Virgin Mary, Understanding Woman! Have pity on me! Materena drops the hose and runs inside her house to call . . . call who? The emergency ward at the hospital? Hotu’s mother? She has no idea where Leilani is. She could be at her house studying for the exam on Monday. She could be at the beach. She could be anywhere!It’s Sunday morning, six o’clock. For all Materena knows, Leilani could be lost in the middle of the Pacific in a canoe.All right, then, Materena is going to run up that hill. She quickly gathers her things and rushes out the front door, falling on her daughter just as she steps out of the house.“You’re here!” Materena exclaims, squeezing her daughter tight. “Aue, I got so scared, I thought . . .” Materena stops talking. Something is not right. What’s all this trembling Leilani is doing? Materena looks up and sees that Leilani’s lips are quivering. “Girl? What happened? What’s going on? Come inside the house before the relatives start peeping from behind the curtains.”Once inside the house Leilani bursts into tears on her mother, and all Materena can do is hold her daughter tighter and repeat, “It’s all right, girl, cry .
