A trio of musicians played gong, flute and trumpet in one corner of the living room. Next to them, Uncle Chin’s coffin sat about two feet above the ground, with his head of the deceased facing the inside of the house. The area around the head of the coffin was filled with wreaths, gifts and a big color photo of Uncle Chin as a young man.
He was quite handsome then, though there was a deadliness about his eyes that was creepy, even knowing that he was beyond harming anyone. The coffin was open, with plates of food placed in front of it, to feed Uncle Chin on his journey.
A comb, broken in half, was placed in the coffin next to him, and I knew that Aunt Mei-Mei would keep the other half. At the foot of the coffin sat an altar, with burning incense and a lit white candle. Joss paper and prayer money (to provide the deceased with sufficient income in the afterlife) are burned continuously throughout the wake. I stepped up to the altar, bowed to Uncle Chin, and lit a stick of sandalwood incense. I folded a twenty-dollar bill and slipped it into the donation box.
Aunt Mei-Mei would not keep the money there, though often families did use that money to help defray funeral expenses. Rather, it would go to some charity in Chinatown, to further honor Uncle Chin’s memory.
I looked around. The statues of Kwan Yin and other deities in the house had been covered with red paper, to protect them from the body and the coffin, and the big mirror by the front door was gone, because the Chinese believe that if you see the reflection of a coffin in a mirror you will shortly have a death in your family.
The house was crowded, most people in formal aloha attire. I felt a little out of place, a little disrespectful, in my casual aloha shirt and khakis, but at least I’d made it there. Once I’d paid my respects to Uncle Chin, I sought out my parents, hugging them both. “I’m sorry, Dad,” I said. “I know you’ll miss Uncle Chin.”
He smiled. “I will see him again in the next life. It’s good that you came today.”
“Uncle Chin was always good to me.”
On the far side of the room, talking to my sister-in-law Liliha, was Aunt Mei-Mei’s daughter-in-law, Genevieve Pang, widow of Uncle Chin’s illegitimate son and mother of his only grandson, who was unable to attend the funeral due to his incarceration at Halawa Prison.
I made up two big plates of food and recruited Jeffrey and Ashley, my niece and nephew, to take them out to Akoni and Tony Lee. “Make sure you give this one to the thin Chinese guy,” I said to Jeffrey. I leaned down and whispered, “That’s the one I spit in.”
They were both wise to me, though. “Uncle Kimo,” he said. Then he and Ashley took off.
I found Aunt Mei-Mei in the kitchen, frying wontons. “You shouldn’t be doing this, Aunt,” I said, leaning down to kiss her. She wore a flowered apron over her black skirt and white blouse. The matching black jacket was draped over one of the kitchen chairs.
“I need keep busy,” she said. “No want think about Uncle Chin.”
“He was a good man.” I felt the tears I had been fighting for so long start to well up again. “I loved him.”
“Oh, Kimo, he love you, too. He love you, your brothers like his own sons.” She started to cry. “Now what I do? How I live without him?”
I reached over and got a paper towel, and used it to dry her eyes. “Come on, now, you don’t want the wontons to burn, do you?”
I stayed there and helped her for a few minutes. Then my cell phone rang and I walked outside to a quiet corner of the yard to answer it. “We may have a lead,” Lieutenant Sampson said. “A sightseeing helicopter going over Wa’ahila State Park saw a small fire, and swooped in for a closer look. He saw a car and a truck there, and though he couldn’t see plate numbers on either vehicle, they match the description of the ones registered to the Whites.”
“He see anybody around it?”
“Not in the immediate vicinity. But he did see two people who looked like they were running away from the fire. A girl who matches Kitty’s description and a skinny boy with yellow hair.”
My heart started to race. “Did he describe the hair at all? Was it gelled up to a point?”
“You know who it might be?” I told him what I knew about Jimmy Ah Wong. “What the hell’s he doing up there with Kitty?” Sampson asked. He didn’t even wait for an answer. “We’ve got to get some men into that park.”
“I’m looking at it now,” I said. “My uncle’s house butts right up against it. You can set up a command post here.”
“Give me the address.” I gave it to him, and told him there were already two officers from Organized Crime stationed out in the street. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Twenty, if too many asshole drivers get in my way.”
LOGISTICS
I went into the house, found my parents and explained the situation. “I think the boy who ran away is there, too,” I said. “Along with my boss’s daughter, and at least a couple of little kids.”
“I will talk to Aunt Mei-Mei,” my father said. “Uncle Chin’s spirit will be happy if we help you find this boy, and these other people.” He and my mother started circulating among the guests, sending them home.
Lui and Haoa sent their wives and children away but insisted on staying. “We can help you,” Lui said. “You know we know that park pretty well.”
On her way out the door, Liliha stopped and turned to me. “I am a very proud woman, Kimo,” she said. “But I hope that I am not too proud to admit when I have been wrong. And I was wrong about the church. I hope you will forgive me.”
I hugged her and kissed her cheek. “You’re my sister, Lili,” I said. “I’ll always love you, and nothing will get in the way of that.”
For the first time since she’d married my brother, my sister-in-law hugged me back, and I could feel she meant everything she said.
When we pulled apart, I looked up and saw Haoa and Tatiana ahead of us. Tatiana was crying and Haoa was stroking her long, streaked blonde hair. “Be careful,” she was saying. “Just be careful.”
“I will be. Don’t you worry.”
Liliha took control of the situation. “All kids in the cars,” she said, in a voice that reminded me very much of my mother’s. She took Tatiana’s arm, gently prying her away from Haoa. “We’ll all go to my house, Tati,” she said. “I want you to look at this catalogue with me. I’m thinking of changing around the living room.”
I watched my sisters-in-law and my nieces and nephews load up and move out. Jeffrey and Ashley complained; they wanted to stay and help, but they were no good in the face of opposition from their parents, no matter how much they complained that they were teenagers and ought to be treated better than the little keikis.
When the last of the guests had driven away, I went around to the back yard, where Akoni and Tony Lee where talking with my father and brothers. I could smell a faint odor of smoke on a breeze that came down the mountainside. “Somebody needs to evacuate the park,” Akoni said. “Lee and I can do that.”
“I’ll have backup meet you at the entrance to the park,” I said. “Lui, you and Haoa go with them, help them scout the perimeter of the park, then come back here. The fire department should be on their way. You guys will have to coordinate with them, too.”
“I’ve never seen the park so dry,” my father said. “You all better be careful.”
We all walked around to the front yard. My father looked stronger, more energized than he had the day before, and he was able to walk by himself, only touching my mother’s arm occasionally.
Haoa said, “I’ll drive,” and Lui, Akoni and Tony Lee jumped into his old panel van to head down to the park entrance.