33
"I'm old," Deena De Lores began. "I can't walk far which is why I use this electric wheelchair to get around.
Sima has a little bit of cerebral palsy but he had to learn how to drive so we could go places that we needed to go.""Sima is your son?" Tiny asked as he looked over the young man who could not have been more than twenty-five. His cerebral palsy didn't seem as severe as most people who have it, appear to be. One arm was not as useful as the other, and one leg was shorter. But otherwise, his demeanor made him look completely normal.
"He's my boyfriend," Deena scolded Tiny, but only slightly. "We love each other, and we can't live without one another." She reached over and held Sima's under curled in hand and gave it a kiss. Sima smiled and pressed his forehead up against hers while she simultaneously wiped the drool from his chin. "People make fun of us, because of my age and his disability, but we don't care. Sima is so gentle and so tender, a couple of times I was worried about getting a heart attack because when he gets started, he doesn't stop." Deena sighed and her face became flushed and red. She removed a red handkerchief from her back and smoothly placed it over Sima's lap to hide his erection.
"Awkward," Rita muttered under her breath.
"Is that why you're here today, Deena?" Ivan asked.
"No," Deena replied. "We're here because someone broke into our van and set it on fire right inside our parking lot at our apartment. And to make things worse, they defecated right on the front of our door so that when we came outside, to try and stop the fire, we slipped and fell in all that excrement." Deena sobbed now, while Sima held on to her and cried too. "We both live on a fixed income, and there's no way we can buy another van."
"Alright," Boy finally chimed in. "We'll take care of it. When you go back downstairs, go see Kealoha and he'll bring you both home. You'll hear back from me around this same time tomorrow."
~
The following afternoon, in the Kalihi Valley housing project, Boy's Imperial Crown pulled into the parking lot. Behind it, was a two thousand eighteen Chrysler van with all the fixings and modifications so that Sima could drive it. Deena and Sima were so grateful that they cried unabashedly for an hour after Boy and Kealoha left. "How are we supposed to pay you back for this?" Deena asked Boy. "You don't," Boy replied. "You just live a good life, and take care of one another." Sima hesistated for a second and then limped forward and hugged Boy and Kealoha, Deena did the same.
~
A month later, Deena and Sima, sat in front of Boy at his office, covered in a horrible rash on their faces, arms, and legs. Spots of fresh blood oozed here and there. Fresh scabs didn't last long as they were peeling away, literally, hanging by the skin. "This looks serious," Ivan said. "What happened?"
"We don't know," Deena cried and Sima shook his head as well, completely clueless. "It started shortly after you gifted us the van. Not right away, but gradually, until it became like this!" She pointed to her rash and that of Dimas.
"It looks painful and angry," Tiny remarked and excitedly Dimas agreed.
"I know Kalihi Valley Housing is way up mauka, could it be mold?" Rita asked.
"We don't know," Deena sniveled.
"You know," Boy chimed in. "I did notice something and it struck me as strange."
Deena and Sima leaned in closer to hear Boy's theory. "Oh, really? What was it? Please tell us!
"Well," Boy began. "For someone with cerebral palsy like yourself, Sima. And you Deena who is so old that you can't walk far; I couldn't help but notice that when I called and told you to come to meet us in the parking lot, I scanned the floor level apartments waiting for the both of you to come out. Instead, the two of walked out of a third floor apartment and made the trek downstairs, very easily. I thought, how resourceful and strong the two of you must be to carry that electric wheelchair up and down those stairs everyday? Deena, both yourself and Sima descended those steps like you had no affliction whatsoever. And when you hugged me Sima? It seemed as if you'd forgotten you had a limp."
There was silence in the office, Deena and Sima were exposed. By the looks in their eyes, they were racing to find not only an explanation for what happened, but also a quick reason to excuse themselves from the office. The faces of Ivan, Tiny, and Rita were chilling. The jig was up, they'd been made.
"Donna Blakely and Samuel Tanner," Boy said. "You two burned a lot of bridges."
"And then some," Rita agreed.
Donna removed the scarf from her head, and then her dark sunglasses. She relaxed, took a breath and changed her posture. No longer old and immobile, she seemed tall suddenly, and more confidant. Samuel uncurled the hand that he curled and turned in to make it look as if it had been aflicted by cerebral palsy. He stopped drooling, and sat up straight with his shoulders straight back. The two tried to make a run for it, but they were stopped short at the door, suddenly screaming and writhing with pain until they fell in a heap of the floor. "Ho'onui" Boy said evenly. The rash increased ten fold and so too did the pain. "That van I gave you is cursed. Whenever a woman comes to me claiming that their husbands or boyfriends were cheating, I would give them the van. The catch is that, only their male counterparts could drive it. If nothing happened while they drove the van then fine, but if for some odd reason their other halves broke out in a painful rash, then that was the proof that they were being unfaithful. In your case, it's just a curse. One that has the power to manifest ill intent. What angers me is that you know who we are, and what we do. That should have been enough to make you back your bags and head the other way. But you two actually thought you could pull this off. That's the funny part."
"We're sorry," Samuel begged. "Please, please have mercy."
"This next part," Boy promised. "Won't be so funny."
~
At the food pantry at the end of Wilson Street in Kalihi, Samuel Tanner hobbled along painfully. His face showed the strain of each step he took. Both of his feet curled in toward one another. They were wrapped in thick tarpaulin to cushion the pain of having to walk on them. His fingers were fused together at the flesh which made it difficult to simple tasks such as unzippering his pants to use the bathroom or to wipe himself when he was done doing number two. Donna Blakely was forced to wheel herself along in her wheelchair, using both her hands which were badly stricken with arthritis. She could hardly control her bladder movements and because of that, she soiled herself often. Everyone in the food pantry line stood far from the two and would not have anything to do with them. Often, because of the state they were in, their food would be handed to them on a long bamboo pole. Whether or not they could carry everything was on them.
Boy sat behind his desk, organizing his notes for an upcoming audit when aunty Rita came into his office and handed him the work cell phone. "It's chief Nakamura from HPD."
"Aloha Chief Nakamura, thank you for that background check on Blakely and Tanner," Boy said. "It was a great help."
"No problem," the chief replied. "I'm actually calling for a favor if it's possible?"
"Of course," Boy replied. "Please ask,"
"You know, we've a lot of vehicles being broken into along Kinau street these past few weeks and we don't have any leads. Would we be able to borrow your van?" The chief asked.
"Oh, of course," Boy answered. "Not a problem."
No comments:
Post a Comment