Long before Samson Mock Chew opened his Wai'alae Avenue restaurant, it was the sight of a tragic murder. In 1966 The Four sisters were kidnapped from their home in broad daylight when the kidnappers went to the wrong house, and it turned out that the family of the four girls they took had no money. The girls were subsequently murdered in an empty grass field that, in three years, time would become Mock Chew's Eatery. When Samson Mock Chew's ghost began to haunt the storage room after his heart attack earlier this year, it drew focus away from the real problem. The spirits of the Four Sisters.
Recently a new hire at the restaurant, which wasn't Chinese, saw bowls of food and Talismans that were placed outside the four entrances of the establishment. They were meant to spiritually feed any ghosts who may be lingering about. This custom was intended to prevent them from haunting the restaurant. The new worker, not being aware of the tradition, dumped the food and took the bowls in to be washed. Immediately after that, the specters of the four sisters began to manifest in front of customers and employees alike. Samson literally had a heart attack when he realized what was going on. However, in his form as an apparition, he mistook Tabby Kahana to be one of the ghostly sisters. In reality, Tabby was trying to exorcise the ghosts of the four girls, but when she saw that her Uncle Lopaka was on the scene, she played dumb and went on her way.
Now, here she was again about to perform the same ritual to exorcise the dark memories of the four female spirits when she saw a Hawaiian man in a coat and tie knocking on the front window of the restaurant from the inside. He was motioning for her to come in to the establishment. It was her Uncle Boy.
She waved and smiled, collected her things and went inside. There were several different plates of food sitting on the table when Tabby gave Boy a hug and took a seat.
"I hope you're hungry, there's a lot of food here," Boy pointed with his chopsticks.
"Uncle, it's rude to point with chopsticks in your hand, it could be bad luck," she warned.
"Sorry, I hope no one saw," he said as he looked around and smiled.
"Oh, candied shrimp and pork hum ha! My favorite!" She squealed.
"Eat, girl, no shame," Boy said as he consumed the plum sauced duck.
Tabby helped herself and filled her small bowl with rice. She piled some of the roast duck and the char siu on and topped it off with some sauce from the beef broccoli.
"Thank you, Uncle, how much do I owe you for the meal?" Tabby asked.
"Nothing; just need your attention for a little while," Boy replied.
"You knew I was coming?" Tabby asked.
"Yes," Boy nodded.
"Was it something I did?" Tabby asked again.
"It's something that you were about to do," Boy confirmed.
"I see.………, so what is it really?" Tabby asked as she piled on the abalone.
"I can't say, but it's big, and it has to do with the property that this restaurant is sitting on. Step back from this one for a month, and keep an eye on the news. After everything blows over, you can come back and exorcise the ghosts of those sisters. No one will stop you," Boy said.
"You know about the Four Sisters?" Tabby was surprised.
"My parents knew, they told me about it when I was about your age," Boy nodded.
"Is it like people in critical positions of authority big? That kinda big?" Tabby was curious.
"Bigger," Boy deadpanned. His face turned severe, which was always the sign that Boy had made his point and that there was no further discussion.
Tabby gazed at the oyster chicken noodles and fumbled them together with the rice, "Am I ever going to know about what happened to Daniel and my father?"
Boy took a sip of his tea and returned to his beef broccoli.
"Are you ever going to tell me?" Tabby asked.
"When you're older," Boy replied.
"I feel like I'm old now, I don't fit in with the kids at my school because of what I do. I can't relate to them because they couldn't possibly relate to me, but I still go. I always go to school every day because I don't want Aunty Flower to worry, and at the same time, I have to do these roundabout things to make sure that she doesn't find about who I am. She thinks I shut her out because I'm not ready to talk about my father and my brother, but how could she possibly understand? How?
Did you know that she has me seeing some wanna be therapeutic healer once a week? Man, if I ever told him about the things I see and the things I do, he'd have me locked up or worse! But what could be worse than this kind of life? What could be worse?" Quiet tears stained Tabby's cheeks.
"Death," Boy said. "Death could be worse,"
Just then, the waitress arrived and re-filled their water and their tea and left.
"I wish I could have a normal life, I wish I could have a house and a wife and kids and a dog," Boy continued.
"Why don't you?" Tabby asked.
"For the same reason that you can't relate to your friends at school, the same reason you can't talk to your Aunty," Boy began. "The only people we can talk to is each other, people like yourself and me and Lopaka,"
Tabby's expression told Boy that she was waiting for the news, the reason, the meaning as to why her father and brother died. She wanted to know how it applied to her life and what she was supposed to do with the rest of her life?
"So many things have happened to you at your age, and yes I know very well you feel as if you're more mature than most people MY age, and you probably are. But you're still eleven years old, and the magnitude of what happened to Hale (Hah-Leh) and Daniel is too much for you to shoulder, knowing it will destroy you." The look on Boy's face told Tabby that he did care for her well being and that he was not purposely keeping what she needed to know from her. At the same time, it broke her heart to know it, she couldn't hold her tears back.
"I don't cry ugly," Tabby was trying to compose herself.
Boy removed a small rectangular box from his coat pocket and slid it across the table to Tabby. He opened it so she could view the contents within,
"It's not much, but it's means something to me, and I'd like you to have it," Boy offered.
"It's a fountain pen," Tabby said.
"My father made it from Mamane wood and gave it to me when I was your age; he said typewriters and word processors are one thing, but the soul of your thoughts and intentions are contained within this simple object. It can move mountains and break hearts and bring joy and peace to the world," Boy said. "Until the day comes when you are ready to know what happened, Tabby, I want you to take this fountain pen and make it your soul."
Tabby held the box and walked over to Boy and hugged him again, "Thank you, Uncle,"
"It's okay, let's finish this food!" Boy asked.
The meal solidified the trust that Tabby would have for the very few people who would truly understand her plight. They would do their best to mentor her and help her life to be as healthy as possible. The great thing about Samson Mock Chew's Eatery is that it was a Chinese food restaurant that played music from the '60s and 70's all the time.
"Come down off your throne and leave your body alone.
Somebody must change.
You are the reason I've been waiting for so long.
Somebody holds the key,"
.............
A month later, it was reported on the six 'o clock news that state senator Thomas Rocha was one of the men involved in the 1966 kidnapping and death of the Four Sisters from home in Kaimuki. He was sixteen at the time; the three other men involved in the long-unsolved crime finally confessed after agreeing to a plea bargain. The deal was that their sentences would be reduced in exchange for their confession. Senator Rocha was arrested at his home and died of a heart attack while en route to the police station. It was revealed that the location of the bodies was where Mock Chew's Eatery now stood. True to his word, Boy contacted Tabby to let her know to be in front of the restaurant two days before the authorities would appear with a warrant and close the facilities to exhume the remains of the sisters. Tabby was able to perform the late hour ritual that summoned the ghost of each girl forth from their burial place. Each one manifested from a corner of the eatery, and each appeared with their throats cut from ear to ear. Each with bloodstains on their clothing. Each had not yet reached the pink of their youth, each was merely a girl at the precipice of becoming young women. Each one would never know what that would be like. They walked from their corners and approached Tabby face to face. They were terrified, lost, and confused. Their eyes searched for answers as they held on to one another; Tabby began to chant in Hawaiian, and a portal opened with blinding light emanating from the inside. She pointed to the opening and nodded, indicating that the girls should follow her directions. Carefully making their way to the sunlight, the last sister looked at Tabby and smiled. The sisters stepped in, and the portal vanished behind them.
(Later that night)
It was two in the morning, and Tabby sat on the sidewalk just outside the 7-11 on Waialae Avenue. She'd already wolfed down three spam musubi and was working on her fourth when Aunty Flowers Pontiac pulled up. Her father's sister emerged from her car and sat next to Tabby and took a sip from her nieces monster-sized Big Gulp. Tabby carefully peeled back the wrapping on her fourth spam musubi when she suddenly broke down crying. Her shoulders were shaking, and the dam burst soon after. Flower hugged her niece and held on to her for as long as it would take for Tabby to let it all out.
'It's alright, sweetheart, it's alright. I'm here to love you and support you, there's no judgment. Only love, only love Tabby." Flower said.
Tabby had no words for her Aunt, all she wanted to do for the moment was drown in her tears.
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