North Star

43 | maverick

2019

It felt so cold in Chicago, I could have worn all three coats I packed at the same time and not flinched. And even if the entirety of the city stared at me in disbelief, I probably wouldn't have cared.

Nikau wasn't as affected by the chillier weather since temperatures dipped lower in Aotearoa than they did in Hawai'i. He watched me waddle my way through the streets of Chicago, wearing as many layers as I could without looking like the Michelin Tyre Man, even when they still left me shivering whenever the slightest hint of wind swept past us.

I felt like Dorothy being dropped inside Oz.

Since we arrived in the morning, it was too early to check in so we had to drop our bags off at bell services before heading out to join the rest of the city.

Everywhere I turned, something new and exciting lurked around the corner. Waikiki was the closest place I had to a city experience, but it could never measure up to a real, big city like Chicago. (Which was okay.) (Every city and town in Hawai'i had its charm that blended with the island, and I wouldn't have it any other way.) The city was home to skyscrapers as diverse as the people that inhabited it; my eyes didn't know where to look first. I wanted to soak all of it in as much as I could during the few days we were in Chicago.

"A plain hot dog?" I gawked. "You can't get a plain hot dog when you're in Chicago."

"I don't even know what's on a Chicago hot dog."

I turned to the vendor and said, "He'll have the same as me instead, please."

They didn't even flinch and immediately started making our order with the robotic familiarity of someone who made hundreds of these every day. Not two minutes later and they were ringing us up with a couple of drinks. Nikau and I walked over to an empty table and ate in blissful silence.

Even the sound of the city was different than anywhere I had experienced before. I was used to crashing waves, sand crunching beneath tires, and the rustles of leaves under a salty breeze. Chicago was the antithesis of all of those sounds and it took some getting used to, not letting myself drown under the weight of all this sensory overload.

"So, what's on the agenda?" I asked about halfway through our late lunch. If I could have paused the clock, I would. While it had only been half a day since we landed, my feet were already begging me to give them a break, and a nap would have been nice. I felt terrible for even thinking it because I didn't want to waste any time while we were here, but I wasn't a well-traveled person so it all took a lot out of me.

"I think Maverick is supposed to land sometime this afternoon, so we might be able to have dinner with him or something."

"Think?"

Nikau paused to finish chewing. "I've heard he has a thing about... timing. And booking flights."

"What kind of thing?"

"Just that he's late sometimes."

"Oh." I nodded. "Gotcha."

I didn't know the protocol for collaborating on a record or what went into booking a studio, but I assumed mindful timing was ideal. I also had no idea what kind of schedule someone like Maverick had, and it wasn't like it mattered to me either way. His lifestyle probably wove him a complicated web, and weaving himself in and out of it had to be difficult. As long as he made it there while we were in town, that was all that mattered.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us tomorrow?" he asked for the hundredth time. "He really won't mind."

I brushed him off as easily as I did every other time he had asked. "I think I'm gonna just hang out by myself. Maybe jump on the L and see where it takes me."