Letters from Blackwell Island Pt. 02

"Sorry," I said as I looked up at him.

"That's okay," he replied.

"Aren't you a bit embarrassed?" I asked him. "I mean, I don't want to draw attention to it, but I can't help but ignore that fact that you're er, well, a bit erect here."

That was something of an understatement if ever there was - he wasn't just a bit erect, he was very erect!

"Not really, I guess," the handsome young man answered with a slight shrug.

I hate to admit it, but now that I was very up close to Aiden's fully erect penis I couldn't help but admire it - I mean, who wouldn't be at least a little aroused by an eighteen year old Adonis's fully erect penis right there in front of your own eyes? There was no other way to describe it other than that it was in my mind a magnificently perfect specimen of masculine arousal - every bit as beautiful in my eyes as Patrick's.

"Aiden, like all young men here, has learned to not be embarrassed about being seen with an erection," Marea said. "It's something all Blackwell Islanders learn about men having erections or women having periods - they're just normal bodily functions that are nothing to be ashamed of."

"If it was Patrick here in front of us with a full-on stiffy he'd be absolutely mortified with embarrassment!" I chuckled.

"If anything, I'd be more concerned if Aiden didn't become erect because of you touching him," Marea added. "As a concerned mother it's good to know that every part of him is normal and works properly."

It didn't escape my attention that throughout all of this discourse, Lisa remained pretty quiet - if I were in her position at her age watching my brother Keith being groped by our mother, I'd be making all manner of lurid quips and be in fits of giggles. And yet Lisa seemed utterly nonchalant and unmoved by what was happening to her twin brother before her eyes. As ever, my journalistic curiosity kicked in and I asked her about why she didn't take amusement for what her mother and I were doing to Aiden. Her answer took me a little by surprise.

"Well it'd be disrespectful, of course," Lisa responded matter of factly.

"Kids on Blackwell are taught about respecting each other from a very early age," Marea explained. "Respect for each other is literally woven into the fabric of Pā'ele society and culture. Respect for others is in our stories and songs that are handed down from generation to generation, it's in our hearts - a vital part of being a true Pā'ele."

I had to say I found all of this very endearing to the Pā'ele people of Blackwell Island, and upon reflection I had noticed that every one of the natives Patrick and I had encountered thus far were indeed extremely nice and respectful of us coming into their community. I guess it helped that I (and Patrick too, though I can't speak for him exactly) were prepared to adapt to their customs and culture, even though they were rather, er, frank when it came to sex.

"Y'know, I think you're beginning to get the hang of it," Marea commented as she inspected my latest attempt to tie Aiden's Kani around his penis and testicles.

"You think?" I responded.

"Yeah, I mean, you could certainly do with some more practice but at least now you can get it to stay in place," Marea confirmed.

"What do you think, Aiden?" I asked the boy as I looked up at him. "Is it comfortable enough?"

"It feels fine, I guess," he replied down to me. "Maybe a bit looser than when Mum puts it on me, but it feels okay."

"One more attempt then, I think," Marea said as she untied Aiden's Kani once more. "And this time don't be afraid to tie it a little tighter. You can take it from me that he'll soon let you know if it's too tight! When my mother taught me how to put a Kani on my father I got a little too enthusiastic and tied it way too tightly - he howled with pain! Of course, mother made sure I apologised for hurting him and I learnt a harsh lesson that day, I can tell you! To make up for hurting him she made me spend all my pocket money on a gift for him to say sorry."

"Well, I definitely don't want to hurt your son," I said to her, though I was looking up at Aiden as I said it. "I value our friendship too much!"

* * * * * *

The next morning, following another wonderfully sensual pre-breakfast lovemaking session with my dear husband, I returned to see Marea in her kitchen where I found mother and daughter enjoying croissants and coffee. Patrick was off into Malmesbury to go to Reverend McCabe's weekly interdenominational church service as he always did on Sundays, so that would keep him out of our way for a couple of hours to give the three of us girls an ideal opportunity to visit Mrs. Laukea's Kani emporium and workshop. I couldn't help but notice the look Lisa gave my husband as we got into Marea's little electric Mini Moke - it was a look that said "I know what we're really going into town for!" He of course failed to pick up on it and simply sat beside me in the back of the car totally unaware that I was off to see a woman about a traditional cock ring for him.

After kissing him goodbye at the entrance to the churchyard, Marea, Lisa and I headed down the town's main thoroughfare to go and find Mrs. Laukea's shop. It was located in the corner of a small square just off the main street behind an unassuming green door. On a discreet brass plaque just below the letterbox were the words "Mrs. Eliza Laukea, traditional Kani maker" in elaborate script. Marea knocked on the door and a few moments later a man in his early sixties opened the door to us. I hadn't encountered him during my previous visit to the shop with Jenni, so at first I had no idea who he was.

"Hello, Mr. Laukea," Marea greeted him.

Of course, I realised as they greeted each other, he was Mrs. Laukea's husband - I remembered her mentioning that her other half was upstairs working on the accounts at the time.

"Ah, Mrs. Mahi'ai, so nice to see you again," he responded warmly as he ushered us in to the small shop. "Are you here for a new Kani for Jackson, by any chance?"

"Not today, Mr. Laukea," Marea replied as he ushered us inside. "Jackson has plenty enough already! It's Allie here who's after one for her husband."

"Ah! Our resident journalist, nice to meet you at last," Mr. Laukea greeted me warmly. "I apologise for not being down here during your last visit - I was knee-deep in paperwork at the time! Please come in - how can we help you today?"

"Hi, Mr. Laukea," I replied as I entered. "Yeah, I thought it was about time my husband had a Kani of his own to wear, but I want to get him one that's a bit more special than the one I bought for Aiden - Marea tells me that they can be custom made."

"Of course, dear, we can certainly do that for you," Mr. Laukea responded with a friendly smile. "As it's a special commission it'd be best to take you in to the workshop to see my wife so that you can specify with her exactly what you'd like."

On my previous visit with Jenni, I'd just picked out a Kani from the selection on sale in the little shop. Mrs. and Mr. Laukea (because Blackwell is a matriarchal society, the "Mrs." always comes before the "Mr.") were a wife and husband team who ran their business together as a partnership. Mr. Laukea was responsible for running the shop - the front end of the business - and keeping the accounts up to date, whilst Mrs. Laukea was the actual craftswoman who made the Kani's on sale in the shop. In accordance with Pā'ele tradition, Kani's could only be made by women, and making them was a skill handed down through generations of Mrs. Laukea's foremothers, and the present Mrs. Laukea was just the latest in a long line stretching back over five hundred years to specialise in making Kani's for the island's women to give to and put on their men.

Mr. Laukea opened the door into his wife's workshop and beckoned us to follow him in. It was everything you'd expect a craftswoman's workspace to look like - a large work table dominated the centre of the room, illuminated by a magnifier lamp on a flexible arm to aid with the more intricate aspects of her craft. Various old tools of all shapes and sizes littered the table and all around the room were various boxes and drawers of materials, and even a small safe for the more precious stones used in her unique craft. But there was also evidence of modern technology too - a state of the art 3D printer and a strange looking device that I later learned was a miniature CNC milling machine.

My eyes were drawn to the labels on the boxes that described their contents - there were corals of various shades from vibrant pink to light yellow, bright blue lapis lazuli, intensely green jade, deep black obsidian and bright yellow sulphur to name just a few. In the safe of course was the really precious stuff - glancing briefly at the Kani that Mr. Laukea was wearing around his genitalia I noticed that it glittered with gold, diamonds and sapphires, I was left under no illusion that the safe contained a wealth of different precious stones and metals including rubies and pearls and emeralds. I doubted my budget could stretch that far, but there were plenty of alternatives available to choose from.

"Ah! Mrs. Mahi'ai! So nice to see you again!" Mrs. Laukea greeted Marea brightly as she looked up from her work table where she was midway through creating her latest custom made Kani. "How's the family?"

"We're all good, thank you, Mrs. Laukea," Marea replied.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't come along to the Twins' coming of age ceremony - I had a commission for Mrs. Tua to finish in time for her wedding anniversary."

"That's okay," Marea responded.

"How is Aiden?" Mrs. Laukea asked. "I saw him in town the other day - oh, but he's such a handsome young man! And what a fine penis he has too! So much like his father - he'll make some lucky young woman a fine husband one day! And with testicles like his he'll be sure to sire many children! Have you selected any potential brides for him at all?"

"I've considered a few that might be suitable," Marea answered, not giving too much away. "I want him to be well looked after by any potential wife so I'm not going to rush in to get him married off as soon as possible."

"And as for you, Lisa," the older woman turned to face Marea's daughter. "My goodness you're a fine looking young lady now that you're unclothed! Such beautiful breasts you have - makes me wish I was your age again!"

"Thanks," Lisa responded politely.

"And you must be Allie," Mrs. Laukea turned to me. "So nice to meet you - my assistant told me about you when you chose one of my Kani's from the shop for young Aiden. You're a writer, aren't you?"

"I work for a popular women's magazine based in London," I explained. "I've been sent here to spend a year writing a monthly article called Letters From Blackwell Island. It's all about the islanders here and their unique way of life. Though for obvious reasons there are, y'know, certain aspects of island life that I can't write about without the magazine being sold on the top shelf."

"She means the sex," Marea explained with a knowing chuckle.

"Anyway, I've decided it's about time I bought a Kani for my husband," I said, keen to move away from the subject of the inhabitants of Blackwell Island's rather open attitudes towards sex. "It's his birthday soon and I'd like to get him something unique."

"I see, so you'll be wanting a one-off Kani so that he can look like a proper Pā'ele man, huh?" Mrs. Laukea replied. "Well, I think it's always nice to incorporate something of personal relevance to him in the design - what can you tell me about him?"

"Well, he's Irish for starters," I responded. "And Catholic. He loves Rugby and Gaelic sports like Hurling and Gaelic Football, he enjoys a pint o' the black stuff from time to time, and he's a Gemini - his birthday is on the 19th of June."

"Hmm, let me see," Mrs. Laukea pondered aloud as she surveyed the various boxes and drawers of materials around the room. "Since he's Irish I guess we could incorporate the colours of the Irish flag into the design. Maybe some jade or malachite for the green - or even emerald if you'd like, seeing as they call it the Emerald Isle I guess that would be rather apt, but that would be rather expensive too of course."

"Malachite would be more in my budget, I think!" I chuckled.

"Some amber for the orange would look nice, and for the white I have some nice little pearls that would look good. That would also tie in nicely as pearl also happens to be one of the birthstones for June," Mrs. Laukea went on.

"Well, that would look nice on him, I guess," I replied. "He's always very proud of his Irish roots."

"And for the rest I think just some polished obsidian," Mrs. Laukea added. "It could represent his love of, what did you call it? A pint o' the black stuff? Is there anything else you think might look nice? I've recently taken delivery of a laser etching tool, so I can do a little inlaid design in the obsidian if you like?"

"Oh yes, my wife is using laser technology to take traditional Kani design into the twenty-first century!" Mr. Laukea chuckled.

I had to think for a moment of something suitable that would be relevant to Patrick - there are plenty of things associated with Ireland - the shamrock, the harp, the bodhran (a handheld drum used in Irish folk music), but I felt that maybe they were all a little too clichéd - too obvious. I also thought of maybe something that reflected his faith - a crucifix or maybe the scallop symbol of the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrimage he'd been on with his parents as a teenager. But then I thought that maybe he'd see it as a little inappropriate to have religious symbolism in such close proximity to his genitals, so that closed off another route. But then I had a brainwave.

As I had mentioned earlier, Patrick was a lover of Gaelic sports, especially Hurling that he used to play at school, and so I asked Mrs. Laukea if it would be possible to create a design that incorporated a Hurley and Sliotar (the stick and ball used in the game).

"Of course, dear - if you could provide me with a picture to work from," the craftswoman replied.

I opened my Kīeke and took my tablet out and searched for a suitable enough image - hooray for modern technology! We settled on a design that depicted a pair of Hurleys crossed together with two Sliotars (pronounced "slitters" to save you the trouble of Googling it) that would be etched into the obsidian and then inlaid with gold leaf and sealed in polished resin.

"So, that's all settled then, dear," Mrs. Laukea said as she finalised the design.

"Cool! So, er, how long would it take?" I asked her. "And more importantly, how much will it cost?"

"It should take a couple of days to make - I can make a start on it as soon as I finish this one that I'm currently working on," she replied. "As for cost, I'd say about a hundred and fifty pounds - plus and extra fifty pounds for a nice presentation box to keep it in when it's not being worn."

Two hundred Blackwell Pounds (B£) roughly equated to about £120 in UK Sterling - not a bad price for something custom made that would be a one of a kind item, so I happily agreed to the price and gave her the go-ahead to start work on it. I couldn't wait to try out my newfound Kani tying skills on my beloved husband - I just hoped that he would appreciate my gift.

* * * * * *

A few days later Marea and I revisited Mrs. Laukea to pick up, and of course to pay for, the Kani I'd had specially made for Patrick. We were greeted once again by Mr. Laukea who on this occasion was wearing a Kani encrusted with rubies and pearls. I guess that Mrs. Laukea was happy for her husband to be her "shop window" to display the very finest and most expensive examples of her handiwork. I knew for sure that if I had a necklace or a bracelet with that many precious stones in it, it would set me back at least a couple of thousand pounds. Clearly, Mrs. Laukea believed that only the very best was good enough for her husband.

He opened up the presentation box that contained the finished article - the box alone looked expensive. It was made of Koa wood - a common tree native to Hawaii and the Polynesian islands - that looked like finely polished black walnut. Inlaid on the top was a design in mother of pearl that I recognised as the view of the summit of the island's extinct volcano, Mauna o ka ho'omaka, when seen from the centre of the town. Mr. Laukea opened the box, which was lined with luxuriant deep blue velvet, and handed it to me. I looked in the box at Patrick's new Kani and almost wept - it was a beautiful object to behold, so finely and painstakingly crafted from hundreds of tiny beads of malachite and amber and little pearls that formed an image of the Bratach na h Éireann, the flag of Ireland. The larger black obsidian pieces, decorated with the Hurling inspired design inlaid in gold leaf glittered in the light. And of course, the knowledge of how intimately it would be worn on Patrick's body sent a thrill down my spine.

I carefully picked it up out of the box and examined it in more detail, assessing its weight and looking more closely at the overall design. I concluded that it was definitely worth the B£200 I was about to pay for it.

"It's beautiful," I said as I handled the piece for the very first time. "I really hope he likes it - though I must confess I'm not sure how he'd feel about wearing it."

"If he loves you, Allie, he'll wear it for you," Marea said as she examined the finely crafted Kani for herself.

I paid for the Kani - definitely one of the oddest things to ever show up on my credit card statement - and left the little shop and went for coffee at what had become our favourite venue, to meet up with Patrick and to do some people watching. Now that I'd been living on Blackwell for almost five months I was beginning to feel like a true islander, and I felt a sort of strange smugness as I saw the tourists walking past our table under the shade of a large green parasol.

They all looked so pale in comparison to Marea and I, and although many of them sported tattoos (including one man I saw whose penis had been tattooed with a design that looked vaguely Celtic that made me wince - it must've been incredibly painful!) none of them had the traditional Ohana Māka'u tattoos that adorn the behinds of every native Blackwell Islander. The absence of an Ohana Māka'u was now the only thing that made Patrick and I stand out from the rest of the resident islanders - I thought that maybe one day I should look into designing one for us. After all, Jenni had one designed for her, so why shouldn't we have one designed for us? Still, all that was for the future, and even if Patrick and I would only be temporary residents on Blackwell, I figured it'd be nice to have some kind of permanent reminder of our time here together.

A Wake Up Call

The morning of the 19th of June, Patrick's birthday, dawned like almost every other day on Blackwell Island - that is to say warm and sunny with the sound of parakeets in the air welcoming the new day with their distinctive chirping. It also dawned like every other day with something else - making love with my handsome husband. Since it was his birthday I wanted it to be extra special for him so I decided that I ought to take the lead.

"Just lay back and let me make love to you," I whispered in his ear.

"Mmm, anything you say, mo grá," he murmured softly in reply, adding a little flourish of Irish Gaelic that caused my gathering arousal to grow even stronger.