Page 61 of Big Island Neighbors
She shrugged. “We don’t know his name.”
Kai frowned at her for a minute. Rory ate her mac salad, unconcerned. Finally, Kai turned to Emma and resumed his original line of inquiry. “What am I?”
“Lots of things. Hawaiian, Mexican, English, Spanish, Irish…” There was more to the list, but she trailed off when he started to look a little wild eyed.
“I don’t know how to be any of those things!”
“Oh, Kai. You don’t have to. You only need to be you.”
He pushed two little fists against his eyes, completely overwhelmed.
“Those are some of the places that your ancestors lived, that’s all.”
“That’s a lot of places,” he said with a sniff.
“They were explorers. People who traveled thousands of miles to make better lives for themselves.”
He thought about that for a moment. “Like us?”
Tears pricked her eyes, but she smiled at her son. “Yeah, baby. Like us.”
“It just makes us stronger,” Lani said, “and it has nothing to do with whether or not you belong here. What’s in your heart is most important.”
“I don’t get it,” Kai groused.
“Do you honor your ancestors andmalama ?aina?”
“What’s that mean?”
“Do you take care of the island?”
He thought about that for a while. “Like when we pick up trash at the beach? Or when we make cookies for the kids who eat the free soup?”
“Exactly,” Lani encouraged him. “That’s exactly it. The aloha spirit.”
“So I can stay?” he asked, and another hairline crack appeared in Emma’s heart.
“The island is happy to have you,” Lani assured him.
“Can’t you feel it?” Rory said.
“Feel what?” Kai asked.
She shrugged. “Love, I guess. Up through your feet, right up to your heart?”
Kai was quiet for a moment, and then he smiled. “Yeah. I feel it.”
19
Lani
“Look!” Rory’s voice was so loud and so high that Lani winced. “Mama! Lulu and Kiki are here!”
“Okay.” She set down the pan that she was washing and rinsed her hands.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“I’ll be out in a minute.”
