Nori smiled, thinking of Wilson and Mano. “Bad, no. You have always had bigger dreams than my boys. Nothing wrong with that, eh. They’re happy chasing fish. All I’m saying is that you’ve already accomplished so much. You’re just back, yeah, there’s no need to hurry,” she said, and then added, “Your mother would want you to be happy. That’s all she ever wanted. Everything else will fall into place.”

They were silent a moment. “Thank you for checking up on me,” he said.

“Don’t thank me yet. I need to ask you a favor.”

“Anything,” Daniel said.

“Could you visit Mama Natua and give her a quick checkup?”

“Is there something wrong with Mama?”

Where should Nori begin? Everything is wrong, she thought. She absently stroked the small scar on the back of her right hand. Everyone in Hilo town knew and loved Mama, only now, Mama no longer knew them. Mama didn’t know her anymore.

Nori sipped her coffee to clear her throat and said, “She has forgotten so much in the past few years, everything and everyone, yeah. I just want to make sure there’s nothing else wrong with her.”

“Doesn’t she have her own doctor?”

Nori shook her head. “Mama doesn’t trust the new ways, always relied on plants and herbs. She’s never seen a doctor, doesn’t believe in them.”

Daniel leaned forward. “Then what makes you think she’ll let me give her a checkup?”

“You’re not a doctor to her, you’re Mariko’s boy.”

Daniel laughed. “How could I forget? One big, happy family.”

“Hilo needs a good family doctor, yeah,” Nori added. “We need someone we can trust who understands the community, especially the older folks, not just all these haole doctors who practice medicine here for the warm weather and beaches.”

Daniel laughed. “Coming from Chicago, there’s nothing wrong with the sun and beaches.”

She saw a flicker of mischief return to his eyes. Daniel looked like Franklin, but his smile brought back his mother.

“You joke, but most young folks don’t return once they leave.”

Daniel’s smiled turned serious. He ran his fingers through his hair. “Easy to get lost along the way,” he finally said.

“But you found your way home, yeah.”

He hesitated. “Yes.”

It was all Nori needed to hear. “You’ll check on Mama then?”

“Yes, of course,” he said. “I’d love to see Mama Natua again.” He reached over the train tracks for a coconut tart.

“Thank you.”

“What else can you tell me about Mama’s health?” Daniel asked, biting into the tart.

Nori sat back and began to tell him everything he needed to know.

13. The House Call

13

The House Call