𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐃𝐒 .

4.

᪥

"mahi, you almost done?"

the question was left, unanswered, by the fifteen year old who did not care currently for the person who was asking as he sat on his bed in the middle of his now bare room. even though there was still furniture in the place, it felt as barren and empty as the middle of a desert. it couldn't be helped though; mahi'ai had been avoiding packing the whole two weeks that followed his mother's announcement and now, the night before his flight, he had shoved every single bit of clothing, every comfort blanket woven by his grandmother, every hair oil (which was way too many), and every single little memory into only two suitcases. nothing could stop him from feeling underprepared to live with someone else for two and a half years, and not even the promise of his wardrobe being extended when he arrived could change that.

he did not care about the fancy clothing his dad claimed he would get for him or the new bed-set or the bigger room- no matter how good "jersey" was supposed to sound, nothing was better than the sounds of the ocean so close to him; than the sounds of birds and the soft humming of the grass; than the full plates, full of good food his grandmother always had for him; than the freedom that ran through his curls when he ran through their farmland on the estate; nothing was, and it absolutely devastated him.

nothing seemed to make sense. his mother's actions definitely screamed her lack of sense yet so did his fathers, who was quick to say he "hadn't seen his child in nine years" but also had never sent a letter- never rung a phone- never even tried for the duration of those nine years, and if he did the knowledge of it was completely hidden away from mahi'ai. in fact, mahi'ai was confused as to why his dad was even interfering in his life, a life he had made clear he didn't want to partake in. it had been like that since mahi was a baby; his father wanted no parts in raising a boy who barely looked like one- in a boy that he didn't really consider one simply because of something nobody could control. his father wanted no parts in all the "mystical bullshit" that mahi'ai stemmed his whole identity from, not caring once if it completely warped his vison of himself; no parts, until now.

the only person that had wanted parts, despite any of the unseen "complications" of mahi'ai was his grandmother- and now she was being ripped away from him.

"mahi."

the boy shifted in discomfort as he continued to stare out of his little room that was the size of a slightly widened walk-in closet. he made no efforts to reply to his mother, who instead of allowing him to wallow in his anger walked over to him. the skirt of her long dress graced the floor as she sat down next to him on the bed, looking over at the teenager in a sweater much too big for him and not much else as he refused to acknowledge her presence.

"mahi'aiiiii." leleani whined, throwing herself onto her son who glared as he had no choice but to stand her lovingly obnoxious behavior. "please do not be like this."

"i have rights to." the fifteen year old muttered, his fairly light voice weighted by the anger dancing so wildly thoughout his body. "why i gotta live wit him? all he do is call me a girl. he calls me his daughter."

lelani's eyes softened visibly over at the boy who only tucked his knees tighter to his chest, not helping the sigh that immediately escaped her lips in a downcast verification of his words simply because it was true- somebody like mahi'ai would have trouble forcing himself through a normal societal system simply because he was not normal; he was inbetween- mahu- and outside of hawaii, almost nobody would acknowledge it. nobody would understand but his own people that he wasn't a freak or an abomination; he was simply a gift- or at least that's what his grandmother had drilled into him every morning as a young child, followed with a kiss to make him feel better about the fact that he was always ordered to stay home with his aunties instead of venturing out with his uncle.