Ka Huaka'i O Ka Po

*(GLOSSARY: Lanai - patio. Lolo - crazy. Hapai - pregnant. Manini - little. Shaka - hand signal for "relax". Pilau - stinky. Okole - butt. Honihoni - to kiss or exchange breath with foreheads together. Pakalolo - crazy smoke, cannabis. Keiki - child.)

Chapter 3

Ka Lele ‘O Ka Pueo

The Flight of the Owl

“Oh, you and Kaleo, eh? I always knew you had a thing for him.” Keala chuckles.

“Oh fock no. Please.” Alana struggles to open her eyes and sit up. “You always warned me if I ever mess things up with Tiki - you’d hook us up. You were just trying to get me to move to Kaua’i with you so you wouldn’t go alone.”

“And here you are.” Keala stuffs pillows behind Alana’s head, “No seriously, went dodged the bullet there. He’s a total fockin’ tweaker. You would murder him - he’s that stupid. Him and his big brother. But they were good on a ship. And you helped us with another clue!”

“I what?” Alana wiggles gingerly, fighting off the atrophy.

“Ya. Kaleo’s my only link to finding Ikaika. Usually, he’s really scary. But we found a pattern on his calendar. The nights you snarl his name the worst was on the 27th moon phase. That’s when every frickin’ owl on da island perches on my gutters and shits all over my lanai furniture. That’s when lolo scores his crank, just before the New Moon and the tide swings level out. But just before, he really mellows out. I mean, he usually goes steal shit, tweaks it all up, and sells the stolen shit back to his neighbors.”

Alana has trouble focusing her eyes, “So what, how did you find this out? You went spied on him?”

“I went broke in his house and saw his maritime calendar.”

Alana tries to glare her crossed eyes in her sister’s direction, “I thought you said don’t go there!”

“Nah, nah, nah. I said YOU don’t got there. Not until Lono is born. Then he’s all yours you skanky tramp.” Keala pets the top of Alana’s head.

“So what, that’s it? That’s the big clue I lost a whole month of my life for? The crackhead scores some crack?”

Keala signals for Akila to fetch the ukulele, “Ok then. Getting a little crabby there. Now don’t worry about that so much. You’re safe and healthy. Your baby is safe and healthy. It was actually two months this time. Aw, please don’t cry. Please don’t…” She snaps her fingers for Akila to skip the tuning and just start playing a song. “Listen sweetie, what you’re doing is very important. It’s very important to me, to all of us. You’ve been chanting about Ikaika, the pueo, Lika, Kaleo. It’s all we’ve got. It’s all I’ve got. Right before dawn everyday, we see a flash of light behind your eyelids.”

“Wait, what?” Alana’s eyes are not quite synchronized yet.

“Ya, like the green flash when the sun sets on the ocean. But coming out of your skull. That’s the magic hour. We think it’s a flash of a different image each time. Like one old cartoon animation. You know the kind, when you went draw on the corner of your notebook and then flip the pages. Ya?”

“Oh. Ya. For sure. That seems a little strange don’t you think? What kind of light comes from someone’s head? That’s disturbing to me. Where are you leading me with this?” Alana peers around the room with the eyes of a clumsy chameleon.

“Well, your slow ass is taking so long. We like try to speed you up. But since you’re so hapai, no can. No can, so we’re going to slow me down. Ya?” Keala and Akila nod and smile at each other.

“I knew it!” Alana blurts. “You went hang out with cousin crack head one time and your manini little brain stay lolo already! Only took once, I told you!”

Keala chuckles, “Ah, you bugger. So funny. Just shut your furry clam and listen. Ya? First, he hasn’t even seen us yet. The 27th moon phase and the New Moon ain’t until next week. So, he’s the most normal this week.”

“You’re less normal this week.” Alana closes her eyes to rest and reset.

“Right before he scores, he makes some kind of ritual. That’s when the owls gather. He drinks the kava kava and he goes lay in the tide pool for days. I think he’s drowning himself.” Keala explains and wipes the tears from Alana’s face.

“Ok, but what the fock you need me to do?” Alana looks up when Akila stops playing and swivels a Shaka to his mom. “Oh, the both of you’s, eh? Akila, I need you to tell your mom that whatever this is - is stupid.”

“It’s ok sister. Just chill.” Keala uses her soothing voice, “You just have to stand by the road and feed the chickens. That’s all you gotta do. I thought you wanted to get out the house.”

Alana bobbles her head into the morning sun, “You like me to go feed Kaleo’s chickens? Why?”

Keala wrings out the warm soapy towel she uses only for Alana’s face. “Ya. He’s uh, got a perimeter of chickens around his yard. They will make noise and alert Kaleo. So feed them and make friends.”

Akila reasons, “He tries to train stray dogs, but they always run away. He has security chickens.”

Alana rubs the soap out of her eyes. “You two have been at this for a while.”

“Ya. Since the first night.” Keala massages her sister’s neck.

“Since the first night what?” She pushes her hands away.

“Since the first night you came here. Sister, if it was only snarling acid naps, your pilau okole would be sleeping in the cave. But the hour right before dawn, you calm down and get real still. That’s usually when we clean you up and give you soup and water. And then we hold your eyelids open and point you at the ceiling above the bathtub. Then we wait for your eyes to roll around and flash an image, like one slide show projector. Except it’s just one flash of one image, once a day and it’s really frickin’ slow. That’s why we need to go steal some weed tomorrow.”

“WOT?!” Alana pushes her sister away. “Wait. What?”

“And some kava.” Keala high-fives Akila and smiles.

“And that’s why you want me to go feed the fockin’ chickens while Kaleo drowns himself? You like break into his frickin’ crack house? And steal his shit? So stupid!” Alana slouches her face down into her hands, “Is that why my eyes are all wacko? You sticking your filthy fockin’ paws in my eyeballs? Eh, remember how I said I felt like my home was bugged? You think they’re not watching him? Let me tell you this - the night before Tiki vanished, two guys tried to steal Tiki’s weed that he was growing in the Kau brother’s yard. They were attacked by a wild pig. That’s when all the shitty things started happening. I’m telling you, what if it’s the frickin’ weed that’s causing all these problems? It’s the same weed that Ikaika was growing here and then gave to Tiki to grow on O’ahu. You don’t think I know about that?”

“And what if it’s the same weed that’s going to help us see how to solve these problems? You gotta admit, those boys were all very, the kind, receptive.” Keala tries to reason.

“Ya. Ok. We got the thieving loner pot-head mom and her epileptic suicidal sister! This is getting so much worse. This whole time I was struggling to find answers locked away in the back of my head. It itches inside my head! You have no idea how frustrating it is to rip through a seizure for a whole month and come out with nothing. Why am I doing this to myself? I thought having the baby would help keep this all straight for me.” Alana starts crying again. “How come I have to go through all this, and your ideas just keep getting worse?”

“Honey, I did the exact same thing. Alone. At least you have us watching over you.” Keala hugs them both.

Akila starts chanting in his sweet voice, “Aia i ka opua ke ola. Aia i ka opua ke ola. Aia i ka opua ke ola.”

Alana is soothed. She gazes at the keiki, glowing in the morning sun. Her eyes finally focus, “Life is in the clouds. Tiki used to chant that to me. We used to lay in the shade, watch the keiki’s swim and play. He’d wait for the sun to almost go down. And he’d sit at the shore break and wait to see if there’d be a green flash for him when the sun hit the horizon. That’s when he would paddle out for go surf. He’d tell me he knew all the ways to make me happy by how the colors ran across the clouds at sunset. Of course, he would also light up a doobie and try to make important decisions based on how the smog flew out while he was hacking his lungs up. Whatevers, I think it’s a bad idea. And what, you going to get high and then what exactly? You going to jump in the bathtub with me and poke me in the eye with your grubby fingers?”

“Don’t be silly. We all cannot fit in the bathtub. We’re going down the beach to the salt ponds.”

“Ok. And then?”

“And then we honihoni until our minds connect and then see what we can see. Don’t look at me like that, because I’m going to be more, you know the kind, receptive. We read all about this in Tiki’s journal already. He wrote about it and never tried it because you never like smoke the pakalolo. We think it’s worth a try. It’s your boyfriend’s idea, why wouldn’t you give it a shot?” Keala adjusts the tuning pegs while Akila strums softly.

“You been reading his journal? Ok. Fine then. But what if we both start having seizures and don’t wake up for a month or two? Who’s going to take care of Akila? And why does he have a knife? Who let’s their keiki cruise around with a knife?”

“It’s my carving knife. Good for wood, fish, I use it in the garden. I made you one nice cane auntie. I carved the plumeria on the handle, your favorite.” Akila is so proud to show off his work.

“That seems strange. Is that fish you’re cooking? Did you catch, clean and cook that fish by yourself? Do you do all your mommy’s chores around here? What did I frickin’ miss? What’s the date today? I’m awake one day out of the frickin’ month and everything seems really lolo around here. I think I should go stay with Auntie Rubie for a while.”

“No can. Only we are meant to see this. No one else can be a part of this. This dark cloud is for us alone.” Keala leans back on the futon and pulls her sister to a tight snuggle in the warming morning Kaua'i sun. “Who else could survive this? This is our path.”