by M.M. Shelley
Chapter Nine – Grandmothers
Kye waited for Tatiana at Lucy Wright Beach. The waters were much calmer there than anywhere else on the island. Sitting on the beach, looking out into the ocean, deep in thought, he found himself thinking about the fire that took the lives of his parents.
Kye was the only child his parents had. Other than his uncle, who was dead now, it was just Kye, his grandmother, and his older cousin Kana’i. Kye didn’t mind that his grandmother kept her distance.
The last time he saw his grandmother was the night his parents died in the fire. He was coming back up from the beach. Even though he was so young, he lived in the water whenever he could. Kye couldn’t seem to recall what happened to the little surf board that his father had made for him.
The smoke had been thick and black. He saw it as he made his way up the path leading to his home. His grandmother stood waiting for him at the base of the road. She was dressed in all her glory, Pele the goddess of fire. Her black hair reached her hips with flowers woven into her hair. The gold bangles she wore clinked as she raised her right arm out to him. Dropping his surf board, Kye would have run right past her if she hadn’t stopped him.
Her voice was clear and swift as she pulled Kye into her arms, holding him to her. “They are gone, my child.”
Kye would have fought to escape her embrace, yet he stilled. He watched as what was left of his family home caved in on top of itself, the fire a silver blue. “They tried to take you away from me Kye, my own grandchild.” She kissed the top of his head and then said, “I can sense the fire that lays dormant inside of you my child. It called to me like a child who calls for its mother.”
Pele, the fire goddess, raised his face to look up at her with the tips of her fingers to his chin, her bracelets clinking; “Now you can be trained to use your fire. Now you can realize your true potential.” With a sharp nod of her head she continued, “You will learn.” Pele vanished before his eyes. He watched the fire burn itself out. The tears would not fall from his eyes. Standing there, he was not sure what he should do and then it just happened.
A roar of anguish erupted from his young throat. Clenching his fists, he raised them above his small head. A red fire erupted from his fists. Taking one step at a time, he would bury his family the only way he could. With his fire he would rid them of any trace of the silver blue flames that remained.
His uncle found Kye out at the beach hours later. Placing his hand to Kye’s shoulder and without saying a word, his uncle sat next to Kye.
“Kye,” Sitting up from his seat in the sand, he turned to see Tatiana running down the beach to join him. He gave her a wide grin as he stood to greet her.
“You ready for a swim?” he asked, already knowing her answer.
A grin on her own face Tatiana nodded her head, “Never had a moonlight swim before.”
That’s all he needed to hear. Taking the bag she brought, Tatiana stripped down to her swimsuit, and together they raced into the sea.
The moment Grasiella reached home, she called upstairs for G. With no answer, she went up the stairs to look for her. The door to G’s room was ajar; she was sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, Grasiella closed the door. Once in her own room she tossed her cloth bag onto her bed. Her bed was the one closest to the bay windows. She wasn’t sure what it was that compelled her to the windows, yet there she stood, gazing out on nothing in particular.
What had made her feel that intense emotion of sadness? It had been unbearable. Closing the drapes, she turned the light out. She would keep this experience to herself. She fell asleep with her 3D MPV player on, lulling her into a restless sleep.
At the shore, Kye and Tatiana were greeted by two locals who appeared to be the same age as Kye and Tatiana. It was too dark to see their faces clearly. One stood taller than the other, wearing red board shorts and no shirt. The other wore a tank top and grey board shorts. The one in red board shorts began to speak in Hawaiian to Kye, who wrapped his arm around Tatiana’s shoulders possessively as he gave a quick reply in Hawaiian. He then moved Tatiana away from the two guys. As they passed, Tatiana didn’t dare glance in their direction. She was too nervous.
She heard a shout from one of the two. She guessed the sound came from the one in the red board shorts as he seemed the more aggressive of the two. “What did he say to you?” she asked Kye.
Removing his arm from around her shoulder, he replied, “Nothing much, just asked if the water was good.”
Tatiana suspected that wasn’t what he had asked Kye but decided it wasn’t important to push it.
Kye didn’t want to introduce those two to Tatiana, but he felt he would have to at some point. Now that his cousin was back on the island he was sure Tatiana would see him again. He explained to Tatiana that the one in the red board shorts had been his cousin, Kana’i. He lived on the Big Island and only came by if the waves were big enough to interest him. Kana’i wasn’t fond of the tourists, who he referred to derogatorily as Haoles. He thought they were a leach on the islands.
