23. ‘Ōlena

“Hey sis,” ‘ōlena said. “You about ready to go?”

“Yeah, almost.” Lani looked up from her work at the counter. She was bottling a fresh batch of syrup. “Where are the girls?”

“They’re still with Nell at New Horizons. I figured I’d come walk you over.”

“Thank you. I just need about ten minutes to finish this and clean up real quick.”

“No rush.” She stepped back and stretched. “I’m going to grab a cane juice at the cafe. You want one?”

“Always.”

“You’ve got it.”

‘ōlena gave a cursory glance up and down the street as she went to cross, but there was no one. It was a quiet weekday evening in Pualena, late enough that the sun was gone behind the mountains but early enough that there wasn’t much of a dinner crowd at the cafe.

Just before she reached the front door, a familiar face gave her pause.

Nate was there on the other side of the glass, eating a bowl of ramen. That was the last thing that she needed. She just didn’t have the energy to keep calm around her ex-husband, to have the force of his charm turned on her and make sure that she didn’t accidentally smile back.

No sense in giving the man the wrong idea.

‘ōlena walked away from the window before he could look up and see her.

She circled back through the alley to the kitchen door. It wasn’t busy; the guys in back wouldn’t mind grabbing her a couple bottles of cane juice. If Tenn was there, he wouldn’t even let her pay.

A sudden shout made her pause as she reached the corner.

“What’s so special about you, anyway?”

Some drunk, by the sound of it. His voice was slightly slurred. ‘ōlena edged around the corner to see what was going on. She stood just beyond the parking lot, half concealed by a hibiscus bush.

A haole swayed back and forth, glaring. He had lank yellow hair and a bottle of liquor in his hand. ‘ōlena couldn’t see who he was talking to, but she wanted to make sure they were alright.

She crept forward unnoticed.

Tenn was backed into a corner, trapped between the building and the dumpster. Zeke – it could only be Zeke – stood between him and the kitchen door.

There was an angry red mark on the side of Tenn’s face – the start of a black eye.

“The police have already been called,” Tenn said. “You should go.”

“That’s what you want, isn’t it? You want me gone. You want her all to yourself!” He flung the bottle in his hand at Tenn’s head. Tenn ducked, and the glass bottle exploded against the concrete wall.

‘ōlena saw red.

“You think you bad?” she shouted, advancing on Zeke. “You wanna come here and start somethin?”

Zeke’s eyes widened, and he stumbled backwards. Suddenly outnumbered, he was exposed for the coward that he was. She expected him to run.

Instead, he reached into his pocket. Smiled. And pulled out a gun.

‘ōlena took a hasty step backwards.

“Not so brave now, are you?” he taunted, pointing the gun at her.

It was a tiny pistol, the kind of handgun a woman might keep in her purse. It was almost comical, the small gun in his meaty hand… or it would have been, if the barrel hadn’t been pointed at her face.

A sudden, desperate fear took her breath away.

Please, God, don’t take me away from my babies. Not now. Not like this. Please.

“Put the gun down,” Tenn said, his voice coaxing. “You don’t want to do this.”

“You don’t know what I want!” Zeke shouted, swinging the gun towards Tenn. Then he started to cry. “But you do. You know exactly what I want. You knew, and you took her.”

“Put the gun down,” he said again, his voice remarkably steady, “and we can talk about this.”

Zeke cocked the pistol, and ‘ōlena’s mouth went dry with fear. She wanted to do something – run, knock the gun out of his hands, anything – but she was terrified that any move from her would cause him to fire on Tenn.

“If I can’t have her,” Zeke grated, “you sure as hell can’t.”

The gun sounded, and her mind went blank. Everything that came next happened in a blur. When ‘ōlena thought back on it later, it was fuzzy, a half-remembered nightmare.

She ducked and charged like a football player, knocking Zeke to the ground.

They slammed into the pavement, her landing on top of him, but somehow he kept a tight hold on his gun.

The pistol came up towards her face and she grabbed the offending arm with both hands, pinning it to the ground. His free hand found her neck.

Then Nate was there. He hit Zeke once, and the hand around ‘ōlena’s neck loosened. Nate pried the gun from Zeke’s hand, tossed it aside, and pinned him easily to the ground.

‘ōlena stumbled backwards, gasping.

Then she saw Tenn. Less than a minute had passed, and there was already a terrifying amount of blood soaking through his white chef’s coat.

She stared down at him for a moment, petrified that she might do more damage by trying to staunch the blood.

But there was so much already.

Quickly, she knelt beside him and pressed the heel of her hand into the hole in his coat.

He stared up at her, mouth open, his eyes blank with shock.

She pressed harder, and he cried out in pain.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

‘ōlena blinked away tears and looked up. Just a few feet away, Nate had Zeke on the ground with his hands behind his back. Beyond that, two line cooks were staring open mouthed at the scene in front of them.

“Call an ambulance!” she shouted.

“We already did,” one of them said shakily. There were tears in his eyes. “Is he…”

“Do you have zip ties?” Nate asked.

They looked at him in confusion. “Zip ties?”

He nodded curtly.

“I… I think so. Just a sec.” He went inside and reappeared a moment later with a bag full of heavy black zip ties.

“Put them around his wrists,” Nate said.

The man stood frozen by the back door. His eyes flicked between Zeke and the gun that still lay on the pavement.

“I’ll hold him. I just need you to tie his wrists.”

The cook was shaking so badly that it took him a minute, but he managed to secure the zip ties around Zeke’s wrists.

Zeke himself was quiet. That one punch from Nate had nearly knocked him out cold.

“Tenn!” The fear and grief in Lani’s shout sent a wrenching spasm of pain through ‘ōlena’s chest. She looked over her shoulder to see her cousin running towards them.

Lani stumbled and fell to her knees. Her back was to Zeke as she leaned over Tenn and took his face in her hands.

He was half conscious himself, glassy eyed and pale. He was so pale.

‘ōlena leaned harder on his chest, desperate to stop him from losing more blood.

“Stay with me,” Lani pleaded, tears coursing down her face. “Please don’t leave me.”

Tenn met her eyes and smiled weakly.

“I’m here,” she said. “I’m here.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but his eyes drifted shut. His mouth went slack.

“No. No no no.”

Thin with distance, ‘ōlena heard the sound of an ambulance siren.

Too far,she worried. Too late.