I had been in the water since I learned how to swim when I was 3. My dad took a commercial fishing boat out every day from 8-7 everyday the boat was rented out. My mother was an underwater photographer and spent most of her time in Oahu, so we had a problem because we lived in Kauai.
I am the youngest of 4, all boys except myself. I got along best with Mark, my oldest brother. He was 21. My second oldest brother was Cairi, I know, a girls name. We called him Kyri or Kyle. He was 17 and the only one of us who planned to go to College. Homer was 16.
I ,Marine, Rina to those who know me or Ri to my family, am 14. I love the blue water in our back yard. My mom said I practically grew up underwater. I had more friends underwater than on land. On land, Starr and Jet were my best friends. I know, you are probably thinking right now, a girl named Marine was friends with a girl named Starr and a guy named Jet.
I pretty much glided right through childhood, but I still had my bad moments. One in particular, I still have nasty thoughts about. Lets take a trip down Memory Lane.
When I was 11, I went shark caging for the 10th time. I was an expert on it. My dad had a big fancy cage. Mark, Jet, and I went out on a calm Saturday when he had no client. The winds were at about 2 knots and the water was beautiful blue. We were hoping to see a black tip shark. My mom had been photographing them and said they were amazing. Deep down, though, we all wanted to see a great white shark. One in particular.
Anuai'kai'li had been named by the locals to mean, king of the sharks. The big kahuna. But no ones Hawaiian was perfect so we made up what sounded good. Anyway, Mark suited up while we hoisted our "Diver in the water" and "Shark Chumming" flags. An odd combination. Not commonly seen. Well, Mark suited up and climbed into the cage, he was 18 at the time and always had to go first, if you catch my drift. He said "Dad, you might want to get someone to look at this cage before we dive, the lock is rusted." My dad laughed and said "We are already out here, lets just do one dive and then repair it. Ri, I want you on the radio." Our helmet for caging has audio so the cagier can hear the person working the radio. Mark climbed in and Dad locked the cage. He gave the signal and Jet lowered the cage to the bottom. I turned on the radio and started talking. About 15 minutes later we got a shark, not the one we wanted. After 5 minutes, he came up and I got ready to go in.
One con of being a girl is that my straight, ebony locks of hair get in the way of everything. I put the helmet on and went down. But the little shark was gone replaced with a big, great white. I knew it had to be the king. He kept bumping the cage and it rattled. The beast must have weighed 4 tons! But with all of that weight he bumped the door. It was then I realized he broke the lock. I heard Marks voice saying "Hold on Ri, don't panic we'll get you out." Then the gears slowly started pulling me up. Then I was shocked to hear Jet's voice, he must have yanked the radio from Mark. "Do not panic Rina! Just take care of yourself down there!" I was worried, he sounded panicked and suddenly 20 feet underwater felt like millions of miles. Bump! The king had succeeded in getting the door open and then he was staring me straight in the eye. I finally understood the true meaning of "a toothy grin," and let me tell you, in was the most scared in my life.