Page 13 of Big Island Sunrise
Dozens of surfers bobbed below, all jostling for one of the few good breaks on the east side of the island. John had surfed here for decades, and his closest friends and relatives would paddle out past the break today to circle up, say a final goodbye, and spread his ashes.
“So sad to lose John right after Adam,” one of the aunties was saying.
Lani hugged herself as the cool breeze picked up, carrying salt spray off the ocean. She stood on the edge of things, only half listening.
“No surprise that he had no fight left,” a cousin said. “What’s a person got left to live for, when their onlykeikiis gone?”
“He’s got that grandbaby, though. Kai?”
“All the way in California.”
“He’s here. You didn’t see? Right down there by the water. Look at him, he’s all Kealoha.”
“John left everything to him, did you hear?”
“But he’s just a baby.”
“What’s his mother gonna do, rent it out?”
“More land lost to a mainlander. What a shame.”
Lani moved away from the gossipping aunties, following Rory as she wandered down the path to the beach. She hadn’t seen Adam in years, had never even met his son, but the news of his death had gutted her.
The Kealoha siblings had been close, and Adam was her best friend growing up. Each an only child, the two of them had forged a bond that was closer than siblings – all of the love with none of the bickering.
They had grown apart in adulthood, so busy with their own lives that they rarely saw each other. Then she’d married Zeke, who hated to see any male name on her phone (hated for her to evenhavea phone, really). And by the time she had finally made it home, two more of her closest relatives were gone. The black hole of loss at the center of her island had grown even wider; she was half surprised that she couldn’t see it.
Adam should be here.
The sharp pain of his death had catapulted her out of the gray complacency of her life. She wanted Rory to know her cousins. Even if all she had was second cousins, there was really no difference as far as her family was concerned.
Lani’s foolishness had robbed Rory of her paternal family, and a cruel twist of fate had taken her grandparents decades too soon. She at least deserved to know her‘ohana. The family they had left.
Like Lani, Adam had always been slightly outside of the family. His mother was from California, and he had moved back there with her as a young teenager after his parents split. But he had grown up in Pualena, and he’d visited the island every winter break and every summer.
They had only grown closer over the years. He was there for her in the wake of her mother’s death. Even when he brought his highschool girlfriend, Emma, they had included Lani on their long hikes and Kona beach days.
Most teenage boys would have cast off a sad, quiet little cousin. But not Adam.
Lani scanned the beach, looking for Emma. They had become as close as sisters, all those summers through high school and college. Lani had even been a bridesmaid in her wedding, standing up there with Emma’s two blood sisters. They had stayed in touch during her cruise ship years, and she had gone to visit after Kai was born.
Then came Rory. And Alaska. And a husband who read her every text or deliberately let the phone and internet go unpaid so that she had no contact with the outside world at all.
Lani would put up a front when she did get service, too ashamed to admit what she had gotten herself into. For years, she hadn’t even admitted it to herself. It had gotten worse so slowly, during a time when all of her focus was on her baby girl. Before she knew it, the water was hot enough to scald.
She followed Rory down the beach, walking barefoot across the warm black sand.
As they got closer to the river, the sand gave way to smooth stones. A group of young boys had started their own little driftwood bonfire and Rory tiptoed closer, staring at their accomplishment in awe. When they failed to acknowledge her, she lost interest and wandered down to the river’s edge.
Lani stayed right behind her, watching carefully. The river pooled here, deep and still as a lake. The water was so clear that she could see all the way to the rocky bottom. But just a short distance to their right, the current was swift and fierce. A group of older kids whooped and hollered, riding the rapids towards the ocean.
“Mama, look!” Rory held up a green bit of sea glass. “Look what I found!”
“That’s beautiful, baby!”
Rory gasped. “Oh my goodness! There’s another one!”
Before long, they had a pile of sea glass gathered: green and blue and brown. There were even bits of pottery, little shards of blue on white. They were absorbed in collecting those treasures for a long while before Lani finally remembered herself. She stood up and looked around, wondering if the service had already started.
