Untraditional Pt. 02

Drugging you was hard. All the other countless men on the island had taken the 'medicine' of their own volition. You were being tricked and for the first time, I began to see that I may have made a huge mistake. But it was too late to turn back then. It was like you being brave and picking up that stick to help Puko.

All of that was my stupidity. My lack of vision. Then the six days happened. This will be hard to hear, Rob. Puko and I clicked. Just like when we were children. Physically, we really clicked, I don't want to make things worse by going into detail. Emotionally and mentally we were hitting a good wavelength too. We didn't spend every minute having sex.

On the fourth day, Puko sat with me on the high cliffs and made his case about what I should expect when we returned. At first, I thought he'd been talking and conspiring with my Mother. He hadn't but he agreed with her. Puko explained your childhood to me, the deceit, the hurt, and the hardship. He told me he thought our marriage had about a ten percent chance of survival. I got mad at him, telling him if he thought that, then he'd been very disingenuous about the ritual. He shrugged and told me that yes, he'd been selfish, but always wanted it to be me, and that he'd pick up the shattered pieces.

He was right, I was wrong. Mom was right, and I was foolish. What happened when we returned was everything he'd predicted, minus my sister leaving the island with you.

The thing is, I don't know how to say 'Sorry'. I'm not all that sorry, truth be told, and I know that's even harder on you. What I am sorry for, is the incredible hurt I put you through, and for not understanding my own marriage and husband well enough. I did you wrong in so many ways, through my ignorance.

I left my birth control pills at home when we came to the island. The plan was for us to start a family when the solstice ended and we had two months alone to enjoy the tropical setting and each other. Now, I'm pregnant with Puko's child. I don't think that happened on the mountain, but I do think it happened in the days after you left. He was good at consoling me, I'm only a little ashamed to say.

Rob, I won't ever be back. I intend to live my life here with Puko and our children. I want nothing of what we accumulated together. Please don't waste money on a divorce attorney. Just wait until the 366 ^th day and file the short doc for abandonment. I'll never fight it. As for you, well, you married a very naïve girl, oblivious to her heritage, her customs, and how they would clash with those promised by a wedding. You also married a shallow, self-centered woman. Please don't let that slow you down in living a good life, except to choose more carefully next time. You will always hold a place in my heart.

Mele

P.S. Thank you for taking care of my sister and showing her a new culture.

Reading Mel's half-assed explanation, I was only numb. That was when I realized we'd both been quite naïve but that there was real subterfuge underneath all of it.

While her words tried to soothe, they served to re-hurt all over again. My suspicions about her starting her family without me seemed to be confirmed and that hurt badly.

The rest of the day, I spent in self-reflection. Aleki's attention to me was bittersweet and she felt it. That carried on for a few days until I decided that I should give my attention to Alex before she was gone for good. Our last ten days together were so blissful that the night of the art exhibit, I decided to give it one last attempt.

"I wish you'd reconsider," I said suggestively. "Staying with me, that is."

That time she did let out a sigh. "Honestly, Rob, I have thought about it. So, let me turn things around. Would you stay on my island, happily ever after, If I asked?"

She blushed just a bit. "Minus Mele and Puko, of course."

It was tough to answer that honestly but I got the basic gist of what she was saying. In my silence, Aleki motioned around the room we were standing in, waving her hand outwardly.

"Look at these people," she began. "All this beautiful art, some created by the masters of their craft. Look at how many are staring at their phones. They're missing everything, not multi-tasking."

She asked for my phone and I unlocked it for her. She typed furiously then handed it back to me. On a Google search screen, she'd typed the exact phrase she'd taught me to demand an audience with the tribal council. Under it, on the screen, it showed the translation as "I like plant management". Point taken.

She reached for my hand. "If it were just the two of us, in a hut or the condo, maybe it would be an easy decision. Let's face it, though, we're from completely different cultures, something you know firsthand. It would never work, as hard as either of us tried.

"Now, there," she said, pointing to her boss, Cybil. "She's the kind of woman you should explore a life with."

I'd met her boss several times but she was a bit too artsy-fartsy for me. Still, I knew what she meant.

The next morning, Aleki and I made sweet love for probably the last time. Aleki, for a twenty-year-old, was far beyond her years in the art of intimacy. I would miss her for a very long time and told her that as I dropped her at her terminal.

"Will you write?" she asked. I told her I would and made her promise the same. "Do you have a message for my sister?" That one surprised me. I thought about it - for a nanosecond.

"No chance," I chuckled. "Goodbye, Aleki, thank you for your care. Safe travels."

"Goodbye, Rob."

That was when the grief hit me.

It took several weeks to climb out of my funk. I refused to see myself as some sort of victim, even if deep down, I knew I was. Slowly, I began to live my life again. I went back to the gym, rode the stationary while listening to the Eagles, "No More Cloudy Days". I began to eat right again except for a few nights out with guys from work.

Cybil and I didn't go anywhere. My initial impression of her was correct. When I told her the story of Mel and me over dinner, she didn't want to believe it but finally apologized after asking the art museum curator.

A month after we mutually decided not to see each other again, Cybil called me and asked if I might accompany a friend of hers, Martina, who was in town.

Martina and I hit it off right away, we spent a wonderful weekend together, and then, after a brief trip back to her home - an island in Nova Scotia - we spent another month, and then another. Then it was off to meet her parents and later mine.

I'd have to see where things would go. There was certainly no hurry and I would use what I'd learned. I'd properly vet her before things became too serious. At the same time, I'd write Aleki often. I wasn't going to ignore my feelings for her, regardless of her family ties.

Some who read this might be amateur or even professional astronomers. We did have a planetarium at my high school and I did take every class the school offered over my four years there. I loved the subject and really liked my teacher/ mentor.

My disclaimer to you is this: yes, the Polynesian fable has Kane following the sun across the path of the Tropic of Cancer. Yes, I understand their island is in the southern hemisphere. I could have taken artistic license with their ancient tale, or I could have changed the visit and ritual to September 22. Neither thing felt appropriate for the story, and for non-astronomers, it would have taken an extra page to explain.