Merry Christmas
Chapter 11
"Wow, big." Kate and her parents finally saw their ship as they walked toward their check-in point. There was a mast fore and aft with three smoke stacks in-between and it was white. It looked to have three decks with possibly several more in the hull since they could all see portholes in the hull. The bridge was easy to spot.
They also saw two life boats on this side far forward and that was all.
They were all asked questions, asked for identification, and finally given room keys. Just two so Kate got one.
"Empress of Asia." They knew that already from reading what Santa had given Kate. They also knew it was Canadian owned and operated by Canadian Pacific Steamships. While most everyone getting onboard were civilians there were a number of military personnel with big duffel bags on their shoulders.
It was part cargo ship and part passenger cruise ship. Two hundred first class, a hundred second class, and eight hundred third class passengers. The Becketts were second class passengers. First class was more money than they were willing to spend. They didn't know how much buying a house was going to cost them. They were also betting they would need to buy a car that they didn't need in New York City.
They were in the hull with a port hole possibly under the bridge by a few decks. Their room was a lot like the room on the train. Except this one came with a fold down table attached to the hull. The entire ship so far was iron and ugly looking on the inside. Rust was everywhere. There were even these exposed pipes running across the ceiling and disappearing into walls.
"Lovely." Kate was not impressed. It was not her room in her little apartment at the North Pole.
"We're only going to be sleeping here. So drop your bag and let's see what this ship has to offer." Jo, while not impressed, also knew they didn't have a choice. Especially when they were going to be there for a week.
oOo
After asking a few questions and listening to Canadian accents, they had learned that it had come from Vancouver, stopped in San Francisco to pick up passengers, then moved down to Los Angeles where they picked up the last of the passengers and loaded some cargo.
It would stop at Honolulu before continuing on to Yokohama, Japan. Once there it would pick up passengers and lots of cargo before heading back to Vancouver, then do it all over again.
oOo
They had found that the ship itself was actually rather large and it had lots of deck chairs and lounges to lay on. There was a main dining room for first class passengers only. Another one for them and a third for third class.
Food was part of the price for first and second class. Everything else you had to pay for.
They stayed on the upper deck until the ship left the dock at five o'clock and headed out into the harbor before the open sea. The rush of air was rather relaxing.
"Do what you want, Katie, just watch yourself." There were lots of people onboard and some of them were soldiers that she didn't trust any further than she could throw them overboard preferably. "Dinner's at six and we expect to see you there."
Kate figured it was a ship and there was crew everywhere so what could go wrong?
Kate met her parents for dinner then left them so they could walk the ship while she went to their room.
"Santa, please." Kate was ready to check in with him.
"Hi, Kate!" Alexis was who she got instead of Santa.
"Alexis. …Where's your dad?" She was sure she had asked for Santa and not her.
"Right here." She heard him but she didn't see him.
"I miss you." Alexis looked so sad.
"I know, sweetie, I miss you, too. I'll be there in…" Kate needed to think. "About five months, more or less. Then we can have lots of fun." Right after she'd had lots of fun with Santa.
"Months?" Alexis needed to think about that.
"I know it feels like years but it'll be here before you know it. I promise." Actually Kate feared it was going to feel like years and not months herself.
"Let's see… You should be on your ship by now." Rick had his schedule after reaching past Alexis who was in his lap at the moment Kate called.
"The Empress of Asia. It looks kinda big. A little ugly inside but nice enough, I guess." The dining room had gotten better and the decks were a lot better. It was the inside getting down to their room that was the ugly part.
"It'll grow on you," Rick soothed.
"Not the kind of grow I want." Kate was thinking moss or some other horrible thing like rust but also knew she was exaggerating.
Rick laughed a little. "It's just a week then it will be all sunshine and sandy beaches. Oh and hula girls, don't forget the hula girls."
"Are we speaking from experience here?" Kate's little green monster was poking its head out. She would share Santa with the kids but not with hula dancers or other women. Santa was hers.
"I may have been to Hawaii once or twice." Rick wasn't willing to say more.
"Does this have anything to do with your surprise?" Had Santa just unintentionally given her a clue?
"Gotta go! Say goodbye to Kate, Pumpkin." And before Alexis could say anything he was gone.
"SANTA! You come back here! …He hung up on me again. I'm going to get him for this. Spanking is too good for him." Kate pounded her bed with her fist a couple of times before falling back onto it.
oOo
They were two days in and Kate had finally gotten around to putting on her swimsuit which was a tight fitting one piece that only showed off her legs. Still at least they could get a tan.
She had found the upper, upper deck and it had a lounge chair so she put out her towel, laid down on her back, and closed her eyes. Doing nothing while lying in the sun. This trip was finally starting to be worth it.
"Hi darling!" She had been spotted.
"Go away," Kate told whoever it was and kept her eyes closed.
"Now is that any way to treat someone? We're just harmless sailors looking for a good time." Kate had no trouble thinking what their idea of a good time was. She had been forced to do that already.
"Yes! I have a boyfriend, so go away." Actually Santa wasn't her boyfriend yet but he was sure going to be. Just as soon as she could figure out how.
"I don't see him. Do you see him?" he asked his friend that was with him.
"Trouble, Miss?" One of the ship's crew was starting to walk past them all.
"Come on, she's not worth it. Too skinny anyway. It's like pounding on bone." He slapped his buddy and they left.
"Not now, thank you." Kate cracked an eye open to look at him. He was actually wearing a uniform that the crew wore and she didn't mean the people that worked the dining room.
"Any time, Miss." He continued on his way and left Kate to close her eyes again and continue resting and soaking up some sun.
oOo
"Do that too many more times, Katie, and you're going to end up burnt." Jo saw red legs when she came to the room to change.
Kate looked at her legs. "Yeah, maybe." That was okay. It meant less contact with the military that was on this ship.
oOo
The voyage had actually been rather nice. Better than the train trip and a lot cooler too. Even the food was better.
Right now all three of them were packing and making sure they had everything. They were getting off and going into town to find a hotel for their stay while they looked at the three properties listed on the sheet Santa had given Kate.
They were in line to get off. "Wait. We're sorry. We really didn't mean nothing."
Kate and her parents saw military and they had their bags at their feet and their hats in their hands. Kate was betting it was those two jerks that wanted to have a good time at her expense.
"I'm fine. Welcome to Hawaii," Kate said and shuffled forward as the line allowed.
"Who were they?" Johanna hadn't seen them and Katie hadn't said anything.
"I don't know." She had no idea what their names were and didn't care to know.
oOo
The hotel wasn't a rat hole but it wasn't the Royal Hawaiian, either. The pink of the place certainly made it stand out, though. Each of them made a mental note to at least walk it to see what it looked like. To see how the rich lived.
"Taxi, food, or car first?" Jim queried after they dropped their bags in their one room.
"Taxi first. Go see the first house see which real estate company has it then go see them and create a schedule," Jo proposed and since Jim liked the idea he went along. Kate went since it was their house and their money. Besides she could offer advice on which one she liked best.
oOo
The taxi driver stopped and to prevent him from driving off Jim wrote down what he could read about what real estate company was handling it, then they drove there.
Two hours later and they had an appointment at her office to go see all three houses on their list for tomorrow.
"Now can we eat?" Kate was starving and wanted to eat something. It turned out to be this hole-in-the-wall Chinese place that was actually amazingly really good though the price was maybe a little high.
oOo
"First house on Manua Street." Their real estate lady who looked Asian to them, parked and they all got out. "Two bedrooms, one bathroom. The yard is totally fenced in case you get a dog. There are a few fruit trees out back. Six hundred sixty square feet. It comes partially furnished."
It was long, it was narrow. Living room to kitchen with the two bedrooms and the one bathroom to one side. It was the backyard that was the selling feature of this house. It was huge and all grass with a few fruit trees way in the back.
"Next house is Auwaiolimu street. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, nine hundred ninety square feet. It does not come furnished except for the appliances," they were told after they got out of her car.
The living room was much larger than the first house. Wood floors, a pass through to the kitchen that was actually a built-in cabinet. The kitchen was…okay. Not a disaster but it needed help. Like last time two bedrooms and one bathroom on the side. The back balcony was small but it had a view since this place was on the side of a hill.
"Your last place on your list. Madiera Street. This one is in what is called the Punch Bowl area. There is only street parking. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, six hundred square feet. This one does not come furnished."
This one was on more of a hill than the last one. The yard was even sloped and didn't have much space. It even had a big tree stump in the middle of it. It had the largest kitchen of the three so far. It had a view but the other house had a better one.
oOo
"Let me know what you decide." She went inside and left them outside of her office. They walked for now until they reached a small park and sat down.
"The first one. Not much living space but the kitchen was nice enough. Bedrooms were tiny but that backyard." Jo loved it for that alone.
"The second one had a view and at nine hundred ninety square feet it was the largest of the three. They all only had two bedrooms and one bathroom. The kitchen needed some work, though." Jo began nodding her head.
"The third one, it was a dump, Mom. Almost no yard and what it did have was sloped with a big stump in the middle of it. What happens when it rains?" Rain went downhill and they were on a hill with houses above them.
"That kitchen was the largest of the three and it was in good shape," Jo mentioned.
"The first one came partially furnished. No beds or anything and we don't have any furniture at all," Jim said.
"Do I get a vote?" Kate asked since it wasn't her money. "The first one. How can you beat that yard? We can plant more fruit trees. Grow a garden. Maybe even get a dog." She had no idea what kind of dog but they weren't going to have one in New York City.
"First one." Jim nodded his agreement and looked at his wife.
"First one it is!" Jo smiled. "Now we need to decide what we're willing to spend based on what they want for it."
An hour later they were back at her real estate office to tell which one and how much they wanted to offer.
"I will find you and tell you what they say." She shook each of their hands and now they were taking a taxi back to their hotel.
oOo
"Even after we get it we have a lot of shopping to do. Don't forget we need to go down to the dock when our stuff is scheduled to arrive and arrange for it to be all picked up and delivered," Jim reminded them. It wasn't over yet.
"And get a car or something." They were going to have to drive to the hospital that was for sure.
oOo
They had keys and they had a truck. Next to the house was a concrete pad where the truck could be parked. Up the five steps to reach the front door since the house was on stilts with a crawlspace and horizontal steps of wood with wood at an angle on the inside around the lower part of the house to enclose the crawlspace,
"It's ours." Jim unlocked the door and walked inside with Jo and Katie right behind him. It had wood floors in the living room and bedrooms, linoleum in the kitchen and bathroom. Refrigerator, sink, and range. Just beyond the kitchen was a small mud room that led to the backyard. This mud room also held the washer. There was a Brabantia Lift-O-Matic Rotary Dryer Clothes Line, one hundred ninety-six feet of clothes line that was already installed in the backyard. It kind of looked like an inside out umbrella.
Back in the living room they turned left if coming from the front door into a short hallway. Bedroom to the left, bedroom to the right, bathroom right in front of you. And that was it.
"It's almost what we had in New York City," Jo murmured.
"Except we didn't have a yard," Jim noted which had all of them going out into their new backyard. It was all fenced in and the fence was in good shape. There were two fruit trees way out back. They had no idea just yet what they were but they would find out eventually.
"More fruit trees there." Jo gestured to one side. "Vegetable garden on this side." She pointed to the other side.
"Chaise lounges there." Kate waved back toward the house. They were in Hawaii. How many people got to say that?
oOo
Since they had no furniture they were still in the hotel room. They were going to work very hard at fixing that tomorrow. Bedroom sets first then living room. They just had to wait for their stuff from the City.
Her parents were out of the room so she took a chance. "Santa, please."
Rick's face almost immediately popped up. "Hi, Kate. How's Hawaii?"
"Warm and sunny. We bought a house!"
"Which one?" He knew the three but didn't have pictures.
"The one on Manua Street," Kate said.
"You owe me, Lucy." Rick pointed at her since he had won.
"You bet on which house we would get?" Kate was a little taken aback.
"Of course. It was the backyard, wasn't it. I just knew that backyard would get to you," Rick laughed.
"Oh and my dad bought a truck. He talked Mom into getting a truck. If she wants plants for the back yard, we need a truck. Mom wants more fruit trees, we need a truck. We need a piece of furniture, we need a truck." Kate ticked off the list of items that Jim had used on her mom to get his truck.
"What truck?" Rick asked.
"It's a '36 Dodge. We bought it used. It's burgundy and black. I have to sit on the shifter in the middle." Space was rather tight for three people.
Kate heard a lock in the door. "Gotta go. I still love you." This time Kate killed the call.
"HA! I told you!" Rick pointed at Lucy.
"Yes, Santa. I'll go get it." She had lost so she was going to pay off the bet.
oOo
Kate heard the truck so she went out the front door and saw the bed of the truck was full of furniture. "Lend a hand, Katie," Jo called.
The employees had gotten it all into the bed of the truck. It was up to them to get it out of the truck, up the stairs, and into the house.
oOo
They were too tired to put the bed frames together so the mattresses and box springs were on the floor. Kate had collapsed onto her bed. She was finished. They didn't even have an entire living room or a dining room table or anything in the kitchen since their stuff wasn't here yet and wasn't going to be for almost two weeks.
Almost two weeks to get their stuff and her mom and dad started work in just under three weeks. So they had four days to get into the house before they started work and they hadn't even driven it yet to find out how far away they were.
oOo
Tripler army hospital was right where they had been told. Their house was north of Pearl Harbor. It was about thirty minutes down route 90 which was a two lane road.
Leilehua High School turned out to be about a fifteen minute walk or five minutes by truck. So Kate had argued for a bicycle and some rain gear for when it rained. She just had to figure out the different routes she could take. And get used to the traffic if there was any.
She did have plans to talk with Santa but she fell asleep in her clothes instead.