of long blond hair. “Why? Who cares?”
“There’s too much of an age difference,” Mom says stiffly.
Afton cocks her head. “Tell me again how much older you are than Pop?”
Ooh, ooh, I know the answer. Six years. Which is more than the four-year difference between Afton and Michael Wong.
“This is different. Two weeks ago, you were still in high school. This is inappropriate.”
Afton scowls. “Don’t you dare lecture me about what’s inappropriate.”
Mom’s cheeks color. “Don’t talk to me like that. I’m only trying to protect you.”
“Well, you’re doing a stellar job,” Afton snaps.
“Hey,” I try to interject again. “Let’s just calm down, okay?”
“Michael has a girlfriend,” Mom says then.
Afton’s expression goes blank. “What?”
“I’ve even met her,” Mom says. “Michael brought her in to the hospital to have lunch with Billy, about six months ago. Her name is Melanie.”
Afton’s breath becomes funny, irregular. “Six months ago is not now.”
“One month ago he was buying her an engagement ring.”
“A lot can happen in a month,” she says.
“If they’d broken up, I would have heard about it.”
Afton sucks her bottom lip into her mouth and holds it there, between her teeth, for a long time. “You ruin everything,” she says finally.
“Oh, don’t be so melodramatic. I’m sorry, Afton,” she says, more kindly. “I know you just broke up with Logan and . . .”
“You don’t know anything,” Afton says. “Like you have anything to say about relationships. Look at you and Pop.”
“I’m not talking about Pop,” Mom says.
Afton’s cold blue eyes flicker to me. “Well, maybe you should. Maybe we could get some of this shit out in the open, am I right?”
Thankfully at that exact moment Abby appears, bleary-eyed and clutching her nubby blanket to her chest. “What’s going on?” she asks. “Why is Afton swearing?”
Afton turns toward the door. “I’m going out.”
“There’s another group trip today,” Mom says. “They leave in an hour, and you’re going with everyone else.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Afton says with a petulant smile, and then she’s out the door, wearing the same clothes she was wearing yesterday.
I follow her. “Afton!”
She stops. Turns.
“Thank you,” I tell her.
She scoffs. “For what?”
“I know you’re mad, and this thing with Michael sucks, but thank you for not telling her that you know about Billy. I don’t think I would have had so much control.” I know I wouldn’t have. It didn’t even seem like Afton was mad about Billy. Her anger seemed focused solely on Mom.
But Afton’s looking at me now like I am the worst. “This is all your fault,” she says, and turns to go.
Today’s field trip this time is only a half day. The first stop is a place called Pu’uhonua o Honaunau. Kahoni makes us practice pronouncing the words several times.
“Back in the ancient days,” he tells us as our bus winds its way into the parking lot, “if you broke a law, any law, the penalty was death. Hey, you!”
He points at Marjorie, who is lifting a cracker to her lips.
“No eating on the bus!” Kahoni says as sternly as if she’s stolen a car. “You have broken a law.”
“If I don’t eat every two hours, my blood sugar gets iffy,” Marjorie says in her defense.
“Your reasons do not matter,” Kahoni says. “You broke the law, so you must die.”
“He’s not really going to kill Marjorie, is he?” whispers Abby from the seat next to mine. “Wait, is this the part where he throws her in the volcano?”
“No. He’s just making a point,” I whisper back.
“You’re in big trouble now, Marjorie,” Kahoni says. “If we can catch you, you’re dead. But if you can escape and get to the nearest pu’uhonua, you’ll be saved.”
“I’m faster than I look,” Marjorie says, and we all laugh.
Kahoni goes on to talk about how the place is a temple where the chiefs’ bones are buried, and still holds their mana—their power. We file off the bus and look around. To one side is a huge L-shaped wall made of palm tree trunks, cutting the area off from everywhere else, down to the black rocky beach.
“Go explore,” Kahoni says. “But remember, this place is filled with the spirit of peace and forgiveness. Treat it with respect.”
I keep a careful eye on Abby as we wander—through the royal grounds, into several thatched-roof structures with people inside demonstrating how to make nets from a certain kind of leaf and containers out of gourds. We didn’t even discuss whose job it was to look after Abby today. Mom just handed me the hundred dollars.
Nick’s with us,