(convo mostly in Rarotongan and those parts are in bold)

September 2, 1994

2:00 a.m.

**Iolani POV**

Brinng! Brinng!

I wake up disoriented to my pitch black bedroom to a shrill ring, letting out a huge yawn as I stretch and slowly drag my alarm clock over to glance at the time.  It’s only 2:00!  What the…?

Brinng! Brinng!

God…I hope it’s not the hospital.  Isn’t 4 a.m. early enough?!

Just before the phone has the chance to ring again, I pick it up offering a drowsy half hearted greeting. “Hello?”  

“Kia orana, Iolani,” I hear my mother’s chipper voice greet me.  “I didn’t wake you this time did I, sweetie?”  No, Mom.  I always sound this groggy over the phone…

You’d think after four months of my living here that my mother would get a handle on something like time zones, but so far, no dice.  What’s she calling for at this hour anyway.  Her and Daddy are usually in bed by now…

“Don’t worry, Mom.  I had to get up shortly for work anyway,” I reply, stifling another yawn as visions of my morning coffee dance in my head.

“Are you sure?” she replies with a hint of concern.  “You sound exhausted.  That hospital isn’t overworking you are they?”  

“No mama, I promise,” I reply reassuringly, glancing again at the clock as I continue pondering the reasoning behind this late night phone call.  

Just as I’m about to ask though, she continues in her best Mama Bear voice, “They better not be.  They don’t want me to come over there…”  Hell hath no fury like a protective Rarotongan mother...

I do my best to stifle a giggle as her side of the line goes silent for a moment...broken only when she asks me in a nervous tone, almost a whisper, “Honey, Aloha’s not with you is she...?”  Well now we’re getting somewhere…

For a few seconds, I strain my ears listening in the dark for any indication that the ringing phone might’ve woken Lo.  Outside of phone static and my mother’s nervous breathing over the line though, the apartment is bathed in silence.  

“Iolani?  Are you still there?”

“Yes, Mom,” I reply quietly, reaching over to click on the bedside lamp and slowly shifting into a semi seated position.  “Lo must still be asleep.”

As my mother lets out a large relieved sigh, I’m riddled with even more unanswered questions.  

“Oh thank God…”  I hear her start, even as I confusedly ask, “Why?  What is going on here?  Why are you calling so late?  Are you and daddy okay?”  

All kinds of terrible possibilities are running through my head, and her uneasiness is only making me more anxious.

“Uh…”  she trails off, unsure how to proceed until she eventually cuts in with a nervous sounding, “Has Aloha told you about the wedding yet…?”  leaving the question open ended. Huh?  Where are you going with this, mama?

“She did,” I confirm uneasily.  "She even asked me to be her maid of honour…” I continue in a serious tone, not sure what to make of any of this.  

“Yeah...that’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” she replies, her tone laced with concern, but for whom I’m still uncertain.  

I take another look at the clock and realize five minutes have already gone by, so I do my best to move this conversation along; I only have so much time until I have to get ready for work, but I need to figure out where she’s going with this. Something’s troubling you, Mom...but what?  

“What’s going on, Mom?”  I ask bluntly, but sincerely...hoping to get to the bottom of whatever's going on here.  “What’s wrong?”  

A few more seconds of silence go by until I finally hear her tentative voice softly ask, “I have something I need to tell you honey...but first I need to make sure you’re okay. You are okay aren’t you?”  

How the hell am I supposed to answer that?!  No, Mom...I’m not okay, but not for the reasons you’re thinking…

“Not exactly...” I admit, feeling a little frazzled, even as I quietly slide the bedside dresser open, taking in my e ipo’s letter with a wistful sigh.  

However, just as my fingers graze the still closed card, my mother breaks back in with a tone of concern and I regretfully slide the drawer closed...giving her my undivided attention.  At this point, what’s a little longer?

“That’s what I was afraid of.  It’s not Alika is it?  I thought you were over him…?”

“I am over him, Mom,” I reply with a hint of irritation.  “I was over him as soon as I found out he’d, they’d cheated on me.  But you should know how I feel about this..about him.  Especially after what happened when he followed me here...”  I trail off with undisguised anger, coupled with a hint of concern. Now I'm worried.  I know there’s something she’s not telling me, but what..?  

“Well honey...that’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about,” she begins in an apologetic tone.  “The fact that since you’ve been gone, Aloha’s been spending a lot of time here with your father and I...without Alika…”  Now maybe we’re finally getting somewhere...

Rather than interrupt my mother to ask questions, I decide to sit mostly silent and allow her to get this story out.  After all..what more could I try saying about this that I haven’t tried telling them already?

“At first, your Dad and I would ask her about his absence and she’d always have a good excuse prepared...anything from him being at work, to being out of town wedding planning,” she continues somberly.

At that point, I couldn’t hold my tongue, quietly muttering, “Gee now doesn’t that sound familiar?”

“I heard that missy,” my mother admonishes me in a slightly teasing tone before her voice goes serious again. “Now where was I…?  Oh yes...now for a while we bought her excuses for his absence, even if we did find it a bit strange.  

We really enjoyed these visits with Aloha, especially since with you gone, we missed having a daughter around...and loved that even with you gone she still came around as much as she did.”

“I really miss you guys too,” I admit with a sigh.  “But you understand why I had to leave don’t you, momma…?  Why I couldn’t stay…?”  I ask in frustration, one hand clenching my bed spread as the index finger of the other twirls the cord restlessly.  

“I’m getting to that honey,” she replies in a patient, yet motherly tone as I let another exasperated sigh escape.  What more is there to say?  Haven’t we talked this to death already?

But then the bomb was finally dropped.  “I’ve already told you how much she’s apologized for hurting you the way she, they, did…”

Upon hearing this coming up again, I start clearing my throat in exasperation as my eyes rove over to the clock.  2:22!  If that’s what this is about, this call is over…

“I know, I know...you don’t want to hear this.  That’s fine,” she continues in an impatient resigned tone.  “But you need to hear the rest of it okay Lani?"

I’d briefly tuned out at this point, overwhelmed again by all the feelings that brought me here in the first place...heartbreak, betrayal, anger, and sorrow…

If that wasn’t enough, my parents just couldn’t understand why I didn’t stay...didn’t try to work it out.  I could still hear their words ringing in my ears.  ‘I know they hurt you, but can’t you even try to forgive them?’ they asked me plaintively.  ‘Isn't that what family does?’

There was a part of me that wanted to forgive Aloha desperately.  She was like a sister to me after all.  But seeing them together reminded me of the betrayal over and over again...and I just couldn’t do it.  The pain was just too fresh.  I had to get away...have a fresh start.  And then I met him..and everything changed…

My eyes darted back to the bedside table as thoughts of our early days together swam through my mind and tears burned behind my eyelids....until my mother’s voice somehow broke through.  "Iolani?!  Are you still there?”

I swallow my feelings of regret, betrayal, pain, and fear even as I wipe my eyes...returning to the present, and this conversation I’m really no longer interested in having.  “I’m here, Mom,”  I reply in a soft, sorrowful, yet impatient tone.  “But could you get to the point?  I need to get to work here shortly.”

“Okay honey,” she replies in a pained, yet contrite tone.  “You don’t have to say anymore...just listen, please…” she pleads desperately. Silence fills the line as she waits with bated breath for my response.  

A few seconds pass as I ponder her request, but eventually another sigh passes my lips, and the words that slip free surprise the both of us.  “I’m listening…”

“Okay...I’ll try to make this quick.  I know your dad and I haven’t been there for you like we should’ve been.  We should’ve listened when you warned us about Alika honey...and for that we’re truly sorry…” she rushes out tearfully, leaving me confounded.  Huh?!

“Well Mom, you’ve got my attention.  What happened?  What made you guys change your minds all of a sudden?  You were so sure…” I reply softly, my earlier anger slowly melting away; confusion and concern taking its place.

“I can’t put my finger on it, but ever since you left things have changed...and not for the good…” she continues with foreboding.  

“At first it didn’t appear to be anything serious, but Alika gradually became increasingly distant with your father...with us.  However whenever we’d ask him or Aloha about it, they’d both brush it off and abruptly end the visit shortly after.  

We felt terrible whenever this happened.  We’d already lost you...we couldn’t bear the thought of losing them too, so we kept trying…”

The pain in her voice was palpable at this point.  I wanted to comfort her, but the words just wouldn’t come. It was all I could do to stay on the line...but I knew I had to…

“Unfortunately despite our best efforts, things went from bad to worse.  Alika’s visits became fewer and fewer...and whenever he did come by the tension was palpable...until one day he just stopped coming…” she forces out tearfully before falling silent, save for the occasional sniffle.  Oh Mom…

“Mama...it’s okay.  You don’t have to…”

“Yes I do, honey.  You need to hear this…” she replies sadly, a soft hiccup escaping.  

“Your dad and I would ask Aloha about his absence, but she’d always excuse him, promising he’d show up next time...but he never would.  She’d make an incredible attempt to appear bubbly, but the stress of keeping up the facade was written all over her face.  She tried hiding things from us, but we know her so well we could see right through her. Something was, is, wrong and we knew it.  

We tried approaching her with our concerns, but she always evaded the issue...and when her visits started to come less and less often we grew even more concerned…” Damn…I ‘knew' something was off with Lo.  I warned her about Alika...why wouldn’t she listen to me?

Mom’s voice once again cut through the thoughts running around inside my head with a troubled tone.  “Then the phone calls started.  By this point Aloha would stop by only occasionally, but every time she did it wouldn’t be long before the phone would ring…” she continues with a sob.  Oh no….

“Your father would pick up the phone...only to find a cold, abrasive Alika on the other end..leaving us to wonder where our loving son we never had had gone…”  

At this point, there’s a strong part of me that’s itching to say ‘I told you so’, but there’s something about the pain in her voice that stops me.  I just can’t do it…

“He would say little to us...repeatedly demanding to speak to Aloha until she would finally pick up the phone with a barely concealed look of fear in her eyes…” she cried pitifully.  “Shortly after she finally accepted the call we could hear him yelling at her from clear across the room.  Not long after that, she’d be giving us her apologies and heading home.

We wanted nothing more than to help her, but we felt powerless.  To make matters even worse, every time we tried broaching the subject with her she’d put on her sunny, brave face and tell us we were worried about nothing…”

“Oh Mom…” I finally force out in a choked tone.  “I tried to tell you…”  Poor Lo...

“I know you did, sweetie…”  she continues in despair.  “We should’ve listened to you.  I’m so sorry…” she cries.  “We should have been there…”

I wish I could reassure her, but it’s all I can do to stay on the line...listening to my own growing concerns about Aloha and Alika’s relationship being echoed back to me through the troubled voice of my mother.  

I feel so incredibly torn. On the one hand, my parents, who should’ve had my back no matter what had failed me...leaving me to handle this betrayal and heartbreak alone...thousands of miles from home.

Yet on the other, the pain, anguish and regret in her voice is palpable...so much so that I feel compelled to at least hear her out, hoping we can finally get past this and things can return to the way they once were...how they’re supposed to be.

“The day she told us they were getting married was an agonizing one.  We knew their relationship had turned toxic, but we had no tangible proof of how bad things might’ve gotten.. In fact, we still don’t...and Aloha seemed so happy we knew we had to keep our mouths shut once and for all.  We’d tried saying our piece repeatedly but it had fallen on deaf ears.  The last thing we want is to lose her the way we’ve already lost you…” she continues with quiet sobs.

“Iolani I know it’s a lot to ask...and we wouldn’t if we felt we had any other choice…” she continues, trailing off in a defeated tone and somehow I knew what she was asking before she said another word.  But can I do it?  Even more importantly do I want to?

“Mom...I…” I haltingly begin, only to be cut off by her plaintive voice beseeching me for forgiveness, understanding, and help.  

“I’ll never be able to apologize enough for not being there for you when you needed us sweetie.  I’ve never regretted anything more…” her voice cracks in a heartbreaking sob.  

“But please tell me you’ll help us not make the same mistake again…” she continues in a tone of desperation I’ve never heard from her before. “Try to forgive Aloha, honey.  She doesn’t realize what she’s getting herself into, and we’re worried sick about her.  Be her maid of honour. She needs someone to keep an eye on her.  We can’t do it....we’re too close...but you can.  Please...”  

While she may not know it yet, but I’ve already forgiven them.  Still...as much as I wish I could reassure her and promise to look after Lo I can’t...at least not yet.  “I’ve already been thinking about this, mama...so I’ll tell you exactly what I told her.  I promise to let her know soon...before she leaves.”

The weight of the call is quite heavy after that, as I realize I have a lot of thinking to do.  I wish my mom a good night, promising to call her again soon.  I finally pull myself out of bed; rushing through my morning routine even as my head continues spinning.

It seems there’s far more at stake here than I ever expected...and I have so much to think about.  My last thought as I pull the door closed behind me to begin my day is:  Oh Lo...what have you gotten yourself into this time?