Hawaii - James Michener [504]
"What should we work at?" Asia asked.
"Land," Nyuk Tsin replied with the terrible tenacity of a Hakka peasant who had never known enough land. "As the frightened haoles ran away, we must buy all the land they leave behind."
"We don't have enough money to do that," Hong Kong protested.
"I'm sorry," Nyuk Tsin apologized. "I didn't explain myself correctly. Of course we can't afford to buy. But we can put down small deposits and promise to pay later. Then we can work the land and earn the money to pay off the debts."
"But how can we get hold of enough money to start?" Hong Kong asked.
"We must spend every cent of cash we have," Nyuk Tsin replied. "Asia, you take charge of that. Turn everything into cash. Let us run the stores on Hotel Street, because that's where the soldiers will come. Put all our girls to work. Australia, could your granddaughters start a hot-dog stand in Waikiki?"
The hui laid plans to lure every stray nickel from passing military men, but the most important tactic was still to be discussed. "Tomorrow morning, every man who is able must report to Pearl Harbor," Nyuk Tsin directed. "If the shipyard was as badly damaged as they say, lots of men will be needed. They'll be afraid to employ Japanese, and our men will get good jobs. But every penny earned must be given to Asia."
The family agreed that this was the right procedure, so Nyuk Tsin turned next to Hong Kong: "Your job will be the most difficult. You are to take the money that Asia provides, and you are to buy land. That is, pay just enough to get control. And remember, when people are running away in fear, they'll accept almost any cash offer and trust in faith to get the balance."
Hong Kong listened, then asked, "Should I buy business land or private homes?"
There was some discussion of this, but Nyuk Tsin finally directed: "Later, when the war is over, the big money will be in industrial land. But right now, when the island fills with people, everybody'll want homes."
"So what should I do?" Hong Kong asked.
"Buy homes now, and as their rents come in, apply the money to business property," Nyuk Tsin advised. Then she looked at the senior members of the hui and said, "The next years will require courage. When the war ends, people will hurry back to Hawaii and say, 'Those damned Chinese stole our land from us.' They'll forget that they ran away in fear, and we didn't. But then what they say won't matter." She laughed tremulously and chided her men: "I've never seen grown men so afraid as you are tonight. If you could run away, too, you'd do so, everyone of you. But fortunately the F.B.I. won't let you. So we must all stay here and work."
From this night meeting behind bomb-proofed windows, three changes occurred in Honolulu. First, a good many of the small stores that catered to servicemen, selling them greasy food, soft drinks and candy bars, came to be operated by members of the Kee hui. Prices were kept reasonable, the stores were kept clean, and every establishment made money. Second, at Pearl Harbor, when the accelerated rebuilding of that damaged base began, a surprising number of the auditors, senior bookkeepers, expediters and managerial assistants were named Kee. Their wages were good, their work impeccable, and their behavior inconspicuous. When draft boards asked the navy, "Are you fellows out at Pearl hoarding manpower?" the navy apologetically released Mendoncas and Guerreros, but never a Kee, for the latter were essential to the war. Third, when the military began to fly in hundreds of civilian advisers, and in the case of senior officials, their families too, these men found that if they wanted to rent quarters they had to see Hong Kong Kee; even generals and admirals