Page 6 of Still See You Everywhere

Unfortunately, I know from experience there’s only one direction this story can go. “I assume something terrible happened.”

“No.” Keahi shakes her head, sounding surprised even after all these years. “Something good happened. The morning of my eighteenth birthday, my mother crept into the bedroom Lea and I shared and announced we were leaving. Not her, she didn’t have enough money for that. But she had purchased two tickets to Hawaii for Lea and me. We were to go, find her family, and never come back. And… it worked. She filled my father with whiskey and beer till he passed out cold. I took Lea’s hand and ran all the way down our driveway to the main road, where a neighbor drove us to the airport. I told everyone Lea was my daughter, and just like that, we were on a plane. We were free.”

Keahi’s voice breaks slightly on the last word. I give her a moment to recover. There’s a softness to her features when she speaks of her sister, a wistful look in her eyes. She’s either an incredible actress, or she truly loved Lea. I don’t know why Keahi would lie on the subject, though. Reconnecting with a long-lost sibling would hardly change her sentence at this point. Especially as she seems not just resigned but resolved to die.

“You and your sister made it to Hawaii. Did you find your mother’s family?”

“They were kind. Especially to me. I might’ve looked like them, but I knew nothing of their culture. More haole than Hawaiian. Lea, of course, took to everyone and everything immediately. We shared a tiny room in my auntie’s house. She had a small farm, not so different from my parents’, though no pigs.” Keahi flashes a quick smile. I refuse to take the bait.

She continues. “I got up early each morning and rushed out to do chores, working twice as hard as any of my cousins because I had to. I was terrified my auntie would change her mind, send us back. Or worse, Daddy would show up one day and burn it all to the ground. I already knew I’d kill him first. He was never going to touch my sister. I promised it to her. I swore it to myself.”

“Keahi.” The lawyer’s warning tone again.

Keahi dismisses her with another wave of her hand. “What are they going to do, give me a second lethal injection?”

“But your father never appeared,” I hastily interject, trying to get us back on topic. “You and Lea were safe in Hawaii?”

“For two whole years.”

“What happened?”

Her lips compressed into a tight line. “I proved to be my mother’s daughter after all. I met a man.”

“I STARTED WORKING a little farm stand, selling eggs, vegetables, and cut flowers from my auntie’s garden. One day, this man pulled up in a baby-blue convertible. I’d never seen anything like it, certainly not in Texas. The guy who got out was as flashy as his car—expensive Hawaiian shirt, linen trousers, fancy loafers. Handsome, too, but I wasn’t that stupid. He asked about the eggs, teased me about how many boys bought the flowers just to give them to me. I did my best to ignore him, but he kept chatting away. Wanted to know my recommendation for places to go on the island. Seemed interested in my answers. He smiled. All the time. Often. Easily. I thought to myself, He isn’t anything like my father.” On the table, Keahi’s hands clench and unclench. “So maybe I was a little stupid after all.”

“You fell in love?”

“What is love?” The Beautiful Butcher rolls one shoulder dramatically.

I’m now as impatient as the lawyer. “You ended up with this guy. You and your sister?”

“Of course. I’m dependent on my aunt for every bite of food, and I’d never seen much outside of a Texas pig farm. And this man, he’s handsome, charming, and rich. Like crazy rich. In a matter of months, Lea and I had left my auntie’s tiny house for Mac’s oceanside villa.

“My auntie didn’t like him. She said I was too young, and he was too pretty. She didn’t trust a man who didn’t have calluses on his hands. But he was good to Lea. Bought her dresses, dolls, even got her a kitten. I saw how he treated her, and I thought, There is a good man. I’m the luckiest girl around.

“Have I mentioned yet my stupidity?”

I stay quiet, watching her strong fingers twitch in agitation.

“Mac had an entire household staff—chef, housekeeper, grounds crew—so no more chores for me. My sole obligation became to look gorgeous every evening when he came home. And Lea, she was ecstatic, running though this huge mansion, splashing around in the pool, playing games with her kitten. The staff adored her. They were more reserved with me, however. From the beginning, I recognized some of their looks were pitying.”

“When did he first hit you?” I ask softly. Again, there is only one direction this story can go.

“I asked him one too many questions when he came home from work one evening. He slapped me, then immediately apologized.”

“You accepted his excuse.”

“I slapped him back.”

This grabs my attention.

“He liked it.” Keahi regards me intently, her dark eyes nearly glowing. “He liked it very much. We were late to dinner that night, he liked it so much.” She pauses, as if this should shock me. I keep my features neutral. I would like to say this is the first time I’ve heard of such things, but it isn’t. Finally, Keahi continues in a more casual tone. “Lea was too young to understand. But the moment she saw us, she stopped chattering away with the cook, grew subdued. I got it then. She didn’t have to know what had happened to know that we were back home again. We’d come all the way to Hawaii to live like Texas. I’d failed. I just didn’t know how badly yet.”

“It grew worse.”

“Gloves were off. Mac would strike me for no reason, just to see what I’d do. And I’d explode on him. It felt great.” Keahi’s voice is nearly feral with satisfaction. “He hit me; I punched back harder. He knocked me to the ground; I kicked the legs out from underneath him. I didn’t care how much I hurt, as long as I could make him hurt worse.

“I wanted to believe I gave as good as I got. Except, of course, I didn’t. He was bigger and stronger. I bruised his jaw; he knocked me out. I blackened his torso; he had me spitting up blood. And soon enough, he was reminding me it was his home I lived in, his clothes on my back, his charity keeping my sister safe. I learned to wear a lot of makeup and ignore the staff’s concerned glances. I’m sure you can fill in the rest.”

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