The Ohana Part 28

"Listen." Steve took each of their hands. "The deed is done, no sense crying about it. My folks are throwing a party for me Sat.u.r.day night. I want my two best friends there. Okay?"

"Sure, we'll be honored to be there, won't we, Sue?" Jimmy had sat up and put his arm around Susan.

"Of course," Susan agreed. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Her mother appeared in the doorway as Susan was getting ready to go to Steve's party. "Can I come in?"

Susan nodded as she brushed her straight black hair hanging down to the middle of her back. She hoped her mother's interruption wouldn't make her late to the party.

"Going somewhere special?" Mary sat down on the bed and watched her.

"One of my friends volunteered for Vietnam. His folks are throwing a party for him."

"That's nice." Her mother crossed her legs and cupped her hands around her knee.

"He could die over there." Susan put her brush down on her vanity top and picked up a bottle of cologne. Chanel No. 5, a gift from Jimmy. Susan felt funny taking gifts from Jimmy he couldn't really afford, but he always insisted. He was like her father who constantly bought her mother presents.

"Your father's worried."

Susan turned. "About what?"

"About your haole friends."

Susan turned back to the mirror. "I don't know why he hates haoles."

"You don't know what it was like in the plantations," Mary uncrossed her legs, "or during the war."

"Dad didn't even go to war. Even so, Dad reminds me of Uncle George's war experiences constantly." Susan frowned. "That was then, this is now."

"It's not as simple as that."

"Why can't he see times have changed? Look at you. You don't hate haoles." Susan heard her mother's sharp intake as she foraged in her closet for sandals.

Mary's voice hesitated. "Well, I don't talk about it all the time like your father."

"Don't tell me you hate haoles too?" Susan turned and stared at her.

Mary looked down at her hands. "I don't hate them, but I would like my children to marry their own kind."

"I never expected you, of all people, to talk like that. What about Jackie's father?"

"I was never married to Jackie's father."

Susan stared at her open-mouthed. "Does Jackie know?"

"Yes. It was hard to tell her."

They avoided each other's eyes for a few minutes while Susan put her wallet, keys, and make-up in her bag.

"Mom?"

Her mother suddenly looked so small and defeated. Knowing it must have been difficult for her to admit what she had just said, Susan knelt in front of Mary and hugged her. "It's hard to believe." Susan could feel the tension go out of her body as her shoulders slumped in relief.

Mary leaned back and took Susan's hands in her own. "That your mother is human and has made mistakes?"

"I guess it's hard to live up to your child's expectations." Susan stood.

"Yes, it is." Mary rose from the bed.

Susan looked her in the eye. "Did Jackie's father break your heart?"

Mary put her hands on Susan's shoulders. "No, he didn't break my heart. We both knew what we were doing. And, I don't hate haoles. I just think our worlds are too far apart." She kissed Susan on the cheek. "Remember, I worked for them."

"That was a long time ago. Your generation lives too much in the past."

"Actually, we try very hard to forget the past. The memories are difficult. And every day little things happen to remind us nothing much has changed."

Susan always thought of her as just her mother. She had always been there for them with an uncritical ear and boundless love. She never forced her opinions on them, although she made suggestions. But, a part of her mother was shrouded in secrecy. Susan never once thought of who the beautiful young girl she had seen in yellowed, torn pictures really was.

"Dad doesn't think that way," Susan said. "Dad just hates.

"Your father doesn't know how to articulate what he feels." Her mother sighed. "It's an Oriental thing."

"I don't know how the two of you ever fell in love and got married. You're so different. He's prejudiced and stubborn."

"When I first met your father, he was the one of the few people who showed Jackie and me kindness. I was kamikaze." Mary looked away as if she were looking into the past. "Your father made me laugh. Don't blame him too much for what has happened since."

Susan s.h.i.+fted her feet. She loved her father, but she could never, ever understand why her mother put up with his gambling, drinking, and lack of ambition. As far back as she could remember her mother had been the princ.i.p.al breadwinner, slaving in the restaurant, only to see her father gamble the money away.

"I have to go. Is that what you wanted to talk to me about? Jimmy and Steve?"

"Your dad thinks one of them is your boyfriend."

"Well, he's right." Susan folded her arms. "Are you going to tell him?"

"If you want him to know, you should tell him."

"No. He'll go crazy."

"What do you plan to do? Continue sneaking around?" Mary cupped Susan's chin in her hand and tried to make her look into her eyes.

"The eyes are the windows of a person's soul," her mother often said, "if you want to know the truth about someone, look in their eyes."

So Susan looked her straight in the eye. "Yes."

"I'm sure he already knows the truth," Mary dropped her hand to her side. "I think he's just afraid of admitting it to himself."

"Sure, because then he would have to disown me like he promised he would a million times."

"Out of curiosity, which one is it?" her mother asked.

"It's Jimmy."

"Oh," she said. "Somehow I thought it would be Steve."

Susan knew by his Kahala Avenue address Steve wasn't poor. But she didn't dream he lived on an estate.

"Steve, old buddy, you've been holding out on us." Jimmy slapped him on the back. "Susan and I thought you were a poor college student living in Makiki and all along you're a rich kid. Why didn't you say something? I would have made you treat us all the time."

Steve laughed. "Maybe that's why."

Susan's eyes swept over the flawlessly executed Hawaiian-styled home. The main house was a curious blend of Island architecture heavily influenced by its Asian cousins. The U-shaped home opened up to magnificent j.a.panese gardens. The focal point was a giant banyan, its leafy arms spread wide over the beautifully manicured grounds. Tiki torches burned strategically, giving the estate a festive look. The gently rolling lawn dotted with coconut trees flowed into the glittering ocean.

Susan was intimidated. The house was so "un-Steve."

"Steve, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" The question came from a deep, husky voice with an uncertain accent.

Steve slouched and jammed his hands into his pockets, "Uh, sure, Dad. This is Susan and Jimmy. Meet my father, Sean."

"Glad to meet you." Sean kissed Susan on the cheek and shook Jimmy's hand.

Susan was impressed. There wasn't a movie star who had anything on him. Even his voice was s.e.xy. Here was a man a woman of any age could fall for. He was sophisticated and the epitome of masculinity.

"I hope you'll enjoy the party." Sean put his arm around Steve's shoulder. "My wife and I encourage Steve to bring his friends around but I guess young people are not interested in being around old people."

A pained look crossed Steve's face and he looked away.

Sean removed his arm. "Why don't you introduce your friends to your mother?"

"Yes sir." Steve s.h.i.+fted his feet "She's over there by the bar," Sean said with a smile. Then he nodded toward Jimmy and Susan. "Nice meeting you two."

As his father walked away, Steve sighed. "Sorry, but we have a command performance before the Dragon Lady."

Having met Steve's father, Susan was unprepared for his mother.

The woman standing before them had broad-shoulders and the lean, muscular body of a runner. Her dyed-red hair looked like a sprayed helmet around her square face. The skin on her face looked like it had been pulled too tight by a plastic surgeon. She wore a green velvet muumuu which highlighted her one good feature, her eyes.

As Susan approached, Katherine's eyes rested on Susan.

"So I finally get to meet your best friends." Katherine put a bejeweled hand out first to Susan, then to Jimmy. "How charming. Steve told me everything about you."

Behind her, Steve shook his head in denial.

A little smile played on Susan's lips.

"I can a.s.sure you, he told us nothing about you." Jimmy leaned over and stage-whispered in Katherine's ear. "He's very secretive ... a man of mystery."

Katherine tossed her head back and laughed. "And you're the future pilot who is going to win the hearts of all the stewardesses."

Jimmy bowed. "At your service."

"Jimmy has Susan," Steve said, keeping his eyes on Susan's. "He doesn't need anyone else."

Jimmy put his arm around Susan's waist. "My heart is true to Sue."

"Very clever." Steve picked a Mai Tai from a tray held by a caterer.

Mai Tai's were offered to the rest of the group. Susan took a gla.s.s of water.

"A toast." Jimmy raised his gla.s.s. "To your safe return." The two men linked arms and drank. "You're like a brother to me, Steve."

Susan stepped forward and put her arms around both of them. "I love you guys." Susan blinked back her tears. Although she was pro-war, things were different now. The war was intensely personal. One of her very best friends could actually die there.

Katherine cleared her throat. "I don't understand what makes young men sign up to fight in a foreign country. I didn't understand it when Steve's father insisted on fighting Germans. I don't understand it any better now."

"The problem with you, Mother, is nothing beyond your world exists." Steve reached over and placed his empty gla.s.s on a pa.s.sing waiter's tray.

"It's a stupid war anyhow." Katherine continued to sip her drink.

"Do you see dire plots in this war too?" A husky voice said from behind her.

Katherine swiveled around to face Sean. "It doesn't make sense why my son wants to put his life in danger in some third world country," Katherine complained.

"Mother ..." Steve ran his fingers through his soon-to-be-shorn hair.

Sean looked at his son. "Steve needs to find his own way in the world."

"He might get killed." Katherine held her ice-cold gla.s.s to her forehead as she whispered the thought.

"He knows. But a man must make his own choices."

Katherine wept.

The intimate moment made Susan uncomfortable. She was relieved when Sean waved them away.

The Three Musketeers spent their last night together on the beach in front of Steve's house smoking gra.s.s and gazing at the starlit sky.

"There's something I've always wanted to do here." Steve sucked hard on the joint.

"What?" Susan asked as Steve pa.s.sed the roach to her.

"Go skinny dipping." Steve smiled.

"So then let's do it!" Jimmy jumped up and began stripping. "Come on, Sue."

Susan's eyes widened.

"Last one in is a rotten egg!" Jimmy pulled her to her feet.