Officer Reginald Kahl loved the ocean, especially since he began working in the newly created occult division.
Cleansing in the sea after his shift, no matter how long a case might have taken, was Kahl's one relief from his spiritual and occupational trauma. Much of the work was traumatic, but he stuck it out because quitting would allow his parents to regale him with their choruses of 'I told you so.'Pride was one of the cardinal sins that Chaplain Oku'u always discussed. Kahl could behoove himself to tuck his pride away in his front breast pocket until called for again, mainly when he spent Sunday dinner at his parent's home. He began begging Vernelle to join him at Sunday dinner, not as a date but as a means of not leaving him alone with his parents' disappointment and insistence on arranging a marriage for him. Vernelle reveled in her partner's discomfort and squirming under their yoke. Still, even as much as she liked giving him a hard time, she never broke her sacred covenant with Reginald to never tell his parents about what they actually do for HPD.
With dinner complete, Reginald walked Vernelle back to her car. "I appreciate you doing this; I'm sorry that you have to witness some of the drama,"
"I think it's funny as shit, it makes you human," Vernelle laughed.
"I'm glad my discomfort humors you," Reginald sighed.
"When I was helping your mom put dishes away, she asked if I saw any signs indicating that you were gay or not?" Vernelle snickered.
"Oh my god!" Reginald balked. "I told them a million times, I'm not gay!"
"She says it's because you don't ever date or have a girlfriend," Vernelle said. "Is that true?"
"There's no time, bruh," Reginald shrugged. "Everything is about the job. What about you?"
"Dude, since getting massively possessed, I feel like I got some residue left over," Vernelle's face turned serious.
"Whatta ya mean?" Reginald was curious. He'd always seen his partner as super confident, but this attitude of uncertainty was not like her.
"I get feelings like I'm not worth a shit, you know? Like really depressed sometimes," Vernelle began. "I'll get anxious over the most minor thing, and what's weird about it is that I know it's not my own feelings like it's someone else's. Does that even make sense?"
"It makes sense why you don't date," Reginald said. "Let me get my jacket, and we'll see Chaplain Oku'u. We gotta take care of this right now."
"What about Larry?" Vernelle asked.
"We'll collect him on the way," Reginald said.
~
Chaplain Oku'u poured the Orion beer into his frozen glass while I drank mine straight from the bottle. His loco-moco arrived, and soon after, I'd be sitting in front of my teshoku plate with a side of soba noodles.
"Good thing I exercise," Oku'u exhaled. "Otherwise, I would have died of a coronary by now,"
"Orion beer and loco-moco will do it," I said. "Plus, the stress and anxiety of heading an occult division at HPD? You're just asking for it,"
"Why don't you like me, Larry?" His tone was meant to make me feel uneasy and maybe even guilty.
"We wouldn't be here at Zippy's if I didn't like you," I told him. "You stay in your spiritual lane, and I'll stay in mine, that's all."
"Fair enough," He replied. "We do have to return to that warehouse in Waipahu, though. We can't leave that unchecked."
"Let me ask you a question," I leaned forward. "Why am I still here?"
"What do you mean?" I quipped while cutting his gravied meatloaf with his fork.
"Once you got assigned to the occult division, why didn't you let me go? You're the Chaplain; there's no need for a civilian component anymore. I know you know this, so what gives? Why am I still here?" I needed to know.
"Admittedly, and off the record," Oku'u began. "There are some Hawaiian elements out there that have been here for a long time. Some of those ancient elements do not recognize Western religion. As a Hawaiian, I recognize that. It's why you're still here."
"Hawaiian elements? You're Hawaiian yourself, and you're talking about our own spirits as if it's some foreign body that needs to be attacked to cure everyone," I stayed calm and made it a point not to raise my voice.
"I suppose the next thing you'll say is that the kingdom was overthrown because of Hawaiians like me?" He was baiting me, obviously. It was his passive-aggressive way of getting me fired. It's the excuse he needed to go back to command and tell them that he tried but that I was staunchly against working with another Hawaiian of the cloth. He was fucking right, of course, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.
"You're the clergy in this office; you call the shots, and if things fuck up, you take it up the ass," I replied. "I don't judge." Couldn't help that last one.
Oku'u shot me this look I'd never seen on his face in the short time I knew him. He put his beer glass down and laid his fork with rice and gravy on his napkin. His eyes got beady, and he stood up until he was looming over me. "Can you follow me outside, please?"
"Outside, where?" I asked while he was already walking toward the double doors.
"Downstairs in the parking lot," he waved. He took the stairs, and I, being a smart ass, walked through the outer dining room and out to the rear parking structure. I trotted down the ramp until I walked through the downstairs parking lot. He was waiting near the elevator, and I couldn't let him have time to prepare, so I ran up to him at full speed and dropped-kicked him in the side of the head. That didn't do anything; it only made him more angry. Before he could unleash anything, I kicked him in the nuts, and he went down. I walked over to where I was going to kick him in the head but had the presence of mind to reach out and chop the back of my knees with his hand. I fell back and hit my head on the ground, and while Oku'u still held on to his nuts, he managed to kick me in the face. How pathetic we must have looked to someone or anyone who might have come upon the two of us. We had a mutual respect for one another after that. It took a while before we became friends, but that was the long and short of it. Kahl and Gushiken walked up to the two of us right then; they were looking for me so that I could talk with them to talk to Oku'u, but he was already there on the ground next to me, writhing in pain.
...to be continued
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