Anna turned her gaze to Iolana and touched her hand. “I’m so glad you found your way here. You belong here, you know? It’s like you have always been here and we’ve always been friends.”
Choked up a little by the sentiment, Iolana had to take a deep breath before responding. She’d come so far in the year that she had been here. That meek, subservient, abused wife, was now back to her vibrant and independent self, with a group of people in her life that she would be forever thankful for. Iolana did know she belonged here, with Akona, Anna, Lalani and the Bed and Bed Breakfast. She also knew she was forming a new bond with Jake and was filled with hope to add him to her family on Maui. Whether their relationship grew, or they ended up friends, she was positive he would remain in her life. This island and these people were home for the first time since her parents died. It had taken almost this full year, but she now felt fully comfortable, happy and safe.
“I thank God every night for making the choice to step into your laundromat.” Iolana sighed with a choke in her voice. She could not have ever imagined a moment like this in her entire life. A life of upheaval and chaos that started with her parent’s accident, and did not end until the moment she stepped off the airplane in Maui. The moment she stepped into Anna’s laundromat changed her life and her mindset indefinitely.
“So,” Anna smiled with a side glance at Iolana. “Things are getting…. serious? Interesting? What would you say? With Jake?” Iolana told her about the couple of dates she and Jake had been on but no intimate details. She told her about how he stopped, on a trail along Hana highway, to pick up a beautiful rock he found. He wiped off the dirt on his shirt and handed it to her. “You can keep it to remember this day,” he had jokingly laughed. She did keep it, and would always remember that walk with Jake when she looked at that rock.
Iolana smiled and sighed again, as she slid down into her chair a little more, and crossed her legs. Staring out into the ocean, she took a sip of her wine and said, “All I can say is right now, in my life, I’ve honestly never felt so happy. So, content. It’s you, Akona and Lalani and yes,” She smiled again and looked at Anna, “Jake is definitely included in that.”
“It’s amazing how far you have come since you first showed up in my laundromat.”
The smile now gone from Iolana’s face as she remembered her prior life. “I know, and it’s about time I told you about it.”
“Only if you’re ready.” Anna said. She would never admit it, but she had searched for Iolana's name, and had never been able to come up with a single thing. Iolana’s past life was a mystery to Anna. What had happened to her in her prior life to bring that scared, lost girl to her laundromat?
“I’m ready,” Iolana said. “It’s time to tell you about my past life.” She knew this would be difficult for Anna to hear. She had avoided telling her, not only for Anna’s sake, but because she was not ready to talk about it. It brought her such fear to even think about her past and she had tried hard to push it to the back of her mind as long as she could. She was in a place where she felt so much stronger than she had in years and had a feeling sharing these details with her best friend would be even that much more cathartic for her wellbeing. She knew she would be that much stronger from the telling of the story of her past.
“I had a pretty great childhood,” Iolana started. “Almost picturesque in my memory. I’ll tell you more about my parents another time but when I was 17, they died in an accident.”
As Iolana continued to tell her story of losing her parents, meeting Mack and the abuse, Mack had to pull his red cap down further over his eyes. The friend she was with wouldn’t stop glancing over at him. He couldn’t figure out what about him had caught her eye, but it was time to leave. He could not risk her pointing him out to Beth. Who knows what she had told this girl about him?
Anna shivered and looked back at Iolana. Thank God that man finally left she thought. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but he creeped her out; big time. The shiver was not only from the man, but from the stories that Iolana was telling her.
“I was getting used to it at this point,” Iolana continued. She had noticed Anna shivering and assumed it was only because of the story she was telling. She did not notice Anna’s gaze shifting to the man behind them.