Kahana-The Untold Stories Read online

  Kim replies, “No, my rich cousin let me borrow his clothes.” When this answer satisfies her, he smiles to himself because he has fooled her again.

  He heads back to the docks and takes his new white hat out of the bag, then dumps his old clothes in a garbage can. He believes that he will now be dressed like the passengers on a cruise ship. His appearance and mannerisms portray him as a rich young man. He casually strolls aboard with the other passengers.

  Once on the ship, Kim needs to find a hiding place. The boiler room is too risky. There are too many crew members that congregate there, and it would be easy for them to discover him.

  However, he knows from his past conversations with the soldiers on the docks that the pump room is never occupied. He finds the noisy pump room and hides in the sweltering heat for nine hours. Finally, he ventures out on deck. He believes enough time has elapsed to secure his safety. If he gets caught, it will be too late for the captain to send him back home.

  He makes his way onto the welds of the catwalk. There, he bas ks in the cool ocean breeze. He laughs and relishes in his cleverness. However, his joy is short lived. His stomach starts growling. He needs to satisfy his hunger with the sweet delicacies he brought from home.

  Anxiously, he opens the bag he’d stuffed full of provisions. He gasps when he pulls out a rotten apple. He rummages through the rest of the bag. All of his food has decayed from the scorching heat of the pump room.

  Despite his exhaustion and hunger, Kim drifts off to sleep. The next morning, he awakens to the sound of children and teenagers laughing and playing games on deck. He wishes he could join them. Then he’s drawn by an overwhelming sweet aroma. His mouth waters as he watches the kids eat a hearty breakfast of ham and eggs. Some are stuffing their greedy little mouths with sugar-coated donuts and washing these scrumptious treats down with fresh milk.

  Kim seizes this golden opportunity to appease his hunger, joining in their fun and activities. He even creates a game where food is the reward. Kim wins every round! Day by day, Kim becomes braver with his antics, and his pranks grow riskier. He enjoys pretending to be a paying passenger a little too much, feeling content and falling asleep every night in a lifeboat with a full stomach.

  But Kim’s good luck soon comes to a screeching halt. It is about 5:00 o’clock in the morning. He is sound asleep but wakes up when he hears a lot of noise and a man’s deep, commanding voice telling him to get up. Then he sees a man stepping out of the shadows, holding a butcher knife, moving closer to him. In a heavy Irish brogue, the man commands Kim to get up and stand at attention. Kim yawns and stretches and rises slowly, then tries to dart past the gigantic man.

  However, Jonathan Malloy, the ship’s cook, is too quick for Kim. He extends his long arm and grabs him, and then turns the boy around to face him. He shakes Kim as he holds him by his shoulders. He stares into Kim’s eyes and says, “Do I have your attention now?” Kim nods and answers, “Yes, sir.”

  Jonathan gives Kim an ultimatum. He tells him that he will throw him overboard or take him to the brig if he continues to mingle with the paying passengers.

  Kim promises that he won’t socialize with anyone anymore. Once again, Kim is sad, alone, and hungry. He only hopes he won’t starve to death before the ship pulls into port.

  Kim consoles himself by basking in the cool ocean breeze, smelling the delicate aromas of the food from the galley, and hearing the kids’ gleeful laughter. He wishes he didn’t have to hide. He longs to be with the other kids and play games with them again.

  The next evening, much to Kim’s surprise and delight, Jonathan brings him a large dinner. Jonathan continues to feed Kim every night until the cruise ship enters the port of San Francisco.

  Chapter 3

  San Francisco and Beyond

  It is a cold, foggy morning when Kim arrives in San Francisco. He strolls casually off the ship with the last departing passengers, but he can no longer camouflage himself amongst the ship’s passengers. He does not fit in anymore. His pants are ragged and dirty, his hat is stained, and his shirt is soiled, torn, and wrinkled.

  Then a thin, high-strung security officer sees Kim. The nervous officer blows his shrill whistle many times for the boy to halt, but Kim does not stop. Instead, he starts running like a bat out of hell. He knocks passengers down and creates havoc as he races past them. He does not stop until he is in the center of the city.

  San Francisco is unlike anything the young boy has ever seen. It is alive with a constant hustle and bustle of people. Loud noises screech from every street corner. The tall buildings serve as a fitting backdrop to the urban setting. The boy’s eyes relish the excitement and remarkable sights of the City by the Bay, but he cannot shake his loneliness as he wanders the streets.

  Finally, exhaustion overtakes him. He collapses along the rocky beach of Fisherman’s Wharf. The next morning, the Pacific Ocean’s tide of rough waves surround him. Cold, wet, and weak from hunger, he ventures to the tourist area.

  He stares into many restaurant windows. The tavern and restaurant owners pity the hungry boy and give him food, but charity only lasts for so long. They quickly grow tired of him; their kindness turns into rudeness and anger. They yell at him and threaten to call the authorities if Kim does not leave the premises. Kim heeds their warnings and runs away, then goes behind the restaurants to explore the back alleys.

  He cannot believe what he sees there. The cooks are pitching an abundance of scrumptious-looking leftovers to the alley cats. The hobos, who are hanging around, are eating like kings. They are digging through the overfilled garbage cans and grabbing large scraps of decent food. Kim watches for a few minutes. He knows what he must do to survive. He does not want to dig through the garbage, but he knows that he has no other choice. He is desperate, and there is nothing else he can do. He looks at the closest garbage can and thinks to himself that there could be a big fat rat in it. He slowly picks up the lid.

  He abruptly stops when he hears a loud Italian voice. He looks up and sees a cook. The cook is a good-looking, middle-aged Italian man. He is well-built and physically fit. He has olive skin and bright blue eyes. A white tag is pinned to his shirt with the hand-printed name of Giovanni.

  Giovanni says, “Eh, Garzonne, what tu doing in my spazzatura?”

  Kim looks at him and asks, “In your what?”

  Giovanni’s belly shakes like a bowl of jelly as he laughs, then he points to the garbage can.

  Kim pats the garbage can and replies, “Oh, you mean your garbage can.” Kim then tells him that he was looking for food.

  Giovanni says, “Come on inside and I’ll make you something to eat.”

  Giovanni brings him into the restaurant’s kitchen and makes Kim a hearty sandwich. They talk while Kim enjoys his food. Kim discovers that Giovanni is a World War I hero but traded his medals in and became a drifter many years ago. Giovanni also tells him that he is famous because a group of vagabonds gave him the name ‘King of the Road.’

  Giovanni takes Kim under his wing. He gives him a job as a dishwasher, a place to sleep, and a hell of an education. He fills the boy’s head with his tragic and humorous stories about World War I. He also ignites Kim’s imagination when he talks about what it was like to live life on the road. Kim is incredibly happy for the next two weeks, and he even gets paid twelve dollars. He didn’t get paid that much money working for three months in the sugar cane fields.

  Young and naïve, Kim blurts out, “I’m rich!”

  Giovanni laughs and tells him that he also got paid—so it’s time for him to move on. He asks Kim, “Do you want to come with me?”

  Kim does not hesitate. He quickly responds, “Yes! I want to come with you.”

  Giovanni puts a “Help Wanted” sign in the window, then leaves the keys to the restaurant in the kitchen. Now, they are ready to embark on their adventure. They leisurely wander to the outskirts of the city and stick their thumbs out, hitchhiking north towards Sacramento.

  After twenty minutes
, two middle-aged sisters stop their car and pick them up. Geraldine is plump, talkative, friendly, and oversexed. Her sister, Hope, is very different than her. She is thin, straight-laced, tight-lipped, and a fanatical born-again Christian.

  Geraldine tells them that they have a farm and it’s in desperate need of some repair work. Giovanni says that he will gladly accept the job as a handyman, with one condition. He says that Kim is his assistant, and he won’t take the job without him. Neither Geraldine nor Hope is too keen on the idea, since they don’t want to pay Kim.

  Giovanni tells them that he will pay Kim out of his wages. Liking this, Geraldine and Hope readily agree. They figure that getting two laborers for the price of one is a good deal.

  It is about 8:00 o’clock at night when they arrive at the farm. They go inside to the kitchen and have a hot meal together. During dinner, Hope tells Giovanni and Kim, “You will sleep in the stable every night. You must also milk the cows every morning.”

  Kim blurts out, “Do we get to eat three meals a day?”

  Hope points her finger at Kim and firmly says, “You will never interrupt me again. Do you understand?”

  He nods. “Okay.”

  “Say ‘Yes, ma’am,’” she demands.

  Kim holds his head down and mumbles, “Yes, ma’am.”

  Hope goes on to tell them that they will be given a list of their chores every morning. Giovani gives a jovial and loud, “Yes, ma’am!” He then laughs and winks at Kim.

  Hope clears her throat and says, “Your duties for tomorrow are to fix a leaky toilet, change a few light fixtures, and begin to paint the fence.”

  During the next few weeks, Kim and Giovanni’s friendship grows stronger. Kim is happy being with Giovanni, but he does not like Hope. She is always criticizing him. She tells him that she will put the “fear of God” into him. One morning at breakfast, she calls him a heathen and a demon. She tells him that until he can act like a Christian, she will treat him like a heathen. “Boy,” she says, “you will no longer be allowed to eat your food with my forks, knives, and spoons. Instead, you will use your fingers until you’ve converted to my Christian ways and moral values.”

  Angry, Kim shouts, “I am not a heathen. I am a Catholic!”

  Giovanni chuckles at Kim’s outburst, but Hope does not find Kim amusing. She replies, “A Catholic, eh? Well, that’s just as bad. From now on, the only meal you will eat in my house is breakfast. You will eat the rest of your meals in the barn with the other animals.” She then orders him to go to the stables for his incorrigible and disobedient ways.

  Meanwhile, Geraldine is becoming too frisky and clingy for Giovanni’s taste. Like Hope, she also begins to belittle Kim. She gets Kim alone one day and says, “You are an adorable little boy, but you are in the way. I like Giovanni, and I know he likes me. My farm is only big enough for me, Giovanni, and my sister. I am not being mean—that’s just the way it is. I will pay you at the end of the week, but then I want you gone. And I don’t want you to tell Giovanni about this. Do you understand?”

  Kim says, “Yes, Miss Geraldine, I understand.”

  Later that night, Giovanni tells Kim that he overheard Geraldine’s conversation with him. He tells the boy that they will both leave once they get their pay in a few days. Kim is relieved, grateful, and happy, giving Giovanni a big hug. Giovanni hugs Kim back and laughs as he says, “It’ll be all right. When we get paid, we’ll eat our breakfast and make a speedy exit!”

  After that, Giovanni and Kim go back on the road hitchhiking. They share many exciting adventures as they journey along the back roads to Sacramento. Thirty miles north of San Francisco, they stop to spend the night at a hobo camp.

  The next morning, the camp awakens to the angry roar of a five-ton locomotive. Hundreds of hoboes are rushing to catch the slow-moving train. They push and shove each other to get a spot at the front of the line to jump onto one of the freight cars. Then the train begins to pick up speed.

  Giovanni quickly instructs Kim in the fine art of hopping aboard a train. Kim tries and tries, but he fails each time because the more experienced hoboes always push him aside. After Giovanni effortlessly hops aboard, Kim runs after him, trying to keep up with the train. Giovanni extends his hand and hollers, “Come on, boy, you can do it!” Kim reaches out to grab his hand. When he finally does, he loses his grip and is unable to hold on. His sweaty hand slides away, and he manages to clutch only the rail’s edge.

  The powerful train toys with him, dragging him as if he is a rag doll. When Kim cannot hold on any longer, he falls and lands on the track beneath the moving train and rolls between the wheels.

  The roaring train is now traveling at an accelerated speed. Kim does not have another chance to get on, and Giovanni does not get off. Instead, he stands from the open doors and smiles at Kim as he waves goodbye.

  Kim is devastated. He waves goodbye, then wipes the tears that are rolling down his face. He is alone again. He did not think that Giovanni would leave him.

  After openly crying for a while, he regains his composure and slowly begins the long walk back to the hobo camp with his head held low.

  The next morning, the young, determined teenage boy successfully hops the great iron horse. He ends up in a railroad car with a group of smelly, snorting pigs. After several hours, the train slows down. Kim knows this is the best time to jump off. He leaps from the train, rolls down a hill, and gets hurt. He did not know there is a fine art to rolling when you hit the ground. He gets lucky this time, though, since he only ends up with a few bruises and cuts.

  After that, Kim walks for a while and finds a brook. He jumps into the cool, clean water. He washes the dried blood from his cuts and bruises and stays in the water for a long time to wash the foul odor of the swine off his body.

  Kim has nowhere to go but forward, now. He is on a quest to get to New York to see his uncle. He knows his dream of going to Texas and becoming a cowboy must wait. He vows to himself, “One day, I’ll ride a horse like a real cowboy. Things will get better. I have no regrets. I cannot stop now and give up. I will not call my father for help.” Then he thinks that his father must be worried about him. He knows he needs to contact him.

  A few months later, Kim is working a small job at a butcher shop in a town. After the job ends, Kim walks to the post office. He buys a postcard to send to his father and writes, “I’m okay. Going to see uncle in New York. Love you, Kim.’ Then he heads back to the hobo camp.

  Chapter 4

  The Big Apple Bites

  Kim arrives in New York City on a cold afternoon. He wants to get warm, so he heads to the subway station. While he is there, he looks for spare change in the phone booths and on the floors. He also rummages through the garbage cans to find food. Then he washes himself in one of the stations’ restrooms.

  The next morning, he sits on a bench looking at the speeding subway trains go by. They amaze him. He laughs as he thinks that if there were subways across the country the hoboes would lose their means of transportation. After all, no one can jump onto a subway train.

  It takes him several days to find his uncle’s apartment building. Once he finds it, he stands in front of the building, He feels relieved that his long journey is finally over. He walks slowly up several flights of stairs. Then he wanders down a long, dark hall until he finds apartment-12-B. He wipes his sweaty palms on his pants and then knocks on the door. A beautiful, lively Filipino girl named Alerie greets him. She has silky, long black hair, gleaming white teeth, and a wide smile.

  Kim tells her, “I am Amando Cruz’s nephew. I’ve come a long way to see him.”

  Alerie responds, “You’ll have plenty of time to talk to him later. For now, you must sit down, stay put, and be quiet.”

  She then introduces herself to Kim, saying, “My name is Alerie. I live next door with my family. I always come over to help the band. It is so much fun to be here—and I get paid, too!” Then she whispers, “I told you everything, now you must be quiet. You can’t say
a word.”

  Kim demands to know why he needs to be quiet. He shouts, “There’s no one else here!”

  Alerie answers, “In a few minutes, your uncle, the band, and the great Xavier Cugat will be here to have a rehearsal.”

  Kim asks, “Who is Xavier Cugat? What’s so great about him?”

  Alerie bursts out laughing. In a mocking tone, she asks, “Are you kidding? You don’t know who Xavier Cugat is? Where have you been? Everyone in the world knows about him.”

  Annoyed, Kim responds, “Well, I don’t.”

  Alerie laughs and proudly tells him, “I do! I know everything about him!”

  Then she does not take a breath as she boasts, “He’s a musical genius. People say that he is a protégé because he performed as a concert violinist when he was four years old. Then later, he played at Carnegie Hall. As time went on, he did not want to play classical music anymore. He put a Lain dance music band together because he wanted his music to inspire his audiences to dance and have fun. Now he is known as the Rumba King! And, your uncle plays flute for him.”

  Kim smiles when he hears how good his uncle did for himself. Then he looks around the room and sees colorful flared jackets, white silk shirts, large hats and bright red jackets piled on the couches and chairs. Alerie carefully picks up the costumes on the couch and places them on another chair so Kim can sit down.

  Kim cannot take his eyes off the stunning costumes. He picks up one of the silk shirts, and touches it, ever so gently, as he rubs it across his face. As Alerie watches him, she says, “Their shiny costumes are so special and beautiful. I love touching them too.” Kim joyously responds, “I like them because they are soft, classy and flashy.”

  Then Alerie warns Kim, “You better not get caught holding one of their shirts. These guys treasure their costumes. They don’t want anyone touching them but me!” Kim quickly puts the shirt down. Alerie continues, “I always clean and press their costumes. Xavier Cugat is one of the kings of showmanship! He demands that all the costumes must be perfect for his band’s performances. There cannot be one small stain, a hanging thread, or a wrinkle.”