Felicia had stunningly-black, long, flowy, curly hair, and skin kissed by the sun. She was a slender build at a little over 4-feet tall; a true Polynesian beauty. Her deep, dark eyes also held a sense of intense mystery. She, like her mother, was also withdrawn; like a beautiful hibiscus flower that had once bloomed with glory than wilted, never to be restored to its original splendor. The mystery of their family was as dark as the molten, hardened, lava rocks often seen along the scenic stretch of Haleiwa coastline along the North Shore. She had a little sister, Sosefina, who was equally as stunning. Sosefina was four years younger than Felicia and in Kindergarten. It was often Felicia’s responsibility to tend to the constant needs of her younger sibling when her parents were working or involved in other activities. She was like a little mom. She was seldom seen enjoying the normal, playful activities that most of the children enjoyed in their family-oriented community.
Sophia noticed Felicia right away when she was introduced as a new student by her homeroom teacher, Mrs. Kobayashi. Sophia had been attending Sunset Elementary School for over five years and was glad to be able to make new friends. Sophia immediately knew she wanted to become friends with Felicia. Sophia had lived in the same Haleiwa neighborhood, where Felicia had recently moved, nearly all her life. She had similar features. Sophia had noticed Felicia seemed shy too. To most, Sophia was a happy girl, but also had a tendency to be shy, though fiercely assertive when provoked. She was not to be messed with by anybody! She loved school and loved all types of sports and outdoor activities.
She moments she relished most was spent going to Sunset beach where she enjoyed watching the professional surfers who often came to battle the pipeline. She loved when the waves came crashing in against the seashore. She loved when the waters would recede and she’d rush to gather all the seashells. She loved the misty, ocean fragrance and loved the way the cool water penetrated the space between her toes; she loved the how the sand felt beneath her barefoot brown feet. She loved the way the sun felt against her skin after she got out of the water. It felt like a warm blanket encircling her with love. She loved everything about being near the ocean! She felt as if every burden had been momentarily lifted. She was on top of the world. The ocean was her refuge; her place of serenity. There, she felt complete joy. When she wanted to unwind, late at night, she also enjoyed writing in her diary, writing about the things she loved to do most and the things that troubled her heart and her home. Oh, the secrets, that diary held. It was another form of release and escape from her world. Sophia had several siblings: two sisters and two brothers. Her older brother was actually a half-brother that most people assumed was her real brother. She liked it that way. She wished he was her full brother and considered him so. He was older, 13 years old to be exact! If anyone tried to hurt her at school, she would call on her older brother to come and protect her.
Often the guys at school would try to ‘get fresh’ with her and she wouldn’t tolerate their nonsense. She would simply threaten to have her older brother beat them up if they touched her and that was all it took. Oh, she could be fierce when provoked! Though he was tall in stature than most kids his age, he didn’t have a mean bone in his body, but just the sheer look of his stature would intimidate the biggest bully at school to back off! For his love and protection, she loved and adored her older brother. He was artistically-gifted, smart, very shy, and kept to himself. He was the eldest and had many household responsibilities, including many chores to accomplish every day, before and after school. She also loved all her other siblings, every one of them. Her older sister was 12 and vivacious. Her younger sister was 8-years-old and smart as a whip. Her younger brother was only 4-years-old, cute and fat, and attended the pre-school program at her same school. He was a hand-full, always demanding so much attention from everyone, but nonetheless, she loved that chunky, little monster! To most outsiders, they appeared to be a normal family.
At school and everywhere she went, people gravitated towards her for her friendly personality and love for people and life. Apart from sports, games, and various outdoor activities, she also had a passion for singing and Polynesian dancing. She loved to dance and sing; everything from Polynesian music to Top 40s. She loved all genres of music and always had a song in her mind and a groove in her step. She was born to dance and sing! Though she appeared happy to most people who crossed her path, she held on to a secret nobody knew apart from her family. She knew if she revealed this secret, it could bring harm upon her family, so she tried to distract herself with as many activities as possible and focus on all the positive elements of her life and suppress all the sadness in her heart.
She felt, perhaps Felicia could be someone she could become good friends with one day though she did not know why. She had many friends, but there was something different about Felicia. She considered Felicia someone she wanted to get to know and thought maybe someday she could confide in her. Both Sophia and Felicia were the same age, of Polynesian descent, both reserved, and both seemed to have a mysterious side, a side no one knew. Sophia felt like there was something special between them; they both seemed to carry their own, deep secret; a hidden pain that could not be revealed. Sophia decided to befriend Felicia one day, approaching her before recess. “Hi Felicia,” she exclaimed with excitement! “I’m Sophia! Do you want to play with me during recess today?” Felicia began to shyly crack a smile and timidly replied, “Thank you. I’m okay. I can stay here, but thank you.” Sophia immediately responded, “C’mon Felicia! Look! All the kids are getting ready to play sham-battle! Let’s go! You’ll love it! It is the funnest game---ever!” “I don’t know how to play sham-battle,” replied Felicia in a soft-spoken, withdrawn tone. “Oh, it’s easy!” replied Felicia. “If I can do it, you can do it! I’ll show you how it’s done! Just come with me! You will love it, girlfriend!”
The two girls left the field as friends. Felicia was so grateful, she said with pure happiness and sincerity in her voice: “Thank you so much for inviting me to play. I have no friends. You are so nice.” Sophia happily responded, “You are nice too! You have a friend now! I hope we can hang out at lunch time or next time at recess?” Felicia quietly responded, “Thank you Sophia.” Sophia enthusiastically responded with a little bit of island-style sass, “I’m your friend now so you can hang with me any day!” Later that same day, they met up for lunch and that afternoon, the two girls met up to walk home from school. The next day, Sophia looked for Felicia, but she was nowhere in sight. After school, she went home and went outside to play. As the sun was setting over Haleiwa, she caught a glimpse of an unfamiliar girl in a dress, off in the distance, but she could only see her from the back. Who was this short-haired girl she had not seen before? Most of the girls all had long, black hair. The girl had short hair, but appeared to be about the same age as her.
She walked a little closer to get a better glimpse of the strange girl who seemed to be out on the side of her house taking out the trash. When she got a glimpse of her side profile, she gasped in shock, like she had been kicked in the stomach. It was Felicia, but she had hardly any hair left on her head! She almost looked like a boy, she could hardly recognize her! Where was her long, beautiful, flowy black hair? Sophia called to Felicia, “Felicia!” Felicia turned around all the way now, clearly trying to avoid eye contact. Sophia said to her dear friend, “Felicia, what’s wrong? What happened to your hair?” Felicia seemed to try to withdraw her face like a snail who hides his head in its shell. She started to speak with sadness in her voice and tears in her eyes, “I’m okay.” Sophia asked more calmly, seeing the tears beginning to stream from Felicia’s eyes, “What happened to your hair?” Felicia said in a sad tone, “My dad asked me to sing for him and I didn’t want to, so he slapped me and cut off all my hair.” He said, “The next time she was asked to sing, she better sing!”
Sophia was saddened and told her friend she would see her at school the next day and began to walk back home, deeply saddened by what she had just learned. She thought about the abuse to follow in her own home. She eldest brother was verbally and often physically abused as he was a child of rape. Her mother couldn’t control herself at times and in a state of pure rage, she would lash out with anything she could get her hands on. She would often see her brother bleeding and crying for relief. She loved her dear older brother. Though he was her protector, she could not protect him. She felt helpless. Likewise, she knew she didn’t want to get Felicia into any trouble (like she didn’t want to get anyone in her own family in trouble), so that night, she quietly went to her room after dinner, wrote in her diary, and prayed that someday things would get better.
She never revealed the abuse that she witnessed as a child to anyone. She locked away her secrets in her diary. She recognized it was wrong and vowed that one day she would have her own family and would never repeat the cycle of abuse she witnessed as a child. She later learned about God and the Plan of Salvation and she knew she could and would do better. She has since lost touch with Felicia, but has vowed to be a better friend and a better mother and advocate against abuse.
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