When Todd walked Christy to class on Wednesday morning, he again quoted the Hawaiian prayer of blessing at the door.
“You were going to tell me what that means,” Christy said.
“Meet me at the fountain before you go to work,” Todd said. “I’ll tell you the whole story.”
When they met, so many people were gathered in the plaza that Todd and Christy had to find another place to sit. They ended up on a couch inside the lobby of Dischner Hall, the music building. From down the long corridor came the sounds of someone playing his heart out on one of the pianos in the practice room.
“I never have told you much about when we lived in Maui,” Todd began.
Christy gave Todd her full attention. She had the feeling this was going to be one of those important conversations like the one they had at the park before school started.
“Did you know that we lived with my dad’s girlfriend, Kapiolani?”
Christy shook her head.
“She was from the islands, and my dad was really in love with her. I called her Lani. She was an amazing woman. I was closer to her than I’ve ever been to my own mom. She used to make Spam and rice with teriyaki sauce for my friend Kimo and me whenever he came over. That was his favorite.”
Christy made a face. “Spam and rice?”
“You should try it. The first time I had it was when Kimo and I put up a tent in the backyard and slept out there.” Todd smiled at the memory. “We told each other scary stories about centipedes and the menehunes.”
“The men of what?”
“The menehunes. They’re the imaginary little people of the islands.”
“Oh. Like leprechauns?”
Todd nodded and went on with his memory. “Four huge plumeria trees stood in the backyard, and Lani always wore plumerias in her long hair.”
Christy smiled. Todd had given her several plumeria leis over the years. She knew he loved the sweetly fragrant white flowers. Now she knew why. She wondered why he had never talked about his dad’s girlfriend before.
“You said she used to say a prayer over you before school.”
“Oh yeah. Na ka Makua-O-Kalani, e malama mai ia makou.
“That sounds so beautiful,” Christy said. “What does it mean?”
“I’m pretty sure it means, ‘Let our heavenly Father take care of us all.’ It’s a sort of blessing or benediction.”
“I’d like to learn it,” Christy said. “Keep saying it to me every day, and I’ll try to repeat it.”
They practiced saying it twice before Christy asked, “What happened to Lani? She sounds like a wonderful person. Why didn’t your dad marry her?”
Todd grew quiet and smoothed Christy’s hair by running his hand from the crown of her head all the way down her back. He did that twice before asking, “You know my surfboard?”
Christy had no idea what his beat-up orange surfboard had to do with this conversation. “Yes, I know your surfboard.”
“Lani gave it to me on my tenth birthday.”
Christy now understood why it was so thrashed. Before she could add up how old Naranja was, Todd finished his thought.
“She died two months later. Ovarian cancer. We only stayed on the islands a short while after that. My dad couldn’t handle it. That’s when we moved to Newport Beach. He never fell in love again, at least as far as I know. And he hasn’t been back to the islands since then, either.”
“But you have,” Christy said.
Todd gave Christy a tender smile. “Yes.” He leaned closer and whispered in her ear, “I have fallen in love.”
Christy felt her face warming. “I meant, you’ve been back to Hawaii.”
“That too.” Todd leaned back and rested his elbows on the back of the couch and stretched out his legs in front of him, crossing them at the ankles. “I think the way I’ve healed up from stuff in the past is by going back and remembering. My dad seems to deal with it by going on. That’s why I never talk about any of this, I guess. It’s not an open topic with my dad. And of course, I’d never talk about any of this with my mom because she doesn’t know any more than that we lived on Maui for a while.”
Christy slipped her hand in Todd’s. “I like hearing about all this, Todd. I like knowing more about you. You can talk with me about any of this, any time you want. Especially if you want to talk about Lani.” Cautiously she added, “Or any other girl.”
“She’s the only one,” Todd said in a calm breath.
Christy smiled. She was realizing that Todd hadn’t thoroughly processed his life’s journey yet. She suspected that, as he told each part of his story, he could process it because he knew he was safe and at home with the listener. Christy felt honored to be that listener.
Little by little, as the next few weeks unfolded, Todd gave Christy more details of his childhood, telling her aspects of his life he had never told anyone. None of his revelations was as stunning as the first two sessions were, but each bit of information drew Todd and Christy closer together.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning they met for breakfast, and Todd walked her to class. He repeated his Hawaiian blessing over her at the door of her classroom. By the end of the second week, Christy had it memorized.
She felt that their heavenly Father was taking care of them. Life was on a straight track now. This was the way it was supposed to be. No surprises.
Each morning Christy tried to wake up early enough to read her Bible and have some quiet time with the Lord. Most mornings she managed. Not all. Every day she diligently made it to class on time, worked her full schedule, ate well, and kept up with her homework.
Those simple, routine acts helped Christy immensely. She felt settled. And that turned out to be more important to her than she had realized it would be.
Katie turned out to be the star of the well-attended Sunday afternoon softball game. She and Matt secured a nine-to-five victory for their team over Sierra’s team, and the cheering could be heard halfway across campus.
Matt and Katie seemed to be spending more time together, but Katie refused to comment on how she felt about him. All she would say when Christy asked was, “What’s the big rush? Can’t people be friends for a while before everyone wants to know if they’re dating? Give me a break!” Christy thought the new, improved, low-key approach suited Katie. More than once Christy spotted her roommate gallivanting around campus with other guys and appearing to be enjoying every minute of it.
Todd was full of ideas about what to do with the youth group. On his third Sunday at Riverview Heights, Katie, Matt, and Christy had all accompanied him. Five more students were there than the first week. Todd decided to keep all the students together for the next few weeks instead of breaking them up into classes, since there were so few of them. That meant the pressure was off Christy to decide about teaching Sunday school. She scolded herself for making such an issue of it earlier.
Everything always works out. Why can’t I remember that?
At the end of their third week of classes, Todd and Christy strolled hand in hand across campus and headed for the gym, where weekly chapel was held each Friday morning.
Their conversation centered on the youth group camping trip to the desert that Todd had been talking about since Sunday. He had decided it should be the next weekend.
“A week from today?” Christy questioned. “Are you sure you can pull it off in that short time?”
“Sure,” Todd said. “What’s to pull off?”
“Everything. Do you have tents? Who’s going to do the food? What about permission slips? Don’t the kids have to have medical release forms signed or something?”
“I’m working on all that.”
They entered the gym and went to the same area in which they had sat the last two Fridays with Sierra and some of her friends. Katie was already there.
Christy sat down, thinking about last summer when she had taken off on a camping trip with Todd, Katie, and their friend Antonio in Italy. None of them had done
much planning ahead of time, and although the trip wasn’t a disaster, it wasn’t Christy’s favorite experience.
“Todd, this isn’t going to be like our camping trip to Italy, is it?”
“That was an awesome trip,” Katie said, jumping into the conversation. “What are we talking about? The camping trip with the youth group? Did you decide on a date?”
“Next weekend,” Christy said. “And you’re right, Italy was an awesome trip. All I’m saying is that it would have been a really awesome trip if we had thought to bring a few things with us ahead of time.”
“Like what?” Todd asked.
Christy gave him an exasperated look. “Oh, I don’t know,” she teased. “Like maybe food and sleeping bags.”
Katie laughed. “It did get pretty cold, didn’t it? Remember when the rain came through the tents, and we all ended up in the van?”
“But you both liked the fresh fish, didn’t you?” Todd asked.
Both girls answered him with their piercing stares.
“Okay, okay.” Todd held up his hands in surrender. “By any chance, would either of you be interested in helping me work on those minor details?”
“What have you figured out so far?” Christy asked.
“Well,” Todd said with a boyish glimmer in his eye, “I have the weekend selected. Next weekend. How’s that for a start?”
More people started to join them. Christy knew this conversation needed to be finished later. Her mind began to sort through ideas of what kinds of food would be easy to cook on a camping trip in the desert. When they had camped in Italy, all they had to eat was the fish they caught. Christy wanted to make sure they wouldn’t be dependent on the local desert game for their food. Lizard stew didn’t sound appealing.
Sierra joined them and sat behind Christy. She leaned over and said, “Did you hear that Randy is going to play for chapel this morning? He started up a new band with some guys in the dorm. Isn’t that great?”
Sierra reached over and gently tugged on the ends of Christy’s long, straight hair. “How do you get your hair so silky? You have such gorgeous hair, Christy. Trade you.”
Christy laughed. “Any day. I love your hair, Sierra. Do you know how impossible it is to get mine to curl? The longer it grows, the straighter it becomes.”
“What do you use on it?” Sierra asked. “Shampoo, I mean.”
“Whatever is on sale.”
Sierra nodded her understanding. “I know exactly what you’re saying. Believe me, I am so broke. I didn’t want to have to work this first semester, but I think I have to find something. Do you know if they’re hiring at the bookstore?”
“I don’t think there are any openings, but I’ll ask.”
“Thanks,” Sierra said. Leaning closer and lowering her voice she added, “By the way, I was meaning to tell you, I’m glad things worked out between Katie and you. I was worried that first week of school when she came to our room because she was so upset. She never told me what was wrong, but I guessed it was something between the two of you. I used to get that way with my older sister because we always had to share a room.”
Christy was surprised. To Katie’s credit, she had kept her conflict with Christy private. Christy admired her friend for that.
“You and Katie are my supreme role models,” Sierra went on. “I’m sure you know that. You both are such great examples to me of WOGs.”
“Wogs?” Christy asked.
“Women of God,” Sierra said. “WOGS. You really care for other people. I don’t know if I ever thanked you for being so nice to me when we met in England. You both treated me as an equal, even though I was younger. You made me feel like part of your group, and I’ve never forgotten that.”
Christy smiled at Sierra. She had such an innocent, clear-hearted face. Sierra’s blue-gray eyes smiled back at Christy.
Randy and his band started chapel by asking everyone to stand. They played three songs in a row as the students’ voices filled the gymnasium. Christy loved it. She closed her eyes and let the voices all around her move from her ears into her heart. She loved hearing Todd’s strong, deep voice blend with hers as she sang and worshiped God.
When the third song ended, the silence jolted Christy to open her eyes and sit back down. She wanted to sing some more.
“Makes you eager for heaven, doesn’t it?” Todd whispered in her ear. “Can you just imagine what it’s going to be like to sing with the multitudes in the courts of heaven? Man!”
Christy slid her hand into Todd’s and whispered, “I know!” She looked past Todd and noticed Matt had just come in and was slipping into the open space on the other side of Katie. He looked over at Christy, smiled, and waved.
Christy smiled back.
Glancing at Katie, Christy examined her friend’s profile. Katie’s face was more complex than Sierra’s. Her expression was open and energetic like Sierra’s, but Katie had an outdoorsy sort of beauty to her. She was solid, like an oak tree, yet rounded and defined in all the right places. The new haircut framed her face like the curling petals of a rose.
Katie is a woman.
Christy’s thought surprised her. This tomboy buddy of hers had blossomed. Had Matt noticed that, as well?
Katie is a WOG. She’s a woman, and she’s a Woman of God.
Turning her attention to the chapel speaker who now stood at the microphone, Christy thought about how much she loved being at Rancho Corona. She loved sitting beside Todd, singing together, and being surrounded by their friends. It made her think that this camping trip could be close and wonderful, as well.
That evening, in the cafeteria, Todd presented Christy with a list of what he had worked on so far for the camping trip. Two items were written down:
Vehicles
Tents
“Have you arranged for these things, or is this your list of things to do?” Christy asked.
“To do,” Todd said. He showered two scoops of peas over his mound of lettuce and then pressed in the center with the bottom of the salad dressing ladle. After filling the hollow center with blue cheese dressing, he stuck a celery stick in the middle.
“You make the most bizarre salads I’ve ever seen,” Christy said, creating her usual lettuce, broccoli, and carrot salad laced with ranch dressing and dotted with raisins.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Todd said.
“Like that beautiful tostada you created yesterday at lunch?” Christy teased. “I’ve never seen anyone put a layer of pickles on his refried beans and then pour peas over the whole thing.”
“It was pretty good,” Todd said. “I like peas.”
“So I’ve noticed.”
They made their way to a table where some of their friends were seated. “Does this mean we should put peas on this to-do list for the camping trip next weekend?” Christy asked.
“Great idea. We could buy one of those ten-pound cans. Write that down on the list. Peas and what else?”
Christy gave Todd a tucked-chin, raised-eyebrow look. “Is this your way of asking me to make up the menu and the shopping list?”
“Hey, I’ll help you. We already have peas on the list. Peas go with everything. What else do you think we should put on there?”
If Todd weren’t so absolutely adorable, Christy would have slugged him.
10 By the time Todd and Christy had eaten their fill of Friday-night cafeteria pizza and salad, they had a complete camping menu figured out. Sierra joined them and was able to help calculate amounts because she came from a family of six children. Twelve students and volunteers would go on the trip, Todd estimated.
The equipment list took a little longer to prepare. Christy wished Matt could have been in on this conversation because he had done a lot of camping with his family and would make sure they didn’t forget anything. Matt wasn’t at dinner, and neither was Katie. Christy thought Katie would have told her if she had plans with Matt, but then the decision to eat together could have been spontaneous, which happened often
with Katie.
After dinner, Christy and Todd drove into town to check out the prices on camping equipment at a sporting goods store.
“We could buy some of the stuff we need, like the camp stove,” Todd suggested on their way. “Then it would be ours.”
“Ours?” Christy asked.
“Yeah, yours, mine, ours. We could use it whenever we go camping.”
“I don’t have much money right now.” Christy wondered, If Todd’s savings are as limited as mine, why would we buy camping gear? A fleeting vision paraded through her imagination of her and Todd living in a lean-to shelter made of palm fronds on some deserted beach. Their framed college degrees served as a welcome mat. Christy was shooing the sea gulls away from their breakfast while she cooked scrambled eggs on the only material possession she and Todd owned—a gleaming, brand-new camp stove.
“I have some money saved up,” Todd said. “We could use it.”
That surprised her. “Did you get your first paycheck from the church?”
“No, I’ve been saving and making a few investments.”
Christy waited until after they left the sporting goods store and had stopped for ice cream before she asked the questions that were rolling around in her head. They were seated at a cement patio table outside the small ice cream shop near the movie theater. The evening had cooled after an especially hot afternoon, so Christy had grabbed Todd’s navy blue, hooded sweat shirt from the floor of Gus and put it on before they went into the ice cream store. She felt that if she could help herself to her boyfriend’s clothes and help him shop for camping stoves, she had a right to know about his savings and investments.
Todd took a bite of his top scoop of pineapple coconut.
“I never understood how you could chew ice cream,” Christy said. She had picked one scoop of caramel fudge swirl and was slowly eating it from a cup with a spoon. “That would give me a headache and a toothache at the same time.”
“You still seem to find my eating habits fascinating, don’t you? First the salad and now the ice cream.” He didn’t sound upset. He actually sounded flattered that Christy would notice all these things about him.