THE REALITY OF CHILDREN
I don’t know why I do this to myself because it only makes me sad, and then it makes me angry because I’m reminded of just how alone I am, but I sit there anyway and let it happen. I love sitting on the beach just an hour before sunset where I can just take it all in, the cool breeze, the impending red, yellow, and purple hue on the horizon.
Even the ambient chatter of beachgoers lounging on their mats or chairs or the animated conversations of tourists stepping into the water for the first time doesn’t really bother me. Its children, children who are just happy to be alive, children who are gifted with a wonder of every color, every texture, every sound, everything that moves or at the very least seems interesting. They grab handfuls of sand and then sift through every single grain as they pick it from the space in between their fingers, very much the same way in which they feel the sand in between their toes. They giggle with a glee that shakes their entire being with a simplistic happiness and I am envious of that joy. I see it and I choke up knowing just how much I want a child of my own but will never be able to have one, not because I don’t want my kid to look like me, half Japanese, half Irish, I just can’t that’s all.
At least not in the world that I live in.
….………
An Hour Later, Kaka'ako
Angry spirits have become the norm in the last twenty years as overdevelopment stretches its unwanted fingers into even the most revered corners of our city. As a direct result of a veiled promise of affordable living, the less financially able have been pushed out while the more affluent take their places in towering edifices that overlook the shoreline. One such location in the middle of downtown Honolulu has yielded its terrible share of spiritual unrest. Whether through landlord or lease to own, the building manager will not assist anyone in the owners association with a blessing, a cleansing, or worst case scenario, an exorcism. The developer himself who is either unaware or unappreciative of an individual owner's spiritual plight will say that the building was already blessed on the day of the groundbreaking and on the day of the official opening, no more need be done as far as he is concerned. The call to which I responded came from a man who only identified himself as Earl Ikeda, he said that his wife Wanda was assaulted in the kitchen by their daughter Venus who was one moment very helpful as she passed the plates and bowls to her mother who placed each item in the dishwasher. A second later, Venus let out a shriek and broke three plates over her mother’s head and left her in a bloody heap on the floor. Earl said he was stunned until he saw Venus return to the dish drawer and pull out a meat cleaver, his voice was filled with a regret as he talked about lunging forward and striking Venus on the tip of her chin and knocking her out. Quickly, Earl went to his wife’s side and applied a wad of paper towels to her wound, he helped her to her feet and had meant to take his wife to their room where he would call the ambulance but Venus was now standing there blocking the way. Without much effort, Venus rushed forward and picked her father up over her head and threw him over the kitchen counter. Afterward, she grabbed her mother and began to slowly tap her mom’s forehead on the refrigerator door with a slow monotonous tap until it became a mad, uncontrollable, frantic pounding. Soon blood began to seep out from Wanda’s forehead and with each pounding, blood would be smeared all over her face. Venus laughed the whole time as she got lost in the grotesque, rhythmic noise of her mother’s head being pounded into the appliance door.
Earl said he was forced to knock his daughter out a second time after which he had no choice but to bind her hand and foot. That’s when I came in and found Venus laying on their couch still unconscious, “Alright,” I began to tell Earl, “we have to work fast before she wakes up, I have to ask you a few questions okay?”
“Yeah okay,” Earl agreed while Wanda sat next to him nursing her head with an ice pack.
“Do either of your families have any history with manic depression, being bi-polar or having schizophrenia?” I had to keep it moving and I had no time for discussions, I just needed quick answers.
“Oh yeah I don’t think so,” Earl looked at Wanda again who shook her head in the negative.
“Just yes or no answers okay? We have to work quickly,” I gave them a sense of urgency without appearing to be rude. “Have you been overly strict or protective with your daughter? Not letting her have any friends, not letting her go out, restricting her only to the house?”
“No,” Earl said with a confused look on his face.
“Do you as parents impose any kind of religious restriction on your daughter? Or do you use religion to control her behavior or to make her feel guilty?” I looked him straight in the eye to see if his pupils were of a different size, that could indicate drugs, head injury, or illness. Lucky for him he was normal.
“No, not at all, she can believe whatever she wants to believe,” Earl’s voice began to trail off and I knew that in the next second he was going to ask what the purpose of my questions was for? I had to fire off the following question before he got a chance.
“What about sex? Is there any repression there or is she having a father fixation or vice versa?” This was the last question, Earl’s eyes blinked and his mouth went wide, I had to stop him before he threw a punch. “Listen, Earl, before you do anything, you’re probably wondering what all these questions have to do with anything right?”
“Yeah, it would be nice because I almost just when false crack you brah!” His voice cracked and his breathing was labored and his nostrils were flaring, Yeah, he was gonna hit me if I gave him the chance.
“Long story short Earl, all your questions were answered in the negative, which is actually positive and it’s obvious that you and your family have led a pretty normal life up until now,” I pieced it all together for him so he could understand the puzzle as a whole.
“Yeah pretty much, so what then? What is the point to all this stuff you asking?” Earl wanted to know because he wanted to get past the curtain and go straight to the show.
“Your daughter is possessed, it didn’t gradually happen the way possessions usually do. She went straight to the box, so to say.” This was the best explanation I could give him without sounding too academic. “She passed go and went full Linda Blair.”
“Possessed?” Earl spit the word out, “possessed by what?”
“Possessed by whatever this building is sitting on, could be anything but since it’s in the middle of Kaka’ako I think it’s safe to say that it’s a smallpox burial under this building,” I winked and nodded my head, it’s something my dad used to do when he was dead positive about something. Funny the things you unknowingly inherit from your folks.
“Shit, so what? You gonna do the exorcism?” Earl sort of shrieked a bit too loud because it woke Venus up and she was pissed. At that point I yelled at Earl and Wanda to hold Venus down, she was swearing every swear word that ever existed, at the same time visible pus-filled sores began to form all over her body and Earl screamed at me, “WHAT IS THAT?”
“Its smallpox,” I explained. “Hold her down and keep talking at the top of your voice! Your voice is irritating her and that’s a good thing! I need her to keep screaming!”
Earl began to scream at his daughter about how much he loved her and that was a good one, she screamed so loud in return that her mouth went wide open just enough for me to shove a handful of Hanapepe Hawaiian salt in there. I was able to press my open palm up against the underside of her chin and press down on her head from above with my other hand, there was a kind of screaming from Venus that was very unearthly, it was as if five other voices were screaming in unison. I held her mouth shut and let the Hawaiian salt work it’s magic, once she stopped thrashing around there was calm and peace and a second later, several black shadowy forms lifted from her body and disappeared through the walls and ceiling. I helped Venus get up and walked her over to her kitchen sink where she threw up dark purplish blood and red alae salt. She would be back to her old self in no time, all she needed was some rest.
“Thanks, brah, sorry for getting punchy,” Earl shook my hand and gave me a hug.
“No worries brah, you were concerned for your daughter, I can’t blame you for that,” I replied humbly and shook his hand back. He slipped a wad of cash in my shirt pocket and shook my hand again.
“Brah, I never got your name?” Earl was embarrassed but it’s okay, all hell was breaking loose in his condo so I’m sure that names were the last of his worries.
“Piker,” I smiled. “Piker Teruya.”
.............
Kaimana Beach
It's a nice afternoon here, even the rain doesn't bother me because it's either intermittent or a fine misty one. Alan Higashi usually comes along with me on these things but he's got a life with Yulianna and Teddy, I can't begrudge him his happiness but this is a choice I made. We were like words and music like Eddie and the cruisers except that I don't think either one of us was going to fake our own demise because the world didn't understand our vision. Words and music for sure though, maybe that's why I get like this, I dunno? Can a half Japanese, half Irish almost thirty-something ginger man have a biological clock that's ticking down to the wire? What would Three Dog Night do in this case? Like magic here they come, the children......life is their playground and they love running wild and carefree at top speed as if the day was never going to end. It's amazing to watch the world through their eyes; maybe that's why I get caught up in this, maybe that child in myself is slowly going away and I just come here for a little reminder now and again that there is a pure goodness in the world that I've chosen to live in. Man, I'd love to have a kid, I'd be a good Dad I just know it, no samurai upbringing for my little ones, no stoic kabuki faces. Just love and some curly red hair to pass down to my babies. I wish, I really do wish.
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