Summer Solstice

Walking With Kaida

She only dragged me for about half a block before finally dropping my arm. I shrugged my shoulder back into place and hefted the bag into my other arm. "Thanks. For that." I stared at the snow covered ground. "Thanks for what? Helping her understand what the word 'busy' meant, or for getting you out of there before you got physical?" She gave me a sidelong glance, but I just shook my head. "No, I wouldn't have done anything, why would I?" "Well, technically, she was trying to hit on Konai."

Something kicked in my chest, and I didn't want to think on what that thing was. I could not be so attached to Konai so soon, that the thought of another girl with him would....

*Ouch!*

Jeez, there it was again. I didn't like thinking about not being with Konai, or anybody else being with him. It hurt just a little, and my skin felt itchy and weird, like I just wanted to crawl out of myself and hide. Or hurt someone. That couldn't be healthy.

"Do you think Konai would be better off, you know, with a girl like her?" My chest ached but I pasted on a small smile.

"Are you kidding me? No way, you're the best thing that's ever happened to him. You're perfect together." She jarred my ribs with her elbow, "Besides, you can't tell me you weren't thinking about hurting her, you looked ready to maim something." She laughed.

"Okay, I guess I was a little irritated about the whole party thing, but it got worse when she grabbed you." I rubbed my forehead with my free hand. Even thinking about her grabbing Kaida made my head hurt.

"Really?" She sounded a bit surprised, and I had to stop walking and turn back to her. "Well, yeah, she had no right to do that, and I thought she was threatening you."

"Aw... my brave protector." She hugged me, then took the groceries out of my arms.

"My turn, I'll carry them the rest of the way." She winked at me and started walking again. "I can't really see you doing anything to hurt anyone Andrea, Homer is such a softy, he's practically a teddy bear." "Yeah, that's true. He is." My grandfather was just a squishy push over, but I never took advantage of that. He was just a dear, sweet, quiet man. And I loved him so much. But talking about Homer had me thinking about other things.

"Will you tell me about the Maggie thing?" I asked as I jogged to catch up to her. Her pace slowed and she exhaled slowly. "Fine, okay. Sometimes Maggie sees things." She glanced at me and then back to the sidewalk. "Sometimes they make sense and sometimes they don't. But being the eldest tribal member, we have a profound respect for whatever she says. Plus, she's never wrong."

"Wait, what do you mean she sees things?" Maggie had been a lot like a mom to me, and had incredible insight. I always chalked it up to women's intuition.

"I'm not sure, it's kind of like a random thought, I guess, I've never really asked. But hasn't she ever said anything to you that didn't make sense at the time, but later on, it did?" I racked my brain and laughed. "Yeah, she told me to pack an umbrella in my lunch pail." The breeze picked up again and I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "It was a perfectly sunny day, no clouds, and I packed an umbrella."

"So you didn't use it?" asked Kaida. "Oh no, I used it, only it was indoors instead of out." She looked at me, confused, "Huh?" I smiled and explained, "I was at Nivik's store when one of the rooms upstairs had started leaking from a broken water pipe. Nobody noticed at first, but when I went up to pay, a chunk of tile fell through the roof, and it started raining, indoors, right in front of the exit."

Kaida smiled at me and nodded her head. I continued, "I'd just bought some newspapers for packing up some things for storage, and I didn't want them to get wet, so I opened up my umbrella and walked out. I ended up helping three other shoppers escape."

"See, she's never wrong."

I thought about that. She saw things, and I wondered just how it worked. But I wasn't brave enough to go ask Maggie if she was psychic. I was just going to leave it as womanly intuition, that was good enough for me.

The wind got stronger and it took a while to get back to her house. We opened the door carefully, so it wouldn't bang backwards against the house. I held the door as she stepped inside, then carefully clicked the door into place. Turning, I started into the house, only to bump gently into Kaida's back. "What's...." But I stopped as the kitchen door slammed open.

"You don't understand!" Konai shouted. Patu stopped in the end of the hallway and Homer stood next to him, but put a restraining hand on Konai's chest.

"Of course I understand, but you need to change this, it'll never work!" Patu's voice was just as loud and twice as harsh.

"But dad, I NEED her." He looked imploring at Homer and then back at his father.

"No son, she may be what you WANT, but she is not what you NEED." His voice cracked like a whip.

I knew they were only words, but they sliced right through me, and I gasped from the sudden pain it inflicted.

All three men froze, Homer and Konai's heads whipped towards us.

The pain in my chest was excruciating, and I felt a single tear find its way out of the corner of my eye. Konai stared at me, his expression nearly unreadable, I could only tell that he was in pain too. I glanced at my grandfather, but his eyes were closed, his stance rigid. Even his hands were clenched into fists. Patu was still looking towards Konai, but it was obvious he wasn't looking at him. His skin had also turned an unnatural chalky white.

"Konai..." Patu's voice sounded hoarse.

"Patu. Outside." My grandfathers voice snapped and crackled through the air. I had never heard him use a stern tone before, and this, this wasn't stern, it was.... Scary.

"But..." Patu whispered.

"NOW."

He hadn't shouted, but everyone in the hallway had jumped, including me. There was no arguing with that tone. I could hear it beyond my ears and deep down into my skin. I was surprised that my grandfather could speak that way, but more impressive, or shocking, was the fact that he was addressing Patu that way, in his own house.

Without opening his eyes, Homer lifted his arm and pointed a finger towards the back door, and I watched in awe as Patu turned and walked towards the back door, his hands looked like they were shaking.

Konai turned to follow his father. Homers eyes opened and locked on Konai. He spoke softly to him, but the tone underneath was just as stern. "No, you take the girls in and have them help finish with lunch, your dad and I just need to talk. We'll be back in.... when I'm done."

I watched as he left the hallway and joined Patu outside. Konai released a breath he'd been holding. "I hope he's alright." He said softly.

"Do you think your dad's mad? I'd hate for him to yell at Homer." I paused next to Konai in the hall, and stared out the window, but I couldn't see them.

"What?" He looked at me, his face was also a bit pale. "I'm not worried about Homer. He's, well..... he's Homer. I'm worried about my dad."