“The big bad wolf,” Katie popped off. “Open up or I’ll — ”
The door swung open, and Christy said, “You scared me.”
“I’ve been doing that to everybody today. Sorry.”
“No, it’s just that I’m not used to this apartment yet, and your pounding really echoed.”
“I rang the doorbell a couple of times.”
“That’s one of several things we’ve discovered doesn’t work. I’ve started a list for the landlord. Come in!”
Katie stepped inside and gave Christy a hello hug, but her gaze was fixed on the abundance of boxes all over the floor. “You weren’t kidding about the maze of gifts. Man, I guess it pays to have a big wedding. Look at all this great stuff!”
The last time Katie was in the apartment, she and Christy had tried to find a way to make the space feel homey with Christy and Todd’s sparcer-than-sparce assortment of worldly possessions. At that point all Christy and Todd owned was a bookshelf, a bed, and an ultra-funky “couch” Todd had made. He crafted his one-of-a-kind couch out of the backseat of his now defunct VW bus, Gus, and his beloved orange surfboard, Naranja. When Todd gave Christy the gem before they were married, she had tried to find a place to put it in the dorm room. She and Katie called it “Narangus” after the two patron suppliers of the art parts. The chair looked cool, but it was nearly impossible to find a comfortable way to sit on it.
Narangus was still in its prime position by the wall in the living room area, but now it was flanked by standing floor lamps with price tags hanging from their shades. Sitting on Narangus was one of the many gifts still in a box.
“Is that an ice cream maker?” Katie asked.
“Yes, it is. We received two of those. And four blenders and two waffle makers. We registered, but I think the system went down for a day or something because my mom said the lists didn’t update to show people what had been purchased.”
“You can easily exchange the stuff, can’t you?”
Christy nodded. “First I’m trying to take an inventory to see what we have and what we still need.”
“It looks like you were serious about needing trash bags for the gift-wrap.” Katie stepped over to a stack of folded gift-wrap that came up to her knees. “Or are you saving this to wallpaper your bedroom?”
“We have enough to wallpaper the whole apartment,” Christy said. “But the paper needs to go.”
Christy shuffled through a stack of plastic bags and handed one of them to Katie. “I was going to wrap this for you out of the abundance of wrapping paper options, but you already know what it is.”
Katie opened the bag and pulled out the celebrated grass skirt and coconut top. The set even came with a plastic orange hibiscus. “Now this is classic,” Katie said. “I don’t think it could be any cheesier. I love it!”
“Try it on.”
“Now?”
“You and I are the only ones here. Put it on over your clothes.”
Katie fumbled to untangle the ties and to adjust the coconut top. “Please don’t tell me anyone in Hawaii actually wears this sort of get-up.”
“The hula dancers wear a more sophisticated version at the luaus,” Christy said.
“With the coconut top and everything?”
Christy nodded. “If you have the right size coconuts, it’s actually more modest than a bikini top.”
“I don’t think I have the right size coconuts,” Katie said. “And that comment doesn’t leave this room, by the way.”
Christy giggled.
Katie turned around to reveal a big gap in the back where the grass skirt didn’t make it all the way around her waist. “Feelin’ a bit breezy back there. Is this a Hawaiian hospital gown or something?”
Christy picked up the wrapper. “Oh, no! Katie, I’m so sorry!”
“What?”
“This is a child-sized set. I’m so bummed. I thought Todd picked up the adult size.”
“You let Todd pick this out?”
“I was in line buying the groceries.”
“Yeah, that would explain a lot. Here’s my suggestion. Don’t let Todd pick out any clothing for you from here on out.”
“I’m so bummed!”
“I’m not. This is hilarious,” Katie said. “Besides, the flower is definitely one-size-fits-all.” She snatched up the plastic hibiscus and stuck it behind her ear. When she did, the artificial stamen fell out and did a triple flip on its way to the floor.
Katie and Christy both looked at the caterpillar-like piece of plastic. They turned to each other and burst out laughing.
“It’s the thought that counts,” Katie said. “That you and Todd thought of me makes this gift special.”
“You’re being pretty gracious,” Christy said.
“Yes, I am. And now to demonstrate my graciousness, I will perform for you and you alone a very special dance rarely seen anywhere this side of the islands.” Katie wiggled her hips, swished her hands, and shook her head while humming a string of notes that didn’t seem to enjoy being strung together.
Christy laughed so hard she had to sit down.
Katie finished with a toe forward bow and looked at her best friend. Christy wiped the giggle-tears out of her eyes.
“That had to be the worst hula ever,” Christy said.
“You’re mean.”
“No, I’m not. I’m being honest. And here’s the thing. I really did try, Katie. I tried to find something to bring back for you that would be fun. After that demonstration, I’d say I succeeded.”
“You did. You succeeded stupendously. Thanks. Or do I say ‘aloha’?”
“If you’re trying to say thank you in Hawaiian, you say ‘mahalo.’ ” Christy sounded like an expert.
Katie tried to repeat mahalo, and Christy smiled.
That’s when Katie noticed what Christy was wearing. She had on shorts and one of Todd’s standard, navy blue, hooded sweatshirts with the sleeves pushed up. Her skin bore the golden glow of someone who had just spent a week in the tropics. Her long, nutmeg brown hair was pulled up in a clip with the ends doing their own thing in a happy imitation of a palm-fronds-in-the-breeze dance.
The corners of Katie’s mouth curled up in a wistful grin.
“What?”
“You’re married, Christy.”
Christy’s glowy skin rose to an even higher level. “I know.”
“So, Mrs. Spencer?”
“So?”
“So, do tell all.”
Christy gleamed. Her blue-green eyes grew soft around the corners. “Being married is wonderful.”
“And . . .”
A demure, knowing smile was the only response Katie received. The woman had a few secrets, and she was keeping them safe and sound in the corner of her heart.
Lowering herself to the open spot on Narangus next to the ice cream maker, Katie adjusted the grass skirt she still was wearing and leaned back. “I’m not asking for the . . . you know . . . intimate details. I just want to know, from your married-woman mouth to my virgin-woman ears, what’s it like on the other side? Tell me the purity part of it isn’t a hoax. I need to know that what I’m saving for my future husband is worth the wait.”
“Oh, it’s worth the wait, all right. Definitely.” Christy’s glowy blush was now enlivened with an expression of wide-eyed wonder and satisfaction. “It is oh-so-worth the wait, Katie. Trust me on this one.”
Katie never had seen her friend so vibrant. Vibrant yet tranquil. If innocence rewarded had an expression, Katie was looking at it.
“You look pretty happy, Chris.”
“I am deliriously happy.” Christy moved the ice cream maker and sat on the other end of Narangus.
Christy’s expression was enough to make Katie believe in her own abstinence decisions all over again. Katie wasn’t entirely inexperienced when it came to guys, but she had changed the path she was headed down when she broke up with Michael in high school. Looking at her friend now, Katie felt all her hope renewed that she
might one day return from her honeymoon and be as glowy as Christy.
“You know all those thousands and thousands of kisses you’ve been saving, Katie? Well, you keep saving those kisses. You will be so glad you did. Because there you’ll be, on the other side of the longing, and you’ll be a married woman, free to break open the bank and . . . well . . .” Christy’s expression changed. She now had the look of a woman who wore a veil of confidentiality.
“Well?” Katie prodded. “Finish your sentence.”
Christy thought for a moment. “You know what? I think I’ll let you finish that sentence for yourself. On your honeymoon.”
They sat in silence looking at each other, blinking and gazing and saying nothing.
A small giggle escaped from someplace deep inside of Christy.
“What?”
“I was just thinking of something a woman in Lahaina said to me when Todd and I bought our bedspread. Come here, you have to see our new bedspread. It’s a handmade Hawaiian quilt. We used some of our wedding money to buy it. The pattern is breadfruit.”
Katie followed Christy through the maze of boxed gifts into the bedroom. On the bed was spread a beautiful quilt in shades of soft turquoise, brown, and cream. The connecting leaf and bulb-shaped pattern made no sense to Katie, but then she had no idea what a breadfruit was.
“This is what the woman said to me.” Christy reached for a slip of paper on the dresser and read to Katie in halting words, “ ‘Nana no a ka ‘ulu I paki kepau.’ ”
“Easy for you to say,” Katie spoofed.
Christy grinned. “It means ‘Go for the gummy breadfruit.’ ”
Katie let out a guffaw. “I think I understood it better in Hawaiian! Did this sage seller of breadfruit bedspreads explain what she meant?”
“Yes, of course. Breadfruit grows on trees in Hawaii the way peaches grow on a tree. Only the breadfruits can get as large and round as a grapefruit, or even as large as a basketball. The Hawaiians can tell the breadfruit is mature and ready to pick when it turns ‘gummy.’ ”
“Gummy,” Katie repeated. “Like a gummy bear?”
Christy laughed. “That’s exactly what I said when the woman at the quilt store was explaining this to us. She said the older Hawaiian women would tell the young women to look for a man who was ‘gummy,’ meaning he was mature and ready to be picked. That’s when I turned to Todd and told him he was my gummy bear, and I was glad I picked him.”
Katie covered her face with her hands.
“I know,” Christy said. “That’s what Todd did too. But think about it, Katie. It’s true. Love ripens. It really does. And when it’s ripe, that’s how you know it’s time to pick. Not before it’s ripe.”
“Is that what the woman in the shop told you?”
“No, that’s just what I think. The woman at the shop said she thought we were a beautiful couple and circled with aloha.”
“And she obviously thought you were beautiful enough to buy her bedspread,” Katie quipped. “As well as aloha-savvy enough to carry home the secret proverb of the gummy breadfruit.”
They laughed together and Christy asked, “Do you want something to drink?”
“Sure.”
Katie couldn’t help but apply Christy’s Hawaiian folklore to her unstable feelings about Rick. If what they felt for each other was love, Katie knew it wasn’t ripe yet. As much as she hated to admit it, the best thing they could do was to keep hanging around together like a couple of ungummy breadfruits on a tree.
Katie considered saying all this to Christy, but her friend was so buoyant that Katie wanted to hold back her relationship woes and just bask in the freshness of Christy’s ripe and tender love.
“We have juice and bottled water,” Christy said as they picked their way back through the living room labyrinth into the tiny kitchen.
“Here’s a question,” Katie said. “Where are you going to put all those groovy new appliances?”
“I don’t know. We didn’t think of that when we registered for these handy gadgets. When you have nothing, the opportunity to be given so many new things is appealing. Then when you get all the stuff and have no place to put it, the appreciation dwindles. That’s why I’m making a list of everything and trying to decide what we really need. Right now, what we need the most is rent money. Our next payment is due in twelve days, and neither of us has a paycheck coming for two weeks.”
“You’re bursting my bubble about how dreamy you just said married life is.”
Christy looked up at Katie from over the top of the open refrigerator door. “Oh, it’s still dreamy. It’s just expensive. Did you say water or orange juice?”
“I’ll have some O.J.” Then Katie realized water would cost less than the orange juice, and in an effort to help conserve her friends’ resources, she said, “No, make that water instead.”
“Ice?”
“No, this is fine. Thanks.”
“So, tell me about the RA job and how all that happened.”
They sat at the two chairs tucked under the round kitchen table.
Katie still was wearing her hula skirt outfit and made a comical attempt to maneuver the open part around to the side so she could cross her legs.
“You can take that off, you know,” Christy said.
“It’s way more fun keeping it on.” Katie told Christy how Julia approached her at the wedding right after Todd and Christy drove off in the limo.
“Wait.” Katie stopped her story mid-sentence. “Speaking of the limo, before I tell you anything else, you have to tell me about the letters!”
Christy reached across the table and grabbed Katie’s wrist. “Oh, Katie, you saved the day. You know that, don’t you? I couldn’t believe what those guys did. You saved my honeymoon!”
“I’m not sure you should go that far.”
“No, seriously, Katie. Did I say thank you already? I don’t think I did. Thank you so, so much. You are the best, Katie. Really.”
“So, did you give Todd the letters that night?”
“No, I waited until the next evening.” She smiled.
“And?”
“It was perfect. The moment was as wonderful as I ever dreamed it would be. We made dinner at the condo and ate by candlelight out on the lanai.”
“Lanai? Is that like a patio?” Katie asked.
“Yes. Uncle Bob’s condo is on the sixth floor so the lanai is more like a balcony, and it faces the ocean. It was a perfect night. And the perfect location. Todd and I sat on that same lanai on the night of my sixteenth birthday. That night we looked at the lights on the neighboring island of Molokai, and Todd told me that our future was like those lights. We wouldn’t know what was out there until we got close enough to see the details. Then we would know what to do and which way to go. That night, when I was sixteen, he said we should just keep moving forward toward what we could see.”
Christy sighed contentedly. “There we were, five years later, sitting on that same lanai, and I was watching my true love read my letters to him by candlelight. Katie, it was perfect. Perfect in every way. Todd cried, and I cried, and all the while the lights across the water on Molokai winked back at us. It was as if they knew we would be back, and they waited for us, under the Maui moon.”
“You’re killin’ me! What a romantic, romantic, romantic moment.”
“I know. And Katie, if you hadn’t come running to the limo with the letters, we would have lost that moment. So, again, thank you. Thanks for being such a wonderful best friend.”
Since she hadn’t grown up receiving much affirmation, Katie still found it difficult to take a compliment and just receive it. Her usual response was to make a joke or brush it off.
Unable to let the praise simply sit on her, Katie said, “Well, I’m glad you feel that way because I’m going to need a reference for my new job application.”
“Do you mean the RA position? I thought you already had the job.”
“This is a different job. It’s a side job. I’m a
pplying to be a wedding saver. I must be able to leap over large crowds to catch tumbling bouquets as well as chase limousines wearing only one shoe. Just your basic superhero powers. You will vouch for me, won’t you?”
“Any time.” Christy grinned. “I didn’t hear about the missing shoe, though.”
“Oh, yeah. The Cinderella look when running from a party adds to the romantic ambience.”
“I think you should stick with the RA position. That job will require enough superhuman strength. Tell me more about what happened. You said you talked to Julia at the wedding and then what?”
Katie rolled out the details that led to her decision to take the RA position and included the part about calling her mom.
“What did she say when you told her?” Christy asked.
“Let’s see, she said I should have applied for a janitorial position instead. And my Aunt Mabel passed away.”
“Oh, Katie, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Me, too, but I didn’t even know I had an Aunt Mabel. My mom never had met her either. But you know, if I called home more often, I would know about Mabel and about the bathroom sink.”
“What about the bathroom sink?”
“It backed up.”
“Oh.”
“It’s fine now. Thanks for asking. And as far as my being an RA, well, that news just didn’t exactly rock her world.”
Christy didn’t need to say anything. Her sympathetic expression was enough. Katie had tried to keep a lot of her home life disappointments from being topics of conversation with Christy over the years. Nevertheless, Katie knew that Christy understood some of the voids in Katie’s heart.
“What about Rick? What did he have to say about your getting the position?” Christy asked.
“He’s okay with it. He’s been supportive.”
“Are you guys still in the floaty place?”
“By that do you mean is our relationship still undefined? Yes. Today was a pretty awful day for both of us, though, so ask me where we are again tomorrow.”
“What happened at work?”
Just then the front door of the apartment opened, and Todd entered. He looked more bronzed than Christy, which was expected since Katie was sure Todd had done as much surfing as possible while they were in Maui. His short blond hair had turned lighter in the tropical sunshine.