Michelle’s phone rang. She looked at the number and decided she needed to take the call. “Hello?”
“Michelle? Are you there?” Kaiko’s voice sounded worried on the other end of the line.
“Yes, Kaiko. I’m here. It’s awfully late. What’s going on?” Michelle had just said goodnight to Elizabeth and was still unsettled wondering how her father would take the news of her pregnancy. As much as she wanted to tell Kaiko and gain the support of her childhood friend, she was a little unsure if she could trust her or not. After the encounter at the festival earlier that evening, she didn’t know how she felt about her.
“Michelle, I need to talk to you. I’m worried about, well, I just need to talk to you.” Kaiko’s hushed tone put fear in Michelle’s heart. She looked across the room at her clock—eleven thirty.
“Kaiko, it’s late. Can’t this wait ’til morning?” Michelle asked, exhausted from the events of the day.
There was silence at the other end. “No, no it can’t. I really need to see you. Can you meet me at our spot?”
Michelle caught her breath. She hadn’t been to the “spot” in years. How long had it been, she tried to remember? Perhaps it was ninth grade, maybe even eight.
“Michelle, can you?” Kaiko’s voice was urgent.
“Yes, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” Michelle hung up, threw on some sneakers and put a light jacket over her pajamas. She reached in the top drawer of the nightstand and smiled when her fingers rested on her old flashlight, right where she had left it so many years before. She clicked it on and smiled when she saw the bright light shine across the room.
Stepping out into the crisp night air, Michelle made her way across the pasture toward the stables, looking behind her to be sure no one was following. Then she continued on behind the stables to the far end of the property until she arrived at an old outbuilding that used to house farm equipment. The building had been abandoned years before. And when Michelle and Kaiko were little, they convinced George and Ano to let them fix it up into a playhouse. They never told their parents. And with the help of the farmhand and George, the two girls created a secret hideaway that only they knew about. They spent many rainy afternoons and lazy evenings sitting in the playhouse sharing secrets, doing their hair and giggling. They never invited another human soul into that house. They made a pinky promise that it would always be theirs and theirs alone.
As Michelle approached the building, it looked as if Kaiko had kept her end of the bargain. The cobwebs greeted Michelle and glistened in the flashlight beam. The door was slightly ajar, and Michelle could make out the light of a lantern on the old cable spool the girls had used for a table. When she opened the door, Michelle saw the plastic chairs exactly as she left them. And in the far left one, covered in a blanket with tears streaming down her face, sat Kaiko.
“What is it Kaiko? Are you alright?” Michelle rushed to her friend’s side, all thoughts of distrust vanishing. “What happened?”
Michelle stroked Kaiko’s hair and waited for her to catch her breath. “Thank you for coming Michelle,” was all Kaiko could say. She sobbed quietly for a few minutes trying to collect herself. Michelle sat across from her and waited patiently, knowing Kaiko would talk when she was ready.
After several minutes’ silence, Kaiko reached out and took her phone off the table. She pressed a few buttons and then slid the phone across to Michelle. “Read the news I found on the internet,” was all she said, turning her face away from the light.
Michelle’s eyes slowly moved from Kaiko to the phone. She picked it up cautiously and turned it toward her. The display lit her face in a blue glow, and her eyes grew bigger as they darted back and forth across the screen, taking it all in. Lifting her finger to the screen, she scrolled, still reading. Her mouth opened more with each scroll. After she finished reading, she put the phone down and closed her mouth.
She looked across the table to the shadow that was Kaiko. “Kaiko,” she said. “I’m so sorry.” There was no sugar coating it. There was no denying it. The story was crystal clear. Her father, the father that had raised her and Kana and taught them to be reputable, honorable, respectful citizens, the father that she loved with all of her heart, that father had been charged with embezzlement, fraud and tax evasion. He had purchased stolen farm equipment with borrowed money. He had tried to resell stolen goods. And he hadn’t paid the taxes on the Palakiko Farm in over six years. To save his family the embarrassment of a trial, Padraig Palakiko agreed to a plea that earned him ten years in prison to be served in the Halawa Correctional Facility in Honolulu or in Arizona.
Michelle put the phone down. She couldn’t believe it. She knew that Kaiko’s father had been getting into trouble. Her mother had kept her informed in their phone calls. And even Kaiko had eluded to financial troubles on the farm. But Michelle didn’t realize it was this bad.
She looked across to Kaiko and didn’t know what to do. All the times they had spent in the playhouse came rushing back to her. She remembered painting each other’s nails and doing hair. She remembered playing spin the bottle on the floor with stuffed animals and pretending they were boys like Brandon Hamilton. She and Kaiko would turn their radio up loud and dance to all the music their parents wouldn’t approve of. And they had cried. Michelle remembered the day that her grandmother Lorelei had died. She held it together for most of the day. But when she saw her grandpa George break down, Michelle had lost it. Kaiko had waited for Michelle in the playhouse and the two sat on a pile of pillows and held each other until there were no more tears.
The pillows were long gone and the ground wasn’t an option. Instead, Michelle dragged her chair next to Kaiko’s and put her arms around her, holding her while she cried. She patted her back gently and whispered soft prayers in her ears. “God is with him Kaiko, God is with your father. And God will watch out over all of you. No matter what comes your way, He will always be there with you, to hold you up, to strengthen you, to be with you through it all.”
Kaiko cried softly as Michelle sat holding her, thinking about the prayer she just said. Did she believe it? Did she believe that God was with her through everything, no matter how hard things got? She thought of the child growing in her belly. She thought of Luke dumping her. And she thought of her own relationship with her father. No matter what he did when he found out about the pregnancy, Michelle knew that she would be okay. Her heavenly father would be there with her, would hold her up and would strengthen her through it all. She smiled for the gift of this moment and the reminder that she apparently needed. Michelle said a silent prayer of thanks to God and then pulled away from Kaiko.
“Kaiko,” she said, wiping the tears from her friend’s eyes. “Kaiko, I love that you trust me enough to tell me this and want me to be here for you. And now,” Michelle took a big breath, knowing she was taking a giant leap of faith. “I need to tell you something that I want to trust you with.”
Kaiko sat up straight and blinked away the fresh tears. “What? What is it, Michelle? I don’t think I can take much more today.” Her seriousness was almost hard to take. Kaiko was never serious.
Michelle smiled and grabbed her friend’s hand gently. “I’m pregnant.”
The old Kaiko came bursting through the sadness. “Oh, my gosh! Pregnant? That’s great! Pregnant?! Is it ... Is it Daniel’s?” Kaiko’s head was swimming with questions.
Michelle laughed out loud at her reaction. “No, no it’s not Daniel’s! I just met him. It’s Luke’s.” The words brought a stab of sadness to her heart. But Kaiko’s exuberance was the perfect painkiller.
“Wow, okay. Does he know? Are you getting married? Does your father know? Of course not, your father doesn’t know. Okay.” Kaiko began throwing questions as her mind raced to help Michelle formulate a plan. It was as if Kaiko were given a mission and only a few minutes to figure out all the details.
Michelle was glad she had distracted Kaiko from her pain but didn’t want her to overreact. “Slow down, slow down.” She laughed. “No, I’m not getting married. No, my father doesn’t know. And no ... Luke doesn’t even know.”
Kaiko sat up straighter. “Luke doesn’t know? But, you didn’t tell him yet?” Kaiko looked at Michelle with confusion in her eyes. Michelle just sighed and put her head down. As the tears fell into Michelle’s lap, Kaiko knew. Now it was her turn to be the comforter.
She reached over and held the blanket open, and Michelle cuddled inside, resting her head on Kaiko’s arm. The two sat together for a while, crying, hugging and praying. Michelle told Kaiko all about New Life Pharmaceuticals, her break-up with Luke and even her feelings for Daniel. Kaiko in return told Michelle how angry she was toward her father and how scared she was about her and her family’s future.
When the batteries on the lantern began to fade, they knew it was time to go. “Thank you for coming Michelle,” said Kaiko, gathering up her blanket and her lantern.
Michelle turned and squeezed Kaiko’s hand. “Of course. That’s what friends are for.” She walked Kaiko out of the playhouse and made sure she got safely to the road. When she reached the dirt path that led back to the main road where Kaiko had parked her car, Michelle bid her good-bye.
She turned and began walking across the hill and through the pasture back to the farmhouse. Michelle looked at the stars shimmering in the dark night sky, walking slowly and taking in the peace around her. The cows were mooing softly in the distance, and she could the horses swat their tails in their sleep. The cicadas played their part in the delicate symphony of God’s music and Michelle breathed the music in and let it fill every fiber of her soul. She felt her heart grow full and knew that she had made the right decision trusting Kaiko with her secrets.
Until tonight, Michelle had only shared all of these burdens with Tracy. Her mother knew about the pregnancy, but not about New Life. Lilo knew about the pregnancy, but not about her hurt over Luke. Neither of them knew the real reason she left Justin. And Tracy didn’t know about Kana and Larry’s insistence that Michelle marry him. Aside from God, Kaiko was the only person that knew it all. Michelle hadn’t ever planned on telling anyone all of her troubles. And she certainly would never have guessed that if she had to tell someone, it would be Kaiko. After the betrayal she felt, after the time and the distance that had come between them, Michelle didn’t even consider Kaiko a friend up until yesterday. And now, here they were, sitting together like children, sharing their fears, their worries and their dreams like they had done so many times before.
Michelle reached the farmhouse porch and sat down on the porch swing. She rocked gently in the night and closed her eyes, wanting nothing more than to thank God for the blessings he had bestowed upon her. “Dear God, thank you for everything you have given me. Thank you for letting me see Lilo and spend time with her. Thank you for my family and all of the staff. I love them all so much, even Father. God, I am humbled at how you work in my life. I know you brought Kaiko to me for a reason. And as always, your ways are better than mine. A heavy burden has been lifted from me tonight, and I am so very grateful that you have given me a friend that I can trust and confide in. And, thank you for allowing me to spend time with Daniel. I know it might only be for another day, but I will take the day and enjoy it to the fullest. I know now that if our relationship is to last longer, you will make that happen. I trust you and love you God. Amen.”