"Your father must be a paniolo or a lumberjack or something," Kaipu exclaimed when Hayes put the beef stew in front of her. "This is a big man-sized serving."
"My dad is a stevedore; that's how he learned to make beef stew from his father," Hayes chuckled. "The difference is that I use jasmine rice with my beef stew instead of regular Hinode rice. I dunno, I just like it."
"It's perfect," Kaipu nodded. "You've almost more than made up for not looking at my..."
"Dooon't say it, okay?" Hayes pointed his fork to the ceiling. "Don't ruin this moment! Just eat and enjoy the beer. If you behave, I'll show you the healing room."
~
The healing room is an addition to the back of the house. It was a ballroom-sized space. Along all the walls were pillows of various sizes propped up against one another or sitting in arranged piles. Large wired baskets at the opposite end held yoga mats. The pungent aroma of Senko, or incense, lingered in the air. Kaipu took in the room's atmosphere, and by pure instinct she knew the weight of what kind of healing transpired there. Hayes sat on the floor and patted the empty space next to him.
"Sit," he said. "Tell me everything."
With a big sigh, Kaipu sat next to Hayes, knees up to her chest, hands in front of her, rubbing them together. Reaching into her shoulder bag, she removed a badge and showed it to Hayes.
"I'm agent Kaipuolono Manuwai. I've been investigating you and your operation these past two years because, somehow, your healing center came under our radar. Several agents have enrolled in your program, and their claims about being healed are questionable. So they sent me to set up shop and infiltrate your program differently by befriending you. I've told my superiors that you don't show any of the classic signs of being a narcissistic cult leader type,"
"You're serious?" Hayes was incredulous.
"I showed you my badge; I can show you the rest of my credentials if you want," Kaipu said.
"So, if I had looked at your tits, I would have been arrested?" Hayes moved back an inch or so.
"No, that's just me being a pervert," Kaipu replied.
"Geeze," Hayes shook his head in disbelief.
"Hayes, if you can't prove to me that there is some sort of legitimate healing going on in this place tonight, a team of agents is going storm in here tomorrow morning and arrest you. On top of that, they will tear everything apart from top to bottom. So, warn your dad not to come over tomorrow.
Hayes walked across the room and grabbed a yoga mat from the wired cage. Returning to where he and Kaipu sat, he unfurled the mat at full length on the floor.
"Lay down on this mat, flat on your back, as flat as you can," Hayes instructed. "Palms flat on the floor."
Kaipu hesitated for a second, wondering if Hayes would do something to harm her. Hayes saw the look on her face, "If I do anything you perceive as a threat, you can shoot me. I won't resist. Just lay flat, palms facing down."
"Eyes opened or closed?" Kaipu asked.
"Maybe for you, opened since your agent radar is off the chart," Hayes said sarcastically.
"Hey," Kaipu answered. "A little respect here; after all, I'm the one that's in the spider web,"
"Says the person who's been pretending to be my friend for the past two years, only to find out I'm being investigated for healing people. Now, you want some respect?" Hayes lit incense in a holder and pulled out a crystal bell and a padded stick. "Clear your mind, and take deep breaths from your esophagus. Deep, slow breaths."
With her eyes open, Kaipu did precisely that. She slowed her breathing until she was calm. "Feel the mat under you, notice the polyurethane on the flesh of your palm, and know that you are a real physical space," Hayes' voice was calm and soothing. "I'm going to sound the bell three times. Each time, the vibration will increase, and on the third time, your healing will begin."
Hayes sounded the bell once and twice, and on the third strike, the volume increased exponentially. Before Kaipu could protest about how the bell was giving her a headache, she dissolved into the carpet and fell into what looked like an endless tube of dull light. Before she could understand it, she was right back in the kitchen of her old house where she grew up. Her parents were fighting again; they were both unhappy and rather than express it civilly so they could understand why the other felt the way they did, they yelled and screamed instead.
"They don't hate you," Hayes said, standing beside her and holding her hand while crying. "They forgot the reason why they came together in the first place. Right now, they don't know how to get out of the situation because they both love you, and they don't want to lose you because they're lost themselves. Go hug them, and don't let go."
Kaipu, as her little girl self, walked over to her father first and hugged him. He was momentarily distracted and took a moment to hug Kaipu back. Then, she reached out to her mother, who came to her and hugged the woman. "Say what you've wanted to say all this time," Hayes instructed. "Tell them, and heal from it."
"Whether you stay or go, you two, I'll be fine, and I'll always love you both," she cried. "That will never change. But please, for today, go take a walk or drive somewhere, but get out of this place now."
Kaipu's parents did exactly that; they left. Her father took a drive while the mother went for a walk. "That didn't change anything, did it?" Kaipu asked.
"No," Hayes said. "They're still going to divorce, and your father is still going to take his own life, but in this moment, you needed to say what you thought might have saved their marriage. It's the guilt you've been carrying all this time. Free yourself of it, and heal."
The bell rang again, and Kaipu was back, lying flat on her back on the yoga mat, palms facing down. Looking around and gathering her thoughts and feelings, she sat up and sobbed for what felt like an hour. It wasn't until she was done that she noticed Hayes wasn't there. Leaving the room and walking into the main part of the house, she didn't find Hayes there either. She could clearly understand if he was upset, but she was just doing her job. Leaving his place and walking back to hers, she called his phone several times, but it went straight to voicemail. A short time later, she sat at her computer and submitted her report. Hayes Kalama and his healing center are a hundred percent legitimate. Everything checks out.
Kaipu tried for several days to contact Hayes by stopping at his house or the Kalapawai Market. He couldn't be found anywhere. On the day his father was at the beach house, he told Kaipu that Hayes had left and that he should tell Kaipu he didn't want anything to do with her again, and if that is how one Hawaiian treats the other, then Kaipu should take a course in Hawaiian studies rather than worry about who's looking at her tits.
~
Life went on for Kaipuolono, and after forty-five years of service, she finally retired from the agency. After smart investments throughout her life, Kaipu built up a significant amount of money in her war chest. She could purchase the beach house that was once her stakeout place. It didn't take much to fix and bring it back to life after a lot of wear and tear. It took on a new life and purpose. Kaipu didn't marry in her life, but she met someone in her thirties who seemed to be her type, but it didn't work out. However, Kaipu was hāpai. She kept the baby and raised it on her own. It was a boy she named Henry after her father. Her son was twenty-eight when she retired. He was married to a girl from Papakolea, Teresa Kānehailua. Together, they had a little boy who Kaipu spoiled horribly. His name was Morris Kalewa Manuwai. Henry, his wife, and little Morris were visiting for the weekend but left their son with Kaipu while they went shopping to get food for dinner. Kaipu sat at the table on the veranda, watching her grandson run around the backyard screaming with delight. She loved it when Morris did that; his happiness made her happy. Suddenly, the screaming stopped, and when she looked up, Morris was sitting on the wall fronting the beach. There was someone there talking to her grandson, some strange man.
"MORRIS!!!" Kaipu screamed as she ran down the steps of her veranda toward the wall. "MORRIS!!"
Kaipu stopped dead when she realized who it was, talking to her grandson. It was Hayes. There was a warmth in his eyes and yet a sad smile. He waved and spoke to her.
"You should come over; bring your family," Hayes said, walking off toward his old house and slowly dematerializing.
~
Later that evening, Kaipu explained to her son and daughter-in-law that they'd been invited to the neighbor's house a few doors down and that dinner could wait. It was a short walk, and when the door opened, a woman about Kaipu's age stood there and greeted them.
"Aloha," the woman smiled.
"Aloha," Kaipu bowed her head slightly. "We're here for Hayes?"
"Of course," the woman acknowledged Kaipu and her family. "You must be his friends, "I'm his wife, Kara. Come in; we're all in here. Leave your shoes and slippers on, no worries."
Kara led Kaipu and her family to what once was the healing room; now, it was where services were being held for Hayes. It was his funeral. His body lay in a casket at the opposite end of the room, his face serene yet filled with a light of dignity. He'd aged, of course. By the looks of him, he led a full life. The room was filled with his children and grandchildren, all of his friends, and the people he'd helped to heal throughout his life, including Kaipu.
Kaipu found herself standing at his casket, gazing down at him. "Hayes, I was such an idiot,"
"You're Kaipu," the voice came from beside her. It was Kara.
"How did you know?" Kaipu asked.
"Before he and I became official, he told me everything about you," Kara held Kaipu's hand and smiled. "Not in the way that a man loves a woman, but as a true companion, a true friend in every sense of the word, like siblings."
"Then why," Kaipu cried. "Did he disappear like that?"
"He knew you were fine after he helped you, and at that point, he needed to leave you alone. He was mad too about that agency thing. He could tell you couldn't separate your job from your real life, so he left and got out from under your radar, but he never forgot you." Kara reassured Kaipu. "He told us not to send you an invite for tonight, that you would come on your own, and you did!"
"I had some help," Kaipu said while looking at Hayes lying in his casket. "I had some help."
....Pau
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