Neil Plakcy - Mahu Fire

“We could smell the fire,” Jimmy said.

“We hobbled on for a while, but my ankle hurt, so we stopped by this big boulder. And then I heard Caitlin Harding crying. We thought that it was Fran and Eli, and I was so relieved.”

“But it wasn’t,” Jimmy said. “It was creepy Jeff and his wife. With those other people’s kids.”

Kitty continued, “We sat behind the rock, and we heard the footsteps coming. As soon as I saw Cole, I was ready to jump up, but Jimmy was smart, and he held me back. That’s when we saw it wasn’t Fran and Eli with the kids, but Jeff and Sheila. She sent Jeff one way down the trail with the kids, and she started coming toward us.”

She looked over at Jimmy and smiled at him. “Sheila got closer and closer. There was no way we could move without attracting her attention, and there was no way she wouldn’t see us if she kept coming. I was desperately trying to think of a plan when Jimmy got up. I reached for him, miming madly for him to stay put, but he wasn’t paying attention. I was so scared for him when I saw him creeping around through the woods, trying to get around behind Sheila.”

Her bangle bracelets jangled a little, and I could see her nerves flaring up again. “I was so scared. I just didn’t think Jimmy could do anything.” Looking at him, she said, “I’m sorry, Jimmy. I thought you were just the kind of kid who watched too many violent TV shows and movies, that you thought you could take on the bad guys because on TV the good guys always won.”

“I surprised myself,” Jimmy said. “But I never would have tried anything if it wasn’t for Kimo.”

I looked at him, but Kitty had resumed her story. “I tried to get up but my leg wouldn’t hold me. When Jimmy jumped out in front of Sheila, I was totally surprised. He kicked the gun out of her right hand. He stumbled regaining his balance, but he made a fist and swung his arm at her stomach like a club.”

“That’s what I learned from you,” Jimmy said. “At the teen center. You taught us that stuff.”

Sampson glanced at me, and I’m sure he was wondering exactly what I was teaching those kids. But Akoni nodded, and I felt good knowing that he trusted me no matter what I did.

“I could almost hear her breath come out of her body,” Kitty said. “She fell backwards to the ground, and she hit her head on the dirt trail. We’d just left her behind when we ran into you.”

“You mean Sheila White’s up there on the trail?” I asked. “Why didn’t you say that first?”

Both Kitty and Jimmy looked like they were ready to cry.

“I’m going back up there,” I said to Sampson. “We weren’t that far up the trail when we found the kids, and the fire’s already been past there. If Sheila White’s still up there I can bring her down.”

“Right behind you, brah,” Akoni said. We hurried up the ridge, and it was good to have my partner back again, even if only for a short while.

“Be careful,” Sampson called to us. “Keep your radios on.”

Akoni and I passed Lui and his team coming down. I wanted to embrace my brother, thank him and thank Pele, too, for bringing him safely back, but I was worried about the Harding kids, and what could be happening to them up on the mountain with Jeff and Sheila White.

The fire had burned to our left, and we were able to take the right-hand trail up to the rise where Kitty and Jimmy had first appeared to us. Because of the shifting wind, it was still unscorched.

From there, the trail turned, and I crept forward, Akoni covering my back. I could see ahead to where a woman lay sprawled on the path. I listened but I couldn’t hear anything, and I didn’t see her moving. I crept forward, foot by foot, until I reached her.

Apparently, Sheila White had hit her head on a rock when Jimmy knocked her down, and there was blood pooling all around her. Training my weapon on her, I kneeled down and felt for a pulse.

There was a faint one, and she stirred at my touch.

“Jesus, it’s you!”

I looked up, and ahead of me on the path stood Jeff White. He had two small, blonde children with him, a boy and a girl.

“Freeze,” Akoni said, drawing his gun.

I stood up quickly and pointed my gun at White, too. “It’s all over now, Jeff,” I said. “Throw down your weapons and stay right where you are.”

“It’s not over.” He reached out and pulled the girl in front of him. He held her with his left hand and pointed his gun at her with his right. “What did you do to Sheila?”

“I didn’t do anything. I’ve been out here looking for you, Jeff, and I just found Sheila here.”

“I don’t believe you. You killed her.”

“Your sister’s not dead, Jeff. It looks like she fell and hit her head on the ground. But we’ve got to get her out of here before the fire catches up with us.”

“I don’t… Sheila is the one who always told me what to do.” Tears began to run down his face, but he kept the girl and the gun in position.

“Did she know you were gay?”

“What? I’m not queer.”

“Sure you are.” I started moving toward him, in tiny increments. “You picked up a male prostitute, didn’t you? He’s just a boy, you know. Sixteen.”

“I don’t… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“He told me about you. He told me you picked him up to have sex this morning. Straight guys don’t pick up teen-aged boys for sex, Jeff.”

“It… it… it wasn’t like that. I was just going to give him a lift and he… he came on to me.”

“Why did you do it, Jeff? Why did you bomb the Marriage Project and then kill Charlie Stahl? Were you scared about being gay?”

I was only about fifty feet from him by then. “I’m not gay!” he said. “I’m… I’m… confused. If Sheila knew I’d been thinking about guys, she’d have killed me.”

“Why did you kill the old man? Did you try to have sex with him?”

“The old man? You mean the homeless guy?”

“Yeah. His name was Hiroshi Mura.”

“I didn’t kill him. Sheila did. She’s always been the best at everything. She shoots way better than I do. She’s the one who learned how to make bombs. I just did whatever she told me.”

“Why don’t you let the little girl go,” I said. “Put the gun down. I’ll take you downtown myself. I promise I’ll take care of you.” He seemed to hesitate.

I’d been wrong about the fire. I thought it had used up all the fuel in that part of the park, that we were safe. But as I stood there across from Jeff White, I could hear the fire had returned, feel the heat, smell the smoke. The kids were so frightened they were paralyzed, but at any moment they could start crying or screaming again, which would make it that much harder to get Jeff White to focus on me. I was also worried that Haoa and his team were going to stumble on us any minute, adding yet another unpredictable element.

Then Pele stepped in once again. Although I can’t say I believe in the old Hawaiian religion, as a surfer I’ve often seen the power of nature and felt that it’s possible there is a divine hand guiding it. Maybe Pele was angry that someone else had started a fire, or maybe one of the other gods or goddesses that protect the islands alerted her and asked her intervention.

First there was a big cracking noise, and some ironwood trees off to the right caught on fire. They lit up the area brightly, distracting all of us for a moment.

I’ve tried since then to piece together what happened next. I think the little boy, Cole, must have tried to free his sister then, starting to pummel Jeff White’s leg. Jeff lowered the gun hand for a minute to fight the boy off.

That’s when Haoa and his team came bursting through the trees from the left. Jeff was clearly scared. He turned and let go of Caitlin, then raised his hand and started to shoot, first at me, then at Haoa and his team. I quickly dropped into a crouch, balanced my arm as best I could, and shot, hoping for the best.