Aliee Jung
It was as if all of her prayers had been answered. Kani of all people arrived to the bonfire next. She wasn't sure herself, but it sounded like a sigh of relief that left her lips. Finally someone she at least knows arrived. Well she knows Noa, but to even suggest they were close would be offensive. Aliee was completely fine with being on one side of the fire with the girl on the other. The way it should be. Aliee watched as Kani greeted his sister then worked his way to her. She smiled showing her great gratitude for the other's arrival. The first laugh of the night came from her as Kani greeted himself. She liked the slightly silly side of him. It matched perfectly with her own personality. "I'm fine." She whispered back to him during their brief hug. She wanted to talk more. It's been a while since they last spoke to each other.
She rose an eyebrow as if to ask if Kani was serious about his question. For all they knew, Keo was off with some random. Not that her track record was much better. Anyways, she turned to her friend and smiled. "Can we go somewhere and talk briefly?" There were two things she wanted to talk about. Dax and Jabari. Talking to Keo about relationships wasn't ideal nor was discussing a child he had no knowledge about. Oh! And the third thing would be to discuss what has been going on with Kani lately.
Kani could tell that Aliee was uncomfortable with Noa so close in her vacinity. He often wondered what it was that caused them to dislike one another. It wasn't his place to say anything but he did look out for both of them. His sister was family, and Aliee was family, in a sense. She was the mother of their three year old son, and yet Noa didn't even know that Aliee was Jabari's mother, and furthermore that she was Jabari's aunt. As far as she knew she was Jabari's niece. Nonetheless he looked at Aliee as she smiled at him. She had asked if they could go somewhere and talk briefly and he simply nodded.
"Be right back," he said to Noa before heading off in the far distance to talk to Aliee. He already knew what she was going to talk about, but he also had something he wanted to discuss with her. He wanted to discuss both Jabari and Noel with her. When they were a safe distance away, walking along the beach where the ocean hit the sand, he looked at her and sighed.
"You hanging in there?" he asked clearly worried about her. He hadn't seen her in a few days, probably more like a few weeks, but he thought of her often whenever he saw Jabari.
Aliee didn't hesitate to walk away with Kani. She needed a breather. Dramatic right? She didn't even say two words to Noa, but it was already enough of the girl for one night. She had a feeling he wanted to talk as well. One could say they had the type of friendship where they didn't see each other everyday, but they still maintained their friendship. That's just the way it was. Once they were a good distance away from the bitc-Noa, Aliee downed the rest of her drink to make it through the conversation pertaining to her child. "Define hanging in there?" A small joke to lighten the mood, or at least she thought it had. "Well first, I went to see Jabari last week. I wanted to see him again, but I was afraid it would look weird I keep showing up to only see one child." She paused for a moment finding the topic a little difficult to talk about.
"Kani, he doesn't even really know who I am. How is that...no, I know how it's possible but still." Now she felt the need for another drink. Shaking the thought away she directed her attention back to the topic at hand. "I want to tell him to call me Mom. Do you think it would be too weird though if someone heard him call me that? I mean eventually he's going to have to know who I really am. I don't want to be the 'lady who babysits on occasion'. I want him to call me his mother." It wasn't long before she began to ramble, but she could never talk about Jabari with anyone. If Kani wasn't around she would just have a bunch of thoughts floating around in her head, yet no one to talk to.
The ocean danced around their feet, partly because Kani willed it to do so, but also because of the rising tide. He listened to Aliee speak and while she spoke he could only agree with what she was saying. She had every right as Jabari's mother to feel this way, hell he even felt this way because instead of being called "da-da" or "daddy" he was pretending to be Jabari's nephew. It hurt that the decisions he made prior to had affected his life so greatly now. Jabari was his world, and he knew Jabari was Aliee's world as well. The baby had brought them so much joy and as they watched him grow up it became even more obvious that he was theirs. When it had come time to give Jabari to Kona, Kani had to leave in order to gather his thoughts. Now having to see Jabari in his grandfather's possession with Noa acting as caretaker and Aliee coming around as the "babysitter" it became increasingly painful to observe.
"I get it," Kani said, "I wish we could tell them all about Jabari. I often hold him and wonder what life would've been like if I just let it out that we had a kid, but then I think about the fact that he could be taken by the CPS and lost to us forever because of my stupid actions."
Kani got a little upset whenever he thought of it. Because of him, they had no choice in raising Jabari. Because of his violent streak when he was younger, and because of his record, he was unfit to raise a child, but what about Aliee? Unbeknown to him, her alcoholism would've surely gotten Jabari snatched away before he could even utter a single cry. It was all fucked up, but he planned on telling them one day, one day when it felt right.
"I'm going to tell them," he said softly looking up at Aliee. He exhaled and looked up at the sky, "I'm going to tell them and get Jabari back, but I need time to figure out how to do that. I'm also going to need your help."
He paused for a moment seeing how hurtful the conversation about Jabari was becoming. It was hurtful to see your child nearly every day and not being able to say "hey son" or have them call you by what you really are to them. The thought of his son never calling him "daddy" was heart wrenching and he could only imagine how hurt Aliee was. Still, he had to change the subject, he knew if he kept it on Jabari Aliee would be in tears sooner or later.
"But I know there's something else on your mind, what is it?"
Aliee couldn't even enjoy one of her favorite things, which was feeling cool ocean water run across her feet. No, that didn't matter to her right now. She could tell Kani blamed himself for what was currently happening to both of them, but if he knew about her drinking, then he'd know he's not the only one who contributed to the lost of Jabari for now. Unlike him though, Aliee wasn't exactly eager to tell her friends, namely Keo, about Jabari. Absolutely not. "Instead of telling everyone about him, I wish I could at least let him know who I am." Words couldn't describe how painful it was to deal with the fact your child doesn't even know you exist, even though you see them every week. Sighing, Aliee kicked at the water running between her toes. She could feel her emotions rising as they continued to talk.
"We need a lot more time to figure out how to get Jabari back." There were two major problems. One being Kani's probation and the second Aliee's drinking. If CPS knew about Aliee, then Jabari would never be in her care. Not at least until she can sober up. Who knows when that will be though. "But, if you really want to then I will help you." At the end of the day they were still great friends, so she was going to do her best. A temporary silence fell upon the duo, and she was happy to see him move onto a less frustrating topic. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips at the thought of the new topic. It was stressful but no where near the level of stress dealing with a child.
"You know me so well. Am I that easy to read?" Aliee joked. "Well the next topic is Dax. I feel like he likes me and I know I like him, but there is like this invisible wall up between us. I have known him a really long time now, but for some reason I can't express my feelings to him. Ugh! This is why I don't date. It's too complicated." Aliee puffed out her cheeks in thought before continuing where she left off. "Should I just be bold and tell him? Or wait for him to say something first?" Aliee always preached to Keo about a steady relationship but she's never had one herself.
Kani was happy to know that Aliee had his back when it came to Jabari and for that he was grateful and thankful. Now the conversation shifted to something more romantic. He listened as Aliee spoke of her attraction to Dax, one of the members of their group. Dax was an okay guy. For all Kani knew the guy chould shift into animals or some crazy shit like that. He was cool with Dax and hung out with him a few times, but that's what guys normally did. To say they were close was an understatement, at most he could call Dax a friend, one of those friends that you talk to, and hang on occasion, but never really had any deep connection or deep conversations with. It was kind of odd that most of the group were his family members, but he was sure Dax and Aliee would make a great couple, the only thing was that they were both too afraid to admit their feelings to one another.
"I'm sure Dax feels the same way you feel about him. How much do you two hang out? Do you two talk to each other at all? Don't wait too long Aliee, life is about taking chances, making mistakes and learning from them. Don't be holed up in your mind waiting for him to make a move. You're strong, your awesome so just go for it," Kani replied, giving rather interesting advice. It seemed that he was better at giving advice than taking it. His own issues were ever so prominent. He hardly dated, but when he did he went straight for it. The last relationship he was in lasted a long time, but apparently being trustworthy was beyond them. The relationship ended with violence as most everything pertaining to him did. Now he had a chance at something new, something fresh, and he was scared to death. He didn't want to mess it up. This foreigner had just met him and he could already feel the mutual connection. Noel had already confirmed the mutual link, but what would this mean? The guy was only here for a short while, there was no sense in getting emotionally connected was there? All these thoughts were running through his head. Should he go for it? Shoudl he leave it alone? Should he be happy, or should he just deal with it?
He looked at Aliee and smiled.
"Besides, if you don't, I'm sure plenty of other girls will fall head over heels for Dax," he exaggerated.
Sure Kani may not know a lot about Dax, but he knew enough for her to ask him for advice. Who did she really have to ask such a question? Not Keo. Not Quinn. Never Noa. Never ever Noa. Kye was too young and dealing with his own romance. She really needed some more friends. Good friends. "I hope he feels the same way about me. Otherwise I would look extremely stupid right now. Let's see, we are around each other a lot. Our moms work together so it's inevitable. Like I said we are good friends so we talk more than most." She tried to answer the rapid fire questions, but it was a little overwhelming to think about it all. On the other hand she could hug Kani right now. He was right. She shouldn't wait! She should just march right up to him and...who was she kidding? Never in hell was she going to be that bold. Nope, not her. Then again she didn't want to waste Kani's advice/pep talk. So many choices. Give up on a relationship and stay friends, or risk your long time friendship. Surely she will make up her mind, but it won't be tonight. Give it a day or two.
"You were doing good with the advice until the last part." Aliee referenced the mentioning of other girls. Enough about her already, she wanted to know more about him. "What about you? Anyone you like or holds your interest?" It may seem weird to most, as to why two people who share a child have no romantic interest in each other. The answer was rather simple. Aliee didn't like Kani like that and he didn't like her like that. It was just a drunken night nothing more. "You know I have to meet the person you plan on dating. Can't just have anyone around my child." Aliee grinned happily. She swung her arm out and wrapped it around Kani's shoulder. "So do tell. Who do you like right now? Who is the lucky person who is just oh so deserving of your love and affection?" She pinched his cheek in a motherly way.
He once again fell silent as he listened to Aliee as she spoke about Dax. In other words Aliee and Dax were quote unquote good friends and apparently neither had the tendency to tell the other how they truly felt abaout each other, well at least Aliee didn't. Perhaps he should talk to Dax, see how he felt about Aliee. That way if he felt the same way he could tell her and she could move things further. Was it really his place to interefere in such a way? Was he really authoried to do such a thing? It was for a good purpose, he wanted to see Aliee happy, and if Dax made her happy then he'd do whatever he could to see if the feelings were mutual. He wouldn't tell her of course, as she would probably disapprove of his actions and tell him not to do it.
"Ya know what, I'm sure he likes you Aliee, I mean what's not to like?" Kani replied as he laughed at Aliee's comment about him giving good advice until speaking of other girls. It was true though. If another girl came by and caught Dax's attention, it would be Aliee's fault that she didn't make a move when she had Dax's attention. It wasn't like Dax was an ugly person. He was actually pretty handsome. He was about to say something when Aliee started asking him about things that were on his mind. Was he that transparent? He sighed and looked out at the ocean, stopping momentarily.
"I, umm, well I met a guy today actually," Kani began as he felt his face heat up a bit, "His name is Noel, he's Puerto Rican I believe, and I brought him to the luau with me. I feel like there's something there, and I can tell he wants to explore more to see what happens, but I don't know. I don't wanna invest in something that will end soon. When I think about it dating a Haole is probably a bad idea right?"
Aliee pursed her lips as she listened to Kani carefully. He gave her some good advice so she should give him some as well. "Thank you, though." Nothing wrong with a little self-esteem boost. Now back to the task at hand. She almost burst with excitement as Kani mentioned meeting a guy today or more specifically tonight. A Cheshire Cat grin tugged at her lips as he continued talking. "Noel you say? If you like him at first glance then that is saying a lot." Aliee gave her friend's shoulder a small squeeze before continuing. "I think you should explore it. Who knows, it could end in a month or ten years. I don't want to hear you complain about 'what if I talked to him more' or 'I should have asked him out'. Nope, I just want to hear 'I gave it my all and now we are still together'. Things can only end badly if you let them Kani." It was a typical Aliee lecture to say the least. "And if Noel hurts you, then I'm here to help you back on your feet. That's what friends are for." She finished it off with a small smirk.
"Now, let's get back to the bonfire. People might think we are plotting against the Haole over here." It was close to a known fact Aliee had no adoration towards mainlanders. None. But for Kani she would make an exception. No one else though. "Come on darling the fire is calling us. It's cold over here." Aliee tugged on her friend's arm back in the direction of the bonfire.