Chapter 3
"Are you sure you're ready for this?"
"Of course. I wouldn't have shaved my head if I wasn't."
"I mean it."
"Yes. As ready as I can be."
The Crying Man tossed and turned in the grips of a high fever. Sweat poured down his body and he was in agony. They had him on antibiotics to try and clear the infection from his system, but so far, it wasn't working. His pulse was weak and racing.
"Shoot him!"
"Kill him or die yourself!"
"This is what it takes. Prove you are who you say you are!"
"No!" The Crying Man screamed. "No, I won't!" His eyes flew open and he sat up, pulling the stitches from his wound. Immediately, a nurse ran into the room to push him back down. Blood soaked the bandage.
"Fomai Sivali!" she called urgently. Dr. Sivali came in quickly and helped wrestle The Crying Man back down. He fought their arms.
"No! Leave me alone! Don't hurt him! No!" he cried.
"Ali'i, you are fine. Please, calm down," Dr. Sivali urged.
"I can't do it!" he screamed. "No, Boss!"
"Finish him off!"
"Kill him!"
"Die!"
"NO!"
"We'll have to sedate him," Dr. Sivali said. The nurse nodded and went to get a sedative. The Crying Man was still screaming and fighting when she returned...although he was weaker.
The echo ricocheted off the bare walls. It rang through his skull.
"He's dead...he's dead! I killed him!" The Crying Man moaned.
Dr. Sivali looked at the nurse, his eyes widening. Then, he took the syringe and injected it into the IV.
As the sedative took hold, The Crying Man looked up at Dr. Sivali, his eyes unseeing.
"I'm so sorry."
"It is all right, ali'i," Dr. Sivali said calmly. "Sleep now."
The Crying Man fell unconscious and Dr. Sivali bent over and removed the bandage.
"I will need to reclose his wound."
There was no response from behind him. Dr. Sivali straightened.
"Afioga. I need more sutures."
"He said he killed someone, Solinuu."
"He is delirious, Afioga. We don't know what he means. Regardless, he is my patient. Please, Tausi Maifea, help me close his wound."
"Yes, Fomai." Afioga left to get the suture kit.
Dr. Sivali stared at the man sleeping restlessly before him. "I hope you are innocent, ali'i...but even if you are not, I do not envy you the pain you are in."
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
That night, well after Sa, the three friends met in Malaki's store. Mataio and Lui had found a knife in the back of the house. It had blood on it. They said it could have been self defense, but they had no other bleeding victim, and obviously, The Crying Man was in no state to tell them what had happened. They estimated that it had been over a day since the altercation had occurred. That he had survived so long without dying was considered a miracle.
The three pieces of evidence of the life of The Crying Man lay on the counter. The gun, the badge and the wallet. All of them had been hidden...none found until that day.
"He looks so much happier in this photo," Noelani said.
"It's his driver's license," Malaki said, grinning.
"It's a good picture."
"Yes, it is. He does look much happier," Luka agreed, "although I like 'Olo'o Tagata Tagi better as a name."
Noelani laughed.
"But I don't understand why he is here. He is a policeman. Should we call his work?"
"No. We must ask him if he wants us to," Malaki said. "We owe him that."
"Very well...but they're talking about sending him to Auckland. We can't ask him if he's not here," Luka noted.
"Afioga told me that they would only do that if the fever got worse. The bullet was easily removed in surgery and they were able to give him a transfusion," Noelani said. "It is the fever that could kill him now."
"Have you talked to your father, Noelani?"
Noelani rolled her eyes. "Yes, I have. He wants me to be careful, nothing more."
"Rumors are already flying," Luka said.
"I will go tomorrow morning before my shift and see if he is awake," Noelani said. "And you should not listen to rumors. It is unkind."
"But Vaiana said that she heard him confess to killing someone," Luka protested.
"Vaiana talks too much and hears things she should not," Noelani said repressively.
"She is my friend."
"Then, you should tell her to think twice before speaking. Words spoken in fever should not be told to others. Who knows what they mean...if anything?"
"I am worried about him, too, Noelani," Luka said. "But I am also worried that he is not what he seems."
"The pain in his eyes is real. The kindness he has shown is real. That is all that matters. We know now that he is also a policeman. That should be enough."
"E le pu se tino i upu!" Luka said loudly.
"E pala le ma'a, a e le pala upu!" Noelani retorted.
Luka was ready to argue more, but Malaki shushed him. "Stop, both of you. It does not matter whether or not words can hurt. Noelani, if they do send him to New Zealand, we should call someone because that will mean that he could die. If you can speak to him tomorrow, then we will know what he wants. Luka, find the phone number for NCIS in Washington, DC. Then, we will be ready if he wants us to call someone." He paused. "It will be an expensive call."
"I will pay for it, Malaki," Noelani said, smiling again.
"International calls are not cheap. We all may need to chip in."
"I should go. Tama will worry otherwise," Luka said and stood.
"Yes. We'll talk more of this when we know more," Malaki agreed.
Only after Luka left did Noelani turn back.
"Malaki?"
"Yes?"
"Are we doing the right thing? Helping The Crying Man?" she asked.
"I think we are."
"What if we are not?"
"Then...Ia natia i Fatualavai," he said.
"It will be more than forgiveness we need if we are wrong."
"True...but we are not. Good night, Noelani."
"Tofa, Malaki."
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"Tagi?" Noelani asked the next morning. He was not shouting...but still tossing and turning, his fever raging. She had relieved Lani and taken over mopping his forehead. He moaned and the skin around the wound was still infected. The fever wasn't getting worse, but it wasn't getting any better either.
As she dipped the cloth in the cold water again, Noelani looked around. No one was there at the moment. She leaned over and whispered the name on the driver's license in his ear. The Crying Man's eyes opened and he stared at her in alarm.
"Do you know me?" she asked.
"Hot," he moaned.
"I know. You have a fever. You were cold before. Do you remember me?"
"The beach..."
"Yes. I am Noelani. We found your name in your house."
"No..." His eyes flicked around the room and he began to shake.
"We will not tell anyone. Is there someone who should know?"
The Crying Man panted and writhed away from her again. Noelani grabbed him and pulled him back down.
"Stay still, Tagi," she said.
His eyes were seeing something else again and he cried out, "Help Gibbs!"
"Who is Gibbs?"
"Help..." he said again and sagged. The Crying Man looked at her and grabbed her wrist as she reached out to cover his forehead again. "...Gibbs...Gibbs..." he said.
"Should I call him?"
"Gibbs! No, Boss! I won't! I can't!" he began to shout again and Lani came back in the room. Together they held him down until he subsided into fevered dreams once more.
"Are you going to move him?" Noelani asked.
"No. We can't. There is a storm forming."
"A cyclone?"
"Possibly. They are predicting it will be. We could try to get a helicopter out here to fly around it, but it is too risky. We will have to do our best here...and hope it is good enough." Lani sighed. "I don't know if it will be. He is very ill."
"Yes." Noelani stood. "'O le a a'u alu. I will try to come back after my shift is over."
"Tofa."
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"Malaki, what is the time zone difference between here and Washington, DC?" Noelani asked.
"What?" Malaki returned. He finished ringing up his customer and only then did he pay her attention.
"It is nine a.m. here. What is the time in Washington, DC?"
"Three p.m. They are six hours ahead of us." Malaki looked around. No one was in the store. "You spoke to him?"
"I am not sure if he understood, but he told me a name and asked for his help...I think."
"Are you willing to call based only on that?"
"Yes...because Luka is right. He needs someone. They are not taking him to New Zealand. There is a storm between us."
"Cyclone?"
"It is possible."
"It is early."
"That does not mean much here."
"I know. Luka came to see if I had work for him and gave me the phone number. Do you have time to call?"
"Yes."
"Very well. You may use my phone."
"Are you sure, Malaki? I said I would pay."
"Yes. I am sure. Go on. Be careful what you tell them...just in case."
"I will only speak to the man Tagi asked for. If I cannot get to him, I will not tell them anything."
"I know you won't. Go into the back. I have customers."
Sure enough the bell at the front of the store jingled and admitted two of the regulars.
Noelani snuck into the back room and began to dial.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Translations from Samoan:
E le pu se tino i upu – Words do not break bones.
E pala le ma'a, a e le pala upu – Stones rot but not words.
Ia natia i Fatualavai – May our fault be hidden, i.e. May we be forgiven.
'O le a a'u alu – I am going now.