The Tsunami Countdown

TEN

9:42 a.m.

As Teresa now saw, the Memorial Day holiday’s beautiful weather brought out not only the travelers from the mainland but what seemed like every local on the island. Waikiki was packed. By the time they pulled into the Grand Hawaiian’s parking lot, it was nearly full. “But Aunt Rachel let Lani get her ears pierced,” Mia said as they got out of the Jeep. “And my friend Monica got a tattoo on her ankle.”

Teresa popped open the hatch. “If you think I’m going to let you get a navel piercing, you’re dreaming.”

“Mom, please!”

“You’re too young. And don’t even start with the tattoos.” Mia had been bringing up the subject of belly button piercing for over a month.

“What is the difference between getting my belly button pierced and my ears pierced?” Mia’s voice was headed into whine country.

“One is harmless decoration, and the other is an advertisement for sex. You’re not mature enough for it. We can talk about it again when you turn eighteen.”

Mia pulled a boogie board out and slammed it to the ground.

“Be careful with that!” Teresa said. “Are you trying to prove my point?”

“Mom, I’m almost fourteen. I know a lot of girls my age that have them. And it’s not sexual.”

“Sure it isn’t.” Teresa locked the car and headed toward the sunlight beckoning from the garage exit. “Come on.”

Mia reluctantly picked up her board and followed her mother.

“Lani,” Mia said, “don’t you think Mom should let me get my navel pierced?”

“I don’t know,” Lani said. She obviously didn’t want to get involved.

Teresa stopped at the exit. “Mia, while I’m in charge, you are not lifting up your shirt to show some boy your navel ring, which is about the only thing it’s good for. And yes, I realize you are about to be prancing around the beach in a bikini in a few minutes anyway, but that’s the way it is. Got it?”

Mia ground her teeth, but said nothing.

“Good,” Teresa said. “Let’s go find some beach and have fun.”

They emerged from the garage onto Kalakaua Avenue, the main drag up and down Waikiki. To the west, the view was obscured by the hundreds of high-rise hotels and condominiums that extended to the office buildings of downtown Honolulu. In the other direction, Kalakaua stretched past the last hotel on Waikiki about a half mile away, where it passed the zoo and finally ran into Diamond Head, the massive extinct volcano that served as Honolulu’s dominant landmark.

Teresa, followed by Mia and Lani, plunged into the throng of people crowding Kalakaua Avenue and crossed the road to Waikiki Beach. They passed a magnificent banyan tree and stepped onto the beach itself.

As Teresa searched for a spot big enough for the three of them, she heard people speaking Japanese, French, German, Spanish, and a few languages she couldn’t place. Like all beaches in Hawaii, Waikiki was open to the public, so a mishmash of all walks of life mingled with the guests of the expensive resorts.

Two boys, both about sixteen, walked past. Tan and lean, they looked like younger versions of Brad. They gave the girls an appraising look and the taller of the boys spoke to them as they went by.

“The surf’s a lot better by our condo.” He pointed his thumb in the direction of Diamond Head.

The girls laughed, and the shorter boy yanked his friend and kept walking. Despite what Teresa had said earlier, the boys’ attention to her daughter tickled her, but she hid her amusement.

They walked for a little while and stopped at an open patch near an impressive hotel called the Outrigger Waikiki. Teresa dropped her bag and started spreading out her towel. She had a clear view to the breakwaters on either side, and the waves coming in were good-sized, but still mild enough for safe boogie boarding.

“How’s this?”

Mia made a show of propping up her boogie board in the sand. “Mom, Lani and I want to walk down the beach.”

“We just got here. Don’t you even want to get in the water? Look how blue it is. It’s gorgeous.”

“Yeah, it’s great,” Mia said, stripping down to her bikini. “But I saw some great T-shirts back there, and I want to get some souvenirs while we’re here.”

Lani piped in, now down to her bikini as well. “Yeah, and we want to get new dresses for the luau tonight.”

Teresa wasn’t very concerned about letting the girls go off on their own. Mia had been babysitting for a year now, so walking around the beach, especially with someone else, wasn’t worrisome. Teresa looked at her watch. It was still a couple of hours until lunchtime.

“All right. But I don’t want you to come back with a piercing.”

Mia sighed. “I promise.”

“How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

The girls looked at each other and shrugged in unison.

“There’s a lot to see,” Mia said. “Maybe an hour or two.”

“You have some money?”

Mia waved her wallet. The babysitting money she wasn’t using to pay off her texting bill.

“Sunscreen?”

“We put it on at the house.”

“Okay. But be back by eleven thirty. After a morning in the sun, I’m going to be starving.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Mia said as she and Lani turned toward Diamond Head and began walking. “You’re the best.”

“Bye, Aunt Teresa,” said Lani.

Teresa gave them a wave. She was actually relieved to have a little uninterrupted time alone. After she liberally applied sunscreen, her plan was to immerse herself in a good mystery novel for a peaceful morning. As she spread out her towel, a beep caught her attention. She fished through her bag and saw that the display on her cell phone said, charge phone. She powered it down and tossed it back in her bag.