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“Where in Australia are you from?”
Mari saw Heath’s friend smile and puff his chest out a little as if the question was a compliment.
Maybe it was to the Navy man.
“Jervis Bay,” Riptide answered her. “Its in-”
“New South Wales.” Anuhea nodded with approval. “I’ve been planning a trip to Australia in my head for a few years. It’s not all that far from Hawaii,” she explained before shaking her head, “but it’s still flippin’ expensive to book a flight.”
Riptide turned the shoes over in his hands. “We should talk. My folks back home would be happy to let you stay with them while you’re there.” He handed her back the Vibrams and then held out his hand. “I’m Aitken Murray,” he grinned, “but you can call me Riptide. Everyone else does.”
Mari saw Heath come around the corner holding a bath towel in his hands. She took it and held it out to Anu.
Her friend let go of Riptide’s hand and exchanged her shoes for the towel. “I’m Anuhea Akau.
Mari could almost see her face as Anu toweled off her hair.
While she dried herself off, Mari introduced Heath and Riptide to her friend. “She’s a graduate student at the University of Hawaii, with degrees in Environmental Science and Natural Resource Management.”
Reiko stepped up to take the towel from Anu when she was done. “Did you come from the dam?”
Anu nodded and then she shook her head. “The water’s rising. From the numbers you gave me from yesterday, I think you need to seriously consider moving out. Soon. At least until the rain stops.”
Mari and Reiko shared a look with each other.
That idea was going to be a tough sell.
“What’s wrong?”
Mari looked up at Heath. “You met our neighbors, their pretty easy going, but some of the people in the area surrounding us?” She shook her head. “They’ll be the ones we have to convince.”
BUCK
Mari wasn’t wrong.
People could be stubborn.
Even Missus Sakamoto, as sweet as she was, with her round face and easy grin, simply folded her arms across her chest and sat down in her arm chair.
Those that heard the warning and packed up to leave, left the community behind.
Some people didn’t believe that this storm, of all storms, was going to flood their neighborhood.
A tsunami warning after an earthquake in Alaska?
Sure.
Some even brought up that ‘Biblical Rain’ again.
How would their neighborhood flood now if the 2006 storms barely left them with puddles?
By the time they made their way back around to Mari’s little neighborhood, Buck was happy to see that Mari had packed things up.
Her computer and all of her files backed up on an external harddrive.
The photos on the walls were also backed up on the same drive.
She was ready to leave and helping the Tanoai family pack up their truck.
