CHAPTER TEN
When El Speed got back to the dorm Sunday evening, I was tempted to tell him about Conroy, about my decision to hike the Kalalau, but his excited chatter about his weekend knocked all the verbal wind out of my sails. I listened politely to him, interested and yet not involved in anything he had to tell me. And I didn’t want another confrontation like the one where he’d tried to tell me about Nancy’s objections to her bridesmaid’s dress.
He said he was exhausted, and he went to sleep fairly early. I sat at my desk for a while, listening as his silent breathing changed to a gentle snore while I browsed online images of Kaua'i. Even without Keola Beamer’s music, I found myself close to the physical experience of feeling gentle trade winds on my face, nearly able to feel the exch
