kaidman
08-06-2012, 05:11 AM
by oldkingclancy
this one wasn't my favorite as I feel that the main characters are in denial and I was hoping the main male would take responsibility for his actions but he once again had another drift and settle thing where he goes to a new location and settles in I really hope he gets with the main female because I think they are good for each other and he is just deluding himself I hope the main female Lexie gets the life she always deserved and not the shitbox she is neck deep in while Adam hides away from his troubles anyways enjoy this for a tale that has parts missing is not a tale but a tragedy
Adam woke with a throbbing pain on his face, from the bright sun he could tell it was afternoon by now. He had no memory of what happened last night past getting punched in the face by Liam. Christ his face was in agony.
"Ah, you're finally awake." A soft female voice came from the side.
Adam turned and saw her, a young woman, around about his age, was sitting at a table with a book in her hands. What struck Adam about the woman was that she was very beautiful, smooth olive-toned skin, long, sleek, black hair, a little red flower on top of her head, light brown eyes that looked totally at ease, not helping himself Adam darted his eyes down to the woman's chest, she was wearing an orange bikini top which was stretched against her grapefruit sized breasts. The woman was smiling a dazzling white smile at him and for some reason Adam felt relaxed.
"I was wondering when you would wake up." She continued.
"Where am I?" Adam asked as he sat up, he looked around the room, it looked to be made of bamboo or some other type of tree, like a hut. From the window Adam could see miles and miles of rolling green and brown hills and from behind him he could smell the sea.
"You're in Hawaii." The woman calmly told him.
"Hawaii? What the fuck happened last night? How did I get here?"
"My dad found you in his fishing boat when he was coming home last night, guessed you snuck on at Vegas. He found you just as you are now, half naked with a broken nose."
"Broken nose?" Adam turned to the nearest mirror, sure enough his nose had been broken, and badly. There was dried blood around his mouth, a deep red stain covering half his face.
"Liam must be a better fighter than I realised. Oh shit Liam, hey can I borrow your phone real quick?"
"Sure."
Adam quickly picked up the house phone and dialled Liam's mobile, only stopping to remember what numbers to dial.
Liam answered the phone after several rings, from the sound of his voice he felt just as bad as Adam.
"Hm, yeah, what... fuck, what?"
"Liam. It's Adam."
"Adam, where the fuck are you?"
"Hawaii."
"Hawaii? The fuck are you doing there? What the fuck happened last night, I woke up in the fountain outside the hotel, my head is killing me."
"I don't know, the last thing I remember was us in the hotel room, we were drinking and doing some coke, then we got in a fight. You broke my nose."
"Shit man, I can't remember anything past the hotel, I have no idea how you got to Hawaii."
"I'm with this girl who told me I was asleep on her father's fishing boat."
"When were we near a harbour?"
"I don't know. Look Liam I'll call you back once I know what the hell is going on."
"Alright, sorry about the nose."
"It's fine, talk to you later."
"See you."
Adam hung up the phone, the woman was smiling at him.
"Sounds like a fun night."
Adam laughed softly. "Sorry you had to hear that, it's been a strange night."
"I'll say. You're lucky dad didn't toss you out into the ocean."
"I suppose I should thank you then Mrs...?"
"Miss. Miss Kanani Kealoha."
"That's quite a name."
"People just call me Kay;"
Adam shook Kanani's hand. "Thank you Kay, my name's....
"Adam McAllister. I checked your wallet, see if there was a number to call. Here."
Kanani handed Adam his wallet. Immediately he opened it but there was no money, no notes, no coins. Even his card was missing.
"I swear it was like that when I found it."
"It's ok, after last night I wouldn't be surprised if I had threw my card away. Christ what happened to me?"
"Well you're welcome to stay if you want, if you need to save up the money to get back home then you shouldn't need to waste it on rent."
"Save up? You mean your dad won't take me back on his boat."
"I wouldn't think so, he wanted to chuck you out into the sea but I told him not to. Besides he's not going to waste the money on gas."
"Well you're kind to let me stay here."
"Least I could do, I've got a spare room anyway, might as well use it. Don't worry, I won't start charging you until you get a job."
"Charge? I thought you were letting me stay here."
"I need to make something out of this Adam, I'm not doing this out of charity."
"And here I was thinking you were a nice girl Kay."
"I let you use my phone, that was nice. I've just met you Adam, this trust thing works both ways."
Adam laughed, he felt like he hadn't laughed in years. He liked this girl, this Kay, she was kind, she was funny and she was beautiful.
"Ok Adam I'm just going to call my dad, look around the house if you want, bathroom's to the left, second on the right is my room, stay out."
Kay left with a smile, Adam stood up, his whole body racked with pain but he managed to stand up with little difficulties. Adam walked slowly out to the porch, the air was hot and humid but he almost didn't notice, the view was so stunning. Kay's house was in a small neighbourhood, probably only 7 or 8 houses in a circle, a road went by each house, it was a roundabout but it had only one entrance/exit which went away and over a hill. The houses were all the same tree-hut style as Kay's, everyone shone in the bright sunlight, everywhere he looked Adam saw a new colour whether it was a tree, a flower or occasionally and animal.
He liked it.
"So you're the stowaway huh?"
Adam turned to one of the neighbouring houses, he saw a man in his early 50s siting on his porch. He had a friendly smile and kind green eyes, he was wearing the typical Hawaiian outfit, crazy shirt and shorts.
"I am, had a little too much to drink."
"I'd say, old Kale told me he picked you up in Vegas, you're a long way from home. Hell of a night."
Adam chuckled, the neighbour stuck out his hand for Adam to shake. "Ray."
He took Ray's hand. "Adam, you're a stranger in these lands yourself ain't you Ray?"
"Ha, what gave me away, the whiter-than-white skin, the crazy shirt?"
"The accent, I'm from Britain myself and I can recognize the accent anywhere."
Ray smiled as he thought for a moment "You want to come over for a beer Adam."
**
Kanani arrived back an hour later to an empty house, she spent a good 5 minutes searching every-room of the house before she heard laughing from Ray's house. She walked out into the sunlight to see her old and her new friends sitting on the porch. She just caught the end of their conversation, Ray was struggling to tell his story without laughing.
"...and so Davie lobs this bottle over the fence and the next thing we hear is glass smashing, not just the bottle but a fuckin greenhouse. We all start running but Davie's so shocked he can only stand there as this brick-shithouse comes running out."
The two men just started laughing, Kanani just smiled at them but they both knew she was there, Ray was the first to turn to her.
"Oh my beautiful Kay, what brings a princess like you to this wretched paradise?"
"Hello to you too Ray, see you've met my new friend."
"Yep, me and Adam here have been reminiscing about the good old days of Britannia."
"Britain huh? I thought you a Las Vegas native Adam."
"Nah, I spent about a year in Vegas but it's a long road that brought me there. I take it you two are friends then."
"Ray came into this town about 10, 12 years back, not too different from you, except he was on the back of a truck. He was suppose to be working for some big company but God conspired against him."
"Anytime I tried to get here the vehicle I was in broke down and by the time I arrived the position had been filled. Spent a good couple of months living off expenses the company paid for before I met Kale."
"Ray and dad started as drinking buddies but they had an idea, a business plan. And they decided to go for it."
"Back when we started there was hardly any car salesmen around so me and Kale pooled our money, worked a few jobs, didn't waste anything then about three, four years after I got here we opened for business. It's been difficult but we're doing good for ourselves, I've been running the company for just over a year since Kale retired, became a fisherman which is how he came about you."
Adam nodded his head, intrigued by the story. "Sounds like a good story, what did you do before selling cars."
"Nothing special, just office number crunching, you know the drill; white shirt, tie."
Kanani giggled. "You gave that up for shorts and colourful shirts."
"I'll give up a hell of a lot more fro you my sweet."
"Oh Ray, when will you learn that ours is a doomed romance. Hey Adam, my dad's coming round for dinner tonight, you're welcome to join us if you want. Maybe make him stop hating you."
"I'd like that thank you."
Kanani turned and headed back inside, Adam watched her, admiring how gorgeous she looked in the sunlight.
"She's a kind girl isn't she?"
"She's always been liked that, volunteers down at the animal sanctuary. Listen Adam, I know we've just met but I like to think we're going to be friends..."
"Friends? No offence but I'm not planning on staying that long."
"Look just listen to me, Kay likes you, I can see that clear as day, why else would she keep a stranger in her house so I'm going to make this clear. As your friend I'll say this; don't do anything to Kay that you'll regret. As Kay's friend I'll say this; if you hurt her you best pray it's me who finds you because I'll kill you quickly, unlike Kale."
"Wow, I've been here two hours and already I have death warnings. Weird place."
"Get use to it Adam. You'll get plenty before the week's out."
The two men laughed as they opened another beer.
Over the next few hours Adam wandered around the neighbourhood, he just strolled around getting use to the surroundings. He found himself liking the quietness of the place, it was such a change from the fast-paced, bright lights of Vegas. Yeah the heat was a little too much but as the day went on it got cooler and cooler.
He arrived back at Kanani's house just in time for dinner, she and her father were already inside.
"Adam, glad to see you could make it."
"You kidding Kay? After everything you've done for me I wouldn't miss this for anything. Feel a little bad that you're doing this, I should've done something for you."
"You're broke Adam what could you have done? Besides I like cooking, good to have a first-time taster."
Adam smiled and turned to who he could only guess was Kale, he was a large man, tall, burly and on the bad side of 60. He looked like 30 years ago he could kill you with a single punch but even with a little extra weight he'd still do some damage. His skin was the same olive tone as his daughter but with more than a few wrinkles, his hair was long, down to his neck
and in some form of good shape. Finally the last thing Adam noticed about Kale was his eyes, one of them was a dark brown, much like his daughter but darker, the other was milky-white, a dead eye, he could immediately tell Kale was blind in that eye.
"You must be Kale, I've heard a great deal about you from Ray. Glad to meet you conscious this time."
A slight twitch at the corner of Kale's mouth told Adam he found the joke humorous but it was very brief and soon he was back to the grim expression.
"I apologize for the manner in which we met, I've lost all memory of that night, don't remember getting on your boat. I'm sorry."
"Just make sure it doesn't happen again, next time Kanani won't be there to save you."
Kanani leaned into Adam and whispered in his ear. "Dad wasn't kidding when he said he was going to tip you into the sea."
"Duly noted. What you cooking Kay smells delicious."
"It's called Hawaiian Chicken, it's a meal my mother did perfectly, this is as close an imitation as I can get."
"Don't sell yourself Kay, I'm sure it'll be delicious."
Kanani smiled at the compliment but Kale didn't, while Kanani went back to finish up the meal Kale spoke in a low, hard voice. It scared Adam slightly.
"Adam. I don't know you, I don't why you're here and I don't know if you're planning anything with my daughter. I know she's old enough to make her own decisions but she's still my girl and ever since her mother died she's been the most important person in my life. So if you hurt her, I will blind you, I've been cutting fish for 40 years and I've got pretty good with a knife so I will blind you."
Adam sat in stunned silence, not knowing how to react to Kale's threat. It wasn't until Kanani came back that the silence was broke.
"Hey that's dinner ready. What you boys talking about?"
"Your dad just threatened to blind me."
"Ah the 'Hurt me daughter and I'll blind you' speech. Haven't had one of those for a while."
"This is normal?"
"Normal for dad. It's been pretty effective if a little annoying. But I let him give his little speeches, keep him off my back for the most part."
"Well it's definitely effective I'll say that. I could really use that meal right about now."
The three of them went to a large table near the kitchen, Kale sat at the head of the table, Kanani to his right and Adam to his left. After a quick prayer they began eating.
"Mmm, Kay this is really good. Seriously this is amazing."
"Really? You're not just saying that?"
"I mean it, it's delicious."
Kanani blushed at the compliment, something her father picked up on.
"Oh come on dad you don't have to hate Adam just because he's a stowaway. Give him a chance."
"I'm not completely stupid Mr Kealoha, I'm actually quite nice once you get to know me. I'm interested in hearing how you became blind in your eye there. Did you harm anyone's daughter?"
Kanani had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. As was the general consensus of the night Kale wasn't pleased.
"I got this when the last asshole that was cheeky to me tried his luck with a bottle. Smashed it into my face, I've now got a piece of glass in my eye and it can't be removed without the risk of nicking an artery. So if I look like I have the headache from hell I probably do."
"Sounds unpleasant, sorry to hear that. I was almost blinded myself when I was younger, gave me this scar."
"Not the same thing Adam."
Adam smiled as he bit into a piece of chicken. "You really don't like me do you Mr Kealoha?"
"I do not, I think you're a drunk junkie and a failure and the only reason I haven't kicked your ass yet is because my daughter doesn't want me to for some reason."
"Ouch, tell me how you really feel Kale."
Kale looked at Adam, a look of disapproving and disgust on his face. "That's it, I'm sorry Kanani but I can't stay here, this disrespectful little shit needs to be out of here by the morning."
Kale stood up and walked away, Kanani went after him, trying to calm him down to no avail. Adam smiled and continued eating his chicken. Kanani returned to the table, a slight smile on her face.
"I don't know if you're dumb, brave or both right now Adam but my dad's not used to people talking back to him, a lot of people round here know him well enough to be scared."
"I'll be honest with you Kay I'm still a little buzzed from Vegas, when that runs out I'm going to shit myself around your dad. I'm also going to be a little snappy and probably an asshole."
"I'm use to junkies Adam, my own brother was one for several years and I had to hold him here for his detox. He's better off now but it was a dark time for him."
"I'm sorry to hear that? I had a relative addicted to drugs. Don't know what happened to her."
Kanani watched as Adam stared into space, clearly remembering this relative he lost touch with, she walked slowly forward and rubbed his shoulder.
"Thanks. And thank you for dinner, you didn't need to do that you know."
"And I told you I wanted to, I like cooking Adam. Besides it was worth it for you and my dad."
Adam had to smile. He finished his meal then got acquainted with the house, it really was tiny, the kitchen and living room took up about 75% of the whole place with only a bathroom and two bedrooms with a porch outside. It was also pretty bare, yes there was the usual stuff, TV, sofa, a table with chairs, oven, fridge, bed, all that but there was only one TV in the whole house, one sofa, one table, the bedrooms each had one bed and one chest-of-drawers and the bathroom was a toiler, sink and a stand-up shower, not even a bathtub.
The whole minimalist look appealed to Adam in a way he wouldn't have expected, he was already getting use to the heat and it had only been a couple of hours. That night Adam heard Kanani doing something outside, he followed the noise and found her walking out the backdoor and down a set of steps that had been carved into the hillside leading onto a large beach. In the moonlight the beach looked equal parts haunting and beautiful. Adam stood on the steps, looking out to this magical place, the serene nature reminded him of the pond back at home.
God home? Where was that these days?
"You going to stand there all day or are you going to join me?"
The sudden shout from Kanani grabbed Adam out of his trance. He continued down the steps and onto the beach, Kanani was sitting on the sand, her arms wrapped around her knee. She smiled sweetly at Adam who sat down beside her.
"Sorry if I gave you a fright Adam, I heard you follow me from the house and I wanted you to hurry up."
"Sorry."
"Don't be, I'm usually out here on my own, nice to have someone to talk to."
"Why are you out here anyway? Why aren't you asleep?"
"I don't know, I've been doing this for years, coming out here at night and listening to the waves but... I've always considered it a type of insomnia but I'm not sure what it is. Maybe I just love the peacefulness of it all, I mean listen to that."
Adam did listen, the crashing waves were gentle against the soft sand, the night air gave a cool breeze to the otherwise hot weather, even though it was very late the place was still pretty light and Adam could see every part of Kanani's beautiful face.
"Do you know anywhere this peaceful?" For the second time in minutes Kanani brought Adam out of his trance.
"Um, yeah, yeah I do actually. Back in Glasgow there's this pond, it's completely hidden off from everywhere else, like surrounded by these big, claw like trees and bushes that surround it and it's got this walkway all around made up of bark and leaves. I found it by accident when I was sledging with my cousin, we lost control and crashed through the bushes, I had to cover her up to protect her and that's how I got my scar. God, it's been a long time since I told that story."
There was a silence that passed between the two of them but it went unnoticed by Adam, he was remembering how happy Lexi had been when she told that same story to Liam and Maggie.
"Adam? Was your cousin the one who got addicted to the drugs?"
"What, yeah. Yeah that was her? How'd you know?"
"You have the same look in you eye last time you mentioned her. What's her name?"
"Alexandra, though I just call her Lexi. I don't know her last name it's been changed so often."
Kanani out her hand on top of Adam's and locked their fingers together, Adam would never have known it but her touch was just what he needed just then.
"Tell me about her."
"I can't Kay. It's a long story, long, complicated and if I'm honest, disgusting."
"My dad's a fisherman Adam, I've seen and heard it all."
"Not that kind of disgusting."
"Oh well now I have to know."
Adam smiled. "Are you sure you want to know, you'll think less of me."
"Highly unlikely given how we met but go on."
Adam took a deep breath. "Ok. This all started way back in 1970..."
And so for the next two hours Adam told Kanani every detail about him and Alexandra, from their first meeting at her birth, Craig's molestation, the reveal that Craig wasn't her real father, Alex moving to Wales and then them meeting again four years later to how Adam managed to lose his virginity to his cousin, profess his love to her and have a long-distance relationship for two years with her before she cheated on him, claiming that they never were in a relationship and how Adam told everyone about their sexual relationship before running away to California.
Adam then told Kanani how he came home for Jane's funeral to find Alex pregnant with another man's baby and that everyone knew about him and her. How he took her to see Craig and how she became she vulnerable that they had sex again but she found out he was cheating on a girlfriend back in California so he ran again, back to his girlfriend but he couldn't take the guilt and told her before running away, again, this time to Vegas and how he got wrapped up in Sin City.
Adam even told her about Liam and Maggie, feeling that their relation had affected his since it was because Liam was sad and alone that made him turn to drugs, and Alex. He didn't know why but Adam wanted to tell Kanani everything, he wanted no stone left unturned. He didn't want to lie to her at all. Adam finished the story with the fight he had with Liam in Vegas.
"...and the last thing I remember was Liam telling me that Lexi had miscarried her baby and that he got her addicted to heroin before they had a romance together. Well not a romance, I don't know what you'd call it but he admitted that he fucked her before he knocked me out. Actually I guess he didn't since I somehow got on the boat and he was too drunk to get me there. Well there you go, that' everything, pretty sad huh?"
"Well it wasn't what I was expecting, but I'm not going to judge you."
"You're not?"
"No, this is a small community, cousin relationships don't happen that much but they happen more than you think. Besides from what you've told me you really cared about Alex."
"I did, I still do. I had this scrap book of every letter and photo and postcard she sent me while she was in Wales. Fuck what happened to that, I must've left it in Vegas. Christ they're going to throw that out."
"Do you know where she is now?"
"I don't, Liam never told me. He might have told me something about rehab but I'm not sure. We haven't talked in over a year and while that's not the longest time we've not seen each other it feels like it. I miss her."
Kanani smiled that same sweet smile as she kissed Adam's cheek. "Get some rest Adam, you have a busy day in the morning."
Adam didn't know what she meant by that but before he could ask she had jumped up and ran back up the steps.
This girl was strange and he liked that.
That night, sleep didn't come easy for Adam, he had dark dreams, horrible dreams. He dreamt of when he went back home for his Auntie's funeral, he opened the door and everyone just stared at him.
"It's you fault she's dead." His mother screamed at him. "You and your sick twisted mind. Fucking your cousin, how could you? The shock killed her."
"You're a freak." His father yelled. "A disgusting, perverted freak that wasn't man enough to get laid so he fucked his cousin instead. Freak. Freak. Freak."
Everyone in the room stood above him, towering around him and all of them pointing and shouting 'Freak. Freak. Freak.' Suddenly the crowd went silent and Alexandra stepped out, she was smiling and holding a bundle in her arms as she walked slowly towards Adam.
"Adam." She spoke softly. "This is your baby."
Adam smiled and walked towards Alexandra. When they were mere feet from each other Adam held out his hands to take his baby in his arms but instead, Alexandra threw the bundle at him. What Adam caught wasn't a baby, it was the dead, rotten, severed limbs of what should've been a baby but there were too many extra limbs and deformities on the maggot-infested body.
"I KILLED IT ADAM." Alexandra's roar terrified him. "I killed it, how could I have a disgusting freak of a nature for a baby. It's your fault Adam, you killed my baby."
The jeers and taunts and insults came back only this time they were louder and more brutal than before. Adam heard grunting behind him, he turned and saw Alexandra on all fours like a dog, in front of her, Craig, Alex's once father and molester, he forcing his dick into her mouth, making her gag. In her left hand, the dick of Jesse, the blonde boy that Adam found Lexi with all those years ago, in her right hand Ellis, the father of her miscarried child. And behind her, fucking her ass hard and fast. Liam Nelson, he was completely naked except for an admiral hat on his head and he was pushing a syringe of heroin into Alex's leg. Liam looked up at Adam and winked.
"Ahoy matey." Was all he said.
Adam stepped back, trying to turn away form this horrid scene but his eyes forced him to watch. Suddenly the ground disappeared and Adam fell backwards...
He woke sharply, feeling himself crashing into the bed despite never leaving it. There was a sickness in his stomach, forcing it's way up. Adam needed to find something, a bucket on top of the table beside the bed. Perfect.
Adam grabbed the bucket just in time to vomit violently into it. He felt like he hadn't vomited in years and this was a well-needed cleanse. God what was that dream about, all those sick feelings, he needed to get his head straight and...
Hold on. Why was this bucket ON the table, not under or beside it.
Adam looked around the room, there was three buckets in the room, two by the window, one labled urine, the other faeces. The bucket Adam was holding had the label 'Vomit' written on it. There was a portable TV on a table at the foot of the bed, some books lying beside the TV and a packet of biscuits on top of them, none of them were there last night. Adam got out of bed and went to the door, to his surprise it was locked, there was no way to open it from his side. Adam started to panic, wondering what he'd gotten himself into until he saw the letter sticking out of the door frame, Adam took the letter and read it.
'Adam. I told you that my brother had his own drug problem. What I didn't tell you was that I helped him get over it, this was his room during his rehab, he was locked in here until the drugs were out his system and out his mind. After what you told me yesterday I've decided to help you, don't be alarmed I will feed you, give you the necessary medicine and keep you safe, the door will remained locked until I believe you have sobered up completely. Trust me, I'm a doctor.
P.S. I'll be back at 5, Ray will drop by at 2 to give you some lunch.'
Adam thought it strange that Kay was helping him when only about a day ago they had only just met. A digital clock in the room told Adam it was only 11:30, his body clock was fucked. He tried to get back to sleep but every time he closed his eyes he saw that image of Lexi being fucked by four guys. So instead he turned on the TV, thankfully he managed to find something quickly but he wasn't really watching it, he just had it on to have it on. Truthfully he didn't care, he just slumped himself on the headboard and stared at the screen.
After about an hour of 'watching' TV Adam felt started to feel hungry, he'd been feeling hungry since he woke up but now his stomach was furious with him. Rather than waiting for Ray Adam opened the biscuit packet, he started with a couple, then a couple more, then three more. In no time at all he had eaten half the packet. And he was still hungry.
When Ray stopped by a little after 2 in the afternoon the entire packet was gone and Adam was still starving. He nearly jumped to the door when he heard it knock.
"Adam, you in there?"
"Ray? What the fuck is going on?"
"You're in rehab son. Kay's looking after you while you get that shit out of your system."
"She could've told me she was going to lock me in and starve me."
"That's just a side-effect, you'll get over it. Anyway I've got some food for you."
Adam stepped back, waiting for the door to open. Instead a small flap on the bottom of the door was pushed open by a tray, the flap was just big enough for the tray and its contents. Adam looked at his lunch, a saucer of tomato soup and a slice of bread.
"Is that it?"
"No more until Kay says so, you're going to feel starving so you'll overeat even if you're full. You do that and you will die."
Adam took his lunch and ate it quickly, he managed to make it last longer than he thought but not by much. As he was dipping his bread into the soup he heard a soft female voice in his ear.
"Adam?"
He turned but there was no-one there, he must have been hearing things.
By the time Kanani got home Adam was back to his depressed stupor, lying half on/half off the bed, face staring at the pictures moving on the screen but never watching any of it. He was still hungry and damn near the point of biting his own hand off.
"Adam. You ok?" Kanani asked through the door.
"Why are you doing this Kay?"
"I'm sorry, but I was going to be out most of the day and Ray couldn't baby-sit you so I improvised, I used my brother's old room."
"But why, I mean I have no idea where I'd even find coke here."
"You'd find something, alcohol, painkillers, medicine, you'd replace it with another addiction and I can't risk that."
Adam punched the headboard. "Why are doing this? You don't even know me."
"I help people Adam, that's what I do and I want to help you. Please just... just let me."
Adam couldn't deny her, he was starting to like this girl. Hell he liked her yesterday and if she wanted to help him why deny her that, he needed help anyway.
"I'm sorry Kay, I'm just a little surprised at the method."
Kanani laughed. "Yeah, sorry about the imprisonment. I should have told you."
"It's fine. Sorry for sounding like an arse but have you got anything to eat?"
"I'm just cooking up dinner right now, should be about 15, 20 minutes."
"Good, I'm starving."
The flap opened and Kanani's hand stuck through, she was holding out a small white pill.
"Take that, it's to help you."
Adam took the pill, Kanani quickly replaced her hand with a small glass of water, just small enough to fit through the flap. Adam took both, ignoring the nasty taste the pill left behind.
"I'll let you know when dinner's ready."
"Thanks."
Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as Adam thought.
After a delicious dinner Adam lazed around his room, still hungry but he tried to put it out of his mind. He wanted to get an early night, thinking that would help him but he was still dreaming of Alexandra in different sexual abuse situations. This night was what he could guess was when she lost her virginity. 5 faceless guys stumbling through a house until they come across Alex lying asleep on the bed, the five of them work together to strip her before the first guy lined up his dick with her pussy and forcing himself in.
'Oh shit this bitch is a virgin' he said, his thrusts getting heavier. 'That's hot.'
Adam tossed and turned, trying to escape this horrid dream. By the time the third guy got between Alexandra's legs to have his turn she woke up, her piercing green eyes stared right at Adam. That's when he woke up.
God this was going to be difficult if he wasn't able to sleep.
"Having trouble sleeping?"
Adam turned to where the voice came from. He found himself looking at Alexandra, but this was Alex from when she was 19, when she and Adam had sex for the first time. Adam rubbed his eyes and when he looked back she was gone. This wasn't going to be easy.
The next couple days were slightly easier, Adam got some sleep in the night but not a lot, when he woke he would find some breakfast waiting for him and instead of biscuits he got some fruit in a bowl. Ray stopped by lwith lunch and Kanani made him dinner in the evening..
The main problem was that whenever Adam wasn't doing something he was antsy and bored but when he was doing something he couldn't find the effort to put into anything. He tried watching TV but he never really watched it, he tried reading the books but each time he did he would find himself either reading the same passage over and over again or he'd jump 8 or 9 pages with no memory of doing such.
He never had any visions of Lexi in those two days but she never left his mind, every time he though of her he would sink lower and lower into depression. If it wasn't for Kay he might have got stuck in there.
The forth day was the hardest so far, Kanani had to work overtime and Ray was visiting his brother in Chicago for a couple days so Adam was left on his own. He had been left enough food for the whole day but no proper meals. By about 5 in the evening the food was all gone and Adam was still hungry. He decided to get an early night but in his state and at that time sleep was near impossible. He sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for tiredness and boredom to take him.
He heard giggling in the corner, 19 year old Alexandra was back, sitting on the table, Adam rubbed his eyes but she didn't leave.
"How you doing cuz?"
"Why are you here Lexi?"
"I thought I'd drop by, see how you're doing. This isn't real you idiot."
"That doesn't answer my question."
The young Alex dropped off the table and sauntered over to Adam, smiling seductively as she did. "You can't get me off you mind. You're still thinking of me Adam."
Alexandra unzipped her jacket and pulled it open, her bare breasts were revealed to Adam as she straddled his lap.
"You'll never get rid of me Adam, you can't. I could be here..."
Suddenly young Alex disappeared and was replaced by Alex a few years older, holding her pregnant belly on the opposite side of the bed.
"...Or here, you're not going to lose me despite how much you try. You can say you're over me, you can say you hate me but you know that it's all a lie."
Adam closed his eyes and kept repeating "She's not there, she's not there, she's not there." When he felt her hand on his shoulder he just repeated it faster and shut his eyes tighter.
"Adam." She whispered. "I'm not here."
When he opened his eyes Alexandra was gone. But her words were still on his ears.
Day 5 was just as hard, Adam didn't sleep at all, he hovered up every scrap of food he could find. The worst of it came in the evening when Adam looked to the TV screen, he saw Liam violently fucking Alexandra in from behind on the screen. He changed the channel, they were still fucking but in a different position, every channel was a different position and it got to the point where in a fit of rage Adam threw the remote at the screen, smashing it to pieces. But the images were still in his mind, he need to escape and quickly.
Grabbing the largest shard of glass from the remnants of the screen Adam held it to his wrist, ready to cut it open and rid himself of the nightmares. However just when he made the smallest cut the sudden pain caused him to chicken out and throw the glass away. Suicide might be a tempting offer but not today.
The next morning was a Saturday so Kanani didn't have any work to do, she took this day to let Adam out of his room, she felt bad for keeping him in there, mostly because the windows were so small and didn't let much air in, when she opened the door she found Adam looking very pale and sickly so she let him outside to aerate the room and clean out his buckets. She immediately regretted not thinking it through that the buckets would keep the smell in the small room. While she was cleaning the buckets Adam took his first shower in over a week. He hadn't showered since he arrived in Hawaii and he hadn't showered for days in Vegas so he was beginning to smell rotten. The sheer freshness of the shower washed away layers of sweat and grime that he had built up.
After the shower the two of them spent most of the day of the beach, just relaxing in the sun, they chatted for a while. Adam found that he liked Kay's company a lot more than he thought he would, feeling brave Adam took her hand in his. She smiled at him.
"Kay, I have to thank you for everything you've done for me. You barely know me and yet you've helped me so much more than anyone I can remember in the past ten years. I have to ask, why are you doing this?"
"Honestly, I wasn't planning to. When dad brought you in I wanted to find out why you were in his boat then send you on your way after a few days. But then we started talking and you were different than I was expecting, yeah you were a smug bastard but you told me all the stuff that happened between you and your cousin and I saw so much of my brother in you, he got on drugs after he lost a girl so I sympathised with you. I like you, I really like you."
Kay reached her hand up and cupped Adam's chin, she moved slowly and carefully but before either of them knew what was happening they were kissing. It was one of the most passionate and electric kisses Adam had ever had, he barely knew this girl and yet he never wanted this kiss to end.
Unfortunately she let him go and stared into his eyes, her own filled with hope.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that I'll..."
Adam interrupted her with another kiss, this time his hand cupping her face. The kiss lasted almost as long as the first and when they broke Kay was struggling not to laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"I barely know you and yet I'm on the beach kissing you. God my dad is going to kill me."
"At least I won't be the only one he kills."
Kay laughed and kissed Adam again. They spent a couple hours more on the beach before heading back upstairs to the house.
"I'm thinking of making some dinner, you want anything?"
"Nah I'm not that hungry."
The words had barely left his mouth before he realised what he had just said. After days of being starving he had just turned down food. Maybe he was getting better.
By the end of the first week Adam felt like a new man, he could sleep with very few nightmares, he actually felt happy for the first time in ages and he no longer felt the need for coke. He was lucky that his addiction hadn't lasted that long so his rehab didn't take long either, he still ran the risk of relapse and the thoughts of suicide (which he kept to himself) were still there but with Kanani's help he was getting over it.
Now, mostly, sober Adam thought it was time he got a job, Kay had already done so much for him he didn't want to have her pay for his trip home as well. When he was cleaned up Adam went down to Ray's car shop, it was a small place but pretty nifty looking. Nice enough and it was well air-conditioned which Adam loved.
The place was quiet when Adam walked in, Ray was talking to a couple employees when he saw Adam walk in, excusing himself he walked over to his new friend.
"Adam. What bring you here?"
"I was hoping that you'd have a job for me, just a small thing I don't think I'll be staying that long."
"Well you're in luck, I'm in need of a new salesman. If you can sell cars then I have a place for you. I'll even give you a trial run if you want."
"That'll be great, thanks. When should I start?"
"Be here by 8 tomorrow and I'll get you into training. And Adam, you better be doing this to pay back Kay, she's done a lot for you."
"I know, and I am."
"Good, I'll have some paperwork for you to sign when you come in. Other than that, welcome aboard."
The two men shook hands and Adam left, he was happily surprised at how well that went, he didn't have much sales experience but he still had some of his Lawyer training so he could still talk fast, not as fast as he used to but still it might be enough.
When Adam got back to Kay's house he told her the good news, when she hugged him that was a bigger surprise than getting the job. The two of them had kissed several times since the beach but each time still surprised him.
The two of them sat down to dinner together, this time though Adam insisted he make it, it wasn't as good as Kay's but he did a good job.
"Listen Kay, I am thankful for everything you've done for me and I know it won't fully pay you back but when I get paid would you let me take you out to dinner somewhere?"
"I would like that, won't put you out of the debt completely but it'll be nice. Where you were thinking?"
"I was hoping you could recommend a place."
"Hm, well there is this one restaurant, 'Carl's', good food and not that expensive. I've got the number if you want it."
"Thanks Kay, I'll make a reservation once I'm paid."
"I'm looking forward to it."
The next couple weeks were something unfamiliar to Adam, they were normal. He started his job in the morning, talked people into buying cars for the day, had a quick drink with Ray and his mates at the end of the day then returned home and depending on whether he or Kay got home first one of them would make dinner. Even his broken nose was starting to look normal again. The normality of it all was strange to Adam and sometimes he found himself looking at his life and thinking 'How'd I get here?'.
Kay was a massive help to him, she was kind and considerate, always willing to let him talk out his problems and listen to him. Adam found himself having some sort of feelings for her, he cared about her and the more-than-a-few kisses they had each day were something he looked forward to.
With his lawyer skills Adam found that he was a pretty damn good sales man and by the end of two weeks he has made quite a bit of money, since he had lost his card and didn't have any identification with him the money was going into Kanani's account who put it into a separate saver account for Adam. They instantly hit off a rapport that worked better than any relationship Adam had been in before.
Relationship? He was getting ahead of himself.
Kale didn't agree with what his daughter was doing with this stranger, he never said anything to them buy according to Ray Kale would ask him if he heard anything going on between them, the whole village had the same idea and while they hadn't really talked about being in a relationship they weren't afraid to kiss in public and be the cause of gossip.
At the end of the two weeks Adam had enough money to spare dinner out with Kanani, he had made reservations at 'Carl's' and was meeting her at the restaurant in the evening.
Adam had hoped to keep the dinner a secret, not wanting to endure the wrath of Kale - his blinding threat had stuck with him - and so far he was doing a good job. However he felt that Ray knew something, whenever they were working together Adam felt his friend's eyes staring at him, waiting for him to slip out a secret. It wasn't until the day of the date that his fears were confirmed.
Adam was at his desk, finishing up for the day when Ray arrived, he stood at the front of the desk, placed his hands on top of the desk and leaned over Adam. He spoke in a voice that was partly threatening but also partly full of advice.
"Pay for dinner, buy her drinks, treat her well... and use protection and I won't tell Kale. Ok?"
"Ok?"
Adam was confused but he didn't question Ray's words of wisdom, if he was giving the go-ahead to the date that was good enough for him.
After work Adam quickly got home and changed, he was meeting Kanani at the restaurant, she had to work a couple hours later and didn't have time to go home. He didn't mind, while he would like to have walked down with her the surprise of what she would be wearing would make up for it.
Adam arrived at the restaurant for about 8, he was shown to his table and ordered a drink. He was admittedly nervous, he hadn't been on a proper date since Kaitlin and that was nearly two years ago, he had loved her and lost her now here he was possibly fallen for this helpful stranger. He only had to wait ten minutes but was already nearing the end of his second drink when she arrived.
Damn she was worth the wait, Kanani was wearing a white dress, it came to just above her knees and the cleavage was minimal but it was tight, the skimmed along the edges of her breasts, hips and waist, enhancing each and every one of her smooth curves. One the dress was a floral pattern with deep purple and orange flowers going round in a vine-like structure. She has even curled her hair slightly and let it hang low, really showing off it's luscious quality. She was gorgeous.
Adam gulped but he composed himself and smiled as she walked over to him, she kissed hi m on the cheek and sat down.
"Sorry I'm late."
"No problem, just got here myself."
"You ordered yet?"
"No, you want to look at the menu?"
"No I've been here enough times, I know what I want."
A waiter came over to take their order. Kanani looked up at him, not even bothering with looking at the menu.
"Yes I'll have the poached salmon with salad and a water please."
"Yes miss. And for you sir?"
"The same, but with a beer, whatever you have on tap."
"Right away."
Once the waiter was away the two of them started talking. "Fish huh? I thought you'd be bored with that with your dad's job."
"I feel sort of obligated to have the fish, my dad supplies this restaurant. Besides I like fish and they cook it good here."
"Glad to hear."
Their drinks arrived, Kanani took her water with a big gulp. "Sorry, I didn't have any change for the café so I've been needing a drink for a while."
"It's fine Kay, I really can't fault you for anything considering what I've done."
"Ah yes, you're a drunken, cousin-screwing junkie aren't you?"
"I'm also an asshole but I'm not yelling that out in a crowded restaurant."
"Oops, sorry Adam."
"I said it's fine, I am a little surprised at how well you've taken the cousin thing."
"I told you, we get all kinds of cousin marriage round here."
"Yeah but still, it's not something that you hear about everyday."
Kay let out a sigh. "Ok I guess it's time I told you. I may have dabbled in the family pool in my youth."
This was intriguing. "Go on."
"It wasn't anything that sexual and definitely nothing like you but before my brother became a drug addict he and I shared a few kisses. And he may have put his fingers under my panties a couple of times."
"Wow, a little more information than I was expecting. I'm surprised at you Kay."
"Well you told me about you and Alex so I figured you deserved a confession. Just don't tell my dad."
"I'm not telling him anything."
Just then their food arrived so the conversation was put on hold for a few seconds while they started their meal. Just like Kay had said the fish was delicious.
"Um Kay." Adam said in a quiet voice. "Did you tell Ray about our date."
Kanani just smiled. "I might have why?"
"It's just he came up to me today and I think he gave me some advice."
"Really? What did he say?"
"He told me to pay for dinner and treat you right and to, um, use protection."
Kanani giggled. "Damn Ray, he's like a second father to me but he doesn't hold back on the embarrassment. In answer to your question yes, I did tell Ray. I was a little excited, it's been a while since someone asked me out, but I couldn't tell my own dad so I told him instead."
"Weren't you worried about him telling your dad?"
"If I was worried I wouldn't have told him, Ray knows my dad well enough to not bother him with this. Besides Ray more than anyone knows my dad's threats mean business."
"How?"
"Well they have been friend's for years but also Ray dated my dad's sister for a couple years, he got the same speech you did."
"You dad hasn't really blinded anyone has he?"
Kay gave a 'I don't know' shrug which didn't fill Adam with much hope. Regardless the two of them had a great dinner, they told stories, they joked, they had fun. More fun than Adam could remember in a lifetime.
After dinner they took a slow walk back to Kanani's house, both still chatting away about nothing, Adam had never had this kind of connection before, where just talking to the person was a pleasure in itself.
When they got back to the house they suddenly became awkward teenagers again, Adam spoke first.
"What do we do now, I've never had a first date with someone I live with before."
"I say we start here."
And suddenly Kanani grabbed in a hard kiss. They had kissed before, several times, but this was a different kiss, this one was filled with passion, with lust. This was a kiss that led to the bedroom.
Still kissing Adam open the door and pushed Kanani through with him. Though neither could see much past their lovers face they acted on instinct to find Kay's bedroom, Kay was thrust upon the bed, Adam stood over her, taking his shirt off.
Kay reached under her dress and pulled her panties off, throwing them at Adam, pink thong, nice choice. Kay stood up and started to reach behind her to pull down the zipper but Adam stopped her.
"Leave it on." His voice was calm yet controlling, he wasn't asking.
Instead of taking her dress off Kanani unbuckled her bra and pulled it out, it was pink, like her panties. Adam looked down, her nipples were very prominent against the tight fabric. With his trousers half-way down and his cock thick, hard and ready Adam crawled onto the bed, he lay next to Kanani, close enough so that their bodies overlapped slightly. They kissed again, each one more passionate than the last, helped by the fact that Adam has pushed his hand up Kanani's dress and was fingering her bare cunt, the thin strip of hair tickling his hand. Two of his fingers were firing in and out of her while his thumb attacked her clit. If he didn't feel how wet she was the sound alone would.
Kanani kissed Adam hard as she felt an impeding orgasm approach, this heat in her pussy was spreading to her whole body until suddenly something surged within her. She gripped Adam tightly as her cum washed over her. It had been a while - longer than she'd care to admit - since she had a cum that good.
Adam shifted his hips to line up with Kay's the head of his cock lightly grazed her pussy, she was scorching. Looking into each other's eyes they silently made the agreement and Adam pushed forward. Kanani wasn't tight but she was definitely more so than the Vegas whores he had hung around with, damn he was an idiot.
Adam started thrusting into Kanani, slowly getting faster and deeper into her. Adam looked into Kanani's eyes but they were shut tight, her orgasmic breathing intense and her whole body burning with passion.
When Adam curled his fingers into the straps of her dress she opened her eyes.
"This isn't a new dress is it?"
Kay shook her head slowly, a smile forming on her face as she understood what Adam was doing. Suddenly and violently Adam ripped the dress away, her entire top half was bare to him for the first time. Only now could Adam see that the olive skin covered her whole body. Her breasts were still holding the firmness of youth while her nipples were a small and surrounded by a dark brown areoles.
The two of them spun round on the bed, this time Kanani on top and riding Adam, grinding their groins together, Adam's hands were all over her body, her ass, her hips, her breasts, feeling and holding every part of her. Suddenly Kanani grabbed Adam's shoulders and held him tightly.
"I'm gonna cum again Adam, oh god I'm gonna cum again."
"Me too Kay, me too."
"Come in me, I'm safe, do it."
Hearing that Adam gripped Kanani and shot his cum into her cunt. Feeling the warm, cum hit her inside set Kanani off in her second orgasm of the night. The two lovers lay down together, Kay on top of Adam, stroking his chest.
"And that's why I saved you on the boat."
Adam laughed and Kanani's comment, he held her close as they kissed and fell asleep together.
**
1998
**
Over the next few months Adam set up a life for himself in Hawaii, what started off as a short stay turned into something more. A part-time job changed into a career, a stay at a house became a home and a new friend-with-benefits turned into a relationship. While neither of them were the first to say they were a couple both him and Kanani never denied it, despite Kale's obvious dislike.
Adam stayed in touch with his family, his parents were surprised that he was living in Hawaii and even more surprised that he was living with a girl he barely knew but they didn't question him. He hadn't heard from or about Lexi other than she was still in rehab but getting better and no-one had seen Liam.
Soon a few months become many and before he knew it Adam had been in Hawaii an entire year. The time had just flew by and he never even felt it. He was planning to go home, back to Britain and while he had enough he wanted to buy something for Kanani as thanks. He also secretly wanted to stay with her a little longer.
It was around this 'one year' mark that Ray invited Adam to join him and Kale on a fishing trip, Adam was a little confused because he thought Kale hated him but Ray insisted. The next morning the three of them went out on Ray's boat, it was bigger than Kale's and well-stocked, according to Ray their fishing trips lasted two or three days.
Adam had never been fishing before and as he looked back his arrival to Hawaii was the first time he had been on a boat and he was unconscious for the whole trip. This led to Adam being seasick several times, something that the older, more experienced men found hilarious, even the usual gruff Kale was smiling.
"You're not a fisherman are you Adam?" Ray asked with a smile.
"I'm sorry I wasn't born on the water like you two."
"Hey I haven't been fishing that long, I just started about ten years ago when I came here and I just turned out to be a natural. Kale's the real river-man. He's been on the water damn longer than I've been alive."
"Not that long but it's been a few years. I just love the water, it's calming."
"I'm not surprised you love it, Kale met his wife on the water y'know?"
"Come on Ray Adam doesn't want to hear about that."
"No, no I do, Kay never really talks about her mum so I don't know that much about her."
Kale sighed, took a long swig of beer and cast his line out, his eyes stayed on the water as he told the story, never even looking at Adam.
"It was about 30 odd years ago, I was out on boat like this with my own father when we saw something in the water, that something turned out to be someone, a young woman and she was unconscious. I jumped in, swam to her and pulled her back to the boat, had to use CPR to get her breathing again but I saved her life. She told me her name was Ani, she had been swimming with friends but the tide caught her off-guard and she had been swept away, she'd been on the water for hours and exhausted herself. Me and her got to talking and to thank me for saving her she offered to buy me dinner, from there we just hit it off and within a couple years we were married. Took us a while to have kids, we tried but their were complications. We lost our first pregnancy and it seemed to take forever but on the second try we had our son, Pika, a few years after him we had Kanani. It was a great time. Until we lost her."
"How'd she die?"
"Car accident, a truck came round a corner too fast and crashed into her car, she died instantly. Must have been about six years ago. After her death Pika turned to drugs, I almost lost him as well you can understand why I'm so protective of my daughter."
"Sorry to put you on the spot like that mate, I just figured he had the right to now."
"It's fine Ray. I guess he did have to know."
"Thanks for telling me, I'm sorry to hear about the first pregnancy, I had a cousin who lost her kid."
"I know, Kanani told me about you and your cousin."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I don't know you Adam, I'm not going to judge who you fuck just know that since you're fucking my daughter you better stay with her if you knock her up."
"Getting a little ahead of us Kale but I will. I still remember what you said about blinding me. What about you Ray, you got any kids."
"Nah, me and the wife never got round to it before she divorced me. Don't blame her, I cheated on her, more than a few times and in the end she left me. The last thing I said to her was that divorcing me was the smartest decision she ever made. She's in Tokyo now, got a husband and two kids, haven't seen her since."
"Sorry to hear that."
"Don't be, I'm not one to settle down. I thought I was, I thought I was suppose to do what everyone does, find a wife, get married, continue but it didn't work. I'm just not one of those people."
The three of them sat in silence for several seconds until they heard Kales' line go out. He had caught a fish.
A couple days later the three men docked and went home. Kale took the fish they caught to the restaurant while Ray drove Adam home, stopping off in town at Adam's request to pick up something. When they got back Adam was greeted with a smile and a kiss from Kay.
"I'm so glad your back. How was it, you catch anything?"
"It was good, I think your dad's warming to me. I caught a couple but it was nothing compared to what your dad and Ray caught."
They kissed again and sat down on the sofa.
"Kay, you're dad told me what happened to your mother."
"Oh, I'm sorry I never told you, it's just hard."
"I know, I don't care. The three of us had a good chat and I realised that I've with two complete opposites, your dad who still loves your mother so much he hasn't bothered finding someone to replace her and Ray who hasn't been able to stay with one woman for long and I that's when I thought, I don't know who I'm more like. I've been in and out of love, I've cheated and been cheated on and yet with you, I told you my darkest secrets in a few hours that I never told people I've known for years. I have to say it, I love you Kanani. In this short time we've known each other I love you and that's why, against all my better judgement, I got this so I can ask you..."
Adam reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, if Kay had any idea what it was when he brought it out she definitely knew what it was when he got on one knee.
"Kanani Kealoha. Will you marry me?"
**
1999
**
When Claire picked up the phone and heard that her son was getting married she screamed in delight. Almost immediately she started packing so she and her husband could travel to Hawaii to meet their son's fiancée. To Adam's delight they got on extremely well and welcomed Kanani into their family. They even met Kale and Ray who Adam had asked to be his best man.
Adam's parents stayed a few days to help with wedding plans but had to leave to return to work. Though extremely nervous Adam found that just by looking over and Kay, hard at work preparing, then catching her eyes and seeing her smile was enough to calm him down.
It took a few months to get everything ready but since they were only planning a small outdoors ceremony with the reception at theirs and Ray's house it didn't take too long. The wedding was set for March 16th 1999.
The wedding was really small, there was Kale, Ray, Kieran, Claire, a couple of Kanani's aunts, uncles and cousins as well as a few of her friends. Adam didn't have many aunt and uncles and even less friends giving his runaway but the few he did made the effort to come, he even sent an invitation to Alex and while he didn't expect to hear back from her he got a reply from her, she'd be coming.
While everyone chatted around, waiting for the wedding to begin Adam got a tap on the shoulder. He turned round and saw a strange but familiar face.
"Hey cuz."
It was Alexandra. She was smiling as she hugged her cousin, Adam looked over her. Her hair was shorter than it Adam had ever seen it, only reaching Lexi's ears, it was also her natural dirty blonde colour which Adam liked. She was a lot thinner than Adam remembered but she would later explain that the heroin was the cause of this and that she had been putting on weight back to a safe amount.
But she still looked beautiful to Adam.
"Lexi, I wasn't expecting to see you."
"Why not, I told you I would."
"I know but, I just never expected you to actually come. How are you?"
"Good, I'm actually better than I've ever been. Especially after, did your parents tell you about the baby."
"No, Liam did, I met him in Vegas."
"Liam, I guess he told you about me and him."
"Yeah, it's a shame what you had to go through."
"I know, but it's made me a better person though. I was lying to myself this whole time but now, I just let me be me."
"What do you mean Lexi?"
"I learnt about it in rehab. You either lie to yourself and everyone around you about the kind of person you are, or you accept who you really are. I accept who I am."
"And who are you?"
Lexi smiled. "I'm a cunt."
"Jesus Lexi, you're not..."
"I am Adam, I know you want to think differently but I am, I've always been a cunt, not just a cunt but the cunt. I'm the cunt that got molested by the man she thought was her father for 15 years and said nothing. I'm the cunt that lost her virginity to gang rape and didn't give a fuck. I'm the cunt that fucked her own cousin, twice, and worried about the consequences later. I'm the cunt that turned the heroin after her own mother died because she wanted to stop feeling. I'm the cunt that has allowed men to use and abuse her like the slut she is because that's all she's good for. I'm the cunt that God decided wasn't worthy of having a baby so he took it from her. That's me Adam, that's who I am and I accept it because it I start regretting the stuff I've done it'll kill me."
"Wow, that's uh, that's quite a speech. Sounded like you got a load off your chest."
"I know, I guess I've been waiting to say that to someone other than the mirror for a while. Sorry for unloading that on you, especially on this day."
"Lexi you can use me as a human stress-ball any time you want alright, you're my cousin and I love you."
"Thanks Adam, but don't say that too loud or people might get the wrong idea."
"It's fine, Kay knows about us Lexi, I told her."
"Did you now, and she's still marrying you? You picked a good one cuz."
Just then Ray arrived telling Adam that the wedding had started, Adam promised to catch up with his cousin later and went off to get married.
The sun had just began to set as Kanani walked out, the warm orange glow of the sky radiated her olive skin and her simple white dress, Adam had suggested she buy something extravagant, she for her but she insisted she keep it simple. They stood side-by-side on the cliff facing the sea as the priest read out his sermon and the couple said their vows before each saying the magic words.
"I do."
"I do."
"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Adam cupped Kanani's face as he kissed her, a soft kiss but one that let her know he loved her and wanted her. As they walked down the aisle, holding hands as man and wife Adam saw Lexi, a sad but accepting smile on her face. He had never admitted it but there was a time, long ago, when Adam thought Lexi was the one.
How times have changed.
As they had planned the reception was at the couple's house and at Ray's, both were too small to hold all the guests but together there was more than enough room. Food was served, drinks were drunk and congratulations given, Adam spent most of the night holding onto Kanani's hand but as it went on they separated, Adam headed over to Ray's house to meet his friend.
"Congratulations man you did it." Ray embraced Adam in a bear-hug.
"Thanks, I can't believe it I'm actually married."
"I know, when you told me to stop in town I had no idea you were planning to propose and when you told me I thought you were fuckin crazy."
"We all think he's crazy."
Adam turned, Alex had found them he hadn't seen her the whole night. She hugged her cousin. "Congratulations Adam, really."
"Thanks Lexi. Oh Lexi this is my good friend Ray Henderson, Ray this is my cousin Alexandra... let's go with Buchanan, I'm not sure what your surname is now."
Ray and Alex shook hands. Ray looked quizzically at Alex. "Buchanan huh? Or you're from Britain as well? You know a Jane Buchanan?"
"Yeah she's my mum, or she was she died a couple years ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. We use to work together, I liked her."
"Work together?"
"Yeah I worked in Britain for a little while then I was transferred to Berlin, Moscow, Budapest for a couple months before finally settling here."
Both Ray and Adam could see wheels turning in her head, she was obviously trying to piece something together. Words that Ray had said seemed to resonate with her. Then suddenly she remembered what her mother had said when she found out Craig wasn't her real father. Looking at Craig she said one question, one word but she feared she already knew the answer.
"Dad?"
what a cliffhanger how will it end this is one thing that stops me from sleeping at all
this one wasn't my favorite as I feel that the main characters are in denial and I was hoping the main male would take responsibility for his actions but he once again had another drift and settle thing where he goes to a new location and settles in I really hope he gets with the main female because I think they are good for each other and he is just deluding himself I hope the main female Lexie gets the life she always deserved and not the shitbox she is neck deep in while Adam hides away from his troubles anyways enjoy this for a tale that has parts missing is not a tale but a tragedy
Adam woke with a throbbing pain on his face, from the bright sun he could tell it was afternoon by now. He had no memory of what happened last night past getting punched in the face by Liam. Christ his face was in agony.
"Ah, you're finally awake." A soft female voice came from the side.
Adam turned and saw her, a young woman, around about his age, was sitting at a table with a book in her hands. What struck Adam about the woman was that she was very beautiful, smooth olive-toned skin, long, sleek, black hair, a little red flower on top of her head, light brown eyes that looked totally at ease, not helping himself Adam darted his eyes down to the woman's chest, she was wearing an orange bikini top which was stretched against her grapefruit sized breasts. The woman was smiling a dazzling white smile at him and for some reason Adam felt relaxed.
"I was wondering when you would wake up." She continued.
"Where am I?" Adam asked as he sat up, he looked around the room, it looked to be made of bamboo or some other type of tree, like a hut. From the window Adam could see miles and miles of rolling green and brown hills and from behind him he could smell the sea.
"You're in Hawaii." The woman calmly told him.
"Hawaii? What the fuck happened last night? How did I get here?"
"My dad found you in his fishing boat when he was coming home last night, guessed you snuck on at Vegas. He found you just as you are now, half naked with a broken nose."
"Broken nose?" Adam turned to the nearest mirror, sure enough his nose had been broken, and badly. There was dried blood around his mouth, a deep red stain covering half his face.
"Liam must be a better fighter than I realised. Oh shit Liam, hey can I borrow your phone real quick?"
"Sure."
Adam quickly picked up the house phone and dialled Liam's mobile, only stopping to remember what numbers to dial.
Liam answered the phone after several rings, from the sound of his voice he felt just as bad as Adam.
"Hm, yeah, what... fuck, what?"
"Liam. It's Adam."
"Adam, where the fuck are you?"
"Hawaii."
"Hawaii? The fuck are you doing there? What the fuck happened last night, I woke up in the fountain outside the hotel, my head is killing me."
"I don't know, the last thing I remember was us in the hotel room, we were drinking and doing some coke, then we got in a fight. You broke my nose."
"Shit man, I can't remember anything past the hotel, I have no idea how you got to Hawaii."
"I'm with this girl who told me I was asleep on her father's fishing boat."
"When were we near a harbour?"
"I don't know. Look Liam I'll call you back once I know what the hell is going on."
"Alright, sorry about the nose."
"It's fine, talk to you later."
"See you."
Adam hung up the phone, the woman was smiling at him.
"Sounds like a fun night."
Adam laughed softly. "Sorry you had to hear that, it's been a strange night."
"I'll say. You're lucky dad didn't toss you out into the ocean."
"I suppose I should thank you then Mrs...?"
"Miss. Miss Kanani Kealoha."
"That's quite a name."
"People just call me Kay;"
Adam shook Kanani's hand. "Thank you Kay, my name's....
"Adam McAllister. I checked your wallet, see if there was a number to call. Here."
Kanani handed Adam his wallet. Immediately he opened it but there was no money, no notes, no coins. Even his card was missing.
"I swear it was like that when I found it."
"It's ok, after last night I wouldn't be surprised if I had threw my card away. Christ what happened to me?"
"Well you're welcome to stay if you want, if you need to save up the money to get back home then you shouldn't need to waste it on rent."
"Save up? You mean your dad won't take me back on his boat."
"I wouldn't think so, he wanted to chuck you out into the sea but I told him not to. Besides he's not going to waste the money on gas."
"Well you're kind to let me stay here."
"Least I could do, I've got a spare room anyway, might as well use it. Don't worry, I won't start charging you until you get a job."
"Charge? I thought you were letting me stay here."
"I need to make something out of this Adam, I'm not doing this out of charity."
"And here I was thinking you were a nice girl Kay."
"I let you use my phone, that was nice. I've just met you Adam, this trust thing works both ways."
Adam laughed, he felt like he hadn't laughed in years. He liked this girl, this Kay, she was kind, she was funny and she was beautiful.
"Ok Adam I'm just going to call my dad, look around the house if you want, bathroom's to the left, second on the right is my room, stay out."
Kay left with a smile, Adam stood up, his whole body racked with pain but he managed to stand up with little difficulties. Adam walked slowly out to the porch, the air was hot and humid but he almost didn't notice, the view was so stunning. Kay's house was in a small neighbourhood, probably only 7 or 8 houses in a circle, a road went by each house, it was a roundabout but it had only one entrance/exit which went away and over a hill. The houses were all the same tree-hut style as Kay's, everyone shone in the bright sunlight, everywhere he looked Adam saw a new colour whether it was a tree, a flower or occasionally and animal.
He liked it.
"So you're the stowaway huh?"
Adam turned to one of the neighbouring houses, he saw a man in his early 50s siting on his porch. He had a friendly smile and kind green eyes, he was wearing the typical Hawaiian outfit, crazy shirt and shorts.
"I am, had a little too much to drink."
"I'd say, old Kale told me he picked you up in Vegas, you're a long way from home. Hell of a night."
Adam chuckled, the neighbour stuck out his hand for Adam to shake. "Ray."
He took Ray's hand. "Adam, you're a stranger in these lands yourself ain't you Ray?"
"Ha, what gave me away, the whiter-than-white skin, the crazy shirt?"
"The accent, I'm from Britain myself and I can recognize the accent anywhere."
Ray smiled as he thought for a moment "You want to come over for a beer Adam."
**
Kanani arrived back an hour later to an empty house, she spent a good 5 minutes searching every-room of the house before she heard laughing from Ray's house. She walked out into the sunlight to see her old and her new friends sitting on the porch. She just caught the end of their conversation, Ray was struggling to tell his story without laughing.
"...and so Davie lobs this bottle over the fence and the next thing we hear is glass smashing, not just the bottle but a fuckin greenhouse. We all start running but Davie's so shocked he can only stand there as this brick-shithouse comes running out."
The two men just started laughing, Kanani just smiled at them but they both knew she was there, Ray was the first to turn to her.
"Oh my beautiful Kay, what brings a princess like you to this wretched paradise?"
"Hello to you too Ray, see you've met my new friend."
"Yep, me and Adam here have been reminiscing about the good old days of Britannia."
"Britain huh? I thought you a Las Vegas native Adam."
"Nah, I spent about a year in Vegas but it's a long road that brought me there. I take it you two are friends then."
"Ray came into this town about 10, 12 years back, not too different from you, except he was on the back of a truck. He was suppose to be working for some big company but God conspired against him."
"Anytime I tried to get here the vehicle I was in broke down and by the time I arrived the position had been filled. Spent a good couple of months living off expenses the company paid for before I met Kale."
"Ray and dad started as drinking buddies but they had an idea, a business plan. And they decided to go for it."
"Back when we started there was hardly any car salesmen around so me and Kale pooled our money, worked a few jobs, didn't waste anything then about three, four years after I got here we opened for business. It's been difficult but we're doing good for ourselves, I've been running the company for just over a year since Kale retired, became a fisherman which is how he came about you."
Adam nodded his head, intrigued by the story. "Sounds like a good story, what did you do before selling cars."
"Nothing special, just office number crunching, you know the drill; white shirt, tie."
Kanani giggled. "You gave that up for shorts and colourful shirts."
"I'll give up a hell of a lot more fro you my sweet."
"Oh Ray, when will you learn that ours is a doomed romance. Hey Adam, my dad's coming round for dinner tonight, you're welcome to join us if you want. Maybe make him stop hating you."
"I'd like that thank you."
Kanani turned and headed back inside, Adam watched her, admiring how gorgeous she looked in the sunlight.
"She's a kind girl isn't she?"
"She's always been liked that, volunteers down at the animal sanctuary. Listen Adam, I know we've just met but I like to think we're going to be friends..."
"Friends? No offence but I'm not planning on staying that long."
"Look just listen to me, Kay likes you, I can see that clear as day, why else would she keep a stranger in her house so I'm going to make this clear. As your friend I'll say this; don't do anything to Kay that you'll regret. As Kay's friend I'll say this; if you hurt her you best pray it's me who finds you because I'll kill you quickly, unlike Kale."
"Wow, I've been here two hours and already I have death warnings. Weird place."
"Get use to it Adam. You'll get plenty before the week's out."
The two men laughed as they opened another beer.
Over the next few hours Adam wandered around the neighbourhood, he just strolled around getting use to the surroundings. He found himself liking the quietness of the place, it was such a change from the fast-paced, bright lights of Vegas. Yeah the heat was a little too much but as the day went on it got cooler and cooler.
He arrived back at Kanani's house just in time for dinner, she and her father were already inside.
"Adam, glad to see you could make it."
"You kidding Kay? After everything you've done for me I wouldn't miss this for anything. Feel a little bad that you're doing this, I should've done something for you."
"You're broke Adam what could you have done? Besides I like cooking, good to have a first-time taster."
Adam smiled and turned to who he could only guess was Kale, he was a large man, tall, burly and on the bad side of 60. He looked like 30 years ago he could kill you with a single punch but even with a little extra weight he'd still do some damage. His skin was the same olive tone as his daughter but with more than a few wrinkles, his hair was long, down to his neck
and in some form of good shape. Finally the last thing Adam noticed about Kale was his eyes, one of them was a dark brown, much like his daughter but darker, the other was milky-white, a dead eye, he could immediately tell Kale was blind in that eye.
"You must be Kale, I've heard a great deal about you from Ray. Glad to meet you conscious this time."
A slight twitch at the corner of Kale's mouth told Adam he found the joke humorous but it was very brief and soon he was back to the grim expression.
"I apologize for the manner in which we met, I've lost all memory of that night, don't remember getting on your boat. I'm sorry."
"Just make sure it doesn't happen again, next time Kanani won't be there to save you."
Kanani leaned into Adam and whispered in his ear. "Dad wasn't kidding when he said he was going to tip you into the sea."
"Duly noted. What you cooking Kay smells delicious."
"It's called Hawaiian Chicken, it's a meal my mother did perfectly, this is as close an imitation as I can get."
"Don't sell yourself Kay, I'm sure it'll be delicious."
Kanani smiled at the compliment but Kale didn't, while Kanani went back to finish up the meal Kale spoke in a low, hard voice. It scared Adam slightly.
"Adam. I don't know you, I don't why you're here and I don't know if you're planning anything with my daughter. I know she's old enough to make her own decisions but she's still my girl and ever since her mother died she's been the most important person in my life. So if you hurt her, I will blind you, I've been cutting fish for 40 years and I've got pretty good with a knife so I will blind you."
Adam sat in stunned silence, not knowing how to react to Kale's threat. It wasn't until Kanani came back that the silence was broke.
"Hey that's dinner ready. What you boys talking about?"
"Your dad just threatened to blind me."
"Ah the 'Hurt me daughter and I'll blind you' speech. Haven't had one of those for a while."
"This is normal?"
"Normal for dad. It's been pretty effective if a little annoying. But I let him give his little speeches, keep him off my back for the most part."
"Well it's definitely effective I'll say that. I could really use that meal right about now."
The three of them went to a large table near the kitchen, Kale sat at the head of the table, Kanani to his right and Adam to his left. After a quick prayer they began eating.
"Mmm, Kay this is really good. Seriously this is amazing."
"Really? You're not just saying that?"
"I mean it, it's delicious."
Kanani blushed at the compliment, something her father picked up on.
"Oh come on dad you don't have to hate Adam just because he's a stowaway. Give him a chance."
"I'm not completely stupid Mr Kealoha, I'm actually quite nice once you get to know me. I'm interested in hearing how you became blind in your eye there. Did you harm anyone's daughter?"
Kanani had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. As was the general consensus of the night Kale wasn't pleased.
"I got this when the last asshole that was cheeky to me tried his luck with a bottle. Smashed it into my face, I've now got a piece of glass in my eye and it can't be removed without the risk of nicking an artery. So if I look like I have the headache from hell I probably do."
"Sounds unpleasant, sorry to hear that. I was almost blinded myself when I was younger, gave me this scar."
"Not the same thing Adam."
Adam smiled as he bit into a piece of chicken. "You really don't like me do you Mr Kealoha?"
"I do not, I think you're a drunk junkie and a failure and the only reason I haven't kicked your ass yet is because my daughter doesn't want me to for some reason."
"Ouch, tell me how you really feel Kale."
Kale looked at Adam, a look of disapproving and disgust on his face. "That's it, I'm sorry Kanani but I can't stay here, this disrespectful little shit needs to be out of here by the morning."
Kale stood up and walked away, Kanani went after him, trying to calm him down to no avail. Adam smiled and continued eating his chicken. Kanani returned to the table, a slight smile on her face.
"I don't know if you're dumb, brave or both right now Adam but my dad's not used to people talking back to him, a lot of people round here know him well enough to be scared."
"I'll be honest with you Kay I'm still a little buzzed from Vegas, when that runs out I'm going to shit myself around your dad. I'm also going to be a little snappy and probably an asshole."
"I'm use to junkies Adam, my own brother was one for several years and I had to hold him here for his detox. He's better off now but it was a dark time for him."
"I'm sorry to hear that? I had a relative addicted to drugs. Don't know what happened to her."
Kanani watched as Adam stared into space, clearly remembering this relative he lost touch with, she walked slowly forward and rubbed his shoulder.
"Thanks. And thank you for dinner, you didn't need to do that you know."
"And I told you I wanted to, I like cooking Adam. Besides it was worth it for you and my dad."
Adam had to smile. He finished his meal then got acquainted with the house, it really was tiny, the kitchen and living room took up about 75% of the whole place with only a bathroom and two bedrooms with a porch outside. It was also pretty bare, yes there was the usual stuff, TV, sofa, a table with chairs, oven, fridge, bed, all that but there was only one TV in the whole house, one sofa, one table, the bedrooms each had one bed and one chest-of-drawers and the bathroom was a toiler, sink and a stand-up shower, not even a bathtub.
The whole minimalist look appealed to Adam in a way he wouldn't have expected, he was already getting use to the heat and it had only been a couple of hours. That night Adam heard Kanani doing something outside, he followed the noise and found her walking out the backdoor and down a set of steps that had been carved into the hillside leading onto a large beach. In the moonlight the beach looked equal parts haunting and beautiful. Adam stood on the steps, looking out to this magical place, the serene nature reminded him of the pond back at home.
God home? Where was that these days?
"You going to stand there all day or are you going to join me?"
The sudden shout from Kanani grabbed Adam out of his trance. He continued down the steps and onto the beach, Kanani was sitting on the sand, her arms wrapped around her knee. She smiled sweetly at Adam who sat down beside her.
"Sorry if I gave you a fright Adam, I heard you follow me from the house and I wanted you to hurry up."
"Sorry."
"Don't be, I'm usually out here on my own, nice to have someone to talk to."
"Why are you out here anyway? Why aren't you asleep?"
"I don't know, I've been doing this for years, coming out here at night and listening to the waves but... I've always considered it a type of insomnia but I'm not sure what it is. Maybe I just love the peacefulness of it all, I mean listen to that."
Adam did listen, the crashing waves were gentle against the soft sand, the night air gave a cool breeze to the otherwise hot weather, even though it was very late the place was still pretty light and Adam could see every part of Kanani's beautiful face.
"Do you know anywhere this peaceful?" For the second time in minutes Kanani brought Adam out of his trance.
"Um, yeah, yeah I do actually. Back in Glasgow there's this pond, it's completely hidden off from everywhere else, like surrounded by these big, claw like trees and bushes that surround it and it's got this walkway all around made up of bark and leaves. I found it by accident when I was sledging with my cousin, we lost control and crashed through the bushes, I had to cover her up to protect her and that's how I got my scar. God, it's been a long time since I told that story."
There was a silence that passed between the two of them but it went unnoticed by Adam, he was remembering how happy Lexi had been when she told that same story to Liam and Maggie.
"Adam? Was your cousin the one who got addicted to the drugs?"
"What, yeah. Yeah that was her? How'd you know?"
"You have the same look in you eye last time you mentioned her. What's her name?"
"Alexandra, though I just call her Lexi. I don't know her last name it's been changed so often."
Kanani out her hand on top of Adam's and locked their fingers together, Adam would never have known it but her touch was just what he needed just then.
"Tell me about her."
"I can't Kay. It's a long story, long, complicated and if I'm honest, disgusting."
"My dad's a fisherman Adam, I've seen and heard it all."
"Not that kind of disgusting."
"Oh well now I have to know."
Adam smiled. "Are you sure you want to know, you'll think less of me."
"Highly unlikely given how we met but go on."
Adam took a deep breath. "Ok. This all started way back in 1970..."
And so for the next two hours Adam told Kanani every detail about him and Alexandra, from their first meeting at her birth, Craig's molestation, the reveal that Craig wasn't her real father, Alex moving to Wales and then them meeting again four years later to how Adam managed to lose his virginity to his cousin, profess his love to her and have a long-distance relationship for two years with her before she cheated on him, claiming that they never were in a relationship and how Adam told everyone about their sexual relationship before running away to California.
Adam then told Kanani how he came home for Jane's funeral to find Alex pregnant with another man's baby and that everyone knew about him and her. How he took her to see Craig and how she became she vulnerable that they had sex again but she found out he was cheating on a girlfriend back in California so he ran again, back to his girlfriend but he couldn't take the guilt and told her before running away, again, this time to Vegas and how he got wrapped up in Sin City.
Adam even told her about Liam and Maggie, feeling that their relation had affected his since it was because Liam was sad and alone that made him turn to drugs, and Alex. He didn't know why but Adam wanted to tell Kanani everything, he wanted no stone left unturned. He didn't want to lie to her at all. Adam finished the story with the fight he had with Liam in Vegas.
"...and the last thing I remember was Liam telling me that Lexi had miscarried her baby and that he got her addicted to heroin before they had a romance together. Well not a romance, I don't know what you'd call it but he admitted that he fucked her before he knocked me out. Actually I guess he didn't since I somehow got on the boat and he was too drunk to get me there. Well there you go, that' everything, pretty sad huh?"
"Well it wasn't what I was expecting, but I'm not going to judge you."
"You're not?"
"No, this is a small community, cousin relationships don't happen that much but they happen more than you think. Besides from what you've told me you really cared about Alex."
"I did, I still do. I had this scrap book of every letter and photo and postcard she sent me while she was in Wales. Fuck what happened to that, I must've left it in Vegas. Christ they're going to throw that out."
"Do you know where she is now?"
"I don't, Liam never told me. He might have told me something about rehab but I'm not sure. We haven't talked in over a year and while that's not the longest time we've not seen each other it feels like it. I miss her."
Kanani smiled that same sweet smile as she kissed Adam's cheek. "Get some rest Adam, you have a busy day in the morning."
Adam didn't know what she meant by that but before he could ask she had jumped up and ran back up the steps.
This girl was strange and he liked that.
That night, sleep didn't come easy for Adam, he had dark dreams, horrible dreams. He dreamt of when he went back home for his Auntie's funeral, he opened the door and everyone just stared at him.
"It's you fault she's dead." His mother screamed at him. "You and your sick twisted mind. Fucking your cousin, how could you? The shock killed her."
"You're a freak." His father yelled. "A disgusting, perverted freak that wasn't man enough to get laid so he fucked his cousin instead. Freak. Freak. Freak."
Everyone in the room stood above him, towering around him and all of them pointing and shouting 'Freak. Freak. Freak.' Suddenly the crowd went silent and Alexandra stepped out, she was smiling and holding a bundle in her arms as she walked slowly towards Adam.
"Adam." She spoke softly. "This is your baby."
Adam smiled and walked towards Alexandra. When they were mere feet from each other Adam held out his hands to take his baby in his arms but instead, Alexandra threw the bundle at him. What Adam caught wasn't a baby, it was the dead, rotten, severed limbs of what should've been a baby but there were too many extra limbs and deformities on the maggot-infested body.
"I KILLED IT ADAM." Alexandra's roar terrified him. "I killed it, how could I have a disgusting freak of a nature for a baby. It's your fault Adam, you killed my baby."
The jeers and taunts and insults came back only this time they were louder and more brutal than before. Adam heard grunting behind him, he turned and saw Alexandra on all fours like a dog, in front of her, Craig, Alex's once father and molester, he forcing his dick into her mouth, making her gag. In her left hand, the dick of Jesse, the blonde boy that Adam found Lexi with all those years ago, in her right hand Ellis, the father of her miscarried child. And behind her, fucking her ass hard and fast. Liam Nelson, he was completely naked except for an admiral hat on his head and he was pushing a syringe of heroin into Alex's leg. Liam looked up at Adam and winked.
"Ahoy matey." Was all he said.
Adam stepped back, trying to turn away form this horrid scene but his eyes forced him to watch. Suddenly the ground disappeared and Adam fell backwards...
He woke sharply, feeling himself crashing into the bed despite never leaving it. There was a sickness in his stomach, forcing it's way up. Adam needed to find something, a bucket on top of the table beside the bed. Perfect.
Adam grabbed the bucket just in time to vomit violently into it. He felt like he hadn't vomited in years and this was a well-needed cleanse. God what was that dream about, all those sick feelings, he needed to get his head straight and...
Hold on. Why was this bucket ON the table, not under or beside it.
Adam looked around the room, there was three buckets in the room, two by the window, one labled urine, the other faeces. The bucket Adam was holding had the label 'Vomit' written on it. There was a portable TV on a table at the foot of the bed, some books lying beside the TV and a packet of biscuits on top of them, none of them were there last night. Adam got out of bed and went to the door, to his surprise it was locked, there was no way to open it from his side. Adam started to panic, wondering what he'd gotten himself into until he saw the letter sticking out of the door frame, Adam took the letter and read it.
'Adam. I told you that my brother had his own drug problem. What I didn't tell you was that I helped him get over it, this was his room during his rehab, he was locked in here until the drugs were out his system and out his mind. After what you told me yesterday I've decided to help you, don't be alarmed I will feed you, give you the necessary medicine and keep you safe, the door will remained locked until I believe you have sobered up completely. Trust me, I'm a doctor.
P.S. I'll be back at 5, Ray will drop by at 2 to give you some lunch.'
Adam thought it strange that Kay was helping him when only about a day ago they had only just met. A digital clock in the room told Adam it was only 11:30, his body clock was fucked. He tried to get back to sleep but every time he closed his eyes he saw that image of Lexi being fucked by four guys. So instead he turned on the TV, thankfully he managed to find something quickly but he wasn't really watching it, he just had it on to have it on. Truthfully he didn't care, he just slumped himself on the headboard and stared at the screen.
After about an hour of 'watching' TV Adam felt started to feel hungry, he'd been feeling hungry since he woke up but now his stomach was furious with him. Rather than waiting for Ray Adam opened the biscuit packet, he started with a couple, then a couple more, then three more. In no time at all he had eaten half the packet. And he was still hungry.
When Ray stopped by a little after 2 in the afternoon the entire packet was gone and Adam was still starving. He nearly jumped to the door when he heard it knock.
"Adam, you in there?"
"Ray? What the fuck is going on?"
"You're in rehab son. Kay's looking after you while you get that shit out of your system."
"She could've told me she was going to lock me in and starve me."
"That's just a side-effect, you'll get over it. Anyway I've got some food for you."
Adam stepped back, waiting for the door to open. Instead a small flap on the bottom of the door was pushed open by a tray, the flap was just big enough for the tray and its contents. Adam looked at his lunch, a saucer of tomato soup and a slice of bread.
"Is that it?"
"No more until Kay says so, you're going to feel starving so you'll overeat even if you're full. You do that and you will die."
Adam took his lunch and ate it quickly, he managed to make it last longer than he thought but not by much. As he was dipping his bread into the soup he heard a soft female voice in his ear.
"Adam?"
He turned but there was no-one there, he must have been hearing things.
By the time Kanani got home Adam was back to his depressed stupor, lying half on/half off the bed, face staring at the pictures moving on the screen but never watching any of it. He was still hungry and damn near the point of biting his own hand off.
"Adam. You ok?" Kanani asked through the door.
"Why are you doing this Kay?"
"I'm sorry, but I was going to be out most of the day and Ray couldn't baby-sit you so I improvised, I used my brother's old room."
"But why, I mean I have no idea where I'd even find coke here."
"You'd find something, alcohol, painkillers, medicine, you'd replace it with another addiction and I can't risk that."
Adam punched the headboard. "Why are doing this? You don't even know me."
"I help people Adam, that's what I do and I want to help you. Please just... just let me."
Adam couldn't deny her, he was starting to like this girl. Hell he liked her yesterday and if she wanted to help him why deny her that, he needed help anyway.
"I'm sorry Kay, I'm just a little surprised at the method."
Kanani laughed. "Yeah, sorry about the imprisonment. I should have told you."
"It's fine. Sorry for sounding like an arse but have you got anything to eat?"
"I'm just cooking up dinner right now, should be about 15, 20 minutes."
"Good, I'm starving."
The flap opened and Kanani's hand stuck through, she was holding out a small white pill.
"Take that, it's to help you."
Adam took the pill, Kanani quickly replaced her hand with a small glass of water, just small enough to fit through the flap. Adam took both, ignoring the nasty taste the pill left behind.
"I'll let you know when dinner's ready."
"Thanks."
Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as Adam thought.
After a delicious dinner Adam lazed around his room, still hungry but he tried to put it out of his mind. He wanted to get an early night, thinking that would help him but he was still dreaming of Alexandra in different sexual abuse situations. This night was what he could guess was when she lost her virginity. 5 faceless guys stumbling through a house until they come across Alex lying asleep on the bed, the five of them work together to strip her before the first guy lined up his dick with her pussy and forcing himself in.
'Oh shit this bitch is a virgin' he said, his thrusts getting heavier. 'That's hot.'
Adam tossed and turned, trying to escape this horrid dream. By the time the third guy got between Alexandra's legs to have his turn she woke up, her piercing green eyes stared right at Adam. That's when he woke up.
God this was going to be difficult if he wasn't able to sleep.
"Having trouble sleeping?"
Adam turned to where the voice came from. He found himself looking at Alexandra, but this was Alex from when she was 19, when she and Adam had sex for the first time. Adam rubbed his eyes and when he looked back she was gone. This wasn't going to be easy.
The next couple days were slightly easier, Adam got some sleep in the night but not a lot, when he woke he would find some breakfast waiting for him and instead of biscuits he got some fruit in a bowl. Ray stopped by lwith lunch and Kanani made him dinner in the evening..
The main problem was that whenever Adam wasn't doing something he was antsy and bored but when he was doing something he couldn't find the effort to put into anything. He tried watching TV but he never really watched it, he tried reading the books but each time he did he would find himself either reading the same passage over and over again or he'd jump 8 or 9 pages with no memory of doing such.
He never had any visions of Lexi in those two days but she never left his mind, every time he though of her he would sink lower and lower into depression. If it wasn't for Kay he might have got stuck in there.
The forth day was the hardest so far, Kanani had to work overtime and Ray was visiting his brother in Chicago for a couple days so Adam was left on his own. He had been left enough food for the whole day but no proper meals. By about 5 in the evening the food was all gone and Adam was still hungry. He decided to get an early night but in his state and at that time sleep was near impossible. He sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for tiredness and boredom to take him.
He heard giggling in the corner, 19 year old Alexandra was back, sitting on the table, Adam rubbed his eyes but she didn't leave.
"How you doing cuz?"
"Why are you here Lexi?"
"I thought I'd drop by, see how you're doing. This isn't real you idiot."
"That doesn't answer my question."
The young Alex dropped off the table and sauntered over to Adam, smiling seductively as she did. "You can't get me off you mind. You're still thinking of me Adam."
Alexandra unzipped her jacket and pulled it open, her bare breasts were revealed to Adam as she straddled his lap.
"You'll never get rid of me Adam, you can't. I could be here..."
Suddenly young Alex disappeared and was replaced by Alex a few years older, holding her pregnant belly on the opposite side of the bed.
"...Or here, you're not going to lose me despite how much you try. You can say you're over me, you can say you hate me but you know that it's all a lie."
Adam closed his eyes and kept repeating "She's not there, she's not there, she's not there." When he felt her hand on his shoulder he just repeated it faster and shut his eyes tighter.
"Adam." She whispered. "I'm not here."
When he opened his eyes Alexandra was gone. But her words were still on his ears.
Day 5 was just as hard, Adam didn't sleep at all, he hovered up every scrap of food he could find. The worst of it came in the evening when Adam looked to the TV screen, he saw Liam violently fucking Alexandra in from behind on the screen. He changed the channel, they were still fucking but in a different position, every channel was a different position and it got to the point where in a fit of rage Adam threw the remote at the screen, smashing it to pieces. But the images were still in his mind, he need to escape and quickly.
Grabbing the largest shard of glass from the remnants of the screen Adam held it to his wrist, ready to cut it open and rid himself of the nightmares. However just when he made the smallest cut the sudden pain caused him to chicken out and throw the glass away. Suicide might be a tempting offer but not today.
The next morning was a Saturday so Kanani didn't have any work to do, she took this day to let Adam out of his room, she felt bad for keeping him in there, mostly because the windows were so small and didn't let much air in, when she opened the door she found Adam looking very pale and sickly so she let him outside to aerate the room and clean out his buckets. She immediately regretted not thinking it through that the buckets would keep the smell in the small room. While she was cleaning the buckets Adam took his first shower in over a week. He hadn't showered since he arrived in Hawaii and he hadn't showered for days in Vegas so he was beginning to smell rotten. The sheer freshness of the shower washed away layers of sweat and grime that he had built up.
After the shower the two of them spent most of the day of the beach, just relaxing in the sun, they chatted for a while. Adam found that he liked Kay's company a lot more than he thought he would, feeling brave Adam took her hand in his. She smiled at him.
"Kay, I have to thank you for everything you've done for me. You barely know me and yet you've helped me so much more than anyone I can remember in the past ten years. I have to ask, why are you doing this?"
"Honestly, I wasn't planning to. When dad brought you in I wanted to find out why you were in his boat then send you on your way after a few days. But then we started talking and you were different than I was expecting, yeah you were a smug bastard but you told me all the stuff that happened between you and your cousin and I saw so much of my brother in you, he got on drugs after he lost a girl so I sympathised with you. I like you, I really like you."
Kay reached her hand up and cupped Adam's chin, she moved slowly and carefully but before either of them knew what was happening they were kissing. It was one of the most passionate and electric kisses Adam had ever had, he barely knew this girl and yet he never wanted this kiss to end.
Unfortunately she let him go and stared into his eyes, her own filled with hope.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that I'll..."
Adam interrupted her with another kiss, this time his hand cupping her face. The kiss lasted almost as long as the first and when they broke Kay was struggling not to laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"I barely know you and yet I'm on the beach kissing you. God my dad is going to kill me."
"At least I won't be the only one he kills."
Kay laughed and kissed Adam again. They spent a couple hours more on the beach before heading back upstairs to the house.
"I'm thinking of making some dinner, you want anything?"
"Nah I'm not that hungry."
The words had barely left his mouth before he realised what he had just said. After days of being starving he had just turned down food. Maybe he was getting better.
By the end of the first week Adam felt like a new man, he could sleep with very few nightmares, he actually felt happy for the first time in ages and he no longer felt the need for coke. He was lucky that his addiction hadn't lasted that long so his rehab didn't take long either, he still ran the risk of relapse and the thoughts of suicide (which he kept to himself) were still there but with Kanani's help he was getting over it.
Now, mostly, sober Adam thought it was time he got a job, Kay had already done so much for him he didn't want to have her pay for his trip home as well. When he was cleaned up Adam went down to Ray's car shop, it was a small place but pretty nifty looking. Nice enough and it was well air-conditioned which Adam loved.
The place was quiet when Adam walked in, Ray was talking to a couple employees when he saw Adam walk in, excusing himself he walked over to his new friend.
"Adam. What bring you here?"
"I was hoping that you'd have a job for me, just a small thing I don't think I'll be staying that long."
"Well you're in luck, I'm in need of a new salesman. If you can sell cars then I have a place for you. I'll even give you a trial run if you want."
"That'll be great, thanks. When should I start?"
"Be here by 8 tomorrow and I'll get you into training. And Adam, you better be doing this to pay back Kay, she's done a lot for you."
"I know, and I am."
"Good, I'll have some paperwork for you to sign when you come in. Other than that, welcome aboard."
The two men shook hands and Adam left, he was happily surprised at how well that went, he didn't have much sales experience but he still had some of his Lawyer training so he could still talk fast, not as fast as he used to but still it might be enough.
When Adam got back to Kay's house he told her the good news, when she hugged him that was a bigger surprise than getting the job. The two of them had kissed several times since the beach but each time still surprised him.
The two of them sat down to dinner together, this time though Adam insisted he make it, it wasn't as good as Kay's but he did a good job.
"Listen Kay, I am thankful for everything you've done for me and I know it won't fully pay you back but when I get paid would you let me take you out to dinner somewhere?"
"I would like that, won't put you out of the debt completely but it'll be nice. Where you were thinking?"
"I was hoping you could recommend a place."
"Hm, well there is this one restaurant, 'Carl's', good food and not that expensive. I've got the number if you want it."
"Thanks Kay, I'll make a reservation once I'm paid."
"I'm looking forward to it."
The next couple weeks were something unfamiliar to Adam, they were normal. He started his job in the morning, talked people into buying cars for the day, had a quick drink with Ray and his mates at the end of the day then returned home and depending on whether he or Kay got home first one of them would make dinner. Even his broken nose was starting to look normal again. The normality of it all was strange to Adam and sometimes he found himself looking at his life and thinking 'How'd I get here?'.
Kay was a massive help to him, she was kind and considerate, always willing to let him talk out his problems and listen to him. Adam found himself having some sort of feelings for her, he cared about her and the more-than-a-few kisses they had each day were something he looked forward to.
With his lawyer skills Adam found that he was a pretty damn good sales man and by the end of two weeks he has made quite a bit of money, since he had lost his card and didn't have any identification with him the money was going into Kanani's account who put it into a separate saver account for Adam. They instantly hit off a rapport that worked better than any relationship Adam had been in before.
Relationship? He was getting ahead of himself.
Kale didn't agree with what his daughter was doing with this stranger, he never said anything to them buy according to Ray Kale would ask him if he heard anything going on between them, the whole village had the same idea and while they hadn't really talked about being in a relationship they weren't afraid to kiss in public and be the cause of gossip.
At the end of the two weeks Adam had enough money to spare dinner out with Kanani, he had made reservations at 'Carl's' and was meeting her at the restaurant in the evening.
Adam had hoped to keep the dinner a secret, not wanting to endure the wrath of Kale - his blinding threat had stuck with him - and so far he was doing a good job. However he felt that Ray knew something, whenever they were working together Adam felt his friend's eyes staring at him, waiting for him to slip out a secret. It wasn't until the day of the date that his fears were confirmed.
Adam was at his desk, finishing up for the day when Ray arrived, he stood at the front of the desk, placed his hands on top of the desk and leaned over Adam. He spoke in a voice that was partly threatening but also partly full of advice.
"Pay for dinner, buy her drinks, treat her well... and use protection and I won't tell Kale. Ok?"
"Ok?"
Adam was confused but he didn't question Ray's words of wisdom, if he was giving the go-ahead to the date that was good enough for him.
After work Adam quickly got home and changed, he was meeting Kanani at the restaurant, she had to work a couple hours later and didn't have time to go home. He didn't mind, while he would like to have walked down with her the surprise of what she would be wearing would make up for it.
Adam arrived at the restaurant for about 8, he was shown to his table and ordered a drink. He was admittedly nervous, he hadn't been on a proper date since Kaitlin and that was nearly two years ago, he had loved her and lost her now here he was possibly fallen for this helpful stranger. He only had to wait ten minutes but was already nearing the end of his second drink when she arrived.
Damn she was worth the wait, Kanani was wearing a white dress, it came to just above her knees and the cleavage was minimal but it was tight, the skimmed along the edges of her breasts, hips and waist, enhancing each and every one of her smooth curves. One the dress was a floral pattern with deep purple and orange flowers going round in a vine-like structure. She has even curled her hair slightly and let it hang low, really showing off it's luscious quality. She was gorgeous.
Adam gulped but he composed himself and smiled as she walked over to him, she kissed hi m on the cheek and sat down.
"Sorry I'm late."
"No problem, just got here myself."
"You ordered yet?"
"No, you want to look at the menu?"
"No I've been here enough times, I know what I want."
A waiter came over to take their order. Kanani looked up at him, not even bothering with looking at the menu.
"Yes I'll have the poached salmon with salad and a water please."
"Yes miss. And for you sir?"
"The same, but with a beer, whatever you have on tap."
"Right away."
Once the waiter was away the two of them started talking. "Fish huh? I thought you'd be bored with that with your dad's job."
"I feel sort of obligated to have the fish, my dad supplies this restaurant. Besides I like fish and they cook it good here."
"Glad to hear."
Their drinks arrived, Kanani took her water with a big gulp. "Sorry, I didn't have any change for the café so I've been needing a drink for a while."
"It's fine Kay, I really can't fault you for anything considering what I've done."
"Ah yes, you're a drunken, cousin-screwing junkie aren't you?"
"I'm also an asshole but I'm not yelling that out in a crowded restaurant."
"Oops, sorry Adam."
"I said it's fine, I am a little surprised at how well you've taken the cousin thing."
"I told you, we get all kinds of cousin marriage round here."
"Yeah but still, it's not something that you hear about everyday."
Kay let out a sigh. "Ok I guess it's time I told you. I may have dabbled in the family pool in my youth."
This was intriguing. "Go on."
"It wasn't anything that sexual and definitely nothing like you but before my brother became a drug addict he and I shared a few kisses. And he may have put his fingers under my panties a couple of times."
"Wow, a little more information than I was expecting. I'm surprised at you Kay."
"Well you told me about you and Alex so I figured you deserved a confession. Just don't tell my dad."
"I'm not telling him anything."
Just then their food arrived so the conversation was put on hold for a few seconds while they started their meal. Just like Kay had said the fish was delicious.
"Um Kay." Adam said in a quiet voice. "Did you tell Ray about our date."
Kanani just smiled. "I might have why?"
"It's just he came up to me today and I think he gave me some advice."
"Really? What did he say?"
"He told me to pay for dinner and treat you right and to, um, use protection."
Kanani giggled. "Damn Ray, he's like a second father to me but he doesn't hold back on the embarrassment. In answer to your question yes, I did tell Ray. I was a little excited, it's been a while since someone asked me out, but I couldn't tell my own dad so I told him instead."
"Weren't you worried about him telling your dad?"
"If I was worried I wouldn't have told him, Ray knows my dad well enough to not bother him with this. Besides Ray more than anyone knows my dad's threats mean business."
"How?"
"Well they have been friend's for years but also Ray dated my dad's sister for a couple years, he got the same speech you did."
"You dad hasn't really blinded anyone has he?"
Kay gave a 'I don't know' shrug which didn't fill Adam with much hope. Regardless the two of them had a great dinner, they told stories, they joked, they had fun. More fun than Adam could remember in a lifetime.
After dinner they took a slow walk back to Kanani's house, both still chatting away about nothing, Adam had never had this kind of connection before, where just talking to the person was a pleasure in itself.
When they got back to the house they suddenly became awkward teenagers again, Adam spoke first.
"What do we do now, I've never had a first date with someone I live with before."
"I say we start here."
And suddenly Kanani grabbed in a hard kiss. They had kissed before, several times, but this was a different kiss, this one was filled with passion, with lust. This was a kiss that led to the bedroom.
Still kissing Adam open the door and pushed Kanani through with him. Though neither could see much past their lovers face they acted on instinct to find Kay's bedroom, Kay was thrust upon the bed, Adam stood over her, taking his shirt off.
Kay reached under her dress and pulled her panties off, throwing them at Adam, pink thong, nice choice. Kay stood up and started to reach behind her to pull down the zipper but Adam stopped her.
"Leave it on." His voice was calm yet controlling, he wasn't asking.
Instead of taking her dress off Kanani unbuckled her bra and pulled it out, it was pink, like her panties. Adam looked down, her nipples were very prominent against the tight fabric. With his trousers half-way down and his cock thick, hard and ready Adam crawled onto the bed, he lay next to Kanani, close enough so that their bodies overlapped slightly. They kissed again, each one more passionate than the last, helped by the fact that Adam has pushed his hand up Kanani's dress and was fingering her bare cunt, the thin strip of hair tickling his hand. Two of his fingers were firing in and out of her while his thumb attacked her clit. If he didn't feel how wet she was the sound alone would.
Kanani kissed Adam hard as she felt an impeding orgasm approach, this heat in her pussy was spreading to her whole body until suddenly something surged within her. She gripped Adam tightly as her cum washed over her. It had been a while - longer than she'd care to admit - since she had a cum that good.
Adam shifted his hips to line up with Kay's the head of his cock lightly grazed her pussy, she was scorching. Looking into each other's eyes they silently made the agreement and Adam pushed forward. Kanani wasn't tight but she was definitely more so than the Vegas whores he had hung around with, damn he was an idiot.
Adam started thrusting into Kanani, slowly getting faster and deeper into her. Adam looked into Kanani's eyes but they were shut tight, her orgasmic breathing intense and her whole body burning with passion.
When Adam curled his fingers into the straps of her dress she opened her eyes.
"This isn't a new dress is it?"
Kay shook her head slowly, a smile forming on her face as she understood what Adam was doing. Suddenly and violently Adam ripped the dress away, her entire top half was bare to him for the first time. Only now could Adam see that the olive skin covered her whole body. Her breasts were still holding the firmness of youth while her nipples were a small and surrounded by a dark brown areoles.
The two of them spun round on the bed, this time Kanani on top and riding Adam, grinding their groins together, Adam's hands were all over her body, her ass, her hips, her breasts, feeling and holding every part of her. Suddenly Kanani grabbed Adam's shoulders and held him tightly.
"I'm gonna cum again Adam, oh god I'm gonna cum again."
"Me too Kay, me too."
"Come in me, I'm safe, do it."
Hearing that Adam gripped Kanani and shot his cum into her cunt. Feeling the warm, cum hit her inside set Kanani off in her second orgasm of the night. The two lovers lay down together, Kay on top of Adam, stroking his chest.
"And that's why I saved you on the boat."
Adam laughed and Kanani's comment, he held her close as they kissed and fell asleep together.
**
1998
**
Over the next few months Adam set up a life for himself in Hawaii, what started off as a short stay turned into something more. A part-time job changed into a career, a stay at a house became a home and a new friend-with-benefits turned into a relationship. While neither of them were the first to say they were a couple both him and Kanani never denied it, despite Kale's obvious dislike.
Adam stayed in touch with his family, his parents were surprised that he was living in Hawaii and even more surprised that he was living with a girl he barely knew but they didn't question him. He hadn't heard from or about Lexi other than she was still in rehab but getting better and no-one had seen Liam.
Soon a few months become many and before he knew it Adam had been in Hawaii an entire year. The time had just flew by and he never even felt it. He was planning to go home, back to Britain and while he had enough he wanted to buy something for Kanani as thanks. He also secretly wanted to stay with her a little longer.
It was around this 'one year' mark that Ray invited Adam to join him and Kale on a fishing trip, Adam was a little confused because he thought Kale hated him but Ray insisted. The next morning the three of them went out on Ray's boat, it was bigger than Kale's and well-stocked, according to Ray their fishing trips lasted two or three days.
Adam had never been fishing before and as he looked back his arrival to Hawaii was the first time he had been on a boat and he was unconscious for the whole trip. This led to Adam being seasick several times, something that the older, more experienced men found hilarious, even the usual gruff Kale was smiling.
"You're not a fisherman are you Adam?" Ray asked with a smile.
"I'm sorry I wasn't born on the water like you two."
"Hey I haven't been fishing that long, I just started about ten years ago when I came here and I just turned out to be a natural. Kale's the real river-man. He's been on the water damn longer than I've been alive."
"Not that long but it's been a few years. I just love the water, it's calming."
"I'm not surprised you love it, Kale met his wife on the water y'know?"
"Come on Ray Adam doesn't want to hear about that."
"No, no I do, Kay never really talks about her mum so I don't know that much about her."
Kale sighed, took a long swig of beer and cast his line out, his eyes stayed on the water as he told the story, never even looking at Adam.
"It was about 30 odd years ago, I was out on boat like this with my own father when we saw something in the water, that something turned out to be someone, a young woman and she was unconscious. I jumped in, swam to her and pulled her back to the boat, had to use CPR to get her breathing again but I saved her life. She told me her name was Ani, she had been swimming with friends but the tide caught her off-guard and she had been swept away, she'd been on the water for hours and exhausted herself. Me and her got to talking and to thank me for saving her she offered to buy me dinner, from there we just hit it off and within a couple years we were married. Took us a while to have kids, we tried but their were complications. We lost our first pregnancy and it seemed to take forever but on the second try we had our son, Pika, a few years after him we had Kanani. It was a great time. Until we lost her."
"How'd she die?"
"Car accident, a truck came round a corner too fast and crashed into her car, she died instantly. Must have been about six years ago. After her death Pika turned to drugs, I almost lost him as well you can understand why I'm so protective of my daughter."
"Sorry to put you on the spot like that mate, I just figured he had the right to now."
"It's fine Ray. I guess he did have to know."
"Thanks for telling me, I'm sorry to hear about the first pregnancy, I had a cousin who lost her kid."
"I know, Kanani told me about you and your cousin."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I don't know you Adam, I'm not going to judge who you fuck just know that since you're fucking my daughter you better stay with her if you knock her up."
"Getting a little ahead of us Kale but I will. I still remember what you said about blinding me. What about you Ray, you got any kids."
"Nah, me and the wife never got round to it before she divorced me. Don't blame her, I cheated on her, more than a few times and in the end she left me. The last thing I said to her was that divorcing me was the smartest decision she ever made. She's in Tokyo now, got a husband and two kids, haven't seen her since."
"Sorry to hear that."
"Don't be, I'm not one to settle down. I thought I was, I thought I was suppose to do what everyone does, find a wife, get married, continue but it didn't work. I'm just not one of those people."
The three of them sat in silence for several seconds until they heard Kales' line go out. He had caught a fish.
A couple days later the three men docked and went home. Kale took the fish they caught to the restaurant while Ray drove Adam home, stopping off in town at Adam's request to pick up something. When they got back Adam was greeted with a smile and a kiss from Kay.
"I'm so glad your back. How was it, you catch anything?"
"It was good, I think your dad's warming to me. I caught a couple but it was nothing compared to what your dad and Ray caught."
They kissed again and sat down on the sofa.
"Kay, you're dad told me what happened to your mother."
"Oh, I'm sorry I never told you, it's just hard."
"I know, I don't care. The three of us had a good chat and I realised that I've with two complete opposites, your dad who still loves your mother so much he hasn't bothered finding someone to replace her and Ray who hasn't been able to stay with one woman for long and I that's when I thought, I don't know who I'm more like. I've been in and out of love, I've cheated and been cheated on and yet with you, I told you my darkest secrets in a few hours that I never told people I've known for years. I have to say it, I love you Kanani. In this short time we've known each other I love you and that's why, against all my better judgement, I got this so I can ask you..."
Adam reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, if Kay had any idea what it was when he brought it out she definitely knew what it was when he got on one knee.
"Kanani Kealoha. Will you marry me?"
**
1999
**
When Claire picked up the phone and heard that her son was getting married she screamed in delight. Almost immediately she started packing so she and her husband could travel to Hawaii to meet their son's fiancée. To Adam's delight they got on extremely well and welcomed Kanani into their family. They even met Kale and Ray who Adam had asked to be his best man.
Adam's parents stayed a few days to help with wedding plans but had to leave to return to work. Though extremely nervous Adam found that just by looking over and Kay, hard at work preparing, then catching her eyes and seeing her smile was enough to calm him down.
It took a few months to get everything ready but since they were only planning a small outdoors ceremony with the reception at theirs and Ray's house it didn't take too long. The wedding was set for March 16th 1999.
The wedding was really small, there was Kale, Ray, Kieran, Claire, a couple of Kanani's aunts, uncles and cousins as well as a few of her friends. Adam didn't have many aunt and uncles and even less friends giving his runaway but the few he did made the effort to come, he even sent an invitation to Alex and while he didn't expect to hear back from her he got a reply from her, she'd be coming.
While everyone chatted around, waiting for the wedding to begin Adam got a tap on the shoulder. He turned round and saw a strange but familiar face.
"Hey cuz."
It was Alexandra. She was smiling as she hugged her cousin, Adam looked over her. Her hair was shorter than it Adam had ever seen it, only reaching Lexi's ears, it was also her natural dirty blonde colour which Adam liked. She was a lot thinner than Adam remembered but she would later explain that the heroin was the cause of this and that she had been putting on weight back to a safe amount.
But she still looked beautiful to Adam.
"Lexi, I wasn't expecting to see you."
"Why not, I told you I would."
"I know but, I just never expected you to actually come. How are you?"
"Good, I'm actually better than I've ever been. Especially after, did your parents tell you about the baby."
"No, Liam did, I met him in Vegas."
"Liam, I guess he told you about me and him."
"Yeah, it's a shame what you had to go through."
"I know, but it's made me a better person though. I was lying to myself this whole time but now, I just let me be me."
"What do you mean Lexi?"
"I learnt about it in rehab. You either lie to yourself and everyone around you about the kind of person you are, or you accept who you really are. I accept who I am."
"And who are you?"
Lexi smiled. "I'm a cunt."
"Jesus Lexi, you're not..."
"I am Adam, I know you want to think differently but I am, I've always been a cunt, not just a cunt but the cunt. I'm the cunt that got molested by the man she thought was her father for 15 years and said nothing. I'm the cunt that lost her virginity to gang rape and didn't give a fuck. I'm the cunt that fucked her own cousin, twice, and worried about the consequences later. I'm the cunt that turned the heroin after her own mother died because she wanted to stop feeling. I'm the cunt that has allowed men to use and abuse her like the slut she is because that's all she's good for. I'm the cunt that God decided wasn't worthy of having a baby so he took it from her. That's me Adam, that's who I am and I accept it because it I start regretting the stuff I've done it'll kill me."
"Wow, that's uh, that's quite a speech. Sounded like you got a load off your chest."
"I know, I guess I've been waiting to say that to someone other than the mirror for a while. Sorry for unloading that on you, especially on this day."
"Lexi you can use me as a human stress-ball any time you want alright, you're my cousin and I love you."
"Thanks Adam, but don't say that too loud or people might get the wrong idea."
"It's fine, Kay knows about us Lexi, I told her."
"Did you now, and she's still marrying you? You picked a good one cuz."
Just then Ray arrived telling Adam that the wedding had started, Adam promised to catch up with his cousin later and went off to get married.
The sun had just began to set as Kanani walked out, the warm orange glow of the sky radiated her olive skin and her simple white dress, Adam had suggested she buy something extravagant, she for her but she insisted she keep it simple. They stood side-by-side on the cliff facing the sea as the priest read out his sermon and the couple said their vows before each saying the magic words.
"I do."
"I do."
"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Adam cupped Kanani's face as he kissed her, a soft kiss but one that let her know he loved her and wanted her. As they walked down the aisle, holding hands as man and wife Adam saw Lexi, a sad but accepting smile on her face. He had never admitted it but there was a time, long ago, when Adam thought Lexi was the one.
How times have changed.
As they had planned the reception was at the couple's house and at Ray's, both were too small to hold all the guests but together there was more than enough room. Food was served, drinks were drunk and congratulations given, Adam spent most of the night holding onto Kanani's hand but as it went on they separated, Adam headed over to Ray's house to meet his friend.
"Congratulations man you did it." Ray embraced Adam in a bear-hug.
"Thanks, I can't believe it I'm actually married."
"I know, when you told me to stop in town I had no idea you were planning to propose and when you told me I thought you were fuckin crazy."
"We all think he's crazy."
Adam turned, Alex had found them he hadn't seen her the whole night. She hugged her cousin. "Congratulations Adam, really."
"Thanks Lexi. Oh Lexi this is my good friend Ray Henderson, Ray this is my cousin Alexandra... let's go with Buchanan, I'm not sure what your surname is now."
Ray and Alex shook hands. Ray looked quizzically at Alex. "Buchanan huh? Or you're from Britain as well? You know a Jane Buchanan?"
"Yeah she's my mum, or she was she died a couple years ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. We use to work together, I liked her."
"Work together?"
"Yeah I worked in Britain for a little while then I was transferred to Berlin, Moscow, Budapest for a couple months before finally settling here."
Both Ray and Adam could see wheels turning in her head, she was obviously trying to piece something together. Words that Ray had said seemed to resonate with her. Then suddenly she remembered what her mother had said when she found out Craig wasn't her real father. Looking at Craig she said one question, one word but she feared she already knew the answer.
"Dad?"
what a cliffhanger how will it end this is one thing that stops me from sleeping at all