Anita let out a sigh. “I understand. What are you going to tell Gordon?”
“I’ll tell him to write me.” Teri stood up. “I’m going to take a lightning fast shower. I’m already packed.”
Anita reluctantly nodded. “Okay. I’ll make some coffee.”
Mom and Grandma weren’t as understanding as Annie. Teri told them her decision as soon as she climbed out of the shower. They were still expressing their disagreement when Gordon arrived.
“Will you do something about this granddaughter of mine?” Grandma Maria said as Gordon lifted the three suitcases now returning to the airport.
“What would you like me to do?” Gordon asked, standing patiently by the front door. Everyone in the household was watching.
“I’d like you to get down on your knees and propose to her.”
“Already did that,” Gordon said without so much as a flinch in his expression.
Grandma looked shocked. She turned to Teri with her hands on her hips. “And what did you tell him?”
“Grandma, this is crazy. We need to get to the airport.” Teri pretended to be fumbling in her purse for something.
“She told me no,” Gordon said.
“And what did you tell her?” Grandma asked.
“I told her I would wait.”
Grandma clucked her tongue, and with a wave of her hand in the air, she shuffled out to the car, muttering all the way in Spanish.
Teri refused to make eye contact with Gordon. She climbed into the backseat and remained silent all the way to the airport. As they reached Lahaina, Gordon twisted his rearview mirror so that with a glance he could catch Teri’s face. She leaned closer to the window and looked out.
It ached to leave. She loved Maui. Yet to act on the admission that she loved anything or anyone … she just couldn’t do it right now.
At the airport, Mom and Grandma checked in first since their flight to San Diego left twenty minutes before Teri’s plane to San Francisco. Fortunately, Mom had a level head. She rattled off instructions to Teri about how she would box up all Teri’s Christmas gifts, which were still at their home, and mail them to Oregon. Or maybe UPS them. She would check to see which was the better price.
“Okay, Mom. That’s fine. Either one. I’ll pay you back, if that would help.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t want you to pay me back! Call us tonight once you’re home, all right? We’ll take turns calling here to get the update on Grace Malia, like we discussed.”
“Okay, Mom.” Teri bent her ear to listen to the flight being called over the loudspeaker. “That’s yours,” she said.
She kissed her mom and then leaned over to give Grandma Maria a kiss. Grandma returned a soft, moist one on Teri’s cheek. Then grasping Teri’s arm tightly, she said in a low, grumbling voice, “Don’t be so stubborn.”
“Grandma,” Teri said, pulling away.
Grandma shook her finger at Teri and said, “You know what I mean.”
Teri didn’t know how to answer so she turned it into a joke and said, “And I love you, too.”
Grandma kissed Gordon on both cheeks, and without a word she held his face in her two hands, looked into his eyes, and smiled.
Gordon smiled back, and then to Teri’s surprise, he said to Grandma, “Hasta.”
Where did he learn the Spanish word for “until”?
Grandma nodded her pleasure and agreement. “Hasta,” she repeated as if she needed no explanation for Gordon’s farewell.
Mom gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, too, thanking him profusely for all he had done for them during the past week. “I imagine you’ll be glad to get back to your job hunting now. We can never thank you enough for all you did.”
“Was all my pleasure, really.”
Mom and Grandma filed into line with the others boarding the plane and turned one last time to wave good-bye.
After they disappeared from sight, Gordon and Teri turned silently and headed to the end of the terminal hallway to wait for Teri’s flight. They sat next to each other and gazed out the window at the wide-bodied jet that would soon be taking Teri away.
Finally Teri decided she must speak. But what should she say? Her heart had already been pounding. It only increased its rhythm, and her hands broke into a clammy sweat.
Gordon seemed calm, almost as if he were deep in prayer. No words came to Teri’s lips.
Suddenly Teri’s flight was called. She sprang up like a jack-in-the-box, her heart racing. “That’s mine,” she said.
Gordon walked with her to the rope divider that hung between the waiting room and the line of boarding passengers. He stood there like a rock. “I take it your answer is still no,” he said.
“It would never work, Gordon. We’re too different. I’m not ready for a serious relationship.” Teri paused, trying to think if she had left out any of the reasons she had been feeding herself. She thought about her need for fireworks but didn’t know how to explain that to him so she added, “And you’re so much older than I. It’s just not meant to be. Please try to understand.”
Then, as if he hadn’t heard a word she had said, Gordon stated, “I’ll wait right here until it’s a yes.” He paused. “Until.” He said the word firmly, not like a benediction but like a christening.
The line had moved ahead, and Teri needed to move with it. People were behind her, pressing her on. Gordon didn’t make any move to hug her or touch her. She inched forward and looked at him over her shoulder. Their eyes connected, and in that mysterious way, as he had done before, Gordon’s gaze drew her to him and embraced her.
Teri looked away. She had to remain strong. Clear headed. This was a wise, logical decision. It was the right decision. It had to be.
“Ticket please,” the airline employee said at the door.
Teri handed it to her, received back the portion with her seat assignment, and walked toward the plane without looking back.
Chapter Thirty-Three
One Teri was seated with the seat belt fastened and the stream of air turned on and blowing right on her, she felt a little better. She knew she would be fine once the plane was airborne.
The rest of the passengers boarded. She flipped through the magazine from the rack in front of her. Computer viruses are on the decrease. Well, that’s good news. Travel clocks that can be programmed with your favorite wake up music.
Teri jammed the magazine into the pouch and moved a little closer to the window as a passenger slid in and sat next to her. He was an older man who’s broad girth filled the entire seat. When he sat, he let out a heavy puff, sounding quite exhausted from his journey down the aisle. Teri avoided looking at him. She didn’t want to start a conversation. All she could think of was how hard it would be to get past him during the five hour flight when she needed to go to the bathroom.
She fished in her purse for some gum. Some mints. Anything. She had nothing. Without thinking, Teri started nibbling on her fingernails on her right hand. She nervously tapped her foot and droned out the flight attendants who were going through their spiel on emergency exits. The seat belt sign was on, they were ready for take off.
Come on! Come on! What is taking so long! Let’s get going. Roll this baby down the runway, will you?
A full ten minutes passed and the captain’s voice came over the loud speaker. “We are experiencing some back up here on the runway. This is not uncommon and we should be cleared to taxi to our runway in just a few moments. Please relax and keep your seat belts fastened.”
Teri had nibbled all the fingernails off her right hand and was now starting on her left hand. Then she remembered Gordon asking her that morning on the beach if she bit her nails because that was one thing he didn’t like. She nibbled with a renewed interest. What did it matter what Gordon liked or didn’t like? She wasn’t suppose to be thinking of him anyway. She was going home. Blocking him out of her mind. What was he doing here with her, so comfortably settled in her innermost thoughts like that?
Sh
e grabbed the magazine again and tried in vain to turn the pages with her stubby finger tips. Why did I do that? Why did I bite off all my nails?
Then, all of a sudden, the tears came. She couldn’t stop them. Huge, watery drops ran down her cheeks and splashed on the magazine page.
This is crazy! Why am I crying? It must be all the stress from Annie and the baby and, and … I need a Kleenex.
Reaching under the seat in front of her for her purse, Teri rummaged around for a Kleenex, a piece of paper, or anything before her nose started to drip along with her out-of-control tear ducts. In the bottom of her purse she found an old, crumpled, and dirty pack of tissues with one last tissue in it. She fumbled to pull out the soiled tissue. It was stuck to the cardboard on the bottom.
With a tug, the tissue came out, along with a dried out object that fell on her lap. Teri blinked hard and tried to pick up the curious item. It was a pressed flower of some sort. She wiped her nose and turned the brown, squashed flower in the palm of her hand. It was an orchid.
Now where did I get an orchid, and why did I save it?
Suddenly a dam broke in her mind, and memories wildly spilled into her heart.
“Strange, isn’t it?” she heard Gordon’s voice whisper inside her heart. “The flowers don’t resist blooming at their appointed time. Why do we?… I think four is good. I’d like even numbers. Six would be better than five … I could wait.… Does he embrace your heart with one arm or two? Answer that, and you’ll know.… Frail humans we are, fumbling with the eternal … That great marriage feast of the Lamb.… I shall run into his open arms!”
The airplane began to roll back ever so slightly.
“Stop the plane!” Teri shouted at the top of her lungs. She released her seat belt, grabbed her purse, and yelled again, “Stop the plane!”
One of the flight attendants came rushing back to her aisle.
“I have to get out,” Teri said frantically to the large man seated between her and the aisle.
“You can’t get out now,” he barked.
“I have to!” she hollered and crawled over the top of the man’s knees, dragging her purse behind her. She was aware that every eye in this section of the plane was on her. She didn’t care.
“Please take your seat,” the flight attendant said, gently pressing her hands against Teri’s shoulders.
“You don’t understand! It’s an emergency! I must get off this plane. Right now! Can’t you just open the door and let me out? We haven’t gone anywhere!” Teri sounded as frantic as she felt.
“But we’ve secured all the doors,” the woman said.
Another attendant arrived and said, “It’s all right. I received clearance from the captain. We can release her.”
Teri bolted down the aisle, her hair waving wildly as she ran. Another flight attendant stood by the now open door and asked, “Do you require medical assistance?”
“No!” Teri shouted over her shoulder. She ran toward the terminal, her mind and emotions sprinting right along with her legs. She had left Gordon a full twenty-five minutes ago. He could be halfway home by now. She would get a cab. Or rent a car. Or hitchhike. She didn’t care. She had to reach him.
The moment she burst into the waiting area, Teri stopped. Gordon was standing where she had left him. He hadn’t moved an inch since his final words of, “I’ll wait right here until …”
Teri stood frozen, panting hard, her eyes locked onto Gordon’s. She said in one look with her eyes everything that had been hidden so deeply in her heart for so long. He stood there, smiling, absorbing every bit of her message loud and clear.
Lifting both his arms toward her, Gordon invited Teri into his embrace. She ran as fast as she could, wrapped her arms around him, and held him so close it felt as if her heart were beating in time with his. Neither of them let go.
“Gordon,” she whispered, her tears soaking his shoulder, “I love you.”
He drew back slightly and lifted his finger to brush the tears from her cheeks. “I take it then your answer is yes?”
Teri looked into his unflinching eyes. Tears brimmed on his eyelids. She remembered when he had proposed at Kimos and had told her the angels were watching. She could almost feel them now, hovering close, holding their breath, waiting with Gordon for her answer.
Teri whispered just loud enough for Gordon and the angels to hear. “Yes.”
Slowly drawing her close, Gordon tilted his head, ready to give Teri the kiss he had saved for his one and only woman.
She closed her eyes. Gordon’s lips met hers. And inside her heart it was the Fourth of July.
Whispers Recipe
Making tamales energized Teri Moreno. The long, familiar process connected her with the other women in her family. She participated in family tamale parties ever since she was a young girl and now the recipe as well as the kitchen advice from her female relatives were treasures she held in her heart.
When my sister-in-law, Kate, married into the Medina family, she was invited to join the tradition of their “family tamale party.” Grandma Ruthie taught her how to select the best chilies (New Mexico Chilies) and how to hand roll the corn husks just right.
I’ll never forget the first Christmas Kate showed up with freezer bags stuffed with tamales and told me they were a special gift from her new family to ours. Strange gift I thought. Then I had my first bite. Everything the characters in this book said to describe Teri’s tamales is true. They are “muy delicioso!”
In case you’d like to host your own tamale party, here’s the Medina family recipe:
Teri’s Tamales
(Ingredients are for 100 tamales since Grandma Ruthie says, “If you aren’t going to make at least 100 tamales, then it’s not worth getting the kitchen dirty.”)
10 lbs. prepared Masa
1 large bag of corn husks
3 roasts—about 5-8 lbs. each (beef or pork or mixed)
2 large bags of dried red chilies
The Day Before:
Take all 3 roasts and put them in a large roaster or baking pot. Rub 2 tsp. salt into the meat. Add 3 whole garlic cloves, crushed, and 2-3 sliced onions.
Bake at 300 degrees until meat falls apart when poked with a fork (estimate 30 minutes per pound each).
After the meat cools, drain fat from the juice and save the juice. Remove all fat from the meat. Shred cooled meat into strips of about 3-4 inches long.
Preparing the Red Chilies:
Clean out all the seeds and stems from the chilies. Wash them really well. A good trick is to wear a pair of clean gloves to keep the hotness from getting into your hands. If you don’t wear gloves, be careful not to rub your eyes! Cover the chilies in water and cook over medium heat until they are soft. Blend the soft chilies by filling the blender with chilies up to the 4-cup level. Add 1-1/2 cups of the water you just cooked the chilies in (more to make it spicier, less to make it more mild) and add 1-1/2 cups of the juice saved from the cooked meat. Also add: 1 tsp. cumin seed, 1 tsp. oregano (look for Mexican oregano with the big flakes), 1/2 tsp. cilantro, and 2 tsp. salt. Mix in the blender for two minutes until mixture is all one color.
Preparing the Meat Mixture:
Combine the chili mixture with the shredded meat. (You may need to make a couple batches of the blender chili mix, depending on the size of the roasts.) Meat mixture should not be runny once the chili mixture is added, so add just enough to cover all the meat. Save about 1/4 cup of the chili mixture to add to the masa.
Preparing the Corn Husks:
Begin by taking out all the corn silk and soaking all the husks. Husks need to be soft and pliable. Stack soft husks on a cookie sheet until you are ready for the production line. You can use all different sizes of husks. The best size is about 5-6 inches wide.
Preparing the Masa:
Masa is the cornmeal that surrounds the tamale. It can be purchased in dough form at a store that carries Mexican specialty foods. Add a little bit at a time of the saved 1/4 cup of chili mixture to add f
lavor to the 10 lbs. of masa.
The Tamale Party:
Grandma Ruthie always covers the largest table in the house with a plastic tablecloth to make clean up easier. Gather everyone around the table and get the production line going as follows:
Step One: Spread the masa on the widest part of the corn husk using the back of a tablespoon. Spread it about 1/8 inch thick and only cover about 3/4 of the corn husk.
Step Two: Spoon the meat mixture on top of the masa. Put in just enough meat mixture so that when you fold the corn husk around the meat there will be an overlap of the corn husk with masa on it.
Step Three: Fold one side of the corn husk over the other side. Then turn the bottom (pointed end) of the husk away from the overlapping side. Stack the tamales with the open side up so the meat doesn’t fall out.
Step four: Begin cooking the first few tamales while the others are being prepared. Place tamales in a steamer tray over boiling water with the open part of the tamale facing up. It takes about 30 minutes to steam 1-5 tamales. Make sure the water doesn’t run out under the steamer tray.
Tamales are done when the masa looks like firm, cooked cornmeal. It’s okay to unwrap a tamale and check to see if it’s done. If the masa isn’t firm, wrap it back up and let it steam some more.
Step Five: Prepared tamales that have not yet been steamed can be stored in the refrigerator if they are going to be steamed within a day or two. All others should be packed in freezer bags, unsteamed, with the open side up.
When preparing the frozen tamales, let them thaw at room temperature for an hour or in the refrigerator overnight, then steam about 30 minutes.
Enjoy!
Dear Reader:
Above my kitchen sink is a wooden heart. It’s painted blue with tiny yellow flowers. In white letters it says, “Na ke Akua Ke Aloha.” My husband, Ross, bought it for me on our honeymoon in Hawaii eighteen years ago. We’ve been back to the Islands several times since then and even lived on Maui for a seven month stretch.