The Proverbial War

In fact I was pretty sure he would be mad. Very mad! It couldn't be helped though.

I made my way over several blocks to the little pocket park that we liked to meet at some times for lunch. It was cold and my breath hung in the air about me.

My Polynesian ancestry had no love for this cold weather. In some ways it would be a relief to get back to a warmer climate and one that I was more used to. That was about as much relief as there would be though.

There were reasons why I had escaped the warm islands of my ancestry. It would be like a reopening of old wounds going back even as a fresh one was opened.

Keko was already there standing with an extra coffee beside the water fountain that had been turned off and drained for the winter. I stepped up to him and took the freely offered coffee.

I gave a warm smile of appreciation before my eyes fell downward to the cup warming up my cold hands. Keko's fingers pushed back several strands of my long black hair that had fallen forward.

I looked up my eyes awash with tears. He was looking at me with concern, but he didn't say anything as he took my coffee cup and set it on a nearby table. His arms enfolded me and I hugged him fiercely in return. He led me over to a bench and after a long moment of silence I knew it was time for my confession to begin.

I looked up to meet his lovingly patient gaze on me, "Several years ago I made a very bad mistake, which led to another and more after that. I've tried my best to bury them and to act as if they never happened, but someone found out and used what I had done in the past to blackmail me. I did highly illegal things for this person. Enough to send me to jail for a very long time. I'm trying to make things right and so I've turned in evidence that will expose not only what I've done illegally, but the dark motivations and actions behind the empire of who's been blackmailing me."

I stopped talking as I gathered what nerves were left to me as I prepared to go into the most ugly part of my confession.

Keko spoke into the pause, "So I'm guessing that since you've turned your back on whoever's been blackmailing you that now they're going to make public whatever it is they've been holding over your head?"

I nodded miserably.