Love at the Sea

Two: Kaleikoa

I can't take Leilani crying like this.

I swore the day Makana got bitten that I never want Leilani to cry like that again.

I couldn't take myself if she did. But here we are, sitting in the parking lot at the exact beach where everything happened eight years ago.

"Lei, lets go surfing," I tell her so she'll stop crying.

She asked me to teach her, so why not now be the perfect time.

She looked at me, I try to smile but she looks directly at my eyes.

Immediately she starts crying harder.

I stand up and hold out my hand. She looks at it warily and then takes it. I pull her up. She looks at the bed of my truck then covers her mouth.

"You brought surf boards and boogie boards, why?" she asks, her voice is still raw from the all the crying but I can still hear for innocent, sweet voice I love.

I nod then see her smile, the smile that says i-love-this-guy, the smile I wish she can wear everyday forever.

I take out the first board it's my old one, it's smaller than the one I'm using now so she can use it.

She walks over to where the board is and picks it up.

I wonder what she's thinking.

I walk over to the cab of my truck and pull out my duffel bag filled with mine swimsuit and two of hers, couple of glow stick necklaces, plus two towels.

Putting the bag over my head and picking up my board I walked to the shore. I hear her following softly behind as I plant my board on the sand.

I drop the duffel bag and walked over to help her plant her board.

When I get to where she is, her board is already planted good and she's sitting on the sand. "I got swimsuits in my bag," I tell her.

She looks up to me, I wish I knew what she was thinking, then she looks at my bag.

"Help me up please," she says and sticks out her hand.

I pull her up, but immediately after she's up she lets go my hand and walks over to the bag. Does she not even want to touch me?

I hear the bag opening then a laugh. I look over and she's on her back laughing.

I walk over to her and look in the bag, all I see is two of her bikinis though. I look at her and she looks up and smiles.

I ask, "What's wrong with the swimsuits?"

She looks back in the bag and cracks up again.

She then pats one of the bikinis on the sand then tells me sit.

She pulls out the first one: it was black with thin golden lines on them then she pulls out the second one: which was turquoise with the word Aloha in white in the front.

I always like that one.

Then she pulls out the bottom of the bikini and turns it over Bitch in white at the back.

I laugh immediately. No wonder I never see her wear this bikini when our parents are around.

I shake my head and say, "I never realized that's at the back." She laughed some more.

She picks up the bikini and starts to walks back to my truck then stops turns around and walks back to me.

She stands there looking at me until I finally realize she wants my keys to change. I take them out of my pocket and place them in her hand. She closes her hand over them and smiles at me.

She then turns around and walks back to my truck.

Ten minutes later she comes back.

Her long little brown wavy hair is placed into a loose ponytail. "Why aren't you in your swimming trunks?" I look down and said, "I'm already wearing them. I never changed remember?"

She looked out the ocean and says in a quiet voice, "Oh yeah, we were at the beach." Her bright eyes changes from sparkles to blank.

Why did I have to bring it up, shit. I look around and then I remembered, glow sticks.

I reach into my bag and pull out a full package of glow sticks. She looked back at me then to the package I was holding then smiled.

I opened the package took out some and handed back to her. She laughed and took some out and dropped the bag back into the duffel bag.

Then when we put the glow sticks on, pick up our boards and run into the ocean.

It feels like home to me.