Kaua'i Me A River Part 17

"It's near the corner of Beretania and Punchbowl," I added. "Right downtown." I didn't want him to think I was a mainlander who'd enjoy taking the scenic route and paying twice as much.

"You on jury duty?"

"No."

"You getting divorced?"

"No."

"Then why you going to court?"

"I'm not going to the courthouse. I'm going to the Department of Health."

"You sick?"

"Look, it's early. I've had nowhere near my normal consumption of coffee and the traffic's horrible," I said. "Would you mind just getting me where I need to go?"

"Hey, I jus' trying to be friendly. At a drivers' meeting las' week they say riders tip better if you're friendly. Ask how their doing, what's up with their family, that sorta t'ing."

"I promise I'll tip better if you just get me there fast. No talking."

That was the wrong thing to say. The guy veered off at the next exit and roared through industrial back alleys like a cop in hot pursuit. He kept flicking his eyes up to check the rear view mirror. I wanted to tell him to knock off the stunt driving, but I'd already said enough.

We screeched to a halt in front of the Department of Health. He turned around in his seat and said, "That fast enough for ya?"

I pulled out two twenty's for a thirty-dollar fare and told him to keep the change.

"Mahalo. You want I should wait for you?"

I sent him on his way and went inside. Hawaiian state government prides itself on its world-cla.s.s bureaucracy. What takes two government workers on the mainland requires at least six people in Hawaii. I steeled myself for the gauntlet ahead.

The process to get my birth certificate turned out to be less taxing then I'd expected. I had to wait half-an-hour for them to locate the record and apply the certification seal, but I had it in hand within an hour. I was about to head outside when it occurred to me that I'd never seen a copy of my mother's death certificate. Even when I went through Auntie Mana's *special papers' after she'd pa.s.sed, I never came across anything regarding my mother's death.

I went to the end of the line. When I got to the counter, I was directed to a different window than before. I explained to the ample-sized local woman working the window that I'd like to get a copy of my mother's death certificate.

"You lose the first one?" she said in a sympathetic whisper.

I didn't know what the right answer should be. Had I lost the one I'd been given? If so, it shouldn't be a problem to replace it. On the other hand, what kind of daughter thinks so little of her ohana that she misplaces important family doc.u.ments?

So, instead of answering, I puckered up my face as if the whole thing was distressing beyond words.

"No worries," said the clerk. "Just fill in this form and come back. No need you do the line again."

I took the form to a table and filled it out using the information my mother had provided on my birth certificate. Then I went back to the window. The clerk typed on her computer and looked up.

"Okay, here it is," she said. "Do you need just your mother's death certificate or do you want her marriage certificate, too?"

"Uh, both if possible. Mahalo." Had my mother and father actually gotten married? I was having a hard time keeping up with the onslaught of new family information.

"I'm afraid it's gonna take a few days to get you the certified copies. Is this is an urgent request?"

I'd used the letter from Valentine to get my birth certificate right away, but I didn't have anything like that for my mother's doc.u.ments.

"No. It's important, but not urgent."

"We'll send it to you. Shouldn't take more than a couple days."

"That will be fine, mahalo." I paid the fees and left the window. I thought about taking the bus to the airport but it was getting late and Valentine would be getting anxious. I was already anxious. My parents had actually married? Why hadn't Auntie Mana told me that?

I called for a cab and hoped it wouldn't be the same driver. A decrepit yellow taxi with shot shocks pulled up to the building and a woman driver popped out and waved me over. I got in and we made it to the airport with little fanfare. I gave her forty bucks even though the meter showed only twenty-eight. I believe in equal pay for equal work, and besides, she hadn't made my adrenaline spike.

I bought a ticket for the ten-thirty flight to Lihue but then noticed there was an earlier flight leaving in seven minutes. I took off running. The gate agent shot me major stink eye as I came ripping up to the podium. They'd already closed the jet-way door.

"Sorry. I got detained at security," I said, handing over my crumpled boarding pa.s.s.

She looked at me with eyes that said, Liar, liar, pants on fire.

"Really," I huffed. "I didn't have any luggage and I must've looked shifty or something *cuz I got treated to the full body pat-down." I sucked in a deep breath. "Heaven knows I understand the need for security. I was a federal air marshal for a while. So don't worry, I'm one of the good guys." I shot her what I hoped pa.s.sed for a winsome smile.

She glared as if this was a common ploy of would-be hijackers. "This boarding pa.s.s is for our next flight, not this one."

"I know, but I need to get to Lihue as fast as possible," I said. "I have an important meeting with a Ha.n.a.lei lawyer."

She softened a little, realizing only a local would be meeting with a small town lawyer.

"Take the first seat available," she said in a steely voice. She punched in the code to the jet-way door. "You've already delayed this departure four minutes."

As we were landing I pulled out my cellphone but I waited until the flight attendant gave us the go-ahead before calling Valentine.

"You're here?" she said. "Do you have the birth certificate?"

"Yes, all signed, sealed and as soon as this plane makes it to the gate, delivered."

"I'm afraid I won't be able to pick you up. I'm already at the courthouse and if I leave I'll lose my place in line. Would you mind taking a cab?"

"Sure, no problem." Airplane tickets and taxi fares had already made a big dent in my wallet, but the Lihue courthouse was only a few minutes from the airport. As I exited the terminal my cell went off again.

"Pali? It's Sunny. I just got to the courthouse and Valentine tells me you need a ride. I'll send Timo."

The white Range Rover came into view within minutes. He hustled around and opened the back door but I nodded toward the front pa.s.senger seat.

"Have it your way," he said. His voice had a gruff edge, but he was smiling. "Mrs. Wilkerson tells me you're Phil's daughter. You jus' like him, man."

We arrived at the courthouse and Timo dropped me at the door. I hustled inside. Sunny was standing in the lobby.

"Valentine's over in the records office. She asked me to wait out here for you."

"Did you know Phil actually had seven wives?" I said.

"What? Did someone call from the notification Valentine put in the newspaper? It's probably just some gold digger."

"No, it wasn't from the paper," I said. "It appears my mom was married to Phil."

"And why would you think that?"

"Because I was just at the Vital Records Office in Honolulu and my mom's got a marriage certificate on file."

"Huh. Well, that's a shocker." She looked more pensive than shocked. "C'mon. We better get your birth certificate to Valentine."

CHAPTER 25.

After I'd located Valentine in the county clerk's office and handed over my birth certificate, Sunny offered to buy me coffee. It was past noon, and I'd only had one quick cup with Steve more than six hours earlier.

"You didn't know my father and mother had been married?" I said.

"I don't remember Phil mentioning it. He probably felt so bad about what happened to her he didn't want to dwell on it. I always thought Peggy was his first wife. Remember, that's what he said in his will."

"Speaking of Peggy," I lowered my voice to a whisper. "Have you heard anything more?"

"Not a thing."

Valentine showed up a few minutes later. "It's all set," she said. "The judge is taking a two-week vacation, but we've got the clock ticking on the probate. There's not much more we can do until the notification period is over." She looked down at her watch. "I'm afraid I need to leave. I have an appointment in an hour up in Ha.n.a.lei. Thanks for coming on such short notice, Pali. I hope you won't have to make any more trips over here for a while."

We shook hands and Valentine left.

"I guess I better get to the airport," I said. "It feels like I've spent more time in airports in the past couple of weeks than when I was an air marshal."

I landed in Maui and once again, Steve picked me up.

"How'd it go?" he said as I slid into the pa.s.senger seat.

"Well, other than feeling like I'm getting jet lag from so many interisland flights, I'd say it went pretty well. The probate's underway now."

"Great. So, did they give you any idea when you'll be rich?"

"Don't hold your breath. Oh, I did find out something interesting, though."

"Yeah?"

"Seems my parents were married after all."

"No kidding? How'd you find out?"

"I ordered my mother's wedding certificate at the Vital Records office."

"Wow," he said. "It's like pulling on a loose thread and, before you know it, you've unraveled the whole sweater. All it took was finding out who your dad was and now you've figured out your whole family story."

Steve had to go across the island to pick up a check and he asked if I wanted to go along. I declined, saying I had some things I needed to get done at my shop. I doubted if I'd actually get much work done, but I hadn't seen Farrah or Hatch for three days and I had fences to mend.

I asked him to drop me off at Farrah's store. She was busy with a customer so I waited. When the customer left, Farrah came over and gave me a warm hug. She still smelled like *baby' but I would've been concerned if she hadn't.

"Are you still staying down at Hatch's?" I said.

"Yeah, but not for long. It's kinda tight with three keiki, two dogs and three humans." I wanted to point out that technically keiki, or kids, were also human, but I didn't since I was mending fences.

"Where are you moving to?"

"I guess I'll move back up here. Everyone's been totally cool with me taking in Moke, so it's no big deal. His birth mom and me are real tight. In fact, we're doing a baptism this weekend."

"In a church?" I said.

"No, I'm a minister, remember? Wherever I am it's a church." That sounded a little *diva' to me, but again, I was mending fences so I kept my mouth shut.

"Where are you having it?"

"Down at Ho'okipa Beach. It'll be fun. And guess what?"

"Uh, I don't know."

"No, you gotta guess." I usually refuse to go along with Farrah's guessing games but in the spirit of making amends, I relented.

"Okay, my guess is you're going to baptize all the kids. Even Echo and Rain."

"Good guess, *cuz you're right. But there's more."

Oh boy, more.

"Let's see. Okay, my second guess is you've timed it to happen on a full moon." I was simply making stuff up until I could reasonably put an end to the guessing.

"Wow. Right again! It's so far out you'd think of that. You must be channeling me or something. Okay, one more guess. We should go until you get one wrong."

"Are you doing the baptism at night, so you can see the moon?"

"Oh, b.u.mmer. You got it wrong. No, it'll be in the day time. It'd be hard to get pictures at night. Steve offered to be the photographer-for free."

Funny. Steve hadn't mentioned anything about the baptism when he picked me up.

"How many people are coming?" I said.