The house was just as I had seen it in William's body cam footage.
Now, here it was in real time, except that it was empty, save for myself and Tuesday. There was something about the place that rang of an old English country manor rather than a phantom house in Portlock."Which is?" I asked while following her down the shagged carpet hallway and into the equally shagged carpet living room. She took a seat on a cocooned rattan chair, where the rattan creaked slightly until it adjusted to her weight.
"The moment before I fell in love at first sight," she sighed with an overly dramatic world-weary tone. "That love ruined me, and I never recovered from it."
I heard what Tuesday said, but when I glanced out the living room window, I saw that the outside looked like the kind of passing scenery one would observe as you drove along in a car. Except, we weren't in a car. We were in a house. "Why does it look like that?" I pointed out the living room window. "What's going on?"
"If I'm not incorrect, we are now traveling through time," Tuesday came and stood next to me, observing the passing scenery as well.
"If this house is a traveling portal or something, when does it know to stop at the place you want to be?" I asked her.
"You take a sip of this from a martini glass," Tuesday handed me the drink. "Then you name the date and time where you'd like to stop. Except if we say the same date and time, it might be different for both of us because we simultaneously lived in our separate lives, which were entirely different. Which is why I'm going first!"
She threw back the clear liquid from the martini glass and ate the olive. She made a dash for the front door with me close behind, after I drank from my glass. When I walked out of the phantom house, I was right back where we started. Nothing had changed, but Tuesday and the house were gone. "What the fuck is going on?"
A car is coming up the road now, a gun barrel gray Mercedes convertible. A 65 280SL. Behind the wheel is a stunningly beautiful young woman who, although fair-skinned, is giving off a very Hawaiian vibe. Seated next to her is a young, dark Hawaiian woman who is equally as beautiful. She pulls her Mercedes right up to where I'm standing.
"Aloha, do you think you can kōkua? I'm looking for this address," she reaches into her purse and removes an envelope with the address written on it.
"This is it," I point behind me.
"This empty lot?" The young Hawaiian woman asks. "There's nothing there."
"Are you sure you know what you're talking about?" The young Haole girl asks.
"The address is written right there on the curb," I replied.
The young women look at where I'm pointing, and they realize I'm correct. "Have we met before?" The Haole girl asks.
"No," I say.
"You look very familiar," she muses. "I never forget a face."
"This old face is forgettable," I tell her. "Don't give it a second thought; it might give you nightmares."
"Eeewww," the young Hawaiian woman's face twists with disgust. "He's flirting with you, tita!"
"He's being a gentleman," the young Haole woman corrects her. "There's a difference."
"Then what's the difference?" The question is directed to me.
"The difference is, I said what I said, with no intent or ulterior motive to be anything but a gentleman," I replied.
The young Hawaiian woman removes her seatbelt to get out of the car. I race around to her side and open the door for her. "Please, let me."
"I can do it myself, you know?" she quips at me.
"I know you can, young lady, but if my mother were here and I did NOT do what I just did, she'd pull my ear," I answered.
"Ok then," she acquiesced. "We don't want your mama to get mad. My name is Hulumanu."
"Aloha e Hulumanu," I bowed slightly. She still didn't know how to recieve such kindness, so she walked toward the empty lot, not at all crossing the border to step on to the barren property. While Hulumanu and I were having our exchange regarding social etiquette, the young Haole girl had already let herself out of the car and was walking over to where I stood.
"Forgive my sister, she's been raised as keiki o ka 'āina, which is not an excuse for her behavior, but the way we were raised, the men around us didn't show this sort of kindness to us wahine." She extended her hand to me, and I took it in mine. "I'm Mardi, and I noticed that you still haven't introduced yourself?"
"My apologies," I laughed. "I'm late for an appointment, and I'm taking up your time. You and your sister are here for your own reasons, and I've been rudely interrupting. I'll get out of your way."
I got in my car and made a U-turn. As I passed Mardi, I slowed down and said, 'I'm Kalani, like the school.' It's nice to meet you."
***
Tuesday ran out of the house as it manifested on the lot. Now, she was her twenty-two-year-old self rushing to her 65 Mercedes SL convertible. Hulu was waiting at the new Koko Marina Shopping Center, and Tuesday did not want to be late. Luckily, there was no traffic so getting there did not tie up any time. Hulu was waiting right up front at the entrance.
"Sorry, I lost track of time," she apologized to her sister. "Hope you weren't waiting long?"
"Let's just get to the address, Mardi. I don't want to be late." Hulu got in and they sped off to their destination. She had never had a coming-out party; she was nervous, but she was also looking forward to it.
***
I was at the intersection that brings you out to Kalaniana'ole when it hit me like a ton of bricks. I made a screeching U-turn and raced back to the empty lot, taking caution, of course, to slow down where kids were playing. Nearing the empty lot, I saw cars lined up along either side of the road, but not cars from 2025 but from the 50s and 60s. The phantom house was there in full form, and a party of some kind was happening. She's in there with her sister, but I wasn't going inside just to have the house disappear in time.
"Mardi," I said to myself. "The French word for Tuesday."
...to be continued
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