THIRTY-FOUR
RING! RING! RING!
Anij picks up the phone. It is Mario.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Anij.”
“Yes, hello, Mario.”
“I want to talk to you about something.”
“Oh, has something come up?”
“Well. We should talk. Why don’t you drop by my office this evening.”
“Okay, what time?”
“Well, around seven, I guess.”
“Okay, I will be there.”
“All right. See you then.”
Anij fears that Mario might not let him go to Halawa after that crazy beating session from Naoki. Since Naoki is a well-known guy in the town, Mario must have heard something. Anij doesn’t feel good about tonight’s meeting with Mario. Anij is not sure what to say about that incident. There just might be an opportunity for him to explain the whole thing. But deceit is not in his dictionary and especially not to Mario. It will ruin his reputation and the relationship between them. This uptightness is smothering him tightly around his throat. He has heard a few things about Mario when he goes nuts. Especially when someone is trying to mock his business: Mario will go mental without looking back. And that could happen if Anij lied to him. Anij is smoking and walking around the pool all day before he attends the meeting.
Samantha sleeps much longer lately since the pounding incident. He worries about her condition. It has been a few weeks, but all she does is sleep. She definitely needs some time off from everything. The mental shock must have shattered her, inside and out. He is not too sure what he can do for her. All he can do for now is to take care of her dearly.
The sun is setting. He is looking at his watch constantly to see if it is seven o’clock yet. Yet another hour is left. He tries to calm himself down but soon he finds himself smoking and walking around the pool constantly. Mario is kind of a model figure to him. Someone definitely to look up to. He really does not want to lose Mario’s respect. Then he sits down for a while; then again he smokes and walks around the pool. That is all he can do till he speaks with Mario.
Samantha is looking out the window and sees Anij pacing. She isn’t sure what is going on and is getting nervous just by looking at him. But she has no energy to go down to talk to him. He comes upstairs to talk to her.
“Hey, baby.”
“Hey . . .”
“I’ve got to go out to see Mario.”
“Now?”
“Well, not now. I have to go out early to check out something first, then I will see Mario.”
“Oh . . . Where are you going now?”
“I got some business to take care of.”
“Oh . . . Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah.”
“I will see you soon. Okay?”
“That’s fine. Don’t worry too much about me. I am just tired . . . you know . . . for many reasons. I should get better soon.”
“You should. I am really worried. You know I love you. Okay? I am off now.”
“I know. Don’t worry too much, okay? See you. Come back soon.”
She comes closer and hugs him. He gently hugs her. A mixture of sympathy and apprehension runs through their spines. She doesn’t want to let him go alone. Even after all the sleep she has been having, something is still not right with her. So she holds him for a while. Anij pulls his head back and asks, “Anything wrong?”
“Nothing . . .”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. Go now. I will see you soon.”
“Okay, ’bye.”
He kisses her goodbye and leaves the room.
He wanders around the town, worrying about what Mario has to say to him. On top of that, he has to worry about Samantha. Everything is happening at the same time: love life, career, and many other related issues that he never thought about before. He is so not used to worrying about his future and what he has. Now he is not the only one he has to take care of. There is one more plate on his table.
Meanwhile, his brain is occupied with a jumble of thoughts. It is now about time to see Mario. He drives his car to the building. Big breaths travel up and down his throat. He enters the building. Mario is looking at him with a still face. Anij starts to feel even more nervous from Mario’s look. There seems to be no anger from Mario, but no happiness, either. He assumes that Mario is really angry. He comes up to Mario.
“Hello, Mario.”
“Hey, how are you?”
“Well, I am good. You?”
“Not too bad.”
Now Anij gets really nervous. Mario usually tells people that he is either good or pretty good, but never “not too bad.” He is sensing something bad is about to happen soon. So he asks, “So, you wanted to see me?”
“Yes. Sit down.”
“Thanks.”
“I heard that something happened at your house a few weeks ago?”
“Uh . . . that . . . ah . . . you know. It became a little more complicated than I expected . . .”
“So?”
“Ah . . .”
“So?”
“Ah . . . well . . . I took care of it and it will never happen again.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I am sure. I am very sure.”
“Okay. Make sure you bring nobody to mess with me, okay?”
“Okay. Sorry about that.”
“I don’t give a shit what the hell you do with your woman. But when it comes to something like that, I don’t like it at all. Okay?”
“I am sorry.”
“I just wanted to make sure that no one is in my way.”
“No. You know that, right?”
“I know. But I said I just wanted to make sure. That is all.”
“Oh, okay. You can count on me.”
“Sure?”
“Yes, sure.”
“Okay . . . Anyway . . . Maybe we should talk some business now.”
“Yes. What is it?”
“You remember the place that we talked about? With that bunch of old guys?”
“Sure. How can I forget?”
“You will have to leave tomorrow.”
“Wow, that is good. I was kind of hoping for that.”
“Anyway, you leave tomorrow with just a few bags and your girlfriend.”
“That is good. So what time?”
“Well, it doesn’t really matter when. As long as you get there and wait for a bit, it will be all good. Then you will report the status to me every week. Okay?”
“Yes, I know that.”
“Okay. So you can leave anytime tomorrow. Just make sure that you stay cool. Okay?”
“Yes. I will do that.”
“Since this is the first time for us, we want to get this done really quietly. Don’t call anyone, including me, till you get a message from me. For that, I will send someone. Then make a phone call to me. You shouldn’t call anyone else for anything. I mean no one. Okay? You really have to make sure of that. Okay?”
“Okay. I will make sure.”
“Okay. Go home now.”
“Thanks, Mario.”
“Make sure you don’t screw this up.”
“I will not disappoint you.”
“Good.”
“’Bye.”
The excitement overwhelms Anij. Now it is time to get out of this place and to be with Samantha alone. They won’t have to worry about anything — at least for quite a while. He can’t wait to get home and tell her about this. He puts his foot even harder on the gas pedal. All the happiness that he will share with her is springing up. It is not like he hates this town or anything. But ever since she became a part of his life, he has had to aim his life at a different target. And that seems to be going very well.
He enters his house and bursts into his room. She is looking at him powerlessly with no focus in her eyes. Happiness is written on Anij’s face.
“Hey, baby. I got good news.”
“Yeah? What is that?”
“We can go to a new city tomorrow. Everything is paid already. All we have to do there is to survey the whole town. It might take some time. But we would be in a safer place, with no one bugging us for anything.”
“Wow. To where?”
“Have you heard of a place called ‘Halawa’?”
“Hm . . .Well . . . I guess not. Doesn’t ring a bell.”
“Me neither. I have never heard about that place, and that is where we are going tomorrow.”
“But why so soon? Is it dangerous?”
“No, not at all.”
“Really? How do you know?”
“Well . . . Even for us, it is a new territory. So that means there is no one there who knows us. And we are going to look around the town and see how businesses are running and stuff like that. You know . . . initial marketing research.”
“Okay, sounds good. But I just want to make sure that you will be safe and nothing will happen. That is all I care about. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I know. But this will be a very easy job. I will be walking around the town for weeks after weeks just looking around. Making moves on nobody. Talking to nobody. Just cruising around . . .”
“Sounds too easy. No strings attached?”
“Come on. Mario wouldn’t do that to me. I have been very good to Mario. He wouldn’t pull something that stupid on me. I know him.”
“Okay, in that case, I should be happy, then. It just sounds too good for us. So, you know . . . I am just a little curious and not too sure about many things . . .”
“That is okay. Just don’t worry. Keep the good thoughts only. Okay? Just forget about all this bullshit here. It will be nice. Very nice.”
“Yeah, better be.”
They kiss each other passionately without any hesitation. Soon after, he goes downstairs and tells the boys his good news. They feel sad that he will be leaving them for a long time.
“Hey! Then who the hell is going to clean up our mess? And what about the house parties?”
“Well, I am sure that you will be just fine without me. Maybe it will stink a little. But it will be all right.”
“Come on! Do you really need to leave tomorrow? I am kind of enjoying hanging around with Samantha. She is fun to be around. Not lately, but you know . . .”
“Yeah. But she is mine. So I will take care of her. Okay?”
“Oh . . . Then who will deliver the stuff for us? Mario?”
“Well . . . Your brother should arrange someone, I guess. Call him, then.”
“Ah . . . He will get pissed at me, and you know . . . his preaching and shit like that for hours . . .”
“Maybe it is time for you guys to step up your games.”
“Whatever, man . . .”
“Good luck over there. Just don’t be stupid.”
“I got it.”
Anij goes back to his room and talks to Samantha about all the plans that he has for the new town.
The next morning, as soon as the sun is rising, they are packing their bags. They can’t even wait another minute to get there. They run across the room to get all the things to put in their bags. But it doesn’t take them a long time to pack. As soon as it is done, a very brief goodbye ceremony with the boys, and they hop into the car and put the pedal to the max. It is the new beginning of their lives. Off they go.
After driving for a few hours, they see the road sign, “Welcome to Halawa.”
They can’t hold onto their feelings. They scream out loud, “Here we come, Halawa!”
Happy thoughts of a shiny future are spreading like dandelions.