One Shark, No Swim by Lehua Parker

Author:Lehua Parker [Parker, Lehua]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Makena Press

29

Blank Paper

‘A‘a

To accept a challenge; a small root; figuratively, an off-spring.

“Okay, Mr. Halpert,” said Char Siu. “I’ll tell my mom about you. Uncle Kahana’s right. She’ll want to throw a party.”

“Nice meeting you, Char Siu, Mr. Kaulupali.”

“Call me Uncle Kahana,” he said. “We’re family.”

Some more than others, Mr. Halpert, I thought.

“Uncle Kahana, then,” said Mr. Halpert.

“Aloha, everybody. Come, ‘Ilima; we go. Zader, tomorrow seven pm! Don’t be late.”

“I’ll be there.”

And then there was just the two of us.

Mr. Halpert fiddled with his clipboard.

He stared at the wall.

He checked his notes.

I waited, distracted by everything I’d learned.

Finally, he spoke.

“So what are your thoughts, Zader?”

My thoughts?

About the fact that you’re my new art teacher, the one that saw my art and fought to get me into Ridgemont?

That you’re related to Char Siu and Lili?

That Lili’s mom is alive?

That you want me to call you Mr. Halpert instead of Uncle Justin?

That Char Siu and Jay are having their first Lua training session without me?

That Char Siu wears panties she doesn’t want Jay to see?

I opened my mouth, then shut it quickly, afraid I would say something about panties.

I couldn’t get that thought out of my head.

Finally I just shrugged.

He sighed. “It’s all a little overwhelming.”

I nodded.

He tapped his papers with his pen. “But remember, just because the walls are big, it doesn’t mean they’re any harder to fill than a sketch pad. We just have more to work with.”

Oh.

The mural.

Not even on my top three concerns list.

I looked at the wall, considering.

He copied some numbers on a new piece of paper and handed it to me.

“Here are the dimensions of the four main walls. Do you have graph paper at home?”

“Yeah. We used it in math last year.”

“Good. Figure out a scale, say six inches to one square. Draw the walls. Tape pages together if you have to. We’re going to paint all four walls. I want you to think of it as one picture that wraps all the way around. Got it?”

“I think so. I’m taking the walls, combining them into one long wall, and scaling it down.”

“Right. Don’t forget the restroom doors and windows. We’ll have to incorporate them into the design.”

“Okay. But Mr. Halpert?”

“Yeah?”

“How is this going to work? I mean, it’s not just you, me, and Char Siu painting this mural, right?”

He laughed. “No. You and I will come up with a design. We’ll draw it on the walls with pencil and tape. We’ll break each section down into areas and number them like paint by number kits. The Summer Fun kids will fill in the biggest areas while we supervise. Later we, and maybe a few others from Ridgemont, will go back and add all the details. Make sense?”

In my mind I could see how this was supposed to work. It made sense—if you never went to Summer Fun.

Those kids were nuts.

“Yeah,” I said, “I understand. But what are we drawing?”

“The theme?”

“Yeah.”

He flicked my paper. “That’s for you to figure out.”

I blinked.

He’s pupule.

He laughed, “You think I’m crazy.”

Close enough.

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