Tiare in Bloom

by Célestine Vaite

  “Pito has invited me to the restaurant!”

  “Ah, that’s nice.”

  Okay, since the news has been delivered, Materena can go on with her driving. Cousin Loma will make sure to pass the news about Pito’s sweet invitation to the restaurant to the family. Materena doesn’t mind the whole population knowing this.

  They are now at the hotel, and Materena parks her car, whistling a happy tune. She switches the engine off and turns to her husband, sitting quiet. He looks a bit sick. “Are you all right?”

  “Oui,” Pito is quick to reassure Materena.

  “You’ve got enough money to pay?”

  “Oui, don’t worry about that.” Pito gets out of the car, a forced smile on his lips.

  “What is it?” Materena is not being fooled by her husband’s fake smile. “Listen, if you don’t want to eat at the restaurant, it’s fine with me.” She knows all about Pito’s ridiculous fear that the chef will spit or cough on his food.

  Pito gives Materena a long look and takes her into his arms. Right there in the parking lot, in front of people driving and walking by.

  “Pito —” Materena cackles, “you’re a bit bizarre today.”

  Pito gently pulls away and, taking Materena’s hand, he starts to walk.

  “Eh, that’s Ati’s car,” Materena says, noticing the black Suzuki with the number plate ATI. “He never rests!” Materena automatically assumes that he’s romancing with a girl in her hotel room.

  They walk into the lobby.

  “You reserved the table?” Materena asks just to make sure. Pito doesn’t have experience eating in restaurants. “Lots of people eat here, and if you don’t reserve the table, it’s not guaranteed that —”

  “There’s somebody here who wants to meet you.” Here, Pito spilled the beans.

  “Somebody?” Materena asks, casually slowing her steps. “Who?”

  “Actually, there are two people who want to meet you.”

  “Two? Who? I know them?”

  “I can’t say that you know them, but you’ve heard about them, I mean one of them.”

  Materena stops and faces Pito. “Who are they?”

  “It’s your father.”

  Materena turns pale. “Pito, don’t make fun of my head.”

  “And your sister.”

  “What?” Materena puts her hands to her mouth. “Pito, this is not funny.” Her eyes fill with tears.

  “They arrived this morning.”

  “Pito, I’m warning you, if this is a joke —”

  “They’re with Ati, he likes your sister, and they’re waiting for you at the restaurant.”

  And with this, Materena, bawling her eyes out, runs towards the restaurant.

  Very slowly and pushing disturbing thoughts out of his mind, Pito chews the piece of steak grillé in his mouth, concentrating on the wonderful flavors, the spicy sauce, the tenderness of the meat. He chews on while trying hard, extremely hard, let’s be honest here, to chase away images of the chef coughing on this very piece of steak.

  Twice he attempts to swallow the steak, which is by now, he can picture it, a gray blob of unflavored thing, but it just won’t go down. Ah, there, done, Pito forced it down his throat.

  Next piece of steak . . . and the nightmare continues. Again, Pito pushes disturbing thoughts out of his mind, chewing for longer than necessary.

  Nobody at the table seems to be noticing Pito’s show. Words are flying nonstop between Ati and Térèse, Materena and Térèse, Tom and Materena, Tom and Térèse . . . words, laughter, just your ordinary family enjoying food and one another’s company. Now and then, a hand reaches to the other for a touch, a magic touch, a loving squeeze. And under the table, Materena’s foot is lovingly rubbing her husband’s.

  Three Days Later . . .

  As expected, the news about Materena’s father and sister being in Tahiti was on the coconut radio quick-smart. This explains the gathering of hundreds of Materena’s relatives at her fibro shack behind the petrol station not far from the church, the cemetery, the international airport, and the Chinese store.

  Poor Tom Delors looks bewildered. He came here to meet his daughter — not her entire tribe! But as they say in Tahiti, this is family.

  The last time Tom was in Tahiti, he didn’t get much attention. Actually, the last time he was here, Tahitian people only gave him quick glances. Sometimes the glances were despising, other times angry — especially when he was in the company of his beautiful Tahitian girlfriend, Loana. But back then, he was just a nobody popa’a, farani taioro in Tahiti for military service, giving local women a bad reputation.

  He is now Materena’s father, half the reason she is on this earth today. He is the grandfather of Tamatoa, Leilani, and Moana. He is the great-grandfather of Tiare. He is somebody.

  Materena’s tribe want to touch Tom now, kiss him, hold him tight, make him feel welcome, look him right in the eye and remember him until he dies, even years after. Forever, actually. This is how Tahitian people remember their loved ones — forever.

  As for Tom’s youngest daughter, Térèse, she is Materena’s sister. There’s no half-sister in the story, because here in Tahiti siblings are siblings full stop. They are not halves. And of course, everyone present agrees that Térèse is beautiful. She is beautiful because she smiles a lot, kisses the children with affection, and holds the hands of the elders with respect.

  Tom is a bit more reserved, he took half a step back when Mama Teta threw her arms around him as if she knew him well. But give Tom a few more days and he’ll be throwing his arms around Mama Teta like a long-lost friend because by then he will know her well. She will have told him the whole story about how she lost her husband very young and raised their four boys on her own, how none of her boys has ever done time at the five-star hotel.

  Unfortunately, Pito’s mother, present today representing the Tehana tribe, can’t say the same, but that isn’t the reason why Mama Roti didn’t throw her arms around her daughter-in-law’s French father. For some reason, Mama Roti — who has never been shy in her entire life before — got a bit embarrassed before the tall, handsome Frenchman. She gave him two shy kisses and then scurried away to the kitchen to help Moana with the food preparation.

  Next in line to meet the famous Tom Delors was Materena’s favorite cousin, Rita.

  After Rita greeted Materena’s father, she introduced him to her heavily pregnant (as usual) cousin Giselle. Well, Tom couldn’t hide his look of horror when Rita told him that she and her man, Coco, were going to adopt Giselle’s new baby because they couldn’t have children, while God is giving Giselle a child every year.

  “What?” asked Rita when she saw Tom’s expression. Was it fine for his people to come to Tahiti to adopt Tahitian babies but shocking for Tahitian people to offer each other their children? Ah, if only Tom was staying for longer, he’d understand that Giselle’s gift was one of love.

  For Giselle is not discarding her child, non, she is offering her child with all her heart and soul so that her cousin’s life doesn’t remain empty.

  Giselle knows that this child in her belly is about to embark on a wonderful journey as Rita and Coco’s child. And she is so tired . . . And since she’s bound to fall pregnant next year because all she has to do to fall pregnant is look at her husband for two seconds, and since Rita and Coco want two children, then Giselle is likely to offer them her next child too.

  If people are going to have two adopted children, they might as well be siblings. That is Giselle’s thinking anyway, she explained to Tom.

  When Tom shook Loana’s hand, he did it the way popa’a do when they want to say, Pleased to meet you, how do you do? But then again, Loana didn’t lean forward to offer her cheeks for the two kisses that say, So pleased to see you! And how are you? You’re good, my friend? Those two just shook hands and shyly smiled. You’d never know they’d once seen each other naked and done all the intimate things lovers do in the throes of passion.

  But give Tom a
nd Loana a few hours alone together and who knows what might happen? Or anyway, so say Mama Teta and her gang of memes all dressed in their pretty floral dresses. That Tom Delors, they say, he’s nice to look at and so is Loana. Put one and one together and magic might happen again, as it did forty-two years ago on the dance floor at the Zizou Bar.

  And even if none of that sort of magic happens, there will be a strong connection between those two now, the connection a man and woman feel whenever they talk about their child. And of course Tom will laugh at the stories Loana will tell him about his daughter as a very curious child asking couples in the truck, “Are you two married?” And he will, for certain, feel a twinge of sadness that he wasn’t around to tell his daughter that worms have no eyes, two plus two equals four, and that A is for arbre.

  Perhaps too he’ll ask Loana why she didn’t tell him about their daughter earlier, and she will shrug, as Tahitian people do, meaning, I didn’t think to do that, I just moved on with my life. He might then say, But I could have helped you . . . financially, and Loana is sure to get her claws out. “What are you saying?” she will bark. “My daughter never went hungry! She never had to walk around naked!”

  It will be in Tom’s best interests just to concentrate on what a wonderful, wonderful job Loana has done raising their daughter.

  Well, anyway . . . finally all the introductions to the Mahi and Tehana clans are complete, and it is time to pose before Pito, designated photographer.

  “Photos?” asks Tom, sounding surprised. “With all these people?”

  Well, oui, with all these people. Why do you think they’re all wearing their best clothes? To go for a walk?

  “How will we all fit in?” Tom, sounding even more surprised, asks.

  “We’re going to take turns, that’s all.”

  Okay, everyone, ready?

  First photo session, and Pito tries very hard to focus on the people he’s about to immortalize, but really, what’s with Loana now? Smile! She looks so uptight. Mama Teta still has her famous bright smile on now for the camera. You can always count on Mama Teta to smile, and her smile is so real, unlike Pito’s mother’s smile. Then again, Mama Roti might still be feeling shy. Mama shy? Pito laughs in his head. What’s next? Chicken with teeth?

  Allez, time to get serious . . . ah, Pito is so happy for his wife, and she is so beautiful, and look at her father holding her the same way he’s holding his other daughter, the daughter he raised on his own. And Ati eh, it’s clear to see that he likes Materena’s little sister . . . well good luck to him!

  Next to Ati is Pito and Materena’s son-in-law, Hotu, looking a bit gaunt, a bit sad. Eh bien, Hotu has just come back from his trip to France to see his girlfriend, Leilani, and he must be missing her already. A lot of people are missing Leilani, it’s not just her lovesick boyfriend, who jumps on the plane to France every three months for a short reunion with that girl he can’t get out of his mind.

  It would be so wonderful to see Leilani home, but Leilani has a rule. She will not come home until she finishes her studies. She’s afraid that if she comes home, she won’t want to leave . . . and then will live her life with regrets. Aue, children, eh?

  Ah, and there’s Pito’s little angel, his ray of sunshine, the apple of his eye, his beautiful granddaughter, Tiare, laughing her head off because she’s sitting on her father’s shoulders and he’s bopping around — and she’s so scared of falling off but it’s so fun, Papa! Again!

  And it’s great to see Moana, that boy has sure grown, he’s a man now, a happy man too, for the woman he loves loves him back with the same passion. Pito, his eyes darting back to his wife’s, thinks, I’m a lucky man too.

  “Ready?” he calls out.

  “Oui!” everyone shouts back.

  “Okay, say fromage!”

  “Fromage!” they call back, laughing, Hotu included.

  Pito raises the very expensive Canon camera he borrowed from Ati, and the thought that comes into his mind, right now, right this second, is . . .

  Life can’t possibly get any better than this.

  Acknowledgments

  This book, which is about the relationship between a man and his granddaughter — his redemption, his chance from the sky to become a better man — was a lot of fun to write.

  I’m a great-auntie, though I’m not even forty years old yet! To watch my male cousins become grandfathers is just amazing — sometimes it’s hard to recognize them from the coconut heads they were as boyfriends, husbands, and even fathers. I’m told this wonderful transformation isn’t just typical of Tahitian men . . .

  My eternal gratitude goes to my very good friend and agent-with-a-mission, Louise Thurtell, for her huge support with my writing and many other parts of my life. One thing is for sure, Louise, we will remember 2005 forever!

  Special thanks to my dedicated editor, Amanda Brett. This is our second novel together, and we survived! The editor-writer relationship can be extremely challenging, as writers are often very sensitive about their work. Amanda, you are a professional with great people skills. I’d work with you anytime, baby.

  My publicist, Gemma Rayner, the one and only, you are just sensational, girl. That taxi ride in Melbourne was very interesting indeed!

  Michael Heyward and the whole Text team, thank you so much for launching me onto the international stage.

  And as always, a big MAURURU to my family and friends for their undivided attention whenever I passionately go on (and on and on) about my fictional characters as if they truly existed.

  And finally, to a very special little girl, Jenna Mack, who provided much inspiration for my portrayal of Tiare in these pages. Jenna, you brighten up my life, sweetheart!

  Reading Group Guide

  Tiare in Bloom

  A novel by

  Célestine Vaite

  Célestine Vaite on why Pito’s voice had to be heard

  When we meet Pito in Breadfruit, he’s in his thirties. In Tiare in Bloom, Pito is in his forties, and it’s time for some serious changes.

  The idea to write my third novel in the Materena trilogy from Pito’s point of view came to me after one of my closest friends asked, “What’s your next book about? What about Pito? Will we ever hear his voice? What’s in his head? Sure, he’s sexy, but what else have you got, Pito? Talk to me, Pito.”

  And I thought, Of course! I will put myself under Pito’s skin and write from his point of view. I will redeem him. I will make him shine!

  The next question was, How?

  Pito likes to go out drinking with his copains, well, not anymore, Pito, because I’m breaking one of your legs. That way, you’re going to be bedridden and see what a loving wife you have looking after you and everything. But I could see Pito hobbling out of the house with his other good leg, so I broke both his legs.

  There.

  So here was Pito, stuck in bed and talking a lot of wind talk to Materena, and after two chapters, he got on my nerves.

  Time to get out of bed, Pito!

  Next, I thought that a separation might work better. I wrote the chapter of the separation, with Materena banging pots and pans and chucking Pito out with his ukulele, lots of drama, as you can imagine, but I’m Tahitian, I can do drama easy.

  Poor Pito, here he was, sobbing on his mother’s sofa, but next he was having a party, going on, Woohoo! I escaped! Vive la liberté!

  Pito’s redemption looked like it wasn’t going to work, so I put the idea aside, gave my house a big cleanup, and opened myself to the universe.

  Not long after, I went home to Tahiti for my family injection and work, and who do I bump into by the side of the road but my cousin George with his newborn granddaughter, and what a transformed man my cousin was! Long gone was the tough coconut-head George, who wanted nothing to do with his children because beer with his copains sounded so much better and because that’s what real men do.

  And because our culture allowed him to. It’s almost like, as a grandfather, a man is finally free to sh
ow his sensitive nature, it’s culturally acceptable, people aren’t going to think he’s a mahu.

  Cousin George wasn’t the only man transformed in my neighborhood. I was, at the passionate age of thirty-eight years old, a great-auntie to a few bébés.

  I came back to Australia thinking, That’s it! Pito, my friend, you’re going to be a grandfather.

  Next question was, Okay, which one of his three children is going to have a baby?

  It couldn’t be Leilani, non, she was busy studying, and I had other plans for her, no way I was going to make her fall pregnant, and it couldn’t be Moana, he’s such a sensitive character. I just couldn’t picture Moana as an absent father. This meant that Pito wouldn’t have much to do at all, except say, “Here I am, give me the baby, I’m going now, here’s your baby back.”

  Tamatoa, then? In France doing military service . . .

  I was very conscious to be careful with Pito’s transformation. It had to be gradual and real. None of the “he wakes up one sunny morning and he’s a new man” kind of thing. It had to be believable, and that is why his granddaughter, Tiare, arrived in his life the way she did. She couldn’t have arrived any other way.

  And I knew, I knew in my heart, my soul, right down to my blood vessels, that I was on the right track when I burst into tears writing the scene when Pito puts his three-month-old granddaughter to bed.

  That was the moment I said to myself, “Girl, you’re falling in love with Pito here, keep writing . . .”

  Tiare in Bloom was the easiest of the three books to write; nine months compared with three years with Breadfruit, and two with Frangipani.

  And I sure had a lot of fun.

  Questions and topics for discussion

  1. Tiare in Bloom is a novel built around relationships —between husbands and wives, fathers and children, family members near and far, and friends. Which relationship did you find the most compelling? Were any reminiscent of the relationships in your life?