Coconut Milk

J, She, and the Eel

3 J, She, and the Eel J always stayed in the kitchen That’s what fags in American Samoa do take care of the young and old, haunt the kitchen, cooking and washing dishes Now, this part of the story I made up One day a missionary gave J an eel to cook but J knew it was a sacred eel and was taken by it He kept it in a rain barrel filled with water as a pet A sacred pet This other part’s real again Every once in a while J put on a bright frock beat her face and caught a taxi to town Pago Pago! As She she went to all the clubs and asked all the straight boys to dance because she only danced with straight boys And of course they all did because you know it’s impolite to a person’s entire family to say No Meanwhile the sacred eel grew larger and larger until its head was the size of a coconut She screamed and made a pond to hold it This part’s true One day She decided to form her own club with all the fa‘afafine on the island They called themselves the Daughters of Samoa 4 She grew her hair long dyed it red and got a job as Executive Secretary to the President of American Samoa Community College which she runs to this day And the ending I made up One night the sacred eel grew so large (as tall as a coconut tree) that it chased She from village to village through all of Sa Moa ...