Page 96 of Buck & Mari

“So… SPAM,” Kid unwrapped the plastic film around it and took a bite out of one corner. He chewed and started to smile. “I’ve had my share of the pink stuff during my life, but never like this.”

“Give me a bite.”

Kid turned away as Arctic pulled the musubi from his hands and took a bite. “Dude, give it back.”

Arctic surrendered the musubi back as Donna’s son, Junior came over and gave him one of his own.

Mari looked over and saw that Hoss was manning the grill with Reiko.

Heath pulled her closer against his side. “What are you thinking about?”

She lifted her chin in the direction of the grill. “Looks like I’ve lost my job.”

“It works for me,” Heath leaned in and kissed her cheek, “I get to spend a little more time with you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Come and meet Missus Sakamoto.”

He took her hand and followed along with her.

BUCK

Later that night, Buck found himself almost lulled to sleep under the night sky.

Tiny, who he found out worked as a transportation driver for film productions filmed in Hawaii and Shawn, Missus Sakamoto’s son, who was a construction contractor, were both talented in music.

With Tiny’s ukulele and Shawn’s guitar, the two of them entertained the party with music. Some songs he recognized from mainstream radio and others were local songs that Mari and the others hummed or sang along with.

Buck laid his head in her lap and looked up into the sky.

He could see the clouds moving across the moon, heavier and heavier, moving with a breeze he didn’t feel.

A few feet away, Donna, Tiny’s wife, had settled her infant daughter down on a blanket and her son was sitting up between Reiko and Hoss, making some sort of craft.

Buck reached up a hand and touched Mari’s arm.

“Hmm?” She looked down into his face, her hand touching the side of his face.

He gestured over at the child. “What are they making over there?”

Mari tilted her head and watched the scene for a moment. “Oh… I see.”

Another song started to play as she smiled, her eyes getting a far away look.

“That’s something Reiko’s mom taught us when we were kids.”

She pointed at the piece of white cotton in one of Reiko’s hands and the ball of cotton fluff in the other.

“That’s a traditional Japanese charm. It comes with an old story… I don’t remember the exact legend, but the cotton square goes over the ball of cotton and then they tie a length of twine under the ball, giving it the appearance of a ‘ghost.’ Well, that’s what we see in a Western context. The charm represents a monk praying for sun. So you hang it from the eaves of a house, and the wind moves it around, trying to influence the clouds and approaching rain.

“It’s supposed to ward off the rain. And,” she trailed her fingers along his jaw, “there’s a Japanese rhyme that goes with it.”

Buck looked up at her. “What’s the rhyme?”

Mari winced. “Sorry, it’s been… years since I made one. If I hadn’t seen Reiko making one I doubt I would have thought of it.”

Buck reached an arm up over his head and stroked her lower back. “I’ve never heard anything like it.”

“Actually,” Mari leaned over him, her hair falling forward until he could only see a soft silvery light on her face, “it’s the same things as ‘rain rain go away.’”