Page 82 of Try Easy

Keoni hadn’t heard from his brother since he’d left for San Diego. But Keoni didn’t think that was unusual. He wouldn’t officially start worrying about Kimo until he was fighting in Vietnam.

His mind wandered to Lou and her brother, John. Lou hadn’t heard from her brother in a month. Was he still alive? Keoni shoved the thought of Lou away with another long sip of swipe.

His entire body was buzzing now after two cups. He knew he shouldn’t play around with swipe. Made from fermented pineapples and sugar, it was a potent liquor that the Keaukalanis were famous for all over the island. Mr. K wouldn’t share his secret recipe with anyone. One thing was for sure if you wanted to get drunk quickly, swipe did one hell of a job.

One cup of swipe could make you forget all your problems. Two cups could make you feel like conquering the world. Three cups could bring problems you didn’t know you had. Keoni had seen brothers try to kill each other over too much swipe. He’d seen grown men pass out in their plates after drinking too much. Swipe was dangerous, and it was already going to his head.

“Excuse me,” Keoni said to Ryla, getting up from the sofa.

He felt nauseous, but he made it to the bathroom without getting sick. He closed the door behind him and stuck his head in the sink, splashing water over his face. The cold water shocked his system, and finally, the room stopped spinning. Keoni ran his hands through his hair and took a long look at himself in the mirror.

Everything is going to be okay, he told his reflection.

Lou was gone, but it wasn’t the end of the world. He would wake up tomorrow, and it would be a new day. He would move on. Lou would move on. The earth would keep spinning.

Keoni reached for the door, trying to decide if he wanted to keep drinking or go home. Getting drunk wasn’t making him feel any better. He should go home.

He stepped out into the hall and started back to the living room where the volume of noise seemed to have risen while he’d been in the bathroom. Were there more people in the house now than when he’d gone into the bathroom? It was a chaotic scene, everyone talking at once. Keoni’s head spun with the noise. He leaned against the wall for support and closed his eyes.

“You okay?” Ryla asked.

Keoni opened his eyes and squinted down at her. He shook his head. No, he wasn’t okay. “It’s too loud,” he said, gesturing toward the crowded living room.

Ryla opened the door to Bones’s old bedroom and pulled Keoni inside. “Take a breath,” she said. “Sit in here for a minute.”

Keoni went into the room that Bones’s younger brothers now shared. The room brought back memories of Bones as a child. They had been kids when Keoni’s parents had moved their family back to Oahu from Maui. Keoni and Bones had been instant best friends and partners in crime. Keoni had spent as much time in this room as a kid as he had his own.

The posters on the wall were different, and the trophies lining the shelf were for baseball and track instead of football, but the room still looked the same. It was crammed with furniture and sports equipment. A bunk bed lined one wall, and a single bed was shoved against the window on the other side of the room.

Keoni sank down on the single bed, letting the mattress take the burden of his weight. He sighed and leaned his head into his hands, feeling the prick of tears behind his eyes.

Ryla sat down beside him, and Keoni blinked back the tears. She handed him her cup of swipe, and they passed it back and forth between them.

“Why are you so upset?” Ryla asked after a long moment. “Everything turned out okay,” she said.

“Yeah,” Keoni said, taking another sip.

“I know what’s eating you,” she said.

“Yeah?” Keoni asked. Did she know about Lou?

“It’s not your fault,” she said. “Eddie’s death was an accident.”

“I know,” Keoni said, for once relieved that she was talking about Eddie. It would have been worse to talk about Lou. The pain of losing her was still too fresh, whereas the pain of losing Eddie was old and familiar.

Ryla passed him the nearly empty cup. “You drunk yet?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Me, too,” she said, giggling. “Now I have the courage to do this.”

She leaned forward and kissed Keoni on the cheek, leaving a smear of red lipstick.

“What was that for?” he asked.

Ryla took another gulp of swipe and swallowed it down. “I just wanted to see what it was like to kiss you.”

“Ryla,” Keoni warned.

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