Posted on: Tuesday, July 6, 2004

Keep your mitts off Norma's mangoes

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

Somewhere on O'ahu, mango stealers are facing felony charges because Norma Nakaima has had just about enough.

The two Hayden mango trees in the Nakaima family front yard are both a blessing and a burden.

"Over the years, I've become used to people asking me for mangoes and stuff," Nakaima says. "We see

people driving into the neighborhood with fruit pickers sticking out of their cars. I mean, maha'oi is putting it nicely."

People stand on the sidewalk and steal fruit from the tree. They stand at the gate and yell out to the house. Tour bus drivers turn down the street, slow down in front of the family's house and point out the trees to their passengers. Never mind Eve's apple. The mango trees bear the fruit of temptation.

Nakaima has three young children. She has lingering disabilities after suffering two strokes. Having strangers yelling at her house from the street or helping themselves to her mangoes is a big imposition.

And it's cheeky.

This year, she could tell it was going to be a good crop, "and I thought, 'oh, no' — I was dreading it."

"The other day I was looking up at the tree and I thought, oh, my gosh, they're like rubies and amethysts hanging there just saying, 'Come pick me! Come pick me!' "

Then it happened. She and her husband and children came home in the middle of the day. They rounded the corner and spotted a woman on the sidewalk outside their house picking mangoes from their tree with a long picker.

"My husband stopped and asked, 'Do you have permission from the owners to pick the mangoes?' and we were told, 'Oh yeah, oh yeah.' "

Then the Nakaimas realized their padlocked gate had been kicked in and more mango thieves were inside their yard.

"And that's when this guy comes casually strolling out and he's eating a mango! He has a mango in his hand, up to his face, and he's just walking out, no backpedaling, no remorse."

They took down the license plate of the truck and called police, who classified the case as a felony because of "breaking and entering."

Nakaima lives in Honolulu at a location she doesn't want to disclose for obvious reasons. Her mom grew up in that house with the same mango trees but none of the problems.

"You didn't do that sort of thing back then," Nakaima says. "It just wasn't pono."

Nakaima likes to share the bounty of the trees with family and friends, but this year, there's nothing left to give.

"One policeman said to me, 'Gee, if they had only asked, you're such a nice lady you would have given them the mangoes, yeah?' And I said, 'No!' "

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.