“So, are there different types of hula-ing?” I ask Kai.
“Hula-ing?” she repeats. “The Hula isn’t a verb. It’s a noun, a type of dance—a ritual. Did you ever leave base on Oahu?” She laughs after questioning me, but I guess I’m still acting like a Texan, with my lack of Hawaiian knowledge.
“Dad, how did you not know that? Even I knew that,” Aya digs the fact in a little harder.
“I don’t know how I missed the memo,” I tell her.
Kai pulls out a portable speaker and pairs her phone to it. “I guess it’s just going to be us today, but that’s okay. I can give you a private lesson.”
Aya doesn’t seem to care either way. I know she mentioned making new friends, but she always has her own agenda. If other kids want to join her, she welcomes them, but not much stops her from whatever path she’s going down. I’d like to think I had something to do with that. I want her to be a leader and never feel like she has to follow someone else’s dreams.
Kai turns up the music, and the sound of a ukulele and a steel guitar offer the soothing sounds I’ve become accustomed to.
“Aya, come on over here,” Kai says, pointing to a spot in front of me in the sun. With one more trip to her bag near the rock, Kai pulls out a grass skirt and a lei. She quickly helps Aya into the skirt and places the lei of flowers around her neck. “Okay, now you’re ready.”
Aya has a smile from ear to ear with pure happiness. “Are you just going to stand there and watch, or are you going to join us?” Kai asks me.
I laugh. “I’m a guy, so I’ll just watch.” Nice try.
“Uh, men dance the Hula all the time, Denver. Don’t be insulting.” Of course, I would insult her. What else could I possibly do to her? “Let’s go. You’re wasting our time.”
Since I didn’t move quite fast enough for Miss Kai, she lunges toward me and grabs my wrist, pulling me over to where Aya is patiently waiting. “I want to watch Aya learn,” I say, trying my best to get out of this. Last night was enough entertaining to last me until at least tonight, when I have to do it all over again.
“No, no, it’s important that you learn too,” Kai says with a devilish smirk. This is payback for what I did to her. Definitely payback. “First, cup your hands over your chest, like this.” She does as she instructs, gently resting her cupped hands over her bare chest.
“Like this?” Aya asks, mirroring Kai perfectly.
“Exactly,” Kai replies enthusiastically. “This means aloha to the guests who may be watching our dance.” I glance over to see if Aya is following directions and she is, so I cup my hands over my chest, feeling like a tool. “Very good. Now, we slowly open our arms out like this to saywelcome.”
“I love this!” Aya shouts, not so eloquently.
Kai giggles and steps out of our three-person line and watches us perform her instruction. “That’s great.” She’s not paying much attention to me, thankfully, but it also makes me feel like a bigger moron for standing here out in the open—hula dancing. I realize it’s a common tradition here, but we’re surrounded by passing guests, not locals.
“Well, that was fun. I think I broke a sweat,” I tell her.
“We’re not done,” Kai says, pointing at me. “Hush.” Did she just hush me? “Now, we’re going to learn the basic hula arm movement. I want you to place both of your arms out to your right side, keeping your hands gently cupped.” I’m watching Aya follow Kai’s instructions, still being mildly inattentive, on purpose. “Aya can you show me what an ocean wave looks like as it’s rolling into the sand? Show me with your hands.”
Aya perfectly swoops her hands down and up in a wave motion while looking up into the sky. It’s as if she’s done this before, following the instructions so flawlessly. If I tried, I’d look like an Egyptian mummy trying to break free from the wrap. “How’s that?” Aya asks.
“Oh gosh, that’s absolutely perfect, Aya. You’re obviously a natural.” Kai crosses her arms over her chest and heads over to me. “And you?”
“You don’t want to see my wave,” I tell her.
“I do. I’m teaching a class, and you’re my student. I don’t want to get in trouble for not doing my job.” I can’t tell if she’s being serious or not since she’s obviously mastered the best poker face I’ve ever seen, which is a lot to say after some of the men I spent years around.
“Fine.” I toss my hands out to the side, doing little to cup my hands. I’d rather they hang from my wrists. Complying with her demand would be too simple. If she’s going to force me to dance, I’m not going to make it easy. Rather than getting annoyed with me though, she takes my hands and gently shapes them into slight cups.
“I’m sure you’ve seen what a wave looks like,” she says.
“Never, actually.”
Kai wraps her small hands around my wrists and guides me in the correct motion. “See, that’s not so hard. Is it?”
“Nope. Not hard at all,” I say, louder than I intended.
“Good. Now, switch sides, and do the same thing on your left.” Aya has lost herself in the music and is dancing away to her own beat. “Now that we have the hand gesture down, we can add in some hip movement.”
I swear the record just scratched, but that would only be in my head. “Oh, I already know how to do this,” Aya says, showing us that she does, in fact, know how to sway her hips to the same rhythm of her hand movements.
