Chapter 28
Summer had started and Peter remained on Maui staying with Vince at his house until he found a place of his own. The two of them and the Kaupule brothers had decided to rent an apartment in town. His cell phone rang one day and it was his father.
“I just wanted to give you an update on the latest with your old friend, Jeff.”
“Oh really?” Peter asked. “What did you hear?”
His father went on to explain that charges had been filed against Jeff on the Big Island as well. He would be facing some serious jail time to the extent that he had been involved in dealing drugs. He also informed him about Koni Boy and how Peter and Kaila had suspected he was spying on them online. The police informed his dad that indeed Koni Boy had been breaching the security of several internet sites in order to read his and Kaila’s emails and online chat sessions.
“You know how they caught him?” his dad asked.
“No, how?”
“The emails you saved. That was really smart, Pika. Both you and Kaila. They investigated the dates and times those password reset emails were sent and discovered Koni Boy was committing the breaches while he was at work at that high-tech place on Maui.”
Peter gasped over the phone. “Isn’t that even worse than doing it from home?”
“Yep. They traced an IP address right back to his company. So they started investigating the company. Well, as you can imagine, that did not sit well with his employer. It became clear that Koni Boy acted alone and the company was not charged. However he is facing multiple counts of internet intrusion and computer crimes.”
“Wow,” Peter drawled. “Unbelievable.”
His dad continued, “I even heard they got rid of his father just by association. He was pretty high up in the company, but the other executives did not like the embarrassment or the publicity. The pressure of being sued by these huge online companies was too much. His family had a huge home and a lot of land up near the Kula area too. I hear he’s having to sell it since they both were let go.”
“No kidding?” Peter asked. “They will have to sell it?”
“Absolutely. After having a criminal record like that? Probably lose everything. They won’t be able to find a job in that field ever again after all that. Just goes to show you, doesn’t matter how smart these hackers think they are, it all comes around to bite them.”
“Well, I guess it serves him right for spying like that. What a loser.”
“So when you are coming home, son?” he asked.
“Well, I’ve been thinking, Dad. I think I might stay. I feel like I need to be here.”
“You sure that’s what you want to do, son?”
“I don’t want to give up, Dad,” Peter said confidently. “I love her that much.”
“I know you do, son. You do what you need to do. I had a feeling you would say as much. Listen, I talked to a man I know who works for the county over there. Think he might be able to fit you in.”
“Thanks, Dad. I think I’ll give them a call.”
“They already know you are coming.” His dad paused for a moment. “Let us know if you need anything.”
“I will.”
“And Peter?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m proud of you, son.”
Kaila sat at the breakfast table at her aunt and uncle’s house. She still looked quite sad. It has been several weeks since graduation and she could not get Peter out of her mind.
“You all right there, kiddo?” Lupe asked as he walked in.
“I’m OK,” she answered. “I just miss him.”
Lupe looked at her with concern. “Don’t let Nani hear that.”
Kaila looked at if him as she were about cry. She shook her head. “I don’t know what to do. I hate this.”
Lupe looked over his shoulder to make sure Nani was not in the room. “Listen, I heard from a friend of mine with the county that he has taken a job with them on the road crew.”
Kaila looked at him with wide eyes. “What? How would know that? Are you sure?” She looked at him suspiciously too. “And why would you find that out?”
“Oh just a hunch I had. I was curious.” He walked over to the computer on the kitchen desk and started doing a search. “Looks to me like they are working near the pali today. That’s right on your way to your summer job at the paper if I’m not mistaken.”
Kaila stood up eagerly. “Are you serious? Nani would have a fit.” But she ran over and gave him a hug. “Oh thank you, Uncle Lupe!”
“Thank him for what?” Nani asked as she walked in. She glanced over at the computer and saw what he had pulled up. “Oh no. I thought we had gone over this! What are you showing her that for?”
“Nani, please,” Lupe pleaded with her. “Look at her. She hardly eats anymore. She’s been moping around here for months. She loves him, Nani.”
“But I said…”
“Baby, you remember how we met? It was the same way. In high school. Neither one of us had any money. I didn’t go to college either. But now look at us. Trust me baby, I wouldn’t change any of that for the world.” He put his arms around her and kissed her. He could see that he was getting through to her.
“I know, but – that was a long time ago,” Nani said quietly.
“Times haven’t changed that much.” Lupe smiled at her broadly. She smiled at him too, forgetting Kaila was standing right there.
“But your sister,” she continued. “What will she say?”
“Let’s let her worry about that, OK?”
Nani knew he was right. She had to let Kaila decide on her own. She looked over at Kaila and smiled. “You better go, you might be late for work.”
Peter stood along the hot road in the mid-morning sun. He wore a white hard hat and held the sign for traffic that said ‘slow’ or ‘stop.’ The oncoming traffic on his side was stopped for the moment as a row of cars slowly passed from the other direction. He stretched his knees as they became tired of standing in one place for so long.
He got the signal on his walkie-talkie that the way was clear, so he turned the sign around to say ‘slow’ and signaled for traffic to continue by. The cars started slowly up the hill that wound its way around the rocky pali.
He paid little attention to the cars passing by until at the very end of the line he noticed something very familiar. At the very end of the line a baby blue colored scooter puttered by. A young girl in a white helmet and with sunglasses on, with her cute ponytail hanging out from under her helmet, went riding past. His heart raced as she slowly rode up the steep hill. His hands shook as he tried to steady the sign post he was holding. He thought for sure she had seen him but she never looked his way. As she neared the top of the hill, his hope began to fade as she was nearly out of sight. He stared at the ground and felt all those sad emotions rushing back to him, as if he wanted to sob right then and there.
But from the corner of his eye, and to his pleasant surprise, he saw the tiny blue scooter turn around in the middle of the road and head back towards him down the hill.
The End
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