One Shark, No Swim

4. Dreaming of the Girl

4

Dreaming of the Girl

Ho‘omaika‘i

To give thanks; a blessing; a favor.

“Dreams?”

‘Ilima sat up and leaned against Uncle Kahana’s leg. His hand dropped to her head.

“What kine dreams, Zader?”

“Never mind,” I said.

“No, not never mind. What kine dreams are you having, Z-boy?”

“A while ago I had a dream about this girl—”

“—ah, maybe you better talk with your Dad about that.”

I stopped and gave him a look, the one that most people couldn’t meet. Uncle Kahana blinked a few times then swallowed.

“An’den,” he said, causally waving his hand for me to continue.

“I’ll show you.”

I went to my room and came back with my sketchbook open to a drawing of Dream Girl.

Uncle Kahana took the book from my hand and tipped it toward the light coming in through the front windows.

“Hmmm,” he said.

‘Ilima nosed Uncle Kahana’s leg. Uncle Kahana adjusted his grip, allowing her to see the picture. Her eyes went wide as she turned from my sketchbook to Uncle Kahana to me then back to the book. She gave herself a shake, faked a snort, and then settled down again at Uncle Kahana’s feet, front paws over her nose.

“No kidding,” Uncle Kahana muttered.

“What?” I asked.

“I said she’s pretty.”

That wasn’t what he’d said.

I shrugged. “I guess.”

“So what’re these dreams about?”

I took a deep breath. I couldn’t do it alone anymore; it was time somebody knew what was happening to me, someone who could give me some advice and help.

“Uncle Kahana, for years I’ve dreamed about this girl.”

I told him about Dream Girl and how I had these vivid dreams about strange places and people and how she and I would sometimes fly high in the sky and spy on a man who scared us both, a handsome Man With Too Many Teeth. I flipped through the sketches, explaining what I felt and saw in the dreams. Uncle Kahana nodded in all the right places and studied the pages as I talked.

“But these are just dreams, right? Nightmares, some of them, but still all in your head, Zader,” he said.

I bit my lip.

Uncle Kahana will either believe me or call Mom and tell her there’s something seriously wrong with me. Either way, there’s no going back.

I said it as fast as I could, like a tsunami wave striking the shore.

“I saw him. The Man with Too Many Teeth. I saw him on the reef at Piko Point.”

Uncle Kahana locked his eyes on my face like laser beams.

“When?”

“A while ago. I was wearing all my waterproof gear.”

“Dive helmet, too?”

“Everything.”

“Zader, this is important. Did the Man with Too Many Teeth say anything to you?”

“No. He just ignored me.”

“Ignored you? Standing on the reef in a deep-sea helmet, hip waders, long sleeve rain jacket, and bright yellow gloves?”

I rubbed my forehead, thinking back.

“It was like I didn’t matter.”

“Beneath his notice.”

“Yeah.”

He let out his breath in one great rush.

“Hubris,” he muttered. “Ho‘omaika‘i.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said. “It doesn’t matter.”

He waved a hand, pushing it all aside.

Uncle Kahana said, “So he passed you without speaking, an’den?”

“I hele’d on out of there as fast as I could. He was heading out to Piko Point. I didn’t look back until I was all the way to the beach pavilion, but he was gone by then.”

I paused, remembering.

“He had a slight limp.”

Uncle Kahana reached up and rubbed his temple. “Of course he did,” he mumbled.

He sat there for a minute, looking at the TV, but not seeing whales breeching or blow holes spouting.

“But Zader, what does all this have to do with Shark Week shows?”

Back to the start of our conversation, I squared my shoulders.

“I had another dream. In this one it was night. I was standing at Piko Point with Dream Girl. She was angry, huhu to the max. Said I ruined everything.”

I closed my eyes.

“She said her name wasn’t Dream Girl. It’s Ka-Maka-O-Ka-Moana, Maka for short. She said he’s coming after me. She called him Kalei. I think that’s the Man with Too Many Teeth’s name—Kalei. Then she—”

‘Ilima nudged my hand with her nose. I opened my eyes and placed my hand on her warm head.

“She what?” Uncle Kahana pressed.

Get it over with.

“She called me brother, ripped a ti leaf lei off her wrist, and threw it at me. She dove into the deep saltwater pool at Piko Point and . . . and turned into a shark,” I said.

‘Ilima whined and pushed harder against my leg. Uncle Kahana sat frozen in his chair, his mind far away.

“She swam out the tunnel to the open ocean,” I added.

He blinked and turned to me. “But it’s all a dream, right?”

I shrugged. “I wasn’t dreaming when I saw Kalei on the reef. Maybe it’s all more real than I thought.”

Uncle Kahana looked past me, not meeting my eyes when he spoke.

“Zader, think about it. What you saw was a man walking along the reef who reminded you of some scary boogieman you saw in a nightmare. That’s it. He didn’t threaten you; didn’t speak to you; he ignored you. Why? Because he was just some guy out for a walk, that’s all.”

Whining, ‘Ilima turned from me and put her paws up on Uncle Kahana’s knees. When he didn’t look at her, she barked a single sharp staccato bark right in his face.

“Quiet, ‘Ilima,” he snapped. “I know what I’m doing.”

“What?” I asked. “What are you saying? You believe me, right?”

Nothing was making sense.

‘Ilima jumped away from Uncle Kahana and came back to me. I could feel her chest rumbling. She pinned her ears flat against her head and glared at Uncle Kahana.

He didn’t seem to care.

I patted ‘Ilima’s back, confused.

Why is Uncle Kahana acting like it’s all in my head? If anyone would understand, I thought it would be him.

He rolled his shoulders and leaned back in his chair.

“Nah, no worries Z-boy. It’s classic teenage fantasy: a beautiful, elusive girl; a bad man out to get you; hints about your birth family, not just a regular ‘ohana like the Westins, but a special magic shark family. Of course a kid who’s allergic to water is going to dream about swimming! It’s your allergies. I bet you had Dream Girl dreams after eating meat that was still a little too pink in the middle. You did, didn’t you?”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah. I guess you could say that.”

“See? Listen to your Uncle: eat extra veggies, cook the steak super-well, and no more Shark Week shows! Then you’ll have no more nightmares. Guaranz.”

‘Ilima chuffed and gave Uncle Kahana stink-eye, but he kept fiddling with the bottom of his t-shirt and didn’t look up.

He was right about my allergies triggering dreams. I’d figured out a long time ago that if I accidentally ate meat that wasn’t completely cooked or crab that wasn’t really crab at dinner, I’d have Dream Girl adventures when I went to sleep.

But the last dream wasn’t brought on by food. I’d dreamed about Maka that night because I’d held my shark tooth necklace in my hand when I closed my eyes and wished to see her again. That was the first time I’d dreamed about Maka because I willed it. It was the only time she ever told me her name, said the name of the Man with Too Many Teeth, and turned into a shark.

I didn’t know what these dreams were, but I no longer believed they were random flights of my imagination. I had good reason. I opened my mouth to tell him, almost went back to my room to show him the dried ti leaf lei I kept hidden under my bed—the one Maka threw at me when she said that I needed it more than she did.

I formed the words in my mind to tell him how I found it laying on my chest when I woke up and how it proved Maka existed, but what came out instead was this: “Uncle, why you here?”