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NOELANI HAD HER FOOT PRESSED down on the gas, flying through the exit out of LAX just as the clock hit midnight.
Normally, Noelani considered herself to be an excellent and safe driver, especially when someone she loved was in the car with her.
But these weren't normal times; her boyfriend and cousin were missing and sitting idle wasn't her style.
"Noel, slow down!" Anela pleaded from where she was sitting on the passenger side, her hand gripped so tight around the handlebar that her knuckles were white, "You're gonna get a ticket!"
"Forget that! She's gonna kill us!" Her uncle Makani yelled from the backseat.
"Seriously, slow down!" Noelani's cousin, Maui chimed in as Noelani speedily weaved her way through traffic on Interstate 105.
"I'm almost to the Forum," Noelani spoke back to her family, ignoring the scathing looks she was receiving in return, "Everyone please just shut the hell up so I can focus."
"Noel, please!" Her mother begged again, this time gripping Noelani's dominant hand, "We're gonna get there, just slow down!"
"Mom, I'm not slowing down! Just hold on to something, okay?" She replied in a half-determined, half-frustrated tone, "We're almost-. We're here!"
Noelani swung the car into a half-circle-like motion to avoid hitting an oncoming car then continued to speed up on the road.
"Slow down! Nel, get your kid!" Noelani ignored her uncle as the parking lot to the Forum came into view and then parked on the street before quickly unbuckling her seat belt and sliding out of the seat so her feet could hit the pavement.
"Wait," Anela unbuckled also, "You're not going alone. C'mon." She directed the last word to her brother and nephew but Maui simply shook his head, "She just tried to kill us. I'm getting an Uber."
"I don't have time for this," Noelani's tone was aggravated now as she slammed the driver's side door closed and then jogged to the parking lot. She swung her head wildly to scan the entire perimeter, "I don't understand. They should be here. He should be here."
Anela pressed a hand to Noelani's shoulder as the woman continued to move her head and body every which way in an attempt to make sure there was no spot in the dark parking lot she could have missed.
"He should... He should be here," Noelani repeated as her heart dropped from her chest to the soles of her shoes.
"Look," Maui nodded over to the other side of the lot where a lone car was parked. With no hesitation, Noelani gently shrugged her mother off to speed walk over, her curls swinging due to the fierce movement.
