Hawaiian Fun
Created | Updated Oct 28, 2004
The Finale of This Trip
We left the Big Island from Kona airport around noontime. It was a complete contrast to our experience at Hilo airport as there was a busy crowd of noisy people catching the plane to Aloha. Leila and I had become used to not sitting next to each other because the view from a window seat allowed us to see a lot more. Throughout the whole trip we had been too preoccupied by the many sights and experiences to talk. We hardly got to know each other at all.
We finally arrived in Honolulu where Leila already had a B&B reservation for herself. I busied myself seeing to the luggage and getting a taxi. All of a sudden I realized that she was talking to a couple who had also been on the plane. I glanced over at the very well-dressed, overweight couple, but did not join in with their ad hoc conversation. Finally I got tired of waiting for her and, from a distance, called out for us to get underway. She had been becoming increasingly uncooperative and I was getting annoyed having to do everything alone while she just stared and did nothing.
Once she joined me she started to tell me about this couple and how he was a German millionaire. I really wasn't interested as I was more concerned with finding the way to our lodging - which was certainly not the Hyatt hotel where the German couple were heading. Our address was in Waikiki - the part of Oahu Island which is a pure tourist area and the only buildings were hotels and souvenir shops.
We arrived at a building which looked about ready to be demolished. I could not believe that people lived there. But, yes, an old woman standing at the top of a collapsing wooden stairway recognised the 'German girl' although Leila didn't look very German with her Indian features. The host was a dying old woman who showed us to a small room which contained only one bed - and this could scarcely fit into amongst all the general mess.
We were speechless! We decided to leave the luggage there for the time being and set off to try and find a better place. We went from hotel to hotel but there were no rooms available. Finally I told Leila to just call the agency through which she originally booked and inform them that we wanted a place for humans!
Because I could boost the finances we were offered an address in an expensive high-rise apartment building - but not until the following night. We had to spend that first night at the original lodging and hope that nothing happened to the very sick woman.
We survived the night and the woman was still alive in the morning. We assured her that the agency would find somebody else for her B&B. I rather wanted to call an ambulance for her but she said that her son was taking care of her. So we left.
The building we went to had more than 20 floors and we were on the 14th. It had a spacious living room with separate bedroom, twin beds, a bathroom with luxurious features and a fully equipped kitchen with washer and dryer. Leila's budget could never have stretched to afford this and I thought she would really enjoy it.
But it just so happened that, at the airport, the German couple had given her their address in Hyatt and invited her for dinner the next day. She did not have any fancy clothes but somehow managed to find a skirt and blouse to wear so off she went for dinner at the nearby hotel. I was happy as a lark to have a chance to catch up on some rest and sleep especially after the horror events at the B&B lodging.
I slept like a baby. Some time, later that night, Leila came home and made more than enough noise to wake me up. 'I want to talk to you.' she said while losing her balance due to being extremely drunk - I could smell the alcohol from a long way away. She was pouring out what she ahd learned at the dinner. 'The man is so rich and throws money around like he doesn't know what to do with it.' She just kept repeating 'So much money. So much money.'
I became increasingly angry. Nothing can be more disturbing for me than losing sleep, especially when I need it so badly, and for what? She fell unsteadily onto the bed for a while but than became violent. It was a truly psychotic showdown with all the trimmings. She jumped out of the bed and started to turn the furniture upside down. Then she threw clothes about and put the TV on loud in the living room - thus ensuring that there would be no sleep while the alcohol was still raging in her. In my desperation I wanted to call the police but, as she saw my hand on the telephone, she yanked open the sofabed in the living room and quietened down.
The night then passed like any other night although there was not much time left to wait for the sun to shine over the horizon heralding a glorious day ahead. Possibly looking less than relaxed I went to the management office which was located on the same floor. The young European couple who were the management had already been informed of the previous night's disturbance and told me that Leila had already left the building. 'Wow' was my answer. Apparently she had been scared that something uncomfortable might happen to her and so disappeared without a trace.
The maids put the apartment together again. The manager couple reduced my rent for the rest of my stay so that I might manage to enjoy the rest of my vacation. I happened to have some of my paintings from San Diego that they accepted with great pleasure and counted towards the rent. I had a couple of wonderful days in Waikiki before returning to San Diego. The Hawaiian trip and the winter stay in San Diego taught me a lot but, ultimately, the curse of alcohol killed an opportunity to make friends like I used to in previous pleasant trips.
Lessons are there to learn. The following winter I returned to Hawaii Oahu Island. I stayed for many months and learnt to love the Islands for the rest of my life.
