Page 63 of Big Island Neighbors
“Seriously,” Lani told her cousin. “Take some time for yourself today.”
“I just might.” She looked after Kiana and said, “You could sell those, you know.”
“Sell what?”
“The coloring pages you make for the girls. You could put them in a book and sell them.”
She rocked backwards, stunned by the suggestion. It had never occurred to her.
“The girls love them.”
“They’d love anything.”
“Nuh-uh, not Luana. She won’t touch any of her other coloring books now, because they’re not as good as Auntie Lani’s.”
“Really?”
“People would buy them. Think about it.” ‘Olena hugged her and walked back to her car.
Dio sped past, accompanied ‘Olena to the gate, and then raced back to find Rory and Luana. Chickens scattered as he tore through, then resumed their scratching and pecking.
Lani stretched her arms towards the sky and wiggled her feet on the damp grass.
Her art had exploded since moving home to Hawai’i. Between the demands of early motherhood and the soul-diming stress of her marriage, she had felt zero desire to draw and paint like she used to.
If she thought back, her art had dwindled even earlier than that. She had brought a few notebooks and supplies along on her first shipboard job, but never found time to use them. On future contracts, she hadn’t bothered.
But now, ever since coming home to the island, she couldn’tstopdrawing.
Sketching got her through slow shifts at Haumona Shave Ice. It soothed her nerves when nightmares made it impossible to sleep. It kept the kids entertained.
And with so much inspiration to be found on the Big Island, there was no end of things to draw. She loved the stark geometric shapes of the tropical flowers, the quirky mess of a rooster’s feathers, the baleful glare of the goats. She loved it all.
The cold morning air had helped her wake up, at least a little bit. She had a long to-do list today herself, though she hadn’t accounted for such a poor night’s sleep.
Oh well. She’d tackled longer days on less sleep a thousand times.
She’d see the day through and then pass out with Rory at seven.
Still stretching out the tightness between her shoulder blades, she walked up the front steps and into the house.
Kiana was at the table with Rory’s hundred-pack of crayons, tongue poking out between her lips as she colored a beach scene.
“Auntie, look!” she said when she noticed Lani. “Green sand!”
Lani rubbed her little cousin’s back as she leaned over the table to see. “I love it.”
She was pouring herself a second cup of coffee when Emma came in with the milk bucket. She strained it into jars, and Lani stole a splash of goat’s milk for her coffee.
“Are you going to be here all day?” Emma asked.
“Yeah, I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’m going to take out some extra meal deliveries to elders who didn’t make it to the soup kitchen this week. Okay if I leave Kai here with you?”
“Sure, that’s fine.”
“Thanks.”
