Storied By Josh

It’s six thirty in the morning. The birds have just started calling. They’re different in the tropics than anywhere else. They are obnoxious, like a fat woman in the store complaining about the price of chicken. But they fit, for some reason, and he finds their noise comforting. The sun isn’t up yet and it’s still fairly dark, but the sun rises quickly to make up for the pitch black at night.

The open air bar isn’t officially open. He sits in it just off the beach. On the land ward side it is bordered by flora and a trail leading to the road. The roof is made from palm leaves and it resembles a tiki hut. His chair is made of bamboo, so is the bar. The bartender behind it is an attractive local. She is half Japanese and half Hawaiian. Her oval face is dark and her eyes are beautifully shaped. She lets her jet black hair grow long, to the small of her back.

He loves to watch her. He’s not drunk yet, but her perfect mai tais will probably get him there. He only has mixed drinks in the morning. The afternoon is for cold beer and the evening is for neat dark liquor. She doesn’t always make him pay, but usually he gives her what he owes. They surf together sometimes during the sunset. He’s not fat but has a bit of a beer belly. It doesn’t stop him from surfing. He is beautiful when he rides. His hair is a little long and brown. It has grey in it but he is not very old. She likes to look at it when he falls asleep at the bar. If he does, she wakes him up and takes him to her home. He sleeps on the couch until early the next day. He usually leaves before she is awake. They aren’t in love.

But, he sometimes ponders quietly, I could love her. She has a home, it is run down but fitting enough for her child. She named her child Ahulani. She calls her Lani for short. The child is her redemption and she raises her as best she can, away from the stresses of day to day. The child is beautiful, curly black hair and blue eyes. She will be better than her mother, as most children are.

She met a beautiful white man a few years ago. He was rich and treated her to a weekend in the city’s finest hotel. But he was a pig, and when she became pregnant she could not find the father. He was wealthy, and the wealthy do not mix with the poor, no matter how good they look. She has a deep scar from the ordeal, and it shows when dealing with tourists.

Technically you could say that the man here now at this tiki bar is a tourist, but he has been around for a time now. Not quite a local, but familiar enough that the people who belong say hello, and treat him with at least a little more than indifference. She does as well. She could probably love him too, but she knows deep down he will leave like all the haoles do. It just takes time. Paradise is not for the faint of heart. And his drinking ruins his resolve.

He also smokes, but so does she. It is the opiate of the poor. A drug to survive the complexities and the stress of surviving a day at a time. But even this is not cheap, the rich have taxed it and now they pay more for a pack than two gallons of milk. She tries once a month to quit. He doesn’t.

He has become a staple of her life. He painted her house for her a few months ago. Well, the side of the house facing the road. She couldn’t afford to paint the whole thing and when she had saved up enough to finish it she decided against it. It reminded her of herself, a half breed of old strength and new glamour. The town calls it the halfway house and no one but they get the joke. They don’t care. He also jimmy rigged her car to keep it going, she paid him in drinks. He wouldn’t accept money. He does the same for the old widows in town. They call him Fixit. He likes it.

He comes from a history of abuse. His father was a terrible man with fire in his heart that ruined Fixit for anything of passion. He avoids it now, with the exception of a good drink and a wave. Fixit has an old board that a local gave him. It has been repaired after many crashes and isn’t as fancy as the pro surfers’ who come and take over the beach every year, but it brings her joy to watch when he is on it. She feels close to him and the island when they go together. He calls her Anela. She doesn’t mind.

It begins to rain and he turns in his chair to look out over the ocean.

“No surf today.” He says.
She doesn’t look up from the glass she is cleaning. “Tomorrow there will be.”
“Then I will become drunk.”
“Or not.”
“Tell me why then.”
“I need my sink fixed. It drains slowly and a pipe leaks when I run water.”
“Fine. But one more. Plumbing requires courage and I have none.”
She looks at him. “A beer.”
“No, a martini. It is too cold for a beer right now.”
“You are strange.”
“I know.”

She makes him his drink and puts it in front of him. He takes a sip. It warms his chest and gut. It is strong. He eyes her his thankfulness and she nods her approval. The rain stops as quickly as it began, but the sun is up now and hidden behind some clouds.

“It will do this all day.” He says. She grunts her agreement. “When should I fix your sink?”
“At my lunch, before Lani comes home.”
“Okay. Then I may get drunk?”
“Yes, but only if you must. I would rather have a sober conversation with you.”
“But how will you learn all my secrets if I am not drunk?”
She smiles. “You are not a mystery to me, Fixit.”
“Neither are you.” He finishes his drink. “The tourists will be here soon.”
“I know. No getting them to buy you drinks.”
“No, I must go into town today. I will need to buy some parts to fix your sink.”
“Will it be expensive?”
“No, and if it is I will just use some tape.”
“Good.”
“I will go now before you are busy.”
“Okay.”

He leaves and she watches him. She briefly thinks a thing about how the evil world can ruin a good man but soon pushes it from her mind and prepares for drunk pale people.

He rides an old beach bike to town. Most of what he owns is in a backpack that he wears. Once the locals know and trust you, stealing is nonexistent. They look out for each other here and he does not worry about his belongings except at certain times of the day when haoles abound.

As he passes a house an old woman in a floral dress calls to him.
“Fixit, my air conditioner is shorted out.”
He slows and calls to her, “I will fix it tomorrow, yeah?”
She calls out her approval. He waves.

The young men who he sometimes buys beer for as long as it includes liquor for him wave to him as he passes. He waves back. He goes into the store, The owner sits on a stool behind the counter and reads a newspaper.
“Howsit?” Fixit says “How much for p traps?”
“Howsit, gotta look.” The owner says without getting up.
“Okay.” He goes to the plumbing section and sees the price for p traps. He will buy duct tape.

“Whatchyou working on now, Fixit?” the owner asks.
“Anela needs her sink fixed.”
“Duct tape?” Fixit nods. “Give you two rolls for price of one today.”
“Okay.” Fixit gets two rolls. “What’s in the news?”
“Hoale got stuck on the Stairs again.”
“How long for?”
“A day.”
Fixit laughs. “White feet no good for island I guess.”
“No good for anything but mall.” The owner says. “You got a smoke?”
“Yahyah.”
“We’ll smoke in here.”

 

They visit for a time and the owner tells Fixit that if he needs work the halls need swept. Fixit says he’ll keep it in mind and says goodbye to the owner. Then he rides to a place to get a beer. It rains on him most of the way. He drinks his beer and eats food from his pack as he sits on a bench in the local park. The grass is green but dying too in some parts. The town hasn’t had money to spend on the landscape. The homeless sleep here at night, but he prefers them to the crowds of Oahu. They, at least, mind their own business. It is almost time for Anela’s lunch. He rides to her house. She doesn’t keep it locked, but he won’t go in until she is home. He sits on her steps and smokes.

She gets home a half hour later. He smiles to her and puts his fifth smoke out.
“It smells good today.” She says. He nods. “Do you want lunch?”
“No I ate.”
“Have some lunch, then fix the sink.” She orders him.
He acquiesces.

They eat lunch mostly in silence. He doesn’t need to speak all the time and neither does she. That is a thing she likes about him. He finishes the sandwich she made and puts his pack on the table. He pulls out a wrench and the tape. She leans against the counter while he works and sometimes they talk.

He pulls apart the p trap and uses a screw driver to clean the scum out of the bottom of it. It is almost packed full. The crack in the piping is just from someone over-tightening it. He wraps it with duct tape and then puts it back together.

“Should be good for a while.” He says.
“Thank you, Fixit.”
“No problem.”
“Will you come over and go with me and Lani to the pool?”
“If you like.”
“Don’t get drunk.”
“I may.”
“Then don’t come over.”
“I will not drink then.”
“Good.” Her words have an air of finality, so he says goodbye.

He rides his bike to the old woman’s house who yelled at him earlier. She won’t mind him coming by earlier than he said, as long as he doesn’t interrupt her nap.

He drinks a beer from his pack as he rides. It starts to rain again. He crosses the road. The car doesn’t see him as it turns a corner. He remember the lights and the horn. He remember the beer as he drops it. He doesn’t remember much.

The town hears about the wreck in the evening news. The driver was a haole who was drunk, and the police think the beer can is the driver’s, most think probably not but don’t say so. The haole kept going and the police caught him later. Word trickles out the next morning and the town realizes that everyone knows some one who Fixit has helped in some way. In a day Fixit is adopted as a local. The town calls for the haole’s head and the driver has to be moved to a different jail. Fixit is taken to the hospital in the city. The pastor of the church in town knows Fixit, he repairs the pews and other things from time to time. The church raises money to pay the hospital bill. It isn’t enough. The pastor talks to the hospital director, they know each other from high school. The hospital forgives the debt. Fixit doesn’t wake up for a few days.

When he does, Anela is sitting at his bed.
“How long have you been here?” He asks before she realizes he is awake. She looks tired.
“For a time.” She looks relieved.
“Where is Lani?”
“She is playing in the hall.” There is a picture beside him, drawn crudely and with love.
“Did she draw me that?”
“Yes.”
“Am I dying?”
“The doctor says no. You got knocked out and broken ribs. He’s mostly worried about your liver.”
“It needs more beer.”
“I don’t think he agrees.” She smiles. “We went to a park today, Lani picked those flowers for you.” She motions toward some hibiscus flowers in a cup beside the bed. “Many people have been here to check up on you.” Anela says. “Many old women too, who probably need husbands.”
He laughs and then coughs. Then moans.
“Don’t laugh or cough, it will hurt.”
“What have I missed?”
“Not much, the man who ran into you is in jail now for a few years. The church bought you a new bicycle, and some young boys bought you a new surf board. I bought you a helmet.”
“The helmet is nice, everything else is too much.”
“Show gratitude, not pride.” She advises.
“Yes, boss. Did I break my legs?”
“The right one. No surfing for a few months for you.”
“I will watch you then.”
“I am not carrying you to the beach.”
“Then I will crawl.”
She smiles. “No crawling.”
“You won’t let me drink, cough, laugh or crawl?”
“You will do all those no matter what I say.”
“Tell Lani I’m sorry for not making it to the park.”

Anela’s eyes begin to tear up. She brushes them away quickly. “Lani was worried about you, very much.”

He smiles. He reaches over gingerly and holds Anela’s hand. She squeezes his delicately, yet fiercely. They sit in silence and watch the sun set out the window.

They are not in love