hed white swirls turn the black to
brown. Owl had done his best for him. He had acknowledged their
difference without really talking about it. He hadn't tried to be
everything to him. Tears came to Oliver's eyes. He stared straight
ahead and let them slide down his cheeks. Wiping them away would have
been disrespectful.

No one seemed to notice.

Oliver returned to the motel and slept twelve hours. The next day he
considered stopping in New Haven, but he decided to drive straight
through to Portland. His mother had not been in contact with his
father, Muni, since she had left Hawaii. She wouldn't know any more
than what she'd already told him. The Nakano's had owned a small hotel
in Honolulu. Muni's brother, Ken, was a teacher. Muni had been a
student at the University. That was it. His mother had split soon after
she learned that she was pregnant. According to her, Muni had wanted to
marry, but she knew it wouldn't work.

Not a lot to go on, but it would have to do.

"Welcome back, Oliver. You're home early," Arlen said.

"Don't get used to it. I'm going to Hawaii." Arlen's jaw dropped.
"Don't worry," Oliver said. "I'm not going to stick you with Verdi.
Thanks very much for taking care of him, by the way. We just had a
chat. He says you're a nice man and you have some Laphroiag left."

"You can't tell a cat anything, these days," Arlen said. "It's not
quite cocktail hour, but I suppose it's close enough."

"Just a drop," Oliver said.

They sat near the birds. "Perseverance furthers," Oliver toasted.
"That's from the _I Ching._"

"Ninety percent of success is showing up," Arlen answered. "Woody
Allen."

"It's true, isn't it," Oliver said. "You just have to keep at it. What
was your father like, Arlen, when you were a kid?"

"Very much as he is now," Arlen said. "Early to bed, early to rise. We
had a dairy farm near Unity. We didn't have a lot of money, but we
always had clothes and whatever we needed for school. If we wanted
extra, we had to work for it. He still has the farm, but he sold the
herd after Mother died." Arlen's eyebrows raised with the memory, then
settled. "He's hung on, doing a little of this and a little of that,
getting by with social security. He sold a small piece of land three
years ago. He keeps saying he's going to sell out and move to Florida,
but he doesn't get around to it."

"Good for him. I never met my father. That's why I'm going to
Hawaii--to see if I can find him."

"Oh,