100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2024. #15. Smart Hawaiian.

 He was born when many Hawaiian men, like Mackey, Ocean, Lord, or Dayton, had interesting first names.

The opposite would be Hawaiian men with Hawaiian first names but not Hawaiian last names, like Kui Lee. Kalani Ahukini would have been considered a rare case because he had a Hawaiian first and last name but no middle English name that he could go by to become acclimated at school and acquire gainful employment in the workforce once he finished high school. Kalani did more. He went on to college and acquired a master's in business administration. By the looks of him, people would say that getting an MBA was a rare miracle, as one woman told him on his first day at work for the city council. 

"You're a smart Hawaiian; that's why I like you! There are too many dumb Hawaiians, so I don't like Hawaiians!" The woman's name was Grace Fujioka. She was a member of the city council and a firecracker. Even the mayor made it a point to avoid her if he could. If Grace Fujioka didn't like you, you stayed disliked. She liked Kalani for some reason and treated him like her own son, inviting him to family parties and having him over for holiday dinners. Kalani parent's passed away during his senior year in high school, both suffering from asbestos poisoning from the basement office where they worked in town. Through it all, Kalani sensed that somewhere within the favored treatment he received from Grace, there was a line he couldn't cross. A place where he was supposed to know to be, where he could never hope to move beyond. 

Proof of this came when a spike in pedestrian deaths occurred at the outer perimeter of a local high school, where a fleet of manapua wagons parked after school got out. Many wagons were double parked, and most were dangerously extended on the main road. As a result, students walking around the manapua wagons to get to their desired vendor were being struck by passing vehicles. Fortunately, no one was killed.  Even though the manapua wagons had permits to park where they did, and had insurance, updated tags on their vehicles along with valid driver licenses, some members of the city council were going to come up with a resolution to ban all manapua wagons from all public schools, thus having to park farther away or at some safer location to sell their snacks. This would mean having to park in the neighborhoods near the schools, which would then mean complaints from residents who live in said neighborhoods because of a bunch of delinquent kids causing all sorts of ruckus around manapua trucks that took up all the street parking.

Other city council members would devise a resolution to create marked parallel parking stalls along the school's fence line where the manapua wagons could safely sell their snacks, no longer creating a pedestrian hazard for the students. The resolution also included increased signage for safety and the hiring of crossing guards. Kalani Ahukini led this resolution, while Grace Fujioka led the other resolution. 

At Kaiser Hospital, Kalani went to pay a visit to one of the students who was struck by a passing vehicle, and Grace showed her true colors. Approaching the hospital room where Troy Mendoza recovered from his injuries with his parents sitting nearby, Kalani saw Grace sitting at Troy's bedside crying. She held the hands of his parents, affecting tears and sympathy.

"See this Hawaiian right here," she told Troy's parents as Kalani walked into the room with his assistants. "He's the one blocking my plan to get rid of all the manapua wagons statewide so nobody's children like your son get run over by passing traffic. When he first came to city council, I took him under my wing, treated him like my own son, and you see how he pays me back?"

Troy's father, Troy Senior, stood up and scolded Kalani. "You should leave right now."

~

Later, after departing with humble apologies, Kalani and his assistants stepped into the elevator. Before the doors closed, Grace appeared and stepped into the cart. "I thought you were a smart Hawaiian, but you're stupid. How dare you go against me with a counter-resolution? You know me and my whole family; what is this Kalani? Why are you doing this?"

"Nostalgia," Kalani said. "I remember those manapua trucks from when I was in high school. They were my comfort food after my parents died. Those manapua men were like my therapists, so full of homegrown knowledge. However, I made it a point to visit the three students hit by those cars to let them know that the city council was behind them and that something would be done. The other two students don't blame the manapua men except for Troy. They blame the cars that exceed the speed limit when passing the school. They say it happens daily; even with all the signage, drivers don't seem to care."

"You drop your resolution and support mine," Grace poked her finger into Kalani's chest. "Warm feelings about high school is shit, don't be stupid."

The elevator doors opened, and Grace stepped out. Kalani's stop was one floor below in the basement parking. Taking the back seat while one assistant drove and the other took the passenger side to review notes, Kalani had already formulated his plan to pass his resolution. It was a Friday, but Kalani would work through the weekend, bringing the resolution before the city council on Monday.

When Monday came, Grace Fujioka was not present. In fact, she never came to work. Her office found out that she was at home, incapacitated. It started over the weekend and spread up her entire arm. Grace told her office that after cornering Kalani in the elevator, her right pointer finger began to have a dull throb. She wasn't bothered as she drove home, but once she was settled and relaxed after taking a shower, the throb in her pointer finger increased until it became painful the next day and the day after. Waking up Monday morning, her entire arm was black right up to the shoulder, spreading to her chest and neck. Her resolution was never presented, and Grace's heart stopped beating later that evening.

Kalani's resolution passed, and a month later, services were held for Grace Fujioka at Hosoi Mortuary. When all the formalities were done away with, there was a small private moment when Kalani stood before Grace's casket, placed a single lehua flower on her folded hands, and said, "I'm not just a smart Hawaiian, but I'm a clever one. You were wrong; I deeply appreciated everything you did for me. But maybe it's the way you were raised in your household. It's ok to love one another and still have differing opinions and ideas. I'm the same way. I tend to hold a grudge when people don't go along with my plans. You shouldn't have gone against me."