“Yeah,” we say.

We want a closer look at her kaduka mom and sailor boy.

Green-eyed Monster

“Mary Kelly sounds spoiled,” Teresita says when I explain why I can’t go to the movies with her Friday night. I’ll be at Mary Kelly’s house on the base. I tell Teresita about how her mother won’t allow her to wear a bikini and about her boyfriend, Mike.

“So what?” Teresita scowls. “She can’t show off her belly button. And what kind of grown man has a thirteen-year-old girlfriend? She’s probably making it up.”

That thought crosses my mind, too. I’ll find out when we go to the base pool. But somehow I don’t think that’s why Teresita doesn’t like Mary Kelly. She hasn’t even met her.

I think about asking Teresita to keep an eye on Frank tomorrow, but then she’d ask why. Instead I say, “Maybe Frank could go with you to the movies.”

She says, “Humph!”

“I sold ten more tickets for you.”

Teresita raises her eyebrow and says, “That girl is a spoiled haole!”

Second Thoughts

I’m packed to go to Mary Kelly’s, but I’m thinking of changing my mind.

Who will see Olivia through her nightmare? Who will cover my father with a blanket if the night turns cool?

Who will make sure Frank only carves his wall?

“Can’t I go?” asks Olivia.

For a quick moment, I think about saying yes.

List for Olivia

1. Do your homework

2. Change your clothes before going outside

3. Pick up your nightgown

4. Before bed, brush your teeth and go to the bathroom

A Different Island

Auntie Bernadette drives me to Mary Kelly’s house on the base. At the entrance a gate guard stops us and checks for our names on a list, then tells us to come on through. The cream houses lining the street all appear the same, not like Malesso’s blue, yellow, and pink ones.

Mary Kelly and her mom wait for us in the front yard.

“Are you taking care of that baby?” Auntie Bernadette asks before she’s completely out of the car. I want to steer her away from Mrs. Johnson’s stomach, but it’s too late.

“Ah,” Auntie Bernadette says, placing her hand on Mrs. Johnson’s pumpkin pouch, “this boy is doing nicely. He’s a big boy.”

I hold my breath, but Mary Kelly’s mom smiles. “Bernadette, won’t you come in for a glass of iced tea?”

No, say no, I pray.

“How nice.” Auntie Bernadette glances at me.

I shoot a sharp look her way.

“That’s so kind of you to ask me, but I have to hurry back so that I can make dinner for Isabel’s family.”

I should be relieved, but instead, I feel a twinge of guilt about being embarrassed of my auntie. If she’d only keep her mouth shut and her good hand to herself.

Treasures fill Mary Kelly’s house, treasures from the places they’ve traveled to. A framed red kimono from Japan, a model of a navy ship from Norfolk, a barrel filled with wooden canes from Tennessee.