Part Four Talk Story Now

Eightball

Friday 

Aloha, Abe. I am glad to see you arrived early. I have something I wanted to discuss with you. Look, there’s no easy way to say this, but I noticed the way you’ve been staring at Janey, which is understandable because she’s pretty, and her clothes accentuate her curves, but you’re beginning to make her feel uncomfortable. 

Now, Abe, don’t get hostile, and no, Janey didn’t say anything. I am a very intuitive person from many years of international business and being an intelligence operative. I could feel her energy draining as you absorbed her with your eyes. I am from Hawaii, Abe, and nature's energy I feel in trees, I also feel in people.  

Don’t be that way, Abe. You’re in the ohana, and we take care of each other. Try to think of Janey as your younger sister. Maybe you didn’t even realize you were staring; not everyone has my discipline and character to control desires. It takes a strong mind and will to resist those urges, and you shouldn’t feel bad because she’s soft and beautiful, like a flower on a beach dune. Abe, try to draw strength from me. 

I know it’s confusing at first, but whenever you look at Janey, think of Uncle, feel my willpower, and draw my energy into yourself. I have enough for both of us. Center yourself on our ohana. 

Sure, sure, we’re done. I just saw Wendy enter, and I’ll be helping her. Don’t worry; our conversation is private. 

Aloha, Wendy!  

Oh, well, that is very mean. What did I do? 

I didn’t chase Dave off. What are you talking about? 

I can’t help that Dave thinks I’m a creep and doesn’t want to play with me. That’s his problem. I’ve run hundreds of pool teams and won many league championships. Maybe he just can’t handle the pressure. 

Fine. You want to believe I’m a creepy, old man, then go ahead, but maybe the problem is with you. You’re the one with the alcohol and drug problem. You know how you always talk about serenity? 

Well maybe, the problem lies with you and your thinking. Have you been to a meeting today?  

Well, there you go.  

No need to apologize. You liked Dave, but maybe he wasn’t healthy for you and unbalanced your energy. I can feel it, Wendy. What’s that you always say, “Don’t let people rent space in your head for free.” That’s what Dave is doing right now by instilling distrust in your heart. Let me tell you a story. 

No, it won’t take long, and you need to hear this. 

About six months after my wife got cancer, she confronted me with some serious accusations, demanding to know the truth about our finances, which I began handling due to her condition. 

I know, Wendy, really. I came in the front door one day, and she flapped a bunch of bills in my face, wanting to know why I hadn't paid any bills and why foreclosure threatened the house. I was surprised by the accusations but felt even more shocked as I read the bills and discovered the mistake or mischief scaring her. Having paid all the bills timely, I sat down and called the companies and then traced it all back to the bank. Wendy, do you know what the bank said when I called? 

They said the bills were never paid. I turned to my wife and said, “It’s just like when they forced me into an early retirement at the phone company on those trumped-up charges. Now, someone or some corporation feels threatened by my telecommunications company and wants to eliminate me as competition.” 

Wendy, do you know what my wife said? 

Let me tell you. She said, “I’m too sick to deal with bills. I can't even go to work right now, so we don't have my income. The chemo and the pain are exhausting me. Promise me you will take care of these problems.” 

Wendy, I stared her deep in the eyes and said, “Ua ola loko i ke aloha,” which means “love gives life within.” She cried hearing those words, and even in her depleted condition, she knew ohana's love would weather the storm. Even when we lost the house and the business folded, she stood beside me, counting on me, and I took care of her until she died in that section-eight apartment for being all we could afford on my pension from the phone company and her disability. You see, Wendy, you can’t let someone like Dave come between you and your serenity, and definitely not your ohana. The love of family is all you have. 

Good. I’m glad you feel better. Janey just arrived, and I need to help her with her game. I’ll be around if you need to talk. Excuse me. 

Aloha, Janey! 

Mahalo, for driving me to the VA, that was so kind of you to wait for me to finish treatment. If you were just a little older, I might make you my girl. 

You don’t need to give me a ride home after the match tonight, but I appreciate the gesture. I’ll give you more gas money when we leave. I would invite you back to my place to watch a movie, but my niece doesn’t like strangers in the apartment. That was the condition for me renting the room — no visitors. My niece made that very clear when I moved in, and I could tell right away she was not a trusting person. She constantly hides money and jewelry around the house in places most people would never think to look. 

Right, Janey, I did know where to look. Little did she realize my sleuthing abilities derived from years of covert operations.  

You’re right, it’s kind of shitty her not allowing me to have guests, but once I get my sign-on bonus from my new job, I’m going to get a nice, new apartment and a car. 

Yeah, I know I said I was going back to Hawaii, but I feel my mission isn’t complete yet. 

No, you’re not just a mission, Janey. You’re much more than that, but sometimes the universe calls me to duty like the government did to fight in Vietnam. When I was in Oregon, I couldn’t wait to leave because the weather was cold and people harsh, like here in Baltimore. Yet, I felt compelled to stay because I met a girl who needed my help.  

No, she wasn’t pretty like you. She was a good woman who I found working a dark corner of the streets. Sandy was homeless and selling her body to afford food, so I took her in. I don’t know how she made it without me. She could barely do anything, but I taught her to clean the house and laundry. That’s all I asked of her since she couldn’t pay rent. 

Thanks, Janey. I try to be kind but my Oregon ohana was not so kind. They didn’t like it when I brought her to pool practice at the bar, but Sandy needed to be out living life the same as everyone else.  

That’s right, Janey, everyone needs to have a little fun. Sadly, my teammates didn’t see it that way. One night this guy Chip pulled me off to the side and said, “Man, you need to stop bringing that woman in here.” 

I met Chip’s hostility with defiance, saying, “Chip, I don’t know what you have against Sandy, but I cannot entertain your prejudices.” 

He pointed at Sandy and whispered, “She is severely mentally challenged. She doesn’t belong in a bar.” Koko, a pretty Japanese girl who drank too much, but I accepted anyway into the ohana, joined the conversation, saying, “Sandy is eating food off the tables waiting to be cleaned. Please, take her home. She doesn’t belong here.” 

You know what I realized right then and there, Janey?” 

I had a mission. I couldn’t just leave Chip and Koko because they needed to be taught the aloha spirit to end their prejudices. It took a few days of bringing Sandy to the bar, but people finally accepted her before the team broke up for various reasons. 

No, the team members stopped talking to me after life’s responsibilities pulled them away, but failure to honor ohana was their fault for lacking commitment. I like to think they left that pool hall just a little less hateful than when they entered. 

Oh, Sandy?  

Well, her sister came to take her to live in Montana, and the sister and I had a huge fight because she said I was taking advantage of a disabled person. As though Sandy wasn't entitled to a man’s love for being retarded.  

I know, Janey. It is fucked up. What kind of a person, much less your sister, would deny you happiness? At any rate, my mission was complete in Oregon, but when God closes one door, he always opens another. You and the rest of the team need Uncle, and ohana comes first. When I get my bonus, I’m getting a two-bedroom place, in case you need to get out of that apartment with the mean landlord. No one should have to live under that kind of stress. You’re a beautiful girl and should never put up with that kind of treatment, Janey.  

You’re welcome, Janey. If you were my daughter or girlfriend, I would treat you like a queen. When my daughter was in high school, her friends would come over for sleepovers, and they always loved staying at my house because they were safe. They could walk around the house in their bras and underwear, never worrying because I never focus my eyes on a woman’s breasts or other parts in a disrespectful way. I’m from Hawaii, and in Hawaii, the girls can dress in skimpy bathing suits on the beach because we’re just respectful that way. 

You’re so funny, Janey! Yes, I look at you a little sometimes. You are very pretty.  

You’re welcome. Oh, by the way, I just saw that guy Mano enter the bar. Watch out for Mano, Janey. He is a shark and will try to take all your money.  

Sure, I could beat him, but gambling is not my way.  

Yeah, I could make a ton of money shooting pool, but you have to be willing to lower yourself to that seedy lifestyle, and as a devout Catholic, I feel it would go against my nature. Playing for money doesn’t keep with the aloha spirit either. 

Yes, the money could help a lot, but I don’t want to hurt people by taking their money. I earn my money through business, you know, the Christian way. 

Well, we’ll see. For now, let’s practice putting some English on the ball. You pick up every lesson so fast. You’re amazing. Today, we’re going to learn to direct the cue out of a tight spot using English, which by the way, Abe hasn’t figured out yet. You’ll be better than him in no time after learning to apply English to different spots on the ball to curve it just the way you need for any situation. Like I always say, the spin wins the game…