Whispers (8 page)

Feeling fired up enough to make the call right then, Teri was frustrated when Dan stopped at a convenience store on the way home. Dozens of tourists were inside the shop. Teri could
spot them easily now. They had a certain frenzied appearance about them, and all their clothes looked new. Dan picked up some 7-Up and saltines, and then he wandered off into the pharmaceutical aisle. Teri picked out a few postcards and examined a bin of coconuts by the door. The sign gave instructions on how the coconuts could be mailed to the mainland.

“Ready?” Dan asked, calling to Teri from his spot in line at the checkout. She joined him and looked at the small box he held. It was a home pregnancy test.

T
eri held the telephone receiver to her ear and waited for the answering machine’s long beep. “Hi, Mark, this is Teri. It’s Sunday afternoon, and I’d appreciate it if you could give me a call. Thanks. Bye.”

She was fired up and ready to talk, which made it frustrating to be stuck with an answering machine. Who knew when Mark would check his messages? She hung up the phone and let out a sigh. Dan and Anita were in their bedroom with the door closed. Teri could hear them arguing. She guessed they disagreed about using the home pregnancy test.

Men can be so insensitive sometimes. What do they know about pregnancy? This Gordo-guy suggests this is a good time for Annie to be pregnant so Dan runs out and buys a home test. That’s real scientific. Men can be so clueless!

Is that Mark’s problem? He doesn’t call me or talk to me because he’s naturally clueless?

Just then the phone rang and Teri grabbed it, hoping Mark was calling.

“Hey, gorgeous, mind if I pick you up early for dinner tonight? I get off work in about half an hour.”

“Scott?” Teri said.

“Yeah, who were you expecting?”

She quickly cleared her thoughts. “You. I was expecting to see you. Tonight.”

“So, I can pick you up in an hour, if that’s okay.”

“Sure. That’ll be great! I’ll see you. Bye.” Teri hung up and ignored her confused feelings about Scott. She wished she were going out to dinner with Mark tonight. She would feel better if she could resolve that relationship before moving on to the next.

To divert her feelings, she concentrated on what she should wear. She still had on the straight skirt and cream colored knit shirt she had worn to church. Was that too dressy? Maybe she should change into jeans. Or shorts. She didn’t want to look like a tourist. Yet, if Scott was taking her to some nice place, she didn’t want to look too casual either. She settled on the outfit she was wearing convinced, after a few turnarounds in front of the full-length mirror on the hall closet door, that it was flattering and comfortable and best of all, she already had it on.

The argument between Anita and Dan calmed down, and Dan marched into the living room mumbling something to Teri about women being irrational. He plopped in front of the TV and turned on a competition volleyball game.

Teri wondered if she should try to talk to Anita or leave her alone. She finally decided that if she were in Annie’s place, she would want her sister to comfort her.

“It’s me,” Teri said, tapping on the bedroom door and ignoring Dan’s glare. “May I come in?”

“Sure,” came the calm voice behind the door.

Teri went in and sat on the edge of the bed. Anita was curled up under a sheet. Her short hair stuck out, and her eyes looked red from crying.

“You okay?” Teri asked.

Anita nodded but didn’t say anything.

“Is there anything I can do?” Teri asked, reaching over and giving her sister an assuring pat on the shoulder. “Do you want anything to eat?”

“No, I’m fine. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I wanted you and me to go places and do things together.”

“I know. And we will. You need to get over this bug you’ve caught. We have lots of time.”

Anita readjusted her position. “Danny thinks the bug is a baby. Did you know he bought a test?”

Teri nodded. “I was with him.”

“I’m not going to take the stupid thing. Do you know how many of these I’ve taken in my life? Too many! When, or if, I’m ever pregnant again, I’ll know.”

“Danny was probably trying to help in his own bizarre, masculine way. If it makes any difference, it wasn’t his idea. This man at church, Gordo, suggested it. Can you believe people call him
Gordo?”

Anita’s face lit up. “Danny didn’t tell me Gordo was home. How is he?”

“Fine, I guess. He sure is an odd one, isn’t he?”

“He’s unique, all right. Part maverick, part pioneer, and part saint. He’s a fantastic person. Did you know he’s a pastor?”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Really, he is. He’s going to school on the mainland. Texas, I think. When he graduates, he wants to come back here and start a church on Maui,” Anita said.

“Then why did he come to your door on Friday night delivering pizza?”

“Money is tight for almost everyone who lives here,” Anita said. “Gordo is just like the rest of us. He works hard to make a living and trusts God to make up the difference somewhere along the way.”

“I can’t get used to hearing you call a grown man ‘Gordo,’ ” Teri said. “I actually first met him at the luau. Remember when I told you some jerk spilled Coke on me? It was he.”

Anita smiled. “That is his one fault. Gordo is the clumsiest person I’ve ever met. One time he was helping to serve communion at church, and he stumbled with a tray of bread in one hand and a tray of juice in the other hand. Crumbs and sticky grape juice were on the front pews for months!”

Teri could never picture their father tripping when he served communion. “Was it a total disaster or what?”

Anita started to laugh. “Not with Gordo. He broke into that laugh of his, and the whole congregation busted up. He said his guardian angel must have tripped him because the church geckos weren’t getting enough to eat lately.”

“Church geckos?”

“You know how people talk about starving church mice? On the islands we have church geckos. They’re little green lizards with tiny suction cups on their feet. Gordo said we should leave the spilled communion for them to lick up. It was really funny at the time.”

“I guess that’s one way to break the mood in the middle of a serious sacrament,” Teri said.

“It was actually the best communion I’ve ever participated in. Certainly the most meaningful. Since Gordo had dumped the bread and juice, he asked if anyone had anything with them that we could use instead. He passed the tray around and collected everything from restaurant-wrapped soda crackers to Life Savers. Someone had half a bottle of orange juice to contribute,
and the communion was back on. When he gave thanks and broke the crackers and Life Savers, he talked about how God is a creative, unstoppable God who provides for our needs. He said we should learn to live in the unforced rhythms of grace. I’ll never forget it.”

Teri checked the clock on the bed stand. “I probably should get ready. Scott called and is coming to pick me up in a few minutes. If Mark phones, tell him I really want to talk to him.”

Just then the phone rang, and Anita picked up the extension next to the bed. “You can tell him yourself,” she said, handing Teri the phone. “It’s Mark.”

“Hi.”

“Hi,” he said. “I received a message that you called.”

“Well, I wanted to see if we could get together some time to talk. I know you’re busy going out with the whales and everything …”

Anita slapped Teri’s leg, and Teri bit her lip. “I don’t mean, going out with the whales, I mean going out to sea to see the whales.” She rolled her eyes at Anita. This was not going well.

“Actually,” Mark said, “the whales are only around during the winter months. I’m putting together all the research information I collected this past winter.”

“Well, I’m just saying whenever it’s convenient for you, I’d like to get together.”

“How about tonight?” Mark said.

“Tonight?” Teri gave Anita a panicked look. Anita shrugged her shoulders and offered no suggestions. “I kind of have something going on tonight. How about tomorrow or Tuesday sometime?”

“As long as it’s in the morning.”

“Sure,” Teri said quickly. “What time? Is ten good?”

“I meant morning,” Mark said. “Like six or seven o’clock.”

“Oh! Okay. Six or seven o’clock. Should we meet for breakfast somewhere?”

“Do you want to come to Lahaina?” Mark asked.

“I could probably borrow the car,” Teri said, looking at Anita, who was holding up nine fingers. “I’d have to be back before nine so Dan could take it to work.”

“Then why don’t we meet at the Pioneer Inn for breakfast? They open at 6:30.”

“Okay, the Pioneer Inn at 6:30. Great! I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it,” Mark said.

“Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Anita asked as Teri hung up.

“He said he’s looking forward to it. What do you think that means?”

“I think it means you two need to talk, and he’s looking forward to it. Too bad you made plans with Scott for this afternoon. Mark has today off. You two could have spent the whole day together instead of a quick breakfast.”

“I think it’s better this way,” Teri said, rising from the bed and checking her reflection in the mirror above the dresser. “I’ll see how things go with Scott today and then evaluate it in light of how things go tomorrow morning with Mark.”

“If Scott doesn’t maul you in the process.”

Teri spun around. She was too mad at her sister’s comment to respond so she let her fiery eyes speak for her.

“Excuse me for having an opinion of the guy based on our last conversation!”

“Can you just let me be an equal with you, Anita? Just for a few short weeks, let me be an adult, like you, not a naive baby sister who can’t make any decisions for herself. Just treat me like a friend. Like a peer. Listen to me, respect me, encourage
me. That’s all I’m asking. Is that too much?”

Anita looked down at the bed covers and didn’t move. When she lifted her eyes, she had a gentler expression. “I can do that.”

“I know you can. I need you to.”

“Okay.”

Teri glanced at the clock again. It had been well over an hour since Scott had called. He should be here any minute. Maybe he stopped by his house first. She could wait. What’s a little waiting? She was on Maui time. Time to slow down. Relax. Take it easy.

Teri waited for Scott until 9:30 that night. He didn’t come. He didn’t call.

A
t precisely 9:31 Teri heard a knock on the front door. Dan and Anita had gone to bed, and Teri was in her pajamas, an extra-large, yellow T-shirt. She stumbled to the door.

“Forgive me?” Scott asked, holding out a red rose in a white vase. Teri recognized the arrangement as the grocery-store variety.

She didn’t know how to respond. All her anger, hurt, and frustration had been used up during the past six hours.

“You could have called,” she said in a flat voice that bore neither condemnation nor self-pity.

“The pay phone at the emergency room was out of order.”

Teri involuntarily scanned Scott for signs of injury. “What happened?” she asked, her emotions thawing out.

“The nurse said some kids stuck a pog in the phone, and they couldn’t get a repairman to come out and fix it.”

“Not what happened to the phone! What happened to you?”

“Nothing.” A sly smile spread across his lips. “Are you going to invite me in?”

Teri opened the door and with a swooping hand gesture invited him in. His story was bound to be interesting.

“Where’s Dan and Annie?”

Teri pointed to the closed bedroom door.

“Why don’t we go out on the lanai?” Scott suggested.

Teri felt a little uncomfortable wandering around in her nightshirt. But she sat down on the patio chair, folded her arms across her middle, and raised an eyebrow, waiting for his explanation.

“One of the other bellhops pulled his back out on some movie star’s trunk. I drove him to the other side, and it took longer than I thought.”

“They don’t have hospitals on this side of the island?” Teri questioned.