Chapter 6
Just as Peter had expected, he was assigned to the pigs. He and two other boys whom he did not know walked over to the pens where the pigs lived. It looked just as he had imagined a pig pen would look, full of mud and dirt and a smell that could only belong to a bunch of pigs. The pen was much larger than he had expected, as there were quite a few pigs in there, a lot more than Peter had hoped.
He had seen pigs before, of course; they were a common animal raised throughout the islands. They were a prevalent food source and also the primary course served at the multitude of luau’s held for tourists on each of the islands. So seeing a pig farm in Hawaii was not all that uncommon. Yet, seeing them up close was not something Peter was used to. Some of the hogs were massive in size, weighing hundreds of pounds. They ranged in all sizes, even down to the cute little piglets.
The other two boys, Ty and Sal, went right to work giving the pigs fresh water and food. The barn had rubber waders hanging on the wall that the workers could put on to keep from getting too muddy. The barn was also equipped with a watering hose and small tools to clean the mud off the waders after they were done. Part of their duty was to keep the equipment clean after finishing the chores around the pig pen. The shed was centered in between the two main pens, with each pen holding a certain number of pigs. It seemingly kept each pen separate, with only a small fenced-in pathway in between them for moving pigs from one side to the other.
Peter didn’t ask too many questions, he just did what the other two boys were doing and followed their lead. Ty and Sal had obviously tended to the pigs before. Peter noticed another worker on the other side of the shed, but could not tell who or how many others were helping.
Ty spoke up as he was filling a trough with some water. “I think we got this side if you want to go to the other side and help her out with the little ones,” he suggested.
“Her?” Peter said out loud. “Oh, the little ones are kept on that side, OK. I’ll head over there.” Peter was a little surprised to hear that a girl was working in the pig pen. He sloshed towards the shed and kicked the mud off his waders a little, then walked through the middle to the other side. As he approached, he could hear the sound of many much younger pigs and piglets squealing happily. He peered around the corner to see a young girl standing over a trough inside the pen pouring feed into it. She was surrounded by several little pigs. She giggled with delight as she fed them. Peter smiled at the sight and nearly laughed out loud but he didn’t want to startle her.
Clearing his throat, he raised his voice so as to be heard over the squealing and said, “They said I should come over here and help you out.”
The girl didn’t turn to look and see who was talking to her, but kept putting out feed. A smile appeared on her face when she heard his voice and then she said, “I think you are following me, aren’t you?”
When she spoke, Peter instantly remembered the sound of her delightful voice. He felt his stomach swell with excitement as if he had butterflies inside. He knew it was her. His heart began to pound. She was the one! he thought. She was the one he had noticed in the crowd earlier. He could not believe his luck. He could not believe she was here at this school with him. And on top of that, she was a boarder too!
He fumbled for something to say. Finally he was able to make a sound. “Hey, it’s you from the church! Kaila!”
Kaila turned around and smiled at him. “Hey there yourself,” she said kindly. “Aren’t they cute?” She laughed as the little pigs tromped around her feet. “Ha ha! I missed these little guys.”
Peter laughed and answered, “Yeah they are. I think they like you!”
He stepped into the pen with her. He still could not believe his good fortune. Even standing there in the pig pen in rubber waders, her feet and legs covered in mud, she still was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. “I didn’t know if I’d get to see you again. Such a nice surprise to see you here,” he said very gentlemanly.
“Likewise,” Kaila responded with a smile. “It’s good to see you too.” She tried to move around the swarm of pigs. “Hey, can you grab that hose and water the trough over there for them? Then we’ll be done.”
“Oh sure,” Peter responded and immediately grabbed the hose and walked it over to the watering trough. He was all too happy to help her out. He was astounded it was actually her.
“The mango was good by the way,” Kaila said.
Peter had almost forgotten. “Oh, that’s great. I’m glad you liked it.” Just then he stumbled over some excited little piglets and nearly fell into the mud. He caught himself on the fence just in time. The pigs went scampering away, squealing with delight.
Kaila laughed out loud. She had already stepped out of the pen and had begun to wash off her waders. “You OK in there? Need me to send in a rescue team? Ha ha!”
Peter laughed at himself as he held on to the fence. “I think I’ll make it. But be ready to come in after me just in case,” he chuckled.
Just then a very tiny piglet came snorting around his feet. He nearly did not see the little animal.
“Oh look!” Kaila shouted. “I didn’t see him! Look at him, he’s so adorable!”
Startled, Peter looked down at his feet. “Oh wow, I didn’t see him either! Hey little guy!”
He was indeed the cutest little piglet ever. And he was not even covered in any mud. He was perfectly clean still. His little snout sniffed around Peter’s feet.
“Awww, you nearly stepped on our little baby,” Kaila said warmly.
She skipped around the fence to where he was standing. Peter slowly bent down and scooped the tiny piglet into his gloves. The piglet squealed momentarily and then settled quietly into Peters hands. “Hey there little guy,” he said again softly.
Kaila came up behind and leaned over the fence. He held the pig up so she could see him. “Oh my gosh, he is so cute,” she said, lowering her voice. They did not want to frighten the little pig. “Would you look at that? I’ve never seen one so small. Awwww…”
“Wow, neither have I,” Peter replied.
“Look at him, he loves you,” Kaila said, smiling widely. “Ha ha, he wants to go to sleep right in your arms. Isn’t that sweet.”
“Yeah, who wouldn’t?” he chuckled. Kaila rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, so much excitement in here, he’s all worn out. Poor little guy. Here, you wanta hold him?” He raised his arms so she could get hold of the piglet. She still had her gloves on and the little pig easily settled in her hands, never squealing once. He snorted in her hands, as cute as can be, and then laid his little head down against her arms. Peter smiled proudly at her. “He loves you too.” Kaila smiled back at Peter. She was loving every second of this moment.
Time was getting short and they needed to get back to school to get cleaned up for breakfast. So she slowly lowered him to the ground inside the pen and let him scamper free. They both watched as the little piglet joined the rest of the pigs over by the feeding trough.
They cleaned their waders and the rest of the tools and stowed them away in the shed. “So,” Kaila began. “You are a boarder here too. You must be new.”
“Yeah, who would have thought that, huh?” Peter replied. “Never would have guessed I’d be running into you here after seeing you at church the other day.”
“Yeah, me neither,” Kaila said. “So this is your first year?”
“My first and my last,” Peter said matter-of-factly. “What about you?”
“You don’t see too many boarders come in for their senior year,” Kaila said curiously. She knew there was a lot more to his story. And he obviously was not willing to share too much just yet. “I’m a senior too, so we will be graduating together.”
“Hopefully,” Peter responded. “I suck at school.”
Kaila laughed. “Oh, I think you’ll be fine. Sometimes it’s not easy here, but you’ll make it. You survived your first day with the pigs, right?”
Peter laughed in response.
“Yeah, nine more months and maybe I can go pro working with pigs.”
“That’s the spirit,” she laughed. “Come on, I’m starving. Let’s go get some breakfast.”
They walked together back to the dorms and before going their separate ways, he stopped and called out to Kaila. “It was great seeing you again. I’m glad you’re here.”
Looking over her shoulder as she walked towards her dorm, she said with a smile, “Same here.”
Peter stood in line in the cafeteria, patiently waiting to finally get some breakfast. The early morning rise and work made him famished. Yet he could not help, but smile at meeting Kaila again. For the first time he actually felt happy to be at Lahainaluna. And he marveled at the odds of seeing her at church when he first arrived on Maui and then again here at school, and doing the same work detail as he was. He just felt there was a reason behind all the coincidence. He could feel it churning in his belly. Or maybe he was just hungry.
He chuckled out loud when he noticed Vince in the serving line, wearing a hairnet and white coat. Vince noticed him first though and before Peter could get in the first crack. Vince shook his head and said, “I know where you got assigned by the look on your face and by the smell. Want some eggs, pigman?”
“Whatever dude,” Peter laughed. “Nice hairnet. Yeah, I’ll take some eggs.”
Standing next to Vince in the serving line was a large Samoan girl named Taney. She was serving the ham. “Oh looky here,” she said. “We gotta new face. Hey cutie, you want some ham?”
“Uh, sure,” Peter said shyly.
“He’s my new roommate, Peter,” Vince told Taney.
“Hi new roommate Peter,” Taney said, smiling broadly.
Oki came sliding his tray up the line behind Peter. “What’s up boyyyyzz? Excuse me Miss, may I have some of those eggs too?”
Pointing his serving spoon at Oki, Vince responded, “Call me ‘Miss’ one more time son and you’ll be eatin’ ‘em with a fist sandwich.”
“Yes Dad,” Oki replied coolly. “I’ll take some ham too, hairnet boy.”
“Keep the line movin’, you toad,” Vince snapped.
Peter sat down to eat his breakfast with all the boys from his hallway; Oki and Kai, Fin and the Kaapana cousins, Michael and Aneko.
“So what do you think so far, Peter?” Kai asked.
Fin chimed in as well, “Yeah, you like us here or what?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool I guess,” Peter replied. “It’s quiet here, I like it.”
“Ha!” Oki laughed. “That’ll change real fast.”
“Yeah, wait until tomorrow when classes start,” Kai added.
Peter thought for a moment. He was kind of dreading the start of classes. Studying and taking exams was not his favorite thing. “Yeah, classes. Pretty crazy huh?”
“You could say that,” Michael responded. “Just imagine about 900 more students here tomorrow. Yeah, you could say it’ll be a little crazy.”
“Whoa, that many?” Peter was astounded. He had never known the school had so many students. “Back on the Big Island, my school was about fifty total.”
“You ain’t in Kansas anymore, pal,” Michael said emphatically.
“So what are you guys doing tonight after work?” Peter asked. “Doing anything the last night before classes start?”
Without looking up from his breakfast, Oki answered, “Same thing we do every Monday night. Mandatory chorus practice.”
Peter gave him a strange look. “Huh? What’s mandatory?”
“Chorus practice, buddy boy,” Fin said wryly. “We go and sing. Gotta do it every Monday.”
“Singing?” Peter was beside himself. “I can’t frickin’ sing, man. I can’t sing worth a flip.”
“Neither can we. But it don’t matter,” Fin quickly added. “We all gotta do it. Boarder tradition.”
“Even the girls?”
“Yep.”
After he heard that, Peter was not too upset with the idea anymore. It was just another good reason to see Kaila again, he thought.
“Well, what the heck do we sing anyway?” Peter asked.
Oki chimed in, “You know, old stuff. School songs, the alma mater. Yonder Lahaina Mountain.”
Fin automatically began to loudly sing the opening to the latter song, “Ohhhhhhhh, yonder Lahaina Mountain!!!”
Oki punched him in the arm. “Oh my ears! Quiet will ya? I’m tryin’ to eat here.”
“You gotta be kiddin’ me,” Peter wailed. “I don’t know any of that stuff.”
“Man, by the time you leave here, you’ll know ‘em all by heart whether you like ‘em or not,” Kai replied.
Peter did not much like the idea of learning to sing old songs, but if he got to see Kaila again, it would be worth it.
In the afternoon, Peter was relegated to working on the school grounds, picking up plumeria leaves and palm fronds and doing various other odd jobs to help keep the school grounds clean. He looked all around the area for Kaila, but he never saw her. He took a glance down the hill at the gardens and the pigpen, but she did not appear to be down there either. He shrugged his shoulders, wondering where she might be working. But at least he would get to see her soon at the first chorus practice. There was something about her that he just could not get off his mind. He did not know why he enjoyed talking to her so much, but he did nevertheless. All he knew is he could not wait to talk to her again.