Haole Wood Read Online Free PDF Page A

around, my ham sandwiches always tasted like iffy-bologna-jerky on soggy soda crackers. I rubbed the back of my wrist underneath my eyes, trying to stop my tears.
    “Sorry, Dad. You’re right. I’ll stick around for a couple of days.” No job. No money. No boyfriend. One credit card. About fourteen hundred bucks in the bank. I really did get gypped when it came to guardian angels.
    I said goodbye to my parents, got up and got dressed. I put on my jean skirt and tugged a tank top over my head and padded into the kitchen where my grandmother was already up, bustling around.
    “Hey, Halmoni,” I said, reaching for a coffee mug on a shelf.
    “Not that,” Halmoni said, handing me a cup of steaming tea.
    “Come on, Halmoni. How about some coffee? It’s been a rough morning.” I checked the clock. It was barely eight-thirty. Halmoni pushed me down into a chair by the table where she had another fruit plate set out, along with warm cinnamon rolls. “Yum. Thank you, Halmoni.”
    “ A’ole pilikia ,” my grandmother said and then smiled at me. I think that meant “it’s no trouble.”
    After breakfast, I headed for the couch in the living room and caught a whiff of sweet jasmine carried in on the early morning breeze. I swiveled my head around toward my grandmother. “I thought for a split second I saw someone. Did you?” She didn’t answer. I shrugged. Just being on the island put me in a different state of mind. Unfortunately, island instructions didn’t come with a warning about what was going to happen next.

Chapter 5

S-To-the-Lutty

    The song of birds, rustling palm fronds scraping at the window, and wafts of air spiced with salt and sweet essences of exotic blooms did nothing to entice me outside into paradise. Monday morning, I set up camp again in the living room and settled in for a long day of TV. Catching up on reality shows, which helped make me feel a smidgeon better about myself, I burrowed deeper into my grandmother’s funky smelling couch.
    I knew I needed to pull myself up by my flip-flops, but my grandmother had just gone to the store and brought back a box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts. When in Rome . . . I crammed three pieces into my mouth at a time.
    The highlight of my afternoon led me to discover that sucking all the chocolate off the macadamia nuts before chewing was a good way to go. My grandmother came in and removed the empty box and invited me into the kitchen for dinner. I ate some rice and vegetables but passed on the fish my grandmother prepared.
    “He had such nice eyes,” I told my grandmother as I handed the plate back to her without taking any.
    The heaviness of the warm humid air seemed to make it harder to breath. I clomped upstairs to take a shower. As I dug in my backpack for clean clothes, I found my little sundress I tossed in, packed with high hopes when I pictured myself wearing it and having fun on my brief trip to Maui. Brightly colored swirls of lime green and yellow made me wish I packed my favorite faded go-to oversized Padres T-shirt instead.
    I was so warm after my shower I put on that skimpy little dress. The chocolate macadamia nuts hadn’t shown up yet so it fit me like stingray skin. I blew dry my hair and feared the worst. In the humidity, every split end straggled up like fibers on a coconut. I smoothed on some kukui oil hair gel I found in my grandmother’s bathroom. “Not too bad,” I thought, looking in the mirror. I pulled my hair up and off my sweaty neck. Suffering was great for my complexion. I let my hair fall back. All the TV watching, laying around and eating chocolate seemed to recalibrate my brain cells. “I need a drink,” my shiny glossed mouth told my image. I knew I was in trouble when I cocked my head to the right and swiped my pinkie through the bow of my lips.
    I grabbed my purse and headed downstairs. “Halmoni, can I borrow your jeep?”
    I found my way back into Lahaina and even managed to find a parking space right off