Leaving Lana'i by Edie Claire

Author:Edie Claire [Claire, Edie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: adoption, beach, biracial, birthfamilies, depression, family relationships, family secrets, female protagonist, filipino, hawaii, island, LDS, love, marine, mormon, multicultural, multiracial, ocean, parenting, romance, sweet, travel, tropical, vacation, whale, whale watching, wildlife
Publisher: Stackhouse Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Maddie sank into the less stable of the two wicker chairs on Nana’s porch and swished her guava juice around in her plastic tumbler. She smiled serenely. She had never liked guava juice. Its flavor was bland and its texture did not appeal. But ever since she had left Lana'i, the beverage’s taste and smell had become inextricably bound with warm memories of her time in Nana’s house. Therefore, she loved it. She had sought out its soothing powers at some of the lowest points in her life, and it had always comforted her.

She looked up to see a promising stretch of blue sky gaining ground on a patchwork of dissipating clouds. Her feet started to itch again. She was dying to get in the ocean. Only a little more time to kill, and she could walk up to the Nakamas’ house. Kai had promised to take her to the beach this morning, and Kai always kept his promises. Her smile broadened.

She couldn’t wait.

“I found it!” Nana crowed, pushing open her screen door and coming to join Maddie on the porch. “I knew I had it. Just had to look in the right box.”

Maddie leaned forward and took the dog-eared snapshot from Nana’s hands. It was a photograph of several children taken on the porch they currently occupied. Three little ones sat on the steps, licking at bright yellow popsicles. Nana stood behind them, holding a baby. A toddler, its face turned away from the camera, clung to her leg. One older girl rode the porch railing like a rodeo bull, her own popsicle held high in one hand.

Maddie squinted, taking a closer look. “Holy crap,” she murmured.

The chubby little girl on the railing appeared to be seven or eight years old. Her voluminous red hair had presumably been tied back in a ponytail, or a braid, or something, at some previous point. But when the picture was taken the hair consisted of three frizzy, tangled clods, one at the base of her neck, and one roughly on either side of her head. Her faded shirt was too small and showed her midriff. Her shorts looked like men’s track shorts and were baggy and ill-fitting. Both her face and her legs looked dirty.

Maddie felt a twinge in the pit of her stomach.

“Something wrong, child?” Nana asked. She had settled herself into the other chair and now watched Maddie with concern.

“I just…” Maddie stammered. “I didn’t…” She drew in a breath and blew it out again. “I don’t know. I’m sure I never paid any attention to what I wore or what I looked like. And I did pretty much run wild all over the island. I shouldn’t be surprised. Still, I look awful. I look like something social services needs to come investigate, you know?”

Maddie ended her statement on a laugh. She was a willful child. It was hardly her parents’ fault if she got dirty all the time. At least it looked like she’d been made to wash

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