The Night of Puanani, short story by Kirby Wright

The next morning, Gramma called Ben a devil for sneaking girls over and a thief for stealing beer. She said one thing would lead to another and someday he would land in jail. Ben was hardly apologetic. He told Gramma she was a manju and that he wished she would croak. He said Chipper was smart to leave her and his only mistake was not moving to another island.
"Ben," Gramma said, "promise me you'll nevah see Puanani again."
"Why?"
"Yo' fathah doesn't want you datin' kanakas."
"I'm going to keep on seeing her and that’s that."
Gramma cleared her throat. "Puanani's not who you think she is."
"I already know," Ben said.
"Know wot?"
"She's got Duva blood."
"Theah's somethin' mo'."
"What?"
"Yo' fathah got Kitty hapai, aftah a damn dance in Kaunakakai."
"He got her pregnant?" I asked.
Gramma crossed her arms. "Lani was their girl. Lani was a wild wahine who had a daughtah and ran off to the mainland. She left Puanani behind fo' Kitty to raise."
"Oh, God," I said. "Is Puanani related to us?"
Ben turned pale. "She's our cousin.”
"Worse," Gramma said.
"What could possibly be worse," Ben groaned.
"Yo' both Puanani's uncles."
"I'm her uncle and we're the same age?" Ben asked.
"Ae."
Ben swallowed hard. "Thanks for ruining my whole life."
"You ruined yo' own damn life," Gramma said, "by not listenin' to me from the start."

* * *

Ben phoned Puanani the day he found out he was her uncle. There were tears and apologies and promises to stay in touch. Ben never phoned again.
I didn't talk to Ben about Puanani. He never brought up her name and, whenever I talked about girls, he either changed the subject or walked away. It was as if he'd given up on the opposite sex after the Puanani fiasco and didn't want to risk losing at love again. Sometimes we'd see Puanani shopping at Misaki's Grocery & Dry Goods with Kitty—Ben would leave the store, walk down Main Street, and sit on the curb. He'd head back only after I loaded in the last of the groceries.

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