The winds had risen by the time Koji brought the sugar train back to the Puli Plantation. Over the years Puli had become one of the largest sugar plantations south of Hilo, several thousand acres not twenty miles up the mountain from town. From the train barn, he walked past the sugar house and mill, up the road to his small tin-roofed wood cottage that overlooked the cane fields. Only after all his work was completed did Koji really feel the sharp tug of excitement at Daniel’s return. He wondered how long it would take for Daniel to slow to the island rhythms again. Daniel would have to readapt to living in a small island town with its sudden midafternoon rainstorms; the muggy heat and fierce winds; the dense, green blankets of foliage; and the hovering, dark volcanoes that loomed over everything. From the moment Koji set foot onto the black lava rocks as a boy, he knew that the island was a living organism and they were simply guests.

The winds grew stronger now, pulling at Koji, ghosts urging him back to the cane. I still have to change and drive back down to Hilo, he thought, even as he turned around and began to walk back down toward the fields.

* * *

The air stilled for a moment followed by the rustling of cane leaves.

“You’re going the wrong way, yeah,” Razor Takahashi said, meeting Koji at the edge of the field, a sweat-slick layer of cane dust on Razor’s face, a pint-size bottle of whiskey in his hand. The trade winds rose and had the tall cane swaying back and forth like hula dancers. The northern fields were the last of the fields being readied to be burned.

“Just need to walk a bit,” Koji said.

“Can’t get enough of the cane, eh?” Razor said and laughed.

It was true. Koji often felt a pull toward the cane. It was in his blood, the only life he’d known, and the place where he felt most at home. It was something he knew Razor understood.

Razor took a swig from the bottle. He reached out and offered Koji a drink. “What time is Daniel coming home?”

Koji shook his head and smiled at his old friend. “He’s arriving soon. I better go. I’ll see you soon, yeah. Save some for me,” he added, pointing to the bottle before he walked into the sugarcane field.

When Koji turned back, Razor was already gone from sight.

* * *