When the water rushes up the beach in front of her house and recedes back, it sounds like rice crispies popping in a bowl of milk.
Sitting on the wall lining the end of her property, Kaipu notices him walking by with a small group of his friends. There was no reason to look up; the subject of the book she read was very captivating. "Water Rights In Hawai'i."Something compelled her attention to look away for a second, and when she did, she couldn't take her eyes off of him. He was in the middle of the group. His friends were all athletic in stature with wildly tossed hair and tanned skin to differing degrees. Each one was handsome, but he stood out for some reason. While conversing and laughing with his peers, he glanced up briefly and made eye contact with Kaipu. Her heart skipped as he held her gaze. He smiled and gave her the simultaneous eyebrow and forehead raise, a casual sign that he acknowledged her no matter how brief. She raised her hands and slowly fluttered her fingers, indicating that she was returning the salutation.
From her house, the sound of O Tanenbaum echoed on the Bluetooth speaker, a stark contrast to the warm, tropical Hawaiian weather. In the corner of her home, a fiber-optic Christmas tree lit up the interior of her living room with pleasing combinations of lights. Small presents sat under the little tree—finely wrapped presents of Bazooka Bubble Gum, Milk Duds, and Red Vines. Her two o'clock in the morning presence on the online stock market ended at eight the following morning. Kaipu thought she'd grab a quick dose of sunlight and reading before she turned in, never expecting to glimpse someone with such presence that it distracted her focus. Unfortunately, her eyes began closing, and she was nodding off. It was time to get some shut-eye. Standing up, gathering her mat and towel, Kaipu dusted off any sand on the back of her legs. There he was again, walking by in the opposite direction with a different group of people and still giving her the same acknowledgment when they locked eyes again. Another more enthusiastic wave was given him the second time while heading back to the house. She thought maybe whoever he was, he may have been a tour guide or host for a group of people vacationing at a beach house nearby. Which would explain why she passed by her beach house twice. But later that evening at Kalapwai Market, she saw him again. This time, he approached her and said, "Excuse me?"
"Yes?" She replied with a smile, assuming that he was finally going to introduce himself.
"I just wanted to get that flask over there, but you're standing in front of it," he pointed behind her and smiled.
"Oh shit!" she moaned and stepped out of the way. "I'm so sorry!"
"No worries," he assured her while grabbing the flask and looking at the price tag. "I've been waiting for these guys to mark this flask down for a while. Anyway, sorry to bother you, and have a nice evening."
Kaipu quickly extended her hand, taking a step toward him. "I'm Kaipu. I saw you walking past my house on the beach earlier today."
"Oh yeah, hey, that was you? So cool," he laughed. "I'm Hayes Kalama; nice to meet you! I'll see you around sometime. I've got an appointment in twenty minutes!"
~
A month passed, and whether Kaipu was on the beach or in the house, Hayes would wave his hand as he walked by. They'd give a hey or howzit if the two saw one another physically. A month after that, Hayes and Kaipu sat on the wall of her home and talked about everything or nothing. Sometimes, Hayes had a snack to share, or Kaipu offered something she made. One day, while Hayes helped himself to some of the pickled mangoes that Kaipu had been fermenting, she asked him a very pointed question.
"How come you've never looked at my tits?"
Hayes nearly choked on his slice of mango. "What the hell did you say?"
"You don't look at my tits whenever we're hanging out," she repeated. "I live in a house on the beach, I'm in a bikini top all the time, and you've never once looked at my tits. Not that there's anything wrong with being gay, but are you? Is that why?"
Taking a gulp of water from his flask, Hayes did his best to give an answer that didn't make him sound like an idiot. "I mean, they're there, obviously, but how often do I have to look at them? Are they going to disappear or turn to ash? I dunno, I dunno what the answer is; I just never felt the need to, and I'm not gay. There's nothing wrong with being that, but I'm not,"
"Weird," Kaipu nodded.
....to be continued
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