Ao's final rewrite

Once were warriors

The story is about the little son of the Jake, Huata Heke.

It had been like ten years since Grace died. Beth had protected Huata and his little sister Polly like a traditional Maori warrior since the same time. Mark fell in love with a girl and Nig was still in gang with his “brothers”. Furthermore, Jake was changed but still drunk all the time and mostly he is getting old. He had no more fights with those young kids in bar. It is like mysteries reason that Jake is out of violence. Maybe it is because of ages or because of Grace died. It has been a long time that Beth ignored Jake for everything.

Who am I?

I am the new roommate of Huata Heke. My name is Andrew White. My father is the immigrant from Scotland. Huata was a little shy for the first week we meet. He told me that he’s sister Grace had writing habits and he hated writing. In fact he is a very easygoing person. I heard his story at one night when we finished a crazy party at our apartment. I can’t remember the exactly time was but I did remember that his husky voice and the tears around his eyes. The speed of his saying was peaceful. However, the story hi said was not. I am not sure the end of his story is better to his family or not. I am just the guy he knew a month.

Knock. Knock.

Who’s there?

Ben.

Ben who?

Bang your dinner.

This is one of my best friends Ben Hart. He is live out of the town and he has a motor. He loves motor and sometimes he drives very fast and scaring.

“Hi, bro! What’s up?”

A month has passed. I find that I didn’t see Ben for a long time. I am too lazy to figure out where is him. I have good time with my new Maori friend, Huata. He is very strong person. I mean he get some real muscles on his arms. I have to say that he should play rugby. He will be a player. Comparing his arms, his brain presents a normal intelligence, which I don’t mean offense. He thinks running of the world is quite easy and it seems that the relation between people is easy too in his mind. I don’t know how to say it. Is it naive or silly or just being friendly?

By the way, I find that I like taping, which I mean record on my laptop. Actually, I didn’t have this kind of habits or hobbies at all before. I used to chatting with my friends all the time and making fun and jokes, maybe drink a little bit. I think maybe I have passed that period. I am being changing.

A very bad news came to me. Ben is dead by a car accident and the sad is that he was excessive over speed on his motor when he had car accident. After that, he is in hospital for a whole mouth, struggling between living and dying. I am ashamed that I don’t know until he was dead. I should find him last mouth and I shouldn’t support him on his motor thing. His mother told me the date and place of his funeral. I plan to take Huata with me. He’s the only friend left in this city. How can I ask him to go? At dinner time, I tell him the news of Ben and I tell him I don’t want to go his funeral alone because I am so sad. Then I beg him to go with me. He says, yes, without any doubts and unwillingness.

The morning of the burial day is cloudy, both my mood and the weather. I pick a black suit to wear and a sunglasses even that there isn’t sunshine outside. When I finish dressing, I go to the drawing room to wait for Huata. And few minutes later he comes out and I find that he is in a shorts and T-shirt. I can’t stand it and the most making me crazy thing is the colors of his wearing, yellow T-shirt. I can’t go with this kind of “him”. I can’t understand why he wears like this. He doesn’t take this serious or he really thinks this is not an issue? I think I have to talk about the wearing of this kind of serious situation.

“Come on, change your cloth. Hurry up.”

“I am in my cloth.”

“Don’t you think the place we are going today is a much serious occasion?”

“Yes, I go with my heart. I am sorry for your lost. But why you make me to change another cloth? It is meaningless. The feel of regretting and remembering is the aim, doesn’t it?”

“It is rules. What you said is right. But we need to follow the rules of showing respect. You need a black suit!”

“Ok…..”

The voice of Huata is becoming small from at first to now. It seems to be that he doesn’t agree with what I said. I hate that.

The fight between me and Huata finally happens after the funeral. I start yelling at him and trying to stop his ridiculous action, which is trying to touching Ben when is on the farewell ceremony. I can’t bear his silly activities any more. So, we have a fight when we just walk out of cemetery.

After I clam down, I rethink what is going on. I figure that he is an uneducated person and as his friend, I should teach him the potential rules in the life.

I thought it should be harder to ask Huata do this or do that. Obviously, I am wrong. He seems like the life around by film, concert, bar and part time jobs. He is totally into my social circle. However something happened last week, giving me some new cognition with him. I prefer the word “no character” to describe that.

We were in the bar that night and a rude man came.

“Hi, bro. You are so tough, man. Can you show your muscles?” The rude man said to Huata.

Huata thought that he was drank and friendly showed to him forearm.

“Cool, man. Your Maori people are the same as you?”

“It depends.”

“Come on, man. You guys are fucking monster. Do you fight a lot, don’t you?”

“That is not true. Not everyone have violent issues. It is the same as your people.”

“liar. You guys call you warriors. I prefer shit. You just can beat your bitches in your home. What a shame.”

“What’s wrong with you? If this is words after drink, I would forgive you.” Huata is a gentleman.

“Fuck you, go back to your mothers.” I can’t stand the conversation here, so I said.

“You are idiot, too. You know that? Look at this place, Maori didn’t come here. You and Your ‘buddy’ are in a wrong place. This is the world of White. You can’t bring him here. Stupid asshole.” The rude man yelled to me.

“What is your business? I go anywhere I want and with anybody I like. What’s your problem? Do you want a fight?” I said.

At that time, I really wanted to kick his ass. However Huata stopped me. I didn’t know what’s in his mind. I thought he would fight but I am so wrong. Huata left.

He is such a coward.

After this, I look him down.

I begin to use his “kindness” to help me. For instance, do the laundry, bring the food back and clean the room, some stuff like that. I am a little out of friend level. I totally use him as my servant except two things. One is that it is free and the other is that he is willing to do those things for me. I think that the reason of doing those things is that he takes me as his friend. What a pathetic facts. On the other hand, I am trying to let him change his habits, language and even living style. I don’t notice that something in my heart is gone.

Life is such thing. If you don’t control it, it controls you. Force is such thing. If you don’t use it, it is used by other people.

I believe that people is same as animals. Someone is the sheep and someone is the wolf, which means that sheep are learning how to run away from wolves, and wolves are learning how to catch sheep and how to eat them, which is like a nature laws. The best sheep is just running fast, not a big deal. Huata is a sheep.

Look at Huata now. He is eating sandwiches and drink coke. He uses the Standard English with a little British accent. He likes paly my ipod. He also believes in God some ways. I like to say that I am a good teacher.

“My brother wants to come and live for few days. Are you OK with that?”Huata asked.

“Sure. I mean, it is up to you. By the way, which brother? The gangster or Mark?”

“Mark.”

“When is that?”

“Next Saturday.”

“Cool.”

“Thanks. If you have problems, you tell me.”

“Ok”

This can’t be good news. I remember Mark. He is a confident, a strong-minded and a remorseless young man. He will find out what I am done to his brother. The good part in this news is only for few days. I need to be silence.

It was a dark evening, when I first met Mark. With the history of Mark and his family that Huata told me, I can totally understand the expression in his eyes, which is full of firm belief. Mark is more mature than Huata, and I have to say, he doesn’t talk much. It had a lot of embarrassing moments at the first few days. I thought he might be having some scars in his heart. Whatever, I don’t care. On the other hand, Huata is seems to have some conflict with his brother. Huata has some habits which is weird in Mark’s eyes. I am pretending a person who is just Huata’s roommate.

Few days after, I feel I can stand any more. I get some problems. I can’t stand Mark make requires to Huata, which I do the same thing all the time. I feel I lose the right. I need to make some changes. One day, when Mark is absent, I talk to Huata.

“Hi, Huata. There is an interesting book called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Did you read it before?” I asked.

“No”

“I am happened having one. Do you want to read it?”

“Sure, why not.”

“And I have some DVDs, if you want see, you can ask me.”

“Thanks.”

Mark is incompatible with Huata. Mark has faith, purpose, the sense of self and the honor of being a Maori. Well, Huata is changeable and he likes the DVDs and books that I give him. He like playing and drink with my friend. However, Mark isn’t enjoying it. After Hart died, Huata takes his place in our group except he is Maori.

I make some confession. I take the defeat of Huata’s character and change him into Hart like in every single thing.

The silence days are suddenly over cause of the fight between me and Mark. The reason of fighting is that Mark asks Huata to help their brother Nig, ganger. It seems that Nig has some problems, which can be implied that he infuriate someone. Although it is not my business, I still want to say something against Mark.

“You cannot ask that. He is one who has manner. He’s not savage like you.” I said. This word angers Mark. In fact, I think I have potential purpose to say that, which is strongly cross the human line.

“What?”

“I said that you are savage.”

I think the thing happened next is can be easily inferred. We had a real fight and Huata was trying to stop us. He is much strong than me. So, depending on level of injuring, there are two explanations. One is Huata helped me a little bit and the other is Mark take easy on me. I think the first one has possibility.

Mark goes back to his place. The relation between me and Huata is slowly fading away. I hate this. So I begin to give Huata a lot of benefits like I take the bill or something. I need him as one who can always listen to me and as one whom I can always make an order. Do I have some kind of psychopathology?

The Unbelievable thing is that he is more domesticated that before, after I make an apology. He forgives me like nothing happened, which I feel boring and unchallengeable. I think my life will keep going for at least half a year. However, just one mouth great time like happy hours is passing away. And this time, I become to a guy who just know the violent.

As usual, I am with Huata in a bar and drink. There is a pretty lady who is ogling me. And the guy who likes her came and said some ugly words. I don’t know what am I think that day. Maybe because of alcohol and hormone, I asked Huata to fight against him. And Huata was trying to make peace between me and that guy. I said to Huata, “shit, don’t be silly, you can fight for me. We are friends like a family. He is nothing but trash. Don’t you Maori guys dance Haka and say you are warriors, like savage, does it? ”

When I woke up at the next morning, I found Huata was gone.

I didn’t know what happened in that crazy night until I found the mail that Huata left.

Hi, Andrew

I decide to move. It was not because the crazy speech you said that night, but for a real reason that I was helping you and you didn’t feel grateful and take it granted. You never truly respect me as your friend.

I am thankful that you teach me a lot of your culture thing. So, I beat the guy at that night as a last gift for you.

Our people once were warriors. We have faith, pride and manner. We got the spirit of fighting against enemy to protect our land, our friend and our family.

I am so stupid that I trust you for a long time.

Good Luck.

Huata Jake

There are some people dancing Haka outside, when I reading this mail.

Ka mate, ka mate
Ka ora, ka ora
Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru
Nana i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra
Upane, upane
Upane kaupane
Whiti te ra.

It is death, it is death
It is life, it is life
This is the hairy man
Who caused the sun to shine again for me
Up the ladder, up the ladder
Up to the top
The sun shines.

PS: it is hard to write a re-write in second language. Once were warriors is one of famous New Zealand films. Based on some points of it movies, I am trying to take Andrew as colonist and Huata as one who is colonized by some else. The point I want to say is that colonist always want more. Using forcing to find labor, using culture to assimilate them or Using economic to take advantage of them, these are all the same. The indigenous friendly people are changed by powers. However, the spirit of them doesn’t lose. On someday, in somehow, the spirit will touch the colonists’ heart and become the national spirit. In case of New Zealand, it is Haka and it is protecting something that is important to them.