All For Anna (25 page)

“I’m so crazy about
you, Tori,” he said softly. He dropped his hands from my face and stared at me
with desire. I was frozen in that gaze for what felt like a year. Finally, he
raked a hand through his hair and took a deep breath, breaking the spell
between us.

He took a step back and
held out his hand to me, smiling as I took it.

“How do you feel about
going to Camping World with me this afternoon?”

I laughed at the
immediate change in atmosphere. This was his not-so-subtle way of breaking the
tension between us. Though we had spoken about the boundaries in our physical
relationship, it was easy to get carried away, especially with someone as
incredible as Kai.

“Sounds good to me,” I
said.

I wanted nothing more
than to be with him, even if that meant shopping at Camping World.

“Great. I’ll pick you up
in an hour...let’s get outta here.”

**********

The afternoon turned
out to be really fun, even if I was surrounded by every piece of outdoor
equipment known to mankind. Kai was excited about
everything
he found at
the camping store. If I had thought my mom and Stacie were nuts in the baby
stores, this was a whole new level of crazy. By the time he was done, I feared
for his checking account. He assured me, however, it was fine.

We were hand in hand
all afternoon and I found myself not wanting to let go, not even for a second.
This man had become something very special to me in the last two months and all
I desired was more time with him. 

“Hungry?” he asked.

“Always,” I said.

He stopped and looked
me up and down in a dramatic manner.

“You don’t say? The
women in my country wouldn’t let you leave the house like that. They’d call you
a
skinny little thing that needed to eat more and get more healthier
,”
he mocked, in a high-pitched islander accent.

I laughed so hard I
snorted.

“‘Get
more
healthier
,
huh?” I asked, laughing.

Kai laughed too,
although he told me over and over how
dead serious
he was. That only
made me laugh harder.

At the Mexican
restaurant he stared at me with eyes full of mischief. I knew something was up.

“What? Why are you
looking at me like that?” I asked, throwing a chip at his forehead.

“Well, after laughing
at my Samoan culture, I think we both owe it to them to eat a real Samoan meal
together,” Kai said, dipping a chip into the salsa and scooping up half the
bowl.

“What do you mean,
Kai?”

“I mean, I want you to
meet my mom. She already knows all about you, but I want you to know her, too.
She is a killer cook,” he said smiling.

His mom?

“And don’t for a minute
think she’s not going to like you—that’s crazy thinking. What about this Thursday?
The night before we leave for camping?” he asked.

I only worked tomorrow
and Wednesday of this week, and then had a whole five days off after that. I
had no excuses. If Kai loved his mom so much, I knew I would too.

“Yes, Thursday will
work,” I said, trying to calm my growing anxiety.

“Great it’s a date
then.”

Great
.

**********

The white cottage we
pulled up to on Thursday evening was a sight to behold. The house was simple,
the size conservative at best. It wasn’t the house that awed a visiting guest;
it was every square inch of the property surrounding it. Her garden included:
bushes, plants, flowers, shrubs, vegetables and berries. I simply couldn’t take
it all in with just one glance. Kai had mentioned that he helps his mom with
her yard work—but this wasn’t a yard, it was a masterpiece.

A giant white trellis
stood at the path’s center, inviting us to her front door. I walked as slowly
as Kai would allow so I could see all that laid inside the picket fence. It was
impossible to identify each type of seed she had planted.

“Kai...this is
amazing,” I said, as we walked onto her porch.

He smiled, but before
he could knock his mother was there, opening the door and welcoming us inside.

“Mom, this is Tori.
Tori, this is my mother, Sia,” he said.

She hugged Kai, her
arms wrapping around his waist. After she released him, she came over to me and
clasped my hands together in hers.

“It is so good to
finally see you, Tori. You are even more beautiful than Kai could describe to
me,” she said, her thick accent blending her words together like a song.

I could feel Kai
beaming at me as she spoke. I did not look at him.

“Thank you. It’s so
nice to meet you, too, Ms. Alesana. Kai didn’t tell me what a spectacular
garden you have here. I’d love to see it later,” I said.

“Please, call me Sia,
and yes, I would love to show you after we eat,” she said, winking at her son.

Inside, her home was
cozy. Every room could be seen from the kitchen and everything had its place.
There were no large empty spaces or furniture that didn’t get used. Photographs
were hung on the walls, mostly of Kai or her late husband, but decor was
limited other than that. Some might see this home as too simple, but in my
eyes, Sia had chosen a home like herself.

It was simply perfect.

Sia worked busily in
the kitchen finishing up her cooking preparations while putting Kai and I on
drink duty. I watched her as I filled the glasses up at the sink. Her dark hair
was put up into a thick bun and there were several streaks of silver framing
her face. I had a feeling if she let it down it would fall to her lower back—at
least. Her features were soft, feminine, yet “healthy”, to quote Kai’s words
from his culture. The roundness of her face gave her a youthful glow and there
was no question where Kai’s good looks had come from. Sia was beautiful.

“Okay, come and sit,
please. Dinner is ready. Kai, you can say the blessing tonight,” Sia said.

We sat down at a table
spread with several dishes I couldn’t name, but with aromas that made my mouth
water. Kai took both our hands and bowed his head. I followed the manner,
hoping I wouldn’t be called on for any specialty prayers during the remainder
of the night. Kai blessed the food and then prayed for each of the “special
women in his life”. Sweet warmth spread throughout my body at his grateful
expressions.

Sia and Kai explained
each of the main dishes and why they were significant to their island. Each
food was prepared in similar ways—coconut milk a common theme. The mango-spiced
chicken was outstanding, as were the coconut cream yams. The fish salad, called
Ota,
was also amazing. I worked to finish what was on my plate; my eyes
had been larger than my stomach. These new combinations and flavors would be
worth the over-stuffed feeling in my gut.

Kai still hadn’t come
up for air since starting his second round.

“Sia, this dinner was
wonderful. Kai told me you were an excellent cook, but I didn’t know that he meant
this
excellent,” I said, pointing at the dishes on the table, half of
them still untouched.

“Thank you, I’ll cook
for you any time,” she said smiling. “You need to get more healthier—you’re so
skinny, Tori.”

At that, Kai was gone.

He was rolling over in
hysterics, oblivious to all else around him. Tears streaked down his face as he
covered his mouth with his hands. If I thought kicking him would have brought
him back to his senses, I would have gladly done it. Poor Sia was left baffled
at her son’s sudden explosion, and apparently I was the one who was left to
explain. I bit my cheeks, working hard to control my own bubble of laughter
rising inside my throat.

I didn’t want her to
think there was a joke at her expense, but it had been
exactly
what Kai
had predicted would be said. I had to give him props for that.

“What is he laughing
at?” Sia asked me.

“I think he must agree
with you, Sia. I’d eat this food every day if I could, don’t worry about him,”
I said, glaring toward Kai who was still lost in his own world.

At the end of the meal,
or Kai’s third round, he gathered the plates and took them to the sink while
Sia told me about her journey to America. Kai had been twelve at the time. She
told each story with such vivid detail: getting Kai enrolled in American
school, applying for her job at the arboretum, plugging into her community, and
finding her church home. I listened as she described the obstacles she’d had to
overcome, primarily expanding her English.

She had learned English
as a second language as a child, but as a housewife for many years she had
primarily spoken her native Samoan tongue at home and with friends. Once she
moved to America, she had to focus on re-learning and strengthening her
vocabulary so that she could work and be involved with Kai’s schooling.

I tried to imagine what
it would be like to leave the only country I called home, based only on the
hope
of a better life. Kai was right; she was a very brave woman indeed. Kai came
into the room then, a towel on his shoulder.

“Mom, you should take
Tori outside and show her your garden before it gets too dark. I’ll finish up
in here,” he said, winking at me.

“That would be great,
I’d love to see what you’ve created out there,” I said.

Sia grabbed my hand and
led me outside. Small spotlights lit the perimeter of her house as we walked
into the garden. Perfectly placed stepping stones marked a path near each
bordered bed. Each step we took introduced a new flower, spice or plant. My
mind was overloaded with questions to ask her: how much time she had spent on
each plant, where she had learned her techniques, what her next projects were?

She was happy to oblige
my endless curiosity.

As we rounded the
corner to the side yard I gasped.

“You have Dahlias? In
Texas? I thought they only grew in cool climates,” I asked.

Sia looped her arm
through mine as I stood gawking at what I considered the most beautiful flower
on earth. She had at least a hundred Dahlias staked in the ground.

“You are a
learner
Tori—just
like my Kai. Yes, I do grow Dahlia’s here,” she said.

“But how? How do they
grow in such extreme heat?” I asked.

She knelt down, taking
me with her.

“Put your hand on this
soil. How does it feel?” she asked.

I laid my hand down and
rubbed the surface feeling the cool, grainy soil beneath it, “I’m not sure,
Sia. I’m not an expert like you,” I said.

“The secret is to use
mulch. When it’s hot outside, the water will stay in the mulch and keep the
roots cool. Otherwise, they would fry in the sun since they grow right under
the surface,” she said, scooping up a handful of damp soil to expose the mulch
underneath it. It molded to her fist like clay. “Dahlias remind me to hope.
There are many things in our lives that seem impossible, yet somehow, we can still
overcome. Just like these Dahlias.”

A shiver went through
me as she spoke, goose bumps rising on my arms. Sia was unlike any woman I had ever
known. There was something different about her, something that made me want to
stay up until the wee hours of the morning just to listen to her speak.

As we walked back to
the front porch, Kai was sitting there quietly observing us. My cheeks grew warm
as I looked from him to his mother.

“Hey Mom, I saw you
were holding out on me?” Kai said.

“What do you mean, my son?”
she said shaking her head—a teasing smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“I saw what was in the
oven for dessert,” Kai said, patting his tummy and lifting his eyebrows.

I was still so full
from dinner, but I knew passing on dessert in this house would not be an option.

“You sneaky little
rat—stay out of my oven,” she laughed, reaching for my hand again and pulling
me inside. “You’d better come get a plate before he eats every last piece.”

I also better serve
myself. Oy.

Sia served us
Fausi
,
a Samoan dessert usually made from Taro root, but stateside it was made with
pumpkin. It was served warm and topped with caramelized coconut cream sauce.
The taste was truly divine. Kai had two helpings in the same time it took me to
finish half of one.

I looked at Sia.

She sat on the couch
with Kai next to her. Even though they didn’t speak as they ate, the love and
respect they had for each one another was obvious. I envied it.

When the evening drew
to a close, Sia pulled me in for a hug.

What was it about
Samoan hugs that made me never want to let go?

“You come back and eat
with me soon, Tori. I would love to have your help in the garden, someday,” she
said.