Chapter 14: New Truck Love

“You realize what you were expecting me to do, don’t you?”

Siza just stood there giving me a really funny look of mostly disbelief but also, “What the hell is the matter with you?” I was sure she considered me the best definition of a fool. And now I would never be welcomed as a local but turns out the requirements for installation in that private club were just too much for this haole. There were so many reasons controlling my life and “YES” I hated that. Yet... , I just didn’t know.

“I have regarded Linda with too much respect to just treat her like some sex object. Siza, the same goes for you but I think nobody considers, really, treating me like much other than a fool and easy. Seems there’s great interest in what hangs between my legs but as far as the rest of me, not so much. I’ve spent most of my life being treated like that.

I’m staying away from being treated like that. I have the rest of my life to consider. I love it here. I still love you as a friend. You’re special. I’ll have to meet and greet the situation with Linda as best I can but I don’t expect much. She probably hates me and I can’t help that. To be honest I’m really scared and I’m very sad now.

Thank you, and I have to get to work before school.”

Siza walked away back toward the market and she stopped in the middle of the street, turned and looked back at me for a moment. Honestly I just wanted to break down and cry as I sat on fender with my head hanging down. I was heart broken because paradise turned out to be just another place warmer yet as human as any. And it seemed the pleasant weather simply made people abusing people a whole lot easier to accomplish.

It was morning, Monday, and I had to get the front line started then off to college. Arriving I had an idea to write Linda a note quickly with a borrowed typewriter in the library. I’d left a little time for that before my first class. I never was able to explain myself with spoken words; I would write it out better.

After my first class I saw her in the hall with a group. A girl touched her shoulder and indicated me as I approached. She turned slowly, looked at me nonplussed and I handed her the folded paper, “Please?, I’m sorry.” I walked on and didn’t look back. I don’t know why I said “sorry” but that was just me. I was always apologizing for something to everyone since I was marked as a dud.

Mrs. Chee was really funny that morning in Biology. She was parting out a cow heart and telling us how she was going to cook it for her family that night. Then she went on about how we needed to drink a lot of fluids in Hawaii because it was so warm. And I did drink a lot.

It was priority one on the shopping lists for my sister. There was always a couple of large containers of juice in the fridge at all times. You just went through it without even thinking. You were always thirsty it seems. I had an old Coldspot fridge in the storage part of my work shed too so I could stock it with pitchers of water.

An Aside: One thing you learned in the islands was how people worked harder to keep the interior of their houses clean but didn’t spend that much time on the outside. Clean inside was key in keeping the cock roaches under control, those smart and ancient critters actually seemed to show some degree of intelligence.

They were really big. You could hear them walking. If you didn’t clean up the kitchen immediately after dinner they were just waiting it seems. Turn on the light later and it was cockroach asses and elbows heading for the exits. Such a flutter, it was unnerving if you weren’t used to it. I’d stepped on plenty in the dark as I padded my way to the bathroom.

Mrs. Chee also mentioned we should be aware of the research paper required at semester end. It was up to us which topic we would pursue. We didn’t have to have her approve it. We could choose and go to work. She wanted us to be creative. Mild panic set in as I tried to come up with something immediately, something clever perhaps. It would take a while.

I was interested in all things biology, kind of leaned toward Ecology because it was being touted as the new important field of interest. Turns out they were completely right about that. I pondered what to do in that regard in Hawaii. So I asked a lot of questions wherever, whenever and I found a couple of subjects interesting to me. They were about importing species into the islands for controlling pests.

One was the mongoose, something I’d never seen before. It was brought to the islands to help control rats. That one didn’t work because they weren’t nocturnal. But one time I was riding my motorcycle down a jungle dead end road and a mongoose came running out alongside me and just kept coming. I sped up but it tried to go faster before it gave up. I have always wondered if the mongoose was out to get me, was simply grudge racing or thought it was going to outrun me and be saved from the noisy beast on two spinning wheels. Anyway, the other subject of intrigue was what was commonly called the Mosquito fish.

It was brought to the islands for release in fresh water ways so it could eat larvae. Mosquitoes on the island were a big problem. They really flourished. There were other methods for control including, in Kaneohe, Briggs Stratton motor driven air pumps sitting on the backs of pickup trucks that spewed insecticide mixed with smoke as it drove down through all the neighborhoods. This was done in the evening and you got a double dose of smoke to breath plus the added insecticide; I don’t know which chemical. Compare this with mosquito fish and the fish turn out to be far more benign to the environment.