Breadfruit by Célestine Vaite Read Free Book Online Page B

month before her body
     was finally laid to rest.”
    “Where did the woman get buried in the end?”
    “Next to her first man.”
    In Loana’s opinion, the old woman had wanted to be buried next to her mother, but she had never thought of mentioning this
     to her kids.
    “It’s nice to be buried next to your mother. Everybody wants to be buried next to their mother,” Loana says.
    “And if Pito wants me to be buried next to him in Punaauia?”
    Loana snaps her answer, and she’s not holding her daughter’s hand anymore. “Do what you want, it’s your dead body.”
    Materena feels like the tomato between the lettuce and the cucumber. She always feels like the tomato between the lettuce
     and the cucumber when there’s Loana and Pito in the story.
    “Eh, Mamie. Don’t be angry with me.” Materena is pleading.
    “I’m not angry. If you want to be buried next to Pito, go get buried next to Pito. I’m not going to say you can’t be buried
     next to him.”
    “Pito comes here, then. I’m going to tell him.”
    Loana takes a deep breath. “All right. But you two better sort out your funeral arrangements. Eh, Pito might have other plans.”
    Materena and Pito are in bed that night and Materena knows Pito is not sleeping. When he’s sleeping, he snores, and at the
     moment he’s not snoring.
    “Pito, you’re sleeping?”
    There’s no answer from Pito.
    Maybe he’s sleeping and not snoring. Materena closes her eyes, but she really wants to talk about their funeral arrangements,
     and right this moment is a good time to talk about that kind of subject. The kids can’t come interrupt the conversation.
    “Pito?”
    There’s no answer from Pito.
    “Pito, I know you’re not sleeping, because when you’re sleeping, you snore. Pito?”
    Pito reluctantly opens his eyes. “Okay, what?”
    “Ah, you’re awake. I knew you weren’t sleeping. When I die . . .” Materena pauses. It’s difficult for her to talk about her
     death in the bedroom and in the dark, but she must. She continues. “I don’t know where I’m supposed to be buried.”
    “I’m going to bury you in Faa’a,” Pito says.
    “You don’t want me to be buried in Punaauia?” Materena can’t believe how well Pito is accepting the subject of conversation.
    “Your family is not in Punaauia,” Pito says. “Why am I going to bury you there? Loana, she’s going to be buried in Faa’a,
non?
”
    “
Oui,
next to her mama.”
    “Well, you can be buried next to them two.”
    Materena has to ask the next question, but she hesitates. Pito always says that they should move to his part of the island
     (if he had land they would have moved there from the day they became a couple), that he sees Loana a bit too much, that there
     are just too many of Materena’s relatives here. Pito’s relatives from both his parents’ sides are from Punaauia, about fifteen
     minutes away by truck. Pito is not going to accept being buried in Faa’a, and Materena doesn’t want to be separated.
    “What if you die before me, what am I supposed to do with you?” Then, speaking quickly, Materena adds, “It’s fine with Mamie
     for you to be buried in Faa’a. She said to me, ‘Ah, it’s okay if Pito is buried next to us, no problem.’” Materena is now
     caressing Pito’s hand.
    Yes, but Pito doesn’t want to be buried next to Loana, so he tells Materena. In fact, Pito doesn’t want to be buried, full
     stop. He doesn’t want to be put into a hole and to be eaten up by the worms. He doesn’t want to be buried.
    Materena is shocked. What is this story? What is she going to do with him if she can’t bury him?
    “Don’t bury you?” she asks, as if she didn’t hear properly.
    “Don’t bury me,” Pito repeats. “Cremate me and throw my ashes into the sea.”
    Cremate? Materena has never heard of anyone getting cremated in her family. And it’s the same situation in Pito’s family.
     Everyone gets buried. It’s the tradition. There’s the wake