On the Morning Tide

On the Morning Tide

I had only been back in Hawaii for three days as I walked slowly down to the water's edge. The pink/orange sky reflected brightly on the water as the morning tide rolled in. The cool water covered my feet as I stared across the waves.

I took a moment to think about what drew me back to my childhood home. It wasn't what I wanted but here I was, maybe for good this time. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket, seeing it was 5:30 in the morning, I called my father and asked if he wanted to go for a jog.

As I turned away from the water I noticed my neighbor standing on his back porch, drinking coffee and talking to himself. I stopped and watched for a moment. He had long brown hair, pulled back into a pony tail, the only clothes he had on were board shorts like surfer's wore. Maybe he was a surfer...who knows.

As I started to walk away he waved at me. "Oh shit" I say quietly. He caught me staring at him. And then there was a camera guy on his porch with him. Maybe that's who he was talking to. I squinted my eyes trying to get a better look at him and waved back, then turned toward my house. I kicked the sand off of my feet and glanced back across to his house.

The camera guy was still there talking to him. "Great, I'm going to end up in the background of some cheesy porn or something..." I say to myself as I closed my door. I laughed at the thought before walking out my front door to meet my dad.

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It had been a long time since I had even been in the same state as my father, much less two feet from him as we jogged. "I'm so glad your here." he says sweetly as he smiles over at me. We come to a stop at the car, finishing our run. "Me too dad. I'm sorry its been so long" I say wiping my sweaty face off.

"You wanna go to the gym with me today, there's a lot of people who would love to see you." He asks standing next to his car door. "Nah, Ive got a lot of boxes to unpack. How about dinner though? My treat?" I say hugging him and walking toward my car. We agree to meet later at his house.

As I pulled back into my driveway I noticed three black SUV's at my new neighbors house. "Odd for 7:30 in the morning" I say out loud opening my front door. I pulled my shoes off and opened the fridge getting a cold bottle of water.

Before I could take the top off my doorbell rang. I walked slowly to the front door, drinking some water. When I opened it there stood my mystery neighbor and the cameras. I'm sure I looked wide-eyed as I stared into the face of Leland Chapman. My mind was spinning as he introduced himself to me.

"Give me just a moment guys." He says to them and walks into my house, closing my door behind him; leaving them standing on the doorstep. "Hi...I'm so sorry for ambushing you." He says shaking my hand. "I'm -" "Leland, yes I know who you are." I say letting go of his hand.

"Oh...um my producers are doing this thing for the show, you know... Dog the Bounty Hunter... and they wanted to meet my neighbors, but... I really don't know many of my neighbors so when I waved at you they assumed we knew each other and here I am... I'm so sorry...can you just lie and say you know me or something. I'm just trying to get this over with so I can spend the day with my son." He says without missing a beat.

I laugh and say "Sure...I'll talk you up... tell everyone you're so wonderful..." I say raising my eyebrow. He seems a little taken aback with my comment. "Well...you don't have to "talk me up" Just answer a few questions I guess." he says walking back to the door. "I'm Mya by the way." I say before they walk in. He smiles and says "Thank you" once more.

Four cameras are set up in my kitchen because the rest of the house is littered with boxes, waiting to be unpacked. "I'm going to change clothes if thats okay." I say to Leland as we watch the commotion going on in my kitchen. "Okay...nothing too fancy." He says as I walk up the stairs. "Oh...right... you wouldn't want the public to know you lived in a gated community. Wouldn't want to ruin that bad boy image." I say as he stands stunned at the bottom of the stairs.

I pull a long sleeve shirt over my head and suddenly Leland is standing in my door way. "Shit...what are you doing up here?" I ask, clutching my chest. "What do you have against me? You don't even know me." He says, almost angry. "Nothing." I say brushing past him and down the stairs to meet the camera guys.

I felt a little claustrophobic being surrounded by cameras and being questioned about my neighbor. But, I went along with it, being as polite and friendly as possible. It only took about fifteen minutes to get enough film for their show and they were out the door, each of them thanking me for my time. Except Leland, he left without saying a word.

~~~~~~~~~

Later that night I met my father for dinner, I decided I would cook for him at his new house, rather than going out. "Ive got a bone to pick with you." I say as I hand him a plate to eat on. My dad looks up surprised. "What did I do?" he asks, laughing.

"Why didn't you tell me that Leland Chapman moved in next door to our old house. I saw him this morning with his camera guys. I didn't recognize him at first so I didn't think much about it, until he showed up at my doorstep with them..." I tell my dad, sitting down next to him. "Well. I just thought it would be a nice surprise for you." He tells me.

"A nice surprise... Daddy you know better than that. Oh and then I snapped at him...I didn't mean to. I don't know if I was more upset that he was there or upset over the fact that he didn't recognize me. You know?" I say looking to my dad for advice.

My dad shakes his head and smiles at me. "Mya its been what...fifteen years since he's seen you. You cant blame him for that." He tells me. "If you weren't my daughter I might not have recognized you either. You were thirteen when your mother left with you, so I can kinda see how it could happen." He says with a laugh.

"You're not supposed to take his side..." I tell him. Had it really been fifteen years since I had been back to Hawaii. My father always came to see me on birthdays and holidays, so I really never had a reason to be here.

"He always hated me, you know." I say sadly. It was true, we fought like we were arch enemy's. I never really knew why. He had just moved to Hawaii and started working out and fighting in my dads gym. Maybe he thought I was just a bratty little girl. Or maybe he thought I was always in the way because I was there everyday after school, just like he was.

"What are you thinking about?" My dad asks, interrupting my thoughts. "Just thinking about the first time I met him." I say solemnly. "He and his dad had just moved to Hawaii and his dad brought him in. Trying to tame his wild spirit, is what he told you." I say laughing at the thought. "I didn't understand it at the time, but later on after I moved with Mom and you told me about the show they were going to be on, I got to hear some of his story, it changed my opinion of him."

"He was wild, but he was a good kid." my dad says. I take our plates into the kitchen and wash them off. "I know he's changed his life around. And I respect that. But that doesn't change the past dad." I tell him. Of course, he just smiles and agrees with me. "Don't you dare tell him I'm back...He's going to have to figure that out on his on." I say as I'm walking out the door.

I left my dads house feeling a little down. I had so many things on my mind the last thing I wanted to think about was Leland being my neighbor, but he was and there was nothing I could do about it. Maybe I should apologize for snapping at him. I made a decision to do just that, but first I had to make a stop by the store.

As I pulled up to my house, I noticed that there were a few lights on at Leland's house, and the SUV's from this morning we're gone. Hopefully he was finished filming for the day. I walked a few feet from my driveway to his and knocked on the door. A few seconds later he opened it, and looked surprised to see me. "Hi. Are you busy?" I asked, biting my lip. "No, come on in" he says opening the door a little wider.

I hand him the flowers I had picked up from the store, he just stared at them and then at me. "I cant say that Ive ever had a woman bring me flowers before." He says laughing loudly. I smile and say "Well...I just wanted to apologize for what happened this morning, I didn't mean to snap at you. And nothing says I'm sorry like flowers..." I say taking the flowers from him and walking into his kitchen. "Do you have a vase for these?" I ask, taking the plastic off the outside of the flowers. "Um...no." He says, scratching his head and following behind me. "Just put them in a glass for now, and I'll bring you one tomorrow." I say handing them back to him.

The next morning I walked back to Leland's, vase in hand. Much to my dismay he was gone. I wouldn't see him again for two weeks.

Leland's POV:

I always breathed a sigh of relief when the plane touched back down in Kona. I loved my job but flying back and forth from Island to Island every couple of weeks or days, was getting to me. I found it hard to sleep when I was in Honolulu, which affected my job; and when I was at home, I found it hard to stay awake... Sometimes I resented my father for bringing camera's into our lives and sometimes I was thankful. It did afford me to live a better life than I had been. I had to take the good with the bad.

I was finally back home. As I got out of my truck I noticed all the lights at Mya'a house were on and a rental car sat in her driveway. I shrugged my shoulders, it wasn't my business. That was until I heard the yelling an hour later. I looked out out the window of my bedroom that faced her house and saw her standing on her back porch talking to a guy. He was yelling aggressively and gesturing his hands; he had her backed into a corner against the railing. I cracked the window open and listened in. He called her a whore. Suddenly his presence was my business. Maybe I was wrong for getting involved, but I wasn't going to let anyone talk to a woman that way.

I walked quickly out of my house and jogged over to her front door. I rang the doorbell and waited. A few minutes passed by before she opened it. I could tell she had been crying her face was red, her eyes we're puffy and she had wiped mascara across her face.

"Leland." She said, surprised and almost relieved. I saw the guy walking toward Mya from the back door. "Hi, I just got back into town and I didn't get any groceries today so I was wondering if I could borrow some sugar." I say, hopefully I was convincing enough. I handed her a coffee cup to put it in.

She turns to the guy and says "Just stay outside JJ, I'll be back in a minute, my neighbor just needs to borrow something." The guy rolls his eyes and stalks to the back door, leaving us alone. I follow Mya into the kitchen as she pulls the sugar canister down from her pantry. Her hands shake as she tried to fill the cup. I take the scoop from her hands and sit it down.

"I don't really need any sugar. I just heard him yelling at you and I wanted to make sure you were alright." I say, covering her shaking hands with mine.

She glances up at me and back to JJ standing on the back porch. "I'm okay." She says taking a deep breath. She gives me a tight, fake smile and pulls her hands from mine before handing me the cup of sugar.

"Do you want me to get rid of him?" I ask her, turning to see him pacing back and forth on the patio. "Can you?" She asks wiping her face with her hand. "Why don't you go upstairs and get cleaned up and I'll take care of him." I tell her giving her hand a squeeze before making my way out to the patio. I didn't know why I offered to help her out, I didn't really know her. But I did know that I wouldn't stand for a man treating a woman this way.

I took a moment to watch this JJ character standing on her patio. He was a little taller than I was, he was the intimidating guy, the one that pushed and shoved to get his point across. But I wasn't one to be pushed or shoved. I slid the back door open and walked outside into the cooler than usual air. "Who the hell are you?" He asks trying to size me up. I walk up, standing toe to toe with him. "You're worst nightmare if you don't get the f**k off this property." I say sternly.

He throws his head back and laughs. I grab his face with my hand and bring it down to mine. "I know all about bastards like you. I'm telling you right now, don't f**k with me and don't you dare show back up at Mya's house if you know whats best for you." I say through my teeth. Not a hint of emotion shown on my face. He jerked his head back and brushed past me and out the front door.

I let out the breath I had been holding and sat down on the patio chair. A few minutes later Mya is standing in front of me in pink pajama shorts and a tight black tank top; handing me a bottle of water. "Is he gone?" She asks looking around. I nod. "I don't think you'll have to worry about him anymore." I say smiling at her. She closes her eyes and lays her head back against the chair. I could see the relief on her face.

I was surprised at myself for getting involved but it was like I had this connection to her. "So....do you wanna tell me whats going on?" I ask looking to her for answers. "Or at least tell me who he was...I'm guessing your boyfriend?"

"My fiance." She says looking past me and out to the ocean. "You're fiance?" I ask a little surprised. "But you just moved here." I reply back. She smiles a sad smile and says "I ran...from him. After tonight I'm sure you can see why. Thats why Im here."

She was right, I didn't blame her for running. "He wasn't always like that. When I met him he was in medical school. He was going to be a cardiologist. We dated for six months and he asked me to marry him, I accepted and things were perfect." she tells me. "Until...until I found out I was pregnant."

My eyes immediately went to her stomach. It looked tight and toned in the pink shorts. "Oh" is all I could say. She ran her hand across her stomach and smiled. "Two months along." she says wistfully. "I take it, he wasn't happy about it." I ask her, taking a sip of the water she had given me.

"Something like that." she says, pausing to sip her water. "He told me that I was inconsiderate for getting pregnant because I knew he was in medical school and didn't have time for a baby... as if I did this all on my own." she says, her hand still holding her stomach. "Then he got it in his head that I had cheated on him, because there was no way this baby was his, he said. So one day I just packed my things and left. I had to. I was scared of what might have happened if I had stayed."

"So you picked Hawaii? Judging from the southern accent your a long way from home" I say to her. Mya laughs and takes another drink of her water. "Not as far as you think Leland."

"Well, I hope that things get better for you. You seem like a strong woman, I know you'll be alright." I tell her before standing up. We talk for a few minutes more and she thanks me and walks with me to the steps that lead to the beach. "I need to get going, Ive got a jump I need to get in the morning." I tell her. Walking down to the sand below. She follows a few steps down. "Thank you for saving me tonight. I owe you." she says sweetly. I give her a wink and walk a few feet through the sand over to my house. She gives me a wave before walking into her house.