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Chapter Twenty-Three

LIE

Resident island meetings are held in the big studio where Miss Patty holds classes of all kinds. Rows of folding chairs are set up facing the podium at the front, with three chairs on each side of it.

Mom waves to me when we walk in. I smile, waving in return. Cash and I like to be close to the back so we can see everyone. Today especially, we want to see everyone’s faces.

I can’t remember a time in my entire life when there’s been a month without a resident meeting. Last month was historic. I bet next May there will be a big to-do in the newsletter detailing the event.

“Here?” Cash asks, gesturing to the second-to-last row. It’s empty all the way down.

“Yep. Go.”

He shuffles through and drops his cushion on the chair before sitting at the end of the aisle. I set my cushion in the chair beside him and sit.

“Doesn’t your mom know that it’s a better vantage point in the back?” Cash asks, waving when my mom looks back at us.

“I suppose I could ask you the same about your parents.” I stand and wave my hands over my head like I’m bringing in a plane, making them laugh at me. I grin.

Cash snorts. “Maybe it’s a parent thing. They like the front.”

I don’t see Dad and Laiken come in until Dad takes the seat beside me. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and hugs me. Before he can take his hand back, he squeezes Cash’s shoulder from behind.

“Hey, Dad.” I meet Laiken’s eyes. “Hey, Laiken.”

“Boys,” my dad and Laiken say together. I roll my eyes. Weirdos.

“You aren’t going to sit with Mom?” I ask as my dad blows Mom a kiss.

“Nope. I’m not sitting with the biddies from school,” Dad answers as he waves politely to Mom’s school friends. “If you think the newsletter is awful gossip, just wait until you work for the school.”

“No thanks,” Cash and I say together. We share a grin.

The crowd piling in hushes as the ‘ town officials ’ walk in the front door. Most are the people who are usually at the front, including Taylor. Chatter picks up louder this time as everyone tries to talk over each other while still trying to whisper.

“Ohh,” Dad says. “This is going to be interesting.”

“An apology, maybe?” Laiken suggests.

“Have you ever known Taylor to apologize?” I ask. “In more than a gaslighting statement, of course.”

“I’m sorry you feel this way,” Cash mimics.

Dad snorts.

Our town officials aren’t actually truly elected officials on the islands.

These are privately owned islands without an actual form of government outside the owners.

But the Calloways are cool as shit and try to create an environment where everyone is happy.

They understand the concept that if their employees are happy, then that makes for a happy resort experience.

Which means people keep coming back. The resort expands. Popularity grows, and business is booming. That’s good for everyone involved.

The town officials are semi-elected, meaning that more than one person needs to recommend someone, but it’s ultimately the Calloways discretion who is in any position at any time.

The officials act as liaisons between the Calloways and the residents, one from each island.

As with elected officials all over the world, they’re supposed to look out for our best interests and speak on our behalf.

Which I think is why everyone has been so frustrated with Taylor for the last… hmm, how many years now? Six? Seven? When did he marry Jackson?

The noise level climbs and then drops dramatically when Winter Calloway himself steps inside.

“Oh my,” Dad murmurs under his breath. “This is certainly going to be interesting.”

Cash and I nod. Definitely interesting.

“Good evening,” Mr. Calloway greets. A chorus or repeated ‘ good evening ’ fills the room. He smiles. “Is this a regular turn out?”

“A little more crowded tonight,” Gianni, the representative of Keone Reef, says. He’s trying to hide his smirk. “But we always have a lot of healthy involvement from the community.”

“That’s wonderful,” Mr. Calloway says, smiling at the crowd. “I’ve always wanted to make Kala a welcome, happy place for everyone, which includes a lot of input from the community. I’m happy that at least that has come to fruition.”

Quiet murmurs break out for a second before silence falls again.

“I’m going to begin by apologizing. The reason I have set up the structure of Kala the way I have, with representatives from each island to speak to me on your behalf, is because I’m not interested in running an empire by dictatorship.

That’s not how to build a thriving business or community.

I don’t want to foster unrest. I don’t want to see a constant turnover in positions.

Fair pay and compensation are only part of what makes a happy and healthy environment.

Your home life, in good balance, is a big part of that.

It seems to me there’s been a breakdown, creating an ever-expanding void that’s grown consistently over the last handful of years, and now that it’s been brought to my attention, I want you all to know I’m going to make it right. ”

“You only just learned of Taylor’s treachery?” someone from our right whispers loudly in disbelief.

The entire room turns their attention to him, and he hunches in his chair a little. In his defense, there’s almost always muttering happening when Taylor is behind the podium.

Mr. Calloway inclines his head. “For complete transparency, I will explain. As you know, my grandfather purchased Kala many years ago, hoping to create a safe place for our community to vacation without the glares, hatred, and stares. What you may not know is that he did so because of the abuse his brother took as an out man in an unforgiving 1970s era. Why should we be persecuted for being born the way we are?”

“Here!” several in the room cheer.

Mr. Calloway bows his head. “So he bought Kala and was determined to make it a place where his brother was safe to be who he was. It began as a small single island that my grandfather built a dozen huts on, so his brother and his brother’s friends had a place to go.

We’re closing on fifty years of exponential growth as we create this paradise for the LGBTQIA+ community. ”

The entire room fills with loud cheers, whistles, and clapping. Cash and I stomp our feet on the ground to add to the excited noise.

“This is the energy I always want on Kala. I want you to be proud to be a part of this space we’ve created.

My grandfather didn’t set up a specific succession line.

For each new generation, the successor of Kala is decided based on their vision for Kala.

We want to keep Grandpa’s dream alive. We want there to always be this safe space.

This happy place. That’s how my uncle came into the reins before me and how I followed him.

“In that time, I’m sure you can imagine that the business grew rapidly, expanding to thousands of employees and several thousand guests on any given day.

That means it’s a whole lot for one person to oversee.

My uncle started delegating specific people from the community to act as ley persons, making sure that even though there are so many of you—I’m afraid I do not know you all personally as my grandfather did when he began the resort—you still have a voice.

Your concerns, wants, and needs are heard and addressed.

“I changed the game a little and created the semi-elections because I want to know who you see as someone authentically representing your voice. It’s all well and good if I think someone will do a good job, but I’m not too proud to admit that I only know a fraction of my residents, try as I may to get around and visit everyone, everywhere.

“I love the way this turned out. I think this has been a very successful way to hear everyone and make improvements. This is why I turned senior management positions into this same process. It’s not just about who I think is going to do a good job, but also who you, the employees working under them, feel because you’re going to be dealing with them far more than I am. ”

I lean forward to peek at Laiken. His eyes flicker to mine, a smile touching his lips. I love that the employees at the bar chose him. It makes my chest warm with pride.

“However,” Mr. Calloway continues, “I began running into the same problem that my grandfather did.

There are too many departments and thus too many managers for me to keep up with personally.

I decided I needed someone to run interference, if you will.

I needed someone to give me an abridged version of events.

I need highlights, bullet points, and to know where we are with every subject.

My mistake was straying from my tried-and-true method of selection.

I named my son-in-law that person without outside input.

“Why did I do this? Because Taylor’s passion and love for Kala are as big as his heart.

I was sure his love for Kala was as great as mine, and I was confident he would do everything with Kala’s best interest at heart.

However, because I closed down so many avenues of information coming in, bottlenecking them, to get my information from one source as a means to save myself time and energy, I’ve created an environment of dissent, and I’m very sorry about that. ”

Hands flew into the air, including Cash’s.

Mr. Calloway smiles. “Do you know what I love right now?” he asks. People look around, as if the answer is going to pop up in bright letters. “I love how even our young residents are here and actively involved.” He nods at Cash. “Young man. Please tell me who you are and ask your question.”

Cash jumps to his feet with a big smile. He waves all cutely. “Hi. I’m Cash Ellis. I’ve been raised on Kala nearly my entire life by my parents.” He points to them, and Mr. Calloway inclines his head in their direction. “I currently work on the boat tours—you should join us on one, Mr. Calloway.”

“I will do that, Cash. What’s your question?”

“I want to know if you’re changing this input of information from a bottleneck to maybe the six officials of the islands?

Are you replacing Taylor? Also, for the record, Taylor might be a little…

extreme and… uh…” He looks at me for a second as he tries to find the right word.

“A little intense, but he’s always very nice. Always. Just wanted to tell you that.”

Cash takes his seat beside me. He grips my hand, cheeks red.

Mr. Calloway smiles, his gaze remaining on Cash for a long minute. He looks at Taylor, which makes us all look at Taylor. I can see Taylor’s heart in his eyes as he looks at Cash thankfully. Then Mr. Calloway looks at Cash’s parents.

“You have raised an amazing young man. You should be very proud.”

“We are,” Cash’s dad says, looking over other heads at Cash. “Very, very proud of our boy.”

Cash’s shoulders rise, embarrassed by all the attention on him, though his smile remains wide.

“To answer your questions, yes. To most of that. I’m going to turn over the floor for Taylor, and I’d like for all of you to listen to him, just as you have been listening to me. If your questions aren’t answered once Taylor speaks, Cash, I will more fully address your questions.”

Cash nods. “Thank you,” he calls.

Mr. Calloway steps aside and takes a seat after gripping Taylor’s forearm in support.

“Thank you,” Taylor says, his cheeks flushed. “Hello. Good evening.”

A quieter, less enthusiastic chorus of greeting meets him.

“I’m sorry,” Taylor says. “I didn’t realize I was so troublesome or that all my concerns—those of which I thought were very important—felt trivial and nitpicky when you felt there were bigger things that should have been addressed.

This isn’t me telling you I disagree. I’m trying to explain that I don’t think that the color on the walls of the school classrooms is any less significant than which flowers are planted under the sign at the airport.

I want Kala to be viewed as the most special place in the world by everyone.

Everywhere they go, I want them to see that no detail is insignificant.

I’m very sorry that my intensity and focus on things that you didn’t necessarily want an opinion on took up so much real estate and pushed things away that you do want opinions on. ”

“To be fair, we do want opinions on some of those things,” Sally, one of the ex-managers, says. “We just don’t appreciate how you bring things up like we don’t have an opinion.”

“For instance, from the last meeting you ran, telling us we need to have our grass height between one and three inches is a lot extreme,” Joshua Pierre, the principal of the school, says.

“It’s also not something that should be measured or have so much attention put on.

We all cut our grass. Policing how high it is?

” He shakes his head. “The energy put into that would be better served elsewhere.”

Taylor inclines his head. “Heard. Thank you.”

Silence fills the room as Taylor waits to be attacked again.

When no one speaks, he clears his throat.

“I would like to ask you for a second chance, with modifications in my responsibilities. I will be hands-off management staff. I am, of course, always at your disposal should you need support, but you will no longer answer to me. There will now be a modified chain of command that you will follow. My position will be only as a public servant, but I will work more closely with the island representatives, and together, the seven of us will report to Mr. Calloway.”

He pauses to look around. “I do love Kala. It’s the absolute best place in the entire world, and I want to keep it amazing for us.

I promise that’s always where my intent has been in all the, uh, ridiculous things I brought up.

Please consider giving me a second chance.

Let me prove to you that my heart is where my mouth is. I want to make you proud.”

“He knows how to pull at heartstrings,” Dad murmurs as a surge of voices rises.

“I’ll vote for Taylor,” Cash calls over the crowd. He taps my leg.

“So will I,” I say, waving my hand. I grip Dad’s arm and glance at Laiken.

Both give me bemused expressions. My heart swells when Laiken sighs. “I’ll give Taylor a second chance, too,” Laiken says. “As long as I don’t have to work for him, but as a public servant, I’m willing to see where this goes.”

“Same,” Dad says.

“Thank you,” Taylor says, not hiding his emotion. “I won’t let you down.” He looks around. “Not that I think four votes secure me, but… thank you for your confidence.”

Dad looks at me and I grin, leaning my head on his shoulder.