Huia Short Stories 9

by Anahera Gildea

  Kaiako: Aua, uia tō matua. Hei aha atu māku.

  Mō te toenga o tērā rā, warea katoa ana ngā whakaaro o Hone ki ngā kōrero a tōna matua. Hāora atu, hāora atu, koia tēnā e whanga ana kia tangi rā anō te pere whakamutunga o te kura, kia pai ai tāna pātaitai anō i tōna matua.

  Ka taka te wā, mea rawa ake, ‘Brrrrrriiiing!!!’

  Ka tangi te pere o te kura, pūrere ana a Hone ki te kāinga ki te tatari ki tōna matua. Nōna e hoki whaka-te-kāinga ana, ka hipa ia i te whare tapahi mīti o tōna matua, me te aha, i reira tonu, i te pāka motukā tonu te taraka o tōna matua.

  Nō reira ka hiki mauri a Hone, ka hau atu ia ki te whare rā ki te kite i tōna matua i te kaha rikarika ōna.

  Tae rawa ia ki roto i te whare, ka tumeke ia i te kite ake e tarapekepeke haere ana tōna matua i roto i tōna wāhanga iti o te pouaka mātao. Ko tētahi o āna māripi e tānekaha ana i tōna ringa katau, anō nei he patu, ko tērā atu ringa kua takatakaia ki tētahi poraka, hei momo puru, hei momo ārai mōna.

  Mōrearea ana, aungarea ana ngā tarapekepeke a tōna matua i tērā rangi, ā, ahakoa he pīki kamupūtu i ōna waewae, i kite a Hone i tētahi momo rere anō i tōna matua, he rere kua kitea e ia i runga i ngā kiriata tautōhito o ngā kaumātua o tōna iwi, heoi mō te kite-ā-karu, haramai tētahi āhua.

  He kapekapetau mai i tī, ki tā, ngā momo nekehanga a tōna matua, ki te haehae i ētahi o ngā poaka e iri mai ana i ō rātou matau, ka mokowhiti ki wī, ki wā, ki te haehae i tētahi atu. Mea rawa ake, kua taka ātaahua ngā haehaenga o ērā kararehe ki te papa, ā, ka tīkina atu e tōna matua kēkē ngā haehaenga mīti nei, ka āta takatakaia ki te kirihou, ka whakatōpūngia ki tētahi wāhi iti i roto i tōna kāhui mīti hei kohikohinga mai mā ngā rangatira o te toa rarā kia pai ai tā rātou hoko atu ki te iwi.

  Ka mutu tērā rārangi mīti, kua haere anō rāua ko tana māripi ki te haehae anō i ētahi mīti ki ngā momo nekehanga tautōhito a te Māori mō te hāpai patu. Ia te rā, ia te wā, koinei tāna mahi, ā, i mua i te kitenga atu a te matua kēkē o Hone i a ia e titiro ana ki a ia, ka ngōki whakawaho a Hone i te kopa mīti o tōna matua, ka hoki whakaaweawe ai ki te kāinga.

  Ka nui ngā pātai i te kanohi o Hone i a ia e hīkoi ana ki te kāinga.

  Hone: He aha au i kore ai e mōhio he mau rākau, he mau patu tōku matua? Nā wai ia i whakaako? He aha ia i kore ai e whakaako mai i ahau? Me pēhea rānei taku pātai atu ki a ia e pā ana ki ōna mōhiotanga? I kite rānei ia i ahau? I aha rānei?...

  Ū rawa ngā waewae o Hone ki te kāinga, ka noho ia ki te pātai anō ki tōna whāea.

  Hone: E mā, i haere ahau ki te whare tapahi mīti o Uncle i te rā nei?

  Māmā: Nē hā?

  Hone: Āe, i mōhio rānei koe he tangata pakanga, tangata mau patu ia i ōna rā?

  Māmā: Kāo, kōrero mai.

  Ka tīmata te kōrero atu a Hone i āna kitenga ki tōna whāea. Heoi, ka kuhu mai tōna matua kēkē i te whare. Ka tere mū te waha o Hone, kei mātau tōna matua i reira ia e tirotiro ana ki a ia i te whare tapahi mīti rā. Ka puta i tōna matua te kōrero.

  Uncle: Kia ora poi, i aha koe i tēnei rangi?

  Hone: Kura, uncle. Koe?

  Uncle: Mahi, mahi, mahi.

  Ka hiki mauri anō a Hone.

  Hone: UUUmmmm uncle, kei te mōhio koe ki te mau patu nē?

  Uncle: E mea ana koe.

  Hone: Āhea koe whakaako mai ai i ahau?

  Uncle: Kia tika rā anō ō whakaaro.

  Hone: Kei te tika ōku whakaaro ināianei.

  Uncle: Tēnā pōhēhē nui tēnā e tama.

  Ka ringia e tōna matua kēkē ētahi waiwera ki tāna kapu, he tī pēke hoki hei whakareka i a ia. Ā, ka puta atu ia ki waho, ki tōna mahau. Ka whāia e Hone te haere a tōna matua, ka noho tahi ki tōna taha. Ā, kāore noa iho i roa, ka puta anō i a Hone ētahi pātai mō tēnei mea mō te mau patu ki tōna matua.

  Mea rawa ake, ka tīmata te takitaki haere a tōna matua i ngā whakapapa me ngā pūrākau i whakaakona ki a ia. Ka kōrerohia ngā toa mau rākau, mau patu o tō rāua iwi, ka kōrerohia hoki ngā pakanga o tō rāua iwi. Ka roa rāua i reira e whakaheke kōrero ana, nāwai rā, nāwai rā ka tau te pō ki runga i a rāua. Ka puta riri mai a māmā ki te kauhau ki a rāua.

  Māmā: E Hone, kua nawhe mō te pō?

  Hone: Engari e mā, he pai atu tēnei tēnā i ngā mahi o te kura.

  Māmā: Engari e tama, kei oho wetiweti koe āpōpō.

  Hone: Māmā kaua e pēnā, ka tere oho ahau āpōpō.

  Māmā: Hei aha tāu. Whakarongo mai!

  Hone: Aroha mai Uncle. Me haere ahau.

  Uncle: Kei te pai, kua rite koe.

  Kāre i tino mau i a Hone ngā kōrero whakamutunga a tōna matua ki a ia, heoi ka haere ia ki te whakarite anō i a ia mō te pō.

  Ka tīraha ia i roto i tōna moenga, ka anga ki te tuanui, ka hokihoki anō ōna whakaaro ki ngā kōrero whakahirahira i kōrerohia e tōna matua ki a ia, ā, whakaaroaro noa, takanewhanewha noa, ka tau, ka moe.

  Katoa ngā moemoeā o Hone i tērā pō e pā ana ki ngā pakanga i kōrerohia e tōna matua ki a ia. Heoi, i a ia e moemoeā ana ka rongo ia i tētahi reo e kōrero ana ki a ia. ‘E oho e tama, e oho.’ Ka ohorere a Hone, ka titiro whakarunga ia ki te reo nei, ko tōna matua kēkē tērā e tū mai ana i te taha o tōna moenga. He tewhatewha ki tētahi ringa, he mere pounamu ki tētahi. Ka whakahauhia a Hone e tōna matua kēkē kia oho, kia whai hoki ia i a ia ki waho, ki te pātiki o te whare.

  Ka tineia e tōna matua kēkē ngā rama o waho, ka huakina te tatau o te whare kia puta ai rāua ki waho. Ā, ka tīmata ngā karakia o tōna matua.

  Ka mahue te whakaaro o Hone ki te makariri o waho, warea kē ana ki te whakarongo ki ngā karakia o tōna matua. Mutu rawa tāna whaka-te-atua i a rāua, ka tīkina e tōna matua kēkē te mere pounamu i tōna tātua, ka hoatu ki a Hone, ā, ka tīmata tana whakaako i a ia ki ngā nekehanga a ōna mātua, a ōna tūpuna.

  Ka mutu te whakaako a tōna matua kēkē i a ia mō te pō. Ka karakia anō, ā, ka tonoa e ia a Hone ki te moe.

  Ka hoki a Hone ki tōna rūma, engari tōna matua i noho tonu ia ki waho ki te karakia. I a Hone e hoki ana ki te moe, ka rongo ia e rewharewha haere ana tōna matua. Heoi, tē aro i a ia tērā momo rewharewha i tērā wā, ka hoki hāngai atu ki te moe.

  Ao ake i te ata, ka tere oho a Hone i te tīorotanga o te reo o tōna whāea e tangi hotuhotu mai ana i waho. Ka oma ia ki tōna pihanga, ka titiro ki te punua whare o tōna matua, mea rawa ake ka heke te manawa o Hone i te kite ake e kohikohi ana ōna kuia, me ōna koroua i waho. Ka tere oma a Hone ki te huihuinga tāngata nei, ki te kite he aha te aha. Heoi, ka tere aukati tōna pāpā i a ia, ka tuturi ki raro, ka awhiawhi i tāna tama, ā, ka mea atu a pāpā ki a ia.

  Pāpā: Kaua koe e haere ki waho.

  Hone: He aha ai e pā? He aha a māmā i tangi ai?

  Ka whakahoki tōna pāpā ki a ia.

  Pāpā: Kei te pai e tama. ‘He wā e taka’ ka mārama koe.

  Katahi Te Hōhā Whakahirahira

  Te Atawhai Kumar

  He karani tōku. Kei Akarana a ia e noho ana. Ko Rangimīria tōna ingoa. E 82 tōna pakeke.

  He karani taringa turi tōku. Ki te waea atu ki a ia, me kaha tō ūmere kei ngaro katoa ngā kōrero ki te awe māpara. Ko tōna tikanga, kei tōna taringa kē tērā mihini hei whakakaha ake i tōna rongo.

  ‘Ata, ko koe tēnā? Kua ngaro taku taringa, waea mai anō, ka haere ki te rapurapu i taku taringa mihini nei… He aha? Hore e rongo ana ki a koe …’ Pērā te ia o ngā kōrero o karani i runga i te waea.

  He karani karuwhā hoki tōku. I tētahi taima, ka mau i ōna tarau iti o waho kē atu i tōna tarau roa pēnei i a Superman me Batman! Katahi te karani hātekēhi hoki ko ia! Ka ui mai a ia;

  ‘Ata, kei hea ōku karaehe? Kua ngaro i ahau ōku kanohi … Auē, kei konei kē kei tōku mātenga …’

  Pērā ana te kaha wareware o karani, ia rā, ia rā. Me pēhea te whakawhitiwhiti kōrero ki ēnei hunga tē kite, tē rongo? E hoa mā, kua tautōhito mātou ko ngā mokopuna ki ngā mahi whakaari ki
tēnei karani hātekēhi nō mātou. Kāti.

  I te nuinga o te wā ka māharahara ahau mōna nō te mea ko ia anakē kei tōna kāinga e noho ana. Hei ko tāna, e kore a ia e mokemoke nā te mea he tori tāna. Kua tūtaki ahau ki tēnei tori. Ko Hōhā tōna ingoa, ka mutu he hōhā hoki tōna āhua. Koirā pea i hōhā ai, nā tōna ingoa kē te mate. He tori urukehu a Hōhā, he tupuhi tōna tinana, he tama hoki a ia. Heoi anō, he hoa tino pūmau tēnei tori nā taku karani, anō nei he tamaiti nāna. Ki te haere koe ki tō rāua whare ka kitea, ka rongohia te aroha mutunga kore ki waenga i a rāua anō.

  He hātekēhi ngā mahi tiaki a tōku karani i tana tori. Tērā te wā i tata hemo ai mātou ko ōku tūākana ki te katakata i te mātakitaki atu i a karani e whāngai ana i a Hōhā. Ka kumea tōna kakī, mau ana i ō Hōhā huruhuru ki tōna ringa, ka pei atu i tōna mātenga ki raro ki tana perēti kai me te tīoro atu i roto i tōna mita Witiwitipū, ‘e kai Hōhā, e kai’! Tē aro atu a Hōhā anō nei ko ia kē te mea taringa turi. Me te mea nei, kua kī kē tō Hōhā puku ki te kai nā karani anō i hoatu māna i taua ata tonu. Ka haparangi anō ngā tohutohu ā karani, ‘e kai Hōhā, kia horo, kainga tō kai.’ Ahakoa he kore hiakai nōna, ka pikongia tōna mātenga me te āta mitimiti i ngā kai kei riri mai a karani, pūtungia tōna tou ki waho o te whare. Koia nei te aroha me te ngākau māhaki o tori ki tana ‘māmā’ ahakoa ōna taringa turi, tōna wareware hoki!

  Ia rā ia rā, haere tahi ai rāua ki te hīkoi i te taone o Titirangi. Pono mārika ana tēnei kōrero! Kua kite koe i tētahi tori e mau here ana? Kaua e pōhēhē mō te kurī me ērā atu kararehe o waho o te whare te taura nei. Ka herea tō Hōhā kakī ki te taura, ā, ka wakewake haere rāua i te tiriti, whātoro ai i te tinana me ngā waewae. E mara, katahi te mea pōrangi ko tērā, ko te tori e wakewake haere ana ki te whātoro tinana, tuatahi, tuarua, ko te mau herehere nei ki tōna kakī. I ētahi wā ka pōhēhētia ko te tori te mea e arahi ana i a rāua i te huarahi, kia hoki pai atu ki te kāinga!

  Koia pea tētahi āhuatanga rerekē kāhore anō ahau kia kite e pā ana ki ngā mōkai tori nei. Te kino hoki o te koa me te katakata i te kitenga atu i a karani me Hōhā e hīkoi haere ana. Ka kumea te taura, ka karanga atu a karani ki tana tori, ‘haere mai Hōhā, haere mai, kia horo tō wakewake mai.’ Ko Hōhā e ngana ana ki te oma atu ki wī, ko karani e haere ana ki wā, ā, ko rāua tahi e whakahōhā ana i a rāua anō! Kātahi te tokorua hōhā ko rāua!

  I ētahi atu taima ka aroha ahau ki a Hōhā nō te mea he ātete te āhua o karani, kāhore e kore nā tana whakatupuranga i pērā ai tēnei hanga. Erangi, kāhore he aha ki a Hōhā, e kore ia e matakū, tau ana ia ki ngā āhuatanga o karani, ka whaiwhai haere a ia i tōna māmā ahakoa hiahia mai, kore hiahia mai rānei. Inā rā te pai o tō rāua nohotahi.

  Tokohia kē ngā whānau kua noho tahi me karani, ko ētahi ko āna tamariki ake, erangi e kore e roa, e rua, e toru wiki rānei, kua hōhā katoa a karani ki a rātou, kua panaia atu ki waho i tōna whare! He mātenga māro tōna, i tupu ake ia i roto i te mātatorutanga o te ao kōhatu nā reira he tikanga tō ngā mea katoa. E ai ki tōku matua kēkē nāna i nohotahi me karani, ‘ka kohete, ka amuamu, ka tohutohu, me pēnei, me pēnā, me pērā! Auē te hōhā hoki o tēnā mahi ā tō karani.’ Koia pea te take i whai tori ai a karani, horekau he whakahoki kōrero tō te tori, ka mutu he māmā kē ake ki te tohutohu i te tori i tō te tohutohu ki te tangata! Kei te tangata anō tōna ake mana, tōna tikanga nei, erangi mō te tori mōkai nei, kei tōna kaitiaki kē.

  Ka nui hoki tōku aroha mō tōku karani. Ko ia anakē te tamaiti whakamutunga e ora tonu ana, kua matemate katoa tōna reanga. Ina tūtaki ai i tōku karani, ka rāngona-ā-wairua nei te mokemoketanga me te pōuritanga e pupū ake ki roto i a ia. Kua tere te rere o tērā ao i mōhiotia rawatia e ia. I te nuinga o te wā, e piko ana te tuara, e tūngou ana te mātenga, e pōturi ana ngā nekenekehanga. Erangi ina puta mai a Hōhā kua ora rawa a ia! Ka piki tōna wairua, ka hikina te mātenga me ngā pokowhiwhi, ka menemene hoki te kanohi. He mīharo te kite atu i tēnei tūāhua, ana, ka koa te ngākau i te koanga ngākau o karani.

  Ka hoki anō ōku mahara ki tētahi taima i hikitia e karani ngā waewae ō mua o Hōhā. Me he pēpi a ia e whakaako ana ki te wakewake haere! Tata mimi māua ko tōku tūākana i ō māua tarau nā ngā mahi hīanga a karani te take! Tangi ana a karani nā te kaha rorirori o āna mahi. Horekau anō ahau kia kite i a ia e pēnei ana te koa o tana wairua. Ahakoa ngā taumahatanga e pīkaungia ana e ia i roto i ngā tau, e kore e kitea ērā toimahatanga i tēnei taima. Ko te mahara i tangata whenua ki taku hinengaro o taua rangi rā, ko te kōtiro me tana tori e tākaro tahi ana, anō nei horekau he āwangawanga tō te ao!

  Kei reira pea te tino ngako o tēnei kōrero mō tōku karani me tana tori. Ahakoa he tori a Hōhā, he mana hoki tōna, ā, ka whaimana hoki a ia ki te kāinga. Kāhore i pērā te whakatupuranga o karani i ōnā wā. I ērā taima, ko ia kē te mōkai ā ētahi atu, nā reira ka whakaponotia e ia he manakore nōna, ngarongaro katoa tōna tino rangatiratanga. Heoi i ēnei rā, kua rerekē ngā whakaaro me ngā waiaro karani mā roto mai i te nohotahi me te whakakotahi mai o tōna hoa pūmau nei a Hōhā.

  E tū māia ana a karani ināianei, pakari ana a ia ki te ao, tōna pakari nei. Nō reira ko te akoranga tino nui māna ko te whai tonu i tōna mana motuhake me te mau hoki ki ngā tikanga nā ōna mātua tūpuna anō i whakatōkia ki roto i a ia. Kāti. Kaua e pōhēhētia he tori noa iho te tori, he kararehe noa iho te kararehe, he tangata noa iho te tangata. He mana tō tēnā, tō tēnā, tō tēnā, ahakoa tangata mai, kararehe mai, mōkai mai rānei. Katahi te hōhā whakahirahira ko ia!

  Blues, Booze and Bust

  Robert Madden

  Monday 6 April

  ‘A helluva day, huh?’

  The man asking the question used to be called ‘Wires’, on account that when he first joined the force he had worked in the comms centre, the wireless room. He used to be a radio officer there. He was Wires, now he’s called Rook. Even after being in the force for four years he’s the rookie of this precinct. Not that it’s hard to be the rookie of a two-man country police station.

  ‘A helluva day, huh?’ A statement more than a question.

  ‘Hmmm.’ A stereotypical monosyllabic answer, typical of the way men communicate with each other.

  ‘A helluva day after a helluva night and it ain’t gonna get any better today either, is it?’

  A rhetorical question, answered by the usual, ‘Hmmm.’

  The senior sergeant sat behind his desk with his head in his hands, elbows on the desk with his hands cradling his aching, throbbing head. He was nursing a headache that was strongly bordering on a migraine. He was hurting at the base of his skull; he had a pounding behind his eyes and there was a Ministry of Works crew playing with jackhammers on his temples.

  His blue uniform was crumpled and wrinkled. The strong facial features of this pillar of the rural community were darkened by his five o’clock shadow, making it obvious that he hadn’t shaved this morning. His cup of coffee, instant, black, sweet and strong and half emptied, was sitting on the desk beside a file. It was steaming and slowly growing cold. Beside it sat a small tin being used as an ash tray, in which lay a smouldering cigarette. A rollie, Port Royal. Beside the single file, cup of coffee and cigarette sat a small perspex desk-top sign proclaiming ‘No Smoking’. Politically correct but not practical.

  The steam from the coffee and smoke from the cigarette spiralled lazily toward the office ceiling. The smell of the burning tobacco was offensive to Rook but he said nothing. Nothing about the smell, nothing about the no smoking sign, nothing about the file on the table, nothing about what today would bring and nothing about what yesterday or last night had brought; nothing about the past.

  It was Monday morning and he hated it. He was thinking about Saturday and just hoping and wishing that Sunday would go away.

  Saturday 4 April

  His Kawasaki Ninja 250 was a precision machine. It was a hungry beast that was eating the white median strip in the middle of the road. The three-metre strips of white pa
int had long since ceased to be interspersed with black tarmac. Instead it was just one long continuous blur: a white blur hungrily consumed by the bike, which was eating the median strip the same way that kids suck and slurp a strand of spaghetti. Danny, never Daniel, was enjoying it the same way. Danny had always referred to his bike as ‘My Sheen’. Every guy who owns or who has ever owned a bike has a name for his machine, and Danny’s machine was ‘My Sheen’. The Ninja was a bike built for speed, and Danny rolled his right hand back and fully opened the throttle back. He had ridden this road a hundred times before, and most times he had been more drunk than what he was now. He knew that no one would be on this road – not at this time of the day anyway. It was late in the afternoon, not quite early evening, and all the beers had been drunk. He had the road to himself. Since the Government had put the new road in by-passing the town, the Old Loop Road was hardly used anymore. So what Danny wasn’t counting on was the oncoming red and blue flashing lights. He buttoned off on the throttle, easing his right hand forward, and chopped down through the gears. Each gear change was sending the tacho close to the red line and bringing the speedo closer to zero. Both inwardly and outwardly Danny cursed and swore in frustration.

  Rook had heard the bike scream long before he saw it, and Sarge knew who it was before he even saw the pair, rider and machine. With a slight nod of his head, he hit the toggle switch for the Christmas lights that were on top of the blue and white Holden, and smiled when his suspicion was confirmed. He continued to smile when he heard My Sheen protesting, almost screaming, at the violent chop-down in gears. My Sheen shuddered to a halt and stopped on the green acre on the side of Old Loop Road.

  Sarge looked at Rook, who was preparing to get out of the car, and wrinkled his nose and shook his head. As the senior sergeant got out of the car alone, still smiling, Rook leaned over to hand him his cap. Once again the officer wrinkled his nose and shook his head, all the while with a debonnaire, rougish smile erupting from his face. Protocol and hats don’t count for much in a community that is still into tea, scones and roll-your-own tobacco cigarettes and where grass is something that you either mow or the cows and sheep eat, and not for smoking. Protocol and hats don’t count for much in a community where politically correct ain’t correct and where latte is the wrong way to spell late.