Islands of Paradise 1
Chapter 2 – The Not-so-warm Welcome
Mikiya stared at the ceiling, it was a sight he had not seen for a year. He awoke before the sun rose, a habit he had engraved into his daily routine from his year abroad. But he did not rise, he continued to stare at the ceiling until the sun rose and shined the first warm rays of sunshine into his bedroom.
The light revealed the spray painted graffiti on his walls, his window shattered to pieces. The torn remains of police tape lay scattered on the empty floor, all the furniture was gone. The entire apartment was empty.
When he arrived last night, he found his door broken open with police tape torn and tossed aside. His home had been vandalized, burglarized, and left to the elements of nature. If it had been a house instead of an apartment, Mikiya guessed it might have been burned to the ground. Too tired to do anything, Mikiya fell asleep on his empty bedroom floor.
Eventually, Mikiya found the need to rise come with the urge to use the bathroom. So he stood up, brushed himself off, and went to the bathroom. He was thankful to find that the water had not been stopped, but the electricity had been disconnected. So he took a cold shower, changed into new clothes from his travel bag, and headed outside. He quickly found his car in the parking lot and drove to his office.
He started a small business when he got into high school, a concierge company. The White Wings Concierge Services Company started with the help of a few helpful investors and a few friends of Mikiya, it provided him with enough to live and a little extra. With the money he earned, he bought a warehouse, his apartment, and his car. In exchange for the money earned, the business took all his time. He worked from morning to night, sometimes skipping school to work. Because of that, he did not have many friends. The few friends that he had, he had not heard from in a while. The chance that they forgot all about him was high. At the moment, the only friends he had were Sherry and Shiro.
The small office in the quiet strip mall was in the same condition as his home, destroyed and ransacked. He had a thought that it would be this way, so he pushed the thought out his mind and went inside. As expected, nothing could be salvaged. Everything that was not stolen was broken to pieces. He read the graffiti covering the walls, messages of hate from the locals. Their abusive languages and harsh curses made him smile, he had become accustomed to that in the last year as well.
Satisfied with his inspection of the remainder of his office, Mikiya moved onto his warehouse. It was a mid-sized warehouse several miles to the north in the neighboring city of Kapa’a. It was full of random items like a lawn mower he used when he first started and several crates of food used during a crisis after a hurricane came through. There was also a small office on the second floor along with several catwalks overlooking the first floor.
Unless his other properties, the warehouse was left unscathed. There was no damage, just a thick layer of dust. The electricity had been disconnected, he was the first person to step inside the building for over a year. He went into the office and sat down at the desk. There was his old computer and an old desk lamp, items he left behind because he did not have any room to take them.
He took a moment to look up the number for the local electric company, then spent a few minutes calling them to get his electricity turned back on. There was much work to do before he could reopen his business, he would waste no time in doing so.
“Mornin’ sis,” Karen said from the breakfast table, eating a bowl of cereal.
“Good morning, little miss bed hair,” Sherry said to her fuzzy-haired little sister.
“Want some cereal?” Karen asked, raising the box of Wheatie O’s.
“I guess so,” Sherry sat down with a bowl of her own and poured herself some cereal and milk. “What a quiet morning.”
“Mom won’t be home until tomorrow,” Karen said between spoons of cereal. “She said she’ll be in Honolulu until then.”
The two sisters ate their breakfast quietly, with only the chirping of birds to fill the room with sound. Once they were done eating, they went to the living room to watch some television.
“So, what are you gonna do today?” Karen asked. “Want to go around town?”
“Sure, maybe later,” Sherry said, surfing the channels. “I have to see how Mikiya’s doing first, though.”
“Who cares about that loser,” Karen sighed. “Come on sis, you’ve been with the idiot for a year. You can do without him now that you’re home again.”
“We already went over this,” Sherry told her sister sternly. “Now are you coming with me or not?”
“I’ll go,” Karen said obediently. “There’s nothing else to do anyway.”
“By the way,” Sherry said, turning to the local news channel. “How are your friends? Is everyone doing alright?”
“Same as always,” Karen informed her. “A lot of people left for summer vacation though, they should be returning in the next few weeks. It’s so boring without anyone around.”
“Well, get ready to go out,” Sherry said, turning off the television and walking to her room. “We leave in a half an hour.”
A half an hour later, the two of them were in Karen’s white Toyota Corolla on their way to Mikiya’s apartment. Sherry pulled out her cell phone to call Mikiya, but the line was busy. She continued to try until Karen parked the car.
“I forgot,” Karen said suddenly. “There’s something I should tell you about Mikiya’s place…”
They approached Mikiya’s apartment, Sherry could see the damage even from afar. She eyed the broken door and the discarded police tape.
“What is this?” Sherry asked her sister. “What happened?”
“After you left, they kinda had their way with his place,” Karen explained. “Apparently, nobody cares about it now, so they leave it as it is.”
“Did this happen to his office too?” Sherry asked.
“Yes,” Karen answered.
“This goes to show how far some people with go,” Sherry said to herself. “Well, Mikiya doesn’t seem to be home, so we have to go looking.”
“Do we have to?” Karen said. “There’s a lot of other more fun things to do on a Friday.”
“If it isn’t the Valle sisters,” a voice said behind them.
Sherry turned around to find a young Asian male, dressed in a simple striped shirt and jeans. His hair was short and tidy, he stood straight and full of confidence. His shoulders were broad, his muscular physique showed through his loose shirt. He had dark tanned skin and a friendly smile.
“Shiro,” Sherry said. “Long time no see. How have you been?”
“Doing great every single day of the year,” he said cheerfully. “You been good?”
“As good as always,” Sherry said. “Say, we’re trying to find Mikiya, any ideas on his whereabouts?”
“I came to see him myself,” Shiro told her. “I forgot to tell him about his place, so I was gonna offer a room in my house. Did you check his office?”
“No,” Sherry said. “Come along with us, we’re trying to find the same person anyway.”
A minute later, they were back in Karen’s sedan on their way to Mikiya’s White Wings Concierge Services Company office. While driving, Sherry figured it was a good idea to catch up on things.
“How what’s been going on lately?” Sherry asked Shiro.
“Nothing much, really,” Shiro said, looking out the window in the backseat.
“Don’t forget to tell sis all about your girlfriend,” Karen said playfully.
“You have a girlfriend now?” Sherry asked, her interest perked.
“Yes,” Shiro answered.
“Her name’s Tomoko Sakagawa,” Karen told Sherry. “She’s real nice and pretty too. She’s kinda dumb though.”
“Look who’s talking,” Shiro said. “And she isn’t dumb, she will be in the honors course this year.”
“Well she acts dumb,” Karen said.
“Okay I get it already,” Sherry said. “What else is new?”
“Ragra got a girlfriend too,” Shiro said, thinking into the past. “I forget what her name was, she doesn’t stick out too much.”
“Nayumi Nayasaki,” Karen said. “Yet another spaz.”
“You’re a spaz,” Shiro joked. “And you were supposed to turn back there.”
A short while later, with a U-turn included, they were in front of the office of Mikiya’s business. It was the same as Mikiya apartment, Sherry stared into its bleak remains. She was glad all of her belongings did not share the same fate.
“Well, he isn’t here,” Shiro said, coming out from the destroyed office. “Where could he be?”
“Is there an IHOP around here?” Sherry asked.
“No,” Shiro said. “You think he’s out for breakfast?”
“That would be my guess,” Sherry said.
“Well, drive me back to my car and we’ll split up to search,” Shiro said. “He has a lot of favorite restaurants.”
“Sounds like the only option,” Sherry agreed.
“I could be doing something fun right now,” Karen moaned.
Mikiya ignored his stomach growling for the entire morning, but now his hunger was becoming unbearable. The sun was high in the sky, he had spent two hours calling various places to get his business restarted. He was done with all the calls, but he still had to find a new place to live and clean the warehouse. For the time being, he figured he would just use the office in his warehouse instead of the one in Lihue. He was sure that the land owner of his office in Lihue would try and pry every penny out of his wallet. It would most likely be the same for the apartment. The thought of living in the warehouse crossed his mind.
“That’s not such a bad idea,” Mikiya said to himself. “I’ll just need to buy the furniture and organize the warehouse a little and it’ll be perfect.”
As he perfected his plan to live at work, Mikiya wondered about where to eat. There was small chance that people remembered his face and he would not get served any food. He wanted to cook for himself, but without a fridge or a stove, that was impossible. In the end, he ordered pizza to be delivered over the phone.
While he waited in the hot, un-air conditioned office for his pizza, he wondered if he would get any clients once he restarted his business.
Fat chance, Mikiya thought. I might as well have stayed back in Denver. This year is going to suck. Bad.
He sighed and looked out the window. He never thought he would feel this bad at home, but it truly did not feel like home any longer. He dreaded the day he had to return to school.
“Maybe I’ll just enroll in a different school,” he told himself. “Yeah, there’s still time for that.”
His cell phone began to ring. His ringtone, the song “Home” played loudly in the quiet workroom. He answered the call before the words started to play.
“Hello?” He answered.
“Where the hell are you?” Sherry almost shouted into the phone. “Where have you been? Do you know how long I’ve been trying to reach you?”
“Sorry,” Mikiya said. “I was… ordering pizza.”
“At noon?” Sherry asked. “Geez, that’s not good for you. You want to come with us? My sister and Shiro are here with me, we can go to eat together somewhere.”
“Sorry,” Mikiya apologized. “I already have plans, you three enjoy yourselves. Well, I gotta go, see ya!”
He ended the call and set the ringer volume to vibrate. He checked his call log and found that both Sherry and Shiro had called him numerous times. It was several minutes past noon, the pizza would arrive soon.
He thought of Sherry, Shiro, and Karen, eating somewhere nice. He was hungry, but he did not want to meet them at the time. Especially Karen, who harbored quite a lot of hatred toward him. And there was no doubt Sherry and Shiro would pester him about his home and where he should stay.
So he waited for the pizza delivery man to bring his lunch, and the electrician to reconnect his power. There was nothing else to do.
“You think we should have a welcoming party or something?” Shiro said, eating his hamburger.
“Don’t bother,” Karen said, sipping on her milkshake. “Well, except for my sister, she deserves one.”
“I’ll pass, thanks,” Sherry said. “There’s really no need. Besides, who would come?”
“That’s true,” Shiro said, finishing his lunch. “He didn’t exactly leave on a positive note. There is still quite a lot of hate remaining in the air.”
His gaze shifted to Karen, who was innocently munching on some French fries. Sherry understood, Mikiya was not the type of person to make many friends. In fact, he had made more enemies than friends in the past few years. He was not the type to be easily hated, but the last few years had not been the most positive years in his life.
“So what do we do now?” Shiro asked. “We’re obviously not going to see Mikiya around, so we might as well do something else.”
“Let’s go to the mall,” Karen said excited. “It’s been a while since you’ve been there, sis!”
“I guess you’re right,” Sherry said. “Let’s go.”
A short drive took them to the Kukui Grove Shopping Center, the largest shopping mall in Lihue. It was full of shoppers on a busy Friday afternoon, they joined the crowd and walked in. It was an outdoor mall, with no roof overhead the sun shined directly onto the floor. There was a band playing tropical jazz-like music which echoed throughout the shopping center. The group of three made their way through the crowd and toured the mall. Most of the shops were exactly as Sherry had remembered, only a few of the shops were new, or she just forgot about them. After walking the full length of the mall and circling around, Shiro got a call on his cell phone.
“Looks like Tomoko wants to hang out,” Shiro told his companions. “Sorry, but I gotta go.”
“That’s fine,” Sherry said. “Spending time with your girlfriend is important. Have fun.”
“Thanks, see ya,” Shiro said, then he disappeared into the crowd.
“I wish I had a boyfriend,” Karen sighed.
“You?” Sherry said with a smile. “Yeah, right.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Karen pouted.
“Nothing,” Sherry said. “Come on, I need some new clothes.”
“So your friend who has been gone for a year came back today, hm?” Tomoko said. “What was his name again?”
“Mikiya,” Shiro told her. “Mikiya Tohno.”
“That name sounds familiar,” Tomoko said. “I forget where, doesn’t matter I guess. So where are we going?”
“To the mall in Kapa’a,” Shiro told her, as he drove the car onto the highway.
Truth be told, he just did not want to meet Sherry and Karen again after he said goodbye to them. And the Kapa’a Shopping Mall was the only other mall on the island.
“I guess we can watch a movie or something,” Shiro told his girlfriend.
“Okay, I’m down with that,” Tomoko accepted happily. “Can’t we get some food along the way? I haven’t had lunch yet.”
“Sure, why not,” Shiro said. “What do you feel like eating?”
“I dunno,” Tomoko said. “Japanese, maybe, sushi?”
“Sushi, huh?” Shiro said thinking. “I guess that mean Yokozuna.”
“Yay, sushi,” Tomoko squealed.
“Don’t eat too much,” Shiro said. “Remember I’m rather poor.”
“Aw, cheapskate,” Tomoko joked.
“Sushi is expensive,” Shiro reasoned. “And you know I don’t get paid well.”
“Right,” Tomoko said. “Because you spend too much time playing your military games.”
“ROTC,” Shiro corrected. “It’s honorable work for the community.”
“That you don’t get paid for,” Tomoko added.
“Oh, bite me,” Shiro told her.
“Don’t tempt me,” Tomoko said with smirk.
They shared a good laugh until they arrived at the restaurant. After blowing away forty dollars on sushi and drinks, they continued on their way to the movie theater. Shiro parked his car and they took the long route through the mall. There was the usual Friday afternoon crowd filling the shopping center, another band played at this mall just like the other. As they walked along, Shiro noticed a familiar face and pulled Tomoko toward another route.
“What’s the matter?” Tomoko asked, being led by his hand. “Where are we going?”
“Around,” Shiro said. “I just saw someone I’m not very comfortable around.”
“Who and why?” Tomoko said, looking through the crowd.
“What’s his name again,” Shiro tried to remember. “Eleazar or something, speaks kind of funny if you ask me. Antiquated speech or something like that.”
“You mean like old English?” Tomoko wondered.
“I guess,” Shiro said. “Moving on, what movie do you want to see?”
“What’s out?” Tomoko asked her boyfriend.
“Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean are the most popular ones, I think,” Shiro said, as they got closer to the theater. “Take a look.”
After examining the “Now showing” list for a minute, they decided to watch Star Wars: Episode III. After buying some drinks and popcorn, they entered the theater to watch the previews of other upcoming movies.
“Didn’t expect to see you here,” Mikiya said.
“I assure the thought is reciprocated,” Eleazar replied. “What business have you at this establishment?”
“I see your speech hasn’t changed,” Mikiya sighed. “Anyway, I have work to do, I’ll see you around.”
“Certainly you are not occupied so thoroughly to have a pleasant conversation with an old acquaintance?” Eleazar asked.
Mikiya moaned, this old-speech, good-natured fellow was someone he met years ago. Mikiya found his way of talking strange, but soon came to realize other worse points. Mikiya always turned into the butt of some joke when it came to Eleazar’s friends. Eleazar was older than Mikiya, Mikiya guessed that Eleazar was in college by now. Mikiya did not want to stick around in case one of Eleazar’s friends were nearby. While Mikiya was thinking of a way to excuse himself, the plain shirt and jeans wearing acquaintance fiddled with the book in his hand.
“What’s with the book?” Mikiya asked, the book catching his attention.
It was Paradise Lost by John Milton, Mikiya read many years ago when he was a child. He only remembered the basic plot points, everything else was lost to time.
“The decision was upon myself,” Eleazar told him. To read or to venture to this establishment. So I chose both.”
“Well, that isn’t the worst of your compromises,” Mikiya muttered to himself.
Mikiya thought he saw more familiar faces, so he hurried in his getaway excuse.
“I’m on a mission,” Mikiya said quickly. “So I take my leave.”
Mikiya bowed and left Eleazar in the crowd, who went back to whatever he had been doing before meeting Mikiya. Mikiya on the other hand, sighed a breath of relief as he entered a furniture store. His meeting with Eleazar was awkward and uncomfortable, and he was certain that more unpleasant encounters were in his future. But Mikiya was glad it was Eleazar he met and not someone else, at least Eleazar was civil. Eleazar was not the type to hate people with his easygoing attitude. Mikiya knew there were some other people that would dropkick him in face upon their first encounter.
Leaving that thought aside, Mikiya focused on furniture. The sole reason he was here was to shop for furniture to convert the warehouse into his home. The electricity would be restored tomorrow, and the contractors would begin to renovate a section of the warehouse next week. Until then, he had to buy furniture, kitchen appliances, and other necessities. He had already purchased everything for the kitchen, but he still required furniture like a sofa, bed, and a few tables and chairs.
“Excuse me,” Mikiya said to a salesperson. “I was looking for-“
“I’m sorry,” the salesman said. “But you’re not welcome here. If you would please leave.”
“Uh, fine,” Mikiya said.
There was nothing else to say, Mikiya had expected that. As it turns out, there were still many people who remembered his face. He had already been turned away from countless stores in the area, and some that bothered to talk to him were not pleasant to the slightest.
As he walked out of the store and headed to his car, someone bumped into him and spilled their soda on his shirt and pants.
“Oh, so sorry,” the woman apologized sarcastically, then disappeared into the crowd.
“At least it was Sprite and not Coke,” Mikiya told himself.
He found his car with numerous key scratches and dents, a sad sight for a car that had been kept so new until today. He got in and drove back to the warehouse. But on his way back, the wail of a siren stopped him. He pulled over and saw the police officer step out of the squad car.
“Oh, give me a break,” Mikiya muttered. “For the love of…”
The officer tapped on his window, Mikiya reluctantly rolled it down. The expression on the policeman’s face assured Mikiya that he was not leaving without a ticket.
“Do you know how fast you were going?” The police officer asked.
“Fifty-five,” Mikiya answered flatly, he had been staring at his speedometer when the cop pulled behind him.
“This is a forty-five mile per hour zone,” the police officer told him.
A blatant lie, Mikiya thought. This is a highway, its sixty-five!
In the end, Mikiya’s encounter with the bitter police officer left him with a speeding ticket with a five hundred dollar fine. He did not bother obeying the speed limit for the rest of the drive to his home. He opened the main warehouse door and parked his car inside, then shut and locked the door. After locking the large sliding door, he went to change his stained clothes and finished eating the leftover pizza in his office. He opened his laptop and watched the new movie for the popular anime, Fullmetal Alchemist. As he ate his pizza and ate his dinner, he remembered he had no drinks.
He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he took it out to look at the name of the caller. Unexpectedly, it was not Sherry, but Ragra Tsukane instead. Ragra was another friend, someone he had not talked to in the last year.
“Hello?” Mikiya answered.
“Hey buddy,” Ragra said. “I heard that you’re finally back in town, I wanted to welcome you back.”
“Thanks, where are you?” Mikiya asked.
“Unfortunately,” Ragra said. “I’m stuck in Aristalia for a few more days, I’ll be sure to drop by when I get back though.”
“I’ll look forward to that,” Mikiya said.
“We’ll go around town and have a blast like we used to man,” Ragra told him. “You better be ready.”
“Thanks man,” Mikiya said. “Thanks…”
Mikiya felt better, even with all that happened today. Although things were not the best, but he now felt that he could manage. Thanks to people like Eleazar and Ragra, maybe, just maybe, he could feel welcome after all.
