5.(25-27) Monkey See/Monkey Do -- Age For Love

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25. Intimacies of the Woman’s Friend

On the surface of the lagoon are 4 small boats. Unclothed women dive at intervals while others return from bottom search. On beach, women in black sarongs look up at approach of boat. All are interested in Kimi. They never saw anyone as tall, big-boned and light-skinned. Frank eyes look her up and down and undress her in imagination, curious hands reach out to touch especially the breasts which the small breasted Isle women admire. They squat on sand around Kimi and Harumi. 
   Mango introduces the two as Ishimoto’s assistants and the Isle women erupt in babble of excitement. 
   While Harumi is making a speech about the Woman’s Friend, Kimi observes the women: none seem older than 25 and many teens. Like Mango they are small, slim and tan yellow with faces showing high cheekbones and heavy oriental eyelid folds. All are dressed the same with towel-band about forehead to secure hair, which is black, straight and cut short at shoulder.

   For an hour, Harumi teaches the intricacies of the Woman’s Friend.

26. Omari’s Shrine

Down a jungle path comes Mango with Harumi; after comes Kimi and her partner, 15 year-old Mariko. Vines and tropical shrubs force careful walking. As Kimi and Mariko walk, the girl shyly reaches for Kimi’s right fingers. Kimi smiles.
   “How old are you, Mari?”
   “Fifteen, Ma’am.”
   “Don’t call me Ma’am, Call me Big Sis.”
  Of a sudden, Mariko points up at dense overhanging foliage. “Big Sis! Monkeys!”

   Kimi makes out small furry faces peering through the leaves above. At once their shrill sounds begin.

   “Monkeys are stupid. Watch me fool ‘em and get a lot of these here.” Stooping, Mariko picks up a small green fruit and flings it straight up at the faces. Shrieks and screams are followed by ominous quiet and end in hail of fruits hurtling out of trees. Mariko picks up a fruit, bites it and offers to Kimi. It is tart like a barely ripe persimmon but sweet spearmint. They gather up fruits into Mariko’s bag while the monkeys look down dumbly.

   The pair catches up to Harumi and Mango at top of a steep slope and all stand gazing down at a small clearing with a shrine. Vine flowers cover sod roof and several tropical big-beak birds perch at its top angle and watch. The four approach and Kimi notes horizontal plank walls that are old, brown and rotting. Mango and Mariko kneel. “Omari’s shrine!” says Mariko sharply and Kimi and Harumi drop to knees.
   Mango and Mariko take out strings of prayer beads, bow heads and pray with the beads wrapped about clasped hands. Kimi notes a small cross hanging from Mariko’s beads.

   “Let us enter house of sacred mother” says Mariko.

   Inside is dark with moldy smell. Mango lights match and Kimi makes out Omari at center of room and recognizes in the stylized face, the Kwannon, the Chinese Buddhist goddess whose greenly corroded bronze bust has 3 aspects so that from any part of room she appears to be looking at her observer. Omari’s expression is distant as if gazing out of an infinite distance or the past and into eternity. Her ears are long-lobed a sign of godliness. Surrounding is a table covered with hard drippings of candle tallow from the many burnt candles, also small cups with ashes of burnt incense sticks, and little cup-like metal gongs to alert the goddess. Also dried scraps of old fruit offerings. All is dusty.

   They clean the room using swish brooms placed for it and Mariko lights four candles gotten from box under table. Using the candle flame she ignites the tips of four slim green incense sticks and puts each in an ash-filled cup, takes out of her bag a small flask of tea, a cubical container of cooked rice, and some of the fruits from the monkeys, and makes offering to Omari. Then she strikes small gong thrice and with each gong the two Isle women pray in singsong voices.
   Then they go out to arrange supplies, get water from nearby stream for the flowers on the worship table and sit down cross-legged in the cleared area before the goddess. Harumi faces Mango and Kimi faces Mariko.
   They eat rice with pickled octopus pieces and sip green tea brewed from brook water and leaf. Darkening shadows signal night’s approach.

27. Age for Love

At opposite ends of clearing are huts of bamboo with thatched grass roof. Grasping Kimi’s right fingers Mariko leads her into a hut on whose floor is a dusty fiber mat. Mariko shakes it down then sweeps it and lays it out as sleeping mat. “Big Sis! Let us bathe in the brook before sleep.” Kimi with Mariko and sits at edge of fast-flowing hip-deep stream with feet dangling over edge into the flowing cool water. As happens in a jungle, night falls fast with screech of animals and buzzing of insects. Full moon lends romantic glow. Mariko starts to pour bucketfuls of water over Kimi’s head, soaps and rinses her then rubs her down lightly with pumice stone. 
   "Big Sis! This visit to Omari because I now at age for love."
   To read final chapters now, click 5.(28-29) Sweet Heartaches - End Slim Novel 5