Cristobal Rodriguez ♦ Coyote (coyoti) wrote in paxletalelogs, @ 2017-05-19 15:51:00 |
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Entry tags: | coyote, maui |
read the part and we turn out fine
Who: Kal, Chris, and kuku (Kal’s grandmother [NPC])
What: The boys go have dinner with kuku
Where: Kal’s childhood home
When: May 13
At some point in elementary school, Kal had to make a family tree. He still remembered it clearly. He had thought it was gorgeous and well made, the colors strong and the names so clear. He wrote his father’s name down, as was his duty despite never really knowing the man, but he lingered over the placement of his mother.
He had always known of the woman who birthed him, but he didn’t remember her and could only imagine how she might have been through the photos his kuku shared with him. She tried her best to bring her dead daughter back to life with detailed stories but still, the loss was always felt. To Kal, his grandmother was his mother, but kuku quickly put a stop to such thoughts.
“I am your grandmother, your kuku wahine, and I will never, ever be your mother,” she explained to Kal. It wasn’t malicious, she didn’t want to upset the boy, but she needed him to understand. Eventually, Kal did. His grandmother was his grandmother, his mother his mother. They had their specific and definite roles, never to replace one another, but there was no argument that his kuku was the motherlike figure he always had and loved.
But with his own growing up, with his own increase in age, so did his kuku. Edging on ninety, the four foot nine woman was beginning to show her age. She had at one time been a full four foot eleven, but now she was hunched and shrinking with her age and she was so tiny, so fragile next to Kal. But it wasn’t only that which reminded him of her age, it was the confusion that often came and went unexpectedly, so when she clearly stated she wanted to have dinner with her grandson, Kal looked to figure out a how and when. He had things to do, a busy schedule, but he’d figure it out.
Then she requested Chris to come along--she loved his friend like a second grandchild--and she specified that it had to be Saturday. With Chris’s agreement, the plans were made and Kal’s heart warmed to hear kuku’s excitement when she spoke to him on Friday and explained the long list of foods she intended to prepare.
Now, Saturday afternoon, Kal stood before the floor length mirror he kept in the corner of his living room and brushed back his hair before tying it securely into a knot on the top of his head. He showered, trimmed his facial hair, and washed all of his laundry. He wore nice jeans without holes, boots, and a clean, unfaded t-shirt. It was about as dressed up as he ever got but he’d do it for her. He found himself nervous as he waited for Chris, having been uncertain about seeing kuku since he saw her just after the floor change. Back then, she had one of her moments where she spoke of Kal’s mother as if she were still alive and he wondered if that lost and confused side of her would slip through again.
Chris, however, distracted Kal from his thoughts as he heard his familiar knock and moved to open the door.
His childhood friend stood in the hall with a tin of candy in one hand, his other empty; he was dressed somewhat similarly to Kal in that they were both cleaned up, though Chris erred on the side of a casual business suit sans a tie. His light-blue shirt was untucked, the pants and dress jacket a cream color that complimented his dark hair and eyes all the same.
He took a step back, waiting for Kal to join him in the hall. "Man, if this is an excuse to take me on a date, you didn't need to go to so much trouble. But you do clean up nicely."
“Braddah, if I was taking you on a date, it sure as hell wouldn’t be to kuku’s,” He replied, clapping Chris on the back with one strong hand as he stepped out of his apartment and locked it tight. “You ready for this? I know you’ve kept in touch with her before I moved back, but you haven’t seen her in awhile, right?”
There was the faintest touch of a nervous energy about Kal. The boys had eaten at his childhood home countless times, but somehow this was different. There were more secrets to be kept--the knowledge of Chris’s job, the oddities of the apartment--but there was also the minor changes in kuku herself that Kal found he was both protected and embarrassed by. Chris hadn’t seen her in awhile, so surely the slight changes in her behavior would be all the more emphasized and a part of Kal felt guilt over that, that he had allowed her to grow old while was away, even if he really had no fault in that.
"Hey, for all I know, dinner at kuku's is just a ruse to get me out of the apartment," Chris replied, his jovial tone more real than usual. He followed in Kal's wake toward the elevator.
"But yeah, I'm ready. It's just dinner..." He swapped the candy tin from one hand to the other, jabbing the elevator call button. "Is there a reason why she asked for both of us? You been talking about me to her?" The last sentiment was meant to be spoken teasingly, but it came out a touch rough, worried.
“When she asks what I’ve been up to, you’re a part of my life so I talk about you, yeah,” Kal admitted. “So she wanted both her boys to come to dinner. She said it’s been too long since she’s seen you last.” Kal offered Chris a smile as the elevator plunged down, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.