1 Law 4 All. Billy Angel
exit. They couldn't react in time."
"I came back to the City. I walked around the rose garden at Golden Gate Park for a couple of hours and made sure they weren't following me. I guess they went all the way across to Oakland. Anyways, I lost them.
I went back to my apartment and they were parked across the street, again. Then, I gave my stuff to the Salvation Army, collected my valuables, rented this flat and here I am." She finished with her eyes glancing around the room.
Ben had stopped eating being mesmerized by her story and by how she was telling it. Her mannerisms were so incent, but she seemed so tough. Samoa must be some kind of place to grow up, he thought.
"Ok, let me get this straight,” he started. "You were minding your own business, living in San Francisco, when two men tried to run you down with a car and then followed you on foot to Joe's restaurant and then chased you on the Bay Bridge?"
"Yes," she said, "sort of.”
Chapter 24 Kitiona's Story
"Sort of,” he echoed. "What does that mean?”
"Actually, I moved to San Francisco less than a year ago. After I got here, I set about trying to find out who murdered my family.”
"You mean that you believe the people responsible for the fire that killed your family are in the City?" he questioned.
"Yes, I think that they are somehow connected with Amerastar Corporation.”
“Are you talking about the multinational conglomerate?”
“Yes.”
"In what way do you think these guys are involved?” he inquired skeptically
"Amerastar owns Motorhead, the company my father worked for," she bounced back immediately.
The Amerastar angle refocused Ben’s interest. This ought to be good even if it’s just her imagination, he thought.
Kitiona continued with her story. She detailed researching asbestos and its associated disorders for a school project. She read the report to her father. She cautioned him about working in the factory because Motorhead made asbestos-based brake lining glue.
“So you mean to tell me that your father worked in a factory that used asbestos as a raw material. And he didn’t know it was dangerous to breathe the stuff?”
“Yes. The workers were told to wear masks to keep from breathing the dust. But there was no mention of dangers of breathing asbestos.”
“What did he do then?”
“He tried to start a union to make the work environment safer. After Amerastar stalled the union process for more than a year, he started writing letters to the Amerastar's board members and to Congress.”
She paused recalling the disaster that changed her life. “Then the fire happened. And it killed my father, mother, brother and cousin.”
She stopped eating when she started her story, as did Ben. Their food was getting cold. Ben knew from experience that there was a lot more to this story, if it was true. But, he needed to get a handle on the big picture before asking pointed questions. That is, if he even wanted to get involved.
“Our food is getting cold. Lets finish this fine meal and we'll talk over dessert,” he suggested.
Kitiona wasn't sure if he was putting her off and basically disinterested or was just plain rude. She had just relived the worst months of her life, and he wanted to finish dinner. She thought this was going nowhere. She replaced her appetite with disgust.
Kitiona stared at her plate. Ben noticed that she stopped eating. While he was organizing his thoughts on the best way to approach his understanding her problem, he tried complimenting her on the great tasting dinner. She wasn't interested. She wanted to move dinner into dessert.
She asked him if he was finished. He could have eaten more. The Palusali was good and he was still hungry. He took the hint. "Yea, but the next time you make this, I want to be invited again. My taste buds thank you from the bottom of my stomach,” he smiled and tried to lighten the developing dysfunctional mood.
Kitiona almost smiled but her disappointment still showed through. "I bought some cheesecake for dessert." She said thinking, you can choke on the cake for all I care. She felt like a fool for inviting this guy over. She rushed to judgment. He doesn't give a care.
Kitiona cleared the plates off the table and Ben sat there pondering what had just happened. Her story seemed unrealistic but she told it with such passion. His outer appearance showed a cold, calculating lawyer, but his heart moved in her direction.
She came back with two slices of cheesecake. They had a swirl of chocolate syrup on the top and sides of the slice. She set the plate in front of him. They ate in a deafening silence for about a minute. He broke the icy silence with, "Good cheesecake.”
"I bought it at the Cheesecake outlet up the street. They have several versions but I thought you'd like the plain."
"I do.” He gave her his best chewing smile.
Whatever caused her to turn icy disturbed Ben. Was she reacting to him or was she just crazy. Do I get deeper into her story or should I back off? Ben took a chance and tried to empathize. "I can't imagine how you feel about losing your family. How are you coping?"
Her glare softened. "I probably shouldn't have come to San Francisco alone.” She followed with, "My family was my whole world. My mother was my friend and my father, my teacher. My brother, cousin and I would laugh and play and talk for hours sometimes about nothing.”
Her voice started to break up. She gathered her composure and said, "After feeling sad, I became angry. I wasn't home that night. Maybe, I could have saved everyone."
"Where were you?” He asked.
"I was at my uncles tattoo house. I lay on my stomach all night while he finished the tattoo on my back.”
"That must be some tattoo.” He felt the cloud of her attitude beginning to rise.
"My family are descendants of Samoa's aristocratic family. Tradition has the young females getting a tattoo on their backs at the age of 16 to signify entering womanhood. I decided to make my tattoo a symbol of my family and cultural pride. So, it’s a big one. It took me and my uncle two months to design.” She reminisced.
He contemplated asking to see the tattoo, but felt like he was walking on eggshells with this conversation. He decided to get some more information about the fire.
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