The Gift of Rio (The Gift of the Elements) Read online

  Finally, the day had arrived. Mei got ready, packed her bags, and walked out the door of the house she had lived in with a man she had never loved and had sadly grown to hate. She climbed in the taxi and breathed a sigh of relief while looking out the front windshield as they pulled away.

  Forty-Five minutes later, Mei was sitting in the terminal at the Kansai Airport while a local charity moved every stitch of furniture, clothing, dishware and linens out of their house. When Sota got home that night, he wouldn’t have so much as a toothbrush waiting for him.

  As she finally boarded the plane, she was greeted for the first time as Toki Uchida. It felt good. It was a clean start. She had chosen the name Toki because of its meaning: “time of opportunity.” That is exactly what this was for her. And, she was seizing it.

  Toki loved Japan and she would miss it. She had done some research and chosen her new home because it would be somewhat familiar. It was also not as far away from Japan as if she had chosen to go all the way to the mainland of America. In fact, it was only 3,850 miles away. Toki would have had to travel an additional 4,900 miles just to get to the coast of California.

  She was off to start a new life on another island. This one was called Hawaii. Of course, it was about seven percent the size of Japan. But, it was as close as Toki could get to Japan in America. And, it represented safety for her child. So, it would be enough. She was flying into Hilo and, from there, had no idea where she was going. The freedom she felt as a result, overwhelmed her.

  She beamed as she looked out the window while the plane was lifting off the ground. She stared at the water and was thankful that she would have a similar view when she landed in her new home. It was at that moment that she named the daughter that was growing inside of her. The daughter that she had been trying to protect since the elderly woman had prophesied her coming. The daughter she now knew was finally going to be safe. The daughter who was a gift to her and to everyone. And, the daughter she already loved.

  Perhaps the voice inside that had been guiding her steps for the last four weeks was the one who named the girl for her. Perhaps it was just the lovely sight of the water out of the airplane window. Whatever it was, her daughter’s name became official on that plane ride from Osaka, Japan to Hilo, Hawaii in the United States of America.

  The gift growing inside of Toki, would forever be known as Rio.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Hilo & Rio

  Toki was relieved to find that a woman who worked at one of the rent-a-car counters at the Hilo International Airport spoke Japanese. They had a conversation that convinced Toki that she’d earned some self-indulging. So, she rented a bright red, 1977 convertible Ford Mustang and drove to a four-star inn that the woman had recommended, just outside of Hilo, on twenty-two lush acres of tropical paradise. She spent forty-eight hours being pampered in the spa, staring at the gorgeous waterfalls that fed into the Waiau River, and thanking the strange elderly woman whom she couldn’t see but hoped could hear her. She did know, however, that she had never felt better in her entire life.

  The inn had an Asian flare and even featured an extensive bamboo garden. She felt right at home. But, on the third day, she woke up and decided that it was time to begin the rest of her life. She needed to explore the island and find a place to call home for herself and the baby girl who would be arriving in a little more than six months.

  She fell in love with the area of Kona but quickly realized that the Japanese population was denser back on the other side of the island in Hilo. So, she found a house on a hill that overlooked Hilo Bay. Because she was paying cash, she got a good price for it which gave her a small sense of pride. Toki turned her rental car in and took a taxi to a Ford dealership because she had enjoyed her rental car so much. She bought a 1978 Ford Mustang II King Cobra. This time, Toki chose a beautiful blue color and got the ‘T Roof’ design. Again, she got a good deal because she paid cash and her sense of pride continued to grow.

  Toki settled into the new house and got it ready for Rio. The pregnancy was a relatively typical one. Other than the fact that Rio was very active in the womb, which Toki particularly noticed when she was in the shower, there really were no complications of any significance. The most unusual part of the process was something that Toki chose to do. At the suggestion of her new friend, another Japanese woman and next door neighbor, Nyoko, Toki chose to do a water birth in a private setting near Rainbow Falls on the Wailuku River. The birth process turned out to be an expensive one but it all went smoothly. She was soon home with her daughter and already anxious to find out what was going to make her so special. Besides, of course, the fact that she was already incredibly special to Toki.

  By the time all of the bills associated with giving birth to Rio were paid, Toki realized that the money she had taken from her previous life would eventually run out. Fortunately, her friendship with Nyoko, who had two little boys of her own, had quickly blossomed. Nyoko’s youngest was only a year older than Rio and she agreed to watch Rio if Toki found a job.

  Soon, Toki did exactly that. She took a job in the administration building at the University of Hawaii, helping Japanese students adapt to college life. Toki’s English improved greatly in this job because she often found herself forced to translate from English to Japanese and, just as often, from Japanese to English.

  It was also at this job that she met Anthony Marlow. He was an astronomer working as a researcher at the University. Anthony sat next to her while they were both eating lunch. And, yes, it was on another bench. Their conversation was immediately easy, fun, and warm. He was the first African-American that she had ever met. And, before long, he became the first man she had ever fallen in love with.

  The Marlow family was officially born when Toki and Anthony were married just before Rio’s second birthday. It was a good thing, too. Toki needed the help. Rio was a handful from the start and it never stopped. It took three adults to raise that little girl: Toki, Anthony and Nyoko. Each of them felt like it was a full-time job. But, they all loved Rio and Rio loved and truly appreciated all of them.

  Even after an early entrance to kindergarten, to which Rio adapted flawlessly, she wouldn’t stop throwing herself into new situations. She made daring climbs on playground equipment and found new ways, almost daily, to prove she was just as tough, fast, strong and brave as any of the boys. The most important boy in her life was her little brother, Hani, who was born ten days after her fifth birthday.

  Toki was consistently amazed at how different Rio was from both Sota and herself. Emotionally, Rio was an easy child. She was thick-skinned and as friendly as any child in the school. The only problems that arose came primarily when her impermeable attitude permitted activities that were impulsive and occasionally dangerous, like taking Toki’s Mustang for a joyride, at age twelve, with seven-year-old Hani riding shotgun. In that instance, she didn’t get very far. In fact, she was stopped about forty feet from her driveway when she accidentally put her mom’s car through Nyoko’s fence. Although she got into a lot of trouble for it at the time, and spent the rest of her summer babysitting and mowing lawns to earn money to repair the fence, Toki gave the sixteen-year-old car to Rio when she got her driver’s license. Toki bought herself a 1994 Acura Integra. She got her T-Tops again but, this time, she chose the color white.

  Rio was a smart girl and always got good grades in school. However, her swimming coaches had higher praise for her than her teachers did because her bold mouth was occasionally an unwelcome distraction in class. Rio was quick to correct her teachers when they made a mistake because she was focused on the task at hand. However, she was completely at peace in the water and typically quiet as a result. In both settings, she worked as hard as anyone else.

  Her hard work paid off when it came time for college. Those good grades and her stamina in the pool earned her a scholarship to the University of Hawaii, where her mother and her step-father both worked. She considered going to a different school but, she already knew the coaches at
the University because they had been attending her meets all throughout high school. Ultimately, it was an easy transition and, the thought of her parents not being able to attend any of her meets would have been unbearable.

  All in all, Rio had a great, albeit relatively uneventful, childhood. Toki rarely ever thought about the fact that the prophetess had told her how Rio would be special to everyone. Of course, it did occasionally cross her mind and, if it hadn’t been for the woman’s accuracy about everything else, she might have dismissed it completely. As a result, she still had never told anyone about the prophecy. But, that was all about to change.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Major

  Rio didn’t have the typical long arms, broad shoulders or long torso that the rest of the swimmers on her team had. In fact, she was the smallest person in the pool. Having been a swimmer pretty much her whole life, she had developed a tiny waist and powerful but slender legs. She wasn’t the fastest swimmer on the team, either. Therefore, she didn’t swim any of the sprints. What made Rio one of the best swimmers on her team, was the fact that it seemed she could swim forever without even slowing down. She didn’t have to pace herself like everyone else who swam the distance races did. She simply went all out from the beginning and didn’t stop until the race was over.

  That had been the case from the time Toki and Anthony put her in a body of water bigger than the bathtub. They had spent a Sunday at the Wailuku River State Park when Rio was two years old. They walked her down the river bank and let her dip her toes in the water. They expected her to yell or laugh, maybe even turn around and run back up the bank. Instead, Rio simply closed her eyes and smiled, as if she was feeling the warmth of the sun for the first time.

  When Anthony picked her up and walked further into the water, he held her in front of him and told her to start paddling with her hands and kicking her feet. As he loosened his grip on his step-daughter, she ignored his advice and did a full breast stroke. And then, another one. Suddenly, Anthony was scrambling to grab her as she swam away. Panicked, he and Toki started chasing after Rio but she just swam in a circle around them. They stopped and watched in amazement as their daughter, at two years old and having never taken a swimming lesson, calmly swam around them in about three feet of water.

  Toki, of course, was quickly reminded of Rio’s consistent reaction to the shower from inside of her womb. She began to wonder, for the first time, if her daughter’s affinity for water had anything to do with the prophecy she had received from the elderly woman. But, she continued to keep that to herself. Instead she just started laughing and clapping as she and Anthony looked on in awe.

  Rio was enrolled in swimming classes less than twenty-four hours later. Her instructors were as astonished by the child’s quick taking to water as her parents had been. Not that it is uncommon to get children into the pool at that age. Some parents have their children in the pool and getting comfortable with a swimming environment before the age of one. However, Rio took so naturally to the water that no one could believe she hadn’t previously been taking lessons. Even if she had, she was already well ahead of other kids her age.

  They had her competing as early as they could, which was at the age of five. She swam in a variety of events at first. But, as she got older, kids got faster and her consistent winning became, well, less consistent in the sprints. But, no one could beat her in the distance races. So, by the time she was a freshman in high school, the distance races were all that she continued to compete in.

  As a sophomore in college she was facing the stiffest competition of her young life. She did well, but she didn’t qualify for the Olympic trials the year before. It was tough for her when she came up short but, Rio was a pretty resilient girl. She got right back to training and had just finished up a strong season in March of 1997.

  Instead of celebrating her personal best time of 15:38:24 and third place finish in the 1650 Free at the NCAA National Championships, Rio’s coach found her in the pool the day after their return from Indianapolis. He squatted down, above the fifty-meter-long and twelve-yard-wide pool, and sat back on his haunches in front of her lane. As Rio swam toward him, she spotted him, touched the wall and put her right arm over the side to hold herself up as she removed her goggles with her left hand.

  “Hey coach,” she said.

  “I’d ask you what you’re doing in here but I’d be lying if I pretended to be surprised,” he responded before moving on to the order of business. “If I told you I got a call from your academic advisor, would you be able to tell me why?”

  “She’s on me about choosing a major.”

  “Right,” he agreed. “I’m assuming she explained that it’s school policy you have to have a major declared by the end of your sophomore year if you want to participate in the athletic programs your junior year.”

  Rio nodded in agreement.

  “You got that covered?”

  “Not yet. But, I will.”

  “If you want to talk through anything, you know where to find me.”

  “Thanks, coach.”

  “Of course. Now, get out of that pool and go have some fun.”

  “This is fun, coach.”

  “I mean real fun,” he said as he reached a hand down. She grabbed it and he pulled her out of the pool. “Get out of here.”

  Rio went to the locker room, dried off and changed into street clothes. She was on her way home when she got an idea. She turned off Highway 19 onto Waianuenue Avenue and drove straight to the Wailuku River State Park. She parked the Mustang at the back of the parking lot so she’d be less visible, climbed into the back seat and changed into a dry bathing suit.

  Three minutes later, Rio was swimming again. But, this was even better. The only thing that felt more wonderful than being in the pool, was being in water that had no chlorine in it. This was the closest Rio ever got to ‘getting high’ on a drug. But, this was so much better than Rio could imagine any drug being. Instead of clouding her mind, it gave her clarity. It gave her energy. It made everything feel more spectacular. And, it was exactly what she needed as she pondered her future and prepared to make a major decision.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Decision

  The Marlow family was enjoying a rather typical dinner of casual conversation and a feast of rice, pickled cabbage, mahi mahi and miso soup at the dining room table. But, Rio was about to supercharge the conversation. It had been years since she had so much as asked a question about her biological father. And, when she had brought it up in the past, she had typically done it quietly with only her mom. Therefore, when she finished blurting out the following sentence, the collective shock was severe.

  “I think I’m going to talk to my professors and see if I can take my final exams early this year so I can spend a long summer in Japan looking for my biological father.”

  It was as though God had just hit the pause button on the entire room. Everyone but Rio was frozen with their eyes locked on her. Hani had a piece of mahi mahi resting on a fork, which rested on his lips, as he tried to process what his sister had just said. After all, the subject of his sister having a different biological father than he did hadn’t come up in at least ten years.

  Anthony finished setting his glass of water down, swallowed, and waited for his wife to speak or Rio to add some additional thoughts to the conversation she had started. He truly loved Rio and thought of her as his own to the point that he rarely thought about the fact that there was another man on the planet who was physically responsible for her existence. So, the idea that she wanted to go and find him wasn’t completely shocking to Anthony. But, it still stung a little.

  Toki simply folded her hands in her lap and looked at her daughter in bewilderment. She was stunned that Rio had brought this up to anyone but her. And, even if they were the only two in the room, the fact that it was such a drastic, intense statement was both surprising and depressing to Toki. The long pause felt like it lasted minutes but was only a few seconds.

  �
�What?” Rio questioned, honestly stupefied by the reaction.

  “Why?” Toki finally asked.

  “Why not?” Rio responded with a little bit of attitude.

  “Because you don’t understand what it is you’re asking,” Toki stated as her hands and her voice began to tremble. It wasn’t because she hadn’t argued with Rio before. This was a loving family. But, nearly all families experience a few arguments and fights. Especially during the children’s teenage years. This family was no exception. Toki was upset because the thought of Sota learning about Rio was devastating to her.

  “First of all,” Rio began to retort, “I didn’t ask a question. I made a statement. And, second, I think I know exactly what it is that I’m saying.”

  “I’m sure you do think that. But, why don’t you tell me why it is you suddenly want to find Sota?”

  “Maybe because of the fact that his name is Sota and you and he were both from Japan is nearly all I know about the man who is half of the reason that I exist. I think it’s fair that I want to know where and who I come from.”

  “That does sound fair,” Anthony chimed in, surprising Toki.

  “Anthony is your father,” Toki stated emphatically.

  “Anthony is my dad,” Rio agreed. “Nothing is ever going to change that. I love him and he is the man that raised me. But, I’d still like to know a little bit about the man that I share DNA with.”

  There was a long silence. Toki knew the time had come for the truth. She excused her fifteen-year-old son from the table. Hani argued briefly but then took his plate to his room and finished his dinner there.

  Toki told the whole story for the very first time. From the elderly woman to the night she was beaten and raped by her husband, she left nothing out. Rio was devastated and sobbed harder than she could remember ever sobbing before. She felt terrible about what her mom had endured. Even Anthony welled up with tears as he held his wife. He knew Sota had been abusive but, he didn’t know anything about the prophetess nor did he know the extent of Sota’s abuse. Rio got up from her chair and they all hugged. Of course, Rio had about a hundred questions for her mom. Most of them, Toki simply couldn’t answer because she didn’t know how to. But, when it was all over, it didn’t change Rio’s mind. She was about as stubborn as anyone and Toki knew that this was going to happen with or without her blessing.