21. Lani
Lani
It was quiet inside of New Horizons Community Center. Kids sang and shouted out on the playground, but the sounds barely filtered through to the rooms that Lani had painted with tropical fish and island animals.
She ran through the end-of-day chores mechanically, finding stray caps for markers and sweeping the floor while her mind wandered through everything she still needed to do.
Lani and the other co-op parents had been taking turns putting in extra hours at the playschool so that ‘ōlena could rest at home with her newborn.
She was happy to help, and she loved the extra time that it gave her with Rory and Olivia and all of their friends…
but it also added to her general sense of overwhelm.
Finally the rooms were in order. She went out to join everybody at the playground just as other parents began to arrive for pickup.
“Aloha, Lani.” Nell stood at the edge of the playground, watching over the whole playschool group in addition to her rambunctious toddler. It was easier than Lani might have imagined, given how all of his miniature aunties and uncles doted on him. “Thanks for helping me hold down the fort today.”
“My pleasure.”
“The kids love your art lessons.”
“I love coming in and doing art with everybody. And hey, you’re doing a great job running things.”
“Thanks. I knew ‘ōlena was impressive, but man. I can’t believe she used to do this all on her own.”
“She’s a force of nature, that’s for sure.”
“Are you walking the girls home today?”
“Sure,” Lani said. “I’d be happy to.”
“Great.” Nell’s smile was genuine, but tired. “Thank you.”
“Auntie Lani?” Kiki pulled on her hand. “Can we go home now? I miss my mom.”
“And I miss my favorite sibling.” Luana strolled over and glared at her little sister, still angry over some playground argument they’d had that morning. They were both struggling with being away from their mom so much more than usual, but Lani knew that things would settle.
“Sure, baby,” she said to Kiki. “We can head out. Round up your cousins and we’ll walk you home.”
“Olivia!” Kiki sprinted across the playground. “Livie! You wanna see my brother? He’s really heavy, and he already knows how to smile!”
Luana stuck her hands in her pockets and kicked a rock across the grass, visibly annoyed that her sister hadn’t taken the bait.
Lani hugged Nell goodbye. “See you tomorrow.”
“Aloha, sis. Thanks again.”
It was a short walk from New Horizons to ‘ōlena’s place. The girls were so quick that even jogging to keep up, Lani lost sight of them when they ran into their front yard.
She found them around back, cooing over the new baby. Mahina and another auntie were sitting with ‘ōlena against a colorful backdrop of hibiscus bushes.
“Hey Lani,” ‘ōlena said after she’d greeted the aunties. “How did it go today?”
“All good. Nell’s doing great.”
“Yeah, she is. Pull up a chair.”
“All right.” She grabbed another beach chair and joined them in the sunshine.
The girls were playing happily, already cooking up some mud potion in the corner of the yard, and Lani’s tense muscles relaxed as the sun soaked into her shoulders.
When was the last time she had just let herself sit and do nothing?
“How you been, Lani?”
“Fine.” She opened her eyes to respond to Mahina’s friend, feeling guilty that she couldn’t remember the auntie’s name.
She had an iron-gray bob and a familiar face, and Lani knew that she had known the woman’s name at some point… but it was gone now, and she was ashamed to ask the name of a woman who had watched her grow up.
Her expression turned sly. “I saw that your Italian lover is back in town.”
Lani’s guilt dried up in an instant.
“Lorenzo’s a good man,” Mahina said levelly, patting her grandson’s back. “He’s a good dad to Rory.”
“Oh sure,” the auntie said, “he dotes on her.”
“I didn’t know he was coming for a visit,” ‘ōlena said. She opened her arms to Luana, who had been hovering at the edge of the conversation. The lanky ten year old climbed into her mom’s lap and curled up against her chest.
“Neither did I,” Lani replied. “It was very last minute.”
“We saw them out walking together,” Mahina told Lani. “You can see he adores her.”
“He does. He’s a great dad.”
“You know who else he’s been walking out with,” the auntie cut in. “One of the Aloha sisters.”
“Who?” ‘ōlena said.
“You know, the Kalama girls.”
She rolled her eyes. “Those ‘girls’ are in their forties.”
“He’s renting a room from Dawn and Kimo,” Lani said.
“Oh, that’s nice,” said Mahina. “You know they stopped fostering when Kimo’s health took a turn. They must love having Rory around.”
“They have plenty of grandbabies,” the auntie told her. “That house is never empty.”
“You said that Lorenzo is walking out with one of their girls?”
“Mm-hmm.” Her silver eyebrows crept towards her hairline. “He’s been going out with Akemi.”
“Halia’s baby sister?” ‘ōlena asked. Halia ran the local women’s shelter that had taken Nell and her children in, along with Alohi and countless other families in need of a place of refuge.
“That’s the one.”
“Akemi’s back on the island?” asked Mahina.
“Oh, you know her. Always traveling. She’s an influencer, you know.”
“I always hated that word. Sounds like influenza…”
“It is an epidemic of sorts, isn’t it? All these girls posing in bikinis. Shameless.”
“Is it serious? This thing between Lorenzo and Akemi?”
“Well who can say? A couple of restless souls like that, who knows where they’re off to next. But they’ve certainly been spending a lot of time together. Jen says that they were spotted at Green Sand Beach, and Nani saw them in Volcano!”
Lani could only laugh and put a weary hand over her eyes. In her years away, she had forgotten just how ridiculous life in a small town could be – and how small the Big Island really was. She felt a sudden, surprising longing to be somewhere (anywhere) else.
“You okay, Lani?” the woman asked, her tone more gleeful than concerned.
“I’m fine,” she replied with a genuine smile. “I’m happy for him. It can’t be easy, traveling all this way to see Rory and still only getting her part time.”
“Well,” Mahina said, “if this thing between him and the Kalama girl is serious, maybe he’ll move here.”
“That would be weird,” ‘ōlena said.
“Good for Rory, though. To have her whole family in Pualena.”
Lani looked across the lawn at her daughter, who was pouring water over her head and laughing with Livie. They looked so happy that Luana climbed out of her mom’s lap and went to play – and she joined in without even sniping at her sister.
The thought of giving up even more time with Rory cut deep… but in the end, she just wanted what was best for her.
“How would you feel about that, Lani?” Mahina asked.
She shrugged. “Too soon to say. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“But would it be hard?” the auntie asked with put-on concern. “Do you still have feelings for him?”
Lani huffed out a sigh. She had never been in love with Lorenzo. They had met once, one drunken blur of a night when she was young and foolish and lost. Now that she knew him better, she liked him as a friend and admired him as a father, but that was it. She adored her husband.
All of that bubbled in her chest, but the only answer that she gave the nosy old woman was a terse shake of her head.
“Baby needs a diaper.” ‘ōlena stood and took Edward from her mom. She tossed Lani a lifeline: “Would you give me a hand in the kitchen?”
Lani was on her feet in an instant.
“Thanks for that,” she said once they were inside.
“Girl, I wasn’t kidding. Would you throw me together a bowl of something from the fridge? I’m starved.
“Of course.” Lani opened up the fridge, which was packed full of various containers. She and Tenn hadn’t been the only ones making regular food deliveries.
By the time ‘ōlena came back with a clean baby, Lani had made her a big plate of mac salad and roast chicken.
“Perfect,” her cousin said, handing Edward over. “Mahalo.”
Lani laughed as she accepted the hefty, sleepy newborn. “You’re welcome.”
They sat at the kitchen table, quiet for a minute as ‘ōlena tore into a chicken leg.
“How are sales going?” she asked between bites.
“Not too bad. That little store in Hilo wants ten more, and a store on Maui said they’d buy a box.”
“And you’re selling direct, too?”
“Yeah, anybody can order online. The site I’m selling through does print on demand, so it’s easy. The trick is letting people know that they exist.”
“I liked that video you made, the coloring one.”
“Thanks.” Lani smiled self consciously. She had actually made dozens of videos – in addition to photos of finished pages – and was posting daily on various sites in an effort to get some kind of traction, but mostly her posts seemed to disappear into the ether of endless content the moment she hit publish.
“I can’t seem to get many views anywhere. ”
“What if you put something in the front encouraging people to share their own stuff? Like a QR code that takes them to your social media page, and then you share photos of what they’ve colored?”
“That’s… actually a really good idea.”
‘ōlena scoffed. “That’s the only kind of idea I have.”
“Okay, okay. Don’t go getting a big head.”
“It’s proportional to the rest of me.” Her expression was thoughtful as she ate another bite of chicken. “What about pitching to art companies? You make a video that shows you coloring with their markers or pencils, they share it, everybody wins.”
Lani looked down at little Edward. “Your mommy’s a genius.”
‘ōlena smirked. “And don’t ever forget it.”