The Birthmark (9 page)

Tepu crouched behind a large rock and fumbled in the dirt until he found a few chunks of coral. He took aim and threw a pebble at the sentry's pinnacle.

Crack! It clipped the top of the pinnacle and ricocheted off at right angles.

The sentry jolted into action. He spun about and flourished his rifle. Another marine called from behind him. The sentry shouted in reply and pointed his rifle into the darkness well wide of where Tepu hid.

Summoning all his courage, Tepu hurled a second stone. It fell short of the pinnacle, thudding in the dust at the sentry's feet.

Tepu swallowed hard. He wished his second shot had been as accurate as his first.

More shouting followed. This time the other sentry emerged from hiding and prowled behind the first. They bent low over their weapons, scanning the gloom of the forest, alert to the slightest noise. To Tepu's horror they were coming towards him.

Anbwido
Monday 28 June 2004

Hector watched his grandfather sleeping at the edge of the porch, his back against a corner post, his head lolling on one shoulder. The island shirt he wore, once a vibrant blue and red, was now a faded rag with several buttons missing. His brown belly protruded where the shirt failed to cover him. As he dozed his thick purple lips trembled and his nose quivered. Hector thought his grandfather had the biggest lips and longest nose of anyone he'd ever seen, except of course for the Australian teachers and Christina and her dad. Their noses were thin and sharp like beaks.

Hector sat on the steps whittling a length of wood. This piece was one of his newest projects and he imagined it when finished as a long thin staff, probably not strong enough to support someone, but beautiful because of its curves and fineness. He liked the wild, twisted shapes that fallen branches made. Strewn on the beach, they were dry and bleached from the harsh sunlight. Did they all come from the few tortured looking trees that hung over the beaches on the island? Or maybe they were driftwood, resting after a journey of thousands of kilometres from the islands of Guam or the Gilberts.

He'd also found lightly weathered branches in his wanderings through the scrub near the house. The wood was always wet in the forest. It didn't take long for the jungle to turn everything into black soil.

He looked up from his work. The three girls were walking up the track from Decima's house towards the ‘hut', as he and Riki called their home.

As they came nearer there was no mistaking them: Lily with her thick legs, Decima with her squeaky voice, and the long pale limbs of the Australian girl. They laughed as they walked along.

‘Where you going?' Hector called out.

‘Coming to see the chicken thief,' Decima said.

Riki stirred and opened his mouth, startled.

‘It's OK, Ibu, we've got visitors.'

The old man straightened his shirt and eased himself up into a standing position. He smiled at the girls, indicating the table at the other end of the porch.

‘Come…sit,' he said.

Hector disappeared indoors to find water and food to share. In the kitchen he opened the old bar fridge: three bottles of water and a plate of tinned mackerel in tomato sauce stared back at him. He suddenly felt very aware of his poverty. If only they had more, to impress the girls and make him feel good. He got out the plate and rested it on the bench while he inspected the contents of the morning's rice pot. He heaped a few spoonfuls of rice onto the plate beside the fish and took it out to his guests.

The three girls were squashed together on one side of the table. Decima and Christina were smiling but Lily looked frightened. He saw her gaze go from Riki to the ceiling. He looked up to see what she could find fault with. Was it the floats and fishing nets hanging from the rafters? No, he knew his grandfather was the problem.

‘Drink too, Hector,' Riki said.

Hector went inside again and fetched a chilled bottle of water and some cups.

‘Are you looking for chickens?' he heard Riki ask the girls.

‘Eh no, we're just going for a walk,' Decima said, winking at Hector as he came out with the water.

Shit, wrong one, he thought. Why isn't
Lily
winking at me? He settled himself beside his
ibu
and poured the water.

‘You know Lily, Ibu? She lives down on the beach,'

Hector said. ‘And this is Christina. She's here on holidays from Australia.'

The old man nodded at Christina then turned to Lily and smiled. ‘I know Decima is my neighbour…you are Decima's friend, yes?

Decima interrupted, ‘She's my cousin, Riki. Her mum, Lorelei, is my auntie.'

‘Ah…and your father?' Riki said.

‘Amos Fasiti, from here in Anbwido,' Lily said.

The old man nodded again, ‘I know your father, a footballer in his youth…you have his face…same eyes I think.' He stretched out over the table and grasped Lily's stained hand.

Hector held his breath wondering what the old man was doing. Don't screw this up for me, Ibu, he thought. Lily looked startled, but she let the old man take her hand. The splash of purple skin contrasted with the leathery brown of the old man's.

‘What happened to your hand?' Riki asked.

‘Nothing,' said Lily, ‘it's been like that since I was a baby.'

Riki kept nodding. ‘This is an unusual mark. You are a special person,' he said, turning her arm gently to see the extent of the birthmark.

Lily wrenched her hand away and the old man let it go without resisting. He smiled at her, but said nothing. She stared at the floor. A long silence followed. He had to think of something to say or they'd leave.

‘Have some water,' he said, conscious of his forced voice.

‘We thought we'd go over to Anbwido for a swim,' Decima said, collecting the cups. ‘But we said we'd show Christina some things from the war too.'

The old man looked at Decima coldly. ‘Why do you want to do that?'

Hector came to her rescue. ‘You know Ibu, tourism, and her dad's told her stuff about the war.'

Riki sighed, sat back in his chair and stared into a space beyond them all. His big purple lips moved back and forth, as flexible as bubblegum.

He always did this, Hector mused. The mouth movements were his pre-speech warm-ups. Here comes the speech of the day—how embarrassing.

Riki took a deep breath. ‘The war, yes, there were marines here. I was just a young boy then. Just like Hector. Made us work. Made us do all their work. They were mean. We had nothing to eat.' He paused and turned to Hector, ‘Do the girls want to see the hat?' he said. ‘Go get the hat.'

Hector went into the kitchen. Above the fridge was a shelf that held rusty metal boxes, old cartridges and a battered tin helmet. He took the helmet and went back outside.

‘See this, it's a Jap helmet,' he said handing it to Christina.

She turned the blackened metal over in her hands and felt the dints in it. ‘Good protection. It looks like someone tried to shoot the soldier in the head.'

‘Mum,' Riki murmured.

Christina passed the helmet over to Decima and Lily who inspected it in silence.

‘How did you survive?' Christina asked.

‘We ate rats, lizards…we stole…stole anything we could. We did it to stay alive.' He took a sip of water. ‘Not like now…kids thieving all day and night…think they can do whatever they like. Won't listen to the old people. Won't do what they're told. Are kids like that in Australia?'

‘Some of them,' Christina answered.

‘Tell us more about the Japs,' Hector said, steering the topic back.

‘Swearing too. We never swore like that. We never swore like young people now.' Riki scratched at his stomach where it was exposed, coughed loudly, leaned to the side of the porch and spat over the side.

Hector saw Christina frown. He made a mental note: Australians mustn't like coughing and spitting. ‘Come on, Ibu, tell us about the Japs,' he repeated.

‘They were bad, brutal, evil men. They shouted at you...never let us be. If they caught you with any food, you must give it to them, then they flogged you…beat you with a lump of wood. But they stole...stole the island... stole our life. So many islanders died.'

The old man paused and swallowed back the pain of memories. He shifted in his seat and sighed.

‘Did they have swords?' Decima asked.

Lily glared at her.

Again the old man paused, looked up and gulped the air. ‘Yes, they had swords. They chopped your neck if they wanted to.' He was crying, Hector knew. Not openly like a child, but his eyes were wet and he blinked in an effort to stop the flow.

How would the girls react to this? The old man droning on and blubbering about his memories. No wonder Lily's family thought Riki was weird. But the three girls seemed transfixed by Riki's story. Lily had relaxed and was even smiling now. Maybe it was all right to mention the sword after all.

‘I told you about the sword we found, Ibu. Do you think it was Japanese?' Hector said.

As soon as he said it he felt the sting of Lily's kick beneath the table. Above the table she scowled at him.

Riki grunted and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands. ‘Could be,' he muttered. He gazed steadily at Lily and his voice shook as he spoke. ‘I'd like to see it one day, my girl, just to look—no
pabwa
.' He pushed back his chair and moved to get up.

Lily's expression was troubled.

‘You seen a Jap
yani,
Riki?' Decima asked.

Riki clutched at the balcony wall and almost stumbled.

‘You OK, Ibu?' Hector asked, moving towards him. But the old man waved him away, sat back in his chair and took a deep breath.

‘Ghost? Plenty ghosts on Tevua.' He helped himself to the food. ‘I came back from overseas, from Majuro, I saw an old lady one day, a friend when I was young. She sat on the cemetery wall. I talked to her. She just smiled but she didn't talk. I walked away. Then I found out she died when I was overseas.' He smiled and his belly shook, like he was trying to stop himself from laughing. ‘She's a ghost.'

‘Are you sure it was a ghost?' Christina asked, frowning.

‘Yes. I talked to the ghost, but I didn't know it!'

‘Did she try to hurt you?' Lily asked.

‘No, she was a friendly ghost, not like that witch in Baringa, she's evil.'

The group fell silent again. Hector picked at the mackerel with his fingers, pulling the tender flesh free and coating it in the sauce before eating it.

‘How do you know if a ghost's evil or not?' Decima asked.

‘You must ask yourself, was it evil when it was alive? My friend was not evil.'

‘But how do you know, if you didn't know them when they were alive?' Hector said.

‘Yeah,' said Lily, wiping rice from her lips, ‘that witch is an old ghost. She might have been good when she was alive, but because her children were taken, she's angry. That's why she wants to steal other children.'

Riki stared at Lily before he answered. ‘Some people die in so much pain, fear or shame, that even though they're dead, they walk the land they die on. They want peace, to set them free,' the old man said.

‘Are there any Japanese ghosts on Tevua, Ibu?'

Riki snorted. ‘I don't know.' His tone was gruff and he moved to get up once more.

No one spoke as he rose and the girls exchanged nervous glances. Hector had to keep him interested. ‘Lily saw a ghost, just last week.'

This time Lily swore at Hector and Christina's mouth fell open. Hector wondered whether Lily would ever forgive him, now her secret was out. But Ibu was talking and it was so rare that he had to make the most of it.

‘Where did you see it?' Riki's voice was a whisper.

Lily shifted in her seat but she didn't take her eyes off Hector. ‘Near my house, just down there,' she waved.

‘There is a pillbox nearby, yes?'

‘Yeah, it's just down the beach from our house.'

‘Then that must be the home of your ghost, he probably died in a bombing raid. Have you been there to feel the air?'

‘What do you mean, “feel the air”?' Hector asked.

‘She will know when she tries it. A cool breeze cuts your heart. You will feel its pain.' He smiled at her and patted his belly.

Hector was relieved: Lily seemed more relaxed now, engaged by Riki.

‘He seems dangerous…angry or something,' Lily said. ‘If he was a Jap he was cruel when he was alive.' The old man paused and thought for a moment. ‘When you see him, what does he do?'

‘He shouts at me, but I can't hear him.'

Riki smiled and nodded, ‘He is silent. It is good.' Then he stopped and waved a finger at Lily's face. ‘Don't tell anyone else about this ghost, my girl. They might think you are crazy, like me.' He turned and winked at Christina. ‘This one, she thinks we're crazy.'

Christina shrugged and avoided Riki's eyes.

Lily and Decima laughed. The girls weren't so frightened of him now. Hector smiled too.

‘I have one more question,' Lily said. ‘Do you know anything about the lepers that were on the island?'

Riki's face twitched and he straightened himself slowly. ‘They died,' he muttered and their conversation was cut short by the slow put-put of a motor scooter winding up the narrow track.

They all turned and looked down the path to see Lorelei, her fat frame bouncing on the small vehicle as it manoeuvred over the bumps.

‘You come home, girl!' she shouted over the noise of the motor. ‘You come home right now.'

Lily pushed away from the table. ‘I've got to go, sorry.'

‘Maybe tomorrow I'll come around,' Decima whispered to Lily as she left.

Hector watched Lily walk down the steps and get on the back of the scooter. Although it was difficult with Lorelei's bulk, she avoided touching her mother. Instead she kept her balance by holding on to the back of the seat. She looked like a dog when you shout at it: sullen and defeated. It wasn't the same Lily Hector knew at school, the fearless Lily. But Hector knew better than most people that sullen dogs bite.