Chapter Eighteen - Days of Wine and Orchids

Back on Oahu, Rudy moved into the little duplex on the beach. Since all of his worldly possessions fit in the trunk of his car, it wasn’t a big task.

Once his bags were unloaded he wandered the half-mile to the beach park he’d seen that first day in Punaluu, across Kamehameha from the 7-11. Three of the same Hawaiians he’d seen that day were playing basketball when he arrived.

“Hey, brudda, you play da kine?” one of them shouted to him from across the court. Rudy estimated him to be 6’4”, 250 lbs.

“A little.” he answered with an arrogant smirk.

“Full court; you tin you can handle dat, haole?” This one was close to 6’4” but leaner.

“I’ll do my best.”

“Okay, you get da kine, Jay.”

“Oh man, doan make me take him.” Jay moaned. “Check out da kine, man, he five foot nuttin’.”

“Five-eight.” Rudy corrected him. “Don’t worry, I’m short but I can’t jump.”

“Oh, dats great.” Jay continued. “I always get stuck wif da Haoles.”

“If you keep whining,” Rudy said, “and I’m not going to let you score.” The three of them burst into laughter.

The big guy threw the ball hard at Rudy’s chest. Rudy handled the hot pass with ease. “Winners after six, play to twenty-two, gotta win by four. No fouls dis game, brudda. Take it out.”

Rudy stepped out of bounds and threw the ball in to Jay, who took it down court and put up a sloppy shot that rolled around the rim and bounced out. One of the big guys got a hand on the rebound but couldn’t handle it. Rudy picked up the loose ball at the top of the key, split the defenders and laid it softly in the basket with his left hand. He turned to Jay and shot him a haughty grin.

“Lucky sumbitch. I wooden try coming inside again shorty.” an opponent shouted.

“Yeah, little haole pussy like you could get hurt in dere.” The other one chimed in.

While they talked trash, Rudy stole the inbound pass and cruised effortlessly the length of the court for another uncontested lay-up. He could tell by the look on their faces that the game had just gotten serious.

This time they managed to inbound the ball and Rudy stuck to his man like honey in his hair. He took Rudy down low, figuring that the inside game was his turf, and caught a high pass. He brought the ball down as he prepared to jump, a bad habit most big men have, and Rudy knocked it free on the way back up. Jay was already streaking down the court and Rudy led him with a perfect pass.

Six points, ball out, just like that. Now the big guys would have to stop Rudy and Jay to get the ball back. They didn’t and Rudy and Jay won 22-0.

“Hey, you’re okay, haole. I’m Ben; my brudda, Bill. You got a name, or we just call you haole?”

“I say we call him asshole.” Bill chimed in. He did a lot of chiming in.

“Rudy Davis.” Rudy said and they shook hands all around.

“How ‘bout a beer, brah?” Ben asked. They walked across the street to the 7-11 and picked up a 12 pack of Bud, then sat in the park and drained every can.

It turned out that Bill and Ben lived with their families in adjoining condos in the high rise a hundred yards down Kamehameha from Rudy’s duplex. They were in the construction business and had been sub-contractors on the building they lived in.

"We’re here every Tuesday and Thursday and whenever we can sneak away from da business. You welcome any time, brudda.” Ben said.


The next few months went by like a dream. Raven and Rudy spent every minute together that they possibly could. Raven worked her precious wood, carefully kiln drying it and studying it, making numerous drawings and trying to get a sense for what it was meant to be.

Rudy spent most of his time writing in the studio above her shop and helping with the manual labor, the drying and the loading and unloading of trucks. Often Raven would point out characteristics or images in the patterns and he would try to visualize what she saw but he rarely did, until it revealed itself in the finished product. Olsson Originals came to life in the shop while his writing came to life upstairs.

These were carefree days in which they worked with a passion, played with a passion and got to know each other in a deep and profound way. They both knew on some level that these times couldn’t last forever, that real life was bound to intrude eventually, but they were determined to enjoy it while it lasted. They could never have imagined the intrusion into their idyllic life that was in store for them.

Though they worked hard they found plenty of time to hike the lush mountains of Molokai, snorkel the crystal waters off Kauai, bicycle down Haleakala, Maui’s greatest mountain, and dance nearly every weekend. On a lark, they decided to find out how many Blues Bars there were on the islands and to dance in every one of them. Rudy joked that he would write a travel book about them, called Blues Hawaii.

Any given evening they might be found siting on Rudy’s front steps grilling teriyaki on the Hibachi and watching the sun drop into the Pacific while the high tide lapped at their feet. Tuesdays and Thursdays, of course, were basketball nights and often Raven would show up and watch. She did everything so well that Rudy half wondered if she only watched so as not to show him up by playing.

They regularly spent long weekends with Charlie and Jenny on Maui, with Wally and Soon-Li on Molokai, or somewhere in between, and the six of them became a tight little circle.

In September, the group gathered at Cheeseburger in Paradise to celebrate Raven and Charlie’s birthdays, which were only days apart. Jenny closed the place to the public and had her cook prepare a Cajun meal of Jambalaya, the most robust Gumbo imaginable, and crayfish flown in fresh from ‘the Guff’. The one thing Charlie missed most about the Gulf Coast was Cajun food.

Once all the food was laid out onto a steam table, the cook and the crew, the wait staff, barmaids and their significant others, all joined the party. Jenny had hired a Blues Band and they all kicked off their shoes and danced in one giant cluster. Even Charlie managed to stay on the dance floor for most of the night.

After the second set ended, people were milling about, talking and comparing blisters on their feet. Raven and Jenny were engaged in an animated conversation so Rudy excused himself and went upstairs to the patio for some fresh air. He sat alone in the dark, enjoying the salty breeze on his sweaty body.

“The silence feel good, yes?” Soon-Li said from behind.

“Sometimes silence feels magnificent.” Rudy agreed, mildly resenting the intrusion.

“I wish I like you, can find silence just by going away from noise.” Soon-Li said.

“What do you mean?”

“My gift also my curse.” Soon-Li answered. “Sometime I hear or see thing I don’t want. Some thing good, some thing no so good.”

“Pardon my skepticism, but I find it a bit much to swallow that some people are psychic.” Rudy said. “No offense.” He added quickly.

“You believe in destiny, Rudy? Things happen for reason?”

“Not really. I’m pretty pragmatic philosophically. My concept of destiny is really just cause and effect. I believe that if I step in front of a bus, I’m destined to get flattened. That’s about as much destiny as I believe in.”

Soon-Li smiled. “So, you atheist that have no faith.” She said, more a statement than a question.

“I prefer Humanist and believe me; it takes a lot more faith to be a humanist than to believe in some all-knowing Santa Claus in the sky with a plan for each of us. And frankly, this is a pretty fucked up world. No one knows that better than you. So if he does have a plan, it’s a really shitty one.”

She just smiled. “I know you no believe me now, but I know things about you and Raven. Bad things. You in much danger soon.” Soon-Li’s kind smile had disappeared.

“See, now that’s exactly why I cut back on the tequila. It makes you crazy.” She was seriously harshing his buzz.

“I not crazy. You no believe me now but you find out soon enough. I wish was crazy but I not. Just listen to me, Rudy, and remember this.” The seriousness in her voice made him pay attention despite himself. “When time come and you most troubled, you remember, it not your turn to go yet. You and Raven have many long year and many good work still. You have much fear but you must be stronger than your fear.”

“Yeah, well, it sounds like the band is starting back up.” Rudy said, making a beeline for the stairs.

Soon-Li grabbed his arm tighter than he thought she could. Her eyes were wide and determined.
“Rudy, I not crazy. Remember what I say.”

“Okay, Soon-Li,” he said gently, “okay.” The gravity in her eyes sent a tiny shiver of panic down his spine.

After the band had packed up and gone home, Charlie and Rudy sat alone on the lanai smoking cigars. Charlie had somehow managed to procure some Cubans and Rudy and he were enjoying them immensely.

Soon-Li and Wally had left for Charlie’s condo some time ago because they had an early morning date with The Maui Princess, a converted yacht that now acted as an inter-island shuttle. Jenny and Raven were passed out on the sofa in the foyer and everyone else was long gone.

“What do you think of me, Rudy?” Charlie asked.

“What do that mean? I like you fine, what do you think?” Rudy answered.

“That’s not what I mean.” Charlie said. “Of course you like me; Hell, everyone likes me, I’m
Goodtime Charlie. But you find me pretty frivolous, don’t you?”

“I think you busted your ass making your money and now you’re enjoying the fruits of your labor. Nothing wrong with that.”

“Not everything is what it appears to be, you know?”

Why me? Rudy was thinking. First Soon-Li, and now Charlie. Do I have a sign on myback that said ‘Nut jobs and whacko’s unload here’?

“Raven thinks I’m scum.” Charlie went on, “But she doesn’t know everything either.”

“Raven likes you fine. We wouldn’t be here if she didn’t, she just doesn’t care for some of your friends.”

Charlie rattled the ice cubes in his empty scotch glass and attempted to sip the last drops. “How did she get so high and mighty anyway?” Charlie asked, slurring his word just a bit. “Who appointed her the moral conscience of the islands?”

“Careful Charlie, that’s my girlfriend you’re talking about.” Rudy warned, though he understood how Charlie felt. They had visited her parents on Kauai several times and, old hippies that they were, they always capped off the day by passing around a huge spliff. Even Raven liked to take a hit of her fathers’ home-grown Kona gold.

Rudy asked her once how she could be so high and mighty about Leonardo Azeri and still take the occasional hit of weed. Her acidic reply was that no one had ever died from grass. When was the last time someone stuck a joint in their arm or whored themselves out to buy a bag of weed? The fire in her eyes was enough to convince Rudy to leave that subject alone. There was obviously more going on than met the eye but Rudy figured she’d share that when she was ready.

“Yeah, well, like I said, not everything is what it seems.” Charlie mumbled before the scotch glass slipped from his hand and he passed out.

Every so often, Raven flew to the Mainland for a week or two to attend a gallery opening. Rudy went with her on occasion, but more often he stayed behind, making some lame excuse. The truth was that he couldn’t afford to globe trot with Raven and he wasn’t about to take her money. He had a finite amount of money to get his new career launched and it was quickly disappearing. Raven wanted to pay his way but it was important to him to stand on his own two feet. Besides, the reunions almost made the separations worthwhile.

Raven’s shows were always successful and her reputation was quickly spreading. She told Rudy that she was doing her best work now because he inspired her and she was surprisingly prolific considering the immense amount of labor that went into one of her pieces. Meanwhile, Rudy’s book was finished and he was beginning to shop around for a publisher. Now and then he managed to sell a magazine piece or two.

Raven asked many times to read his book but he always refused, saying that she could read it when it was published. “You want to read it; you can buy it like everyone else.” He told her. “That is, if your local bookstore can keep it in stock.”

When she asked about his first manuscript, he told her that it was lost, which was the truth. He pondered what might have happened to it but couldn’t come up with a plausible explanation.

Pete and Rudy spoke regularly on the phone and Pete was continually threatening to visit. “One day there’ll come a knock on your door and I’ll be standing there.” Pete said.

All in all, Rudy could hardly believe the life that he was living. He’d decided to drop out of his ho-hum existence and somehow, and he had no idea how, he’d had managed to drop right into his dream life. From the minute he’d played Circe’s message, a chain of events had been put into motion and the pieces had fallen as neatly into place as an elaborate domino configuration. He had some trouble believing it himself.

Soon-Li’s eerie warning rattled around in his head, despite his best efforts to shake it, and he found himself pondering the idea of destiny. The concept that didn’t fit very well into his world view but he had to admit that things had fallen too perfectly into place. Could there be something bigger than himself at work here? If so, what was it and what the hell did it want?

Like he’d told Soon-Li, if there was a Supreme Being with a plan, it was surely an uneven plan, full of wonder and promise for some, but unimaginable misery for others.

Then there was the question of Elder Sea Nettle. He couldn’t deny that Elder Sea Nettle, whoever or whatever he was, had known things that had changed his life. Why was his life was so heavily weighted on the side of wonder and promise and so many suffered in this world?

Many nights he went to sleep with Raven in his arms and the great questions rolling around in his head. Soon-Li’s warning rattled relentlessly around and around and he worried increasingly that this was all too good to be true.

END OF PART ONE