4 Kaua'i Me a River (20 page)

I arrived
in Honolulu in the middle of rush hour. But then, there are only a couple of
hours in the dead of night when it isn’t rush hour in Honolulu. I snagged a cab
and gave him the address for the Vital Records Office.

“It’s
near the corner of Beretania and Punchbowl,” I added. “Right downtown.” I
didn’t want him to think I was a mainlander who’d enjoy taking the scenic route
and paying twice as much.

“You
on jury duty?”

“No.”

“You
getting divorced?”

“No.”

“Then
why you going to court?”

“I’m
not going to the courthouse. I’m going to the Department of Health.”

“You
sick?”

“Look,
it’s early. I’ve had nowhere near my normal consumption of coffee and the
traffic’s horrible,” I said. “Would you mind just getting me where I need to
go?”

“Hey,
I jus’ trying to be friendly. At a drivers’ meeting las’ week they say riders
tip better if you’re friendly. Ask how their doing, what’s up with their
family, that sorta t’ing.”

“I
promise I’ll tip better if you just get me there fast. No talking.”

That
was the wrong thing to say. The guy veered off at the next exit and roared
through industrial back alleys like a cop in hot pursuit. He kept flicking his
eyes up to check the rear view mirror. I wanted to tell him to knock off the
stunt driving, but I’d already said enough.

We screeched
to a halt in front of the Department of Health. He turned around in his seat
and said, “That fast enough for ya?”

I
pulled out two twenty’s for a thirty-dollar fare and told him to keep the
change.

 “
Mahalo
.
You want I should wait for you?”

I sent
him on his way and went inside. Hawaiian state government prides itself on its
world-class bureaucracy. What takes two government workers on the mainland requires
at least six people in Hawaii. I steeled myself for the gauntlet ahead.

The
process to get my birth certificate turned out to be less taxing then I’d
expected. I had to wait half-an-hour for them to locate the record and apply
the certification seal, but I had it in hand within an hour. I was about to
head outside when it occurred to me that I’d never seen a copy of my mother’s
death certificate. Even when I went through Auntie Mana’s ‘special papers’ after
she’d passed, I never came across anything regarding my mother’s death.

I went
to the end of the line. When I got to the counter, I was directed to a
different window than before. I explained to the ample-sized local woman
working the window that I’d like to get a copy of my mother’s death
certificate.

“You
lose the first one?” she said in a sympathetic whisper.

I didn’t
know what the right answer should be. Had I lost the one I’d been given? If so,
it shouldn’t be a problem to replace it. On the other hand, what kind of
daughter thinks so little of her
ohana
that she misplaces important
family documents?

So,
instead of answering, I puckered up my face as if the whole thing was
distressing beyond words.

“No
worries,” said the clerk. “Just fill in this form and come back. No need you do
the line again.”

I took
the form to a table and filled it out using the information my mother had
provided on my birth certificate. Then I went back to the window. The clerk typed
on her computer and looked up.

“Okay,
here it is,” she said. “Do you need just your mother’s death certificate or do
you want her marriage certificate, too?”

“Uh,
both if possible.
Mahalo
.” Had my mother and father actually gotten
married? I was having a hard time keeping up with the onslaught of new family information.

“I’m
afraid it’s gonna take a few days to get you the certified copies. Is this is
an urgent request?”

I’d
used the letter from Valentine to get my birth certificate right away, but I
didn’t have anything like that for my mother’s documents.

“No.
It’s important, but not urgent.”

“We’ll
send it to you. Shouldn’t take more than a couple days.”

“That
will be fine,
mahalo
.” I paid the fees and left the window. I thought
about taking the bus to the airport but it was getting late and Valentine would
be getting anxious. I was already anxious. My parents had actually married? Why
hadn’t Auntie Mana told me that?

I
called for a cab and hoped it wouldn’t be the same driver. A decrepit yellow taxi
with shot shocks pulled up to the building and a woman driver popped out and
waved me over. I got in and we made it to the airport with little fanfare. I
gave her forty bucks even though the meter showed only twenty-eight. I believe
in equal pay for equal work, and besides, she hadn’t made my adrenaline spike.

I
bought a ticket for the ten-thirty flight to Lihue but then noticed there was an
earlier flight leaving in seven minutes. I took off running. The gate agent
shot me major
stink eye
as I came ripping up to the podium. They’d
already closed the jet-way door.

“Sorry.
I got detained at security,” I said, handing over my crumpled boarding pass.

She
looked at me with eyes that said
, Liar, liar, pants on fire
.  

“Really,”
I huffed. “I didn’t have any luggage and I must’ve looked shifty or something
‘cuz I got treated to the full body pat-down.” I sucked in a deep breath. “Heaven
knows I understand the need for security. I was a federal air marshal for a
while. So don’t worry, I’m one of the good guys.” I shot her what I hoped
passed for a winsome smile.

She
glared as if this was a common ploy of would-be hijackers. “This boarding pass
is for our next flight, not this one.”

“I
know, but I need to get to Lihue as fast as possible,” I said. “I have an
important meeting with a Hanalei lawyer.”

She
softened a little, realizing only a local would be meeting with a small town
lawyer.

“Take
the first seat available,” she said in a steely voice. She punched in the code
to the jet-way door. “You’ve already delayed this departure four minutes.”

***

As we
were landing I pulled out my cellphone but I waited until the flight attendant
gave us the go-ahead before calling Valentine.

“You’re
here?” she said. “Do you have the birth certificate?”

“Yes,
all signed, sealed and as soon as this plane makes it to the gate, delivered.”

“I’m
afraid I won’t be able to pick you up. I’m already at the courthouse and if I
leave I’ll lose my place in line. Would you mind taking a cab?”

“Sure,
no problem.” Airplane tickets and taxi fares had already made a big dent in my
wallet, but the Lihue courthouse was only a few minutes from the airport. As I
exited the terminal my cell went off again.

“Pali?
It’s Sunny. I just got to the courthouse and Valentine tells me you need a
ride. I’ll send Timo.”

The
white Range Rover came into view within minutes. He hustled around and opened
the back door but I nodded toward the front passenger seat.

“Have
it your way,” he said. His voice had a gruff edge, but he was smiling. “Mrs.
Wilkerson tells me you’re Phil’s daughter. You jus’ like him, man.”

We arrived
at the courthouse and Timo dropped me at the door. I hustled inside. Sunny was
standing in the lobby.  

“Valentine’s
over in the records office. She asked me to wait out here for you.”

“Did
you know Phil actually had
seven
wives?” I said.  

“What?
Did someone call from the notification Valentine put in the newspaper? It’s probably
just some gold digger.”

“No,
it wasn’t from the paper,” I said. “It appears my
mom
was married to
Phil.”

“And why
would you think that?”

“Because
I was just at the Vital Records Office in Honolulu and my mom’s got a marriage
certificate on file.”

“Huh.
Well, that’s a shocker.” She looked more pensive than shocked. “C’mon. We
better get your birth certificate to Valentine.”

CHAPTER 25

After
I’d located Valentine in the county clerk’s office and handed over my birth
certificate, Sunny offered to buy me coffee. It was past noon, and I’d only had
one quick cup with Steve more than six hours earlier.

“You
didn’t know my father and mother had been married?” I said.

“I don’t
remember Phil mentioning it. He probably felt so bad about what happened to her
he didn’t want to dwell on it. I always thought Peggy was his first wife.
Remember, that’s what he said in his will.”

 “Speaking
of Peggy,” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Have you heard anything more?”

“Not a
thing.”

Valentine
showed up a few minutes later. “It’s all set,” she said. “The judge is taking a
two-week vacation, but we’ve got the clock ticking on the probate. There’s not
much more we can do until the notification period is over.” She looked down at her
watch. “I’m afraid I need to leave. I have an appointment in an hour up in
Hanalei. Thanks for coming on such short notice, Pali. I hope you won’t have to
make any more trips over here for a while.”

We
shook hands and Valentine left.

“I
guess I better get to the airport,” I said. “It feels like I’ve spent more time
in airports in the past couple of weeks than when I was an air marshal.”

***

I landed
in Maui and once again, Steve picked me up. 

“How’d it
go?” he said as I slid into the passenger seat.

“Well,
other than feeling like I’m getting jet lag from so many interisland flights,
I’d say it went pretty well. The probate’s underway now.”

“Great.
So, did they give you any idea when you’ll be rich?”

“Don’t
hold your breath. Oh, I did find out something interesting, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Seems my
parents were married after all.”

“No
kidding? How’d you find out?”

“I
ordered my mother’s wedding certificate at the Vital Records office.”

“Wow,” he
said. “It’s like pulling on a loose thread and, before you know it, you’ve
unraveled the whole sweater. All it took was finding out who your dad was and
now you’ve figured out your whole family story.”

 Steve
had to go across the island to pick up a check and he asked if I wanted to go
along. I declined, saying I had some things I needed to get done at my shop. I
doubted if I’d actually get much work done, but I hadn’t seen Farrah or Hatch
for three days and I had fences to mend.

I asked
him to drop me off at Farrah’s store. She was busy with a customer so I waited.
When the customer left, Farrah came over and gave me a warm hug. She still
smelled like ‘baby’ but I would’ve been concerned if she hadn’t.

“Are you
still staying down at Hatch’s?” I said.

“Yeah,
but not for long. It’s kinda tight with three
keiki
, two dogs and three
humans.” I wanted to point out that technically
keiki
, or kids, were
also human, but I didn’t since I was mending fences.

“Where
are you moving to?”

“I guess I’ll
move back up here. Everyone’s been totally cool with me taking in Moke, so it’s
no big deal. His birth mom and me are real tight. In fact, we’re doing a
baptism this weekend.”

“In a church?”
I said.

“No, I’m
a minister, remember? Wherever I am it’s a church.” That sounded a little
‘diva’ to me, but again, I was mending fences so I kept my mouth shut.

“Where
are you having it?”

“Down at Ho’okipa
Beach. It’ll be fun. And guess what?”

“Uh, I
don’t know.”

“No, you
gotta guess.” I usually refuse to go along with Farrah’s guessing games but in
the spirit of making amends, I relented.

“Okay, my
guess is you’re going to baptize all the kids. Even Echo and Rain.”

“Good guess,
‘cuz you’re right. But there’s more.”

Oh boy,
more.

“Let’s
see. Okay, my second guess is you’ve timed it to happen on a full moon.” I was simply
making stuff up until I could reasonably put an end to the guessing.

“Wow. Right
again! It’s so far out you’d think of that. You must be channeling me or
something. Okay, one more guess. We should go until you get one wrong.”

“Are you
doing the baptism at night, so you can see the moon?”

“Oh,
bummer. You got it wrong. No, it’ll be in the day time. It’d be hard to get
pictures at night. Steve offered to be the photographer—for free.”

Funny.
Steve hadn’t mentioned anything about the baptism when he picked me up.

“How many
people are coming?” I said.