Page 55 of Big Island Sunrise
“I wanted to see what was inside.”
She stared down in disbelief. He had made a clean incision down the belly and disemboweled the thing. The entrails were all laid out on a big leaf. She was equal parts horrified and impressed.
“Kai, that poor lizard…”
“I didn’t hurt it!” he shouted. “I found it! It was already dead. I found it and I wanted to see what was inside. I didn’t do anything wrong. You always get mad at me when I didn’t do anything wrong!”
He threw the knife down and sprinted off, Dio running cheerfully at his heels. Emma looked back at the gruesome scene and shuddered. She felt deeply disturbed by the gutted lizard, but she also felt sorry for her reaction. Kai could easily grow up to become a surgeon, and here she was scolding him for what was really quite an impressive attempt at an autopsy.
She took refuge on the shade of the front porch and texted Lani.
I can’t tell if my son is going to be a brilliant scientist or a serial killer.
Why not both?she replied.
I just found him with a gutted lizard. He had the organs all laid out before him like a soothsayer of old.
Lani started typing several times over before she finally sent,I’ve got customers. We’re gonna have to untangle that one when I get home.
Fair enough.
A few minutes later, another text came through.Maybe he’ll become a veterinarian.
Here’s hoping.
17
Lani
Tenn pulled up to the house with four surfboards in the back of his truck. He had followed up on their sushi date with gentle insistence, and somehow it had ballooned to include surfing before dinner.
“Is it a double date?” Lani joked as she opened the gate.
“So itisa date,” he said.
“I mean, are we picking up some other people?”
“I wasn’t sure what sort of board you’d want, so I brought all three of my boards and a smaller one of my mom’s.”
“She still surfs?”
“Not as much as she used to, but yeah.”
“Very cool.”
“Yeah, she’s pretty amazing.” His mouth quirked into a crooked smile as he added, “It’s almost enough for me to overlook the name she gave me.”
“You could always change it.”
“No, I’m used to it. It’s worn in. Like an old pair of shoes.”
“So, where are we going?” she asked as she climbed into the truck.
He handed her a cold bottle of sugarcane juice. “I was thinking Honoli’i.”
She chewed on her lip, looking out the window as they drove slowly through the neighborhood.
“Is that okay?” he asked
