| I had learned a lot from my mother about hard work and earning
money and helping people, though the lessons were really learned when Maerua
and I worked together. |
| At first my mother was with us too. |
| But then, when we were at 'Osi'osi, she was bitten by a snake
and died. |
| I made the mortuary feast there; and then, before we had eaten
the pigs, an airplane came overhead. |
| And the next day, another. |
| We wondered what was happening. |
| Then we got the news. |
| The Japanese had attacked Tulagi and Gavutu. |
| My brother Kwailoboo was on a plantation there, so we were
worried about him. |
| My first child, my son Maefanaomea, had just been born, and
Maerua was pregnant again. |
| We wondered what would come of it all. |
|