Читать книгу Rani Patel In Full Effect - Sonia Patel - Страница 15

WATER OVER FAMILY

I creep my way through the bodies and plop down in the chair Pono saved for me. He gives me an inviting chin-up. His “it’s so on” smile kindles my activist flame. And ignites my Pono fire.

He goes back to scribbling on his notepad while I consider how much I need a cold shower. I look around the large hall of the Kaunakakai Community Recreational Center. Locals are spilling out of the open entryways on either side. I can tell the meeting’s gonna be intense. My heart is throbbing at lightspeed. I’m not quite sure if it’s because the gorgeous brown skin of Pono’s arm is touching mine or if it’s the meeting. I order my brain to focus on the meeting.

Fortunately my brain obeys. But then I realize this is my first activist meeting without my dad. I scan the room to make sure he’s not here. No sign of him. Today it’s just me. Skittishness tries to oust my courage.

You can do this without him. You know your stuff.

Courage triumphs and I’m ready to fight for the environment. As are most of the locals here. Public Enemy’s Fight the Power runs through my mind. And so does my own spontaneous rhyme.

Everyone wants a piece of it—

Moloka’i’s water. Admit it

all ya’ll plotters wantin’ a judicial writ

to give you free reign to buss out yo’ tool kit

and construct for profit.

But we won’t submit.

We ain’t soft.

So you best back off

cuz you bout to be iced out—Jack Frost.

I envision going up to the standing mic at the center of the room and spittin’ my rhyme as my testimony.

The lights dim. I swag walk to the standing mic.

A spotlight comes on. A DJ drops my beat. I spit…

Pono elbows me back into reality. “Hey, Rani. You gonna give a testimony?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Cool. Me too.”

“Yours is the one I’m looking forward to hearing,” I say, smiling.

He smiles back. It almost makes him look shy.

Did he just blush?

But before I can read into his face anymore, the EPA Chair calls the meeting to order.

After today’s hearing, the EPA will decide if the Moloka’i aquifer is truly its principal source of drinking water for the island and if contamination of it would be a health hazard for the inhabitants of the island. If they determine it is, then Moloka’i would get federal Sole Source Aquifer Designation. So any federally funded development would have to get EPA approval to make sure it doesn’t pollute the aquifer. This would be huge for keeping Moloka’i Moloka’i.

The Chair calls for the first testifier. Auntie Hannah. She and Auntie Lani are the main activists fighting to protect the island’s water. I think of them as Moloka’i’s dynamic duo. The Salt-N-Pepa of water activism because first, Auntie Hannah is white and Auntie Lani is a brown Native Hawaiian and second, because they’ve got mad verbal skills. Watching them testify at public forums is the most inspiring thing I’ve ever seen.

There’s buzzing in the audience as Auntie Hannah walks to the mic. The Chair calls for silence and Auntie Hannah introduces herself. Pono and I exchange ecstatic glances. He puts his left arm around the back of my chair. His fingers barely graze my arm. I do my best to listen to Auntie Hannah’s testimony and ignore my urge to leap out of my chair and jump on Pono’s lap.

Then I hear a familiar voice.

Oh no.

No. No. No.

I pivot a bit to the left and see my dad weaving through the chairs to a couple of empty ones near the front. Freakin’ Wendy’s behind him. Dad and I make eye contact, but he looks away before I can make out his expression.

So this is what it’s come to. My dad is willing to fight for the water of Moloka’i. Willing to fight for Wendy. But he won’t fight for our family. For Mom. For me.

My eyes don’t release my panic yet. First I feel my heart shaking. Literally. Then my entire body. My eyes eventually release salty fluid almost as an afterthought. The secondary tears drip onto my lips and into my mouth.

I feel Pono’s hand on my back. “What’s wrong, Rani?” I turn to face him. His eyebrows are lifted and his eyes wide.

“I don’t feel so good,” I say, my eyes shifting to my dad and Wendy. Pono’s eyes follow mine, then return to me. Suddenly, it’s like someone shoved plugs into my ear canals. I see Pono’s lips moving but I can’t hear what he’s saying. And I can’t see him clearly because it’s as if someone put an opaque plastic bag over my head and tied it at the neck.

Air. I need air. Help!

Next thing I know I’m near my truck. Trying to catch my breath.