True to Me - Kay Bratt Page 0,38

got pregnant with me, posing with another girl. On the back, she wrote Carmen Crowe.”

Auntie Wang lost the smile. “Now that is interesting.”

“You know someone by that name?” Liam asked.

“I’m not sure I know who Carmen is,” Auntie Wang said, “but anyone who has been on Maui for very long knows the name Crowe. There are stories tied to that name.”

Her reply sounded ominous. Quinn wasn’t even sure she wanted to know, but she also didn’t want to not know.

“Can you tell me more?”

“Oh, I can tell you quite a bit,” Auntie Wang said, then stood and gestured toward a red velvet sofa and chair on the far wall. “But we’d better go sit somewhere more comfortable for this. It might take a while.”

Chapter Ten

Auntie Wang took center stage in what Quinn assumed was some sort of Asian emperor’s chair, holding court over them as she wove her tale. The painting behind her was a contradiction to the chair, its vivid colors and majestic Maui scene as Hawaiian as it could get.

As Auntie Wang spoke, Quinn scrutinized her face, marveling at how the woman could look Chinese and Hawaiian at the same time. Her skin was nearly flawless, and her eyes were expertly outlined and of the most unique shape. Her nose was small but beautifully sculpted. Yes, the woman was a classic beauty, and Quinn decided she was a masterful storyteller too.

“I don’t know if this Carmen Crowe is of the Maui Crowes, but if she is, then she’s connected to a colorful family,” Auntie Wang began. “Back when I was a kid, the Crowes were known around here as one of the richest families on the island. But they weren’t always that way. Theirs was a true rags-to-riches story, having sold most of the property they owned to a developer for one of those fancy resorts up in West Maui. But before the deal went through, there was a lot of fighting about it.”

“Fighting between who?” Quinn asked.

Auntie Wang held a hand up. “I’ll get there, but first I have to start at the beginning. You need to know what it was like to grow up in Maui long ago, before we were turned into a tourism landmark and all the foreigners flocked here.”

Quinn listened intently. She’d always wanted to know what her mother’s childhood was like, but that was a subject that had been closed to her.

“Before you were born,” Auntie Wang continued, “and even before your mother was born, the island was quiet. Barely any traffic. And was not even on the map of popular places to visit. Did you know that Maui was the first capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii?”

“I did,” Liam said, raising his hand.

“Of course you did. I wasn’t talking to you.” She gently chastised him, but Quinn knew it was a ruse. It was obvious she and Liam were crazy about each other.

“It used to be a whaling port, didn’t it?” Quinn asked.

Auntie Wang nodded. “Up in Lahaina, yes. Even today the whales come back every year, but now that it’s a well-known attraction and the tourists flock to the shores, there are fewer sightings. Back when the whales were plentiful, sugarcane grew wild and abundant here, and the entire island was fueled by the work on plantations. The big businesses that came after the sugar overthrew the Hawaiian kingdom and stole land for their crops and water for their fields, pushing many families away because they were unable to do what they’d done for generations.”

She looked pained for a moment. “My own ancestors were a big part of that, I’m sad to say. But people will always seize a way to build a better life for their families.”

“No shame in that, Auntie Wang,” Liam said.

She continued, “Things changed, but Hawaiian life was still good. While Oahu was becoming a metropolitan kind of place, and the big island was attracting hordes of outsiders, Maui continued to be the secret, quiet oasis of the Hawaiian people. Back then, entire villages raised children, not just a set of parents. When I was growing up, I was welcomed into the homes of all my neighbors—Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, and all others. I have a palate even now for every type of food, matching any sort of culture that ever came here. My parents never worried for me, and many evenings I sat at the feet of a Kupuna—one of the neighborhood elders—while he entertained all of us children with stories and legends. It was a