Chapter 18 #2
“It's the Māori word for autism,” Tiake admitted. “Here, we try not to look at autism as a challenge, but rather a strength everyone else doesn't have. It means he who is simply in their own time and space.”
“Oh, I like that. That definitely describes you, baby.”
“Aw, thank you,” as he leaned in for a kiss.
“Not that I’m complaining, but it was a long plane ride, and we’ve been driving for hours. How far out does your family live?” I wondered.
“We live all over. Auckland. Wellington, Queenstown. We're even in Toronto, Tauranga/Mount Maunganvi. Those of us in New Zealand, that is,” Tiake admitted.
“Babe. I got uncles, aunts, cousins, family I probably never even met more than once, a little bit of everywhere. Australia, Hawaii, Cook Islands, Utah, we're like everywhere.”
“Chile, that sounds like Black people,” I joked, even though their replies hadn’t answered my question.
“You know, when Mārama said you had an American girlfriend, we all got kind of worried that he was going to come back acting like a white boy. So, imagine our relief when we found out you were Black.”
“Don't listen to him, Jaq. Whatever he's about to say, he's full of crap,” Graham laughed.
“Graham has always been the social outcast of the family. We always knew he wasn't going to do everything the right way. Honestly, we feared he would come back the antichrist after living in New York.”
“We're not that bad,” I defended.
“Obviously we can tell that now, but leaving the church rocked our family a bit. I'd say it took us until like two years ago to fully recover from it,” his uncle admitted as Graham uncomfortably smiled, like he wanted to be anywhere but this conversation.
“I don't know, religion did give Graham good values, but being with him, that curiosity that's usually discouraged in organized religion, to me, makes him a better human.
I hope it's not held against him that the best parts of him were actually shaped by the LDS Church.
He's just walking and using his own path with them.”
“See, this is why I love you,” and I suddenly l felt it was good that his mother hadn't ridden with us, because of how obvious our physical relationship was, being around us for less than ten minutes.
Graham was very affectionate, something I thought he would cool down on in front of his uncle, but he never robbed himself of an opportunity to kiss me, which he did a lot during our very long scenic drive.
New Zealand was literally everything Graham had described, times ten. I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to leave a place so green.
Graham was like a dog with a bone every time we passed a damn body of water that I almost wanted to throw him out the car and sacrifice him to the sea, his eyes were glued to that damn window.
But even a rich scenic view couldn’t have prepared me for when we actually did reach the Walker family home. I would have been impressed with a house that could comfortably accommodate a family of six, but the private property we pulled up to could’ve fit a family of twenty, plus staff.
His uncle offered to grab my luggage from the trunk as I just stared at Graham in disbelief until he acknowledged me. “What?”
“Nigga!” I said in an accusatory tone.
“Wow, I've literally never heard you say the N word before, so this must be more than you expected.”
“A mansion, though?” I doubled down.
“Sometimes I think, because I say I live on an island, you expect me to have been raised in some shack near a beach. Or because my family owns a dairy farm, you were expecting a rustic barn or something.”
“Well, I sure as hell wasn't expecting no mansion. With all this space and room, how would your folks even know if we were up to no good?” I joked.
“Trust me, my mother's got the hearing of a goddamn whale.
That woman could hear a pin drop two-thousand leagues under the sea.
The minute she hears rocking, expect to be asked to paint the house.
I'm speaking from experience. There was no sneaking girls in my room without her lurking.
I'm trying to save us some embarrassment.”
“I'll just have to be open to constant surprises. I'm sure there's more to come,” as we stepped out the car, greeted by more family, who I assumed to be his eldest and youngest sisters.
“Jaq, this is my older sister, Wilhelmina,” as she shook my hand, admitting how nice it was to finally meet me. “And this is Kylie. This is Payton,” as individually they singled each one out.
“Graham, the pictures you sent didn't do her justice. She's so pretty.”
“Oh, I like this one,” singling out the older of his younger sisters. “And it's a lot coming from someone just as captivating.”
“Graham, you have to meet Kaiwhare, she's so cute!” Payton, his youngest sister adorably bragged.
“I'm trying to see everyone, but I thought Dad would be here,” as he looked around like he was expecting him to walk out at the mention of him. The car with Mārama pulled up, and he asked again if his father was working.
His sisters hadn't been good at hiding it, but thankfully his mom was able to keep it together to explain his absence.
“Graham, we wanted to tell you, but didn't want you worrying the entire ride. It's why I was relieved to take a different car. I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to keep it for long. Your dad has been having some health issues—”
“Excuse me, health issues?” Graham interrupted.
“He just hasn't been feeling himself for a while. We've got him round the clock nurses—”
“Mum, how bad is it?”
“It's…good that you're here. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you.”
“Wilhelmina, how bad is it?” He turned to his sister, hoping for a clearer answer. “Geez, you guys don't tell me anything. Dad's flipping sick, and nobody thought to tell me?”
“Graham, can you blame us? Last time we pushed you, you left for your New York,” his mother defended.
“But I would have gladly put my issues to the side to be told my dad's freaking sick. I'm not a monster just because I'm no longer practicing.”
“We know, baby, it's just now's not the time to pick a fight. We'd rather you spend this time being with your father,” Mārama admitted, as Graham stormed into the house looking for his dad.
“Well…that went well,” Wilhelmina dismissed.
“Jacqueline, right?” as I met Mārama 's response with an “Mmmhmm.”
“Why don't we let Graham spend time with his father, and we could have a little time to get to know each other. We were told you worked in broadcasting?”
“Something like that. I was a news anchor for ten years, and now I write. Sounds adventurous, but it's more work than it sounds.”
We walked and talked, as Mārama showed me to the room we'd be staying, and then offered to take me coconut harvesting on some trees not far from their property.
Arguably, this was where the city girl in me came in, because I had to watch three women and girls—all younger than me, by the way—expertly bear hug the tree, using their recruited hooks to knock down a few with ease.
“Oh, give Jacqueline a really good one. You've never had coconut water until you've had it fresh,” Kylie chimed.
Payton cut me down a young one, as her sister gave me tips for the safest way to open one. Arguably, anything back home I'd ever eaten with coconut consisted of curry. “Are you really a nevermo? Payton asked, as her mother and older sister gave her a look.
“It's rude to ask things like that,” Mārama dismissed.
"It's true. I've never been LDS, but I respect that he was. I think it's still a big part of him. He might not be practicing, but it’s shaped his good heart and decision making. Graham's a really good guy,” I admitted, talking him up.
“Gotta wonder what version of him you're getting,” Wilhelmina joked. “Dude’s got an iPhone now. He's bringing girlfriends home. Next thing you know, you’ll be telling us you got eloped in secret.”
Everything came back to marriage with them. Graham and I only recently evolved from hookups to a relationship. To hear they expected marriage so soon from him put a lot of pressure us to just enjoy where we were.
“I didn't realize I got another Graham,” I said, hoping I was hiding my discomfort well.
“Nothing has been able to get Graham to come home. It's why we didn't bother sharing his father's health isn’t the best. We didn't think he would come either way,” Mārama admitted.
“Well, it's clear he loves you all by the way he talks about you. I could see how homesick he was, so I got him tickets to come here. I didn't think of how big of a deal it was for him to take me up on my offer.”
“Graham doesn't really take things lightly,” Wilhelmina admitted, piling on the pressure.
“He’s special. Dangerously empathetic. Devoted to his own detriment. If he brought you here, it's not as small of a gesture as maybe you intended it,” his mother added.
“Well, I love your son. Small gesture, big gesture. I just wanted to be here with him, since he's always there for me,” I tried downplaying it.
“You're the only one of his exes not originally from Auckland that we've actually met. I don't know what that means to you, but please be kind and conscious of my son's heart.”