Breadfruit (30 page)

Tamatoa’s eyes are nearly popping out. “It’s true, everything you’re telling me, Mamie?”

“Just show respect to the guardian spirits. They are out there, it’s not an invention.” Materena signs the note.

Then she gets the coins from the money can and puts the note and the payment in an envelope.

Tamatoa stayed in the school truck. He told his teacher his stomach was playing up a bit on him, but the truth was that Tamatoa
didn’t want to walk around the
marae.
He was scared.

And Materena isn’t angry about the excursion money she paid for nothing.

“It’s best we leave the sacred places alone,” she says to Tamatoa.

P
ito was twelve years old when he got circumcised. His father took him to the hospital and for a whole week Pito couldn’t wear
shorts because his
moa
was bruised and swollen. He had to wear a pareu.

And now Pito wants to take Tamatoa to the hospital for the circumcision, but he can’t do it without Materena signing the authorization
paper, so he’s asking her to sign it.

“Pito, you’re not taking my son to the hospital, his
moa
is fine as it is.” Materena continues to hang the clothes on the line. She’s not even going to look at the authorization
paper.

Pito goes on about how a circumcised
moa
is much easier to look after because you don’t have to pull the skin up to wash it. It’s more hygienic and the
moa
doesn’t stink. And, according to Pito, Tamatoa will be very grateful if she signs the authorization paper for him to get
circumcised. No man wants to be stuck with an uncircumcised
moa,
except, perhaps, the
popa’a.

“There’s no need to bring the
popa’a
into this.” Materena gives Pito a furious look.

“
Ah oui,
sorry,” Pito says. “I always forget that your father is a
popa’a.
The circumcision is a man’s business,” he goes on.

“
Ah oui,
” Materena says. “We’re going to see about that.”

Pito decides to give Materena a little bit of a history lesson about how in the old days, fathers would take their sons to
the
tahua’a tehe,
the circumcision specialists, without the mothers having to put in their grain of salt.

“Well, that was the old days,” Materena says. “Now it’s the new days. Now we have the authorization paper for us mothers to
sign if we want to.”

Pito curses the authorization paper and calls out to Tamatoa to come outside.

From the living room Tamatoa’s voice calls back, “Papi, we’re playing marbles and I’m win—”

“Here. Now!” This is Pito’s serious-business voice, and Tamatoa is by his father’s side within seconds.

“You want to be a man?” Pito asks him.

Tamatoa doesn’t understand the question. He does his googly-eyes expression.

“What?” Pito snaps. “You don’t want to be a man?”

“
Ah oui,
I want to be a man,” Tamatoa hurries to answer.

“You know about the circumcision?”

“
Oui.
” Tamatoa is a bit pale now.

“You want to be circumcised?”

Tamatoa looks like he’s having trouble swallowing.

“You want a
moa
that stinks for the rest of your life!” Pito exclaims, annoyed.

“
Non,
” Tamatoa mumbles.

“So you want to be circumcised, then.”

Tamatoa’s answer is a murmur. “
Oui.
”

“Well, ask your mother to sign the authorization paper.” Pito gives his son the authorization paper and the pen.

“Mamie, can you sign the authorization paper?” Tamatoa doesn’t sound convincing at all.

Materena looks at her son and sees the fear in his eyes. She can guess that Tamatoa is thinking that she’s going to give in
to Pito, because she has done it so many times. It’s true that she has given in to Pito many times, but it is not going to
happen today.

Materena is thankful there’s an authorization paper. She’s sure a woman invented it.

“There’s no need to ask me to sign the paper, Tamatoa,” Materena says. “My answer is no. The day you can look after yourself,
then go do whatever you want with your
moa.
Until then, your
moa
is my business.”

Tamatoa smiles discreetly at his mamie and passes the authorization paper and the pen back to his father. “Can I go now?”

Pito waves Tamatoa away. “Yeah, go. But every time you get called
moa taioro,
you’ll be able to thank your mother for it.”

Leilani calls out from the kitchen, “Is Tamatoa getting circumcised?”

“Mind your own business, Leilani!” Pito calls back.

Leilani comes out and asks her brother if he’s getting circumcised. Tamatoa informs his sister that he would like to be, but
Mamie doesn’t want to sign the authorization paper.

“It’s just that, my friend,” Leilani says, “her brother got circumcised and the doctor did a mistake and now my friend’s brother’s
penis is like that.” Leilani shows the size of her friend’s brother’s penis. It is about one inch. “He’s twenty years old
now,” she continues, “and he can’t get a girlfriend.”

“Is this what you talk about at school? Penises!” Materena is half-serious and half-laughing.

“
Non,
Mamie,” Leilani says, all embarrassed now. “My friend, she just told me.”

“I’m never going to get circumcised!” Tamatoa puts his hands on his penis area.

Pito, crunching the authorization paper, looks like he doesn’t know what to say. Eh, he’s going to get himself a cold beer.

Materena turns to Tamatoa. “Well? What about a game of marbles with me? Go on, go and get the marbles. It’s better to play
outside than inside the house. And get your little brother too.”

Materena likes playing marbles with her boys. She used to play marbles at school, but she always lost. Some people can shoot
their marbles straight into the hole and some people can’t. It’s a mystery to Materena.

Her cousin Lily was very good at playing marbles at school, before her hormones started racing. She never really shot her
marble straight into the hole, but her marble was always the closest to it. Lily’s success might also have had something to
do with her only playing marbles with boys and them being a little bit distracted by her long, muscular legs.

Materena played marbles with boys too, but her marble was never the closest one to the hole.

Materena’s not expecting to win today. She’s not playing to win. She’s only playing for something to do with her boys.

Tamatoa distributes five marbles to each player. Materena is given the honor of flicking her marble first.

So, her eyes focused on the hole, her concentration 100 percent, she flicks her marble. Materena’s marble does a zigzag and
shoots straight past the hole.

“Not bad, Mamie,” the boys say.

“Materena, you don’t do it like that.” Pito has wandered back outside clutching a beer. He advises her to watch him in action.
Apparently he was the best marble player at school, and he’s sure his record is still unbeaten.

“Watch the professional.” He puts his beer down, then rolls the marble in the palm of his hand. He flicks, and his marble
shoots in a straight line toward the hole. Pito’s marble rolls neatly into the hole and Pito smacks his hands.

“I’m such a crack shot,” Pito says.

The boys have their go. Moana’s marble misses the hole and he just shrugs. Tamatoa’s marble also misses the hole and he kicks
the ground.

It is Materena’s turn again. She rolls the marble in the palm of her hand. She does this for quite some time and Pito asks
her if she’s going to shoot today or tomorrow.

“Pito, I’ll shoot when I’m ready,” she replies.

She flicks her marble. It zigzags and goes way past the hole.

“It’s better than your last shot, Mamie,” says Moana.

But Pito shakes his head. “Materena, you don’t do it like that.”

The boys have their go, then it’s Materena’s turn again. She flicks and the marble shoots straight past the hole.

“Your marble is getting closer to the hole,” says Moana, looking at his mother with pity.

Pito rolls his marble in the palms of his hands and spits into his hands. He’s about to shoot his marble when Materena starts
to whistle a happy tune. Pito complains that he can’t shoot when there’s whistling around him. It affects his concentration.

“Pito, eh,” Materena laughs. “It’s not a marble competition. You’re not going to get a medal.”

“Why are you whistling? Are you whistling to make me lose my concentration?” Pito looks into Materena’s eyes as if he’s trying
to read her mind.

“I’m whistling because I feel like whistling,” Materena says.

“Whistle after my marble is in the hole,” Pito says.

He flicks his marble—of course, straight into the hole.

“I’m the best.” Pito snaps his fingers.

It is now Materena’s last marble and she’s glad the game is almost over. She’s got work to do.

“Materena —,” Pito says.

She holds up her hand, meaning she’s not interested. Pito goes on anyway. In his opinion, Materena shouldn’t attempt to flick
her marble straight into the hole—it’s an unrealistic goal. She should instead concentrate on flicking the marble as close
to the hole as possible.

“Ah really?” Materena says. “We’ll see about that.”

Materena doesn’t roll the marble in the palm of her hand. She doesn’t focus her attention on the hole.

She just flicks.

The marble shoots straight into the hole. Materena cannot believe her eyes. Her boys run to her, shouting, “Mamie’s marble,
it’s in the hole!”

Leilani pokes her head out and yells, “What’s in the hole?”

“Mamie’s marble!” Moana yells back.

“Ah.” Leilani goes back to whatever she was doing.

“How did you do that?” Pito asks Materena.

Materena winks. “Ah, I’ve got a technique too. You’re not the only one with a technique.”

Pito would like her to do it again.

“Another time,” she says. Materena knows that when you shoot one like that, you don’t try to do it again. She also applies
this rule when she plays bingo. As soon as she wins, she collects her prize and goes home. There’s nothing like quitting a
game with a win.

Materena bows gracefully to her cheering sons as Pito gives her a suspicious look that says,
it’s really bizarre, your marble going in the hole like that.

“Mamie’s a champion,” Tamatoa calls out, pumping a fist, and Materena smiles at her eldest son, thinking, He’s still only
a kid.

Ah, the circumcision business, Materena thinks again, looking at her son, fast asleep now. It’s a lot of
connerie.

The day her brother got circumcised, he started to act tough and talk back to their mamie. He was much more polite before
he had his
moa
operated on.

The same thing happened with Pito, so Mama Roti lamented to Materena. Apparently Pito used to be a really sweet boy who would
do anything for his mama, and he would cuddle her all the time, but then his papi took him to the hospital to get circumcised
and Pito became a tough. There were no more cuddles for Mama Roti. Pito was too busy flexing his muscles in front of the mirror.

But not all boys change after the circumcision.

Mori, for instance, he’s still very sweet to his mama. When he walks past a garden and there are lots of beautiful flowers,
well, Mori goes and picks them. Then he makes a lovely bouquet and gives it to his mama with the words “For my beautiful mama.”
Some days Mori’s mama says, “Ah, my son, bless the day I gave birth to you.” And some days Mori’s mama says, “Stop stealing
flowers and go get a job.”

Materena brushes her fingers through Tamatoa’s hair and kisses him on the forehead.

It is past eleven o’clock and she’s kissed her kids already, when they went to bed at eight. But she always gives them a kiss
on the forehead before
she
goes to bed. Just to make sure.

I
t’s hot and humid and ants have invaded the kitchen.

Materena places the sugar bowl into another bowl, half-filled with water. The ants get into the bowl and drown. It’s going
to rain soon, but for the moment the heat is unbearable.

It’s the weekend. Tamatoa and Leilani are arguing in the living room about a pencil that Tamatoa took without asking permission,
and Materena is trying to ignore their shouting.

“Give my pencil back!”

“When I’m finished!”

There’s more shouting and Materena’s nerves snap.

She grabs the wooden spoon and marches into the living room. Tamatoa and Leilani are on the ground. One is punching and the
other is biting. They see the wooden spoon and within seconds they are on their feet, running back to their rooms. Still,
Materena manages to whack a couple of legs.

It’s so hot!

She’s back in the kitchen now.

“What can I do?” Materena is talking to herself. “Ah, I’m going to make lemonade for the kids.” She gets a bottle of cold
water and two lemons from the fridge. She pours the cold water into the pitcher and fills the bottle up again with tap water
for another round of lemonade later on. She cuts the lemons and squeezes them into the pitcher until there is no more juice
left. And as she’s mixing the sugar, she notices a few ants floating about. She scoops them out and once again complains about
the heat.

“Where’s that rain!”

She calls out to the kids, but only Moana responds to the calling. He arrives with his pencil and drawing paper.

“Have you been drawing?” Materena asks him.

“Yes, and I’m drawing a swimming pool.”

“You’re a good boy.” Materena is smiling and thinking how strange it is for Moana to be drawing a swimming pool. He usually
draws trees. Trees and animals.

“And why are you drawing a swimming pool?” She’s interested to know.

“Because I’m hot!”

Moana drinks his lemonade and goes back to his room to finish his swimming pool.

And Materena decides to build a swimming pool.