “Ohhh! The airplane flier! He
has come at last!”

Alani bowed slightly and held Chris lightly by the
elbow. “Chris. This is my Granpa Satoshi.”

Chris bowed deeply and addressed
Satoshi-
in Japanese
. “I am honored to meet you, sir, and I thank you greatly for
your hospitality.”

Alani gasped in surprise and
Satoshi's eyebrows slowly disappeared beneath the brim of his pith
helmet, chuckling softly as he turned to ask the gaping Alani, “Did
you
know
he spoke
Japanese?” Alani shook her head dumbly, and Satoshi continued in
the same language to the now smirking visage of Chris, “Your accent
is very good, Kanagawa prefecture?”

Chris replied, still in Japanese,
with a deferential nod of his head. “My instructor was from
Yokohama, I learned the language to do business in Tokyo. I never
expected to use the language
here
.”

Satoshi waxed lyrical, again in
English, “Ah! In Hawai'i,
every
language is spoken…” He paused and frowned
wistfully, “...but nobody listens anymore, no one can hear…” With a
sly grin he leaned in to Alani and said conspiratorially, this time
in Hawaiian, “You keep an eye on
this
one, my child- I think
he's
the
one...”

Alani, still dumbstruck by Chris’ surprising use of
the language, merely nodded as she leaned over and kissed her aged
grandfather softly on the cheek, then bowed and turned to lead
Chris out of the shed. Chris bowed briefly to Satoshi, and Satoshi
bowed in return, taking both of Chris’ hands in his own.

And suddenly the world flashed again-

Chris stared at Satoshi, and Satoshi back at him.
This time the elder Nakamura was different- younger, dressed
handsomely in tailored black suit, a gray ascot knotted loosely at
his throat and a short stove-pipe hat upon his head. A thin, black
moustache adorned his upper lip, and a gardenia buttoniere was
attached to his lapel.

Just behind and to one side was a slightly different
version of his prior vision of Alani, her vintage dress
form-fitting and perfect, an orchid corsage pinned to her chest.
She smiled shyly from behind Satoshi, and then touched her tongue
to her lips and smiled in a delicate gesture that promised of
things to come. The Moon was full and bright behind her,
backlighting her glossy dark hair with sparkling points of light as
the remnants of the orchestra sat putting away instruments or
nursing drinks as a crew of indistinct individuals moved ladders
about and slowly struck the strings of lights and décor from the
dance.

Suddenly, the sky overhead flared with brightness
like a burst of fireworks, but it was not. Satoshi and Alani winced
as they watched, and Chris whirled to see what they were reacting
to. As he did, another burst of light and a concussion of an
explosion rocked the scene-

And the world flashed back to
the
now
.

Chris blinked in confusion, his hands still in
Satoshi’s grasp, as the old man slowly winked and tilted his head
slightly, a gesture that suggested a knowing far beyond what had
just happened. With a slight bow, Satoshi released Chris’ hands and
straightened, smiling mysteriously, gazing at Chris in eloquent
silence.

As Alani took Chris by the hand and slowly led him
away, Chris looked back over his shoulder to see Satoshi waving
back, and then snapping a short salute before turning and
retreating back into his shed.

Shaking his head to clear it of
the most recent foray into the bizarre, Chris asked, “What
the hell
was
that
?”

“
What he said there at the last?
He said- 'never to turn my back on you', and to- 'make sure my gun
was loaded'.”

“
No, no, I mean- before…” Chris
frowned, and then continued after a brief pause, “Never
mind.”