18:13
Okay, so we're on a plane. Sort of. We're actually above the plane, while Mom and Jeb watch us through the window. I think that's perfectly fine with me, but Total seems to wish that he had chosen to stay in the plane. In my opinion he should have stopped complaining. At least I hadn't dropped him yet.
We made a stop in Arizona for a cookie break at Mom's other house, but pretty much flew it straight threw. No casualties, no bruises, no harm done the entire trip. Whoop-de-doo.
Anyway, the smooth flight had the whole flock in a good mood by the time we had landed on the main island. Everyone except me. And Fang. Not like anybody else cared enough to notice our foul mood, but I suppose that was for the best. Fang might have punched somebody hard enough to knock him or her back to the mainland.
I have to admit, the view in Hawaii was amazing. Absolutely stunning. An overall beauty to behold. (Okay those were about the gooiest words I've ever said about a thing, or a person, for that matter, but oh well. The important thing is, the view was awesome.)
"Maximum Ride?" a voice asked from behind me. I mentally patted myself on the back for not jumping ten feet in the air, and spun around to face a tall man in a black suit with dark sunglasses.
"Welcome to Hawaii," the man said. "I am Mr. Chumaraka. My friends in the D.C. told me you were coming."
"Hi Mr.…" I tried to say, but Iggy interrupted me.
"What kind of name is Mr. Chumaraka?" Iggy asked, judging that the man was a government official and therefore not dangerous and jumping straight to the more important question of the man's weirdness.
"It's a traditional Hawaiian name. When I came here from D.C, one of the Hawaiian tribes welcomed me in. And I couldn't be in a Hawaiian tribe without a Hawaiian name, so, I chose the name Chumaraka," Mr. Chumaraka said.
"You're saying you chose the name Chumaraka?" Iggy asked.
"Yeah, you got a problem with dat?" Mr. Chumaraka asked, sounding slightly insulted, but mostly angry.
"No, not at all Mr. Chumaraka. I apologize for Iggy's intruding questions. That was very rude of him," I said, flashing Iggy a glare. Then I remembered and said, "I'm glaring at you Iggy."
"Sorry Max," Iggy said, smirking.
"Yeah, apologize to Mr. Chumaraka, not me," I said, and then turned to Mr. Chumaraka. "Were you sent to meet us?"
"Yes, of course. Otherwise I would be safe at home with my wife, not out here with the danger of being killed," Mr. Chumaraka said, then covered his mouth slightly with his friend.
"What do you mean, danger of being killed," I remembered that I wasn't the only one here, and turned to where Fang's placid face twitched uncomfortably.
"I said, what do you mean, danger of being killed?" Fang said, staring down Mr. Chumaraka.
"Noth…Nothing. Just forget it. It's nothing, simply a petty paranoia," Mr. Chumaraka said, shaken from his previous comfort. "Come along now. The mayor of this town will be waiting for you. You may then proceed to your hotel."
"Hey, Max, I remember watching this movie about someone being in danger of being killed and ohmygosh it was so scary and I almost screamed and…" Thanks Mr. Chumaraka. You got Nudge started about movies.
"Nudge, just be quiet until we get to the city sweetie," I said, and watched her and the rest of the flock walk over the hillside, following Mr. Chumaraka. I then turned to Mom and Jeb. They were kissing. "Are you coming? And by the way, get a room," I said impatiently, and walked hurriedly away to catch up to the others, not checking to make sure that Mom and Jeb were coming.