by Eve Gaal
Finally, after about an hour of walking, a man in a small station wagon, with a pink baby seat in the back, pulled up next to her.
“Aloha,” he shouted, “I almost didn't see you. Can I give you a lift somewhere?” Penny stared into the window at his worn madras plaid cotton shorts, his tattered green t-shirt and noticed his wedding ring. He didn't look like an angel, but she certainly needed rescuing, and his friendly native face gave her all the reassurance she needed to slip into his car.
Slamming his car door and spraying water everywhere, Penny wondered what had happened to the sunshine. “A ride to the airport, would be cool.” She said, digging through her bag for a tissue. “Is it far?”
“No, it's not.” He said humming along to the catchy Hawaiian tune on his radio.
“Sorry, about the mud. It was sunny a few hours ago.”
“You like Izzy?” He turned up the radio. Laughing he said, “Yeah, we have changeable weather–what are you doing on this road anyway?” Familiar with all the roads in and out of Princeville, he seemed surprised that any tourist would attempt the long journey in or out of the resort on foot– especially on a rainy December evening.
“Just lost. I'm not used to early sunsets.” Sounding foolish, she didn't want to tell the kind stranger about being stupid, and how she flew to Kauai with someone, she knew only a fraction more than she knew him. “I'm so glad you came by. I was starting to think I might end up in a hurricane.”
“I haven't heard anything about a hurricane, but December does have early sunsets.” He continued to hum along to the radio, and said, “I did hear, that some of the flights at the airport are grounded due to strong winds and smoke.” He turned left and kept humming.
Intent on finding the tissues, she stared into the bottom of her bag, missing parts of his friendly conversation. “Great, so I guess I'll be stuck at the airport for a while,” she said, finally pulling the small pack of tissue from its hiding place.
Penny loved children and she pointed behind her at the pink seat, “You have a baby?” she asked.
“No, my kids are grown but my son has a one year old.”
Penny imagined a small, one year old version of him in a grass skirt dancing like those Hawaiian dolls people put on their dashboard. “I bet she's cute,” she said, enjoying her visual image of a precious baby girl with a wreath of flowers on her head.
“Our little bundle of blessings.” He chuckled. “She cracks me up when she tries to put things in her mouth that don't belong there.” Stopping at a light, he continued with, “Hey, I'm pretty sure she'll be at our house tonight, why don't you come meet her and my whole family, rather than wasting time waiting at the airport?” Low visibility, rain, fog and wind kept him focused on his driving. “We're having a giant pre-Christmas luau and I was heading home when I saw you walking.” He turned on his signal to go towards the airport, “But I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable.”
Wiping the water off her face, she said, “I'm never uncomfortable with nice folks, it's just that some people aren't always what they seem to be.” Looking at his shorts, she wondered if he bought his madras shorts for big and tall men at Kona Kattie's. Rain drummed softly on the roof of the compact car, and a ukulele version of 'Silent Night' played on the radio.
After humming to the beautiful music, the man introduced himself as Alevina, and said, “My sons and I, we slowly roast a whole pig in a fire pit. First, we have to dig the hole–it's called an imu. Then we wrap the pig in taro and some giant leaves. It's a great bonding experience for dads and their sons. Man, we had so much fun yesterday digging in the mud.” He smiled to himself and came to another stop. A truck sped by and water flew onto the windshield. “My wife makes the other dishes and my daughters dance a gorgeous yuletide hula. Have you ever been to a luau?”
“No,” She said, yawning. Penny thought about Hawaii and what a romantic place it could have been, if only John had a microscopic ounce of adventure in his blood. His whole universe seemed to revolve around her and the ten square miles outside of town. His idea of happiness existed when he entered her world, and held her hand. In fact, John could be perfectly happy doing absolutely nothing, as long as they were holding hands. Why couldn't he plan something impulsive and exciting once in a while? Why did he have to be so boring and predictable? Thousands of miles separated them, but she knew that she had enough spontaneous combustion for both of them. John would do anything for her and if she had asked him to go on a trip, he would have accommodated her every desire. Ashamed at being an ungrateful idiot, shame moistened the corners of her eyes.
“No, you don't want to go? Or no, you have never been to a luau?” Alevina asked, with his eyes firmly fixed on the road.
No, she thought, she wasn't an idiot. Dan, on the other hand, deserved a trophy for being the galaxy's biggest idiot. He ruined everything for nice guys like John. “Sorry,” she finally said, “I'm day dreaming about my long crazy day, and no, I've never been to a luau.”
The driver turned to look down on his weary passenger and said, “Please be our guest.” Slowing down his vehicle he asked, “Well, are you coming?” He needed an answer before making the next turn.
The thought of sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair for hours sounded horrible to Penny. Debating about the airport or trusting this kind soul to drop her in the middle of a fabulous party, filled with delectable local delicacies and drinks, caused her wild side to win the coin toss in her head. What seemed like a long minute later, she said, “Cool, but only if there's poi.”
“Poi?” The man laughed. “You can have all the poi you could ever eat. Then he turned the car onto the main artery that ran around the garden island toward his little piece of paradise, called home.
* * *
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tina slowly closed the door and whispered to John. “John, you're getting out of here.” She exclaimed, throwing back his covers. “Now.”
“What's going on?” John felt like his words came out in slow motion. Meanwhile, Tina pulled the IV out of his arm, grabbed his shoes out of the closet, dragged him out into the hallway and pushed him into a wheelchair. “Ouch, what are you doing? That hurts.”
“You look like the 'English Patient' ” she laughed, looking both ways, before quickly wheeling him down a barren hallway, out past a red neon exit sign, into the cool night air.
“Who?” John didn't feel like himself, but he could tell Penny was right when she said this woman was certifiably nuts. Opening the door on her sleek, red sports car, she hurriedly propped him up in the passenger seat and wrapped a new sanitary napkin from her purse around his bleeding wrist.
“Never mind, just grab a hold of yourself–we've got a lot of things to do right now,” she said, talking fast and backing out, even faster.
Extremely confused, he asked, “What do you mean a lot of things to do?” As the hospital grew smaller, and farther away, the medication coupled with her driving made John nauseous. “Don't you think the doctor at the hospital will be mad?” he asked, feeling like everything seemed to be happening at an accelerated pace. “I have to go move my truck,” he added, mildly aware that he wasn't in control of his situation. “Where did you say we're going?” Realizing he had been kidnapped and taken against his will, he felt paranoid and thought his life was in jeopardy. Looking over at her, he watched her steely eyes focused on the road, one slender arm draped nonchalantly over the steering wheel, nails tapping on the dash.
“You love Penny, right?” She asked, turning a corner and storming through a yellow light.
“Yeah, of course, but what does…” he held on as she entered the freeway, passing a big rig and merging into the fast moving evening traffic. Headlights burned into his eyes and his stitches were throbbing under the bandages.
Looking at her face, he saw some sort of emotion welling up in her icy blue eyes. “Look, I'm not very good at this kind of thing, but I know true love when I see it.” Flooring the gas pedal, she headed into the carpool lane, o
vertaking the other cars as if they were standing still. “I also know, from listening to her every day that she loves you too.” She stared ahead, checking her rear view mirror and changed lanes.
Trying not to panic, he closed his eyes and asked, “Okay, okay, what are you doing?” Leaning into a curve, he opened his eyes and grabbed the dashboard as she flew past a station wagon full of soccer players.
“Just listen,” she said, “it's for your own good.”
“I'm listening, I'm listening,” he said, trying to put fear out of his mind and wondering what pearls of wisdom were coming his way.
“Darin called me a little while ago. Now that I don't need to be at work tomorrow, I thought I'd join him in Hawaii. The only thing is, Penny just called him from some luau or something and said she's lost and needs help getting home.”
His temples were about to burst. “Who took her to Hawaii, and why would she be lost?” he asked bitterly. Red lights flashed past them, but the white headlights blended with John's white knuckles now firmly gripping his seat. “Why would she call your boyfriend?”
“Who cares? John,” Tina screamed above the road noise. “Either you love her or you don't.”
Looking out the side window to hide his tears he watched his life passing by at full speed. All he could think about is that Tina didn't know Penny, and probably didn't care about her at all. His love for Penny had nothing to do with this eccentric woman who made him feel dangerously lost and very alone. Taut stitches pulled painfully on his skin. It felt like they were ripping right out of his forehead. “Of course I love her,” he murmured.
“Good. That's a start,” she sighed. “John, she needs help.” Turning on her signal, she crossed over three lanes to exit at the airport. “Tie your shoes.”
The medication seemed to be wearing off, and John's head felt engulfed in flames. “I still don't get it. Where are you taking me?”
“I'm taking you to Hawaii, so you can rescue Penny.”
* * *
Chapter Twenty-Four
Even though Darin thought Tina was a wild, hot, sexy and incredible woman, he didn't relish the idea of getting married for the fourth time. No sooner than one of his girlfriends moved in, the big M word started popping out of their mouths in an assumptive bite on his manhood. It made him nervous. Tina wasn't any different from the others. He often entertained the idea of starting a side business with his lawyer friend, called 'Darin's Alimony Insurance.'
Ordering another shot, he glanced around at the cute Hawaiian strippers 'strutting their stuff' on the stage, in the sleazy gentlemen's club.
A short, busty little black-haired beauty leaned over and whispered, “Private dance-twenty-five dollars per song.”
“Nah,” Darin groaned, wondering why the guys couldn't just pick a normal place like The Olive Garden. They had a bar.
Leaning in closer, and moving rhythmically to the beat of the hypnotic music, her gyrating pelvis came nearer and nearer, until she stepped over his thigh and straddled his left knee. Her black lace thong seemed to disappear between gorgeous toned areas of caramel-colored flesh. A small bead of perspiration slipped down his temple and all of a sudden, he realized he was in trouble.
Why am I being tempted? Darin wondered. He needed to leave, but something kept his legs plastered to the worn carpet and the enticement of illicit sex had overridden his senses.
Meanwhile, the music kept thumping, throbbing and tearing into the rational part of his brain–the part that unfortunately was connected to his fly. Closing his eyes for a second, he felt her sliding back and forth on his leg, “Come on big boy, let's dance.”
* * *
Chapter Twenty-Five
Tina parked at the loading zone so she could help John out of the vehicle. “Come on, you'll be glad you listened to me.” She hurried through the double doors and raced over to the American Airlines counter, where a check-in line formed for baggage. “Hurry, John, you can make it,” she screamed while waving her arms and gesturing that he should hurry. Not all that surprised that she didn't empathize with his suffering–he slowly trudged up behind her–attempting a grin.
Looking at the line and then staring into her eyes, John said, “I'm not going, Tina.” He had no luggage, and Penny hadn't exactly invited him to Hawaii. “Hope you have a nice time in Hawaii.” Turning to leave, John felt Tina's fingernails on his arm, pulling him back.
“John,” she said, “How many times do I have to tell you that I know she loves you, and you love her, so let's go make this a great vacation and surprise her. I can see it in your eyes, just like I saw it this afternoon when you came to pick her up for lunch. You are crazy, mad in love with that red-headed little minx.” When she got up to the reservation agent, she asked for two first class tickets to Hilo, Hawaii.
“I can't go,” he insisted. “First of all, I'm not feeling that great, secondly, Penny probably went to Hawaii with some guy and lastly, I can't see leaving Carl, her eighty-five year old dad alone on Christmas.” Not wanting to yell, he tried smiling again and wondered why she couldn't understand that he just came from a hospital.
“Don't you want to find out if she loves you?” Tina's stubborn streak always helped her be persistent when it came to winning million dollar contracts for the newspaper. Anything challenging made her even more determined to accomplish her goals. Slapping her hand on his shoulder she said, “Let's go find out who this other guy is, and you can come back before Christmas.”
“Tina, I don't think you heard what I said. I just had an accident–my brain feels like it's going to spill out into the terminal, and my girlfriend is AWOL. Can't you just go to your boyfriend and forget any of this ever happened? I'll even forgive you for kidnapping me.” Grabbing the edge of the counter for support, John realized he had to speak louder to be heard over the announcements on the intercom announcing flights, departures and boarding locations.
The word “kidnapping” made the reservation agent glance up at John's bandages. “Very funny,” Tina smiled, putting her index finger in the air to indicate that she would be right back. “No, John,” she whispered, pulling him aside and away from the counter. “I can't forget this. This is very important. Do you realize how many mistakes I've made with men in my life? No, you couldn't possibly imagine it even if you tried. Well, it's Christmas, and I owe Penny a favor. In fact I owe her everything.” Her hand tightened around his arm and her face started matching her red nail polish.
“Oh I see, you'll feel like an angel or something if you drag us back together? This is all about you then, not us. You don't care about Penny,” he yelled, his amber eyes flashing with disappointment. “All you care about is that you're vindicated for your past mistakes.”
She looked at John and tears formed in her eyes. “Believe me, I'm no angel,” she said. “I just know I see something and feel something regarding you and Penny that I've never seen or felt before. In fact, it freaks me out with jealousy. You're right, usually things like this don't matter and normally I don't care. This is something bigger. I feel it in my heart. It's the biggest, most important feeling I've had since I was a little girl.” A tear rolled down her cheek, and she wiped it off quickly. “You two belong together. I just know it.”
“I've heard of women's intuition Tina, but this time you might be wrong.” Embarrassed by her tears, he looked down at his filthy, blood-caked tennis shoes. Crying was not something he had expected. Tina crying? Penny never cried. Penny's imagination fixed things. All she'd do was imagine that things would get better and they wound up getting better.
“I checked your compatibility charts, John. It's the conjunctions between you and Penny's planets that represent a very powerful interaction,” Tina sniffed.
“Huh?” John looked at her, confused.
“Remember, I told you I'm into astrology? Well, I won't bore you with the details, but everything shows your romantic energies shooting off the charts.”
“Right, Tina, that's why she's gone to Hawaii without me.�
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Pausing to wipe her face with a tissue, she blew her nose and continued. “Sometimes there is something called opposition that represents a weird kind of polar attraction that draws our energy away to the wrong side.”
Holding up his hand, he said, “Tina, stop, I'm not following, and besides, we don't even know where she is for goodness sake.” John's head swirled as he walked away to find a place to sit down. When he sat, the walls finally stopped turning.
Tina followed him to a chair and sat next to him. Still sniveling, she managed to say, “I'm sorry. I'm honestly not trying to upset you.” Observing the long line forming at the counter, it was obvious that holiday traffic would soon fill all the seats. “Please,” she begged, “Come with me and keep me company.” She pulled out her compact and reapplied her lipstick. “Are you feeling worse?” She asked with a caring tone. He sat hunched over, with his head in both his hands.
“'Bout the same, but the airport swayed when I was standing.” Truthfully, he was very dizzy and couldn't even imagine flying anywhere, but deep in his semi-drugged up state, he felt Penny tugging on his heart, trying to explain how much she needed him. The doctor did say something about possible hallucinations occurring six to eight hours after the incident….
Interrupting the delusional stream of crap floating through his mind, Tina pleadingly interrupted, “Is there any way I can talk you into it?” Watching his profile, she waited for his reply.
Her pointy-toed shoes tapped on the floor impatiently, making him sit up. Loud announcements about unloading zones and loading areas seared like hot coals bouncing around in his head. “Yeah, actually I guess I'll go with you—but on one condition. You'll have to spend a little more money and you'll have to make a little side trip with your car.”
