Florida Shores - 6. Getting Settled

Makani woke up from one of the best sleeps he had in a long time. Yeah, the twins squirmed a bit but just having family around you was such a good feeling. The intimacy of sleeping together with the casual touches of another body and the hugs passed as the boys slept was just restful to him. Unfortunately, nature called and he had to get up out of the nice warm pile.

The brown arm that held him was from someone older than the twins. He turned slightly and saw it belonged to Charlie. Makani smiled at the thought that he had gotten his hug after all. Akamu was snuggled close into him. He wondered how he slept through all the movement of the boys.

Makani moved Charlie’s arm. Charlie resisted his movements. Makani tried again and finally, Charlie turned over and grabbed his boyfriend Drew. Makani wiggled out of the pile of bodies and exited the tent. He padded barefoot in the house.

“Mornin’, Maka. Sleep well?” Kekona asked.

“Yeah, Unc. It was great. I never knew I’d miss this until I did it again.”

“The boys would have you doing that almost every night if you let them.”

“They normally sleep like that?” Makani asked with interest.

“Peni’s starting to grow out of it but all the rest are fine. I don’t mind it since I’ve never had to wake up to a nightmare from any of them.”

“Charlie seems to like it.”

Ke smiled at Maka, “It’s helped him and Joey a lot since they lost their parents. No fitful nights.”

“I’m sorry, Unc, but I need to go.”

“Tea or Coffee?”

“Tea please,” he said over his shoulder as he headed for the bathroom.

Alani walked in to start breakfast. “Maka do OK?”

“He found he liked the dog pile.”

“Seems to suit the boys fine. At least they sleep through the whole night.”

“Let me start getting the hotcakes going. I have a feeling we’ll need four dozen or more this morning,” Ke told her.

“I love having everyone here but I wish the kitchen was bigger.”

Ke gave her a kiss, “That farm we talked about is looking better every day?”

Alani laughed, “We don’t need something that big. Besides, we don’t have the ten million they want for it.”

“It’s too far out of town anyway. Both of us will be driving everywhere all the time.”

“Morning, Aunt Alani!” Makani said as he came over and kissed her on the cheek.

“What’s the plan for the day?”

“Unloading the U-Haul and returning it. Getting a few things out that I need this week. Talk with Charlie about what he wants to do about my living arrangements.”

“I guess we should store his parent’s furniture and then paint the room,” Ke volunteered.

“I guess seeing the furniture in the same room would bring the sadness back,” Makani responded after some thought.

“Life will be different with their parents gone but others will eventually take their place once everything gets settled,” Alani added.

“The funeral is this week?”

“They are being cremated. We will have a memorial service and then schedule another time to scatter their ashes on the water.”

Makani nodded as a pair of yawning teens came inside. Peni and Joey gave both Alani and Kekoa a hug. Makani smiled at the pair being affectionate. “Someone slept well,” Alani said to them.

“I’ve always slept well with Peni, Mama A.”

Ke grinned at Joey trying new ways of addressing them. “Hiya, Maka. Did you sleep good,” Peni asked.

“Yeah, not bad actually. You two were OK but the twins move around a lot.”

“They like to be with everyone when we are all together.”

Just then the two boys being talked about came into the kitchen. “What’s for breakfast?”

“I found a dead possum yesterday on the side of the road. You want a leg or the rump?”

“Dad!” they both screamed.

“Ask a silly question, get a silly answer,” Makani told them.

They both came over and gave Makani a hug. “You move around too much,” Nalani said.

“Me? You two were all over the place.”

“We’ll have to sleep with just you and try you out,” Keahi reasoned.

“You can have a sleepover when I move in with Charlie and Joey.”

Charlie, Drew, and Akamu wandered into the kitchen as Makani was speaking. “I guess we need to get you unpacked today,” Charlie said with a yawn.

“We need to figure out what to do about your parent’s room, Charlie,” Ke mentioned.

“You did say about painting it and storing the furniture.”

“We can get the furniture out today since we’ll have Maka’s rental.”

“It’s due back late afternoon, Unc. Plenty of time to offload the stuff in the storage place and come back for the furniture.”

“We’ll leave the room empty and look at some paint later today. I’m back on shift tomorrow.”

“I need to report in and get my paperwork started. Orientation is next week.”

The boys started to help out getting breakfast ready. The plan was to help Makani get everything sorted out while Alani dealt with emptying the master bedroom. She asked Charlie and Joey if there was anything of their mother’s clothes they would want. The pair thought about it and decided there may be a few T-shirts and sweatshirts they could wear of hers. Charlie would need to go through all of his father’s clothes to decide what to keep.

Alani knew what a difficult time it was to go through your parent’s clothes since she had to do that when her own mother passed. They talked about paint colors which Charlie and Joey said they’d need to see them to decide. Ke suggested stopping at some of the second-hand furniture stores to see if there was a nice bedroom set available. They would hold off on buying new mattresses until the furniture was sorted.

Makani watched the boys helping out without any gripping. He felt bad that he gave his parents a hard time when he was asked to help. Even Drew pitched in. Makani realized he had some growing up to do. He resolved to help Charlie and Joey out however he could. They were being gracious enough to let him stay there in the middle of dealing with their parent’s deaths.

“You need a bigger kitchen, Aunt Alani,” he finally said.

“That I do if all of you are going to be here for every meal.”

“Maybe you and Charlie can teach me to cook so I can help.”

Charlie smiled at Maka, “You can expect that to happen.”

“Any way I can help out Charlie? Just let me know.”

“You can set the table up,” Ke suggested and pointed to the cabinet with the plates.

Makani jumped up and rushed to be happily part of the crowd.

Breakfast was noisy as the boys asked Maka about where he was from and why he decided to be a paramedic. He tried to answer each the best he could. Makani asked them about school but that line of questioning didn’t last long.

Once the dishes were cleared and put in the dishwasher, Ke told them to head out to the van. Makani noted that none of them bothered with shirts. He grabbed a T-shirt just in case and met Drew and Charlie at the rental truck.

“You looking forward to starting work?” Drew asked, trying to be friendly.

“Yeah. It will give me a taste of healthcare. My parents wanted me to go to university but I was just so lost and realized I wasn’t ready for it yet. I might try again in the future, just don’t know right now,” Makani finished with a shrug.

“It is a big change from high school. I had no friends when I first got there. It’s a little better now but nothing like what Charlie and I had in high school.”

Charlie humphed, “Well, even being home here doesn’t mean I see all the old gang. I’m lucky to run into a few at the stores. The ones that stayed in the area are either at the community college or working.”

“It’s not like you can hang out at a bar to meet up anyway,” Makani added.

“We should call up some of them when the summer break starts. Maybe have a cookout over the weekend,” Drew suggested.

“Aren’t you taking summer classes?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah, but I can still come back on the weekend,” Drew responded slightly more sharply than he intended.

“What are you studying, Drew?”

“I’m pre-law but right now just the basics.”

“Mom and Dad wanted me to be a doctor but I couldn’t handle the chemistry and biology. I might make a nurse one day but that’s as far as I’ll go. I’m not that great at math.”

“I’m in accounting. It’s all math,” Charlie added.

“I’m lucky the bank keeps track of everything for me. I don’t think I can balance a checking account.”

“So, what are you good at?” Drew asked with a little curiosity.

“I like taking photographs. I can also play the guitar and piano.”

Charlie and Drew thought being able to play both was really cool. “Did you play in a band?”

“Yeah, we had a high school thing going. Played a few parties. Nothing professional.”

“No sports?” Charlie asked.

“Not really. Never was good enough for any team. Played some soccer. I guess I’m pretty average. Not very exciting.”

“Welcome to the club. We haven’t discovered our special skill yet either,” Charlie told him.

“Now’s the time to try stuff out. Find out what you like to do.” Makani responded. “That’s the reason I moved here. It’s a whole new set of experiences.”

Makani turned them into the place to return the truck and parked near the door. He grabbed his T-shirt, slipped it on, and entered into the office. After chatting with the manager, Makani secured a medium storage unit and returned the trailer he used to haul his car down.

Makani walked over to Ke’s van and gave him the gate code and unit number so he could follow the truck. With all the help, the unloading took less than an hour. Everyone piled back in and drove the short distance to Charlie’s house. With all the help, the half dozen boxes and totes Makani wanted to keep at the house were brought in.

“Nice place, Charlie,” Makani said as he looked around.

“Thanks. I try and keep it clean. I don’t like a lot of stuff around. You have to make sure you don’t leave food out because the palmetto bugs are big enough to carry you away and you don’t want them inside.”

“Thanks for the warning. Do I need a gun to kill them?”

“If you scare them, they’ll fly at you.”

“Oh my God! Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Charlie told him.

“I hope you have some good bug spray.”

“I spray the place once a month but one gets in every so often.”

“I’ll need to teach you CPR in case one of them attacks me.”

Everyone laughed at Makani’s unease about the bugs. You got used to them and just mashed them when you saw one.

The group met Alani in the master bedroom. “Hiya, Charlie. The bags outside the door are underwear which you will probably want to toss. The ones to the left are your mother’s clothes to sort through. The right is your father’s. I left his suits in the closet for you. I didn’t know about the shoes.”

Charlie and Joey started to tear up looking at the bags. Drew and Joey took care of their boyfriends. Makani watched and thought that was what he wanted, someone to be with during good and bad times. That was another reason he was here but he didn’t want anyone to know about that.

Ke broke the scene up, “Well boys, let’s get the big stuff down into the truck. Do you want to toss the mattress, Charlie?”

“Maybe. It’s around five years old. Do you think I should keep it and save the money?”

“Do you think you may have bad memories?” Ke asked.

“I don’t know.”

“We can store it.”

“No, let’s toss it.”

They quickly emptied the bedroom of furniture and returned to the storage place. The guys made the job easier with everyone doing a little to help. Makani, Ke, and Charlie had discussed about keeping the truck but decided to turn it in.

“God damn that was expensive, Uncle Ke,” Makani said as he got into the front seat.

“Still cheaper than a moving company.”

“Maybe I’ll just sell everything except my clothes and computer next time. If it won’t fit in the back of an SUV, it’s gone.”

“Let’s go back to the house and get showered. There’re too many stinky boys around here,” Ke said holding his nose which brought about protests from everyone.

“I still need to go to the thrift store,” Charlie reminded him.

“After lunch. We’ll look at a couple of them.”

“I can help pitch in,” Makani said.

“I guess we should talk about rent. You’ll need an agreement to transfer your license and insurance anyway.”

“Oh. I never thought of that.”

“There’s a lot to do going out on your own, Maka. You’re lucky Charlie said it would be OK to stay with him or you may have needed almost five thousand dollars.”

Makani, Charlie, and Drew’s mouths dropped as Ke continued, “First and last month’s rent and maybe a security deposit, deposits for utilities, differences for insurance, furniture, bedding, kitchen stuff, food, and I’m probably missing items. Even helping as parents, it’s a lot. That’s a reason kids are still at home with them.”

“Not because they love them?” Makani threw out with a smile.

“Yeah, right. Parents would cramp your style,” Ke responded, shaking his head.

“Some other people are out to do that also,” Charlie murmured.

“No fear of that, Uncle Ke. I only really know you guys and I’m sure I’ll get the crappy shift which will totally destroy any ideas I had about meeting people.”

“You’ll start meeting people at work in no time. With our working shifts, it’s about the only place you can.”

Makani remained silent in thought as they pulled into the Kawai’s home.

~~**~~

Charlie, Drew, and Makani sat in the living room watching TV drinking soda later that night after a busy afternoon. Joey had stayed with Peni so Makani could use his bed.

“It would be easier to paint the room tomorrow so we don’t have to move the new furniture around,” Maka said after a while.

“When’s your appointment?”

“Ten. I’m going to the bank to open a new account. I think I’ll do the license bureau on Thursday. We can get the paint and have lunch on me if you want to.”

“Should I stay over on Monday and help out?” Drew asked.

Charlie gave him a hug and kiss, “No, babe. You’ve missed enough classes to help out. Maka and I can take care of the paint ourselves. It’s just the walls and trim.”

“I’ll do anything I can to help out, I mean that. You didn’t have to volunteer to have me here and I really appreciate it. I love my cousins but I didn’t want to add more work for Aunt Alani.”

Charlie was quiet for a bit and then sighed, “Well, to be honest with you, Maka. We were hoping you could help Joey and me with a little problem we’ve run into with Child Services.”

“You hiding some little kids around here I hadn’t seen?” Makani asked.

Charlie humphed, “No, it’s Joey. Since I’m only nineteen and he’s fourteen, this lady from the State doesn’t think I can take care of him. I’ve pretty much been doing that since he was born. Ke and Alani told them that but they still want to take Joey away.”

“You got a lawyer?”

“Yeah and if it wasn’t for him, Joey would be gone. So Ke and Alani thought having you here since you were twenty-one would be another plus.”

“Okay. It’s not like I’m going to be partying around here anyway, so that should be fine. The house is in great shape and the fridge is full. She’s skating on thin ice trying to get Joey removed.”

“Well, she found a toy of mine and kinda found out I was gay.”

Makani looked at Charlie and then Drew. Both turned a little red. “Geez, guess she never used a toy?”

“She said I was a bad influence on him.”

“I think that ship has already sailed, Char.”

“He could be just experimenting.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, Peni is a good one. He could have been in a lot worse place,” Makani told them and then lowered his face.

“Let me level with you both. The real reason I’m here is to escape my ex. He was controlling and abused me. I couldn’t get away from him. He finally got caught beating up another boyfriend he had on the side that I never knew about. I guess I was really as worthless as he told me I was.”

Charlie and Drew were shocked. Charlie reacted first and got off the far end of the sofa to hug Makani. Drew followed soon after. Makani started crying as they held him. “I was pretty stupid but he treated me so good at first.”

Neither said anything while Makani let out the emotions he was holding in. Finally, Charlie asked, “Does Ke know?”

“Nope, and I don’t want them to. He’s in jail and I just want to start over.”

“We won’t tell,” Charlie assured him.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Drew said.

“It’s getting late. Let’s go to bed,” Charlie said looking at Drew.

“That’s OK, you two go ahead. I think I’ll stay here for a little longer.”

Drew got up and grabbed Makani’s hand, “Come on, you can sleep with us tonight. We’ll hold you.”

“But …”

“No buts. You need this or you won’t sleep at all. That’s why the boys sleep with me and Joey. To keep us from having nightmares.”

“And it works,” Drew added.

“So, we’ll do this for you.”

“Thanks, guys.”

Makani drew them both into a hug and they headed upstairs to sleep on the mattress in the master bedroom.