Lulu in Honolulu (4 page)

Linc gets up from the chaise.

LINC

I'm gonna check the surf before that smelly pug comes near me.

He passes Lulu, lifts up her ALOHA cap, and musses her already-wild hair.

LINC

Nice 'do.

Linc heads down to the beach, and Fiona follows in her high shoes.

LULU

(calling after him)

Daaad! We really wanna try and win this hula thing. If you'd come, it would inspire us!

WIDE SHOT of Linc halfway to the ocean.

ALEXIS

K. Let's not take their answer as a no.

Watson scrounges around Linc's chair. Lulu reaches down to pick up the pineapple wedge her dad tossed on the ground just before the pug chomps down on it.

LULU

(looking up from the ground)

Of course not. I take it as a solid maybe.

INT. SPLASH! ALA MOANA CENTER—NEXT MORNING

Splash! is a Hawaiian swimwear boutique. Bathing suits in all different colors, shapes, and sizes hang throughout the store. Almost every one is a bikini.

Lulu holds up a magenta, fringed bikini top.

LULU

Is this a belt?

ALEXIS

Are you that fashion-challenged or are you trying to be funny?

Alexis's arms hold a dozen bikini tops and bottoms.

SHAWNA, the Splash! manager, casually approaches Alexis. With her gorgeous, wavy, dark hair and deep-brown skin, she looks like she fell off one of the posters of bathing suit models hanging around the store.

SHAWNA

Aloha
, Alexis? Right? I'm Shawna. Let me help you with those.

Alexis gratefully releases the tangle of hangers.

Alexis, thrilled to be known by the naturally hip manager of one of O'ahu's coolest swimsuit stores, flashes her violet eyes.

ALEXIS

I totally love the vibe of your store and how you always have the newest styles.

LULU

Aloha
, Shawna. I'm her sister, Lulu.

SHAWNA

(warm and welcoming)

Hey, Lulu. Actually, I came over to you guys 'cause I heard you say you thought the knotted fringe top looked like a belt. I thought that was hysterical.

Lulu shoots Alexis an “I told you so” glance.

LULU

You sure sell tiny pieces of material that are supposed to be bathing suits.

Lulu picks up a turquoise twist bandeau top with removable straps and holds it up. She then grabs banded, ruched-side bottoms. Both pieces look especially tiny dangling from their hangers.

LULU

How could anyone wear these into the water? First wave and
adios,
bathing suit.

ALEXIS

Hey, what size are those bottoms? If they're smalls, hand them over. Totally
très
adorable.

Alexis heads toward the small changing-room area and swishes behind a silky drape of blue and green tropical leaves.

SHAWNA

(to Lulu)

Is there anything you need?

ALEXIS

(yelling out from changing room)

Shawna! Can you help Lulu? She needs to win a hula contest and needs something to wear that's not SPF 50 long underwear!

SHAWNA

That's so cool! You hula?

LULU

Well, at Ohana Day Camp, where I go, we're learning all kinds of Hawaiian life and culture stuff, but there's this hula-off coming up and—

SHAWNA

I hula-ed for years before I got into surfing. Let's see your moves! C'mon. I can help you!

Shawna clears away a rack in the middle of the store and positions Lulu's hands and feet into basic hula moves.

LULU

For me, hula feels more like a game of Twister than a dance.

Shawna cracks up.

SHAWNA

You might be better at being funny than at hula, Lulu.

Alexis parades out in a Luli Fama Cosita Buena push-up top and Brazilian-back bottoms.

ALEXIS

(to Shawna)

Does this look too big?

LULU

Lex, put something on! Anyone passing the store could see you!

SHAWNA

(smiling to Alexis)

She's got a point. Great bikinis don't always make great mall wear.

ALEXIS

I know, but bikinis are good for hula! Look, how hard can that dancing be?!

Shawna cranks up the store music. Lulu and Alexis shake, sway, twist, stamp, and spin. Shawna instructs in between giggles and joining in herself.

ALEXIS

(still dancing about)

See, Lu, all you need is a bikini to wear for your hula thingy-dingy, and the moves will just flow into you!

Lulu stops mid-twirl. Khloe and the Cs stand staring and sniggering.

LULU

Hey, guys! Just practicing some hula moves because bathing suit shopping is about the worst shopping I can think of, and I don't like shopping to begin with.

(looks at Shawna)

Sorry, Shawna.

SHAWNA

(reaching to turn down the music)

I get it. Bathing suit shopping is known to be stressful for most women.

KHLOE

You weren't shopping, and you weren't doing hula. You were being, like, freaks.

Alexis, despite being clad in a skimpy bathing suit, strides right over to Khloe and the Cs. She shakes back her long, silky hair as she bores her eyes into Khloe.

ALEXIS

Hi. I'm Alexis Harrison.

Khloe and the Cs blush. They are meeting a mega-cool teenager who's actually been photographed in magazines with her famous parents. They stand frozen.

ALEXIS

K. Let me put it another way. I'm Lulu's big sister.

KHLOE

Oh. We didn't know that was you.

ALEXIS

Then, HELLLO?! Who did you think I was?

LULU

(jumps in)

No problem. We, I mean, I was just getting super-looper excited about the hula-off.

ALEXIS

Which, by the way, Lulu's camp…

(pauses and looks to Lulu)

What's it called?

LULU

(whispering)

Ohana.

ALEXIS

Fine. Whatever. Ohana Camp is gonna rock that hula show and our parents are gonna make sure of it!

KHLOE

NO way to that. Those misfit kids dancing without me leading them will be a freak show.

Alexis turns and casually shuffles through racks of bathing suits hanging nearby.

SHAWNA

(to Khloe and the Cs)

Did you guys need some help?

KHLOE

We better go. We've got hula practice.

ALEXIS

(under her breath)

You guys are gonna need it.

EXT. BACKYARD AND
LANAI
OF AUNTIE MOANA AND UNCLE AKAMU'S HOUSE, WAIMANALO—NEXT MORNING

CUT!! Here's something you need to know about Auntie Moana and Uncle Akamu's house. I LOVE IT. It has a small, square-shaped grass yard. Chickens cluck in a pen. Kittens prowl around looking for someone to stroke them. There's even a white llama who lets you hug her! Ohana Camp meets here on days we have lots of crafts to do and there's too much stuff to lug down the street to the Waimanalo Beach Park or if there's a jellyfish warning and we can't go in the water. OK, back to: ACTION!!

Auntie Moana shows Kenna and Kapono how to make twisted ginger
leis
. Liam teaches himself an easy four-chord Hawaiian melody on his ukulele. Uncle Akamu's sister, CARIDYN, sits on the
lanai
with her large
pahu
drum. She lifts and drops Maleko's hands on the drum, so he hears the different sounds. Noelani sits on a step and lightly shakes bright feathers.

CAMERA pulls back for a WIDE SHOT of Lulu. She wobbles on a folding chair placed up against a tree trunk. The top half of Lulu's body is lost in branches and leaves.

LULU

(voice coming from somewhere in the tree)

There're so many papayas up here. Geez peas! And they look really big.

AUNTIE MOANA

(calling from a bench full flowers)

Good, Lulu. Pick. We'll bake papaya bread this afternoon.

NOELANI

(in her small voice)

Auntie, I thought we had to do hula practice all afternoon?

AUNTIE MOANA

Well, if the papayas are nice and ripe, it's also time for papayas. We have to follow nature to know what time it is.

(calls out to Lulu)

Are the papayas ripe?

LULU

I think so. They're not green at all. And feel really soft and—

Just then a yellow bell-shaped fruit sails to the ground and SPLATS its yellow orange flesh.

LULU

Sorry!

AUNTIE MOANA

Now we know they are perfectly ripe.

Noelani stands. CAMERA FOLLOWS Noelani as she strides across the backyard. Loose stitching from her too-small board shorts float around her legs as she walks.

At the tree, Noelani grabs the back of Lulu's shaky chair.

NOELANI

(up to Lulu)

I thought I'd better steady the chair so you don't smoosh open your head.

LULU

Mahalo
. I'd been feeling like I was standing on guava jelly!

Noe, do you have a favorite fruit? Mine's pineapple. But it's such a hard shape and so prickly, how does anyone cut it open?

NOELANI

I like coconuts, but they're not really fruit.

Lulu's arms and head appear from the tree. She starts to climb down.

LULU

When I was little, I thought coconuts came from cows 'cause they had milk in them.

Noelani laughs, and it sounds like it comes from deep inside. Her dark-cocoa eyes sparkle. Lulu giggles.

The THAWP BOOM BOOM of Caridyn's
pahu
drum signals the kids to gather around Auntie Moana.

AUNTIE MOANA

Only one more day. Right? So, let's practice our hula.

Kids scramble into their usual lines, but with Khloe and the Cs gone, Lulu now stands front and center.

AUNTIE MOANA

Remember: three basic steps for hula. Start with our beginning stance. Knees a little bent. Feet in a pie shape. Then, what's next?

Kids fidget or look down. Some even shift their feet out of the pie-shape starting position.

Caridyn starts drumming to fill the awkward silence.

CARIDYN

Hey, are you guys dancing the
hukilau
? I still remember how to drum that song. I can even keep time with the gourd. Go on. Let's see this winning group.

AUNTIE MOANA

What are the other moves for your bottom half? Anyone?

NOELANI

(softly, barely able to be heard)

Kaholo
and
‘ami
.

Lulu twists around to look at Noelani.

LULU

Noe?! C'mon. Call it out—

Noelani shakes her head.

LULU

Geez peas! Why not tell Auntie?

NOELANI

(whispering back)

I don't want her to put me in the front.

The drumming starts. Lulu tries to figure out the dance, but without anyone in front of her, she's toast!

All the kids shuffle into each other. Some sway backward when they should sway forward. Some arms raise up while others hang down. Kids try to dance their hula but look more like a cross between zombies and bumper cars. The drumming stops. There was nothing award-winning about that performance.

MALEKO

Hey, guys, that was cruddy. And I don't even know anything about hula. I'd rather drum.

AUNTIE MOANA

That was hard because we are used to performing with Uncle Akamu's ukulele.

Caridyn points her thumb toward the house.

CARIDYN

Want me to get Akamu's uke? Ukulele's also a rhythm instrument. I can play one.

AUNTIE MOANA

Let's go again. If it's drumming, singing, or ukulele, doesn't matter. It's your
akua
. Your spirit. How you feel inside.

Auntie Moana takes a slow, deep breath.

AUNTIE MOANA

Noelani, come be the pelican who flies in front of the flock. Lead them where to go.

Noelani cannot move. She examines her toes. All the Ohana kids turn and look at her.

SCREEN DOOR SLAMS. Uncle Akamu jumps the three steps from the
lanai
to the grass.

UNCLE AKAMU

Stop,
keiki
! Hold up. We gotta get to Lanikai Beach. There's a monk seal pup hauled out on the sand. We need to make sure no one disturbs that sleeping pup. There're no other volunteers around.

Uncle Akamu runs toward his dented, scratched, blue van. His keys jangle from a stretchy band around his wrist. Kids race after him. Lulu, despite running as gracefully as a seal on sand, reaches the van before the other kids.