Chapter 6
“One thing I find really beneficial when it comes to counseling couples is trust exercises,” Dr. Makalua says. We’re all ‘earthing’, standing barefoot on the sand, listening to gentle waves brush the shoreline. It’s overcast, and thank God for that because I don’t want to burn to a crisp out here.
Crossing my arms, I ask, “So, how does this trust exercise work?”
“Well, one of you will be blindfolded while the other guides them through a path.”
“And let me guess—I’m the one who’s going to be blindfolded.”
“Yes, you are,” the doctor says.
Hendrick laughs.
“Stop laughing. Ain’t nothing funny.”
“Actually, seeing you sweating already and you’re not even wearing a blindfold yet is pretty funny.”
The doctor places a scarf over my eyes and ties it around my head. Now, I’m standing here using my other senses.
“This ain’t right,” I say.
“It’s fine, Nai,” Hendrick says. “Stop freaking out.”
“I’m not freaking out.”
“Then just chill. I got you,” he says right up against my ear. I imagine that was his lower lip that hit my earlobe.
“Okay, Hendrick,” the doctor says. “Take your position over here near me, and what you’re going to do is guide her safely toward you by just giving her instructions.”
“Oh, we got this, Nai. You ready?”
“No, I’m not ready.”
It’s like the blind leading the blind…
“You got this. Alright…let’s go. What you’re going to do first is take three steps forward.”
“Forward?” I ask with my hands moving around in front of me. “Which way is forward?”
“Follow the sound of my voice.”
“That’s not a good direction, Henny. You’re supposed to be helping me.”
“I am help—”
He pauses. I suppose he’s resetting.
He says, “Okay. The way your feet are turned right now, I want you to take three steps forward.”
“I will, but are you making sure there aren’t any jagged seashells on the ground that might cut me?”
“The coast is clear. If I see anything that may hurt you, I will let you know.”
“You better…”
“I told you I got you.”
I sigh and take the three steps forward, then ask, “Now what?”
“Take one more step forward, then two steps to the right.”
I go ahead and complete that.
“What next?”
“Okay. The sand you’re about to cross is wet. There’s a channel of water running through it, but you’re going to take…um…four steps, and then you’re back in the fluffy sand.”
I take four steps, feeling the water beneath my feet.
“Almost there, Nai.”
“I know. I feel your body heat, and your voice sounds a lot closer.”
“Take three steps forward and one step to the right. Then stretch your hands out to meet mine.”
I follow his directions and sure enough my hands meet his big, strong ones.
“Thank you for trusting me,” he says.
“Well done you guys,” Dr. Makalua says. “Before you take off the blindfold, Lanai, I would like for both of you to express what you were feeling during this exercise.”
Still holding Henny’s hands, I say, “I was nervous, but I knew I had nothing to worry about. Henny is good at stuff like this.”
“And what about you, Henny? How did you feel?”
“I felt satisfied that she trusted my direction. It felt nice to feel like I was trustworthy. You know, considering…”
“Can I take this blindfold off now?” I ask.
“Yes, you can take it off.”
I release Henny’s hands to undo the knot and take the blindfold off finally.
My eyes instantly find Hendrick’s face like it was meant for me to look at him.
He said it felt nice to be trusted, and I’m sure it did since I assumed some things about him that weren’t true.
The thing is, I don’t know if this exercise really helped in the trust department with us, because I’ve been looking at him sideways for a hot minute, but now, he’s the one looking at me differently.
At any rate, after all this clouds up my mind just as much as I’m sure it’s clouding his, he says, “We did it, Nai.”
“We did, didn’t we? We make a good team after all.”
“I always knew that, though,” he says in a way that implies that I haven’t.
Dr. Makalua says, “The rest of the day is yours to enjoy how you like.”
“Wait,” Hendrick says before she walks off. “How do you think we did for the week? Did we pass?”
She smiles and says, “I’m going to write up a report for Dr. Hubert. She’ll go over the results with you.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Enjoy your day.”