This is mostly a filler chapter, so sorry if it's a little dull but I need it. I can almost guarantee that the next chapter will be anything but.
...
Months passed, and no more run-ins with him. I was relieved: I'd been expecting him to show up at the bar every night and badger me, but no, nothing.
It was coming up on Leilani's 3rd birthday at the end of August. I still couldn't believe it, 3 already! Toni and I were talking and planning already; neither of us had family in Hawai'I, both of my parents having passed away years ago, and Toni's family on a trip to France, so we were just planning a small get-together with friends.
I was just getting off the phone with Makani when Toni called from work; he kept and trained animals for film and tv and had his own public training school in Kona.
"Hey ipo, do you have dinner planned yet?" he asked.
"No… why? What's up brah?"
"I was wantin to bring a friend over to join us. I've told you about Duane Lee, right?"
I smiled. "Sort of. You never really got around to actually telling me about him, just mentioning him in passing."
"Oh. Sorry hun," he laughed.
"It's kool. I been wantin to introduce ya for awhile, but his job keeps him pretty busy most days."
"Bring him over," I smiled. "I'll make burgers."
"Leilani, sit still!" I cried in exasperation a few hours later. "I need to have dinner done before Toni gets home and I can't do that with you running around brah!" This is what happened when your boyfriend left chocolate out for your 3 year old daughter.
Typical of hyperactive toddlers, she ignored me, so I changed tactics.
"Leilani Zahia Alaka'I, if you don't park your Hawaiian butt in a chair right now you will be getting a timeout and no hamburger for dinner. Is that clear little girl?" The little girl in question stopped and stared at me in horror before quietly sitting on the floor under the table. I just had to smile at the whole thing.
"Thank you. Just play quietly for a bit k brah? Toni's bringing a friend home for us to meet at dinner tonight." She smiled.
"Ok mommy."
It was just a few minutes later that I heard Toni's car pull into the driveway. I glanced around the kitchen: salad was made, burgers were frying, beers were chilling, everything was ready and standing by, waiting to be eaten.
Keys rattled in the lock and I could hear voices talking outside. Leilani stayed parked under the table in fear of losing her hamburger privileges.
"Hey babe," Toni called from the front hall.
"In the kitchen!" I called back. He came up behind me while I was flipping the burgers. "How was work?" I asked as his arms wrapped around my waist.
"Pretty good," he said. "One of the mongooses got out and played hide and seek for an hour, but we got her back in her habitat eventually." I laughed. "Dinner almost ready?"
"Take a guess."
"Beers in the fridge?" I just looked at him. "Good," he grinned. "Hey Duane Lee! Come here a minute brah."
I heard him come in but I didn't turn right away, busy putting burgers on a plate. When I did turn, I almost dropped the plate: I swear my heart stopped for a second.
"You ok ipo?" Toni looked at me worriedly.
"Ya, of course," I answered automatically. "Sorry," I said, looking over at Duane Lee.
"Duane Lee, my girlfriend Kilauea Alaka'I, Kili for short. Kili, Duane Lee Chapman."
"Nice to see you again," he said. It was the big, dark haired, blue eyed guy from the bar.
Toni looked between us, confused. "You said I hadn't told you about him," he said accusingly to me.
"You didn't," I explained. "Remember a couple months ago, I came home from work covered in beer…?" I didn't even get to finish before Toni turned on Duane Lee.
"You did that?" he growled.
"Not me brah," Duane Lee defended himself, hands raised in surrender. "That was my brother. Didn't have a clue who she was. Sorry," he said to me.
I shook my head. "Wasn't your fault. Doesn't matter now anyways, it's time for dinner."
"Where's Leilani?" Toni asked suddenly.
"Under the table," I said, smiling. "I told her if she didn't sit still that she couldn't have hamburger for dinner. Leilani," I called, "come out baby girl, meet Toni's friend." She poked her head out from under the table and smiled up at Duane Lee.
"Hi."
"Hi to you too," he said. "Are you eating with us?" she nodded and tried to climb up into her seat. Picking her up under the armpits, Duane Lee sat her down and set up her dinner tray. I looked at him as I set the food on the table.
"I have a son," he explained, "plus 2 nephews, a niece and 3 little brothers and sisters, all under the age of 13."
"Quite the family." We all laughed.
I got to know Duane Lee really well in the next couple months. We never talked about that night, and we had a lot of fun together, me, Toni and him. He came to Leilani's party with his son Dylan, to Dylan's displeasure, and crashed at our place more than one night. I learned that he was a bounty hunter, working for his father on the Oahu, and would get calls at random hours of the day and night to go catch someone. Sometimes it was a real hassle when he was with us on the Big Island and his dad called from Oahu, but he'd try to work it out.
Te told me about his family: his dad and step-mom, his brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. I told him about my parents and my daughter. We compared our parents' naming abilities when it came to their kids: I won, or lost depending on how you look at it.
Toni was really happy that we got along so well and would joke about Duane Lee stealing me from him: it would never happen. Firstly, because i felt like Duane Lee was the big brother I didn't have. And secondly, because if Toni was seriously worried about it then he wouldn't be joking about it. Leilani liked 'Uncle D" and we all had a good time together.
The only thing I wouldn't tell him was about Leilani's father and what had happened. He knew that Toni was her biological dad and sometimes I'd catch him looking at her oddly and I couldn't help wondering if he saw any resemblance to his brother in her.
One night, Duane Lee called to invite us over to his place: he was staying with his brother, who lived in Kona only a few miles from us. I knew Toni wanted to go and I didn't want to be the spoilsport, so we dropped off Leilani with Makani and drove over to the Chapman brothers' residence.
"Sup brah!" Duane Lee called from the front door as we pulled up. I waved back as Toni jumped out.
"So we get to meet the infamous brother, do we?" he grinned evilly. I sighed.
"No fighting Toni, please. I don't even care anymore."
"Of course not babe, wouldn't dream of it." He hugged me.
"Toni," I hissed, "I don't care about any of it; not the night at the bar, not that night. It was years ago, he doesn't know me, so please don't say anything."
"Hey, I gotcha brah," he said, hands raised in surrender, and gave me a kiss. We'd made it into the mudroom by now, kicking off our shoes and following Duane Lee into the living room.
"Leland!" he called, "get out here!"
A door opened down the hall and a head popped out to look at us. "Hey," he said, pulling the door open and walking towards us while tying his hair back into a ponytail.
"Leland; Toni and Kili." Duane Lee introduced us. " Kili, Toni; Leland."
"Nice to meet you," I said quietly, shaking his hand. He stopped and stared at me.
"You…" he began. I sighed heavily.
"Yes, me" I said. "Now can we please move on? What's past is past."
"Ok."
That was all he said to me for over an hour.
A couple hours later, everyone was much more relaxed, thanks to a few beers and a shot or two. I was probably the most sober out of them all; since that night I'd vowed to be more careful when I drank. The guys were in the middle of some game tournament on the playstation while I watched and rolled my eyes.
I snuggled closer to Toni and he wrapped his arm around me.
"You wanna leave baby?" he asked.
"Nah brah, I'm ok. No point spending money on a taxi when there's a perfectly good couch here," I chuckled.
"You two wanna crash Kili?" Duane Lee looked over at us. "You can stay in my room if you want, end of the hall."
"Thanks," I said. "Maybe in a bit."
I stayed for maybe another 20 minutes before my eyes started to feel heavy. I gave Toni a kiss before getting up and heading down the hall. The first door I passed was open to show the bathroom. The 2 doors past the bathroom were on opposite sides of the hall, one farther down the hall than the other; I went to that farthest door and pushed it open.
I didn't bother turning on the light, just flopped onto the bed and curled up under the covers.
I was half asleep I-don't-know-how-much later when I heard the door open quietly. I could hear someone moving around the room in the dark, then the covers were pulled back and the mattress shifted as the person sat down. They laid down and pulled the covers back up, rolling over and letting out a sigh. I felt feet touching my legs, before being suddenly jerked away.
"FUCKING HELL!"
I sat bolt upright as the person rolled out of the bed and flicked the light on; it was Leland. Shit.
He stood there, staring at me with a look of shock on his face. I didn't know what to say. Then, with impeccable timing, the door slammed open and Toni and Duane Lee stood staring at us.
Then Duane Lee started to laugh.
I hid my face in my hands as Toni grinned at me too.
"Sorry brah," Duane Lee managed, "guess I forgot to mention which side of the hall. I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. I crawled out of the bed and walked across the room, smacking Toni on the back of the head as I passed him.
"Sorry," I muttered to Leland.
"S'ok brah, my brother" he glared at Duane Lee, "will pay for this soon enough." Duane Lee grinned.