Turn 189 of 233

Head back home together since today is a Sunday and there is no work. Sina talks about Aleki the entire time

They turn around at mile five and the turning is the thing that is the direction home and home is the thing that is Lena's apartment and the apartment is the thing that is the Sunday. Sunday is the thing that is no work and no work is the thing that is the day Lena and Sina and Kimo have together and the together is the thing that is the walking. They walk because Sina is still crying and the crying is not the thing that runs and Lena puts her hand on Sina's shoulder and the shoulder is the thing that says we walk.

Sina pushes the stroller and the pushing is the thing that gives her hands something to hold and the holding is the thing that is the gripping and the gripping is the thing that is the Aleki. She talks and the talking is the thing that comes the way the crying came — steady, unbroken, the thing that is the opening of a box she has kept closed and the closed is the thing that is the years and the years are the thing that are coming out on a grass trail on a Sunday morning.

"He was twenty-six when he died," Sina says. "He was working a steel retrofit downtown. The beam was rated for the load and the load was within spec and the spec was wrong. The inspector signed off and the inspector was wrong. Aleki was underneath making the connection when it shifted."

The words are flat and the flat is the thing Sina does with the hard parts — the laying them down without the lifting, the telling without the showing, because the showing is the thing that would break her and the breaking is the thing she already did at the word Auntie and she cannot do it again. Lena listens and the listening is the thing she does the way she listens to Walt — with the body still, with the attention full, with the thing that says I am here and the here is the thing that is the receiving.

"He was the one who got me into running," Sina says. "I was sixteen and he was nineteen and he said 'Sina, you think too much, your head is too loud, put your feet on the ground and let the ground tell you what to do.' He ran barefoot on the plantation roads in Apia and the roads were gravel and the gravel was the thing that made his feet leather. He said the ground is the thing that teaches you where you are."

Kimo is quiet in the stroller and the quiet is the thing he does when voices are around him and the voices are the thing he holds — not the words but the sounds, the rhythm, the thing that is the music of people talking about a person. He chews on a piece of jerky Lena packed and the jerky is the thing that keeps his mouth working and the working is the thing that is the listening. The trail narrows and the narrowing is the thing that puts Sina and Lena closer and the closer is the thing that is the shoulders almost touching.

"He would have loved you," Sina says and the saying is to Kimo but the saying is also to Lena and the also is the thing that is the both. "He would have looked at you and said 'that's my boy' and the saying would have been the thing he meant with his whole chest. He wanted kids. He talked about it at the site with the crew and the crew would say 'Aleki, you've got a girl in Gainesville' and he would say 'I've got a girl in Gainesville and she's going to have my kids and my kids are going to be big and the big is going to be the thing.'"

Lena's throat tightens and the tightening is the thing that is not the weight and not the running. The tightening is the thing that is the Aleki who is in Kimo — the humming, the size, the way the boy picks up a hammer and the picking up is the thing that is the natural and the natural is the thing that is the father. Lena has never heard this much about Aleki and the never is the thing that says Sina has been holding it and the holding is the thing that is the weight she carried on every run and every visit and every time she looked at Kimo and saw the face that is the face of her brother.

They reach the apartment and the reaching is the thing that is the stairs and the stairs are the thing Lena climbs with 730 pounds and 150 pounds in the stroller and the climbing is the thing that is the legs and the legs are the thing that do it. Sina carries the stroller up and the carrying is the thing she does because Sina is strong and the strong is the thing Lena knows. The balcony is the thing they step onto and the stepping is the thing that is the concrete and the concrete is the thing that is cool and the cool is the thing that is the morning still.

Sina sits on the concrete and the sitting is the thing that is the cross-legged and the cross-legged is the thing that is the telling position. Kimo climbs out of the stroller and the climbing is the thing that is the 50 inches of boy on the balcony and the balcony is the thing he walks on and the walking is the thing that is the bare feet. He goes to Sina and the going is the thing that is the lap and the lap is the thing that is not Lena's and the not Lena's is the thing that is new and the new is the thing Sina feels when 150 pounds of boy sits on her legs and her legs are the thing that hold him.

"He hummed when he ate," Sina says, and Kimo is humming and the humming is the thing that is the low and the low is the thing that is the chest and the chest is the thing that is the same. "He hummed when he slept. He hummed when he was lifting something heavy. The crew called him Motor because the sound never stopped. They said you could hear where Aleki was on the site without looking — just listen for the motor."

Kimo hums louder and the louder is the thing that is the response and the response is the thing that is the matching and the matching is the thing a boy does when he hears the thing he is. Lena sits on the concrete beside them and the sitting is 730 pounds and the 730 is the thing that is the mother and the mother is the thing that watches her son sit on the lap of the woman whose brother is the father and the father is the thing that hums in the boy and the boy is the thing that is the proof that Aleki was here.