"You know what they've come up with now?" "Male beauty contests." "What's so new about that?" "They've been having Mr. Universe and Mr. America contests for years." "I'm not talking about the body-building stuff." "I'm talking about beauty contests." "With models, with swimsuit competition." "Guys parade up and down in their tuxedos." "I bet they even have Mr. Congeniality." "So what?" "Aren't we looking for equality in the sexes?" "Hey, don't get me started on that." "All I'm saying is that men are not supposed to be pretty." "Men are supposed to be men, not parade around in bathing suits." " Not even on the beach?" " Well, that's different." "Now, if this were Hawaii, then it would be different." "Funny you should mention Hawaii." " Why?" " That's part of our next assignment." "You're kidding." "You mean you and" "You're kidding me, aren't you?" "Hey, we go where we're needed." "That's great." "Where are we gonna be staying?" "How's this sound?" "The Hawaiian Sands." " Turn left here." " All right." "The Hawaiian Sands." "That's great." " Swaying palms, tropical winds." " Pull over here." "Oh, great." "Boy, Jonathan, I tell you, I never thought." "Me in Hawaii." "Oh, man." "Jonathan, I gotta tell you, I tell you, I never thought that we would" "Oh, that's cute, Jonathan." "Cute." "Excuse me." "We're looking for the manager." "You found her." "What do you want?" "I understand you have an apartment for rent." "Who told you that?" "A friend of mine lives around the corner on Vista." "Probably that old busybody Watkins, huh?" "If you don't have a vacancy, we'll just" "I didn't say that." "I've got an apartment." "But I was just wondering how you found out so soon, that's all." "Oh, can we see it?" "Well, it's kind of small." "Oh, here, let me give you a hand." "I don't need your help." "My name is Jonathan Smith, this is Mark Gordon." "I'm Aulani." "What do you do for a living?" "Different things." "Odd jobs." "I could use a handyman around here, you know." "You don't manage this place all by yourself, do you?" "Well, I have this one friend who's supposed to help me out around here, but lately he hasn't been too reliable." "Like I said, little small for two, you know." "No, it's fine." "We'll take it." "Okay." "Come on over to my place and we'll get the paperwork out of the way." "Were you serious about getting somebody to help you out here?" "You looking for a break in the rent?" "Just trying to be friendly." "I might take you up on that." "Here's your receipt." "You understand the rent is higher only because you're month-to-month." "Oh, that's fine." "That's fine." "Where have you been?" "I've been looking for you." "I went to the store." "They just got some fresh poi in, and mango." "And look at this lau-lau." "It won't taste like the ones in Kaimuki." "Nothing grows right over here." "What's wrong this time?" "These two gentlemen over here just rented Apartment 7 and the faucet in the kitchen is still leaking." "I thought you were gonna fix it." "You rented it already?" "That was quick." "Don't worry." "I'll take care of it as soon as I take the rest of this stuff back to my place." "And what about the gas leak in Mrs. Herman's?" "I didn't find any leak." "I think Mrs. Herman just likes to complain." "Well, I don't like it when she complains to me." "I might be able to help with that gas leak." "I used to work on installing appliances." "If you don't mind." "You'd be doing him a favour." "Give him more time for doping off or whatever you're doing nowadays." "You got something going on the side?" "No." "Some errands just piled up and I've been trying to take care of them." "I'll meet you back at your place." "While you're doing that." "I'll go see what I can do for Mrs. Herman." "Let me have the screw." "That manager, Aulani." "She always like that?" "What do you mean?" "May I have the Phillips?" "You know, growling and, you know, picking on people all the time?" "Don't pay any attention to her." "Her bark is worse than her bite." "I'm glad to hear that because she has got one fierce bark on her." "Well, a lot of bad has happened to her." "You mean being crippled?" "That, and a lot of things." "But mostly that." "She was a big star in Hawaii." "What?" "Her?" "Hey, don't judge her by the way she is now." "When she danced, it was the best." "It was like a breeze blowing through the kiawe trees." "And sing?" "Huh, like an angel." "Well, what happened?" "She was on her way to church to sing for a special Thanksgiving service." "A truck hit her broadside." "Driver was drunk out of his mind." "The doctors never expected her to live, much less ever walk again." "Then when she started to get better, they told her she'd be stuck in a wheelchair the rest of her life, and there was nothing she could do about it." "It doesn't look like she believed them." "Aulani doesn't like people to tell her what she can or can't do." "I tell you I got bills to pay and I count on that cheque." "Give me a break." "I can't deliver what I don't have." "It should have been here four days ago." "I know." "What do you want from me?" "Did you check back at the post office?" "You know how they're always losing things there." "Did you think that maybe the trucking company didn't send it out this month?" "They never make a mistake the whole time they've been paying." "Always a first time." "Maybe you should go yell at the trucking company." "Aulani," "I found Mrs. Herman's problem." "Just had a valve that was sticking." "You'd have thought that clown Danny would have known that." "I doubt it." "Unless you knew where to look, you'd miss it nine times out of ten." "I was just lucky." "Are you serious about wanting to help?" "Sure." "Why, you got another gas leak?" "No, no, no." "I need a ride downtown tomorrow." "And I'm not sure Danny's not gonna be off on one of his errands." "Yeah." "Sure, any special time?" "Earlier the better." "You got it." "Eight o'clock?" "That'll be fine." "All right then, I'll see you at 8:00." "Hey, you got a problem?" "I guess so." "But darned if I can figure it out." "It was running fine an hour ago." "And now nothing." "Want me to take a look?" "I know a little about engines." "Yeah." "Sure thing." "Except I think it's too late to do any good today." "I have to be at work in an hour." " You work nights?" " Yeah, I sing at the Club Waikiki." "You're kidding?" "What do you sing?" "Hawaiian songs and stuff?" "Mostly stuff." "Boy, I love Hawaiian music." "How are you gonna get to work without a car?" "I'll catch the bus, no problem." "Hey, no way." "I'll drive you." "I can't ask you to do that." "Besides, the bus passes right near the club." "It'll take you twice as long on a bus." "I got a perfectly good car right here." "I'll tell you what." "You and Jonathan drive me to the club, then the both of you stay and watch as my guests." " Hey, I wasn't angling for" " I know that." "Come on." "What do you say?" "All right." "You got a deal." "Give me five minutes to change." " You got it." " All right." "Jonathan." "Jonathan, guess where we're going tonight." "To the club to see Danny's show." "Get dressed, I don't wanna be late." "I should have known it." "I should have known it." "Any time anything mechanical breaks down, and you're within a half a mile of it." "Whenever you're watching A hula girl dance" "You've gotta be careful You're tempting romance" "Don't keep your eyes on her hips" "Her naughty hula hips" "Just keep your eyes on the hands" "Remember She's telling a story to you" "Her öpü is swaying But don't watch the view" "Don't concentrate on the swing" "It doesn't mean a thing" "Just keep your eyes on the hands" "And when she goes Around the island" "Swinging hips so tantalising" "Just keep your eyes Where they belong" "Because the hula has a feeling That'll send your senses reeling" "It makes a weak man strong" "He's great." "You know, it's almost like being in Hawaii." " What?" " I said, it's almost like being in Hawaii." "Not quite." "But almost." "But if you're too young to date" "Or over 98" "Just keep your eyes on the hands Not on her öpü" "Just keep your eyes on the hands Not on her nuh-nuhs" "Just keep your eyes on the hands" "Enjoy the show." "I'll see you at the apartment." " Where are you going?" " I gotta work on the assignment." "Okay, let me hear it again:" "Good evening." "Where's your partner?" "He's still back at the club." "He's waiting for Danny to finish his last set." "Two shows?" "He must be some kind of glutton for punishment." "Mark?" "He's crazy about Hawaii and anything Hawaiian." "Then what's he doing in that phoney club?" "You never let up, do you?" "How did you like it?" "I thought the show was terrific." "Danny's a great entertainer." "He's a clown." "He's a clown." "Come on." "You think singing "I'm the Cockeyed Mayor of Kaunakakai"" "and making all those funny faces, you think it's good?" "Well, the audience certainly did." "They loved the show." "He used to sing with me back home in Kauai." "Oh, he was a real singer back there." "You should hear him sing our songs." "Like "Akaka Falls" and "Kalama'ula," "Kuu Ipo."" "Music that had real meaning for us." "Not those hapa haole songs like the "Princess Poo-Poo-Ly Has Plenty Papaya."" "Come on, those kinds of songs make him look like a clown." "Let me ask you a question, if you love Kauai so much, why didn't you ever go back?" "Well, it's time to go to bed." "Would you just bring in my chair for me?" "That's fine." "Right there." "You still haven't answered my question." "Why didn't you go back?" "Nothing back there for me." "Oh, that's not true, Aulani." "What do you know about it?" "Well, I'd say that someone who was as famous as the Waikiki Nightingale would have no trouble finding an audience back home." "You know who I am?" "Come on, anybody who has spent any time in Hawaii knows who you are." "That was a long time ago." "A long time." "What brought you here?" "You ask too many questions, you know that?" "Yeah, I know that." "What brought you here?" "When I was 19," "I worked every hotel on Waikiki." "I was a big star in Hawaii." "Then one day this fellow from the mainland came backstage and said," ""We're gonna do a big Hawaiian show in Las Vegas."" "Build it around me." "And all of my friends said, "You'd better not do it." "Hawaiian shows don't work on the mainland."" "The magic fades, you know, when you leave the islands." "It fades." "Gotta have-- Gotta have tropic nights." "Have to have trade winds, whatever." "I knew better." "The show closed in three weeks." "And you stayed here." "I wasn't gonna let all those people say, "I told you so."" "No way." "I'd go back when I was good and ready." "When I was a big star here, like I was back in Honolulu." "Then, of course" "Then, of course, the truck." "And Danny was in the show with you?" "Oh, sure." "One of my backup singers." "What about him?" "Why didn't he go home?" "He likes it here." "He's got no drive." "He wasted his talent." "Hey, what are you writing?" "A book about Hawaiian has-beens?" "No, no." "I'm just interested." "Yeah?" "Well, I'm interested in going to bed." "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." "Don't forget my ride tomorrow." "I won't forget, 8:00." "Good night, Aulani." "All right, Miss Kealoha, let's stop beating around the bush." "Just what kind of a shakedown are we talking about here?" "What do you mean, shakedown?" "You think I'm faking this?" "No." "Not at all." "I know that injury is genuine." "I also know that that particular claim was settled long ago and with a rather large payment." "I know that." "I was there and I signed those papers." "Then what are we talking about here?" "I'm talking about the other cheques." "The ones that you send to me every month." "Miss Kealoha, there have been no additional payments." "Are you trying to tell me that I'm--?" "Just a second, Aulani." "Are you saying your company has not sent Miss Kealoha a cheque each month?" "Not to my knowledge." "And it couldn't be done without my knowledge." "Aulani, were they company cheques?" "They were cashier's cheques." "Drawn on the Western Bank." "Well, there you are." "We don't even do business with that particular bank." "It's open." " Have you seen Aulani?" " Jonathan drove her downtown." " What for?" " Well, she said something about a trucking company not sending the monthly cheque." "She's gonna go down to talk to them about it." "Dumb." "Dumb." "Hey, you gonna be all right?" "Jonathan, stay for a minute or two." "It's scary." "Somebody has been sending me money every month." "Money that's been keeping me alive all these years." "Oh, I think that's a little strong, don't you?" "No, it isn't." "Without those cheques every month," "I don't know how I would have gotten along." "I've come to depend on those cheques." "I have a feeling now, I" "I'm not gonna get them anymore." "Yeah, well, maybe that's a blessing in disguise." "Easy for you to say." "You're not a cripple." "How am I gonna come up with that kind of money on my own?" "Oh, come on, Aulani." "You've still got your mind, your voice, your hands." "You could go home and make a good living." "You want me to sit around Waikiki making coconut hats for those haole tourists?" "No, thank you." "Not Aulani." "I'll get it." "Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt." "What do you want?" "This is for you." "The mailman must have put it in my box a couple of days ago by mistake." "What is it?" "Must be your monthly cheque from the trucking company," "I should have noticed it sooner, but, you know, I let my mail pile up." "Sorry." "Well, see you later." "Take care." " You could have said, "Thank you."" " What for?" "Danny's the one who's been sending you those cheques, and you know it." "He's been lying to me for all these years." "What do I wanna thank him for?" "Well, maybe he wanted to save you the embarrassment of taking money from him." "You know, as a lie, that's about on par with the tooth fairy." "It's still a lie." "Would you have taken the money if you knew?" " No way." " Why not?" "Why not?" "I don't wanna be obligated to anybody." "He doesn't want you to feel obligated to him." "He loves you." "Oh, sure." "He's madly in love with me, come on." "What's the matter with you, Aulani?" "Why do you think he's been taking care of you all these years?" "And I'm not just talking about the money." "I'm talking about running errands, fixing things around this place." "He feels sorry for me." "No, he doesn't." "He doesn't have to, you're too busy feeling sorry for yourself." "I don't have to sit around and listen to this." "Where do you get off?" "Just where do you get off thinking you've got the right to butt into other people's business?" "Where do you get off thinking being handicapped gives you the right to take and never give?" "Not again." "Yeah." " And you had it running good too." " Yeah." "I got a feeling I know what the problem is." "I don't think there's anything we can do about it right now." "You've gotta be someplace, right?" "How did you know?" "Intuition." "Come on, I'll give you a lift." "No, really." "I can't impose again." "Hey, you're not imposing." "We're friends, remember?" "We stayed in his great hotel on Waikiki." "You could walk through the lobby of this place, right onto the beach, it was great." "Then we went to see everything, the Polynesian Cultural Center, the Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head." "Oh, boy, was that place great." "Hey, I forgot to ask you, where we going anyway?" "Anywhere around 17th and Carpenter." "Hey, I'll take you right there." "You just say when." "You know what got me most was the water." "Is it always that warm?" "Oh, yeah." "All year round." "What a place." "You can let me out here." "We're not to 17th yet." "Oh, that's okay." "We're close enough." " Thanks for the lift." " You want me to wait?" "Oh, no." "I don't know how long I'll be." " So I'll take the bus back." " Okay." "Thanks, Mark." "Hey, Danny." "Danny." "Come on, get in." "Hey, I'm parked in a bus-loading zone, it's against the law." "Come on." "Danny, come on." "Take it easy." "I'm sorry." "You wanna talk about it?" "No." " Sometimes it helps." " No." "Come on, maybe you'll find out it's not so bad, huh?" "You're right." "It's not really that bad." "Could we stop on the way back?" "I'd like to get Aulani some papaya juice." "It's her favourite." "You got it, pal." "You gonna be okay?" "I'll be fine." "You're sure?" "Would you come with me to Aulani's?" "I have to tell her something and" "You need a little moral support, huh?" "Yeah." "You got it." "It's open, come in." "I brought you some fresh papaya juice." "Well, put it in the refrigerator." "I like it cold." "Aulani." "I'm going home." "So?" "Go home." "No, I mean really home." "To Hawaii." "How long will you be gone?" "Forever." "I'm not coming back." "Why?" "Because I didn't thank you for lying to me about those cheques?" "Hey, I never asked you for money." "It had nothing to do with the cheques." "Then why?" "Because it's my home." "And what about your job?" "You think you're gonna get a job back home?" "You're only a backup singer." "I don't care." "I'll be where I wanna be." "I hope you'll be all right." "I'll be fine." "What, you think I need you?" "I let you hang around because I felt sorry for you." "Go on." "Go back." "Well, go on." "I gotta tell you, Jonathan, I don't blame him." "I mean, all the stuff he does for her and she treats him like dirt." "I know, Mark." "She treats him that way because she's frightened and she's afraid." "What are you talking about?" "Danny's all she's got." "He does everything for her." "She's totally dependent on him." "And in a way, she hates him for it because she's afraid someday he'll be gone." "Yeah, he'll be gone all right, and it will be her fault." "Oh, no." "He is not leaving because of the way she treats him." "If that were the case, he'd have been gone a long time ago." "No, he loves her too much for that." "Then why is he going home?" "I think he's going home to die." "Yeah, beautiful sky tonight, huh?" "The stars look close enough to touch." "The sky is clearer in Kauai." "Oh, the Garden Isle." " That where you're from?" " Yes." "You know there is a god when you see Kauai." "Mark tells me you're going back." "Yes, I leave day after tomorrow." "They're having a goodbye celebration for me at the club tomorrow night after the show." "Sort of a bon-voyage party." "That should be fun." " Aulani going to the party?" " No." "Did you ask her?" "You don't know Aulani." "She doesn't go out and she doesn't want people to see her." "I've tried before, many times." "I've tried to get her to sing again." "I've tried to get her to go back to Hawaii." "It's no use." "So I say to myself, "Danny, stop wasting your time hanging around where you're not wanted."" "Time to enjoy myself." "Lots of pretty women in Kauai." "You know, you're not a very good liar, Danny." "You love Aulani, don't you?" "Don't you?" "Four years ago," "I had an operation." "It was nothing." "My gall bladder." "In the hospital a few days and out." "They gave me a blood transfusion." "Big deal, right?" "I have AIDS." "I am so sorry." "Does Aulani know?" "No." "I don't want her pitying me and I don't want her there when it begins to happen." "And I don't want her to see." "Jonathan," "I know what's gonna happen to me, barring some miracle or some decision by the government to spend more money saving lives than taking them." "But what's going to happen to Aulani?" "It's always Aulani, isn't it?" "Yes." "I'm tired." "I think I'll go up to bed." "Will you come to the club tomorrow night?" "It should be fun." "Mark and I will be there." "Come in." "Oh, Danny." "Boy, this is a funny show." "I thought you left for Kauai already." "No, I leave in the morning." "Oh, yeah?" "Well, have a good flight." "I will." "This is so crazy." "I thought you might like this plant." "I can't take it with me and I don't want it to die." "Leave it over there." "Leave it over there on the table." "Well, I better get going." "I have to work tonight." "Aloha, Aulani." "Aloha, Danny." "You all set?" " Yeah." " All right." "Hey, I like your shirt." "Oh, well, you know, I wanted to wear something Hawaiian for your show." " Where's Jonathan?" " He said he'd meet us later." "Showtime." "You can't live in the past." "Why not?" "Better than the future." "So." "Danny was crazy in love with me, right?" "He's got a funny way of showing it." "He's going back to Hawaii, in case you haven't heard." "Yeah, I heard." "I always knew he would someday." "In a way, it's a relief." "He was always hanging around, talking about the island." "At least now I'll get a little peace and quiet." "You're really frightened, aren't you?" "Me?" "Of what?" "Of being alone, of losing the only person who ever really cared about you." "Are you back to that really-cared-about-me business?" "He's going." "He's walking out." "He makes me depend on him all these years and then suddenly he leaves." "Of course I'm scared." "Who's gonna take care of me?" "Who's gonna help me?" "Would you listen to yourself?" ""Who's gonna take care of me?" "Who's gonna look after me?"" "Did you ever stop to think there are other people in this world besides you?" "You don't know what you're talking about." "You're not crippled." "Oh, I know you're crippled." "How could I forget it?" "You talk about it all the time." "You know how many handicapped people there are in this country?" "Do you?" "Thirty million." "And I'll tell you something else." "Most of them" "Most of them are trying to put their disabilities behind them." "They want jobs, they wanna work and be part of this society." "They don't just sit around and feel sorry for themselves." "Why don't you get out of here?" "Go be with Danny who loves me so much he leaves me a lousy plant." "See this?" "After all these years, this is what I get." "As matter of fact, I don't wanna take care of this plant." "Take it." "Let him take care of it himself." "After all these years he took care of you, you can't even take care of his plant." "That's right." "I can't." "He cared more about this lousy plant than he did me." "Danny cares about all life." "Life becomes very important when you're dying." "What do you mean?" "Danny is dying." "What are you saying?" "That's not true." "Oh, yes, it is, Aulani." "No." "He's lying if he told you that." "Yeah, he had an operation, but it wasn't cancer." "It was benign." "Oh, he's just looking for sympathy." "He has AIDS." "He got it from the blood transfusion." "That's why he's going home." "Wait a minute." "What are you saying?" "Why didn't he tell me?" "Why?" "Because he didn't want you to pity him." "And he didn't want you to see him when it got bad." "You're not the only one with too much pride." "You've needed him all these years." "Now he needs you." "Just keep your eyes on the hands Not on her nuh-nuhs" "Just keep your eyes on the hands" "Thank you all very much." "As most of you know, tonight is my last show." "I am going home to my lovely Kauai." "I'll miss you all, but it's time to move on." "I only wish that" "That maybe" "They still like us." "Maybe we could get the act together in Kauai again." "You'd go home?" "To be with you, I'd go anywhere." " Aulani." " I love you, Danny." "I love you." "I was so afraid to say it before because I didn't believe you could really love me the way I am." "But love goes beyond all things." "I know that now." "Please let me be with you." "I love you." "And I need you." "And I love you."