She was naked, blindfolded, and strapped down by her wrists and ankles on an old fashioned barber's chair.
The seat was re-purposed with a hole to relieve herself whenever she had to go. "We have someone online," the male voice echoed."I need water," she gasped.
The man in the non-descript suit stepped forward and put the straw to her lips. She emptied the cup in one gulp and then took a breath. "We have someone online," the male voice echoed again.
"You will never be acknowledged for your efforts; you knew that when you were younger, but you staked your life on your job anyway. Now youʻre old and realize that although you are the top person in your position, youʻll never achieve the level of the people you serve. Because, thatʻs what youʻve been all of your life, a servant," her delivery was filled with a dreadful coldness.
The man online buried his head in his hands and cried uncontrollably. "The information!" the male voice hissed. "We need the information!"
"His mind is like an iron door," the woman replied. "Not every lock is picked the same way; if youʻre not satisfied with my methods, then find someone else."
"Iʻm the one who has had you strapped down to a chair, naked, so that you donʻt have any of your tricks to save you," the male voice reminded her.
"Do you want the information or not?" The woman asked.
The male voice hesitated before answering but finally had to give in. "Yes, dammit."
"How," the man online tried to compose himself. "How can I change that? Iʻll do anything."
"Who is the vilest and corrupt of all the men youʻve put in power?"
The man online did not reply; clearly, his face showed that he knew the answer to the question. "Huh, a manʻs life could be destroyed."
"A mere pittance for the life you sacrificed so that others could be great while you exist in obscurity," the woman replied. "No one will remember your name after youʻre gone, no epithet, no plaque, no memorial. The men you put in power will have the glory, while all you get are their footprints on your back."
The man online sat there, tortured by what he might have to reveal, "Dear God, the things that could happen, I donʻt know,"
"The time has come to put yourself in the same seat of power that youʻve prepared for others," the womanʻs voice was firm and unwavering. "Who is the one?"
"Merle Calvin, out of all of them, heʻs the worst," he rubbed his face with both hands. "He hates his own people."
"His own people?"
"Heʻs a real lousy egg that one, I wouldnʻt know where to begin, but all of it, every bit of it is bad,"
"Someone will contact you in the next few seconds," the womanʻs tone changed as if she were a telemarketer. "Answer your phone right away, and tell that person everything. Your life will change shortly after,"
The screen cut off, and somewhere in the room, the woman heard a number being pressed into a keypad. She listened to the faint sound of a ring on the other side. The voice that answered was the same as that of the man online.
~
MINUTES LATER
"The dye is cast, the wheels are in motion," the male voice echoed. "I must apologize, you broke his door down with excellent efficiency! Along with your abilities, you displayed perfect psychology. I must admit that this is still in itʻs infancy, and weʻre only scratching the surface, but..."
"But?" The woman was curious.
"Until now, a Kahuna was just something from an old 1940ʻs film or some cultural fiction, but what youʻve displayed in just a month is beyond anything we expected," the male voice continued. "It was a miracle that we happened upon you!"
"A miracle?"
"Admittedly, there were others before you, but they were of the healing kind; unfortunately, they did not survive," the tone of the male voice was that of someone who spoke of trash thrown out for the evening. "But you, when we happened upon you fending off those four hooligans without even touching them, we knew weʻd struck gold!"
"And youʻve treated me with such hospitality," the woman smiled. "Waterboarding, leaving me in the cold with no clothes, feeding me only once a day, and as a last gesture of kindness, youʻve strapped me to this chair."
"You were a hand full," the male voice chuckled. "You used everything you wore as a weapon, that is beyond resourceful. How resourceful can you be now while naked and strapped in?"
"My father would have told you that the first thing you should have covered was my mouth,"
"How so?" The male voice queried.
"Pehu ka ʻālelo," the woman uttered. "Huli ka nāʻau, huli, huli."
The manʻs tongue instantly swelled to three times its size and turned black. His intestines twisted in his stomach again and again.
"Kolo e ke koʻe i ka lolo, e kolo, kolo i ka lolo," the woman commanded.
The man fell to the black floor, holding his head as worms crawled out of his ears and eyes. His screams were horrible and echoed throughout the room. He was dead shortly after that.
"Hemo," the woman ordered, and the leather straps and blindfold came off. She slid off the barber's chair and crumbled to the floor. She rolled over to the manʻs body and removed his tie and handkerchief from his coat pocket. It was the only way she could clean herself for now. She had to get her legs back after laying prone for so long; meanwhile, she managed to remove the manʻs clothes and put them on. "You didn't do extensive research on Kahuna obviously,"
Taking the manʻs phone, she called the only person who could retrieve her. It couldnʻt be her father because he had no idea regarding her plan. She would have to deal with that fall out later. "Jose?"
"Oh my god, Tabby!" Jose screamed into the phone. "Where are you?"
"Waipio warehouse district, the storage facility. I'm in the hedges near the fence facing the freeway; I'll crawl as much as I can,"
"Stay on the phone!" Jose replied. "I'll track your location!"
~
A WEEK LATER
"It's the only way we could find them!" Tabby replied.
"Tabby, the risks you take are too great, and you're much too willing to put yourself in harm's way," Boy replied. "You're harboring some death wish."
"Other office people were disappearing, I know, it was dangerous to offer myself as bait, but I had to find out," Tabby pleaded.
"And you had the Rizal brothers publicly pose as thugs who were assaulting you, which also put the office at risk because everything we're about is keeping what we do a secret," Boy countered.
"I got rid of the problem,"
"You got rid of ONE problem," Boy looked his daughter in the eyes, his countenance unwavering. "Men like that don't work alone; they're connected to a vast network of people. People who probably know who you are now. You're sloppy; you put yourself and all of us at risk."
"Dad, I'm sorry. I care just as much about this family as anyone else does," Tabby replied.
"Do you care enough to leave it?" Boy walked to his daughter and grabbed her hands in his. "Do you?"
~
LATER
Simon Ching stood in front of the news cameras giving the live exclusive. He announced that Senator Merle Calvin, the man he helped get in office, became the primary financial power behind drugs and human trafficking through Hawaii. The source of human traffic came from a juvenile rehabilitation facility in Wai'anae to which he was a significant donor. During the interview, a random man walked up and shot Simon Ching once in the heart. The news cameraman and the news reporter ran for their lives, leaving Simon to die on the city sidewalk. Senator Merle Calvin was later cleared of all allegations; his reputation was still intact, while drugs and human trafficking went on as usual.
~
MUCH LATER
Kealoha didn't relent whenever his boss called for his services. He was just glad to work for the man who pulled him out of a life of crime and drugs and helped him become whole through the spiritual discovery of his own culture. Pulling in to the office garage, he could see the lights upstairs. His boss was already there. The old birdcage elevator groaned to life as it carried Kealoha's heavy frame to the second floor. The hallway and office lobby always had the feel of people who had just been there; his boss liked the residual energy for a reason because he needed to harness it only in case of an emergency. The outer and inner doors were open, and Boy sat behind his desk, enjoying a bowl of boiled peanuts. "Noho," Boy pointed to the seat on the other side of his desk. "Have some; Aunty Rita made it. It's so good; you're going to hate yourself."
Kealoha sat down and helped himself while Boy retrieved a can of soda from his mini-fridge and put it in front of the large man. "Oh, mahalo Boss."
"How are your wife and children?" Boy asked.
"Excellent Boss, they send their aloha as always," Kealoha smiled while he inhaled his drink and broke more peanut shells. "What do you need me to do, boss?"
"There's an old rich widow who lives at Black Point; she's worth billions. All sorts of people are clamoring for her support and money, even some bad people. She needs a competent bodyguard who can train other guard staff, who are just big men with no brains. I gave you a good recommendation," Boy, painted the picture very nicely up until that point.
"How long will I be there for?" Kealoha asked.
"Indefinitely,"
"Indefinitely?" Kealoha squealed.
"I'm closing the office, we were publicly exposed, and I canʻt run the risk of attracting unwanted attention, it's for everyone's good," Boy replied. "If you take a look at your bank account, there's an excellent deposit there."
"If that happens, then what will you do? Where will you go?" Kealoha hadn't fathomed what he heard.
"I have to clean up Tabby's mess first and foremost, then we'll see," Boy answered. The two sat there until the sun came up over the east, and even then, the snacks moved from boiled peanuts to popcorn, and then fried chicken. In Mānoa, Tabby still lay in bed, recovering from her dream from the night before. Her father and brother came to her, asking her to stop blaming herself for their demise. She wouldnʻt hear it; it only countered her agenda in avenging them. Right now, Tabby sat, wondering why she bothered going through the motions of having a life? Why didnʻt she just pick up and leave with Jose? Why didnʻt they move somewhere and start their own family and live in everyday life? Why? Itʻs because of her father, thatʻs why. Nearly two months have passed, and heʻs hardly said a word to her. Not even the chiding of uncle Ivan and uncle Tiny could bring him around. Aunt Ritaʻs scoldings seemed to go in one ear and out the other. When was it going to change? When would everything go back to normal?
Credit Photo - Pinterest
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