Page 118 of Lau Ahi
I never did emotional entreaties but this would be my first. I had questions. Some that had plagued my mind since the last time we’d met with the Franklins. I wasn’t sure if they’d resurrected themselves and forced themselves to the forefront of my mind because I’d spent so much time with the previous generation lately but I’d finally gotten around to having this discussion with Pappy. It felt years overdue.
His brows dipped and I knew he was wondering where this was coming from. I’d popped up at his house to check in on him so I’m sure he was surprised there was an agenda. “When have I ever been anything but?”
“The person this information is coming from could be a tainted source but it’s got my mind wondering and now I can’t shake the feelings I’m getting.”
“Speak on it, Ori, nothing that we’ve talked about is ever going to change how I feel about you. What’s on your mind?”
“Did you know about your father’s family?”
The furrow in his brow deepened, and I could see him attempting to follow where I was going. “Know what about them specifically?”
I knew when he reframed the question that the information Hakeem had given me was true. I didn’t know why he wantedto buy time with providing me an answer but that’s exactly what he was doing. Nothing about my life would change but I had questions that needed answers.
“So that means yes. Fine. What was the reason for keeping it from me?”
Pappy sat forward; the confusion cleared and irritation now clouded his features. “What is it that you think you know?”
“That you specifically have a part of the bloodline that flows fromEvergreen. He had no issue allowing you and the rest of the family to take on the Nakoa name but we’re not evenNakoas. What was his surname and why don’t we carry it?”
“His last name was Lincoln but the decision was made for us to stick with Nakoa. It was easier for us to maneuver back then with a Hawaiian name. Discrimination was a bitch and often it still can be. People wanted to work with their own. Even bigger corporations were more willing to deal with us because they felt as though they could come in and cheat us when it was time to make deals. My father had dealt with enough racism and segregation to last a lifetime. He came out there for the military and was still a second-class citizen. Adopting the Nakoa last name unofficially allowed him to flourish in a way that he hadn’t been able to previously.”
“And he knew? About theConsortium?”
Pappy eased back with a faraway look on his face like my knowing this information bothered him. “No. No, he didn’t. I didn’t find out until it came time for the wedding to take place between your mother and father. The Benoits did their due diligence with keeping up with as much as they could. Is that how you found out?”
“Hakeem told me. Said the same thing about the records so I can only think he got tipped off somehow. So when they researched you, they ensured you didn’t have anything crazy in your background?”
“Despite your father acting as though he were pure Hawaiian and frowning on anything that was American or Black—”
“Hold up—”
Pappy shook his head but then he stopped. “Not like that. Well, maybe not entirely like that. He wanted to fit in. Didn’t want the stress of having to fight for who he was.”
Hearing my father was a self-hating weak bitch wasn’t what I expected today but here we are.
“So they let you know.”
Pappy’s nod of confirmation was slow like he was still meandering between the present and the past. “I think it was a guarantee that we’d be accepted. TheConsortiumis very much dedicated to the betterment of our people. Just because there are other parts of our DNA that understand that struggle doesn’t mean we’re immediately entitled to what they have going on. But our family was there, and they felt as though I should know it was my birthright to be a part of what they had going on. The same way my father would’ve if he’d come to them with the same proposition.”
“This is heavy, Pappy. Did he know?”
The he didn’t have to be spelled out, Pappy knew exactly who I was referring to. The idea that maybe the situation between him and my mother had deteriorated to the point that it had because he no longer needed her and me, weighed heavily on my mind. They’d had their problems from the start but his flagrant disregard for her had to come from somewhere. He wouldn’t jeopardize his position of power unless he felt like he had something better.
Pappy smiled sadly; one of the reasons I hated speaking about Ikaika always a sore spot for him.
“No. I knew my son would do whatever he could to gainsay your mother even more if he knew. He wouldn’t have hadany respect for her or the Franklins and it would’ve started everything off even worse than it already was.”
I wasn’t sure how it could’ve gotten any worse as I heard echoes of their arguments that defined my childhood in my brain. “I don’t see how it could’ve been worse.”
“Easy. You wouldn’t have been here because your father would’ve tried to claim a seat at the table without wanting to put in any of the work. He avoided knowing any part of my father’s culture yet he wanted to capitalize on it for his personal gain. I loved my son but I’m not a fool.”
I sat forward placing my elbows on my knees and running my fingers through my hair. “I knew it was bad but I didn’t realize it was that bad.”
“He’d always been spoiled. Having to deal with that wasn’t a problem. But when it would affect a bunch of people that could wipe out our whole family or set us up for the life we have now, it was an easy decision to make.”
“I see.”
“This changes nothing.”
