The Robin Hood of Waikiki

Introduction - Author's Note

2008-12-31T08:24:00.001-08:00

If I can't write like Stephen King, I can still take a page out of his book, pardon the pun. This blog represents the entirety of my unpublished book, originally titled Rudy Davis Meets Elder Sea Nettle.

You can click through the numbered chapters listed below to read the book in order.

It would make this struggling author very happy to have some readership, even if I never get properly published. After all, it took me over 15 years to write the thing, someone needs to read it. If you like it, send your friends a link. If you don't , well I guess you can click off, so to speak.

Feel free to comment but please be gentle, it's my first time.

Thanks for reading.

David Heiniger

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Prologue

PART ONE

Chapter One – Hate You, Hate Kansas

Chapter Two – Cola Wars

Chapter Three - No Cars for Silly Haoles

Chapter Four - A-Row-ha My Ass

Chapter Five - Elder Sea Nettle

Chapter Six - Sweet Dreams and Other Fallacies

Chapter Seven - Puna-who?

Chapter Eight - Paying the Bills

Chapter Nine - Maui No Ka Oi
Chapter Ten - Makawao Madness
Chapter Eleven - Drifting
Chapter Twelve - That Damned Dam
Chapter Thirteen - Wanker Stew
Chapter Fourteen - The Lone Ranger and Tonto
Chapter Fifteen - Posterized
Chapter Sixteen - Cockeyed Coincidence in Kaunakakai
Chapter Seventeen - Just Get On Boat
Chapter Eighteen - Days of Wine and Orchids

PART TWO

Chapter Nineteen - 'Cause You Got Me

Chapter Twenty - The Colonel and Mrs. Davis

Chapter Twenty One - Mele Kalikimaka

Chapter Twenty Two - That Ain't Opportunity Knocking
Chapter Twenty Three - How Stupid Do I Look?
Chapter Twenty Four - All the Way to Guam
Chapter Twenty Five - Stupid Arrogant Haole
Chapter Twenty Six - My Zero Tolerance Policy
Chapter Twenty Seven - One Messed Up Hombre
Chapter Twenty Eight - Gabrielle

Chapter Twenty Nine - This is Your Idea of a Plan?

Chapter Thirty - Psuedo Commandos

Chapter Thirty One - The Molokai Six
Chapter Thirty Two - I Thought You Were Friends
Chapter Thirty Three - Rudy Raids the Ranch
Chapter Thirty Four - The Molokai Minstrels
Chapter Thirty Five - Hawaii No Ka Oui
Epilogue

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

© 2008 David Heiniger. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from David Heiniger, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Epilogue

2008-12-30T22:53:00.000-08:00

Not everyone was thrilled to see the drug dealers run off the old Molokai Ranch. It was a very small island and the cash that was circulated by Azeri’s coked up cowboys had become a vital part of its miniscule economy. There weren’t a lot of people with enough money to spend on goods and services, except at the most basic subsistence level, so the absence of the illicit cash had a real impact on the lives of the locals.

Wally realized that Molokai would miss the income and he fretted the impact it would have on the locals that he had come to love since he and Soon-Li had moved there.

Business at the eatery was down but it didn’t matter much to them since they’d received a full share of the money from the raid, which came to just over a million dollars. That money wasn’t doing the economy much good though, because he and Soon-Li had vowed to use their ill-gotten gains to make the world a better place in some small way, though they’d yet to figure out exactly how.

One night shortly after the raid, Wally had a bizarre dream. He was swimming through clear blue water amid a colorful choral garden. He was quick and agile and he enjoyed being free from his overweight, sluggish body, darting effortlessly through the water like a dolphin.

Just when he was getting into the rhythm of his new body, he came across a jellyfish dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and sensible black dress shoes.

“Hey, four eyes.” the jellyfish called out.

Wally cringed. He’d be taunted by that name since he’d first showed up at school with the coke-bottle lenses in the first grade. Wally stared in the direction of the voice but didn’t speak.

The jellyfish came closer and Wally could see that he was wearing a name tag that said 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' and below that, 'Elder Sea Nettle'.

“Whaddya want?” Wally asked.

“I just want to help you out, give you a little advice.”

“What kind of advice?” Wally was wary. He wondered if this was how it was for Soon-Li when she had her premonitions.

“Well, I know you’re wondering what to do with that money you stole.”

“I didn’t steal anything.” Wally shot back.

“Okay, have it your way, chump. It belonged to someone else and now you have it. Just because someone else carried the bags, doesn’t mean that you didn’t steal it.”

Elder Sea Nettle made an exaggerated gesture of looking upward and continued. “The big guy don’t split hairs like that, know what I mean?”

“I take it you have a point?” Wally asked.

“Shees, you mortals are an impatient bunch. That’s the same thing your friend Rudy said to me when I tried to help him out. I leave my comfy home in the Atlantic, come all the way here, and for what? To take your lip? I’d like to know what I did to piss the big guy off anyway. There has to be another agent somewhere closer to you bunch of yahoos.”

“An Angel? Did you say you’re an angel?”

“An agent, you overgrown wiener. I said I’m an agent. Angels all work for those Gospel pricks. They’re the big guy’s favorites and they never let anyone forget it.”

“So, there’s a God?” Wally asked.

“Well, yeah. I mean, no, not exactly.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not really a yes or no question, it’s complicated and humans don’t have the brain cells to get it. Plenty of you humans like to run around telling anyone that’ll listen that you know all about it though, and let me tell ya, it pisses the big guy off.”

“Try me.” Wally asked.

“Okay,” Elder Sea Nettle began, “Have you ever heard people say that the drummer and bass player are the engine that drives the band?”

“Um... yeah.” Wally answered, uncertainly.

“Well, it’s more like that. You play the lead guitar and create the music that is your life but the engine is what drives you forward.”

“So, God is a drummer?” Wally asked. “You’re telling me that God is Ringo Starr.”

“Lord, why do I bother?”

Wally sighed. “Okay, this conversation is going nowhere. See ya.”

He darted off but when he looked up Elder Sea Nettle was right in his face.

“See what I mean? That’s exactly what Rudy did too. Any of you mortals ever have an original thought?”

“Fine, you say you have advice, what is it?”

“Alright, listen up, fatty.”

“Hey!” Wally shouted at him.

“You do have a law degree, right?” Elder Sea Nettle ignored him.

“Um-hm.”

“And you did pass The Bar, albeit on, like, your ninth try.”

“Third try, asshole.”

“You and your wife are always talking about the injustice in the world, all the hungry children, the poor people abused by system, the environment, yadda, yadda, yadda. All that pansy-assed liberal drivel, right?”

“I guess so.”

“And now you have this new found wealth, you have friends with new found wealth and you know a very wealthy philanthropist. Ya with me so far tubby?”

“Okay, so?”

“So figure it out already, Dumbo.”

“Dumbo? Hey, you making fun of my weight again?” Wally shouted but Elder Sea Nettle was gone.

He woke up to find his side of the bed literally dripping water onto the floor. Soon-Li sat up and looked at the drowned rat next to her where her husband was supposed to be. Wally was soaking wet and dripping water like he’d just climbed out of a swimming pool. She blinked and squinted at him but said nothing.

Molokai had never seen a day like this one. Dignitaries from the state were there, including the Governor. Leaders from islands all over the South Pacific, Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, virtually all of Polynesia had come and there was even someone from the ACLU.
And of course their friends were there, all of whom had contributed in many ways.

Rudy and Raven were taking some time away from Rudy’s book tour in support of “Just Desserts”, which was already on the New York Times bestseller list, his third bestseller in a row.

Pete and Okelani were just back from their Honeymoon. Pete had sold his bar in Salt Lake and bought a boat renovating business. It was a little one-man shop that specialized in rebuilding classic wooden sail boats for wealthy clients.

They had one tiny dry-dock on the Big Island, a few miles down the coast from Kona, where Pete and Okelani were learning their trade from the proud old Hawaiian craftsman they had purchased the business from. As part of the deal, he would apprentice them for a year, teaching them all they needed to know about wooden sail boats and how to restore them. Then he would assume a comfortable retirement, thanks to the money he had netted from the sale.

And of course, Charlie and Jenny were there. Since Charlie had concluded his business with Leonard Azeri, he had found a new vocation as a Philanthropist. He persuaded Jenny to sell her interest in Cheeseburger in Paradise to her partner and head up The Chloe Connors Foundation. She agreed only after marriage was incorporated into the deal.

The Polynesian Law Center had been the Foundation’s first big project and Charlie and Jenny had thrown themselves into it with gusto. Charlie handled the real estate issues and the design and construction of the center while Jenny dealt with the Organizational and Administrative issues of both the Foundation and the Center.

While working with draftsmen on the plats of the Molokai Ranch, Charlie had discovered an interest in architecture and he’d found a renewed passion while working with the architects on the design of the Center.

This was no tiny law firm; it was a beautifully crafted, state of the art building set amid coconut groves and Japanese gardens, that could house up to 50 attorneys and their staffs, though it was starting out with 10 attorneys. The attorneys and staff would provide a boost to the local economy like it hadn’t seen since the now departed pineapple companies had arrived decades before.

For some, it was too much development for the sleepy little island but Charlie had gone to great lengths to minimize the impact that the influx of white collar liberals would have on the island. He had been actively involved with local leaders in planning housing and other infrastructure in an intelligent, efficient and environmentally friendly community.

All of the construction and been contracted to Bill and Ben’s company, B & B Construction. When they had gotten involved in the raid on the ranch, their construction company was in the middle of the largest project it had ever handled, a 90 unit luxury apartment complex on the North Shore.

Landing the project had been a huge coup for the small company but had taxed their limited resources to the point that they were in danger of defaulting. The $2.4 million that their combined take had come to had saved the project and their company. With all the work on Molokai in addition to their other business, they were thriving and enthusiastically gave back to their community in many ways.

Now that the Center was complete, the Chloe Connors Foundation was hard at work on plans to build a drug rehab center on the island’s east end. The rehab center would be headed by none other than John Corbin, the former junkie that Charlie had flown to rehab nearly 2 years before.

At two o’clock, just as scheduled, Wally stepped up on the makeshift stage. The Polynesian Law Center had been his idea and it had been his enthusiasm and energy that had pulled the elements together to make it happen. He’d found a renewed passion for the law and underdog causes that he’d lost many years before.

Since his fire had been reignited he had lost 80 pounds and now, standing at the podium, he was the spitting image of the liberal civil rights lawyer, right down to the tweed jacket with elbow patches and his gray-haired ponytail.

“I want to thank you all for coming today. This has been a dream of mine since I was a young man watching the great work done by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU. I have to admit that somewhere along the way, I lost that dream, that vision, but whatever force drives our universe didn’t let that dream die altogether.”

He went on to thank the people who had contributed their time, money and effort to the cause. Of course, Wally and Soon-Li had contributed all of their raid money.

Rudy and Raven, had also contributed all of their money from the raid plus a few hundred thousand more from Rudy’s royalties and Ravens profits.

Pete had purchased his new business with the proceeds from the sale of The Prankster and donated all of his raid money to the Center.

The Chloe Connors Foundation had either raised or contributed the rest of the Center’s financing.

Once the thanks were out of the way, Wally spoke passionately and without notes about the need for a legal advocate for the poor, the forgotten and the voiceless. He said that the Center’s mission included education and intelligence gathering for the purpose of advocacy for immigration equity, civil rights and against racism and political extremism.

When he finished he got a stirring ovation from the crowd, most of whom were teary eyed by now. The Governor stepped to the podium and gave Wally a two-handed shake and leaned into the mike, still clutching Wally’s hand. Over the roar of the crowd he said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the man of the hour: Walter Wanker!”

The ovation rose to a fever pitch.

Raven leaned toward Rudy, as they both continued to cheer. “I didn’t know he had it in him. That was incredible.”

“Martin Luther King couldn’t have delivered that speech any better.” Rudy agreed.

When the speeches were done, Wally circulated through the crowd, shaking hands, accepting congratulations and well wishes. He was beaming and so was Soon-Li. She had always known what a good man Wally was and now the rest of the world was finding out too.

“Hey, did you hear about Circe?” Pete asked as they relaxed with their Champagne.

“No, what about her?” Rudy asked.

“She escaped from prison. She was on her way to court for an appeal hearing. Apparently she’d been having an affair with one of the guards. He was supposed to be driving her to court and he just drove away with her instead. They found the prison car hidden in the bushes a couple of miles from the Federal Pen in Lompoc.”

“No shit?” Rudy asked.

“No shit.”

“Some things never change.” he said, shaking his head.

Wally stopped by and they congratulated him on the speech.

“We’re proud of you, Wally. You did a great job.” Raven said.

“Yeah, we’re all proud of you.” Rudy echoed.

After he left, Raven leaned close to Rudy’s ear. He could feel her hot breath; almost feel the wetness of her lips though she wasn’t quite touching him.

“You know,” she said. “You did this.” She made a sweeping gesture with her arm and they looked around the beautiful campus.

He gave her a puzzled look.

“None of this would have happened if you hadn’t come to the islands. All these people, all these jobs, all the people whose lives are going to be richer because of this place, it’s all because of you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, I didn’t do anything, it was all of these people who did this. Wally, Charlie, you, Pete, Soon-Li, Jenny, Bill and Ben. It was everyone who did this, especially Wally and Charlie.”

She shook her head. “We all worked, we all contributed but you were the catalyst that brought us together when you showed up on my doorstep. You were the first domino to fall, the one that put all of this in motion.”

“I see your point.” he said thoughtfully. “And I’d love to take the credit, but by that reasoning, it was actually Circe who started it all. Her message on my answering machine, that little green blinking light, that’s what set this whole chain of events in motion. By your theory Circe was the first domino to fall.”

The green-eyed blonde had acquired a nice tan in the short time she’d been in the Caribbean. She accepted another Mai Tai from the Pool Boy and took a sip as she watched his muscled brown body disappear toward the bar.

Jamaica was pleasant but it was a little too close to Belize, where she’d ditched the prison guard. It was time to find a place to settle down. It was time to find a rich old man with a short life expectancy.

Tomorrow she’d move on. Down Island, she was thinking. Maybe St. George’s, or Port-of-Spain.

Chapter Thirty Five - Hawaii No Ka Oui

2008-12-30T22:25:00.000-08:00

Mornings like this are why people come to Hawaii; the leeward breeze and a relaxing stroll down Waikiki. Even the International Marketplace, crowded with tacky tourists, seemed ideal this morning.

The hellfire and brimstone guy was still at the entrance, shouting his message of damnation or redemption or whatever it was supposed to be. In the eyes of some there’s not a lot of difference but Rudy knew that he’d already been redeemed.

They found a shady table and sat with their fruit smoothies.

“I think I need some teriyaki on a stick.” Pete said and disappeared.

Rudy looked at the booth and saw the same brown eyed beauty he’d been so taken with on this first day on the island, and he smiled. Pete always had good taste in women, meaning they always seemed to have their eye on the same ones.

Raven was reading the paper. “I bet you know something about this.” She said, handing Rudy the paper. On the front page, in big headlines, the lead story of the day:

State Police Seize Record Cocaine Shipment

Leonard Azeri, head of one of the largest cocaine distribution networks on the Islands and the West Coast, was found dead at his Molokai ranch just hours after police seized a large shipment of cocaine that they believe was headed for Azeri’s organization.

Police were acting on information provided by a confidential informant when they raided a private boat dock on the east end of Molokai. They arrested several operatives believed to be associated with the feared Cali Cartel from Columbia, seizing more than six million dollars worth of cocaine in the process.

While one State Police unit conducted the raid on the Columbians, another unit raided Azeri’s ranch where they found Azeri’s body and no one else. Police now believe that the other members of Azeri’s network fled the islands, leading to speculation that they were aware of the impending raid. They have no suspects in the shooting death of the kingpin, Leonard Azeri.

Police would not identify the confidential informant, saying only that he was a wealthy benefactor working under deep cover for the last two years to bring the Azeri organization down.

In another incident that investigators believe to be related to the Azeri raid, police arrested a woman at Honolulu International Airport with a briefcase full of cocaine, estimated to have a street value in excess of a million dollars. The cocaine was in baggies stamped with Azeri’s trademark lions head.

Police said that they had received an anonymous tip several days ago that there was a briefcase full of cocaine stashed in an airport locker and that a woman would be coming to pick it up.

They confirmed the contents of the locker then set up a stake out until the woman, who fit the informant’s description, showed up with the key and retrieved the briefcase. She is believed to be associated with the defunct Azeri organization and is being held in protective custody while investigators try to determine her involvement with the organization.

“Incredible story, huh?” Rudy folded the paper in half and slapped it down on the table.

“Maybe I should just start calling you A.I.” Raven said.

“A.I.?”

“Yeah, anonymous informant.”

“I prefer C.C., Concerned Citizen.”

“Don’t you feel even a little bad about turning your ex girlfriend in?”

“Let’s see, she stole my life savings and ran off with another man. Then she shot at and tried to kill two people before dragging you and me into her greedy plot. Hmm, I’m thinking, I’m thinking.... Do I feel bad? Uh, no! Not one bit. Besides, I didn't turn her in, should could have walked away Scot free. She could have gone on her own way and no one would have been the wiser. I didn’t tell her anything about where to find it.”

“Then how did she know?”

“I don’t know, maybe the key fell out of my pocket in the Jeep.”

“Hmm. Just fell out, like a big accident, huh?”

“Exactly! Serendipity. What happened from there was all her choosing.”

“Okay, but still, you must feel a little bad for her?” Raven asked.

“The way I see it, everyone got their just desserts. In fact, I’m thinking of writing a book about it and ‘Just Desserts’ is what I’ll call it.”

Pete returned to the table, munching a Teriyaki stick. “That may be the most beautiful woman on the planet.” he said, glancing back at the Teriyaki booth.

The beautiful brown face sent a shy, blushing smile his way and he flashed his woman eating grin back at her.

“I’m thinking about selling the bar and sticking around here.” he said. “Mind if I hang at your place for a bit while I think about it? Oh, and you two are on your own tonight, I have a date.” He said before Rudy could answer.

“Hawaii No ka Oui.” Rudy said with a grin.

Chapter Thirty Four - The Molokai Minstrels

2008-12-30T22:00:00.000-08:00

Look at you.” Soon-Li laughed at Rudy seated next to her in the back seat of the Jeep. “You face all paint black, clothes black. You look like Minstrel.”

“That’s it,” Wally agreed from the driver’s seat. “We should call you guys “The Molokai Minstrels.”

“Why you paint your face when you have mask?” Soon-Li asked.

“Um.” Rudy started. “Um, I’m not sure. Cause Charlie said to?” It sounded more like a question than an answer. They all laughed, still giddy and punch drunk after their ordeal.

Rudy had forgotten about the greasepaint and now he was wiping his face on his shirt. He wished that Raven were here in the Jeep instead of piloting the plane but they had been separated in all the commotion as they scrambled to get off the ranch. Maybe she could dress his wound, if she were here; so far the only first aid he’d received consisted of wrapping Pete’s t-shirt around his shoulder.

Mostly, though, he just wanted to talk to her and sort out their troubles. He was hopeful that they were alright now that this was done but he wasn’t sure and he desperately needed to know.

When they were on board Nevermore and Wally was piloting them safely away from the island, Soon-Li cleaned his wound with alcohol, which hurt more than getting shot in the first place had. Then she wrapped it with clean gauze from the boat’s first aid kit.

“Don’t worry. I clean bullet wound before, much more worst than this.” She said. Rudy smiled at her interesting use of English. He remembered her stories of escape from Laos and her brothers’ wounds and almost felt silly about this minor injury.

The Cessna went to Charlie’s hanger at the Kahului airport on Maui and Nevermore docked at Kahului Bay, a couple of miles down the road. Raven found Rudy lounging on the Nevermore deck with his Walkman on. He didn’t see her come aboard.

Pete and Raven exchanged glances and burst out laughing at the sight of Rudy in the lounge chair, sunglasses, headphones and remnants of grease paint on, screeching at the top of his lungs to Neil Young.

“Why do ah-hi, why do ah-hi, why do I keep fuckin’ up?” he wailed. Rudy had a lot of talents but singing was clearly not one of them.

Pete discretely made his exit while Raven tiptoed up to Rudy and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled, eyes still closed behind the sunglasses as he wrapped his arms around her. She climbed into the lounge chair and cuddled up with him as he pulled the headset and sunglasses off.

“I don’t know,” she said, “why do you?”

“Huh?”

“Nothing.” she laughed. “Ready for that talk now?”

“Yeah. Please.”

She started with her 16th birthday and told the story of the present her sister had given her and then went through Gabrielle’s whole, sad story.

“I can’t believe it. All the times I’ve visited your parents, they’ve never said a word about her. I’ve never even seen a picture of her. I don’t get it.”

“My mother fell to pieces and my father tried to hold it together for the both of them but he was barely hanging on himself. As time went on, we all began to live our lives again and we never really talked about what had happened. We just sort of pretended that everything was alright, just to get through another day.”

Raven went on with the story of her college years and the years with the DEA. As she talked, the little pieces that hadn’t made sense to Rudy began to fall into place. He’d always had a hard time picturing Raven as a Dental Tech and now he knew why. She ended with the story of the raid that went bad and the 12 year old and her vow to herself.

If Rudy had misjudged Charlie, he was ten times off the mark with Raven. Her attitude about Azeri and their recent troubles suddenly made perfect sense. He had forced her to choose between him and compromising herself. He realized, not for the first time, that he was a simple man who often missed the complexities in others.

“But why didn’t you just tell me all of this in the first place?” he asked.

“I was in deep cover for 12 years.” She answered. “I’ve never told anyone the whole story, not a soul. My parents still think I was a Dental Tech in the Army. I didn’t know what to say to you or how to say it or when to say it. You don’t just walk up to the man you’ve recently fallen in love with and blurt out, ‘Did ever tell you that I’m a child killer?’ And, I mean, it wasn’t just that boy; I saw a lot of action in my years with the DEA. I was afraid I’d lose you if you found out the things I’ve done. I’ve killed people, Rudy. How do you reconcile with that?”

“That’s ridiculous. Do soldiers stop being loved because they were in a war?”

“Not everyone sees what we did in the DEA as a war.”

“But you did. You were a soldier, doing your duty, right?” He needed to hear her say it.

“I did see myself as a soldier at the time but I gradually came to see things differently. It got harder and harder to live with myself until, eventually, I had to get out.”

“I think I was so angry at everyone who had anything to do with drugs after Gabrielle that I joined the DEA to make them all pay. As I grew up and saw more of what life is really like for so many people, I began to realize that most people are just trying to get by. I met some evil people, don’t get me wrong. But the little guys, the everyday people, are just doing the best they know how. We sit in judgment but we don’t have a clue what life is like for most of the world.”

“It was really Gabrielle that I was mad at for being so stupid and leaving us all in our grief to try and make sense of it.” She was speaking through sobs now and wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

“It was just such a waste, you know? She was so beautiful and bright and kind and it was just such a stupid, asinine waste. It broke my heart to see my parents grief and for a long time I hated her for that.”

Rudy held her in his arms. “Anything else you need to get off your chest?” he asked after a long while.

“Well, I already told you that I was a groupie.” She laughed through her tears, wiping her cheeks. “So I guess that’s it. All of my secrets are out. It must be your turn now. I’m sure you don’t have nearly as many secrets as me but I would like to know how you managed to get us into this mess. I’m sure Circe was behind most of it but I’m having a really tough time understanding how you ever got messed up with that skank in the first place. I’ve met a lot of despicable human beings and she’s right up there with any of them”

Rudy flushed with embarrassment. He’d asked himself the same question almost from the beginning and he still didn’t have an answer that didn’t make him look like an idiot. He felt like a coward for wanting to duck this little bit of embarrassment when Raven had been so brutally honest in baring her soul.

“Horny?” he finally said.

Raven rolled her eyes as if to say ‘try again schmuck’ so he pushed forward. He told her how John and then Circe had shown up on his doorstep, how he’d heard Circe stash the briefcases under the house and had later found them.

“I’ve done plenty of things in my life that I’m not so proud of. You asked me what happened to my NBA career and as you know by now, I don’t like talking about it much but I guess I have to bare my soul too. I guess if we still like each other after this, we’ve got a real shot.” he said, smiling kindly.

“I was always the best player on the court, starting in the 7th grade and right on through college. By my sophomore year, I knew I was headed for the NBA. There was a lot of talk about whether I was big enough to compete at that level but I was young and brash and cock sure of myself. I was indestructible, you know?”

“But I had no idea just how good everyone in the NBA is. The worst player in the NBA is better than virtually everyone I faced in college. It seemed like everyone in camp was bigger and faster and stronger, and these were just the guys trying to make the team, not even the stars that I’d have to face in games.”

“I had never really been tested like that before and I didn’t know how to handle it. I didn’t have anyone around to help me, my old support system wasn’t around and I just didn’t know how to handle myself.”

“Hell, it’s 12 years later and just this week I learned that I still hardly know how to conduct myself under pressure. I mean, when they took you... I was so afraid. I was afraid I couldn’t or wouldn’t be able to come through for you and you’d die because of me. I was afraid for you because you were unfortunate enough to be dependent on me.”

She gave him a squeeze and he continued after a bit.

“Anyway, instead of rolling up my sleeves and just outworking everyone like I’d always done, I got into “the life”. Parties, women, limos and coke, lots of coke. I think I was afraid that I couldn’t compete so I just checked out and partied. Of course, the coke made me feel invincible again, for a while. Then the poster happened and that was pretty much it for me, psychologically.”

“20 games into the season the Clippers had had a gutful of my antics so they paid off my contract and sent me packing. That’s how stupid and cocky I was. I had a no-cut contract for the first year; it had never even occurred to me that they’d want to be rid of me so bad that they’d eat my contract.”

“Truth is, I’d give almost anything to have that chance back. If I’d just laid it all out on the line, given it everything I had, then I could have lived with the consequences no matter how it came out. Now I’ll never know if I could have made it or not and it never stops eating at me.”

“I went to Europe and finished the ’80-‘81 season there but I’d lost heart and by the end of that season I had a major coke problem. Somehow word had gotten back to my family and one day Colonel Davis just showed up in Turin, where I’d been hanging at a friend’s house and partying.”

“The Colonel was standing in the doorway in full dress uniform and I came stumbling in looking like I’d been run over by a gravel truck. I’ve never felt so small in my life as I did when I saw the disappointment on my father’s face. He’d always been so proud of me as my career progressed and I’d let him down to a degree that had been unimaginable a year before.”

“He stuck me in rehab and two months later I was back in Utah, licking my wounds and completely at a loss as to what to do with my life.”

“I had a grand total of $25,000 dollars left out of nearly a million I’d gone through over the course of that season. Someone told me about this hot, new stock in a company called Apple so I sank my last 25K into Apple stock and locked the certificates in my safe deposit box at my bank in Utah. The plan was to leave it alone until I retired and I’d have something to show for NBA career no matter what else happened.”

“When I got ready to move here, I went to the bank to clear out my box but the certificates were gone. I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to what the stock was doing but I know they were worth something in excess of $200K.”

“When I found that briefcase full of cash under my house, I knew where it had come from. It was my money that Circe and John were using to finance their plans to become big-time dealers. So I stashed both briefcases and waited for Circe to come back for them, figuring I’d confront her then, but she never showed.”

“Azeri called me that night demanding that I return his property but I knew that at least the cash was mine. I had no idea how long his reach really was plus I wasn’t convinced it was really him. I thought it might be more of Circe’s conniving and I pretty much just told him to stick it where the sun don’t shine. The next day, he repaid my arrogant stupidity by grabbing you. I’d have gladly forked over my 200K for none of this to happen but in my hubris, I had no idea how much trouble I’d bought. I guess you know about as much about it from there as I do.”

“I guess I do” she said as she snuggled in.

“So, we know the worst about each other now. Do we still like each other?”

“More than ever here. How about you?” Rudy asked though he sensed the answer.

“More than ever.”

At long last, they’d said all there was to say so they drifted away under the Hawaiian sun for a well-earned nap.

Chapter Thirty Three - Rudy Raids the Ranch

2008-12-30T21:03:00.000-08:00

From Punaluu, Charlie went straight to Molokai Ranch. He knew that suspicions that he’d played a part in the breakout were soaring, even though he had the ultimate alibi; he’d been sipping bourbon with Leonard and talking hunting even while the breakout was in progress.

If Charlie knew anything he wasn’t giving anything up, but that didn’t mean that he hadn’t conspired with the perpetrators. Charlie was well acquainted with the cast of characters though Azeri had taken careful pains to conceal the fact that he had Raven and Circe in his little safe deposit box for humans.

Charlie planned to spend all afternoon and evening at the Ranch, putting Azeri and his staff at ease, throwing them off the scent. He laid on the back slappin’ Guff Coast Good ol’ Boy routine about as thick as he knew how.

Azeri was unconvinced and talked around the subject all day and deep into the night. He poked and jabbed to see if Charlie would let something slip but Charlie was a champion at this game. He’d spent his whole adult life playing it and had amassed a fortune in the process. They were two masters performing a grand dance.

By 2 AM, everyone in the house was asleep except for those who were on guard duty. It wasn’t unheard of to have all night parties featuring every coke whore the crew could round up from three islands, but not tonight, with the shipment due early in the morning. Tomorrow night, when the transaction was complete, that would be a different story.

By now Charlie’s mission had been accomplished. Things were pretty much back to normal between him and Azeri and he was as beloved by the staff as ever.

The four conspirators crouched in the trees across the road from the main gate. They were dressed in black and wearing black ski masks like master thieves preparing to heist the crown jewels. Of course, that’s exactly what they were.

They each carried a pager that Charlie had given them, set to vibrate when he was in place. Rudy was a bundle of nerves and checked the pager obsessively on the irrational fear that it may have gone off unnoticed. Of course, the other three, who also carried pagers, would have had to fail to notice theirs as well.

“Look!” Pete whispered to Rudy. “Check it out, that’s Tiny. He’s Charlie’s inside man.”

“Shit.” Rudy whispered back.

Looking across the road in the half-moonlight they could see the guard shack just inside the gate. A huge Hawaiian reading a girlie magazine was clearly visible in the well lit booth. Tiny waited at the edge of the little tree-shrouded dirt road, about a hundred yards from the gate. Under the canopy of trees it was astonishingly dark. Obviously he was waiting for Charlie’s signal too.

“No wonder Charlie didn’t want to tell us who he was.” Rudy went on.

“No shit,” said Pete. “I don’t trust that sombitch as far as I can spit.”

“Yeah, and you’re a lousy spitter.” Rudy shot back. They both laughed under their breath in a sound that resembled donkeys in a high pitched stage whisper.

“Sshh.” Ben hissed. “Would you two haole’s shut up? You gonna get us caught.”

They all glanced toward the booth but the guard was engrossed in the magazine, holding it up and moving it around like maybe he could see more coochie from a different angle.

“Oh, this guy is dumb as a stump.” Rudy said. “This should be easy.” Trying to convince himself.

They crouched in silence for a while, wind moving through the treetops the only sound. Any other time, that might have seemed soothing but it only served to add to their tension tonight. It was a warm, humid night after the early evening showers and they were sweating profusely under their ski masks.

“What say, when this is all over, we kick Tiny’s ass, just for good measure.” Rudy whispered to Pete.

“Okay, but you go first. You see the size of that guy?” Pete answered.

“Hey, is it some kind of haole thing that you guys can’t shut up?” Ben asked.

“Sorry, brah,” Rudy said in his best pidgin. They were all getting pretty antsy by now. Rudy checked his watch; it was a few minutes after 4. Something should be happening by now.

Charlie took his fanny pack into the control room, a tiny windowless 8 X 8 cubical in the center of the house filled by a giant control panel underneath a bank of monitors and full of all sorts of dials, keypads and controls. Sports Center was showing highlights of the Lakers vs Spurs game on one monitor that Charlie knew should have been tuned to one of the many cameras on the property.

“Hey, Mano, check this out.” Charlie said. He pulled a rag and a bottle out of the pack.

“What is it?” Mano asked.

“Methyl trichloride.” He said as he saturated the rag with the liquid.

“What’s it for?”

“This,” Charlie said as he smashed the rag into Mano’s face.

The huge Hawaiian stood up and Charlie was aware of how comical this must look, the big Hawaiian trying to shake this white-haired bag of leathery bones off while he hung onto his shoulders for dear life.

Mano backed into the wall, slamming Charlie hard against it and knocking his breath out. Charlie hung on with the last bit of strength he had, telling himself that even this big ox had to go down any second. It took 15 seconds that felt like 15 minutes for Mano to finally drop.

Damn, I hope no one heard that, he thought, working quickly to secure Mano with the cuffs and duct tape. When he was finally satisfied that Mano was secure, he punched the codes into the control panel to disable the cameras and alarms and the electric fence.

That finally done, he punched the auto-code into his pager and sent the go signal to the others. There were two other codes he could have used, one to call the whole thing off and an SOS if he was in trouble.

The four conspirators nearly jumped out of their socks when all their pagers finally began vibrating at once. The vibrations were nearly silent but sounded like a fighter jet flying low overhead to the jumpy gang of pseudo thieves.

Tiny began walking down the road toward the main gate. It had rained earlier, one of those famous Hawaiian cloud bursts that dumps an inch of water and then is gone as quickly at it came. His feet squished in the red clay as he walked.

The anxious conspirators watched the guard sit up and put down the magazine as Tiny got closer. They looked like Moe, Curly, Larry and his other brother Larry, all huddled together in their black outfits and black ski masks, their white pupils in the black masks huge in wide-eyed anticipation.

The guard was out of the shack now, anxiously fingering the .38 at his hip, unsnapping the security strap on his holster. He was wearing a full rent-a-cop uniform just like a night watchman at some legit business.

“Hey brudda,” Tiny called out as he came into view. He tried to sound casual but all of the bandits noticed an edge in his voice.

“Tiny, Jesus, you scared me brudda.” The guard said. Apparently he was too antsy himself to notice the edge in Tiny’s voice. “Where you been anyway, I keep hearing lotta rumors 'bout you.”

The four minstrels tiptoed across the street while Tiny had him distracted.

“Don’t believe everything you hear, brah.” Tiny replied. He snuck a quick glance out of the corner of his eye and saw the four moving into place.

“Hey, you hear about Kekoa?” the guard asked, then continued before Tiny could answer. “He fell asleep in the control room during the breakout the other night. Now he’s gone, no one seen him since he go talk to da boss.”

“Oh man,” Tiny sounded genuinely disturbed. “I warned him, brah. Listen, I need some help.” He continued, nervously glancing around to make sure that the four were in place.

“Sure, what up?”

“Well, you know me an’ da boss have a little da kine, eh? I need ta talk to him, sort it out ‘fore I end up like Kekoa, but I don’t need no stupid lolo shooting my fat ass up, Moapopo?”

“Sure I understand, but...”

“Just walk wit me to da house, eh?”

They turned toward the house and when they did, Rudy rushed the guard from behind, jumped on his back and gave him a face full of chloroform, riding him like a bucking bronco until he dropped.

When he fell, they quickly secured him with the tape and cuffs, then put him in the guard shack, taped him to the chair, yanked the phone cord, busted out the light and locked the door.

The five of them split up, sprinting across the massive lawn at full speed, each taking a different entrance. The intent was to work their way toward the middle of the house from all sides, disabling the staff as they went.

The plan worked beautifully for a while; the five of them moving silently through the house, chloroforming the occupants and then securing them. Charlie was in the study working the safe. He quickly had it open and had begun loading the bags when he heard the crash.

One of Azeri’s crew must have managed to kick a lamp or something over and suddenly lights were flicking on all over the house. In an instant the place was alive with bedlam. There were shouts, gun shots and furniture crashing as people stormed out of their rooms with guns blazing.

The reality was that there were only three of Azeri’s goons who had yet to be secured but in the pandemonium of the moment they sounded like a battalion of Marines engaged in a firefight. They were clearly of the shoot first, ask questions later persuasion.

The conspirators dived onto the floor, scrambling for cover. Rudy crouched behind a mahogany armoire, one of Ravens creations, no doubt. Across the room he saw Pete take cover behind an overturned table and their eyes met.

What now? Pete gestured.

Rudy shrugged. No idea. Whose stupid fucking idea was this not to bring guns?

Neither Rudy nor Pete had any clue where Ben and Bill were and Rudy feared they had been the object of the gunfire. In an instant he understood what Raven had been so upset about. If he’d gotten those guys killed by getting them involved in this, he’d never be able to live with himself. He was nauseous at the thought.

The bedlam continued throughout the house and they crouched behind the furniture, acutely aware that Charlie’s plan hadn’t left them with any way to defend themselves. Rudy was beginning to think that things couldn’t get much worse when he heard the roar of an airplane motor and thought, Damn, they’ve called in reinforcements.

He crawled toward the kitchen, poked his head over a countertop and looked out the grand window just in time to see a plane come in steep and fast for a hard, quick landing on the huge lawn. Rudy recognized the plane as Charlie’s and he was now more confused than ever.

For an instant, everything went silent as every soul in the house turned their attention toward the front lawn, unsure of what was happening. Azeri’s people began to scramble out the back door, thinking this was a raid. The conspirators maintained their crouched positions hoping this was a raid.

In a few seconds the planes door burst open and Raven, Jenny, Wally and Soon-Li piled out. They each were carrying sub-machine guns and spraying bullets everywhere for cover as they ran toward the front door.

Bullets were hitting bricks, shrubbery, glass was flying everywhere. The great window crumbled in a rain of shards dropping straight to the ground in slow motion. The silly fountain of a little boy peeing near the front entrance exploded in a hail of plaster and water and the image struck Rudy as hilarious in his highly charged state.

The conspirators remained crouched in fetal positions, covering their heads with their hands to protect against the flying glass, bullets, mortar and who knows what else.
Charlie was still in the study at the rear of the house and continued loading the bags undaunted by the commotion around him. When he was nearly done he heard a thud as the huge doors slammed shut and a light came on.

He reeled around in surprise to find Azeri sitting in his favorite leather chair with a .9 millimeter pointed at him and he wondered how Azeri had managed to shut the double doors from across the room.

“Good evening, Charlie. Surprised?"

“Just a little, Lenny.” Charlie said as casually as he could muster.

“I don’t understand, Charlie, why would you rob me? I thought you were loaded.”

“To put you out of business, dirt bag, that’s why. I don’t suppose you even remember Chloe, do ya? The one you threw off the balcony?”

“Oh yes, nice piece of tail but nasty appetite for coke. It’s a shame what happened to her.”

“She was my daughter.” Charlie said.

The chaos was beginning to dim in the rest of the house. The Azeri goons, those that weren’t already duct tape mummies, were long gone, still believing this was a raid. The armed assailants were going room to room, busting down doors looking for the rest of Azeri’s crew; anyone who might still be a threat.

Charlie heard Raven and Rudy calling his name, distracting him and Azeri for just a moment.

“Well Charlie, you may or may not succeed in putting me out of business but I’ll see you dead right now.”

He drew a bead on Charlie but Rudy came bursting through the door before he could shoot. Instinctively, Azeri turned the weapon toward the door and fired at Rudy, who went down immediately.

Raven appeared in the doorway, Tommy gun in hand and the room stood frozen for just a second while the surprise registered in all of the inhabitants. Two thoughts flashed through her mind too quickly to even verbalize in the millisecond that it took her to size the situation up. First, that her dilemma as to which vow she would keep had just been resolved, then Damn you Rudy, for making me do this.

She and Azeri had drawn mutual beads and it just was a question of which one was faster on the trigger.

Before they could find out, Raven was slammed to the floor by Tiny, who flew through the doorway in a midair dive, like a scene from an action movie. While still airborne he squeezed the trigger on the .38 he’d taken from the guard and put a bullet dead center in the boss’s forehead. He hit the ground, wondering how he’d managed that perfect shot through the smoke and haze, even as he skated face-first across the debris strewn hardwood floor, headlong into the moneybags.

The house went silent for a second before people started picking themselves up, brushing away glass and debris and trying to gather their wits. Azeri slumped forward in his chair and his lifeless body fell onto the Oriental rug with a thud that reverberated through the room.

Raven was bent over Rudy examining his wound. The bullet had struck him in the shoulder and the force of it had dropped him like a sack of potatoes but he was bleeding little, an indication that he hadn’t severed any major arteries. He was able to move his arm as well as his shoulder. She could see that it had exited cleanly and appeared to have inflicted only soft tissue damage.

“Is he OK?” Charlie asked.

“I’m alright.” Rudy answered as he struggled to his feet. His knees were wobbling and his entire body was shaking but he was able to stand on his own.

They could hear the others running toward the study, boots crunching broken glass as they called out names. In a few seconds this rag-tag bunch, whose lives had come together in this most unlikely string of events, were together in the study, surrounded by six million dollars in canvas money bags. This was the first time that they’d all been in the same room, ever.

Pete was the last to reach the study and he stood in the doorway surveying the room as the smoke cleared, trying to figure out what had just happened there.

Rudy grinned at Pete and said, “I take back what I said about kicking Tiny’s ass.”

Tiny gave him a puzzled look but said nothing. He was still on the floor, using the money bags as a back rest.

“Come on, let’s get these bags and get out of here.” Charlie said.

In a matter of minutes five of them and their cache had piled into the Cessna while those who wouldn’t fit ran for Charlie’s Jeep. The overloaded plane struggled to get up to speed and off the ground while the Jeep moved quickly down the long, shrub lined drive, nearly overturning as it tried to turn onto the muddy road, jolting its occupants as it sped away.

At the last possible minute the Cessna was airborne and trimming the tops of the trees in the surrounding forest. Rudy held onto the Jeep’s roll bar with his good arm and held his breath. When he saw the plane clear the forest and turn toward Maui he started to breath again.

Chapter Thirty Two - I Thought You Were Friends

2008-12-30T16:57:00.000-08:00

Rudy and the Hawaiians were at the park shooting warm-ups when Pete arrived. Pete was introduced to Ben and Bill and then Rudy asked how Raven was.

“She was real upset.” Pete said. “Cried all night. All I could do was hold her and try to calm her down.”

Rudy shot a dagger his way. The idea of Pete consoling his girlfriend all night infuriated him.

“Come on.” Rudy said, “Let’s play some two on two while we wait for Charlie.” He fired a short range rocket pass at Pete that was way too hot to handle. It went through Pete’s fingers and bounced off his chest and high into the air.

“Hey. What the hell was that?” Pete asked incredulously.

“It’s called a pass, you pussy. Can’t you handle a pass?” Ben and Bill gave each other a puzzled look.

“Fine, Davis. Check the ball.” Pete said, firing a hot pass of his own at Rudy, who covered the fact that he couldn’t handle the pass by giving it a fingertip volley ball return pass, then he assumed a defensive position.

Pete lobbed the ball inbound to Ben and followed him down court to their basket. Ben made a sweet bounce pass to Pete, who caught it under the basket and went up for a lay in. As soon as his feet left the ground, Rudy gave him a body slam that sent him stumbling into the chain link fence surrounding the court.

Pete gathered himself and said, “I’ll take the ball out for the foul.”

“North Shore rules, brudda. No fouls in this game.” Rudy shot back. He took the ball out and resumed play while Pete stood with his hands on his hips shaking his head.

A few minutes later Pete set a screen for Ben to run a pick and roll. Rudy was shadowing Ben when he tried to rub off the pick and Pete took a small step into the play. Rudy didn’t back off and crashed into Pete sending both of them tumbling to the ground.
They got to their feet and Pete gave Rudy a two handed shove.

“What’s your problem, Davis?”

“You moved on the pick, man. That what happens when you try to set a moving screen.” Ben and Bill watched the pair, unsure if they should intervene.

A play later, Pete had the ball and an open look at the hoop. He started to go up for a jumper when Rudy stepped behind him and bent his knees into the back of Pete’s knees, throwing him off balance. It was one of the oldest playground tricks in Rudy’s arsenal and it always pissed people off but was tough for a ref to spot.

Pete half-leapt off balance and stumbled to the ground. He quickly got to his feet and made a bull rush at Rudy, catching him mid-body with his shoulder and driving the two of them onto the clay court. Before either of them could do much damage the big Hawaiians had pulled them apart and were restraining them.

“Da hell’s da matter wit you two?” Ben asked. “I thought you were sposed ta be friends?”

“That was before this sumbitch tried to steal my woman. I should have seen this one coming, Pete. Ever the knight in shining armor, just waiting for your chance to move in, Mr. Smooth fucking Operator. ‘I’ll look after you, Raven”.

Rudy lunged at Pete but couldn’t get free of Bill’s grasp.

“Is that what this is about? You’re jealous because I went with Raven last night? What was I supposed to do, just let her walk off into the night by herself? You think I needed any of this?”

“You got Beth and now you want Raven. At least I had the decency to get out of the way once it was clear that Beth chose you.”

“You are a stupid little shit, you know that Davis? I couldn’t steal Raven if I tried, which I wouldn’t. The woman is in love with you, you jerk. She wants to have your children! How can you not get that?”

Rudy was quiet for a minute. As his anger eased, he was beginning to feel like an idiot. Finally, he swallowed his pride, something he’d never been very good at. He let out a long sigh.

“I’m sorry, Pete. I know you’re right. I had a long, sleepless night, my stomach is in knots and then you show up talking about holding Raven all night and I lost it. I guess I just needed an outlet.”

Ben and Bill let go of Pete and Rudy.

“It’s OK, brah.” Pete said, with an arm around Rudy's shoulders. “Now take it out.”

He slammed the basketball as hard into Rudy’s chest as he could and then ran down court.

“You are dead meat, asshole.” Rudy shouted as he gave chase.

As Charlie worked through the last few details of his plan, he thought of all the times he’d had a chance to kill Azeri. The two of them had hunted wild boar so many times together that Charlie had lost count and he could easily have put a bullet in the man pretty much any one of those times.

The first time they went hunting had been his first opportunity. He drew a bead on the man and just like that, the moment he’d waited so long for was upon him. Azeri’s head in the cross-hairs but he couldn’t do it. His wife was gone and all he’d had left was his daughter and now she was gone too. Here was his chance to avenge her but it wasn’t right. How could he face his loved ones in the next life with murder on his hands?

He wasn’t a religious man but that night he asked the Universe what he should do. He wasn’t willing to walk away or to turn the other cheek. He knew he’d be leaving the world a better place if he took Azeri out of it but he couldn’t let Azeri turn him into a killer. Azeri had taken enough from him and he wasn’t taking anything else, especially not his soul.

He had a dream that night that he was talking to a jelly fish, a Sea Nettle actually, who insisted that he belonged in the Atlantic. It told him that the best way to take Azeri down was to take his money just before new product arrived and then let the bad guys be bad guys.

“Don’t worry,” the smart-assed fish had told him, “the elements will all come together and when the time is right, you’ll know it. In the meantime, get prepared and trust your instincts. You’ve never been a patient man but you’re about to become one.”

That was the reason he’d taken Rudy under his wing by helping him out with cheap rent and drawing him further into his social circle; his instincts told him to. When Charlie had seen Raven’s furniture at a gallery, he sought out the artist because he sensed that he was supposed to. He didn’t know why but he was trusting his instincts, like he'd been told.

Now, with everything that had happened and more than six million dollars in cash sitting in Azeri’s safe waiting to make the exchange, Charlie knew that this was the time.

Rudy and Pete were waiting for him when he arrived at the Beach Park in Punaluu but Ben and Bill discreetly waited on the court until they were summoned. Charlie had decided to explain himself to Rudy and his friend before they called the locals over. It would be a huge relief to finally tell someone and they needed to understand what this was all about for him.

“When my wife died,” Charlie began, “I didn’t deal with it very well. My daughter Chloe, was 19, just finished freshman year at the University of Texas in Austin. She came home to be with me but I was too involved in my own self-pity to be of much use to her. I was so grief stricken that it didn’t even occur to me that Chloe needed me more than I needed her.

She and my wife had been real tight. Truth be told, I was so busy with my business and investments that the two of them were the only real support system either of them had.” Charlie sighed. He’d been looking forward to sharing this with someone, getting it off his chest, but it was harder to talk about than he’d expected.

“After a few weeks of being ignored by her old man, Chloe wanted to come to Hawaii and stay in one of my condo’s, take a little R&R before resuming her college career. I had a bad feeling about the whole thing but I knew that I wasn’t much use to her so I figured maybe a change of scenery would be good for her and it might give me a chance to recover a little too.”

“Six weeks later I got the call that no parent should ever have to take. Chloe had jumped from the 9th floor balcony of the condo. The autopsy showed that she had a lethal dose of cocaine in her system and that she had already been dead when she hit the ground. That’s when I sold my business and moved to Hawaii to assume this role of pleasure-seeker that you know me as.”

“I hired a private investigator to look into Chloe’s death and we learned that Chloe had hit the party scene pretty hard after she arrived. She’d met some coke-cowboys in Makawao who were part of Azeri’s goon squad and it wasn’t long before she was partying at Azeri’s Ranch. Azeri took a shine to her and showed her how to shoot up but misjudged the dose and she OD’d. He had one of his goons, a dirty work expert by the name of Tony, take her back to my condo and throw her body off the balcony to make it look like a suicide.”

“That’s the condo I stayed in on Maui.” Rudy said.

“The same.” Charlie replied before resuming his story.

“When it comes to badass drug dealers, it’s not that tough to find out what happened but it’s real tough to get anyone to testify, so the police were never able to make a prosecutable case. That fact that Azeri owns most of them didn't help either." :

"That’s when I decided to kill Azeri myself and that’s what I set out to do when I befriended him. But when my chance came, I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t willing to become a killer but I wasn’t willing to let Azeri walk away from this either, so I came up with the plan that we’re about to execute.”

“Wow, Charlie.” Rudy said. “I feel pretty bad about misjudging you.”

“You thought of me the way I wanted you to.” Charlie said. “Toughest thing I’ve ever done in my life is let people think of me as a frivolous old fool who would hang with a scumbag like Azeri but I had to do it. I guess you could say I was in deep cover.”

Ben and Bill were called over and arrived wearing the big Hawaiian smiles that Rudy so much enjoyed about them. They were two of the happiest people Rudy had ever known. When the introductions were finished, Charlie laid out his plan.

“An old friend of mine worked for the CIA. Of course, he never gave up any state secrets but we spent many evening discussing some of the ways and means the CIA uses to accomplish things. He said that the secret to success was planning. Their most important jobs could literally take years of planning every detail, establishing an identity, endlessly reconnoitering until every stone has been turned, until every contingency has been explored and planned for.”

“I’ve been on the Islands full time now for two and a half years. Practically everything I’ve done in that time has been toward this end. I know alarm codes, safe combinations; I have copies of every key in that house. I’ve befriended Azeri’s men, given them gifts and looked after their families until they’re probably more loyal to me than to Azeri, if push ever came to shove. And now, the Universe has brought all of the elements together to make this happen.” He didn’t mention the Jellyfish, not wanting to be thought stark raving mad.

“Azeri is expecting a big shipment at 6 AM tomorrow morning. He has a pretty slick operation but he’s been a bit slow to join the computer age. Most big time dealers move their money around via the Information Superhighway to off-shore bank accounts but Azeri still believes in good old fashioned cash. That, gentlemen, is what's known as an Achilles heel and it's we’ll exploit to bring him down.”

“The goods are brought on a sailboat from Columbia. The traffickers have a pretty slick deal where they outfit sailboats for long distance sailing for folks with more money than brains. Once they’ve been outfitted with the latest navigational aids and safety systems and fortified for rough water, they take the boats for a major shake down cruise before delivering to the ignorant client.”

“The beauty of the operation is that it is completely legit, except for the cargo. They never use the same boat twice and they file all their logs and sailing plans, and communicate with the Coast Guard just like they’re supposed to. They get the goods via boat to boat transfers so they never go off route and never appear to be coming from Columbia, or some other suspicious port and they never enter or exit a port laden. Before they reach the dock in Kihei, the product is transferred to a speed boat that takes it to Azeri’s private dock in Halawa Bay.”

“The goods come from the Cali Cartel, who took over the Colombian trade when Escobar’s Medellin Cartel fell. They preferred bribery and graft to the over-the-top violence that Escobar was famous for and that’s how they quietly helped bring down Escobar and took the Colombian trade over. Don’t let that fool you, though, they’re bad mo-fo’s and they don’t hesitate to use violence when they need to.”

“When the Cali people arrive with six million dollars worth of cocaine and Azeri doesn’t have the cash, it’s going to be war. I can understand if any of you have a problem with that and want out but I, for one, won’t lose any sleep over bad guys killing bad guys. The way I figure it, this is going to put a serious kink in the Pacific drug trade for a long time to come.”

Charlie looked at each of them one at a time. “I’m in.” Rudy said. Pete nodded in agreement.

“Bad guys killing bad guys is one thing," Ben said, “but I need to know how we goin ta pull dis off witout bloodshed on our part.”

“Instead of guns, we’re going to arm ourselves with trichloromethane or methyl trichloride, commonly referred to as chloroform. Now this stuff ain’t like they show in the movies. It takes a lot more than a few drops on a hanky to knock someone out and it is risky. The amounts required to disable someone could potentially be fatal, though it’s unlikely to kill anyone if you stop administering it as soon as they go down.”

“At that point, you bind their hands and feet with these plastic handcuffs, then wrap the shit out of their ankles, wrists and mouth with duct tape to keep them from wriggling loose anytime soon. The chloroform will only last for about 10 minutes so we’ll want to move fast. We disable the staff, load up the money from the safe and get out, 1,2,3, just like that. No screwing around, no time to waste.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing with this chloroform stuff?” Ben asked.

“Oh, I know what I’m doing. I’ve sold my soul repeatedly over the last two years to put this plan together. I’ve tested every aspect of this plan, including using the chloroform on test subjects to make sure the dosages were right. I did that with college student volunteers under the auspices of a research project. Being filthy rich has its advantages.” Charlie smiled.

I’ve tested every single key I’m handing out, not just the masters they were cut from. That’s the level of detail I’ve put into this. I know this is a solid plan and this is the right time.” Charlie continued. “If this doesn’t work, if I get any one of you hurt, may my soul burn in hell for it.”

“Damn, brah, don’t get carried away.” Ben said with a grin.

“Like I said, there’s something over six million dollars in the safe. Azeri will shit when he finds out that I know the combination. I don’t need the money so it will be split five ways between you guys.”

“There are only four of us, Charlie.” Rudy said.

“I have an inside guy.” Charlie replied. “Best you don’t know who he is for now. He’s on the outs with Azeri and needs to pull this off to stay alive, so we can trust him. He still has friends on the goon squad and he knows the lay of the property better than anyone, except for maybe me.”

He went on to lay out the particulars, unfolding the plats and going over every inch of the house, meticulously explaining exactly where the staff would be at any given minute and exactly where he wanted each of them and when. If any of them had any doubts about Charlie’s plan going in, there were none left when Charlie got done laying it out. It was that meticulous.

“So that’s it, gentlemen,” he said when he finished. The Cali boys are due at 6 AM so we’ll hit the place at 4. That gives us just enough time to get in, secure the place and the personnel and get the hell out without leaving the Azeri crew enough time to react even if someone does manage to get loose and free them all after we’re gone.”

They dispersed to get some rest before putting the plan into action.

When Rudy and Pete got back to the safe house, Raven and the Wanker’s were nowhere to be found but Raven had left a note.

Rudy,

I know I can’t talk you out of this and I understand why you think you have to do it. I don’t know, you might even be right. I do know that if I could stop you, I would, but I can’t.

There are a lot of things about my past that you don’t know. I should have shared it all with you long ago but until now it seemed best just to let the past fade to distant memory.

I need to clear my head and I’m worried that Circe might get caught and the safe house will be compromised so I’ve taken the Wanker’s to a safe place to wait this out.
I know I told you that I won’t want you around anymore once you’ve done this but the truth just may be that you won’t want me once you know everything. When this is done, we’ll talk and I hope we can sort things out between us. Until then, be safe.

I love you.

Raven

Chapter Thirty One - The Molokai Six

2008-12-30T16:09:00.000-08:00

Tensions were high back at the safe house. The Molokai Six, as they’d dubbed themselves enroute, had initially been in high spirits. By the time they reached the safe house, the lack of sleep and the aura of secrets hanging in the air had exacted a toll on their collective mood.

Rudy wanted to know about the sister that Charlie had alluded to and Raven wanted to know what kind of plan Pete and Rudy were cooking up with Charlie. Circe never missed a chance to land a jab or plant a seed of doubt, mostly just because she was Circe. Pete was tired and fed up with the tension in the group and Soon-Li and Wally just wanted to go home as soon a possible and as ignorant as possible.

“Look, everyone,” Pete finally spoke up. “We’re all tired and cranky. Obviously we all have things on our minds. Let’s just get some sleep. Once we’ve had some rest we can deal with our issues. We should hear from Charlie this evening and then we’ll figure out how to finish this thing off and get on with our lives.”

For the most part, they grunted their agreement and padded off to their rooms.”

Pete was first to rise early in the afternoon. Circe had tried to seduce Pete but had been banished to the sofa after he’d refused to allow her in bed with him. Now she was nowhere to be found and it didn’t break his heart one bit. He’d never had much use for her.

When Raven and Rudy appeared in the living room a couple of hours later, Raven didn’t receive the news of Circe’s disappearance well.

“Don’t you understand? They could find her, like they have once already and she’ll lead them right to us. How could this happen? We need to leave, right now.”

“We can’t leave until we hear from Charlie.” Rudy said. “If we take off, we’re vulnerable too, plus Charlie won’t know how to reach us.”

“Oh, who gives a damn about Charlie.” Raven countered, “I don’t know what he has in mind for you guys but I’m pretty sure it’s not legal and it could get you both killed. I’ll tell you right now, you can count me out.”

“Fine, you’re out.” Rudy snapped. “He didn’t mention wanting your help anyway. Damn it Raven, you know we’re not safe as long as Azeri is in the picture.”

“And just how do you think you’re going to get him out of the picture? You two idiots turn into hit men now?”

Raven had seen too many raids go wrong when carefully planned by professionals. Who knows what kind of trouble this rag-tag bunch of idiots could get into? She’d seen enough bloodshed for ten lifetimes and she knew in her heart that she was about to see more. She had to find a way to put an end to this nonsense now.

“I don’t know.” Rudy was losing his temper. “We’ll just have to see, won’t we? I’m sorry but I have to do this. I gave my word and we have to finish it somehow, end of story!”

“End of story!?” Raven was furious now. Nobody, but nobody talked to her like that. “I’m warning you, Rudy, you do this and we’re finished. I won’t have any part of this and I won’t have any part of you if you go through with it.”

Raven’s eyes burned a hole right through Rudy.

“Look, Raven, I don’t want to lose you but if that’s the price of saving your life, I can live with it. It’s a no-brainer.”

“Oh, my hero.” Raven was shouting now, “Who asked you to be my big fucking hero? You don’t have a clue what you’re getting yourself into, you big, stupid jerk.” She was crying now, like some silly hysterical girl and that pissed her off even more. She slapped Rudy and stormed out of the room.

“Whoa. She’s really pissed brudda.” Pete said, trying to lighten the mood. Rudy stared after her, dumbstruck.

“Listen, she’ll come around, don’t worry. We’ll just do what we know we have to and she’ll come around when it’s over. Charlie’s got this all worked out; we’ve got to trust him. Look, the first part went off like clockwork, right?’

“Yeah.” Rudy finally said. “Yeah, it did. I just hope you’re right about Raven.”

“I am right. Jesus, the woman is ass over teakettle for you, don’t ask me why. I guess she just doesn’t know you like I do.” Pete said with a grin and a slap on the back.

By the time Charlie finally called it was nearly 10 PM and the house was ready to explode from the tension inside.

“Charlie, I was really getting worried about you. I was afraid maybe Azeri suspected your involvement and you were in some sort of trouble.” Rudy said into the phone.

“Of course he suspected my involvement,” Charlie said, “but never underestimate the charm or the persuasive powers of a good ol’ boy from the Guff. I had to stick around a while, play dumb, which apparently I’ve gotten pretty good at.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re alright.” Rudy said.

“Yeah, I’m fine but we’re going to have to move fast on part two. We’ll need some muscle for this, just some extra bodies, won’t hurt if they’re big extra bodies. What about those locals you play basketball with, you think they’d be willing to help if there was a seven figure payday in it for them?”

“Oh man, I don’t know, Charlie. Ben and Bill own a construction company. They’re legit guys, doing alright for themselves; they don’t need to get mixed up in anything like this.” Rudy was thinking as he spoke. “I’ll talk to ‘em but what do I say? I don’t even know what the plan is.”

“The plan is we’re going to rob them. No violence, just like I promised, I’ve got it all worked out.” Rudy was getting real tired of hearing how Charlie had things all worked out. He could only hope that it was true but he couldn’t imagine how it could be. And last he’d checked, robbery was still a felony, no matter who you robbed.

“I don’t want to get into any details on the phone but suffice it to say that there’s a seven figure payday in it for everyone. Azeri’s associates will do the dirty work when they arrive at the Ranch with six million dollars worth of cocaine and find his safe empty. You’re supposed to play basketball with those guys in the morning, right?”

“Yeah, how did you know that?” Rudy asked.

“I told you Rudy, I’ve been working this out for the last two years. I know everything... everything. Get ahold of the locals tonight, don’t tell them too much, just see if they’re interested. I’ll meet you and Pete at your game tomorrow and I can bring them up to speed then, 7 AM right?”

“Right. 7 AM.”

“Bring Pete but not the others. I don’t want to involve them in this; they wouldn’t be much use anyway. Have them sit tight at the safe house until they get the word from us. If you can get the two Hawaiians, plus the three of us, that’ll be enough if we do this right.”

When they hung up, Rudy called Ben and explained his predicament the best he could.

“Listen, I can’t for the life of me come up with any good reason why you guys would want to get involved with this.” Rudy told him honestly. “If you’re not interested, I totally understand; no hard feelings.”

“I guess you doan get this, brudda, but Hawaiians are all about family.” Ben said. “You an' Raven, you family and you need our help, that’s good enough for me. The payday don’t suck either.” he added.

“Jus one ting worry me, though. You want us to rob dese big time drug dealers but no violence? I dunno how you gonna pull that off but we ain’t no da kine killer, me and Bill. Like I say, we got families; we don’t need no showdown wit no coke cowboys.”

“I understand,” Rudy said. “How about we all meet with Charlie tomorrow, hear the plan. If it doesn’t sound right to you, you guys walk, no hard feelings, end of story. Truth is I wouldn’t have it any other way. If it doesn’t make sense to you, you should walk.”

“Fair ‘nuff, brudda. See ya tomorrow.”

Rudy hung up the phone, a little surprised that Ben and Bill were actually considering helping. He turned around to find Raven standing across the room, arms folded across her chest. Everyone else had discreetly gone to their rooms, sensing the impending explosion.
“You’re gonna rob Azeri?”

“That’s what it looks like.” Rudy answered. He had no clue what else to say to her and right at this moment he’d have sold his soul to find the words to make her understand that he had to do this. She was smart and level-headed and incredibly competent, so why couldn’t she understand this simple fact?

“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into. No stinkin’ idea whatsoever. You just tell me this; what do I need to say to you to change your mind?” She asked.

“Nothing, Raven. There’s nothing you can say to change my mind. I don’t know why you can’t get that but I have no choice. I have to. I made a promise to the man in exchange for his help in saving your life. I gave my word...”

“Then I’m outta here. Don’t ever darken my door again.” she said with a stunning coldness that took his breath away. She spun and headed for the front door.

“Come on, Raven, where do you think you’re going?” Rudy asked, following her to the driveway.

“I can’t stay here. I can’t be a part of this. I can’t be around you right now.” she said.

“This is insane. Where are you going to go? How are you going to get there? You can’t go home, you understand that, right?”

“I’ll walk to the 7-11 on the next block and call a cab. I’ll get a room somewhere. Now let go of my arm.” she said, yanking it away. He hadn’t even been aware that he had hold of it.

“Wait.” Pete called from the doorway. “Rudy’s right,” he said, approaching the two of them in the driveway. “It’s not safe for you out there, Raven.”

“I’m leaving.” she said, and started again down the driveway.

“Then I’ll go with you.” Pete said. “At least let me go and make sure you’re okay. Azeri doesn’t know me; I can rent a room in my name.”

Raven stopped and thought about it for a minute. “Fine.” she said finally. “Suit yourself.”

“I’ll see you at the game tomorrow.” Pete said to Rudy. “I’ll look after her, don’t worry.”

Rudy watched them disappear down the sidewalk and into the darkness. “Be early tomorrow.” he called to Pete. “We should talk before Charlie gets there.”

Pete waved in agreement as he ran after Raven, who was already a half block away.

Rudy thought about running after them and begging Raven to come back and discuss this but he knew it would do no good. He knew there was no stopping her once she made her mind up.
He stood in the driveway watching until the darkness swallowed them and then he went back inside the house, sat on the sofa and put his head in his hands.

The house was eerily quiet except for the gentle snoring coming from Wally and Soon-Li’s room. He did his best not to let anyone hear him sob.

Chapter Thirty - Psuedo Commandos

2008-12-30T15:37:00.000-08:00

Wally was waiting in his Jeep when the Nevermore docked in Kaunakakai. Molokai is a sleepy little island in broad daylight and there were no signs of life as they drove through the Hawaiian night. They had arrived late and would be gone again before daylight so it was unlikely that anyone would even know that the Nevermore had ever been at the dock.

Soon-Li knew how to handle the boat and she waited in the Nevermore for them to return. She was to meet the pseudo-commandos in Halawa Bay, near the Molokai Ranch on the east end of the island if something went wrong and they failed to return by 5 AM.

The Jeep trail that Charlie made was nearly nonexistent. If it weren’t for the bright orange surveyor’s tape he’d tied to strategically located trees along the path, they would surely have lost it. But Charlie had been thorough and they found the end of the trail without the aid of headlights, just as they had planned. Charlie had even rigged an off switch to prevent the brake lights from coming on.

Rudy and Pete strapped the backpacks on and headed for the cliff head, a half mile away. Once there, they laid on their bellies with their night vision binoculars, scoping out the scene below, just like in some Schwarzenegger movie.

All was quiet below and there were no signs of life anywhere. Rudy spotted the cell building directly below them and he could see the breach Charlie had told them about, almost directly in front of the building. He could see Charlie’s Jeep in the drive, parked near the front door of the main house, so he knew that Charlie was in place as planned.

They secured their ropes to trees at the top of the steep decent and waited a few minutes until precisely 3 AM.

“What do you think, Pete? You ready?” Rudy whispered.

“Hell no! How do I let you get me into these things, Davis?” Pete asked in reply.

“It must be your adventurous spirit.” Rudy answered dryly. “Let’s do it.”

They dropped the ropes down the hillside. They were the perfect length to reach to the bottom of the bluff without touching the electric fence thereby drawing attention. Charlie hadn’t missed a thing.

Pete and Rudy left their packs at the top and rappelled down the hillside quickly and silently, slid under the fence and were outside the cell building in a matter of seconds. Rudy spent more time fumbling with the key and lock than it had taken to get there but they were quickly inside.

As soon as Rudy stepped through the door, someone grabbed his arm, twisted it painfully behind his back and had his face buried in cinderblock before he even knew what had happened.

“Alright, dirt bag, if you ever want the use of this arm again, you’re going to get us out of here.”

“Raven, it’s me.” Rudy whispered.

“Rudy?”

“Yes, let me go.” She did and he shook the kinks from his arm. “Damn.” he said.

“Where’d you learn to do that?”

“I saw it on ‘Cops’. Just get me out of here.”

“Okay,” Rudy said, “We’re going to slide under the electric fence right there.” He pointed toward the breach. “There are ropes in place just on the other side with some climbing clamps already attached. We’ll use them to climb up. You go first, I’ll be right behind you.”

“What about me?” Circe asked.

Rudy had been vaguely aware of the other person standing in the cell but hadn’t paid her much attention in the dark and was surprised to realize that it was Circe. He was a little surprised to realize that he hadn’t even considered what had become of Circe, or much cared.

“You made your bed, now you can lie in it.” he said coldly.

“Rudy, I can’t believe you.” Raven said. “You can’t leave her here, they’ll kill her.”

“You don’t understand, Raven, she’s the cause of all this. You have no idea what she’s done. Just trust me and let’s go.”

“No! I’m not leaving without her.”

“Are you crazy?” Rudy asked too loudly.

“Quiet.” Pete shushed. “Come on, Circe, we’re all getting out of here. Let’s just go.”

“Whatever.” Rudy mumbled, “Let’s go.” He’d had no intention of leaving her behind but felt compelled to ham it up just the same.

They all slid quietly under the fence. Raven and Pete climbed the cliff with the aid of the ropes and grips while Rudy and Circe waited for their turn. When they were at the top, Rudy and Circe grabbed the ropes and began their climb. Rudy climbed quickly to the top but Circe stalled out less than a quarter of the way up.

Her drug ravaged body just didn’t have the strength to pull her up the hill, especially since she was only now recovering from withdrawal.

Rudy grabbed the backpacks and headed for the Jeep. Raven ran after him.
“Rudy, what are you doing? She needs help.” Raven scolded.

“Not my problem.” Rudy said. “This is exactly why I didn’t want to bring her, she’s holding us up and she’s going to get us all caught.”

“Damn it, Rudy. Either you go back and help her or I do.” They stared at each other in silence for a second then Raven turned around, “Fine, I’ll do it.”

“Alright. Okay, I’ll do it.” He rappelled down the rope. Circe was at the bottom again, sobbing.

“Climb on my back.” He ordered gruffly.

She did and they began the climb. Rudy’s arms were already tired from having made one ascent and he wasn’t at all certain that he could do it again, especially with the extra weight on his back; even this diminutive cocaine waif’s extra weight. Halfway up he began to really struggle.

“My hero.” Circe said sarcastically into his ear as he struggled. “You sure you can do this, big shot?”

“Nope.” Rudy managed between gulps for air.

His arms were burning and he was really in trouble now, with a third of the way still to go. All he could do now was hold on. Raven and Pete began pulling the rope from the top while Rudy hung on and used his feet to help and in a few minutes, they were at the top. Rudy collapsed face first, gasping for breath.

“Come on.” Pete grabbed a handful of Rudy’s shirt and pulled him to his feet. “No time to rest, you can catch your breath in the Jeep.”

Rudy stumbled to his feet and staggered toward the Jeep. Raven and Pete helped him into the passenger seat, the women jumped in back and they were off. It had gone off like clockwork. Well, almost.

The eastern horizon was just beginning to lighten as they bounced along the primitive trail. Rudy arms burned and his entire body was shaky as he tried to recover. They hit a particularly harsh bump and something fell from his pocket. Circe, seated behind him, was the only one who saw it and she picked it up as discreetly as possible. It was a locker key with the receipt wrapped around it and secured by a rubber band. It was for an airport locker and the locker number was stamped on the key.

Circe smiled as she slid the key into her pocket. Good thinking, Rudy. What an original place to stash the briefcases. God, men are stupid.

Chapter Twenty Nine - This is Your Idea of a Plan?

2008-12-30T14:58:00.000-08:00

It must have been something I ate, Rudy thought as her neared his duplex, or one too many kicks to the head. Armageddon, talking Jelly Fish, the Kennedy Assassination. Holy cow! Then he entered the duplex and found Pete sitting in his living room.

“Hey Davis, how come I’m always bailing you out of trouble?”

Rudy had never been more pleased to see anyone in his life. He gave Pete a big hug, something that would have seemed out of place for them at any other time. Since his little chat with the imaginary Jelly Fish, Rudy had been feeling a little better and now, with Pete here, he knew that he wasn’t in this alone.

Pete explained the bizarre series of phone calls that had roused his suspicion enough to board a plane to Honolulu and check up on his old pal. Then it was Rudy’s turn to recount everything that had happened in the last few days.

“Gees, Davis, I can’t leave you alone for a minute.” Pete said. Then, turning serious, “You’re right about one thing, giving the goods to Azeri is not the answer. Right now, they’re all that’s keeping Raven alive; maybe you too. Once he has those, you’re both as good as dead. Of course, I don’t know this Charlie character, but if he’s friends with Azeri, he might be able to help us figure out where they’re keeping Raven and how to get her back. You’re right to be suspicious of his motives but I don’t see a Plan B, do you?

Rudy shook his head. Pete was right; Charlie was the key to everything so Rudy gave him a call. Rudy discreetly forgot to mention that Elder Jelly Fish had said to trust Charlie.

“I can help.” Charlie said. “But I’m sure they're watching your place. Hopefully, they’re not bugging your phone. I want you to get out of there and take whatever you need for the next few days because you can’t go back until this is over. Drive around until you’re sure you aren’t being tailed, and then call me back from a pay phone.”

Rudy still had the keys to Nevermore and he was quite certain that if anyone was tailing him, they would not be prepared to follow him by water. They hurried to the Marina in Laie and sped off. They docked in Honolulu, rented a car in Pete’s name and called Charlie from Pearl City. They met an hour later at the Lehua Community Park.

“Charlie, I gotta be honest with you. I know you’re pals with Azeri. I can’t help but be a little leery but I know you care about Raven so I’m taking a chance here.” Rudy said, almost apologetically.

“I tried to tell you once, and right now is probably not the best time to get into all of the details, but suffice it to say that as far as I’m concerned, Azeri is a piece of garbage. I came to Hawaii to find Azeri with the intention of killing him. I had my chances too but I realized that I don’t want to meet my maker with blood on my hands so I decided to find another way to bring him down. I wasn’t sure how I’d do It, or when, but I knew in my gut that when the time came, I’d know it”.

“Gentlemen, that time is upon us. First, we’re going to get Raven back and then you two are going to help me bring Azeri down, deal?”

“We’re not killers either, Charlie.” Rudy said after a few seconds. “If that’s what you have in mind.”

“Of course not.” Charlie answered. “We’re not going to kill anyone, but we are going to bring him and his entire operation down. Once we have Raven back and in a secure place, I’ll fill you in on the plan.”

“But why?” Rudy asked. “Why are you so interested in Azeri?”

Raven and I have something in common. We have both lost someone close to us because of Azeri.” Rudy was more puzzled than ever. Who had Raven lost? She’d never mentioned anything like that.

I’ll tell you all about it when we have more time.” Charlie said. “From the look on your face, I’m guessing that Raven hasn’t told you about Gabrielle. I’ll leave that to her, Rudy. The thing you need to realize right now is that you and Raven will never be able to have any kind of life until we bring Azeri down.”

Rudy knew that he was right and he knew that he had little choice but to trust Charlie.

“Okay Charlie. As long as we get Raven back. I’m all yours after that but not until. What do we have to do?”

Charlie looked at Pete. “I’m in too.” Pete said, not needing to hear the question before he answered. “Whatever we have to do, I’m in.”

Charlie unrolled some architects plats on the picnic table.

“I’ve spent as much time as I could at the Molokai Ranch. I befriended all of the help, I paced off measurements and made sketches then had an architect take my sketches and draw up every inch of the Ranch as best as he could from the sketches.”

“Azeri owns the drug trade in Hawaii and has a lane to San Francisco with an eye on the entire Western United States. He’s done it by eliminating his rivals. He’s ruthless and tries to hide that fact with his little blue blood routine. Don’t you forget that for a minute.” Charlie warned.

“This little building right here, in the northwest corner of the property, has got to be where they’re keeping Raven. It’s a cell where Azeri has kept rival drug dealers, tortured them for information and killed them when he was done, and it’s key to how he’s succeeded thus far. It’s not visible from the main house except through the security cams.”

“Now, the entire property is surrounded by high voltage electric fence but there is a breach. As you can see from the topo map here, these are pretty steep cliffs behind the cell building. It’s rugged terrain above the cliffs too, accessible only on foot or by horseback. A Jeep can get within a half mile or so of the cliffs but you’ll have to walk the rest of the way. I know because I made the trail with my Jeep and a machete but I didn’t dare get any closer for fear of being seen or heard.”

“The floods last spring washed out enough room underneath the fence to slide under. They’ve been a little slow to fix it because of the cliffs here; they don’t figure anyone can get in or out anyway so it hasn’t been a high priority.”

“So how are we going to get in and out?” Rudy asked.

“You are all athletes, all three of you.” Charlie said. “You’re going to rappel. Climbing back out will be the hard part. It’s too steep to hike but using the ropes and your arms, you can manage. I hope you guys have some upper body strength because you’re going to need it. And whatever you do, don’t touch that fence. There’s not enough voltage to kill you, but you will, by God, wish you were dead if you get zapped.”

“So how do we keep from being seen on the security cam?” Pete asked.

“You don’t. They’ll have you on tape but this is where I come in. I’ll be visiting the ranch and I’ve made it a habit to bring the night man a cup of Joe before at the start of his shift, chat with him for a while. Tonight’s coffee will make him very sleepy. He has a habit of sleeping at the desk anyway so this will just be a little insurance. Once the deed is done, they’ll know it was you anyway, so no big deal if they have it on tape.”

“Call Wally and have him take you to the end of the Jeep trail, here.” Charlie said, pointing to the topo map. “You’ll need him meet you at the dock in Kaunakakai at 2AM. By the time you get to the end of the trail, it should be 3AM. Figure another hour at the most to get Raven and be back at the Jeep. Wally and Soon-Li should leave with you all on the Nevermore. If all goes well, no one will ever know they were involved but we can’t take any chances with their safety, it’s best to get them off the island. It won’t be safe for any of you on Molokai until we finish our plan. I have a safe house in Honolulu that you all can stay in until this is done.”

Okay, we’re going to need a list of supplies.” Rudy said.

“Already have em. They’re in my trunk. Like I said, I’ve been planning something like this for a while. Just been waiting for the right kinda help.” Charlie replied.

“How are we going to get her out of the cell?” Pete asked. Good question, Rudy thought. That was the one detail that had escaped him in all of this planning.

“With this.” Charlie said, holding up a key. He was grinning from ear to ear. “You didn’t think I’d forget an important detail like that? I’ve got a key to every lock on the ranch. And you thought I was just another dumb redneck sumbitch with more money than brains.”

Rudy looked away sheepishly. Charlie was right, of course.

Pete grinned and slapped Charlie on the back. “Jury’s still out on that one, Chuck. I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

Chapter Twenty Eight - Gabrielle

2008-12-30T14:26:00.000-08:00

It was stuffy in the tiny cinderblock tomb and Raven didn’t deal well with confinement. She lay on the harsh metal bed and closed her eyes to escape to a better place in her head. How ironic that she was imprisoned by the man that she had once vowed to kill and she wondered now if she had been wrong not to keep that vow.

Her mind drifted to her beautiful older sister and a tiny smile found her lips. Five years older than Raven, Gabrielle was already a top fashion model by Raven’s sixteenth birthday in 1974. She had been in Paris for a photo shoot so Raven and her parents were surprised when she showed up at Raven’s sweet sixteen party in a brand new BMW 2002.

“Nice car.” Raven said as she hugged her sister.

“You like it?”

“I love it. It’s totally cool.”

Good thing, since it’s yours. Happy birthday little sis.” Gabrielle said as she held out the keys.

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No way!” Raven shouted.

“Way!”

“You can’t afford to give me this.”

“Actually, I can.” Gabrielle replied. “You cannot imagine how much money I get for a shoot.”

When the party ended, Raven and Gabrielle went for a long drive. They talked and laughed and neither had a care in the world. Raven jumped with glee when they passed a magazine stand and they found Gabrielle’s picture on the cover of Glamour.

Gabrielle stayed only a couple of days before she left for a shoot in the Caymans. After the Cayman shoot, it was back to Paris where Gabrielle met a young man with a mysterious underworld air about him. She had no idea what he did for a living but she was pretty sure it was illegal and, to be honest, she found his dark gangster world fascinating.

It wasn’t long before the two of them were inseparable, living life in the fast lane with the help of the white powder that was so fashionable at the time.

Her beau was a small time coke dealer with big time aspirations by the name of Leonard Azeri. It would be a couple more years yet before Azeri would start going by Leonardo in an attempt to appear more exotic. Azeri had grown up in the streets of New York but was learning to speak and act like a real blue blood. His practiced aristocratic demeanor fooled some people but the old money usually saw through his act. Not that they cared; his coke was the best in town.

If Gabrielle had been naïve about her boyfriends’ occupation in the beginning, it wasn’t long before she was fully aware and fully immersed in the life. They ran with the Jet Set, a fast crowd of good-timing idle rich; beautiful people with too much time and too much money and too little substance.

Perhaps she’d burst on the scene a little too quickly, gone from obscurity to fame and fortune too fast, and she lacked the maturity and perspective to deal with it. It was all too easy for an impressionable young girl like Gabrielle to get caught up in the scene.
For all of her charm, for all of her personality and intelligence and her big heart, Gabrielle still fell for the white powder as big and as hard and as fast as anyone ever has. It was astonishing to see how quickly a beautiful young girl can go from good-time party girl to nosebleeds on her satin gown to sticking a needle in her arm.

Leonard kept her supplied for as long as she was pretty, looked good on his arm and could satisfy his sexual appetite. When the coke took its toll on her looks and her personality, he put her out on the street to fend for herself, penniless and strung out. She boomeranged back, begging for coke and making a scene, so he had his goons take care of her.

A month before Raven graduated from High School, her parents got a desperate call from Gabrielle. She was strung out and sobbing and begged her parents to wire her some money, which they quickly did, on the promise that she call again as soon as she received it. In the meanwhile, they would make arrangements for her to enter a rehab clinic close to her in Paris. A few hours later they confirmed that the money had been picked up but they never heard from Gabrielle again.

They contacted a private investigator to find Gabrielle. Her father made plans to fly to Paris to assist the investigator but her mother was so distraught that he was hesitant to leave her. Raven convinced them to let her go instead. When other kids in her graduating class were getting drunk and celebrating their passage into the next phase of their lives, Raven was boarding a plane for Charles de Gaulle airport.

She was met at the airport by the investigator and he told her that he thought Gabrielle had been located. He had taken her picture to the Jane Doe section of the Paris morgue and believed that a young, unidentified girl with a bullet in her brain was Gabrielle. Her body had been found in a dumpster in a part of town dominated by run down warehouses.

Raven made the ID. Though the skinny, greasy haired corps bore little resemblance to her glamorous sister, Raven knew her too well to be fooled. She made the agonizing call home to her parents and then accompanied the body on the long journey back to Kauai.

Raven had already made plans to attend the University of Hawaii in Honolulu but had yet to decide on a major. Now she knew that she would major in Criminology and become an agent for the recently formed DEA. She would see to it that the kinds of people who used up beautiful young girls and left them dead in dumpsters would get what they deserved.

Upon graduation in 1980, she put the BMW that Gabrielle had given her into storage, and she joined the DEA as a deep cover agent, supposedly a Dental Hygienist in the Army. For the next 12 years she chased drug lords all over Central and South America. She had a stellar career in the DEA, was instrumental in some of the largest busts in history, participated in many fire-fights and learned how it felt to have the blood of another human on her hands.

In 1990, she participated in a bust gone bad in Bogotá and found herself face to face with a 12 year old who had a gun pointed at her head. She fired first to save her own life. That night she made a solemn vow to herself and the Universe that she would never shed a drop of human blood again, not for any reason.

She had joined the DEA to avenge her sister’s death and to save others from the same fate as Gabrielle. What a naïve little fallacy that had been. The system was corrupt; the Government was using the War on Drugs as an excuse to wage war on the civil rights of Americans, while the CIA was running the same drugs that the DEA was supposed to be stopping, to finance their secret wars.

In addition to all of that she began to believe that she had failed to consider the question of personal responsibility. All the drug busts in the world could stop neither the supply nor the demand. No one had forced Gabrielle to do what she had done. There were those who enabled her but no one had made her do it.

She had come to the slow realization that it would be impossible to stop the supply so long as there was a demand. The real question, she realized, was what caused so many people to seek their happiness and satisfaction in chemistry?

Raven had had a gutful of the DEA, of the Federal Government and of the angry vengeance that had consumed her for a dozen years. It was time to let go of the anger and bitterness that had driven her for so long.

The next day she requested a desk job and was reassigned to a regional office in San Antonio. Once there, she rented a small shop space and spent her nights and weekends and vacation time procuring the exotic woods and making the “Olsson Originals” that would soon make her famous.

She had seen too much for a beautiful, 33 year old artist and she put all of the anger, all of the passion and all of the heartbreak that she had seen into her work. She’d always known that she had inherited her mother’s artistic talent but had chosen not to paint because she wanted to find her own path. Now, in this new medium of wood and kilns and tools, she had found the outlet for her artistic expression and her social conscience.

Now here she sat, locked in this little tomb on Leonard Azeri’s property. During her time with the DEA she had investigated her sister’s murder and had come to believe that Azeri was behind it. When she came to the realization that she could not make a case that would hold up in court, she had vowed to kill him.

Before she could act on that vow, the incident with the 12 year old had happened and she made a new vow that there would be no more bloodshed in her life. Now she wondered which of these competing vows she would keep.

Chapter Twenty Seven - One Messed Up Hombre

2008-12-28T21:34:00.001-08:00

The phone was ringing when Rudy got back to the duplex and he ran to grab it.

“Rudy here.”

“Mr. Davis. So nice to speak with you again.”

The smugness virtually dripped from the handset. Rudy didn’t reply but he knew that this helping of crow wasn’t going to go down easily.

“You have something of mine and now I have something of yours.” Azeri continued. “And what a lovely thing she is.”

“Just leave her out of this.” Rudy snapped before he could catch himself.

“She’s already in it. I’ll tell you what though, just to be a sport, I’ll give you one chance to save her life. 6 AM tomorrow, just like you were supposed to do today. I trust that you no longer doubt my ability to get what I want.”

Rudy wished that he could climb through the phone and choke the living shit out of this arrogant bastard.

“You’re not going to let either of us live when this is over, so why bother?”

“Perhaps not,” Azeri replied, “but what choice do you have? Raven is really a lovely girl. What fun we shall have before I finish her, unless you cooperate.”

“You son of a...” Rudy was seeing red.

“Mr. Davis, please.” Azeri interrupted. “This isn’t helping your cause.” He clearly felt that he was holding all the cards.

“Okay, okay.” Rudy said. “But I can’t have what you want that soon. I need 48 hours to retrieve it.”

“It didn’t take 48 hours to hide it, why would it take that long to recover it.”

Rudy didn’t have an answer and was desperately racking his brain to come up with one.

“It’s not going to be as easy to recover as it was to hide.” he finally said.

“Perhaps I should send one of my associates to assist you in its recovery.”

“No. No, that’s not necessary. I have the goods and the money; I’ll bring you both if you’ll just give me 48 hours. What difference does it make to you? You’re holding all the cards and we both know it. Just give me the time and I won’t let you down.”

“No, I don’t suppose you will. Charlie tells me that you are quite fond of Ms. Olsson. Forty Eight hours from right now, same location as before. If you disappoint me again, you and your girlfriend will both be shark bait.”

“Understood.” Rudy hung up the phone. Charlie?! What in the hell was Charlie’s involvement in all of this?

Rudy didn’t have a clue what to do next. His first instinct was to contact Charlie for help but after that remark, Rudy wasn’t certain that Charlie could be trusted. It was just all too pat. Everyone in his life was so interconnected in this thing, it just couldn’t possibly be happening. Nothing made sense to him at this point. Nothing.

Panic, fed by his confusion, was rising in Rudy so quickly that he thought he might explode. He was getting dizzy and short of breath and soon his knees buckled and he found himself sitting on the floor. Physical exhaustion had always been the best antidote to a panic attack so he took his shoes off and burst out the front door in a dead run along the beach. He had to clear his head and think, come up with a plan.

His lungs burned as he ran in the sand, legs churning to keep momentum. When he could run no longer, he stopped, hands on knees and gasped for air until his breathing returned to normal.

Rudy ran along the beach nearly every day but he had obviously run farther than he ever had before because he was standing in the shadow of a 25 foot high cliff that he’d never seen. There were small caves carved in the promontory, presumably from being pounded by storms.

Instinctively, he climbed the promontory and crawled inside a tiny cave. For the moment, he felt safe in its womb-like confines. He’d nearly forgotten about his cracked ribs but the pain returned as he relaxed and now it was excruciating.

He closed his eyes and tried to clear his head. He’d never been much for meditation but he tried now to clear out the confusion and open some pathways in his mind so that he could think and reason his way through this situation.

Soon he relaxed and he let go of his cares and let his mind drift where it wanted to. In a matter of minutes he was back in Utah in the second grade, bursting through the front door of his childhood home. He was home for lunch and was met by the familiar aroma of baking bread.

It must be Tuesday because Mom always bakes bread on Tuesdays. These were the innocent, Norman Rockwell times of his early youth. Kennedy’s Camelot was yet to shatter.

Mom served up the traditional baking day lunch of fried bread dough, dripping with butter and honey. Thank goodness he was an active boy or he’d have been as big as their house.
Something had been troubling young Rudy since Sunday School last weekend and he decided that this was a good time to ask Mom about it.

“Mom, what’s arms-a-getting’?”

“You mean, Armageddon?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Well, it’s when a big battle in the end-times will take place, between the armies of good and evil.” Mom struggled with the answer.

“Like America and Russia? My teacher says Russia is evil ‘cause they’re common-ists.”

“Yeah, something like that.” Mom chuckled in relief, hoping she’d satisfied young Rudy.

“How come God doesn’t just squash the devil and then there won’t have to be a war?”

Just then, the town’s emergency siren went off and Rudy climbed under the kitchen table as he’d been taught in school. It was a little strange, though, to be having an air-raid drill during the lunch hour. They were a regular occurrence in school but Rudy couldn’t remember ever having one during the lunch hour.

“Come on, Mom, get down here.” Rudy shouted. “You’re supposed to get under a table so you don’t get radiation in your head.”

“That’s okay, Rudy. I need to get the dishes done and you need to get back to school.”
“Ah, come on Mom, it’s fun.”

Reluctantly Mom got on her knees and crawled under the table with her son. Rudy threw his arms around her and gave her a big squeeze and he felt safer than he ever had in his young life. Little did he know that this was the last time he would feel safe for a very long time.

Back at school, Rudy stopped at the huge brick drinking fountain in the playground for a drink of water.

“Hurry, hurry children. Everyone inside now, go to your classrooms.” A teacher was shouting.

Normally children lined up outside the doors for a head count before entering the building but this day the entire faculty seemed to be in the playground or the hallway ushering children in.

“The President has been shot.” Someone shouted.

When he was seated at his desk and after a few squeals and squelches, the radio began playing through the intercom system. Rudy heard the familiar voice of Walter Cronkite say “President Kennedy died at 1 PM, some 38 minutes ago.”

The room was silent, the grown ups were crying and soon some of the children began to cry as well. Rudy didn’t understand. How could the President be dead? Everyone loved Kennedy; no one would ever want to shoot him. If the President wasn’t safe, how could anyone else be safe ever again?

When Rudy got home a short time later, he found his mother seated in front of the television crying. Rudy sat next to her on the sofa and curled up in her arms.

That night he lay in bed trying to sleep. When he had his ear to the pillow and heard his heartbeat, he imagined that it was the sound of footsteps, the footsteps of the Presidents killer and he was walking, walking, walking. His destination; Tooele, Utah and his intent was to kill young Rudy just like he had killed the young President.

After a couple of hours, Rudy convinced himself that, while those were the killers footsteps, he was probably still in Dallas, which must be someplace far away like in California or something and it would take at least two days for the killer to walk that far. He finally drifted to sleep.

Sleep offered no relief for young Rudy. He dreamed that he and his entire extended Mormon family were gathered at his Grandmother’s house. All were sitting around nervously awaiting something, though he didn’t know what, when a knock came upon the door.

“It’s him!” someone shouted.

“Oh, no.” another voice said.

“Oh God help us.” Said someone else.

“Don’t let him in!” shouted another but it was too late.

The door opened to reveal a tall, shadowy figure and then everything went dark. The room began to spin and everything was flying around the room in ever faster circles.

Furniture, people, books, coats, everything. Rudy felt a fear beyond anything he’d ever imagined. Voices screaming, shouts, cries, and through it all Rudy heard the voice of his Brother-in-law, the young Mormon Bishop.

“By the power of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood vested in me, and in the name of Jesus Christ, I order you to leave.” His brother-in-law repeated this over and over as the room spun in chaotic darkness.

Rudy awoke to the sounds of his own screams.

The setting sun entered the little cave and stabbed at his eyes. Gradually, he remembered where he was and the fix he was in and kicked himself at the realization that the setting sun meant that he had wasted several precious hours.

The sand was warm between his toes and the gentle sound of the receding surf might have been soothing to him at any other time. He felt as if everyone else on the island was busy enjoying a paradise that he may never again experience.

He’d been nearly paralyzed with fear but it was fear for Raven, not for himself. The real pickle she was in was that her safety relied on him, the one who’d never done anything courageous in his life. The one who never did anything unless it came easy. This is who Raven’s life depended on now and his heart broke for her.

A voice called to him as he walked along the beach toward home, but he didn’t hear it in his ears, he heard it in his head. It didn’t speak in words exactly, it was communicating with him on another level, somewhere deep in his brain where speech originates. He turned toward the sea and began wading in. When the water reached his waist, he dived in and began swimming along the ocean floor.

“Hey, over here.” The voice said. He swam deeper and deeper, looking around but saw nothing.

“Right here, chump. Do I have to sting you to get your attention?”

It was Elder Sea Nettle.

“You!” Rudy said.

“So Davis, you believe that things happen for a reason?”

“Oh gees, not this again.”

“Hey listen, I don’t have to be here. If you’re going to give me a bunch of crap, I’m heading right back to the Atlantic where I belong."

“Okay, okay, calm down.” Rudy said.

“Believe what you want Davis, but here’s what I came to tell ya. You obviously have a lot of fear. I mean that little flashback you just had? Shees, what a doozy. Fear written all over it, dude. Man, I gotta tell ya, you are one seriously messed up hombre!”

“Is there a point here?” Rudy was growing weary of the smart-assed jellyfish. “I’ve got some stuff on my mind right now, so maybe you could just move it along?”

“My point is, Mr. Scaredypants, there are forces at work in the Universe that you don’t have a freakin’ clue about.”

“Uh-huh...”

“For example,” the jellyfish continued undaunted, “You’re down here talking to a jellyfish, swimming with the ease of a shark and you haven’t felt the need to breath in what? Ten minutes?”

“I thought you said you were a Sea Nettle and not a jellyfish?” Rudy said.

“Do you wanna hear this or not?”

“I’m listening.” Rudy said.

“So go back to your place, get your plan together and do what you gotta do. The odds are against you but the Universe is with you. It will work out. Just let go of your fears and get it done. But remember, when this is over you’ll owe the Universe big-time.”

“Owe it what?” Rudy asked.

“Don’t worry about that for now. You’ll know when the time comes. Oh, Charlie... remember that time at the birthday party when he tried to tell you that things weren’t always as they appear?”

“Yeah, I remember, he was drunk.”

“He was drunk,” Elder Sea Nettle continued, “but he was trying to tell you something. Trust him, you’ll need his help. Soon enough you’ll know what he’s up to.”

“Would it kill ya to just give me a straight answer for once?” Rudy ask, he realized, no one.

The sun was bright in his face when he awoke on the beach that was as familiar to him as Raven’s face. The cliff and the caves were nowhere to be found. He checked his watch and it had been exactly five minutes since he’d run barefoot out the front door trying to clear his head.

Chapter Twenty Six - My Zero Tolerance Policy

2008-12-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

The blindfold was the worst part for Raven. Being immobile with her hands tied behind her back was bad enough but it was worse by far not to see. The utter confusion in her head was amplified by the lack of input from her strongest sense.

Her confusion fueled her fear and she found herself fighting an overwhelming panic that swept from her head to the last nerve ending in her little toe. She took several deep breaths in an effort to stop herself from shaking.

Think...think. Be cool, be patient. Wait for your opening, she told herself, they’ll make a mistake, they always do.

She continued talking to herself and gradually withdrew from the confusion to a safer place in her head. Slow down... take a breath... take it easy. It wasn’t as if she’d never been in a spot like this before but she was less prepared for it now. She thought that those days were behind her. What was this about?

An hour later she and her hosts reached their destination. When her blindfold was removed she found herself standing in Leonard Azeri’s study.

“Well, Ms. Olsson. At last we meet. I must say, you are as lovely as your sister.”

Raven stared back at Leonard without so much as blinking. She wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of a reaction.

“It’s truly unfortunate what happened to her. I was devastated when I found out.”

“Go to hell, Azeri.” Raven blurted. So much for the poker face.

“Ah, she speaks.” Leonard was clearly enjoying toying with her.

He had so much power yet so little to amuse himself with these days but this was certainly amusing to him.

“I expected something a little more eloquent from one as brilliant and talented as you. As you can see, I’m a great admirer of your work.”

The room was full of her work.

“You have a unique gift. It would be a shame if I had to deprive the world of it.”

“If you brought me here to discuss my work, I’m sure you could have found an easier way to accomplish that. Why am I here?” she demanded.

“Have you heard the old cliché about things not always being what they appear?” he asked smugly.

“Yeah, so?”

“So how well do you know your boyfriend, the beach bum? The one who pretends to be a writer?”

“Well enough. Are you coming to a point any time soon?” Even under good circumstances, Raven had no patience with sarcasm. She’d always been a direct person and appreciated that quality in others.

“The point, Ms. Olsson, is that he is a thief. He and his so-called ex-girlfriend conspired to steal from me. At this very moment, he is in possession of a quarter million dollars of my property.” Leonard watched her closely for a reaction.

“Even if I believed you, what’s a quarter million dollars to a man like you? You’re risking kidnapping a well-known artist and going to all this trouble over chump change like that? You do realize that as soon as the word gets out that I’ve been kidnapped, it will be all over the media. I think you’re going to have to do better than that.” Raven held her ground.

“You are correct that I can easily absorb the money but that really isn’t the point, you see.”

He spoke slowly, enunciating carefully, as if explaining a complicated issue to a small child.

“The point is that stealing from me is prohibited. Not in any amount, not ever. I call it my zero tolerance policy.”

“So this is about testosterone? You are risking your whole illicit empire to feed your male ego? You truly are an insecure sumbitch, aren’t you Lenny? Small penis, is that it? Is that why my sister had to look elsewhere for satisfaction?”

For the tiniest millisecond, anger flashed across his face. He’d gotten where he was today, alive, precisely because he kept his emotions under control and always, always kept his wits. This artist wasn’t about to get the best of him.

“If it’s the penis thing, Lenny, you could have saved us both a lot of trouble and just bought yourself a Corvette.” Raven continued.

“Let’s stick to the subject matter. The fact is that you have made a couple of incorrect assumptions.”

“The first is that the media, or anyone else for that matter, knows that you are missing. The truth is that only one person outside of my organization knows that your have been detained and that would be your Mr. Davis, in whom you’ve placed so much faith. In fact, he chose to risk harm to you rather than returning my property.”

“The second is that your sister was ever anything more to me than one of many drug addicted concubines that I kept for my pleasure.”

“Go to hell.” Raven said.

“Hell, my dear, is exactly where you are headed unless your boyfriend returns my property very soon.”

“Who are you kidding?” Raven asked. “You’re not going to let either of us walk away from this thing alive. You’ll kill us both no matter what Rudy does.”

“Perhaps, but if there is any hope for you, it’s that your young man comes through. But don’t take my word for all of this, ask the young woman sharing your quarters what Mr. Davis has been up to while you were away.”

Leonard turned toward the door and motioned his goon to take her away.

When the door slammed shut behind her, Raven could hardly believe what she saw. This building had been built for the express purpose of detaining human beings. It was not the first such place she had ever seen but it was the first one in this country.

Made of cinderblock and cement, the cell was small, perhaps 15 X 15 feet. The only windows were two tiny barred holes in the wall facing the rear of the property. Several metal bunks protruded from the walls and there were no mattresses or pillows in sight. In one corner was a lone, metal toilet. In the opposite corner, a pale blonde woman sat shaking.

“Who the hell are you?” the blonde asked.

With her pale skin, greasy hair and raccoon eyes, she looked like a character from ‘Night of the Living Dead’. Raven had seen severe withdrawal before and this was a pretty clear case.

“Name’s Raven. Who are you?”
“Circe.”

“Circe? From Salt Lake City?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Rudy’s ex-girlfriend.” Raven muttered, mostly to herself.

“Yeah, how did you know that?” Circe was beginning to take an interest in the conversation.

“I’m his girlfriend.” Raven paused, and then added, “at least for now.”

Sensing a chink in the newcomer’s armor, Circe put her head down to conceal the smile creeping across her face. Life in the hole just got much more interesting.

“Well, don’t expect to see him anytime soon. He’s probably on the Mainland living the good life with the money he stole from me. That worthless sumbitch was never good for much more than a good tumble.”

If this Raven chick had any doubts about Rudy or their relationship, Circe would find them and have some fun. She’d turn a tiny crack into the Grand Friggin’ Canyon.

“I’ve known you for all of 30 seconds now and I can already see why Rudy dumped your drug addicted ass.” Raven had no patience to lose but she was smart enough to redirect the conversation.

“Did Rudy ever tell you about the time he and I made it on the pool table in Pete’s bar? He never could get enough of me.”

“Like I said, I can see why he dumped you. Only thing I’m wondering is what took him so long.” Raven countered.

Circe cracked another smile. “He stayed so long because I give the best head on the planet.” She was beginning to get to Raven and she moved in like a shark on a feeding frenzy.

Raven tried to ignore her. This was truly one classless human being.

“Besides, I was the one who left him. He’s still hopelessly in love with me. He begged me to come back and when I finally showed up on his doorstep, he begged me to move in. After we made it 3 or 4 times, that is. You should have known better than to leave a horn dog like Rudy alone for a week.”

Circe was on her feet now and approaching Raven.

“You keep running your mouth and I may just have to cheat Azeri out of the pleasure of killing you.”

“How about you? Do you give head or are you one of those prissy bitches that doesn’t do that?” Circe was moving in for the kill.

Raven had heard all she was going to and grabbed Circe’s arm when she got close enough. She had Circe in a half-nelson with her face pushed up against the cold cinderblock wall before she knew what had happened. It was obvious that Raven knew what she was doing.

“One more word out of your filthy mouth and I’ll break this arm right off and gag you with the bloody stump. You got that?”

Circe didn’t answer.

Raven twisted Circe’s arm harder and mashed her body against the wall until she could barely breathe. “You got that?” she asked again.

“Yeah, yeah. Got it.” Raven let her go.

“Just having a little fun.” Circe said. She wouldn’t antagonize Raven again, this chick was dangerous.

“Yeah well, just keep your mouth shut and we’ll get along fine.”

Raven sat down on one of the steel bunks. It was cold and rock hard. She leaned against the wall and thought about Rudy. What the hell was he up to? She’d known him for less than a year now but she understood him, at least she thought she did.

She couldn’t imagine Rudy with someone as foul as Circe and it made her wonder if she really knew him as well as she thought. She’d trusted him like she’d never trusted another human being and at this moment she was trusting him with her life; she had no choice.

Chapter Twenty Five - Stupid Arrogant Haole

2008-12-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

Rudy waited for Circe’s return all of the next day while occupying himself with the task of putting his home back into some semblance of order. When the phone rang at around 4 PM he knew it must be her but it was not. It was Raven.

“”Where have you been?” she asked. “I’ve been trying to call for two days.”

“Sorry,” he said, “I turned the ringer on my phone off so I could get some sleep and forgot to turn it back on.”

“Okay, well I have good news,” she said. “The show wrapped up early and all of my business in the Big Apple is done. I’m taking the red-eye tonight; can you pick me up in the morning?”

“Of course.”

“Rudy, you sound a little distant. Is everything okay?”

“Oh sure, I just miss you, that’s all. Everything is fine.” It didn’t seem like the time to get into everything that had gone on in the last few days.

“Good, I’ll see you in the morning then.” Raven sounded chipper, like usual.

Rudy hung up the phone and wondered how he would explain everything to her. A minute later, the phone rang again.

“Mr. Davis.” It was not a question.

“Yes?”

“Leonard Azeri here. Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, I’ve heard your name reviled in certain circles.” Rudy answered, feeling clever.

“I believe you have something that belongs to me.”

“Oh I seriously doubt that.” Rudy answered, trying to sound as incredulous as possible.

“I expected you might say something foolish like that but my lovely guest here says otherwise. Would you like to speak with her?” His words were slow and measured, confident.

“Not particularly.”

“Well, she would like to speak with you.”

“Rudy, for God’s sake, give them the briefcases. I left them under the house and now they say they’re gone.” Circe screamed into the phone. For once she was in a situation that she could not control.

“They’re serious, Rudy, they’ll kill me, they’ll do it. They checked the house and they’re not there. You took them, I know you did.”

Rudy laughed, “I guess this explains your sudden disappearance.”

“Rudy, please, help me.”

“You know, Circe, when this is all over you really should move to Hollywood. You’ll have to tone it down a bit though; you’re really playing this one a little over the top."

“Rudy, for God’s sake. This is for real.”

“So long.” Rudy answered. “Take care.”

This little drama was indeed a bit over the top as far as Rudy was concerned. He guessed that Circe had discovered the missing briefcases and had found some beach bum to play Azeri in her little scheme.

Even if Azeri did have her, he certainly wouldn’t hurt her until he had his merchandise. Besides, knowing Circe like he did, it was just a matter of time before she turned the tables and had Azeri against the ropes.

“Mr. Davis,” Leonard Azeri came back on the line.

“Oh please, Leo, call me Rudy.”

“Mr. Davis.” he repeated undaunted. “I want what belongs to me. No one has ever stolen from me and lived to tell about it and no one ever will. Are we clear?”

“Crystal, Leo.” Rudy replied. “Wish I could help but like I said, I don’t have anything that belongs to you.”

“I don’t think you’ll be so amused with yourself when your girlfriend comes floating onto your little private beach, face down.”

Leonard was clearly growing agitated. Circe must have been coaching him in the background.

“Well, I’ll tell you what, Leo. She’s not my girlfriend and I think that she’s probably safer with you than with me, right now, so you just do whatever you think is best.”

“Perhaps you don’t understand who you are dealing with, Mr. Davis. I...”

“Perhaps you don’t understand that I don’t much give a shit, Leo. Perhaps the local police would be interested in...” Rudy was interrupted by Leonard’s laughter.

“Yes, Mr. Davis,” Leonard said between chuckles, “perhaps the local police can help you out. Be sure to give them my regards.” The laughter left his voice. “I want you on the pier in Kaunakakai with my property at six AM. Do not disappoint me. You are obviously naïve, don’t be stupid as well.” Click.

The air was clean, as it always is after early morning rain, and Rudy would have enjoyed the drive to the airport immensely if he hadn’t been so preoccupied.

He was pondering how to explain the last week to Raven. Most of it didn’t make sense to him, how was he to make sense of it to her? He guessed that she’d especially like the part where his ex-girlfriend spent the night in his house, even omitting the part where she had her hand on his erection. Or would her favorite part be that Rudy and Leonard Azeri had become such fast friends? If only he’d stayed in Utah for an extra week while she was in New York.

He sat at the terminal curb waiting for Raven to emerge from the baggage claim while automated voices droned on about parking at the terminal curb. Fifty feet away, Raven emerged with a bag slung over her shoulder. She flashed her irrepressible smile when she saw him and his heart skipped a beat. He was so totally in love with this woman that he felt like a Jr. High kid with his first crush every time he looked at her. She had a zeal for life unlike anyone he’d ever known.

As he was climbing out of the 2002 to greet her, the door on a Limo parked next to the curb opened and a large Hawaiian shoved Raven inside and then dived in beside her. Before Rudy even realized what was happening, the Lincoln was screeching away from the curb.

Rudy jumped back in his car and sped away, cutting off a Toyota Corolla as he shifted into second gear. He caught the corner of the Corolla’s front bumper and ripped it right off the car. He glanced in the mirror just in time to see it spin across the road. An angry man jumped out of the car and waved frantically for him to stop.

He followed the limo onto the Nimitz Highway and darted between cars in an effort to catch up. The Lincoln had a good head start and traffic was heavy, as it is pretty much everywhere in Honolulu at pretty much any time. He was gaining ground but not quickly. The limo turned off the Nimitz and onto the H-1 freeway; an interstate highway on Oahu, now there’s a concept.

Just as Rudy reached the on-ramp, a tour bus full of geriatric men and blue haired women turned onto the ramp ahead of him. He swerved onto the shoulder without slowing down and sprayed the bus with gravel as he sped past, taking out a highway marker in the process. The Lincoln had crested the hill ahead and temporarily disappeared from his sights, which made him very nervous until he crested the same hill and it came into view again, closer this time.

Traffic was beginning to thin out as they exited onto H-3 and climbed the foothills toward the Like-Like tunnel above the city. This was good because he knew that the overweight Lincoln could never keep pace with his little red speedster, if he could just find some open road. Half a mile before they reached the tunnel he stole a quick glance at the speedometer. It read 125.

At a hundred and twenty five miles per hour, your world becomes condensed. There’s the road stretching out in front of you like a wriggling snake and a blur of color to either side. If you take our eyes off the snake for even an instant, it is likely to wriggle right out from under you.

A slower car in the right lane flashed past so fast that Rudy couldn’t even tell what color it was. He caught the limo at the tunnel entrance and slowed to 95 as he pulled up on its bumper.

When they entered the tunnel, the Lincoln hit the brakes. Smoke pouring up from all four tires while the Limo slid sideways and stopped in the middle of the tunnel, blocking both lanes. Rudy slid to a sideways stop inches before they collided.

As soon as he opened the door, a hand reached in and yanked him from the car and onto the hard pavement. Before he knew what was happening he was being kicked and hit by at least two people, maybe more. He couldn’t tell how many for sure because the blows were coming too fast and furious. All he could do was curl into a fetal position and try to cover the vital parts.

When the barrage was over, they all ran back to the car except for the guy that Rudy had seen push Raven into the car. He bent over Rudy and screamed into his bloody face.

“You better get your haole ass back home and wait for the boss to call. He wants to talk to you. You really fucked up this time, you stupid haole asshole.”

Rudy lay bloody on the ground helplessly watching the Limo speed away. The BMW’s door was still open and the buzzer screamed mercilessly at him.

What an idiot. What a total and complete fucking moron he was, a stupid haole asshole, just like the man had said. Some hero; exactly what did he think he was going to do when he caught the Limo?

He’d done just about everything wrong in the last few days and now he was in deep shit. Someone he loved was in jeopardy because he was a stupid, arrogant haole asshole, talking to one of the worlds most powerful drug dealers like he was a street thug.

A car pulled up and an old Japanese couple got out and began snapping pictures and shouting “A-row-ha, A-row-ha”. Aloha my ass, he thought, not for the first time.

He slowly picked himself up from the street and hobbled toward the car. His face was covered in blood and every breath he took was agonizing. They’d broken at least a dozen of his ribs, he was certain.

No more mistakes, he thought as he sped toward the duplex. From now on I use my head. I need a plan... and some help.

Chapter Twenty Four - All the Way to Guam

2008-12-28T19:30:00.000-08:00

The following day Rudy agreed to meet Circe and bring her back to Punaluu after she dropped off her rental car. She had left early to shop for some clothes and then they were to meet at the Ala Moana Mall that afternoon. He would follow her to the rental agency and bring her back.

Rudy arrived at the Mall early and headed to the book store. He’d been busy recently and hadn’t been in a book store in months. He was enjoying browsing the New Arrivals when a book called “Growing Up Behind the Zion Curtain” caught his eye. The lost manuscript that he’d written several years before had been similarly titled.

He picked up the book and promptly dropped it when he saw the author’s picture on the dust jacket. It was Circe, though she’d used the pen name Holli Rudolph, an obvious dig at Rudy.

He picked it up again and thumbed through it. It was the missing manuscript with a different gender bias. He was astonished! His pulse quickened and he felt hot blood rush to his head until he felt dizzy.

It was nearly two so he headed off to meet Circe, walking quickly and fighting hard to get a handle on his temper while imagining several very elaborate ways to inflict harm upon her person. If whatever was going on weren’t already his problem, it sure was now.

When Circe shows up, I’m gonna kill her, he thought. Better yet, I’ll feed her to the goons that are after her and let them do the job.

He paced the floor in front of the food court until four o’clock but there was no sign of Circe. She hadn’t mentioned what rental agency she was going to and he kicked himself for not finding out. Not knowing where to look for her only added to his anger and frustration until he finally had to admit defeat and head for home.

Kicking things around in his head while driving back to Punaluu, he remembered hearing Circe slip out the door during the night. He’d assumed that she was going for a walk on the beach until he’d heard some noises under the floor joists.

Like a lot of houses in Hawaii, his duplex was built on stilts and people often used the space under the house for storage. The duplex was a little to close to the water to make that a wise idea but there was a removable access panel in the rear.

He’d been groggy and had decided that the noises were just his imagination or the result of a half-awake dream but now he realized that he hadn’t imagined it at all. He dropped the BMW down a gear and picked up the pace.

When he got home he found the back door swinging on its hinges. The furniture was turned over and the drawers were pulled out of the cupboards and dresser. The place had been thoroughly and carelessly ransacked.

He went back out the rear door and crawled under the floor. A sand crab scurried past his head as he crawled around under the house and then he saw them. Wedged between the floor joists and their supports were two briefcases. He pulled them out of their hiding place and crawled out. At least Circe had been smart enough to find the one hiding place that the goons didn’t think to check, more proof of her devious mind.

He quickly headed for the car, eyes wide open and scanning the horizon in a fit of paranoia. In seconds he was on Kamehameha speeding toward Raven’s house.

He fumbled through his key chain until he found her key, his heart pounding as he stumbled through the door. He ran to Raven’s bedroom and rummaged through her jewelry box until he found the key to Nevermore and then he locked and double checked the front door and sped away.

He and Nevermore were ten miles off shore before he cut the motors and let the boat drift in the open water. He ws glad that Raven had a practice of topping off the fuel whenever she got back from a trip. He opened the first case and it was full of sealed plastic bags of what he was sure was cocaine.

He latched the briefcase and opened the other one. It was full of crisp, new $20 bills, neatly banded together in bundles. He had no idea how much was there but he was sure it was well over a hundred grand. He wasn’t about to take the time to count it right now. Instead, he stashed the briefcases, opened the fuel cocks and fired up the diesel engines.

He ran through every scenario he could come up with trying to make sense of recent events; the book, the dope, the money, Circe’s disappearance, the break-in. He tried to stick with what he knew for sure. There had been two things missing from his safety deposit box; the stock certificates and the manuscript. It was pretty clear now what had happened to them though he had no idea how, even with the key, Circe had been able to talk her way past bank security.

Obviously Circe had stolen his manuscript and John had arranged it’s publication with Circe claiming authorship. And it had been published! He’d friggin’ been published! A little satisfaction crept into the cauldron of his emotions with that realization. Now he knew. Even if he never got credit for his work, he knew that he wasn’t a poser.

Back to business; John and Circe had attempted a major drug buy and the money must have come from the book and/or his stocks. Either way, it had been stolen from him. No way did that kind of dough come from an advance on a book from an unknown author. It had to be the stocks. Somehow they’d managed to sell his stocks.

Something had obviously gone wrong. Since John had ended up with a bullet in his belly and Circe had ended up with both the money and the drugs, it was a good bet that Circe was behind whatever it was. She’d believed that John was dead and Rudy hadn’t corrected her. She hadn’t seemed particularly concerned about John’s apparent demise.

Wasn’t that just like her? Anyone else would have been satisfied with stealing his money but not Circe. She had let her greed ruin the perfect crime. Rudy would have a tough time proving that the book was his, since he’d only shown it to Pete. Still, it was pretty dumb to publish it with her picture all over it. Rudy was bound to see it at some point.

“So where does that leave us now?” he wondered aloud. John was in rehab and couldn’t be reached anytime soon. Circe was God-only-knows-where, and Rudy was in possession of the goods. Wherever Circe was, one thing was certain, she would be back for the briefcases and since she was obviously strung out, it was likely to be sooner rather than later.

The thing to do, he decided, was to stash the briefcases where no one else would ever find them until Circe returned and he got some answers. It was called leverage.

He knew exactly where to stash them. He pulled the throttles back and the big diesels roared, lifting Nevermore’s nose high out of the water. What a rush.

He was feeling much better now, realizing that the scales had just tipped in his favor. He couldn’t help feeling a bit smug, anticipating the look in Circe’s lyin’ eyes when she crawled under the house and found the joists empty.

Must have been high tide, washing them out to sea, he chortled, all the way to Guam.

Chapter Twenty Three - How Stupid Do I Look?

2008-12-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

When the Cessna was safely off the ground, Charlie looked at his passenger. It was an especially dark night with no moon whatsoever but Charlie could see the shivering figure next to him in the glow from the instrument panel.

“You’re a lucky man,” Charlie said. John looked at him with irritation but said nothing. He didn’t feel lucky. “You could just as easily be dead right now, you know that don’t ya, pard?”

“I wish I was dead right now.”

“No you don’t. You wouldn’t be here if you did. In a few days you’ll be past the hard part.”

“What do you know about it, Tex?”

“I know enough not to blame addicts for everything they do. I know that they’re someone else until that white powder gets ahold of them, which is why I’m cutting you slack right now. Who did this to you?”

“I’m not going to tell you that. How stupid do I look?”

“Ha!” Charlie laughed until tears rolled down his cheeks. “You’re sitting here with a bullet hole that woulda killed ya if it had been a couple of inches in another direction. You’re shaking with the DT’s because you’ve been sticking needles full of poison in your arms and you’re stranded in the middle of the fucking Pacific Ocean.”

“The only person you can think of to help you is the man whose ex girlfriend you were doin’ all this with and you ask me how stupid do you look? I know it was one of them rhetorical questions but I’m gonna answer it. Son, I’ve rarely met anyone who looked stupider’n you do right now. That’s how Goddamn stupid you look.”

The chuckle left Charlie’s voice as quickly as it had come. “Now, what I need to know, is who did this to you.”

“Piss off, Tex. What’s it to you?”

“That’s not your business. You're gonna tell me so you might as well make it easy yerself.”

“Like I said Tex, piss off.”

Charlie was tempted to lose his temper with this ungrateful prick but he knew, better than most, that sometimes acting like a hardass is all a man has left.

He pushed the wheel forward and the little plane went into a dive so quickly that it felt like someone had kicked the bottom out from under it. John had been fighting his nausea for a while now and he quickly lost the battle, puking all over himself. Charlie pulled the wheel back and the plane began to climb again.

“Well, wasn’t that fun?” Charlie asked. “Say, you’re really stinking up my plane. When this is over, I’m sending you the cleaning bill. Shall we do it again?”

“Jesus Christ,” John said, “What is your major malfunction?”

“I want to know who you were doing your drug deal with, that’s my malfunction.”

“What makes you think I was doing a drug deal?”

Charlie pushed the wheel forward again and then pulled back a little quicker this time. John didn’t have much left to throw up but his body gave it a try anyway.

“Don’t piss on my head and tell me it's rainin', you little shit. I’m gonna ask you one more time, who was it?”

“You wouldn’t know him anyway.” John answered.

“You’d be surprised who I know.”

“Okay, it was a guy called Tiny, big Hawaiian guy. Don’t know his real name, don’t know who he works for, okay?”

“Okay with me.” Charlie said. “There are some towels behind you, clean yourself up. You’re stinking up my plane.”

The sun had yet to rise over Kaunakakai but Soon-Li was already up. She dialed Rudy’s number in a panic. There was still no answer and now the answering machine wasn’t even on. She didn’t know what, but something was dreadfully wrong. Her bad vibes had become an earthquake.

She stood at the picture window in their little cottage and watched the darkness dissipate over the ocean. The horizon wasn’t yet light enough for the stars to fade. She could hear Wally’s asthmatic snoring from the bedroom and its familiarity comforted her some. She pushed the redial button and listened again to the endless ringing. Damn.

She tried Charlie’s number on Oahu but there was no answer there either. Then she tried his Condo on Maui. On the second ring, Jenny answered.

“Sorry to call so early, Jenny, is Charlie there?”

“No, he left a few hours ago. He got a call from Rudy and said he had to go to Oahu right away. Why? What’s up?”

“Not sure, bad vibe, you know? Something up with Rudy.”

“Soon-Li, you’re scaring me.” Jenny said.

“Sorry, probably I imagine things. Don’t worry; sometime I get too worked up. No big deal, I sure. Just have Charlie or Rudy call me if you hear from either of them, Okay?”

Soon-Li hung up the phone and stared out the window. She felt very alone.

After the Doctor left and Charlie and John headed for the plane, Rudy unplugged his phone and went back to bed. The sun would be up soon and he was so tired he could hardly see straight.

He’d been waiting a long time for some decent sleep and nothing would get in his way now. He would sleep all day if he felt like it and sort out the details of this strange night later.

Charlie would get John to the Rehab Center and Rudy would be done with the whole affair. Whatever trouble John was in wasn’t Rudy’s concern and he intended to keep it that way. He’d done his good deed for the day and his conscience was clear. He’d never been much of a Boy Scout anyway.

In a matter of minutes, he was sound asleep.

Circe passed the day driving around Honolulu in a daze. She changed rental cars twice just to muddy the trail. Every unknown face, every rental car, every limousine that she passed looked suspicious to her. She was used to the admiring gazes of strangers and usually enjoyed knowing that she was so attractive that most men and a lot of women couldn’t keep their eyes off of her. Today she did not feel attractive and every glance her way was a threat.

When the sun dropped back into the ocean she headed down the Kamehameha Highway to the North Shore in her third rental car of the day. She pulled into one of the Beach Parks on Sunset Beach, home of the famous Bonsai pipeline, renowned for its incredible surfing.
She sat on a picnic table watching the most die-hard surfers carry their boards back to the little crash pads they shared across the street from the beach. She smiled when she noticed that all of the brown-bodied surfers had blond hair in shaggy curls, as if that were some mandatory uniform for entrance into this silly fraternity.

She considered picking one up and spending the night safely in the arms of a stranger, then remembered the half million dollars of cash and contraband in the car and decided against leaving it unattended.

A hotel was out of the question, she was sure the goons were keeping a close eye on most of the hotels on the island. True, there ware way too many Hotels for them to watch every one but how could she know which ones were safe? She reluctantly spent another night asleep in the reclined bucket seat of a rental car.

When the first rays of morning pierced Circe’s eyelids she rubbed the sleep from her oily face and squinted into the stern daylight. She nearly jumped though the sunroof when the tan young surfer knocked on her window. When she saw him peering through the window and clutching his surfboard, she turned the key and rolled the window down. The fresh sea breeze was a welcome relief from the warm, stagnant air in the car.

“Miss, are you okay?” the surfer asked.

“Yes, fine, thank you.”

“Did you spend the night in there?” he asked? She hadn’t had a shower or a change of clothes in two days.

“Oh no, just resting for a bit.” She lied, sure that her stringy hair and oily face gave her away.

“Well, okay, you’re sure everything’s alright? You’re not in some kind of trouble or anything?"

“No, I’m fine, thank you.”

“Okay, sorry to have bothered you.”

She watched him saunter to the shower building and felt like an idiot for not realizing that she could have showered here.

The surfer dug what looked to be his only quarter out of his trunks, dropped it in the payphone and dialed, looking nervously around while Circe watched him from the car.

“Yeah, I think I saw that girl you were asking about. She’s in a white Sunbird, looks like she slept in it.” He kept his back to her as he talked.

“Yeah, the Sunset Beach Park on the North Shore. He listened for a minute then turned around to look at her and their eyes locked. He quickly turned away when he realized that he was being watched. “Yeah, she’s still here.”

“Keep her there until someone gets there.” The voice on the phone instructed.

“I’ll try.”

“You’ll do more than try if you want the money.”

The surfer hung up the phone, left his surf board leaning against the wall and ambled as casually as he could toward the car.

Circe started the car and backed out of the parking space.

“Hey, wait!” the surfer shouted. She turned onto Kamehameha and gunned the engine in a beeline toward Honolulu.

“Shit!” the surfer muttered, kicking the ground as he watched her speed away. The money sure would have helped prolong his endless summer.

Circe followed the highway for about five miles and then turned onto a dirt road that led away from the shore, into the mountains. She followed the road until it became too rugged, then parked in the shade as far from the road as she could get. She sat in the car and tried to collect herself.

When her breathing returned to normal, she got her kit from the glove box and fixed herself a hit. She struggled to stick the needle in her arm with her shaky hands. In a few seconds the tingling sensation filled her veins and she knew, once again, that she could conquer the world. She just needed to calm down and come up with a plan.

Rudy! Why didn’t she think of that sooner? She’d heard through the grapevine that Rudy was living on the island. Sure he’d be pissed at her but she could always turn on the tears, flaunt her body and get her way. He was a man, after all, and what man couldn’t she manipulate? All she had to do was find him.

It wasn’t yet noon in Salt Lake City and Pete was relaxing with a cup of tea before opening The Prankster, when the phone rang.

“Hi, Pete, how are ya?” The voice was a bit too chirpy but familiar, though he couldn’t place it.

“I’m fine. Who is this?”

“Who is it!? It’s Circe. Did you forget me already?”

“Trying to. Right up to this very minute, actually. What do you want?”

Pete made no effort to hide his disdain for her. He could have gone a lifetime without hearing from Circe.

“Well, don’t sound so hostile.” Circe said in her sexiest voice.

“Cut the crap, Circe, what do you want?”

“I’m in Hawaii and I thought I’d look Rudy up. Do you have his address?”

“What makes you think Rudy wants to see you?”

“We have a lot to talk about.” Circe said.

She was quickly growing weary of being nice to this prick. The pay phone at the 7-11 was dirty and stunk like tobacco and the guys playing basketball across the street were making a lot of racket. Her three minutes would be up any second. Damn that Rudy, why couldn’t he just be listed in the book like everyone else?

“I doubt that, Circe.” Pete was saying, “I really doubt that.”

“Come on, Petey, don’t be like that. Do you have his address?”

“Yes.”

“Can you give it to me?”

“No.” Click.

Pete went back to his tea. What kind of trouble was his friend in? Pete had been half-asleep when John had called and he’d almost forgotten that he’d given up Rudy’s address. He’d never have done such a stupid thing if he’d been awake. The more he thought about the bizarre calls, the more troubled he became.

He dialed Rudy’s number and let it ring 15 times. It wasn’t like Rudy not to at least have his machine on. He set about preparing the bar for opening but his mind was miles away. About 5000 miles away.

The phone went dead and Circe slammed it down. She leaned against the wall and let herself slide down until she was sitting on the cold, filthy, cement.

The basketball game across the street was breaking up and she watched admiringly as a dark, muscular man crossed the street. He was smaller than the Hawaiians he’d been playing with and he was carrying his shirt in his left hand. He entered the parking lot and wiped his sweaty face with the shirt. When he pulled the shirt away from his face, Circe’s eyes all but exploded. He was nearly as tanned as the Hawaiians now but there was no mistaking Rudy’s face.

She remained seated, partially shielded by the parked car and turned her head away. He entered the store without even a glance her direction. A few minutes later he emerged with a bottle of Perrier and crossed the highway again, climbed into an immaculate old BMW and drove away. She jumped into the Sunbird and followed just close enough to keep him in sight.

Less than a mile down the road, he parked behind a little beachfront duplex and entered through the back door. She continued past the duplex for another mile and turned around, smiling to herself. Things were looking up. What incredible Karma. She laughed when she realized that she had passed this house at least five times in the last two days.

Rudy slept much of the day after John and Charlie departed, wrote for a while and then retired early. He had a lot of sleep to catch up on. He thought about trying to call Raven but he knew that she was busy and on the move and it would be hard to catch up with her. She would call when she had a chance but he forgot that the phone and answering machine were unplugged.

The following day he woke early and had a leisurely cup of coffee and a bagel. After breakfast he drove over to the Beach Park to see if he could find a basketball game. All the sleep he’d had in the last day and a half had done him a world of good and he now he had energy to burn.

It was a little before 9 AM when he got home from playing basketball. He stripped and headed straight for the shower. When he emerged he walked naked into the living room, rubbing his hair with a towel.

“My, you’re looking good.” a familiar voice said. “I’ve never seen you so tan.”

Rudy quickly pulled the towel from his head and wrapped it around his waist. A couple of days ago he’d have been shocked to see Circe sitting in his living room but he was quickly losing his capacity for surprise.

“You ever hear of knocking?” he asked.

“I knocked, but there was no answer. The door was unlocked so I came in. You really should be more careful.”

“Uh-huh. What do you want?”

“I was on the island so I thought I’d stop by. You’re not still mad at me are you?” She got up from the couch and moved toward him.

“You look terrible.” Rudy said.

“Thanks a lot. You look great. You're so tan.” She said as she reached toward his crotch.

“Yeah, you mentioned that.” he said, backing away.

“What’s the matter, don’t I excite you anymore?”

“A lot of things have changed, Circe. You left me, remember?”

“I remember,” she said. Tears were streaking her dirty face and her voice cracked as she talked. “I’m so, so sorry for that. I was confused, but I’ve sorted things out now and I realize how much I love you.” She said between sobs. “Oh, God, I just love you so much.”

“Oh, this is rich,” he said with a wry grin. “You always could turn on the tears when it suited your purpose. You should get an Oscar for that performance. How stupid do I look?”

“Rudy, I miss you so much.” She approached again, laid her head on his shoulder and touched him through the towel. “Don’t you want me?”

It took a little longer this time but he pulled away again.

“It seems like you still want me.” she said. She slid her hand under the towel and took hold of his manhood.

His maleness betrayed him and he thought of all the juicy rationalizations he could come up with for just one more little tumble. She was still beautiful. She was dirty and pale as could be and she was still beautiful.

He thought of Raven and his new life and everything that was at stake and pushed her away, ashamed of himself for taking so long to do so, for enjoying the feel of her hand on his erection, for even having an erection.

“Like I said, Circe, a lot of things have changed. What do you really want?”

“Oh Rudy, why won’t you believe me? I want us. I want us back.” The tears were really flowing now. She took another step toward him and he took two back, until he was against the wall.

“Look, Circe, I’m not as stupid as I used to be. You obviously are in some sort of trouble, now what do you want? You’ve got three seconds to spill your guts before I throw you out onto Kamehameha face first.

“Okay, okay,” she said. The tears stopped instantly and the quiver had left her voice.

“You’re right, I’m in trouble. I just need a place to lay low for a while, until I can get off the island. It’s all John’s fault, he got mixed up in a drug deal and now some very bad people are after me. They’ve already killed him and now they want me. They think I’m involved by I’m not, I swear it. He must have tried to burn them and now it’s all bad. Surely you don’t hate me so much that you’d let me die?”

“Why don’t you call the police?”

“You don’t know these people, they own the police. Just let me stay here for a few days, and then maybe you could help me get off the island when things cool off a bit. Please, Rudy, I’m desperate, there is nowhere on this island that they won’t find me and you’re my only hope. I know you won’t just let me die, I know you won’t.” The tears were back and in high gear.

“I don’t know, Circe. I don’t need this. I have a new life here and it doesn’t include you. I don’t need you jeopardizing it.”

“Okay, look, just let me take a shower and clean myself up. You can think about it in the meantime.”

“Fine. You take a shower and I’ll think about it.”

Circe headed for the shower and Rudy sat on the sofa.

Shit. Why me. Why always me? I don’t need this, why should I care if she got herself in some trouble, it was bound to happen. She IS trouble. Why is this my problem? His brain was dizzy. Still, her story did make some sense, considering what he know about John. She was obviously lying about John, but then again, she could actually believe that he was dead.

Circe emerged naked from the shower and the sight of her tempted him again for just an instant.

“Do you have something I can wear? I don’t have any clothes besides the ones I had on.”

Rudy grabbed some shorts and a tee shirt from his bedroom and threw them to her.

“Okay, here’s the deal. "You can stay here for a day or two until I can get you off the island. Meanwhile, you sleep on the couch and you keep your clothes on and your hands off. Once you’re off the island, you’re on your own. I don’t ever want to see you again. I don’t want to hear from you. I don’t want to hear about you. Ever. Not ever again. You’re trouble that I don’t need. I have too much to lose now, understood?”

“Understood.”

He thought for an instant that maybe he could get her off the island before Raven got back and she'd never need to know but he quickly realized that he couldn't keep if from her. So, how would he explain this to Raven?

“Hello?”

“Hey Pete, it’s Tiny, man, how’s it going, brah?”

Silence.

“Pete?”

“What?”

“You don’t have Rudy’s address do you?”

“I can’t give you that, Tiny.”

“Why’ not, brudda?”

“Because he’s dead.”

“What?”

“Yeah, he’s dead. He was killed in a car wreck, yesterday.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“But I heard that he was in Utah skiing just a few days ago.”

“Yeah, car slid off the road coming down the mountain. It was tragic.”

“Hey just like that chick you used to hang around with, huh?”

“Yeah, just like that. Amazing coincidence, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, well, Okay.” Click.

“Ken.” Pete called to the bartender.

“Yeah?” Ken replied, emerging from the store room.

“You have anything important planned for the next few weeks?”

“Not really” Ken said, “Why?”

“I need a vacation. Can you watch the place until I get back?”

“Sure, boss. No problem. How long you gonna be gone?”

“As long as it takes. Um, I dunno, could be a while, okay?”

“Don’t worry about a thing boss, me and Snake will take real good care of the place."

“Snake? Who’s snake?”

“Just kidding, boss. Don’t know anyone named Snake. Don’t worry; I’ll look after things till you get back. When you leaving?”

“Next flight out. Listen, if anyone asks about me, tell them I’m visiting my Dad in St. Louis.”

“You got it.”

Things were going from bad to worse for Tiny. The boss had tried to make it sound like everything was okay, like he was just having Tony and Tiny work together but Tiny knew better. The boss was good, though. He’d sounded so calm and reassuring on the phone that Tiny had actually believed him for a while but it only took a few minutes for the real picture to sink in. He’d seen this scenario more than once in his years with Mr. Azeri.

Tiny had been with Azeri longer than anyone; anyone still alive, at least. He had once believed that he was immune from something like this, and to an extent, he was right. He’d have been okay with the blown exchange because it wasn’t his fault and because he’d earned a little leeway. But getting crossed by that bitch was something else. That was just plain stupid and uncharacteristic for Tiny.

It wasn’t the first time a broad had tried to work him but this girl was different. She just had a way of overwhelming you. He couldn’t believe that he’d been stupid enough to believe her when she said that she wanted to be his woman but it’s easy to believe what you want to be true. Having her on his arm would have been instant status for a guy like Tiny, a sure sign that he was moving up in the world, that he was somebody.

At any rate, being stupid enough to put himself in a situation where he could be handcuffed to a bed was bad enough. Mr. Azeri surely realized that the only way Tiny would have been in that room with that tramp after the blown exchange, was because he was crossing someone.

Yeah, Tony was on his way to kill Tiny; that was obvious.

“Shut the door.” Tiny said. He was in the car already, Tony surprised that a guy Tiny’s size could move that quick. “Start the car and drive.”

It wasn’t easy reaching for the ignition with the hard steel poking him in the head.

“Tiny, what are you doing, brah?”

“Shut up and drive.” He directed Tony to Makapuu Point and had him park in the scenic overlook. This was to be Tony’s last view. Tiny had been watching as they entered the parking area and was satisfied that no one was around. Good choice of locations, he told himself. Not much tourist traffic here.

“Okay, what now?” Tony asked, and then his brains splattered on the window.

See, you want to kill somebody, you don’t screw around. You don’t discuss it with 'em and give em a chance to wiggle away like on TV. Just do it, before they know it’s coming.

Tiny had broken plenty of fingers and other bones and administered many beatings over the years. His street cred said that he’d done a few hits too but this was the first person he’d ever actually killed. It felt pretty damn good.

Chapter Twenty Two - That Ain't Opportunity Knocking

2008-12-27T15:05:00.000-08:00

The waves crawling up the beach outside Rudy’s open window lulled him quickly to sleep though he’d needed little help tonight. He was having sweet dreams of swimming in the ocean with Raven when every now and then Elder Sea Nettle would swim by with a smirk on his face. Suddenly this bizarre dream was interrupted by a loud banging on his back door.

He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep but the banging persisted. He was barely conscious and not quite aware of what was intruding on his dreams. When the banging started for the third time he bolted straight up and headed for the door, still in his boxers. It was the loud bang of trouble.

“Who is it?” he yelled from behind the door, clutching his baseball bat.

“Rudy Davis?” The voice was familiar but he couldn’t place it.

“Maybe, who are you?”

“John.”

“John who?”

“John Preston.”

Rudy opened the door and there stood John, looking like he’d been hit by a car. If a brick had fallen from the sky and hit Rudy in the head, he couldn’t have been more surprised. John was dirty, covered in blood and had something that might have once been a white shirt tied around his waist. Rudy was too shocked at the sight of him to speak.

“I know I’m the last person you ever wanted to see,” John began, “but you always struck me as the decent sort and I don’t know where else to go.” It came off sounding remarkably like the way he’d rehearsed it.

“What the hell happened to you?” Rudy asked, still clutching the bat.

“It’s a long story,” John said, “can I tell it to you inside?”

“You must be kidding. Why would I want any part of what ever trouble you’re in?” Rudy asked incredulously.

“I can’t give you a good reason but I’m desperate. Please. It’s a matter of life and death and I know you’re not the type to turn you back on another person in need.”

Oh please! Rudy thought. Skip the transparent flattery. He desperately wanted to send this trouble on down the road and climb back in bed but something told him it wouldn’t go away that easily.

“Okay,” Rudy said, against his better judgment, “come in. You need a Doctor, let me throw some clothes on and I’ll get you to the emergency room.”

“No.” John said sounding panicked. “I can’t go to the Emergency Room. Do you know a Dr. who could just dress my wound without making a report?”

“Oh, sure John, got a whole list of people like that.” Rudy smacked the back of Johns head. “The hell do you think, moron? What kind of trouble are you in, anyway? What happened to you?”

“If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.” Rudy fixed an unamused glare at him. “Suffice it to say,” John continued, “that some very bad people are after me and I need to lay low until I can get off the island. Plus just one other thing…”

“Yeah, what?”

“I need some cola.”

“Cola?”

“Yeah, cola… coke, you know.”

“You need coke.” Rudy repeated in disbelief.

“Big time. Look at me, I’m wounded and I’m crashing hard to boot. I’m desperate. You must know where to score some.”

This was too much. The man shows up on his door step with a bullet hole in his side and his biggest concern is where he’s going to score some coke. Rudy very nearly threw him out of his house and locked the door behind him.

He thought for a moment and he realized there was only one person who would know how to deal with this. He picked up the phone and called Charlie. Not a problem, Charlie told him, one of his golfing buddies was a Doctor. Charlie said he’d arrange for him to look at John. Like most people Charlie knew, the good Doctor owed him a favor, and now, so did Rudy, thanks to the scumbag that was currently bleeding on his furniture.

“OK, here’s the deal,” Rudy said when he hung up. “I’ve got a Doctor on his way, a friend of a friend and he won’t make a police report. After the Doc treats your wounds, my friend is going to fly you over to the Big Island in his Cessna and get you in a rehab program he works with.”

It was the first Rudy had ever heard of Charlie working with any rehab program.

“No one will know you’re there; you’ll be safe from the boogie man, or whoever the hell is after you.”

“Hey, I don’t need rehab, Okay? Just score me some friggin’ coke and let me hang out here for a few days until things cool off and then I’ll be gone and you’ll never hear from me again.”

“Not gonna happen like that, Paco. My way or the highway, plain and simple.”

“Fine, I’m outta here.”

Rudy walked to the front door and held it open for him. “Okay, good luck.” he said.

From the look on John’s face, it was obvious that he hadn’t expected this. He got slowly to his feet and walked to the door, trying to decide what to do now.

“Shit.” He said. “I got no where else to go. Shit.” One last try; “Just score me some coke and I’m gone.”

“See ya.” Rudy said, still holding the door. “You’re letting the bugs in, hurry up.” In all honesty, he hoped that John would leave and he could go back to bed and pretend like this had all been a really lame dream.

John stood in the doorway staring at him. “Man, you just don’t understand, I need…”

“Hey,” Rudy cut him off, “I don’t need to understand, brah, what’s it going to be?”

“Shit.” John said again. “When does the Doc get here?”

The morning sun woke Circe and she blinked and shaded her eyes with her hand, then pulled on the lever to raise her seat and sat up behind the steering wheel. Her back ached from her short nap in the rented Nissan and she desperately needed a little wake-me-up. She was parked at a beach park a few miles from Honolulu. The dashboard clock read 6:30, way too early to be up as far as she was concerned.

She had worked it out so carefully, but nothing was going quite like it was supposed to. She was just too damn soft. If only she’d killed Tiny and John like she’d planned, she’d be on the mainland right now, money and drugs in tow. She could easily have done it last night and she was certainly a better shot than that, but when it came right down to it, murder was tougher than she figured. Just too damn soft.

Still, Plan B had gone pretty well. She smiled at the thought of how she’d played both John and Tiny for the fools that they were. Neither had ever suspected that she was up to anything; each had thought that it was they who were using her and in fact, she had needed John to help her cash in the stock certificates.

She really hadn’t planned to mess with Tiny but when he started calling and hitting on her a couple of months ago, it had all made perfect sense. It wouldn’t hurt to make sure that she covered all the bases and her soft spot at the moment of truth last night had proven that to be a wise idea.

She had no idea how Tiny could have gotten out of the handcuffs so quickly but she had recognized one of his associates at the Hawaiian Airlines terminal when she’d showed up for her flight to Seattle last night. She managed to slip away unseen and she knew that she was lucky to be alive.

Now she was going to have to come up with a plan to get off the island with the goods before the goons caught up to her. Either that, or find a place to lay low for a while. Even Tiny’s boss, whoever he was, couldn’t watch the airport forever.

First things first, she thought as she pushed the trunk release to get the cocaine out of the trunk and fix herself a hit.

When she walked to the rear of the car, a silver Buick cruised slowly past and then turned around. She’d been made. She jumped back into the Nissan, fired it up and headed toward the highway. As she sped away, she checked her mirror and saw the Buick stop at a scenic turnoff. A silver haired woman got out of the passenger side, camera in hand and took a picture of the beach.

Tourists... If the goons didn’t get her, the paranoia would.

Once the pain subsided, Tiny got pissed. He was a large man and, although he was seriously overweight, he was still very strong. Back in his days as an offensive lineman at the University of Utah, he could bench press more than any man on the team. That was before he got caught dealing and thrown off the team.

The bed was a wooden-framed piece of Ikea-looking crap and no match for a furious, oversized Hawaiian. It took less than five minutes of thrashing before the bed was demolished and he was free. He was so angry that he didn’t even notice how badly he’d bruised his wrists and ankles in the process.

When Circe had approached him with the gun that last time, he’d been more frightened than he’d been in a long time, certain that she was going to shoot his balls off. That fear was nothing compared to the fear that coursed through his veins now as he dialed his boss’s number.

“This better be good.” Leonardo Azeri said when he finally came on the line.

“We had a little problem with the exchange.” Tiny said, trying to sound as if the whole thing were just some minor misunderstanding.

“What kind of problem?” Leonardo asked warily. He listened intently as Tiny recounted the whole story. It was especially difficult to tell the part about allowing himself to be hand cuffed, be he’d learned long ago never to lie to his boss. Leonardo had a way of finding out the truth and lying was how you ended up dead.

“I’m sorry, boss. I screwed up bad, I know, I’m sorry.” Tiny waited for the explosion that was sure to follow.

“Okay,” Mr. Azeri said calmly, “I’ll send some people to the airport and we’ll start checking all the hotels. They won’t get off the island alive. Meanwhile, you stay right where you are. I’ll send Tony over to your hotel; you do exactly as he says.”

“Yes sir.” Tiny said humbly, and hung up.

He’d expected Mr. Azeri to come uncorked but he’d taken the whole thing rather calmly. Hey, things go wrong sometimes, right? Maybe this wasn’t as bad as it seemed.

“Speak.” Tony answered the phone in his usual way. He wasn’t known for being particularly friendly and he thought it made him seem no-nonsense to answer the phone like that. He was fiercely loyal to his employer and he had a mean streak you could drive a Mack truck through. Most of Leonardo’s men had killed when they had to but Tony was the only one who seemed to like it; and he had a gift for it.

“Tony,” Leonardo began, “Tiny had a little problem with the exchange tonight. I want you to meet him in his room at the Sheraton Waikiki. You two find the girl and her boyfriend and take care of them. Make sure you get the money and the goods before you take them out. When that’s done, take Tiny out. I can’t have this kind of incompetence, you understand?”

“Sure, Mr. Azeri, “I’ll take care of it.” Tony grinned. He could hardly wait to off Tiny. That worthless, overgrown Hawaiian was long overdue as far as Tony was concerned.

“Keep me informed.” Leonardo said, and hung up.

Introduction: Author's Note

2008-12-27T11:20:00.001-08:00

If I can't write like Stephen King, I can still take a page out of his book, pardon the pun. When it's complete, this blog will represent the entirety of my unpublished book, originally titled Rudy Davis Meets Elder Sea Nettle..

I will publish one or two chapters once or twice per week so check here frequently for the next installment. Better yet, subscribe to be notified whenever a new post appears.

It would make this struggling author very happy to have some readership, even if I never get properly published. After all, it took me over 15 years to write the thing, someone needs to read it. If you like it, send your friends a link. If you don't , well I guess you can click off, so to speak.

Feel free to comment but please be gentle, it's my first time.

Thanks for reading.

David Heiniger

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

© 2008 David Heiniger. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from David Heiniger, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Prologue

PART ONE

Chapter One – Hate You, Hate Kansas

Chapter Two – Cola Wars

Chapter Three - No Cars for Silly Haoles

Chapter Four - A-Row-ha My Ass

Chapter Five - Elder Sea Nettle

Chapter Six - Sweet Dreams and Other Fallacies

Chapter Seven - Puna-who?

Chapter Eight - Paying the Bills

Chapter Nine - Maui No Ka Oi
Chapter Ten - Makawao Madness
Chapter Eleven - Drifting
Chapter Twelve - That Damned Dam
Chapter Thirteen - Wanker Stew
Chapter Fourteen - The Lone Ranger and Tonto
Chapter Fifteen - Posterized
Chapter Sixteen - Cockeyed Coincidence in Kaunakakai
Chapter Seventeen - Just Get On Boat
Chapter Eighteen - Days of Wine and Roses

PART TWO

Chapter Nineteen - 'Cause You Got Me

Chapter Twenty - The Colonel and Mrs. Davis

Chapter Twenty One - Mele Kalikimaka

© 2008. David Heiniger. All Right Reserved.

Chapter Twenty One - Mele Kalikimaka

2008-12-27T11:16:00.000-08:00

By the third ring Rudy was awake enough to realize that he wasn’t dreaming. The clock said 5:04 when he knocked it off the nightstand while reaching for the phone.

“Hey man, it’s a powder morning and I got a Woody.” Pete screamed into the phone.

“Congratulations,” Rudy said, holding the phone away from his ear, “do you know what time it is?”

“Why do people always ask you that when you wake them up at five in the morning?” Pete asked, stealing one of Rudy’s lines.

“Anyway, which part of ‘I got a Woody’ sounds like ‘I lost my ability to tell time since you left last night?”

“You mean since we left this morning. We just left you four hours ago.”

“Who is it?” Raven asked in a sleepy fog.

“A crazy man with a Woody.”

“Does he know what time it is?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Okay,” she mumbled, and drifted back to sleep.

“I’ll see you at our usual breakfast place at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon in one hour. Be there.” Click.

A second later, the phone rang again. “What?” Rudy said into the receiver.

“Merry freakin’ Christmas.” Click.

Raven wiggled her perfect body into her new black ski suit. It was a tailored fit. Her hair was still messy from the night and her eyes were puffy and not quite open all the way. She wore no makeup and Rudy thought she’d never looked more ravishing. She had the kind of beauty that radiated about her no matter what she was wearing.

“Why can’t ya’ll ski at a normal hour?” she asked.

“Ya’ll? You’ve been hanging around Charlie too much. Fresh snow, that’s why. Virgin powder. Just think about how good that hot tub is going to feel after a day on the slopes.”

She shot him a look that said This had better be worth it. He smiled, knowing that it would.

“Why don’t you two ride together?” Raven asked as they neared the head of the lift line at Snowbird. “It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been on a ski slope. I’ll probably get off on the bunny hill for my first run, until I get the feel back.”

At the head of the line, Pete motioned for Raven to take the first chair and she got on with a teenaged snowboarder who looked like he’d just won the lottery. They plopped into the chair right behind her and watched her graceful exit at the first ramp.

“Pretty smooth exit,” Pete said. “Doesn’t look to me like she hasn’t skied in a while.”

“The girl’s incredible,” Rudy said, “she does everything and does it well. She pilots a 46 foot cabin cruiser all over the islands, night navigation, sextant, the whole bit. I’ve never met anyone like her.”

“Sex what?”

“Sextant. It’s a navigational aid. Get yer mind outta the gutter, Schmidt.”

“She reminds me of Beth,” Pete said.

“Everything reminds you of Beth. What’s it been now, fourteen years?”

“Fifteen.”

“Fifteen years. Don’t you think it’s time that you put it behind you? That’s a little longer than the standard grieving period.”

“And who told you what the standard grieving period is?” Pete shot back. “Far be it from me to be a politically incorrect griever.”

“I’m just saying, maybe it’s time for you to get on with your life.”

“What makes you think that I haven’t gotten on with my life? What’s wrong with my life?”

“What’s wrong with your life? Every woman you meet gets compared to Beth and, since no one can compete with a ghost, you remain alone.”

“You have no idea what its like to be me,” Pete said, “so why are you trying to tell me how to live?”

“When was the last time you were intimate with someone?”

“I get laid all the time. Hell, you know that.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about; you get laid all the time. You sleep with women like you’re punishing them all for not being Beth. The truth is, you’re afraid to let anyone get close to you. Beth’s been gone a long time, get over it.”

“And how long do you think it would take you to get over it if something happened to Raven?”

Rudy didn’t have an answer. That was a scenario that he wasn’t willing to consider.

When they reached the top, they slid off the chair and stopped. The air was cold and crisp and a brilliant sunrise was dissipating into the morning sky. Fresh, dry, virgin powder came to well above their knees. Pete popped his Eurhythmics tape into his Walkman and adjusted his goggles

“Don’t you ever get tired of skiing to that tape?” Rudy asked.

“Do you get tired of sex?” Pete asked in reply. “See ya at the bottom.” and he shoved off.

“No, but I change positions once in a while.” Rudy shouted after him.

Rudy took a deep breath of crisp Wasatch Mountain morning, pushed the play button on his Walkman and took off after him to Jackson Brown’s “The Pretender”. His knees were tightly locked and his legs worked the moguls like shock absorbers while the fresh powder took the edge off the bumps.

Some days you ski and it’s okay. Other times everything clicks and you become one with the mountain, the snow and the clean air and you remember why you ski. This day was one of the latter.

When they got off the lift to begin their second run Raven was waiting. She waved at them and took off down the mountain. Pete and Rudy sped after her and it was all either of them could do to keep up. Rudy had thought that the ski slope was the one place where Raven couldn’t keep up with him. Silly boy.

Circe heard the phone ring but ignored it. It was nearly noon and she had been sleeping hard. Her head pounded, her eyes felt like balloons, her mouth was so dry that it was nearly glued shut. It had been a long night of drinking, shooting coke and rough sex; the usual. She and John had both reached the point where they could no longer get off snorting their coke so they had to shoot up.

“Yeah, what’s the good word?” she heard John say. He was silent for a few seconds.

“Killer!” he exclaimed and hung up.

“Circe, it’s done.” He said, shaking her lifeless body. “Did you hear me? It’s done.”

“What’s done?”

“The money, it’s in my account. That was my attorney, said he’d been trying to reach me since yesterday. He got the legal work straightened out, the stock sale finally cleared and the money was wired into my account yesterday; Two hundred and eighty thousand dollars. That phony Power of Attorney we forged did the trick.”

Circe opened her eyes and sat up in the bed. “Two hundred and eighty thousand? That’s more than we figured.”

“Yeah, and that’s not all the good news either. Dumbo’s book hit the stores yesterday and the twenty thousand dollars for the hardcover is in my account too. Several publishers are interested in the paperback rights.”

“Well, fix us a hit and let’s celebrate.” She said.

“Right here.” John said, handing her the syringe. “Merry Goddamn Christmas.”

“Shut up and do me.” Circe said, throwing the spent syringe on the floor.

If anything made her hotter than coke, it was money. Put the two together and John was in for a wild ride.

Soon-Li gasped and sat straight up in the bed. Her heart was pounding so hard that she was sure Wally could hear it. The room was dark and she struggled to calm herself and get her breathing under control.

“Soon-Li?” Wally said, “Soon-Li, what is it?”

This was one of those times when her gift became a curse. Why couldn’t she be like everyone else and just live her life, oblivious to what was going to happen next? Who needed the responsibility?

“Rudy and Raven.” Soon-Li said.

“What about them?”

“Not sure. It’s started. Bad vibes. I need to call them.”

“And say what? That you have bad vibes? Rudy already thinks you’re a loon.”

“I not crazy!” Soon-Li snapped.

“I know. I know you’re not, but wait until you have something more concrete to say than ‘bad vibes’. Besides, they’re on the Mainland for the holidays; I don’t even know how to reach them.”

Tears formed in Soon-Li’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks, “This so hard Wally. People think I crazy, I not need this. Why me?”

Wally put his enormous arms around her and pulled her tiny body close.

“I know it’s hard but it’s still a good thing. You wouldn’t be here and your family would probably be dead if you didn’t have your gift. Maybe you have it instead of someone else because you can be trusted with it.”

“That not make me feel better.”

“I know,” Wally said as he stroked her hair. “I know. Hey, it’s Christmas, what could go wrong?”

“Christmas just another day in my country, Wally, just another hungry day.”

“Well, one of these days we’re going to get a hold of some money and do something about that.”

“Yeah, one of these days.” Soon-Li repeated after him and she laid her head on his shoulder. When Wally said things like that, it was easy to believe him.

Charlie turned the Jeep off the dirt road into a tiny thicket of trees and cut the motor. He pulled a pint of Chivas from the glove box, took a long swig and rubbed his temples. He was about a mile from the gate and the only entrance to Leonardo Azeri’s ranch on Molokai. Pulling into this spot had become a ritual. Charlie knew he shouldn’t drink so much but it was the only way he could stomach that bastard.

Here he was, early on Christmas morning, on his way to hunt wild boar with Leonardo. The last thing he’d wanted to do this morning was leave Jenny’s bed on Maui and fly his Cessna to Molokai to hunt some mythical animal that everyone on the island talked about but no one had ever actually seen, let alone bagged. The closest thing to wild boar on Molokai was Leonardo himself, but he was just a regular bore.

Jenny would be pretty upset when she awoke and found Charlie’s note. She just couldn’t understand why Charlie had to jump every time Leo whistled. After he ruined her Christmas like this, Charlie knew he would be lucky if Jenny was speaking to him again by New Year. Sometimes he was tempted to tell her what he was up to but it was best if she and everyone else thought he was just a frivolous, rich fool.

Charlie took another swig and started the Jeep. He pulled up to the main gate and a huge Hawaiian carrying an AK-47 appeared next to the Jeep.

“Hi Charlie, Mele Kalikimaka,” he said.

“Merry Christmas to you, Tiny. When did you get back?”

“Just got in last night.”

“Since when do you work the gate?” Charlie asked.

“Oh, just today. Leonardo, I mean, Mr. Azeri, gave some of his security people the day off. Go on up to the house, Mr. Azeri is expecting you.”

Charlie followed the tile drive the quarter mile up the hill to the main house, past the enormous lawn. It was so big Charlie had considered saving himself the drive from the airport in Hoolehua and just landing the Cessna right here. In a place where land was so precious, it was almost obscene to have a lawn that size. Of course, it served its purpose of securing the main house, since there was no way to approach it without running a gauntlet of empty, coverless space.

Charlie parked and headed for the door, where he could see two more armed Hawaiians standing guard. Obviously, not everyone had the day off. It occurred to him that nothing had really changed since his days in Houston. Here he was, working on Christmas. Again.

Rudy and Raven stayed in Salt Lake City, skiing and socializing, until the day after New Year. On January 2nd, Raven caught a flight to a Gallery opening in New York and Rudy went back to Honolulu. It would be a long week for him until she returned but he consoled himself with the knowledge that he’d get a lot of work done.

On the flight over, he was reminded of the last time he’d flown to Honolulu, alone and haunted by thoughts of Circe. He was amazed at how a little less than a year had changed everything for him. He’d probably never see Circe again and that was just fine with him. Circe had been one of the biggest mistakes of his life and he planned for her to remain a distant memory.

At this moment, life was very nearly everything he had ever hoped it would be and many things he’d never even thought to hope for and it was all because of Raven.

Chapter Twenty - The Colonel and Mrs. Davis

2008-12-27T10:39:00.000-08:00

At Christmas, Rudy and Raven decided to spend a few days in Utah to get in a little skiing, catch up with Pete and, of course, introduce the new girlfriend to the parents. His parents had met few of his girlfriends over the years but this was the first time Rudy actually brought a girlfriend home specifically for them to meet.

The Colonel and Mrs. Davis were at the SLC airport to greet them when they arrived early on Christmas Eve. Rudy had taken to referring to his father to others as “The Colonel”, though his dad had been retired for a few years now. Face to face he was still just ‘Dad’.

When they all met at the concourse, Rudy noticed a sparkle in the Colonel’s eye the instant he looked at Raven. Raven had that effect on people and Dad had always had an eye for a pretty girl. Rudy gave his mother a hug and a kiss then shook his dad’s firm hand before making the introductions.

Rudy’s mother took Raven under her wing and by the time they reached baggage claim, she knew just about everything there was to know about Raven and her family for three generations back. His dad went to get the car while the rest of them waited for the bags.

“I don’t know how much Rudy has told you about us.” he heard his mother say, “but we’re LDS, uh, Mormons. Do you know much about the Mormon Church?”

“Yes, quite a bit actually. Rudy has told me a lot about your religion.”

While it was a completely true statement, Rudy was quite sure that the things he’d told Raven weren’t exactly the same as what his mother was thinking of.

His mother smiled. “Well, I’m so glad to hear that. To be honest, Rudy hasn’t had the best attitude about his religion. Anyway, don’t you worry about a thing. I’ll make the arrangements for you take the missionary lessons so that you two can go through the temple...”

“Mom.” Rudy cut her off. “Mom, you’re getting way ahead of..”

Just then The Colonel pulled up to the curb in the Valiant, providing a much needed diversion. Rudy had known this was coming but he hadn’t expected to get into it quite so quickly.

“Still driving the ol’ Plymouth, huh Dad?’” Rudy asked.

“You bet, son. Plymouth makes a darned fine automobile. May not be fancy but good, reliable transportation.”

Once they were on the freeway, Rudy’s mother turned to them in the backseat. “I told all of your sisters that you were coming and they and their families are all coming out for dinner tonight. I can’t remember the last time we’ve all been together on Christmas Eve like this. This is so exciting.”

Rudy could remember. He had spent last Christmas Eve with his family. Every one of his five sisters and their husbands and their huge Mormon families had been there but he didn’t point this out to his Mother.

“We’ll have to be sure to get a group picture.” she went on. “One with you in it Raven. You’re part of the family now.”

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Davis. That’s very kind of you.”

“Not at all. I hope you like ham.” his mother was saying. “We’re having ham and funeral potatoes.”

“Funeral potatoes?” Raven asked.

“Whenever there’s a funeral in the Mormon community, the local Relief Society ladies prepare a luncheon for after the services and they traditionally serve a baked potato dish, they’re really just au gratin potatoes.” Rudy told her. “The luncheon is sort of the Mormon equivalent of a Wake.”

“Oh goodness, no.” his mother said. “We don’t have Wakes. As Mormons, we believe in eternal life, you see, and that families are forever. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“So Dad, the old Valiant is still running pretty good.” Rudy interrupted again.

“Yep, I take good care of her. She’s got the slant six, you know, darn near the best motor ever made. A hundred and seventy five thousand miles and she’s never had the head off, doesn’t use a drop of oil between changes.”

“You always did take good care of you cars, dad.”

“Take good care of ‘em and they’ll take good care of you; one of the first things I learned in the Army Air Corp. That’s what we used to call it back in WWII, before the Air Force was its own service.”

“Now the best car I ever had was a 1951 Nash Rambler. She got 30 miles to a gallon with that old overdrive transmission and she sat 6 people comfortably. If they could do that back in the early 50’s why the heck can’t they do it now? That’s what I’d like to know.”

“Me too dad. That’s exactly what I’d like to know.” Rudy said with a barely suppressed grin.

Raven gave him a hard jab to the ribs with her elbow. “Be nice.” she mouthed but his parents were oblivious to his sarcasm.

When they got to his parents house, his mother said, “Now, Raven, I’ve made up the guest room for you. Rudy, you’ll have to sleep on the hide-a-bed in the sewing room.” Raven shot Rudy a desperate look.

“Mom, we’re not staying here. We got a room in Salt Lake. The agency is bringing us a rental car and we’re going to see Pete after dinner and then we’re going to do some skiing tomorrow, so we’ll just stay in Salt Lake.”

“You’re going to see Pete? At that... that...bar?”

“Yes, mother, at The Prankster.”

“I didn’t raise you to hang around in bars, Rudy. And don’t think I don’t know what that name means. It’s from that bunch of hippies that ran with that Ken Kesey. It’s about drugs. I know all about that electronic Kool-Aid. I read about it in Readers Digest,”

“Mom. I’m 36 years old. You have to let go now.”

His mother turned to Raven. “Has he told you about the time his father had to go get him in It-lee?”

“Mom.” Rudy said a little louder than he’d meant to. “Mom,” softer now. He put his arm around her. “Enough, okay?” She had an amazing way of bringing up the most embarrassing incidents at the worst possible time.

“Hmph.” His mother said. “I’d better check on the ham.” and she scurried off to the kitchen.

An hour later his sisters and their clans started streaming in. Raven was an only child and she had no extended family. It was just her and her parents – and lots of new-age friends. Rudy watched her to see how she was holding up under the scrutiny of his huge, Mormon family. She was warm and open and charming and seemed completely at ease with the whole situation. He wished that the same could be said for him.

After dinner, his sister Jeannie pulled him aside. She was four years older than Rudy and the closest of his sisters to his age. “Well..” she began. “I mean, she seems very nice.”

“Uh huh.” he encouraged her warily.

“Well... I just hope you don’t plan to marry her.”

“It hasn’t come up.”

“Because she’s not LDS. I know you’re not active in the church but I always figured you get your wild streak out of your system and come back around. But marrying a nonmember, that’s another story.”

Rudy had stopped listening though he grunted out an occasional uh-huh to keep up the appearance that he was. His dad had Raven cornered a few feet away and he was trying to eaves drop on that conversation.

The Colonel had dropped out of High School to join the Army Air Corp during World War II. When the war was over, he took his GED test and then put himself through college at night as an enlisted man in the Air Force while raising a growing family and maintaining positions of authority within the church.

He had that famous military discipline along with intelligence and perseverance and he was proud of having risen to a non-com and then receiving his commission after completing his college degree. He rose to the rank of Colonel before he retired after 45 years in the military.

In his day, The Colonel had been a formidable man but it seemed to Rudy that his mind was turning to mush since he’d retired. He wasn’t senile, just old and doddering and obsessed with the past.

“See the Nash had two spark plugs in every cylinder.” Dad was telling Raven, “So when Sears and Roebuck ran a newspaper ad advertising a full set of spark plugs for any six cylinder at a set price, I went right down there. They gave me six plugs so I told ‘em, the ad says a complete set and that’s 12 plugs for this car. They had to give ‘em to me.” He beamed with pride.

Rudy had heard this story countless times growing up. When the rental agency driver knocked on the door, it was just in the nick of time.

“Gotta go.” he told his mother with a quick peck on the cheek. He grabbed their bags, which he’d wisely positioned near the front door, and they were off.

Rudy and Raven climbed in the rented Nissan, shut the doors and let out a collective sigh.

“Wow” said Raven. “That’s some clan.”

“Yes it is.” Rudy agreed as they pulled away. “Yes it is.”

Suddenly conversing in his sleep with a Mormon Missionary Sea Nettle didn’t seem so wacky after all. It was saner than the scene he’d just left.

Pete nearly fell over when Raven and Rudy walked unannounced into The Prankster. While most people move to Hawaii to get away from winter, Rudy found that winter was the season when he missed Utah the most. Besides skiing, winter makes spring and fall possible and without it you have only one season: Hawaii.

Pete started to shake Rudy’s hand then said “That ain’t gonna do it, buddy.” and gave him a big hug instead. They’d been friends a long time but open displays of affection were not part of the pattern of their friendship.

“This must be Raven. I guess you already know who I am.” Pete said, turning his attention fully of Raven.

“Rudy mentioned you once or twice.” Raven teased. Rudy couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Pete’s eyes sparkle like they were right now.

“My God, Rudy, she looks like a raven-haired Meg Ryan.” Pete said, eyes glued to Raven as he spoke. Pete had a reputation for being a real charmer with the ladies but you’d never know that right now. He was close to blubbering.

“Oh, heavens no,” Raven said, “I have a much better tan than Meg Ryan.”

“That you do.” said Pete with a chuckle. “I can see why your folks named you Raven, but how does a fair-skinned Scandinavian get coal black hair like yours?”

“That’s what my daddy wants to know.” Raven said with a smile.

“Rudy, you must have told some whoppers to land a fish like this. What are you going to do when she finds out the truth about you?”

“What truth is that?” Rudy asked, ever the straight-man. “Anyway, she’s a woman, Pete, not a Rainbow Trout.”

Pete ignored him and put his arm around Raven, directing them to an empty table. “Did he tell you the one about being a big time college basketball player?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“And the one about how he could have made the Ski Team if he hadn’t been too busy with basketball?”

“Bingo.”

“And I suppose he claimed to be as good a skier as me?”

“No, he said that he never saw anyone as good as you.”

“Well, he’s smarter than I thought but he’s lying about the rest.”

“I don’t think so,” Raven said.

“And why not?”

“I’ve seen him play basketball.”

Gotta love that girl, Rudy beamed.

Introduction - Author's Note

2008-12-27T10:13:00.000-08:00

Prologue

PART ONE

Chapter One – Hate You, Hate Kansas

Chapter Two – Cola Wars

Chapter Three - No Cars for Silly Haoles

Chapter Four - A-Row-ha My Ass

Chapter Five - Elder Sea Nettle

Chapter Six - Sweet Dreams and Other Fallacies

Chapter Seven - Puna-who?

Chapter Eight - Paying the Bills

Chapter Nine - Maui No Ka Oi
Chapter Ten - Makawao Madness
Chapter Eleven - Drifting
Chapter Twelve - That Damned Dam
Chapter Thirteen - Wanker Stew
Chapter Fourteen - The Lone Ranger and Tonto
Chapter Fifteen - Posterized
Chapter Sixteen - Cockeyed Coincidence in Kaunakakai
Chapter Seventeen - Just Get On Boat
Chapter Eighteen - Days of Wine and Roses

PART TWO

Chapter Nineteen - 'Cause You Got Me

Chapter Twenty - The Colonel and Mrs. Davis

© 2008. David Heiniger. All Right Reserved.

Part Two - Chapter Nineteen - 'Cause You Got Me

2008-12-27T10:01:00.000-08:00

John sat at a table in the rear of The Prankster nervously eyeing the door. His fingernails were nothing but nubs. Eventually, the huge Hawaiian, who everyone knew as Tiny, threw the door open and stepped inside like an actor making a grand entrance. Tiny spotted John sitting alone in the corner.

“So, what did he say?” John blurted out the instant Tiny sat down.

“Not so fast, brudda.” Tiny answered. “Don’t you know a little polite small talk is in order before we get down to business?”

“Oh, okay, so how’s it going?”

“Fuck you.” Tiny replied.

John sat in silence for a minute, unsure of how to proceed. Tiny scared him to death. He had a reputation for being a real hard ass, which is why John wanted to meet at The Prankster, especially after their last meeting. He figured that Tiny wasn’t likely to try anything in a crowded place like this.

Tiny waved the barmaid over and ordered a pitcher of Bud. Pete reluctantly filled the pitcher and set it on the bar for the barmaid without taking his eyes off John and Tiny.

“Well, you one lucky sombitch.” Tiny finally said. “My boss, he doan take kindly to people owing him money. See, they always got a scheme like yours. Never got da money but they always got a scam. But he says he needs more pansy-assed yuppie types like you dealing for him so he’s gonna take a chance.”

“Great.” John said, a definite tone of relief in his voice.

“We’ll see how great, brah.” Tiny interrupted. “See, here’s the thing.” Tiny paused long enough to chug a glass of beer. “When I said he was taking a chance on you, well, that ain’t exactly the way it is. He ain’t taking no chance, know what I mean?”

“Uh, no, I...”

“He ain’t taking no chance ‘cuz he always gets his money.”

The vinyl on his chair made a creaking sound as John squirmed in his seat. He dropped his hands below the table so that Tiny wouldn’t see them shake.

“You know why he always gets his money?” Tiny continued.

This time John shook his head but didn’t speak. His shoulders were tightening and he could feel a migraine coming on, starting with the tension pulling at the back of his head.

Tiny smiled at John’s silence. “You learning, asshole. My boss always gets his money cuz he got me. Personally, I hope you fuck up cuz I wanna hurt your sorry little ass. How’s your thumb?”

John didn’t answer for fear of saying the wrong thing.

“Hurt like a motha, didn’t it?” Tiny asked with a grin.

“Yeah, hurt like a mother.” John agreed.

“See, I can’t decide if I should break the same one next time or start on a new one. I think I’ll just break em both.” Tiny laughed. “Yeah, that’s what I’ll do; I’ll just break em both – for starters.”

“So, everything’s set then?” John asked, hoping to get back to the business at hand.

“Let me get this straight. You’re gonna have the fifty G’s you owe me from the Mexico deal, plus two hundred for the new stuff, that right?”

“Yeah, I’ll have it all.”

“And just how you plan to come up with all that bread? That’s a quarter mil, brudda. Why should I believe you can come up with that kinda scratch when you can’t even cough up the fifty you already owe me?”

“I told you I’m just waiting for some royalty checks to clear escrow. Publishers only pay twice a year, and then I’ll have it all.” John replied.

“Since when do royalty checks go into escrow? Maybe I got kicked out of college but I ain’t stupid.”

“This is kind of an unusual deal, that’s all I can really tell you. I’ll have the money, don’t worry.”

“I ain’t worried, but you oughta be, bitch. Like I said, you one lucky haole. If it was up to me I’d break both thumbs and every one of you fingers, till you came up with da fifty you already into us for. You lucky it ain’t up to me.”

John sat trembling in silence. Tiny scared the bejesus out of him because John knew that he wasn’t bluffing. Tiny seemed to enjoy hurting people.

“I’ll tell you what else, I ain’t carrying that kind of stuff over. You coming to get it on my turf this time, you understand? I nearly got popped in Mexico and that ain’t gonna happen again.”

“What ever you say, man.”

“Damn straight,” Tiny said. “Damn straight. You settle this escrow thing quick, you understand? If it takes too long, I’ll just break your other thumb for good measure and the deal’s off.

Tiny stood and headed for the door, then turned around, smiling again. “Or maybe I’ll just take it out in trade with that new girlfriend of yours.” With that, he was gone.

John sat at the table with his head in his trembling hands, trying to regain some composure. He took out a cigarette and tried to light it but his hands were shaking too bad to get the match lit.

Pete struck a match and lit John’s cigarette, then sat down. “What was Tiny doing here?” Pete asked. “You know he’s 86’d.”

“How should I know?” John said, trying to sound nonchalant. “I guess he wanted a beer.”

“Listen,” Pete said, “You want to piss your life away on that white powder, be my guest, but don’t be making your drug deals in here.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Can it, John. Don’t insult me like that, you shithead. I know a drug deal when I see one go down.” Pete was boiling and it was a struggle to keep his voice under control. “You ever bring that business in here again and you’re out on the street, right after I break every bone in your freakin’ body. Am I making myself clear?”

“Sure, Pete, no drug deals, got it. Now how about you get me another beer, barkeep?”

Pete was going to have a hard time finding any intact bones to break after Tiny got through with him, John was thinking.

“How about you hit the street?” Pete said, and returned to the bar.

Shit. John thought, this had better work or I’m dead meat.

Tiny dialed the familiar number from a payphone down the street from The Prankster.

“Yes?” came the voice on the other end.

“It’s set, boss, but he doan know when he’ll have the dough.”

“Okay…”

“I gotta tell ya, boss, I don’t like it. The guy’s an addict. We always had a rule about that, addicts can’t be trusted. This whole thing stinks, we don’t need it. Why chance it for that kinda chicken feed?”

“Tiny, you worry too much. It will work out fine, do you know why?”

“Yeah, I know, cuz you got me and I’ll make sure of it.”

“Precisely. Give him a month. If he hasn’t got it by then, pull the plug.”

“How about I just pull da plug right now?”

“One month.”

“Okay, you da boss.” Tiny said.

“Yes. Yes I am.”

Pete was in a foul mood the rest of the night. How dare that maggot bring his drug deals into The Prankster? John knew how Pete felt about it and he knew how he felt about Tiny and he still had the gall to make a deal here. Then, as if that weren’t enough, he’d insulted Pete’s intelligence by playing stupid about the whole thing.

Pete was steaming. He made up his mind that John was 86’d from now on.

“Why don’t you head on home, Ken?” Pete called to his bartender. “I’ll clean up.”

“If you insist.” Ken replied, pretending to be disappointed.

Pete locked the door behind him and sat alone in the dark. Like every other day in the fifteen years since her death, he thought of Beth. He wondered where they’d be today if the accident hadn’t twisted their fates. Maybe living in Europe somewhere? He’d do a little TV work, like the other Olympic Gold medalists, lying about which products he used and being handsomely paid for it.

He wouldn’t be running a joint of a bar where sleazy people made coke deals; that much was for sure.

Chapter Eighteen - Days of Wine and Orchids

2008-12-26T23:25:00.001-08:00

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

Chapter Seventeen - Just Get On Boat

2008-12-23T22:00:00.001-08:00

The restaurant was practically deserted when they arrived but they still waited nearly twenty minutes for their table. Reservations were strictly required though it was hard to see the reasoning behind that policy, especially on such a laid-back island.

Once they ordered, and with a little prodding from Rudy, Wally reluctantly gave them the rundown on the whole Glen Canyon Dam / Hayduke episode of his life.

“I guess you could say that I was a little confused at the time.” he began. “I really and truly believed that I was Hayduke and I really and truly believed that one boat load of fertilizer and diesel fuel was going to blow the whole damn dam to smithereens.”

“I don’t guess it would have done the environment much good if I’d succeeded.” he said sheepishly. “A lot of things were going wrong in my life at the time and it was just so easy to get confused. Looking back on it now, what frightens me the most is how it all made such perfect sense to me at the time.“

Rudy picked up the narrative and told how he and Pete had found him on the banks of Lake Powell that day and soon the table was hooting with laughter at Rudy’s comical, if somewhat embellished rendition. Wally took the good natured jesting in stride.

“So how did you end up here?” Rudy asked when he’d finished the story.

Wally said that he had become increasingly paranoid following “the incident”. One of the regulars at the Prankster was a Detective with SLCPD and some of the other regulars enjoyed circulating rumors that the Detective was closing in. Even as an adult, Wally couldn’t escape being the object of ridicule.

Finally the paranoia got the better of him and he decided to disappear. He wanted to go as far away as possible without need for a passport so he wound up in Honolulu, where he met Soon-Li.

Soon-Li had worked in a fortune telling shop on Hotel Street in Honolulu’s Red Light District and that’s where they met. Wally walked in one night, looking for relief from his paranoid worries. He and Soon-Li had connected almost instantly.

After they got together they decided that they needed to lead a quieter life away from the noise and confusion in Honolulu. Since Soon-Li was the best cook Wally had ever known, opening an eatery seemed like a natural.

“My wife has a gift, you see,” Wally said.

“Oh yeah, your food is incredible.” Raven agreed.

“No, I mean she can see things in the future. Sometimes in the fortune tellers shop she saw things she didn’t want to; awful, horrible things. We had to get her away from that.”

“Is that true?” Rudy asked. “You can look into someone’s eyes and see their future?” One nut job marrying another, he was thinking.

“Not exactly.” Soon-Li said. “I can’t always see things. Most of time, I don’t but sometime I just know things. That what get my family out of Laos.”

“How so?” Rudy asked.

“My brother’s Hmong rebels, fighting Communist government. Hmong work with U.S. until they abandon us in ‘75 and communist take over Laos and enslave my people. You know, Laos have secret mountain made of gold and many people want it.”

Rudy rolled his eyes toward Raven, who kicked him under the table.

Soon-Li continued. “Many people resist, many killed. Some betray friend and neighbor who fighting for freedom. I see close friend of family one day and I look at him and I know. I just know he betray us. That was first time I sure about my gift.”

“So how did you get out?” Raven asked.

“We run to Thai border while government chase. Two brothers shot so we carry them over border to Thailand.”

“How did you get from Thailand to Hawaii?” Raven asked.

“We get on boat.”

“So you worked in Thailand until you could save enough money for your passage?”

“No, we get on boat.” Raven looked puzzled.

“Just get on boat.” Soon-Li said.

The table was silent for a few minutes while it slowly dawned on Rudy and Raven what she was saying.

“My God!” Raven exclaimed. “We heard about the boat people at the time but I guess I never stopped to think about what that really meant. I mean, you see the footage but it doesn’t seem real until...”

Raven blinked to keep her eyes from welling up. “What a courageous thing to do.”

“It not take courage when nothing else.” Soon-Li said.

“You’re wrong about that.” Raven said. “I’ve seen a lot of things in my day and I can tell you that it often takes more courage to live than to die.” Rudy wondered what she meant by that, or for that matter what an Army Dental Assistant would know about such things.

“She cooks a pretty mean turkey tail, too.” Wally said, trying to lighten the mood.

As the evening wore on, they all gravitated through the French doors that were open to a large dance floor. The ballroom was enclosed in glass on three sides and was open to the sea breeze. There was no mainland blues band here, just a very large Hawaiian woman at a synthesizer singing Hawaiian love songs in a remarkably clear, strong voice.

The place was empty except for the foursome and a white haired couple that looked to be in their late seventies. On a less dramatic night the whole scene might have seemed a little hokey but they luxuriated in it tonight.

Rudy felt Raven’s warm breath on his neck as they danced.

“Look at that couple.” She said softly into his ear. “Wouldn’t you love to know their story?” Her hot breath in his ear was driving him wild.

“I mean, what respect you must have for each other after forty or fifty years together. All the trials and tribulations of a lifetime, everything you go through together so many years and now here they are, dancing their twilight years away, more in love than ever.”

“Yeah, or they could have met at the Senior Center last week.” Rudy said.

She gave him a playful slap and nuzzled in closer.

“Do you think there’s a chance that could be us someday?” he asked.

They stopped dancing and he felt foolish for asking a question like that to a woman he’d barely known for a week but it was impossible not to let his feelings run away with him.

Raven pulled away just enough to look him in the eye and stood there silently searching for the right words. “I think... there’s a chance.” she said at last.

She laid her head on his shoulder and they resumed the dance. “I think there’s a chance.” She whispered again.

Rudy was thirty-six years old that day in 1992. Up until that moment he had loved only one woman and she had chosen someone else. He had never met anyone named Raven before and he had never met anyone like Raven before. He closed his eyes and breathed in her scent and lost himself in Raven.

The clock on the nightstand said 5:05. Rudy climbed out of bed carefully, so as not to wake Raven, pulled on a pair of shorts and slipped out the door barefoot. The sun wasn’t up yet when he walked along the path from their bungalow to the rocky shore.

He stood above the shore and listened to the waves explode onto the rocks below. A stray cat stared at him from the thicket of ground cover below the sidewalk. Across the water, the lights of Honolulu were an eerie glow against the cloud cover above the city.

He remembered a camping trip back in 1967, somewhere close to this very spot, long before there was a Kailuakoi Resort. He remembered sitting cross-legged on the grass outside his tent listening to KPOI in Honolulu on his little transistor radio and staring across the water at that same glow. He’d been so bored with this sleepy little island, so trapped by its geography. He dreamed about a different life in the big city just thirty miles across the water. That’s where the action was; certainly not on this dead little island.

It occurred to him that he had spent most of his life looking across the water, dreaming of other places. Wherever he found himself he always felt that there was something better somewhere else. Places where life was more interesting, more exciting.

Now he had come full circle and he was standing on the very soil he’d so wanted to escape all of those years ago. For the first time in his life there was nowhere else that he wanted to be. There was nothing he’d rather be doing.

And the was no one he’d rather be doing it with.

Chapter Sixteen - Cockeyed Coincidence in Kaunakakai

2008-12-23T21:28:00.000-08:00

After their morning coffee they climbed in Metro and headed east toward the leeward side of the island. There was a cloudburst dumping buckets of water ahead though the sun was shining right above them. They drove into the downpour and five minutes later drove out of it again.

“Just a little of that famous Hawaiian liquid sunshine.” Raven said.

They wound their way up the mountain road to Kualapu’u. At the summit, they made a right turn into a little housing project that sat all alone amidst mountain meadows and forest. Rudy stopped the car in front of a tiny beige house just like all the other tiny beige houses in the project.

“Wow, it looks a lot smaller than I remember but that’s the house we lived in.” he said. “It was military housing at the time.” Rudy smiled as the memories came rushing back. “Sure looks rundown now”.

“We used to have a pot-luck luau in someone’s carport once a month. I can still see Sgt. Yashima sitting in front of the hibachi fanning the charcoal for hours. For some reason, he refused to use lighter fluid and would sit there fanning the coals until long after the other grills were cooking up teriyaki frogs legs.”

“What was that about?” Raven asked.

“Beats me.” he said. “It must have been something about keeping the old ways alive, as if they bought charcoal in a bag in the old days. At our going away party, he said that the Davis’s were the only haoles he ever knew that he liked. Of course, Dad was a Captain by then so he had to say that.” Rudy laughed.

“Sounds like a great guy.” Raven laughed.

“For the most part it was nice. At least we were accepted here, more or less, not like at school, but I don’t guess I have to tell you what that was like.”

“Yeah. We already talked about beat up a haole day?” she said. Growing up my whole life on Kauai, I had a good circle of friends that insulated me, up to a point.”

“Over there,” he said, pointing to the playground across the street from his old house, “that’s where I learned to play basketball. I was a chubby kid and I had no idea that I had any athletic ability until I started playing pickup games with the neighborhood kids.”

“See the ravine behind the backboard? If you missed, you could be hiking for an hour to retrieve the ball.” Rudy laughed. “Shooting was always my best basketball skill. My teammates in later years wondered how I got to be such a good outside shot. It’s all about the proper motivation; I didn’t want to chase the ball.”

They walked to a grassy field at the far edge of the project where the neighborhood kids played soccer and football.

“The tree house is still there.” Rudy said, pointing to a little clubhouse that stood atop four telephone poles. There was a heavy rope hanging from a beam centered over a hole in the platform. It was the only means of entry.

“When I first came here, like I said, I was kinda chubby. I couldn’t get in the tree house for the longest time because I couldn’t climb the rope all the way. It was humiliating. I’d try and try and always end up sliding down and getting rope burns on my hands and thighs. Basketball is what changed that for me.”

“Once I realized that I actually did have some athletic ability I took an interest in becoming fit. Of course, the humiliation of not being able to climb the rope was a pretty good motivator, but I really dropped the weight by playing basketball pretty much every free minute.”

“By the time I left, I could do this.” He grabbed the rope and pulled himself all the way to the top using only his arms.

“Come on up.” He called down to her breathlessly. She pulled herself up with little effort but she did use her legs and her feet. When she neared the top he grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet on the platform.

They went inside the little clubhouse and collapsed in a pile on the floor. “I had a crush on a cute little Asian girl down the street named Dawn. I desperately wanted to get her alone in here and do something like this.” he said, and then for the second time that morning, he made love to her.

They drove back down the mountain and stopped in Hoolehua at his old school. “Wow, looks like pineapple has been replaced by coffee now.” Rudy said “Back when I lived here, the island was nothing but pineapple fields. Dole was the main employer on the island and our little school here was surrounded by pineapple fields.”

When the pineapples were ripe, you couldn’t run on the playground with your mouth open or you would swallow pineapple bugs. The air would be so thick with them that we’d get on the bus after school and shake them out of our hair. I used to run my comb through my hair to get them all out.”

“That’s one problem we didn’t have on Kauai.” Raven said. “We didn’t have any pineapple fields, only sugar cane and coffee... plus a few other ‘cash crops’.”

They drove another half-mile down the road and stopped in front of two huge white wooden buildings. The sign out front said “1st Baptist Preschool”.

“This was the Mormon church when I was here. That was the chapel” he said pointing at one of the buildings “and that was the gym.” He said pointing at the other. The place appeared deserted so they got out of the car and walked around.

“I gather your family was pretty religious?” Raven asked.

“Oh yeah, staunch Mormons.”

“So, what happened to you, heathen?”

“I never did really buy into it. For a lot of years I thought that something was wrong with me. Everyone I knew was a believer and they would talk about their testimonies and talk about those who didn’t have one with pity. ”

“I’m talking about my family, all of my acquaintances, virtually everyone I knew growing up. They are all good people, the best people I knew. They couldn’t possibly all be wrong so it had to be me. I pretended to believe because I didn’t want to be pitied and I figured that at some point I’d get it, like someone was going to flip a switch.”

“Little by little, as I got older and thought things through, I started asking questions. I soon realized that there was no switch, that there was nothing wrong with me. They were the ones who were wrong and I’d been made to feel inferior and pitiable all of those years when it was they who couldn’t see that the Emperor had no clothes. I was very clear to me I just couldn’t understand why everyone else didn’t see it too. To tell you the truth, I still don’t understand why otherwise intelligent people can’t see it. I carried a lot of anger over the way it made me feel for a long, long time.”

“Have you made peace with it now?” Raven asked.

“Mostly. Eventually I realized that these were good people who very sincerely believed what they believed. I guess if you want to believe badly enough and if you need to believe badly enough, it’s real easy to see the Emperor’s clothes, though I can’t help but wonder how many of them don’t see them and just pretend, like I did, believing that something is wrong with them. Anyway, I realized that, like me, they are trying to lives the best they can, according to their own conscience. Isn’t that really all anyone can ask of any of us?”

He stretched out on the grass. “It’s kind of strange being here again.” he said. “The first time that I was truly struck by the ridiculousness of it all was right here. Probably, my mother still hasn’t forgiven me.”

“For what” Raven asked.

“I was in Sunday School and my Mother was teaching the story of Abraham. He’s the dude that God told to sacrifice his only son to prove his faith, right? So Abraham gets his son on the Alter, knife poised and God says ‘Only kidding.’“

“I don’t remember the words ‘Only kidding’ in the Bible.” Raven teased.

“I paraphrase, okay smarty? Anyway,” he continued, “It just didn’t make sense to me. I mean, this is the Almighty Omnipotent Creator of the Universe and he says that he’s a jealous God and he plays silly mind games with people for reassurance as to their fidelity? It doesn’t add up. If your sister’s boyfriend pulled that crap, you’d kick his ass.”

“So I asked questions that my Mother couldn’t answer to my satisfaction. I could see how horrified she was. I was putting her on the spot in front of the whole class and I knew that I should let it go but I just couldn’t. I felt awful and she hardly spoke to me for the next few days but I’d seen behind the curtain and I couldn’t pretend otherwise any more.”

‘I guess I’ve always been what you’d call agnostic but it wasn’t until then that I began to accept it. I just didn’t want anything to do with a God like that. It seemed so petty to me, even in the seventh grade.”

Raven had listened intently and seemed genuinely interested, which impressed Rudy. She wasn’t just waiting for him to finish talking so she could talk, like so many women he’d known in the past.

“I guess I’ve always seen things pretty much the same way as you.” She said finally. “I didn’t have that kind of pressure, though. My parents were big on letting us find our own way when it came to religion. Thank goodness because they’ve always been big on every New Age Mysticism fad that came along. I thought that was all a bit silly”.

“They got into the whole peace, love and understanding hippie thing in the sixties and never outgrew it like most did.”

“What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?” Rudy said, quoting Elvis Costello.

“Nothing.” She said. “I guess I meant that as a metaphor for the whole hippie movement. At some point you’ve got to live in the real world. Somehow, my parents have managed to become pretty financially successful without living much in the real world so they don’t always have the same grasp of reality that most of their peers do now.

“Ironically, rebellion for me was going to the traditional churches. I went to church with a Catholic friend for a while. I checked out the Baptists and the Methodists. The Methodists were my favorite because they weren’t as harsh as the others. But in the end, none of it made much sense to me so I gave it up.”

“The way I see it now,” she said, “I don’t know what the truth is and I don’t think anyone else does either. But I am pretty sure that the secrets of the universe are not found in crystals or magic mushrooms. Maybe when we die we’ll find out, maybe not, but I don’t think the truth is knowable in this life.”

“I couldn’t say it better myself.” Rudy agreed. “You live your life the best way you know how and you’ll be okay.”

“Or not.” Raven added.

“Or not.” He agreed. “But it’s all anyone can really do.”

They tried the door to the gymnasium and to their surprise, it opened. “We had some great ball games in here. There were some Samoans and Tongans in our church that could really play.”

Rudy led Raven around behind the bleachers. “There used to be some loose floorboards right here. A friend of mine liked to steal his dad’s beer and stash it in there.” He pulled on the board and it came up, revealing a breadbox sized space in the floor joists.

“Well, what do you know, it’s still there.” He said with a smile.

“Damn. It’s empty.” Raven laughed. “I’m starving. Let’s go to Kaunakakai and get some lunch. I know a great little hole-in-the-wall with food to die for.”

“I always liked this town.” Rudy said as they entered Kaunakakai. “I remember it having more boardwalks than it does now. I’m not really sure if that’s changed or my memory is just faulty but it always felt like an old west town to me. While my parents were grocery shopping I’d walk around and pretend that I was on the set of a Western movie. To tell you the truth, everything here is bigger in my memory than it’s turning out to be.”

They parked in the shade and started across the street.

“Remember that old song by the Andrews Sisters, The Cockeyed Mayor of Kaunakakai?” Rudy asked. “We knew that guy. He was always around town and talked to everyone that crossed his path. He wore a white suit and a straw hat and he had a glass eye; I guess that’s why they thought he was cockeyed. I imagine he’s long dead by now.”

They opened the door and stepped into a room not much bigger than a walk-in closet. There were a couple of small tables in front of a steam table filled with food unlike anything Rudy had seen.

There were Turkey tails and sweet and sour pork and a couple of other things he couldn’t begin to name. He ordered sweet and sour something or other because it was about the only thing familiar. They took their food from the tiny Asian women behind the steam table and sat down.

“You weren’t kidding about this being a hole-in-the-wall” Rudy said.

“And you thought the fish counter I took you to was tiny.” Raven laughed. She handed him a turkey tail, “Here, try this.”

He took a bite and his face lit up. “This is incredible.” He said. “I didn’t even know Turkeys had tails.”

They enjoyed one of the gooiest, most wonderful meals that either of them had ever had. When they finished, they stepped up to the counter to pay. A red haired man with a flat nose, thick glasses and a large pot-belly stepped out of the store room.

“Honey, we need…” he stopped mid-sentence and stared in disbelief. “Rudy?”

“Holy cow!” Rudy exclaimed. “Wally freakin’ Wanker!”

Wally had been a regular at The Prankster ever since Rudy and Pete had met him back in the early eighties, on the way back from a water skiing trip on Lake Powell. A few years later he just disappeared and no one at the Prankster had a clue what happened to him.

“You two know each other?” Raven asked.

“Yeah.” Rudy said, still stunned by the amazing coincidence. “I guess it really is a small world, isn’t it?”

“Honey, come over here.” Wally called out. “This is an old acquaintance of mine from the Mainland. This is my wife, Soon-Li.”

They made their introductions and caught up for a while and then they decided to get together for dinner that evening.

When Rudy and Raven returned to their room they made dinner reservations for seven o’clock and then they made love until six o’clock.

Chapter Fifteen - Posterized

2008-12-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

In the morning, they ordered coffee from room service and sipped it on the Lanai. Raven said “I guess I should tell you something before this thing gets any further along.”

“Oh boy.” Rudy said warily. No good conversation ever started out this way. She was about to tell him that she had a boyfriend who was out of town somewhere..

“I mean, it’s not a big deal, but I want to be straight with you.” She was blushing. “When you showed up to look at the car that day?”

“Yeah...?”

“I knew who you were.”

“You did?”

You were a senior in college when I was a sophomore, right?”

“Sounds about right.” he said, still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Hawaii and Utah were both in the Western Athletic Conference back then and I went to the game when the Ute’s were here. I watched you play and you were terrific. You tore us up. And you were so cute. I had a huge crush on you and I, well, I kinda followed your career after that.”

“No way!” Rudy exclaimed, disbelieving.

“So anyway, I just thought you should know that I’m really just a groupie.” She said with a smile. “I tried to follow your career into the NBA but then you just sort of disappeared. Last thing I remember seeing on you was the... oh never mind.”

“The poster?” he asked.

“Yeah.” She answered sheepishly. She hadn’t meant to mention it but it sort of slipped out.

“Shit.” He said. All these years later it still got his goat. “The poster. The damn poster!”

Every NBA player lives in fear of being “posterized” and Rudy had been; big time. It happened against Nate “Tiny” Archibald when the Clippers played the Celtics a month into the 1980-81 season.

He was actually having a pretty good game against the NBA’s leading assist maker, holding Archibald below his average in both assists and scoring. Thus far in his rookie season Rudy had been struggling to compete at the NBA level. It seemed like everyone in the league was bigger and faster and stronger. Ironically, in this particular game, he was beginning to believe that he could compete in the NBA after all.

It was a close game and it was deadlocked in the final seconds. Archibald had the ball and Rudy was guarding him. Rudy wouldn’t normally be in the game at this stage but the Clippers starting point guard was injured and since Rudy had been playing so well, the coach left him in for the finish.

After a time out, Archibald brought the ball up court and Rudy stayed tight on him: too tight, a rookie mistake. With the clock winding down, Archibald crossed the center line and put a hand on Rudy near the top of the key, giving him a slight, nearly imperceptible shove. Rudy fell back a half step but recovered quickly and went up to block the shot as Archibald skyed for the jumper.

It seemed to Rudy like he leapt higher than he ever had in his life but he was that half-step out of position. It was just enough for Archibald to nail the winning shot over Rudy’s outstretched fingertips.

The buzzer sounded, the crowd erupted and Rudy went running after the officials shouting “He pushed me! He pushed me!” His teammates grabbed him and ushered him into the locker room.

The next morning a shot of Archibald hitting the game winner over Rudy was on the front page of the Sports sections in both the LA and Boston papers. The picture showed Rudy’s outstretched hand as close to touching the ball without actually touching it as possible, which is what made picture so dramatic.

A month later a huge, glossy poster of the shot was released. It became the biggest selling NBA poster of the year and the biggest humiliation of Rudy’s life.

He was a laughing stock in the Clippers locker room. His teammates called him “Poster Boy” and it was the straw that broke his already shaky confidence and will to succeed in the NBA.

A month later he was released by the Clippers and, with no suitors beating down his door, his NBA dreams crumbled. Eventually he came to believe that he would have made it in the NBA if he hadn’t been posterized, though the painful truth was that he’d never gotten another chance to find out for certain.

He finished the season in the Italian League. He’d already developed a pretty serious reputation for partying in Los Angeles and his cocaine use only increased in Italy. At the end of the season, he checked into rehab and finally arrived home in Utah three months later, broke and broken.

“You know”, Rudy said, “Archibald’s nickname was ‘Tiny’ but he was 6’1”. He had five inches on me and I still almost got to that shot.” God that sounded like a pathetic excuse.

Raven felt awful for bringing it up. She could see from the look on his face that the memory was nearly as painful now as when it had happened a decade ago,

She went on, hoping that her gaffe wouldn’t spoil the moment. “Anyway, when I opened my door and you were standing there, I couldn’t believe it. When you left that day, I screamed, I literally screamed like a silly Junior High girl! I just couldn’t believe Rudy Davis had just left my house.”

“Really?” Rudy asked. “You seemed so calm and cool. You wanna know the truth, you intimidated the shit out of me. I couldn’t believe it when you called to invite me to the luau. I mean, I’m not the screaming type.” He teased. “But I’m sure I would have screamed if I was. I still can’t figure out why you’re wasting your time with an unemployed wanna be like me.”

“You’re no wanna be,” she said. “I have a sixth sense about these things and I know you’re on your way to great things.”

“I wish I had your confidence. I mean, let’s be honest here, you’re way out of my league.” He said with a completely straight face.

She climbed onto his lap and put her arms around his neck. “Well, Junior, maybe you just got called up to The Bigs.” She said before showering him with kisses.

Molokai no ka oi.

Chapter Fourteen - The Lone Ranger and Tonto

2008-12-22T21:02:00.000-08:00

Every joint in Rudy’s body ached. His salty, naked body was wrapped around Ravens salty, naked body and they were slippery with sweat where they touched. The sun had been up for hours and the tiny cabin had become hot and stuffy. Raven groaned when he climbed out of the bed. They were both sore and bruised from their adventures the night before.

When Rudy had moved away from this island at the age of 12, he’d wondered if he would ever set foot on it again and his best guess had been that he never would. He certainly couldn’t have guessed that if he did, it would happen like this.

He searched the boat for his clothes until it slowly it dawned on him that they must have washed overboard during the storm last night.

“I think we have a problem.” He told Raven, “It looks like we lost our clothes in the storm last night.”

Raven laughed. “Have you ever heard the old joke about The Lone Ranger and Tonto?” she asked.
“Where they’re riding in the desert and bands of wild Indians surround them from all sides. The Long Ranger says, ‘What do we do now, Tonto?’”

“I know, and Tonto says, ‘Whachew mean we, white man.” Rudy finished the joke.

Raven got up and walked over to a closet while Rudy looked on, puzzled. She opened the door, revealing a closet full of clothes.”

“Whachew mean we, haole?” she laughed.

“Great.” Rudy said, suddenly aware of his nakedness.

“I suppose I could loan you one of my bikinis” she said with a giggle. “You might look kinda silly in it but we do have decency laws around here, ya know. You can’t just walk around with your tally whacker hanging out.”

“You’re really a laugh a minute, you know that? I hope that’s not your only idea.”

“What size jeans do you wear?”

“30-32.”

She pulled a brick of a cell phone from her handbag and dialed a number. Rudy was amazed that she had a cell phone. He didn’t know anyone else who did.

“Mary, it’s Raven. I’m on Nevermore at the dock in Kaunakakai. I need a room at the Kailuakoi and a rental car to meet me on the pier. Oh, and have them bring a pair of men jeans, size 30-32 and a T-shirt, medium, I’d say.” She listened for a minute and then laughed. “Yes, the writer, okay? Are you a travel agent or a gossip columnist? I’ll tell you all about it later. Thanks."

“You forgot about the shoes and socks.” Rudy said after she hung up.

“You on da islands now, brudda. Doan be no da kine wussy, ah?”

“What about da kine underwear?” he asked.

“You never go commando, brah? ‘Side, you doan need no da kine underwear today, brudda.”

A half hour later two GEO Metros pulled up to the boat and Raven climbed down the ladder.

“Sorry, Ms. Olsson,” one of the drivers said, “this was all they had left.”

“This will be fine.” Raven replied, fighting back a smile.

She climbed back up the ladder carrying a new pair of 501s and a hot pink T-shirt that said “My parents went to Molokai and all I got was this dumb shirt.”

“Here,” she said, handing the clothes to Rudy, “make a fashion statement.”

A few minutes later they were in the Metro, driving to the Kailuakoi on the islands’ windward side. When they got to their room, Raven put her arms around Rudy’s neck and kissed him.

“You know,” she said, “I really don’t think those clothes are you. Maybe you’d better take them off.” She grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it up over his head. “Hot pink for guys went out with Wham! thank God.” she continued as she unbuttoning his jeans.

Rudy said nothing while she undressed him.

“My, aren’t we eager?” she said when she pulled them over his hips, revealing the little General at full attention.

Rudy pushed her onto the bed. “Last one in the shower’s da kine haole wussy.” he said, running for the bathroom. Seconds later Raven had him pinned against the shower wall, planting kisses on his face.

“How’s this for a plan?” she said between kisses, “We’ll call for room service and spend what’s left of today in bed. Tomorrow you can show me your old haunts and tell me all of your Molokai stories but tonight, all I want to see is you.”

“You’re insatiable.” Rudy said, only partly in jest.

“Hey,” she said, “I’ve waited a long time for you.” She knew it was way too soon to be talking like that but Rudy was ecstatic.

He picked her up, pushed the shower door open and carried her to the bed, their bodies still wet and the shower still running.

Chapter Thirteen - Wanker Stew

2008-12-22T20:35:00.001-08:00

It made a great visual.

Just like the dream he’d had so long ago, about being swept away by the waters of the mighty Colorado, he pictured all those Southern California assholes learning to tread water as the liquid wall swept down on them like the wrath of God. All eight or ten or twenty million or whatever there were of them; Wanker Stew. His favorite thing about Hollyweird was that it was downstream.

His time as an attorney had taught him a little. He knew that he’d have to steal whatever he needed to accomplish the job. Otherwise, it would be too easy to trace the goods back to him. The key to successfully accomplishing his little plan was the same as winning in court: Preparation, research, doing your homework.

He drove his old Jeep into little towns all over Southern Utah and broke into Farmer’s Co-op stores, stealing a few cases of fertilizer and whatever other provisions he happened to need. He stashed his cache in the desert, making sure he wasn’t followed. Having learned from his first crack at terrorism, he made sure that he slept somewhere far away from his cache of stolen goods.

Before every job, he spent many hours casing the joint and the town. There were few cops in most of these small towns and they always had a routine. He made sure that he knew that routine before every job, he never struck in the same town twice and he never got greedy. Quick in and out, take what you need and leave the rest. That was the key to remaining free.

When he finally had enough fertilizer and diesel fuel, he stole a houseboat and loaded it all on board, hauling it in on a stolen two-ton flatbed GMC truck. He worked through the night loading the fertilizer and barrels of diesel fuel onto the houseboat, then returned the truck with a full tank of gas to the farm that he’d stolen it from. Farmers worked too hard to steal from them without returning whatever he’d taken.

It was risky, leaving the loaded, stolen boat unattended in the daylight, but he had no other choice. There was simply too much work to do to accomplish it all in one night. He couldn’t risk sleeping on the boat during the day and being caught red handed, so he returned to his cave in the desert for one last days sleep.

Tonight would be the culminating event of his life. When he was in college, a friend had asked him what he wanted out of life and his answer surprised even himself. He said, “I want to do something important, that people will always remember me for. Just one thing so that people will remember that Wally Wanker once walked this planet.”

Wally’s fantasy was about to come to fruition. If he died in the process, it didn’t matter, he had a calling. The flat nosed misfit from Tonopah was about to give meaning to his life.

At midnight, Wally crawled to the edge of the butte that overlooked the little cove where the explosive laden houseboat waited. Lake Powell was full of tiny, hidden canyons, some still uncharted all these years later. Some only existed when the water level was right.

He pulled his binoculars from his backpack and surveyed every inch of ground and water as far as he could see from his vantage point. This was one of those occasions when he wished he had better eyesight.

Once he was convinced that the coast was clear, he climbed down the hill and slipped quietly onto the boat. He wired the timer onto the starter caps. The initial explosion would set off the fertilizer and diesel fuel and, in theory, Wally would have his own Big Bang.

When everything was set, he pulled on his life jacket, opened the fuel cocks and pushed the start button. The sound of the starters cranking over the two huge diesel motors seemed enormous to Wally and he felt a chill creeping over his body. His scalp tingled and his hair felt like electric current was running through it. He took the steering wheel in his sweaty, fat little fingers and eased the huge boat out of the cove and onto the open water, for the ten mile trip to the dam.

As he neared Glen Canyon Dam, he cut the engines, set the timer for fifteen minutes and dove off the back of the boat into the warm waters of the soon-to-be-former Lake Powell.

The boat would drift the last two hundred yards under its own inertia, he figured, allowing him to make his exit before it got too close to the suction from the huge turbines for him to swim away. If he tried to swim too close to them, he risked being sucked into the current caused by the AC generators.

“Oh well,” he sang to himself as he swam away from the boat, “it’s been a good day in hell.”

The water was moving faster than he’d expected, even this far away from the turbines and he’d put a good deal of weight on by 1982, all of which mean that he was in danger of not making it to shore before the houseboat blew.

Despite nearly two years of work and careful planning, he hadn’t realized how tough ten minutes of hard, nonstop swimming was going to be. He was barely conscious when he did reach the shore and he’d swallowed a great deal of the soon-to-be-former lake.

He laid on the shore for a few minutes and then forced himself up and staggered toward the dirt road a few hundred feet away. His heart was pounding and his chest felt like it was going to explode.

He could see the road only a few more feet ahead but he didn’t make it. He passed out about ten feet from the road, drifting in and out of consciousness, until he saw headlights approach. He rolled over onto his large belly and crawled toward the roadway.

The Toyota pickup stopped, engine running and headlights piercing the darkness, and two men climbed out.

“Whaddya think, Pete,” the passenger said, “is he alive?”

“Yeah,” Wally groaned, “get me outta here.”

The two men helped Wally to his feet and got him into the cab of the pickup, which was no easy feat at his girth and in his condition.

“So what happened to you?” the one called Pete asked. “Your boat sink or something?”

“No, but it’s about to.” Wally said, slurring his words like a drunk. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Huh?”

“DRIVE.” Wally shouted with every bit of energy he could muster.

Reacting to the urgency in his voice, Pete put the truck into gear and took off in a shot. A few seconds later they saw a small flash followed by a huge one. Another second after that there was a boom, then a deeper BOOM that shook the ground and rattled the windows of the little pickup.

“Whoa!” Rudy shouted, “What in the hell was that?”

“Wanker Stew.” Wally muttered, grinning to himself in the dark cab. “Start swimming mother fuckers.” he mumbled too quietly for anyone else to hear.

“Where you guys headed?” Wally asked.

“Salt Lake.” Pete replied.

“Perfect. Wake me up when we get there.”

Pete and Rudy looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. The sun was coming up and they were nearly in Salt Lake when they heard the first news reports on the radio.

“A house boat exploded on Lake Powell, near the Glen Canyon Dam during the night. The boat was reported stolen on Thursday and was loaded with a makeshift bomb of fertilizer and diesel fuel. It was completely destroyed.”

“Authorities say that this appears to have been an attempt to disrupt the operation of the dam by a radical environmental group, though no one has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.”

“The dam was not damaged and there were no injuries. Police have no solid leads at this time, though they speculate that this may be connected to a recent rash of burglaries throughout Southern Utah.”

Wally could feel the eyes of the two men on either side of him. He opened his eyes. “Don’t look at me. I don’t know nuthin’.”

“What do you think, Rudy, do we believe him?” Pete asked.

“Do pigs have wings?” Rudy replied. “Maybe we should turn him in.”

“I’m thinking no harm, no foul.” Pete answered.

Wally took a deep breath, not sure if he was more relieved or disappointed. One thing that he had learned over the years was patience and he knew that Hayduke would ride again.

Chapter Twelve - That Damned Dam

2008-12-22T20:08:00.001-08:00

From the small town of Tonopah, NV, where Wally Wanker lived, it’s a 150 mile drive in any direction to find a place with more people than jackrabbits or rattlesnakes. In such a remote place, Wally couldn’t take refuge in anonymity like he might have in the city. Everyone knew everyone and everyone knew Wally, the weird, overweight kid with the thick glasses, the flat nose and the C+ IQ. Even his name invited ridicule.

He was a voracious reader and when he was 11, he discovered the western writer Edward Abbey, who had a tremendous influence on young Wally. Most of his days that summer were spent hiking the desert around Tonopah with a paperback copy of The Brave Cowboy in his back pocket. He discovered its stark beauty and began to see himself as a creature of the desert, a survivor in a harsh environment.

When he was 13, his father took him on a raft trip down the Colorado River in Southern Utah. For ten days they floated down Glen Canyon, retracing the steps of John Wesley Powell, shooting white-water, sleeping on the banks of the mighty river and eating trout that they caught along the way.

The diversity of the area amazed him; from red-rock cliffs and natural arches cut in sandstone to gentle river beaches and narrow canyons with walls rising hundreds of feet on either side. There were infinite shades of red rock and sandstone contrasting against the azure sky like pastels in a watercolor painting. In the castle rocks rising from the desert floor, he could see the layers of sediment, one on top of another in varying shades, as if God himself had written the area’s history there for all to see.

The fertile images and the experience of living in the delicate ecosystem made a profound impression on young Wally. As far as he was concerned, the trip had been the ten best days of his life, in a place where he finally knew that he belonged. For ten days his universe was just as it should be.

On the last day of the trip, they sat by the fire at Kane Creek Landing and his father said “Take a good look around son; you may never see this again.”

“Oh, I’ll see at again, alright, I’m coming back here every chance I get. When I grow up, I’m going to live here.” Wally replied.

“You won’t see this if you do. They’re building a dam a couple of miles downstream from here and they’ll flood this all out.”

“All of it?”

“A good portion of what we’ve traveled on this trip will be under water, part of a huge lake they’re going to call Lake Powell, after the explorer that discovered Glen Canyon, Major John Wesley Powell. The dam’s been under construction since ‘56 but they’re just beginning the flooding. That’s why I brought you here now; I wanted us to see if before it was too late.”

What cruel joke was God playing on him? He’d finally found where he belonged just in time for it to be destroyed. How could he have seen all the construction going on during the trip and not even wondered what it was about? He felt foolish for not questioning, not have a more curious nature, and vowed to be more aware from now on.

He had never heard of John Wesley Powell or of Glen Canyon Dam, but you could damn sure bet that he would find out about them real quick. They were naming the project that would destroy his discovery after Major Powell? It made no sense to him. It was the cruelest of ironies.

Wally slept fitfully that night, tossing and turning in his sleeping bag. In his dreams, he was standing on the Kaiparowits Plateau, two thousand feet above Glen Canyon, in the bright sunshine. He heard a tremendous noise and saw a huge wall of water crashing toward him, about to sweep him away and drown him while he struggled to free himself from his sleeping bag.

He woke with a start, gasping for breath, heart pounding. He lay still in his sleeping bag for a long time, waiting for his heart to return to normal. Then, in a moment of clarity, it hit him; he knew why God had brought him here. He knew what he was supposed to do with his life.

In 1962, at thirteen years old, before the world even knew what one was, he had become an environmental terrorist.

By the summer of 1964, construction on the Glen Canyon Dam was rapidly approaching completion. Early one June morning, just days after school ended for the summer, Wally packed his backpack and quietly slipped out the back door while his parents slept. He walked down to the highway, stuck his thumb out and two days later he was on top of a hill north of Page, Arizona, looking through binoculars at the activity below as Glen Canyon Dam neared it’s final form.

That night he slipped through the darkness, down the hill, armed for assault. With his knife, he cut hydraulic lines. He brought sugar for the fuel tanks, knowing that it would cause the massive engines to overheat and seize. With his hammer, he flattened connections, damaged bolt heads and smashed gauges. He opened hoods and poured sand into crank cases.

When the sun came up he was five miles away, asleep in a cave that had been carved in the sandstone by the Colorado River in its glory days.

Over the next two weeks, his continued this nocturnal pattern, striking in different places and adding new twists to his repertoire of destructive tricks.

One morning, after a particularly productive night, he woke with a start. He was being yanked by the foot of his sleeping bag into the daylight. The harsh sun stabbed his eyes. His back bruised and bled as he bounced off jagged rocks and he felt a warm stream on the back of his head where it had struck a piece of sandstone.

“Alright, you little piece of shit, the party’s over.” A burly man in a Sheriff’s uniform yelled. He rolled Wally over and handcuffed him. “Yer coming with me, ya little J.D.”

Wally was taken to the Kane County jail in Kanab, UT because the little cave he’d been sleeping in was on the Utah side of the border. For 18 hours he sat, speaking to no one, until he was called in to the visitor cell where his father waited, white faced and sullen. He’d expected to be yelled at knowing that his father couldn’t possible understand his calling.

“You look awful.” His father said. “Are you OK?”

“Nothing that won’t heal.” Wally said quietly. Looking down.

“Son, I brought you up right. I taught you to stand up for what you believe in and I know you think that’s what you were doing, but there is another way. We have a system of laws in this country. They aren’t perfect and they don’t always work, but without them, we are cavemen.”

A wry smile crossed his lips; the irony of where his son had been hiding wasn’t lost on him. “Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

“I’m not sure.”

“If you really believe in your cause, learn the law. Beat these people in court, it’s the only chance you have. Otherwise, you’ll spend your life in jails like this one and the dams will still go up. Son, I’m proud of you for standing up for what you believe but you need to find a more appropriate way to do it.”

The fifteen year old in Wally was beginning to break through the tough guy act he’d been trying and his eyes began to water. In a shaky voice, he asked, “What’s going to happen to me, Dad?”

“I got an attorney. He tells me that because you are still a juvenile and have no history of being in trouble, they’ll probably let you off pretty light this time. If it happens again, that’s another story.”

In a matter of days, Wally was driving home with his dad, having learned his lessons well. Wally had decided to become the first Wanker with a college degree.

His college years were uneventful. He worked hard and spent his summers hiking and camping in Southern Utah. Many nights he slept on the shores of Lake Powell, trying to imagine the canyons below the surface.

It could never be the same, now that the dam was in full operation. If he blew the dam to smithereens, as he often fantasized that he would, it wouldn’t matter. A piece of history was gone, lost forever under a layer of silt.

Knowing that the water and electricity that the dam generated went to Southern California was like salt in his wounds. Glen Canyon was gone so that lights in Hollyweird stayed lit.

Just after Wally graduated from law school, he got married. His new bride was a working class girl who was mostly attracted to him because he was about to become an attorney and everyone knows that attorneys made a lot of money.

She had expected a carefree life on easy street but even after he finally passed the bar on his third try, Wally wasn’t that kind of attorney. She packed her bags once it was clear that the easy life she’d dreamed of was not in the cards.

It wasn’t that Wally didn’t have clients; he had more of them than he knew what to do with. It was just that most of his clients couldn’t pay. He had a strong sense of compassion for anyone in need and their ability to pay didn’t factor in.

What money he did make, he spent on his favorite environmental causes. He was a man driven by his passion for just causes and there was no cause more just than preserving the earth for future generations. The big money that he was always fighting in court could afford batteries of lawyers and it was tough for a lone attorney to take them on. That didn’t stop Wally and he won his fair share of cases, all things considered.

As the seventies wore on, his frustrations grew. Despite winning a few battles, the war was slipping away. Emotionally, Wally had always lived perilously close to the edge, but in 1975, when Ed Abbey published “The Monkey Wrench Gang”, he began to slip over.

He read the book over and over until he could recite entire chapters. The book was about a group of people who try to stop the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam by sabotaging, or “monkey wrenching” the construction equipment.

Wally was convinced that Mr. Abbey must have been inspired to write the book by reading news accounts of his escapades years before. It was obvious to Wally that the Hayduke character was himself.

Hayduke was an ex-Marine just back from the war. He was an earthy, even crude character with no social skills and no sense of purpose until he fell into The Monkey Wrench Gang. The gang and their work gave meaning to an otherwise meaningless life and Hayduke became the most fearless, single minded warrior they had. The parallels Wally saw between Hayduke and himself were uncanny.

Wally thought about the book constantly and began to emulate Hayduke. By 1980, he was wearing camouflage clothing and a bandana and driving an old, beat up Jeep, just as Hayduke did. He practiced law less and less and drank beer and slept in the desert more and more.

When he lost his house, the only asset he had, the transformation was complete. He preferred not to think of himself as homeless; his home was the entirety of Southern Utah.

Wally slept under the stars and pondered what to do next. Maybe his Dad had been wrong all those years ago. Maybe his little exploits had been more than the pranks of a misguided fifteen year old. They had inspired the greatest writer of all time to write about him, hadn’t they? One thing was clear, terrorism got attention, and court action had gotten him nowhere.

As the days and weeks went by, he pondered such things until, in a moment of clarity just like so many years before, he knew what he had to do.

The damned dam had to go.

Chapter Eleven - Drifting

2008-12-21T18:37:00.000-08:00

Nevermore was painted on the back of Ravens cabin cruiser and it stood out in the moonlight as Rudy and Raven climbed the ladder onto the deck. This was one sweet boat. She featured two cabins, two seating areas, a full galley and was powered by twin Volvo 4.3 I/O engines.

“Now I have you in my roost.” Raven said with a nefarious smile. “Tell me something, Rudy,” she continued, “have you been back to Molokai since you moved away back in, what, ’69?”

“Sixty-eight. No I haven’t, why?”

“Well, I say we go there now.”

“Right now? At 3 AM?”

“Why not? It’s only 17 miles straight across the water.” She said, pointing toward the dark horizon. “Half the distance I’ve already come today. We’ve got a full moon, a sextant, and I’m a pretty good night navigator.”

“A sex what?” His curiosity was peaked.

“A sextant, a navigational instrument. I’m an expert with it.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Rudy asked. “Okay, my life is in your hands.”

Raven guided the boat out of the harbor. When they got out on the open water, she pulled the throttles back and the acceleration knocked Rudy off his feet. About half way across the channel, she eased the throttles down and turned the twin Volvo motors off. The boat bobbed up and down as their wake caught up with them.

“I brought us a little dessert and this looks like a perfect place to have it.” Raven said.

“You rock!” he laughed.

She had obviously given all of this some thought and the idea of that thrilled him. If he didn’t know better, he might even think this was a planned seduction.

“Should I drop anchor, or just let her drift?” Raven asked.

“Let her drift,” Rudy answered, “that’s worked pretty well for me so far.”

“I like the way you think, Rudy. Wait right there.”

She disappeared into the cabin and resurfaced with a gooey piece of Marzipan cake. They sat on the deck in the moonlight, eating from each others fingers, getting the sticky cake all over their faces and kissing it off. When the last of the cake was gone and most of the goop had been kissed from their lips, and cheeks, they continued kissing, confirming Rudy’s long-held belief that kissing is an underrated skill.

Eventually Raven stood, “I think I need to wash some of this sticky mess off.” With that, she pulled off her top, shorts and panties and stood naked in the moonlight, revealing a bronze body with not a single tan line.

“Coming?” she shouted before diving off the deck. She hit the water with hardly a splash.

Rudy quickly undressed and dived off the boat. He surfaced next to Raven and their naked bodies intertwined, with only the blue Pacific between them. They shared a salty kiss and broke apart, splashing about. They giggled and frolicked like children on a caper, until they were spent.

“You know,” Raven teased, as they bobbed on the surface, catching their breath, “this is said to be the most shark-infested section of water in the islands, but I haven’t seen a one, have you?”

Rudy was already swimming toward the boat. “Very funny.” He said, stroking as hard as he could.

They climbed back in the boat and stretched their exhausted bodies out across the deck. When his breath returned, Rudy rolled over and began kissing Raven, working his way down her body, licking the salt from her breasts as if he’d he’d just had a shot of tequila, but this buzz was way better than any tequila buzz.

The wind began to kick up and the ocean grew restless, tossing the boat up and down. White caps smashed against the sides like thunderclaps and splashed over them but they hardly noticed.

As the storm intensified, so did their passion. They were making love furiously while the boat rose and fell with the rising swells. Rudy half believed that it was their lovemaking causing all the commotion. The winds became fierce and a driving rain pelted their naked bodies but they were way past caring. If they had died right there and then, neither would have minded.

They climaxed together, just as a huge wave slammed against the side of the boat, nearly capsizing it. They slid across the deck, bodies intertwined, crashed against the stern and they nearly spilled into the ocean. Raven gasped for breath as she climaxed again, her arms and legs constricting so tight that Rudy couldn’t move.

They lay immobile on the deck, their still-connected bodies wet with sweat, rain, their own juices and the salty Pacific. When they finally loosened their grip on one another, Raven looked into Rudy’s eyes.

“Wow.” was all she could manage to say. She continued looking into his eyes and Rudy sensed that she was struggling to find the words to say what was on her mind. After a few minutes, she opened her mouth but all that came out was again, “Wow.”

Dumbstruck himself, Rudy shook his head in agreement.

Another wave crashed against the boat, once again nearly capsizing it and Raven jumped to her feet. “We’d better get outta here.” She shouted as she fired up the engines and pulled the throttles back.

They stood side by side, Raven at the helm, as the boat bounced across the ocean at full throttle. The water was rough with swells as much as ten feet high. The cabin cruiser went airborne as it left a large swell and then crashed savagely as it slammed nose first into the next one.

On occasion, a gust of wind would hit while they were airborne and the boat would come down on its side. It was all they could do to remain on their feet as the boat was tossed about. Ravens erect nipples pointed the way to Kaunakakai and safety, like a figurehead on a pirate ship.

After ten minutes that felt like ten hours, the storm began to quell and the lights of Kaunakakai appeared in the distance. By the time they reached the pier, the water was relatively calm and Raven eased the boat up against the dock, jumping onto the wharf to secure it. When it was secured, they climbed down into a state room and collapsed together on the bed. They were asleep in seconds.

Rudy dreamt that he was the inexperienced captain of a boat, trying to guide it through a large, foggy harbor, fraught with obstacles. Fear gripped his chest when he realized that he didn’t have the necessary skills or experience to safely guide the vessel through the dangerous water, when the familiar voice of Elder Jellyfish entered his head and calmed him.

“Be careful,” the voice said.

“You again!” Rudy exclaimed. He looked around but could see no one.

“Take your time.” The voice said. “Keep your eyes open, and you’ll be fine.”

The next thing he knew, the little craft was nudging softly against the dock, safely harbored.

Chapter Ten - Makawao Madness

2008-12-21T16:14:00.001-08:00

Rudy awoke to the sun pouring through the open balcony doors. His dreams had been filled with Raven, as they had every night since they’d met.

He sliced some fresh pineapple and took the phone out onto the balcony. From nine stories up you can see for miles and he watched the spout from a whale in the distance. He stepped to the telescope for a closer look and was awe-struck at the great beast.

It was hard to imagine that a week and a half ago he’d been hiking in the Utah desert with not a clue as to how his life was about to change. He stretched out on the lounge chair feeling like he hadn’t a care in the world and enjoyed the sun, the pineapple, the salty air and the view. Any day that started like this was going to be a good one.

In a while he got his nerve up and dialed Raven’s number. She answered on the second ring.

“Rudy!” she sounded genuinely pleased to hear from him. “I was just wondering how things turned out with Charlie and the duplex.”

“Yeah, well} Rudy laughed, “it’s a long story. Right now I’m on Maui, in Charlie’s condo. He says that he’ll make me a deal on the duplex if you sell him the piece he’s been after.”

Raven laughed. “I planned on letting him have it all along; I just have to bust his balls a little first. Rule number one, they always want what they can’t have.”

“In that case, I hope you know that you can’t have me.” He felt silly for saying it even before the words had left his mouth.

“We’ll just see. I generally get what I want.” He had little doubt about that.

“Did he tell you what he does with most of the pieces he buys?” Raven asked.

“You said he resells them.”

“Not to just anyone. He sells them to Leonardo Azeri. Azeri is infatuated with my work but I won’t have anything to do with him so he pays through the nose to get them from Charlie.”

“Who’s Leonardo Azeri? Rudy asked.

“A drug lord, I guess you’d call him. We have a little bit of a history, Leonard and I. He’s said to be the biggest importer of cocaine into the islands and now he’s dabbling in Heroin. He funnels the stuff from South America, through Hawaii, to the mainland. Very bad guy.”

It didn’t occur to Rudy to ask why she knew so much about Leonardo Azeri or just what kind of history they had.

“I can’t imagine Charlie having anything to do with a guy like that. Last night he was carrying on about old-money jerks and how they stick powder up their noses and needles in their arms because they never learned how to work… or something like that.”

“Did he give you the ’I know an opportunity when I see one speech’?” Raven asked.

“Well…yeah.” Rudy replied, “How did you know?”

“The thing about Charlie is, he lives in a fantasy world. He has tons of money and plays his life away and he only sees what he chooses to. That’s one of the luxuries that money affords you, I guess. Leonardo is a very charming man if you don’t think about what he does for a living. Charlie says that he gets a bum rap, that he’s just an eccentric millionaire with an air of mystery about him so people conjure up wild stories. As far as Charlie’s concerned Azeri is just a rancher who has done very well for himself.”

“A rancher?”

“Yeah, he lives on a huge ranch on Molokai, away from prying eyes.”

“Wow. Shucks, ma’am, I’m just a poor country boy out in the world for the first time. I don’t know nuttin ‘bout no drug dealers.” Rudy said in his best Jed Clampett.

Raven laughed. “You’ve been over there with Charlie too long. You’re starting to sound like him.”

“Maybe you’d better just come over here and rescue me.” Rudy said. “Charlie says we can all go dancing and twist your arm together about that sculpture.”

“Is he with Jenny?”

“Yeah.”

“How that old coot landed her, I’ll never know. Despite hanging out with Charlie, she’s actually pretty cool.” She laughed. “I’ll tell you what, I need to take care of some business, and then I’ll get Nevermore and head out. Meet me at the pier in Lahaina around three, OK?”

“What’s a Nevermore?” He asked.

“My boat.”

“Well okay then, it’s a date.”

“Rudy?”

“Yeah?”

“I wouldn’t pilot a boat across eighty two miles of ocean just to sell a piece to Charlie.”

She broke the connection before he could reply.

Maui no ka oi!

Raven was sitting on the deck of her Cabin Cruiser, sketch pad and charcoal pencil in hand, when Rudy pulled up in Charlie’s Porsche. She didn’t notice him and he watched her as he approached the boat. She was wearing denim shorts and a black bikini top, had on no makeup, and she looked completely ravishing.

He began to ascend the ladder onto the boat and Raven looked up and met him on deck with a big smile and a gentle hug. Rudy stood very still, arms around her bare midriff and her soft hair in his face, savoring the moment. Her fragrance was gentle and feminine and irresistible. They stood there for what seemed forever, neither wanting to let go.

Eventually, they headed down the ladder and climbed into the Porsche.

A gentle rain began to fall as they headed out of Lahaina, toward Makawao, in what the locals call the Up Country. The road twisted and turned as they worked their way up the Haleakala Highway. They rolled past the greenest pastures Rudy had ever seen. From time to time, as they wound their way up the mountain, the late afternoon sun broke out from behind a dark rain cloud in dramatic bright fractured beams even as the rain continued to fall.

Eventually they reached the board-walked, tin roofed little town of Makawao. Charlie and Jenny were waiting for them at Cicero’s, a little Italian restaurant and blues bar. They dined on Linguini in clam sauce with wine and laughing and joked the evening away.

“They say you’re only supposed to have red wine with red sauce,” Charlie said, “Just the kind of stupid crap Yankees say. I’m feeling crazy, mixing my colors, just try and stop me.”

“Just knowing that much is what passes for culture on the ‘Guff’ Coast.” Jenny teased.

“You’re outta control, Charlie.” Rudy laughed.

“Yeah, a regular madman.” Jenny said.

“Damn straight, I’m a madman. Once, I went to a 7-11 and bought a pencil, just for the hell of it, didn’t even need one. Thirty seven cents down the drain, just like that. I’m an outta control red necked Guff Coast madman and damned proud of it.”

It wasn’t really that funny except for the delivery. Charlie’s straight face and perfect deadpan had the table in stitches.

Around 9:30 an up and coming blues band from San Francisco climbed onstage and began getting ready for the first set.

“So, Raven, did Rudy tell you about our little deal?” Charlie asked.

“He said that you were still trying to get that piece from me.”

“Well, I’ve already offered you forty thousand for it, how much more is it going to take?”

“Fifty thousand. Hell, I got that much for the first piece I ever sold.”

“Well yeah, it’s a classic now.” Charlie retorted. “This is just one a yer reg-lar run a the mill Olssen knock off's.”

“Fine, I sell it to one a mah reg-lar run a the mill customers.” Raven mocked.

“Forty-Five.”

“Come on, Chuck Connors. The med rifleman can do better than that. Anyone who can pony up thirty-seven cents for a pencil he doesn’t even need, can surely part with a little more cash than that for an Olsson original.”

“Okay, Okay. Forty eight-five, but that’s as far as I go.”

Raven was quiet for a few minutes, then finally said, “Fifty thousand Charlie. Your scumbag friend will gladly pony up.”

Charlie faked surprise. “Why Raven, why would you think it’s for Leo? Just what is your problem with him, anyway?”

Raven turned serious. “See, I say scumbag and you know exactly who I’m talking about. I don’t need drug money, even when you launder it first. I know what you do with my work. I’ve been to your house many times and I’ve never seen any of my stuff there.”

“It’s a big house; there must be a few rooms that you’ve never been in.”

Raven was clearly unamused but before she could speak again, Charlie quickly added, “OK, Fifty grand. You are one tough cookie, Ms. Olsson.”

Everyone at the table knew he'd intended to meet her price all along. He just had to mess with her a little first. Charlie reached in his pocket and pulled out a set of keys and handed them to Rudy.

“Well, Rudy, seems like all I ever do is hand you my keys. Here, take these before I change my mind. Looks like you’ve got yourself an apartment.”

Before Rudy could reply, Charlie nodded in Raven’s direction. “That’s one stubborn gal you’ve got there. Are you sure you can handle her?”

“Nope.” Rudy answered honestly, “But I’m a sucker for a challenge.”

The band started with an energetic, full bodied version of Leroy Carr’s ‘Blues Before Sunrise’. Raven grabbed Rudy’s hand and pulled him onto the dance floor where they were the only couple dancing until Jenny and Charlie joined them a few minutes later. They stayed on the floor through the entire first set.

During the break, Raven and Rudy, dripping in perspiration, strolled along the old west boardwalks of Makawao. Unlike other old west looking Hawaiian towns, Makawao is not pretentious; it actually is a cattle town full of Hawaiian cowboys called paniolos.

Inside Cicero’s, the clientele easily outnumbered the population of the town and most of the patrons looked like they’d be more like they belonged in a Wyoming cowboy bar. Appropriate attire meant Wrangler jeans, huge belt buckles, cowboy hats, boots and cowboy shirts and always, a buck knife strapped to the belt.

These guys looked like some bad dudes, Rudy noted. This was not a place you’d want to find yourself in a bar fight. He doubted that any of them had ever punched any cattle and he was right. Mostly, they were cocaine cowboys involved in smuggling.

Maui no ka oi. He thought. Where else could you drive 45 minutes into the mountains and dance to a San Francisco blues band at an Italian Cowboy Bar with a bunch of Paniolo’s?

The band was back on stage so they went inside and hit the dance floor again. Jenny tried to drag Charlie back onto the floor but he was worn out so she joined Rudy and Raven and the three of them closed the place up.

As they left, Raven told Charlie that they’d leave his Porsche at the pier in Lahaina. Rudy had no idea what she had in mind but he’d done alright so far by rolling with the flow so he followed along without a word.

Chapter Nine - Maui No Ka Oi

2008-12-21T14:49:00.000-08:00

Just before 3 PM the next day Rudy arrived at the little duplex where Raven’s friend, Charlie Connors, was to meet him. He had arrived early so that he could look around the place by himself.

It wasn’t much more than a mile from Raven’s place, which made it appealing even before he even got out of the car. He parked on a tiny strip of dirt between the back door and the highway, which was the closest thing there was to a driveway.

The duplex sat on a narrow lot between Kamehameha and the Pacific Ocean. The vacant unit was on the south end next to a huge culvert that drained the rain waters from the volcanic cliffs to the east into the ocean.

The drainage ditch couldn’t have been ten feet from the side of the little stucco building and a bull dozer sat atop a mound of fresh dirt near the culvert. The duplex had flooded in the heavy rains earlier in the rainy season, when the entire North Shore had been declared a federal disaster area. Peeking through the window, Rudy could see that the paint was fresh and the carpets were new.

He circled the building and stopped on the front steps. There was nothing but twenty feet of sand between the building and the mighty ocean. I hope this is high tide, he thought to himself. Note to self: get a tide chart.

He sat on the steps, leaning against the front door and stared across the water. With his eyes closed he unconsciously formed an image of the vastness of the ocean. Soon he could envision all the life that it contained, all the drama, the life-or-death struggles going on below the surface.

Just as the image began to come into focus Elder Sea Nettle floated past, smiling and waving three of his arms mockingly. Rudy shook the picture off by imagining what it would be like to watch the sun set over the deep blue Pacific from his own living room.

This was a million miles from the tiny house he’d shared with Circe in one of Salt Lake’s seedier west side neighborhoods and it was exactly what he’d imagined when he’d first thought of coming here.

The ocean breeze ruffled his hair and took the edge off the afternoon sun while the words to Jimmy Buffett’s “Havana Daydreaming” floated through his head. This was the Pacific, not the Caribbean, but he stuck to his task of daydreaming just like the character in the song.

Raven was right about one thing, if living here didn’t inspire him nothing would. His imagination had been more active this afternoon than in the entire year before. There was no question in Rudy’s mind that it was worth risking waking up some morning to find himself and his little duplex adrift somewhere near Guam.

“So you’re Raven’s new beau.” A gravelly voice said, interrupting his fantasies.

Rudy opened his eyes and saw a man with wild, white hair and leather for skin. His hair was pure white, though he wasn’t much over fifty. Rudy hadn’t known what to expect Charlie to be like but this wasn’t it. He was wearing tan shorts and a white shirt that was as wrinkled as crumpled paper.

“Charlie Connors”, he said, sticking out his hand, “Just like the Rifleman”, he grinned.

Rudy stood and shook his hand. “Rudy Davis. Nice to meet you. I’m not really her beau. We just met a few days ago.”

“Well, I hear that she was showing you off at the luau. Everyone that was there has been bragging about how they met Rudy Davis, the writer. To tell you the truth, I don’t believe I’ve ever read any of your stuff.”

Rudy stared across the water. “Great view.” He said, eager to change the subject.

“Yeah, and it comes with an apartment.” The Rifleman said as he unlocked the door. “Come inside and take a look.”

The interior was a small, nondescript but clean one bedroom with new brown carpet, freshly painted white walls and a cozy feel despite the rental store furnishings. Rudy couldn’t quite put his finger on it; maybe it just had good karma, but it felt like home. He had no idea how he'd afford it, knowing what he’d learned about that cost of Hawaiian real estate, but it felt right.

“So, how much are you asking for it?”

“Well,” Charlie replied, thinking about it, “Raven seems to think that I owe her something. Not sure why but she expects me to make you a deal. To tell you the truth, it’s got me a little curious about you. A lot of guys make a play for her but you’re the first guy I’ve ever seen her show any real interest in. I can’t help but wonder what that’s about.”

“Me three.” Rudy said, not at all facetiously.

Charlie chuckled at that. “I’ll tell you what, let’s have some dinner and a couple of drinks and we’ll see what we can work out. You have any big plans for the evening?”

“Can’t say I do.” Rudy answered. He’d thought he might call Raven tonight and let her know how it went with Charlie but it was probably just as well to wait until tomorrow. He didn’t want to come on too strong, too soon.

“Your car will be safe here, we’ll take my Jag.” Charlie said.

They walked around the duplex to a new British Racing Green XKE. The car, in contrast to its owner, was shiny and spotless, inside and out. Charlie turned the key and the V-12 roared to life. The engine was as smooth and strong as anything Rudy had ever been in when Charlie ran it through the gears.

“Damn fine automobile, when it runs.” Charlie said. “Just about have to have a mechanic on the payroll to own one of these but it sure is sweet when it works.”

“Where are we headed?” Rudy asked as they roared through the Like-Like tunnel toward Honolulu.

“Ever been to Maui?”

“Once. 1967, I believe. We changed planes there on the way from Molokai to the Big Island.”

“I know a place in Lahaina has the best cheeseburgers on planet earth, or any other. I know after a week of eating this South Sea poi and raw tuna shit, you gotta be craving a good old fashioned burger and fries. They call that stuff Ahi or Tombo but don’t let ‘em fool ya, it’s just tuna fish."

“You’re driving.” Rudy said, wondering why they’d go to Maui for a burger when Oahu was littered with Burger Kings and McDonald's.

Charlie cut the engine on the little Cessna once they were secure in his hangar at the Kahului Airport and pointed to a Candy Apple Red Porsche Turbo Carrera parked next to the plane.

“That’s my ride over there.” He said.

Rudy climbed down from the Cessna, his stomach still doing flip flops from the plane ride. He was really hoping that Charlie didn’t drive the Porsche the same way he flew. He did.

The little town of Lahaina is an art town now but a hundred and fifty years ago it was a whaling center as well as the capitol of the islands. Front Street is the main attraction in Lahaina, with its restaurants and dozens of galleries lining both sides of its shaded boardwalk.

The Town Square, now Banyan Tree Park, at the south end of Front Street, is filled almost entirely by a huge Banyan Tree. Locals claim that it is the largest on earth. Next to the square is a small, white church with a neon sign that says “Jesus Is Coming.” It was the inspiration for a line in an old Eagles song.

Moving north from the square, Front Street follows the shoreline. The shops and restaurants on the ocean side all have huge windows that are hinged at the top and open to the ocean lapping at their foundations below.

Cheese Burger in Paradise is a two story building on the ocean side, with a covered outdoor lanai upstairs and bar and restaurant seating at ground level. The two California girls who own the place named it before Jimmy Buffet had the idea to open his own chain by that name, Charlie explained. Thus, they have the distinction of being the only Cheese Burger in Paradise not affiliated with Jimmy Buffet.

Charlie and Rudy sat at the bar, next to the open window while water lapped outside below their feet and the ever-present ocean breeze kept the smoke to a tolerable level.

A shapely woman with long gray streaked dark hair was in the storage room behind the bar. She was in her mid forties, still looking good in tight blue jeans and a cotton blouse tied off at her waist.

“What’s it take to get a little service in this two-bit joint?’ Charlie yelled back to her.

“Charlie!” she yelled back. She came around the bar and gave him a big hug, revealing a fair amount of her tanned cleavage in the process.

“Jenny, this here’s Rudy Davis, the writer.” Charlie said. “Rudy, Jenny Williams, the prettiest girl on Maui. Jenny owns this Gyp Joint.”

“Nice to meet you, Rudy.” Jenny said. “Have I read any of your work?”

“I don’t think so.” he said sheepishly.

“Can you believe this girl has a PhD. and spends her time serving burgers to grumpy old curmudgeons like me?” Charlie asked, with a twinkle in his eye. It was obvious that they were tight.

“You’re not a curmudgeon, Charlie.”

“I’m not? I’m coming up in the world.”

“Hell no.” Jenny went on, “A curmudgeon is grumpy but lovable. You’re just grumpy.”

“Let this be a lesson to you, Rudy.” Charlie said with a smile. “Stay away from women who are smarter than you.”

Over the next four hours they each devoured the best Cheeseburgers Rudy had ever eaten and they downed more beer than frat brothers with a beer bong. The burgers were certainly worth the plane ride.

“You still haven’t told me what you’ve written, Rudy.” Charlie wasn’t letting him off the hook. Rudy had hoped that the conversation wouldn’t get back around to this.

“Well, I wrote a novel a few years back, but it’s never been published.” Rudy admitted.

“And?”

“And, well, some essays and stuff, mostly just for myself. I’ve written some articles for an outdoor magazine here and there.”

Charlie let go of a huge belly laugh. “Well, I’ll be a sum bitch. No offense, Rudy, but the way those pompous pricks from the luau talked, I thought you were F. Scott Fitzpatrick or something.”

“Fitzgerald.” Rudy said. “It’s F. Scott Fitzgerald.”

Rudy was trying not to get irritated at his bluntness. He’d already figured out that Charlie was a guy who spoke his mind but with no malice intended. Plus, he was Raven’s friend so he got the benefit of the doubt.

"Hey, you get something published and then you can correct me.” Charlie said between breaths.

“You know, those old-money phonies that are always buying up Raven’s work are really a bunch of clowns.”

“Now me, I got my money the old fashioned way, I worked my ass off. I took over my daddy’s trash haulin’ business and built it into the biggest waste disposal company in Houston, hell, the entire guff coast.” Charlie was rambling now, half-drunk and taking full advantage of having a captive audience.

“Everyone’s looking for a quick buck these days, lookin’ for some glamorous, Hollywood lifestyle, sticking powder up their noses and needles in their arms.” Charlie said between gulps of beer.

“I just read that Heroin is the new glamor drug of the nineties? Can you believe that? The old gutter drug of the seventies is the new glamor drug of the nineties. I just don’t get it.”

“Now me, I wasn’t afraid to get my hands dirty. I didn’t get past the 8th grade in school but I know an opportunity when I see it. See, what I figgered out is, it’s the least glamorous businesses that are the biggest cash cows. And one thing 'bout Americans, they’re always gonna make garbage.”

“So how did you wind up here from Houston?” Rudy asked.

”When my wife and I got married in ’65, we came here on our Honeymoon and fell in love with the place. We came back at least once every year after that. I was so obsessed with work back then that I couldn’t even take a vacation without working, so I bought a piece of investment property on every trip.”

“My wife died of cancer in ’87 and then I lost my only daughter two years later. I realized that I’d missed out on life by working all the time. So I sold my company and all my holdings on the mainland and moved over here. I wasted the first fifty years of my life making money and now I intend to spend the next fifty spending it.”

Jenny sat down at their table. “Closing time, Tex. I hope you’re staying tonight, ‘cause you’re in no condition to fly back.”

“Well, I sure didn’t come all this way to sleep alone, darlin’.”

“You sober enough to drive?” Charlie asked Rudy.

“Sure.”

Charlie threw his keys to Rudy. “Here’s the key to the Porsche. Try not to drive her like I do. I have a condo at the Kaanapali Shores, two miles straight down that road. Number 902. Key’s on the ring. I’ll give ya shout tomorrow.”

“We didn’t talk about the rent on the duplex.” Rudy said.

“I’ll tell you what, how much was your rent back in Idaho?”

“Utah”

“Yeah, that place. What was yer rent there?”

“Four fifty a month.”

“Jesus shit! I’m glad I don’t have any property there.” He scratched his chin and thought for a minute, which took a lot of effort in his condition.

“OK, how 'bout this deal: Raven has a piece I been trying ta get from her for a long time now. She's got some crazy notion that I’m gonna give it to one of my rednecked friends so she won’t sell it to me. You talk her into selling me that piece and I’ll give ya a one-year lease fer four fifty a month. You can call her from the condo tomorrow; let me know what she says when I see you.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Charlie thought for a minute more. “Better yet, tell her to come on over. I know a Blues Bar in the Up Country. We’ll have a few laughs and twist her arm together.”

Spending time with Raven on Maui was sounding like a grand plan to Rudy.

He followed Charlie and Jenny out the door and sat in the Porsche until Jenny’s Subaru was well out of sight. Then he idled the Porsche out of the parking lot onto the street and checked the mirrors: not a car in sight. He put the pedal to the floor and left a trail of rubber through three gears. When he shifted into fourth gear he was doing over a hundred. He shifted into fifth then eased off the throttle.

The shiny red Porsche blew right past the Kaanapali Shores and kept going. There was little traffic at this hour. He figured he could sleep when he was dead but how often did someone throw you the keys to their Porsche and turn you loose on Maui? Mario Andretti, eat your heart out.

The natives have a saying: “Maui no ka oi.” There’s no place like Maui.

Introduction: Author's Note

2008-12-19T19:29:00.001-08:00

Prologue

Chapter One – Hate You, Hate Kansas

Chapter Two – Cola Wars

Chapter Three - No Cars for Silly Haoles

Chapter Four - A-Row-ha My Ass

Chapter Five - Elder Sea Nettle

Chapter Six - Sweet Dreams and Other Fallacies

Chapter Seven - Puna-who?

Chapter Eight - Paying the Bills

2008-12-18T20:49:00.001-08:00

When Rudy arrived at Raven’s house for the luau, there were cars parked all the way back to Kamehameha Highway. He approached the yard and nearly turned around when he saw the crowd. The girl was certainly popular.

He made his way through the pack, feeling like a swan in a duck pond when Raven spotted him. She took him by the arm and began introducing him as they worked their way through the crowd.

“This is Rudy Davis, the writer. He just moved to the islands to begin his next novel.”

When Rudy got her alone, he sheepishly explained to her that he had never been published, that writing was only a dream.

“If you don’t take yourself seriously, how do you expect anyone else to? You came here to write, you have no other means of support, that makes you a writer in my book.” She said with a smile.

“I was an artist long before I sold a piece. Besides, I know more about you than you think.”

He wasn’t sure what she meant by that last statement but he envied her confidence.

A whole pig had been slow roasting over a charcoal pit for twenty-four hours while attendants working in shifts constantly basted it with teriyaki sauce. The meat was so tender that it nearly fell into your plate.

Buffet tables were loaded with fresh pineapple, kiwi, papaya, mango, tangerine and half a dozen other fruits that Rudy couldn’t name, Of course there was poi, even if no one seemed to be eating it. You simply don’t have a luau without poi.

The dessert table displayed a wide variety of goodies based around island fruits, but the culinary hit of the evening was the Passion Fruit Chiffon pie. It was so light that you had to keep a fork on it to keep it from floating off your plate.

Throughout the evening he noticed Raven stealing little glances at him, her eyes sparkling whenever he caught her, leaving him feeling like a teenager with his first crush. She insisted that he stay until the last guest was gone. He had no clue what she saw in him but it was becoming clear that she did indeed see something.

He tried keep his hopes under control because he know that this beautiful, intelligent artist was way out of his league. It was only a matter of time before she realized it too.

When they were finally alone, they sat together on the lanai, enjoying the moon reflecting over the Pacific, while the catering crew cleaned up and policed the yard.

“Have you had any luck finding a place to live?” she asked.

“None. It’s a little discouraging. I can’t afford to stay at the hotel forever.”

This was true enough, though his resolve to find a place and stick around had been greatly enhanced since meeting Raven.

“I have a friend who has a little duplex on the beach less than a mile from here. I’ll give you his number if you’re interested.”

“Are you kidding? I’d love a beach front place in Punaluu but I can’t afford something like that.”

“Don’t be so sure. He owes me a favor. He’ll treat you right if he ever hopes to buy another piece from me. He buys my work and resells it to a scumbag acquaintance of his. We both pretend like I don’t know what he does with them.”

They walked arm in arm to Rudy’s car two blocks away, both sensing something good brewing between them.

“Thanks for coming,” she said. “Most of these people are pompous wannabe’s but they spend a lot of money on my work. I throw a luau once a year to keep in touch. It’s sheer torture but it’s a necessary part of the business, just like gallery openings. I love my work but I could do without the rest. The rest is the part that pays the bills, though.”

“Looks like it pays the bills and then some.” Rudy said, instantly regretting the comment
.
She smiled sheepishly. “I do alright."

When they reached the car she kissed him once, softly, on the cheek.

“Good night, Rudy. I hope to see you again."

She turned and started back toward the house and then turned around. "Soon.” With that she turned again and ran toward the house, skipping like a school girl.

Wild horses couldn’t keep him away.

© 2008. David Heiniger. All Right Reserved.

Chapter Seven - Puna-who?

2008-12-18T19:57:00.001-08:00

The morning paper sat atop Rudy’s usual sidewalk table. He sipped his coffee and tried in vain to ignore the folded newspaper. He felt so silly that he could hardly bring himself to pick the paper up but finally he did and skimmed the sports section, carefully avoiding the want ads. He set it back down and re focused his attention on the coffee.

Finally he couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer so he opened it to “Autos for Sale” and his eyes went straight to it, just like Elder Jellyfish had said. ‘Perfect condition . Low miles, properly stored for 12 years. $2000 to the right party.’ The right party? What the hell did that mean? Was it a car or a puppy?

“You know where Punaluu is?” The voice at the other end said in thick pidgin. He was half expecting to hear “We don’t sell cars to no da kine haoles.”

“Puna-who?”

“Punaluu.”

“No.”

“What ‘bout da Liki-Liki?”

“Sounds familiar. It’s a highway, right?”

“Kay”, she said. “take da kine Liki-Like outta town, tru da tunnel an down da hill.” This girl was a native for sure, had probably never worn shoes in her life.

“Turn leff at da firs’ light onto Kamehameha. Follow da kine for tirdy minutes to da seven ‘leven, den go four more miles pass da art gallery and general store an' turn right at da mailboxes on da dirt road, all da way to da en’. Onny house dere. Tink you fine dat?”

“No problem,” Rudy said, certain that it was hopeless. No way was this car going to be in any kind of condition for two grand, having been parked for 12 years at the end of some Hawaiian mud road, but he had to see this through now.

Forty minutes later, to his surprise, he was in front of the house. He was even more surprised when he saw the 2002 in the driveway. It looked like a new car, inside and out. Not a speck of dust, not a rip in the upholstery, not a scratch in the paint. There had to be a catch.

The island girl of the thick Pidgin English emerged from the house. She had short, coal black hair, light blue eyes and honey-brown skin, a deeply tanned haole. If Meg Ryan dyed her hair black, had a little more muscular definition, and spent her life in the sun, she’d have been a less attractive version of this girl. She was drop-dead gorgeous and seemed completely oblivious of her stunning looks.

“It’s the Tii model, you know; fuel injected, extremely rare. Here, take it for a spin.” Not a hint of Pidgin now but it was definitely the voice from the phone.

Rudy took the keys and sat in the driver’s seat. The odometer read 27,512.

“Only 28,000 miles?” Rudy asked.

“Yeah, I kept it in storage for twelve years while I was away in the military. Plus, you don’t put too many miles on a car on an island.”

Rudy turned the key and the car fired up with a throaty growl. It idled smoothly. He poked slowly back to the highway, trying his best not to get this perfect car dirty on the muddy road. He turned left onto the pavement, moved slowly until he’d thrown the mud off the tires, and then put his right foot to the floor. The BMW laid down two symmetrical patches of rubber as it pushed him back into his seat.

The engine was strong and smooth all the way up to its 6500 rpm redline. He stabbed the brakes hard and let go of the steering wheel. The car stopped straight and quick. He already pictured himself tooling around Oahu in this car, windows down, breeze in his hair, Neil Young on the stereo. The Blaupunkt stereo.

He returned the car and told the island girl that he’d think about it and drove the old Nissan back to the 7-11. He sat on the trunk with a Perrier and watched some locals play basketball at the Beach Park across Kamehameha.

The ocean breeze blew through his hair; the surf was calm and peaceful. The car was perfect; the price was more than right, why was he hesitating? Only a fool would drive away and chance losing this deal.

After a while, he realized what the problem was: He wasn’t totally committed to staying, especially given how things had been going since he arrived. Plus that whole Elder Sea Nettle thing sending him here was just too bizarre. He watched the scene across the street and wondered why there was even a question. He’d come too far to turn back now. After all, this was paradise, right?

In a few minutes he was back at the house, knocking on the door. “Will you take fifteen hundred for it?” he asked when Island Girl opened the door.

“Come inside” she said. “My name’s Raven Olsson.”

“Rudy Davis.”

“Well, Rudy, what did my ad say I was asking for the car?” Her gaze was calm and steady and incredibly intimidating. She wreaked self confidence.

“Two thousand.”

“So why do you think I’d take fifteen hundred then?”

“Most people ask more than they really expect to get.” Rudy said, pleased to have a comeback. She was certainly in control of this negotiation.

“Well, Rudy, I’m not most people.” She said in a disarmingly calm voice. “I say what I mean. The price of the car is two thousand dollars.”

“Will you take travelers checks?” he asked sheepishly, feeling like an idiot for insulting her when they both knew that a specimen like this was worth several times the asking price.

“Sure, brudda,” she said with a smile, “Welcome to the islands. I have the title in my safe deposit box in town. Why don’t I pick up the title and meet you at your hotel tomorrow. I’ll give you a Bill of Sale for now. You can return your rental car and I’ll bring you back out here to get the Beemer. Where are you staying?’

“The Royal Grove.”

“I’ll meet you in front of the Royal Grove at noon.”

“Okay, but I have to ask you, how come you spoke such thick Pidgin on the phone?” He asked.

She laughed. “Couldn’t resist messing with you, brah. You just sounded so unbelievably white.”

At 12:30 the next day Rudy sat in the lobby of the Royal Grove paying careful attention to the traffic outside. He loved this lobby with its marble floor, open roof and mahogany columns and the overstuffed, old world comfort. He’d have enjoyed the ambiance if it weren’t for his current mental state.

I’ve been had, he thought as he checked his watch yet again. When will I ever learn?

At 12:40 a black GTI pulled up outside and he recognized Raven in the drivers seat. His heart skipped a beat and he realized that he’d been more worried that he’d never see Raven again than he was about the money.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said as he approached the car. “I sold a piece and it took longer to work out the details than I expected. I’ll bet you thought I was trying to pull a fast one on you.”

He let out a too-loud, nervous laugh. “Never crossed my mind.” He lied.

They worked their way through the midday Honolulu traffic while Raven proceeded to tell him her life story.

She’d been raised on Kauai by the quintessential sixties hippy parents. Her mother was a well-known local artist and the family did quite well between her Mother’s art and the gallery her father owned and managed. They’d become embarrassingly affluent for counter-culture liberals who were supposed to shun materialism.

Raven had inherited her mother’s talent but instead of pursuing a career as a painter, she joined the army right after graduating from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. She wanted to see some of the world beyond the little island she’d been raised on and she also wanted to find her own way in life.

Her mother was semi-famous on the islands and Raven didn’t want to ride her coat tails. Perhaps she’d picked the army because it was the antithesis of the liberal household she’d been raised in.

Things changed for Raven when she was stationed near San Antonio. She heard about exotic woods that were left behind when they harvested the rain forests of South America and she had an idea.

When a rain forest is clear cut, she explained, many large pieces of old growth exotic woods are left behind in the recklessness that often accompanies such harvesting. It seemed wrong to her and she struck upon the idea of traveling to South America and harvesting the scraps to make furniture.

She was against clear cutting anything, particularly old growth rainforest, but once they were harvested, it was just as wrong not to use every possible scrap. She likened it to the way the Indians used every scrap of a buffalo they harvested. They lived in harmony with their environment for hundreds of years until the white man came and killed buffalo indiscriminately.

There was a lot of dissension about her plan within the environmental community but she did her own research and she did her own thinking and decided that it was the right thing to do. If she had ordered the clear cutting, that would be different, but what she did was salvage the waste that was left behind, making something good from a bad situation.

She rented a building in an old run-down industrial section of town, borrowed some money from her parents and flew to Honduras to select her first “scrap” piece.

She’d never forget her excitement on the day that it arrived. It was a huge chunk of Honduran Mahogany that had been cut from a stump that was left behind when its trunk had been harvested. It was six feet in diameter and two and a half feet thick and weighed more than 3600 lbs.

Honduran Mahogany was plentiful, thanks to plantation harvesting but it has become nearly extinct in several South and Central American countries, she explained. Plantation wood was of little interest to her since it wasn’t a big environmental issue. It was the old growth scrap that she wanted to harvest.

Once the wood was secure in the warehouse, she rigged a makeshift kiln and dried the piece until its moisture content was perfect. She spent many days at the warehouse, looking at the piece, visualizing its grain, its color, trying to picture what it was meant to be. She tried to let go of any preconceived notions and let the wood tell her what it was to become.

She filled an entire sketch pad with pencil drawings until an armoire eventually emerged. It was a unique piece whose design was somewhere between Scandinavian simplicity and Hemingway richness. The large doors were a mosaic of criss-crossed grains with subtle differences in hue that formed a portrait of the 150 foot tall tree that it had come from.

It took nearly two months of working every available minute to finish the piece but when it was finished, she knew that she had accomplished something special.

Friends of her parents ran a local art gallery and they came to see the piece at her mother’s request. They recognized right away that this was not furniture; it was art, a sort of functional wood sculpture. They pleaded with her to let them show it and she played hard to get before consenting, secretly thrilled by their insistence. The piece sold on its first day in the gallery for $50,000.

Raven was able to pay her parents back and then she flew to Columbia to select another piece of wood. Her Army enlistment expired a short time later and she moved to Oahu and was soon making a very handsome living.

They were both enjoying the conversation and neither was eager for it to end when they arrived at Raven’s house in Punaluu. She suggested that they go for a late lunch at a seafood counter she knew of in Kawela and Rudy jumped at the chance to spend more time with her.

Their lunch destination was a tiny counter in a little General Store in a town that consisted of little else. Before they got out of the car, Raven took her shoes off so Rudy followed suite, painfully aware of how unnatural his lily white bare feet looked compared to hers.

The grass was damp and extraordinarily green from the shower that had passed through a short time earlier and he liked how it felt on his bare feet. It had been years since he’s walked barefoot through the grass. He was careful to avoid the bright red mud in front of the old wooden lanai steps at the entrance. The old-west storefront and rusted tin roof reminded him of a similar General Store in Hoolehua, near where he’d lived on Molokai many years ago.

They sat on the front steps eating their Ono sandwiches and drinking Dr. Pepper.

“It must have been tough growing up haole on Kauai.” Rudy asked, remembering what it was like for him on Molokai.

A lot Hawaiians hate haoles for stealing their land and bringing diseases that had been unheard of prior to the arrival of Captain Cook. Rudy had gotten off easy because he learned to speak Pidgin and was dark skinned enough to pass for Hawaiian, something his fair-skinned sister had resented him for.

Even without the racial tensions it was a violent society. The two years on Molokai had been hell for his sisters, much as he imagined life of Kauai must have been for Raven.

“Yeah, you learned to take care of yourself real fast.” She replied. “Did they have ‘beat up a haole’ day at your school too?”

“Yeah, every day.” He chuckled. “I guess that explains the thick Pidgin routine you gave me on the phone.”

“I couldn’t help messing with you. You may have mastered Pidgin when you lived here but you’re as haole as haole gets now.”

He watched her face as she spoke, the way she moved her lips, the way her eyes twinkled when she smiled. God she was beautiful. He loved how shiny her short black hair was, and the honeyed color of her skin, but her real beauty came from her quiet confidence, her total ease with herself. Everything about her said this was an intelligent, self-assured woman. He was stunningly, stupidly, ridiculously attracted to her.

Back at her house, she gave him the tour. Half a mile west of the ocean, lush green volcanic cliffs rise a thousand feet straight in the air like a huge monument to Pele, the Hawaiian fire goddess. Raven’s house sat on the gentle slopes and low lands between the cliffs and the ocean.

“My property goes all the way back to the cliffs” she said.

Rudy took in the view from her lanai. Her studio, an elegant wooden barn topped with three cupolas, sat directly behind the house in the shadow of the cliffs. The frame was hand-cut joinery that she had done herself with the help of some hired labor. It was surrounded on three sides by a lanai. A loading dock for unloading the wood and loading the finished pieces had been dug on the near end.

“How about a Margarita?” Raven asked.

“Maybe just a shot of tequila.” Rudy answered, glad for a reason not to leave just yet.

He browsed through her CD collection while she made the drinks. Her taste in music was impeccable, which of course meant that it leaned toward blues like his.

“So, that’s all about me.” She said when she emerged from the kitchen with the drinks. “What brings you to Paradise?”

“Like you said, it’s paradise, right?” He proceeded to tell his story, minus a few of the more embarrassing details about his relationship with Circe.

“Well, if Hawaii doesn’t inspire a best seller, nothing will. That’s why I returned to the islands.”

“To write?” he teased.

“To work. I’ve been all over the world and I’ve seen some incredible things but when I was ready to settle down, there was no where else I wanted to be. Of course, I do have to live on a different island from my family.” She said with a smile. “I love ‘em to death but a few miles of ocean between us isn’t such a bad thing.”

“Yeah.” Rudy said. “If you knew my Mormon parents, you’d know I get that.”

They sat on the lanai and finished the Tequila and talked and laughed for two more hours before Rudy reluctantly excused himself, fearful of wearing out his welcome.

“I hope I see you again.” He said awkwardly, as he headed for the BMW. He thanked her for everything and sped away.

Back on Kamehameha, the car was flawless and Rudy was on his game, working the gears and pushing the BMW hard through the curves. It was a fabulous ride back to the Royal Grove with the windows down, island breeze in his hair and Neil Young on the stereo. He’d stashed the tape in his shirt pocket, anticipating this very scene.

On top of it all, he had a nice little Raven buzz going. Back at his room, the red message light was flashing. It was from Raven. She was having a luau on Saturday, would he come?

He smiled at the disparity between this and the last message he’d listened to. Could it really have been barely a week ago?

Would he come? Do pigs have wings?

© 2008. David Heiniger. All Right Reserved.

Chapter Six - Sweet Dreams and Other Fallacies

2008-12-18T17:14:00.000-08:00

Pete Schmidt popped his favorite Eurhythmics tape in the Walkman and adjusted his headphones just in time to grab his ski poles and slide off the chair lift. It was another fantastic spring day in the Utah Mountains and there was no better vantage point to enjoy it from than the top of the black diamond run at Snowbird.

The air was crisp, thin and clean and there was not a cloud in sight. The only thing that could improve this moment would be having his best friend beside him on the chairlift. Okay, fresh powder would be nice too but it was too late in the season for that.

It used to be that after a major snowstorm he could count on an early morning call from Rudy. “Powder morning!” he would shout into the phone. “I’m calling in sick.” Pete never needed convincing to go skiing and he smiled at the memory.

Pete was the son of a German born engineer who worked for an American defense contractor. Hans, Pete’s father, came to the States to attend college and to escape the Nazi’s and he proudly became an American citizen before he’d finished his undergraduate work at MIT.

The rest of his well-to-do family had remained in Germany and they lost most of their wealth to the Third Reich. Hans was eager to join the war against Hitler when he graduated in 1943 so he joined the Army Air Corp and spent the remainder of the war working on Allied airplanes in England.

After the war, he returned to MIT for his Masters degree in Aeronautical Engineering and that was where he met his future bride. He loved to fly and he intended to use his engineering background to his advantage as a test pilot.

Masters degree in hand, he was recruited by all the major aircraft builders and chose the one where he felt he had the greatest opportunity to reach his dream of being a test pilot. He flew often in the course of his duties, usually as co-pilot, and he was accumulating enough hours to qualify as a test pilot for his company. Most of his peers had flown in the war and were light years ahead of him in terms of flight hours and experience required to be a test pilot.

As they neared middle age, their lives were right on the track that Hans had envisioned for them. They were childless and they had never planned on having a family; at least his father hadn’t, and he assumed that his mother agreed. Ultimately, though, it’s the woman who controls that department and she wasn’t the first woman to quietly get her way.

Just when it seemed that his mother was nearing the end of her child bearing years she got pregnant and Pete was born in 1956. His father had achieved his dream of being a test pilot by then but his mother, with her new found maternal instincts, insisted that he quit flying untested aircraft. The engineer and pilot was grudgingly grounded.

The family moved frequently during Pete’s early years until Hans accepted a long-term assignment in Germany, when Pete was in the third grade. In Germany, they were near his grandparent’s who had managed to recover some of their wealth after the Nazi’s were defeated. Pete attended the American school at the local Army base and the next four years were some of the happiest of his life.

Looking back as an adult, Pete could see that his parents had been unhappy and their heavy drinking was one obvious symptom. Hans felt that his family was keeping him from what he loved and his mother felt the weight of his discontent. Hard drinking was the norm among the engineers and hotshot pilots in their circle so it didn’t occur to any of them that it had become excessive.

When Pete was in the 7th Grade, his life took a tragic turn when his mother fell down the stairs in their home during a drunken stupor. It was Pete who found her when he arrived home from school on that awful afternoon. He called Hans at work and an ambulance was dispatched while he hurried to the hospital. She died in the American Army Hospital three days later, leaving the man who’d never wanted to be a father and a motherless boy to find their way through this bizarre tragedy.

Pete was a good athlete and soon found that when he was competing on the athletic field, his mind didn’t have room for thoughts of his mother and the loneliness from an absent father. At boarding school he became a star on the soccer team.

Weekends and school holidays, his father took him skiing, probably because he didn’t know what else to do with Pete. It really didn’t matter why, only that the two of them finally made a connection on the slopes. They skied all over Europe and they both came to favor the French and Swiss Alps.

They didn’t talk about what happened, or much of anything of consequence, preferring instead to play their weekends away. On the slopes, Pete would lose himself in the moment until there was nothing but him and the hill. He called it “Zenning” and he presumed that his father Zenned out on the slopes too, which was why they skied so much.

By the time Pete graduated from High School, he had become a brilliant skier. It was time to pick a college and he wanted to return stateside, away from the emptiness he’d felt in his home and in his father’s eyes. The decision to attend the University of Utah was a no-brainer because they had a top-notch ski team and they were close to Park City, where the US Olympic team trained.

His freshman year at Utah Pete discovered the only thing that he would come to love more than skiing. Her name was Elizabeth. She was one of the first people he met in Utah and Elizabeth just happened to be his mother’s name. His recollection of his mother had faded over the years and, despite the unfortunate circumstances of her death, he recalled her as a graceful woman, very much like Beth. He was certain that his mother would have adored her.

Beth was tall, lean and athletic, with reddish-brown hair, lily-white skin and a smattering of freckles sprinkled across her cheeks. They met at the Athletic Field House where they were training for their respective sports. Elizabeth was on a Volleyball scholarship and it didn’t hurt their budding romance that she also happened to be an excellent skier.

The pair spent many winter days on the slopes of the Wasatch Mountains and many winter nights in each other’s arms. By the end of freshman year, Pete was a standout on the ski team and he had fallen in love with Beth and with the Wasatch Mountains.

He was a natural leader who made friends easily and his ski career couldn’t have gone better. Two years with a college level coach had enhanced his skiing exponentially and he soon became the best skier on the best team in the country and a favorite to make the US Olympic Team.

During another workout at the Athletic Field House, he met Rudy Davis, the budding star of the University of Utah basketball team. The two of them were soon the best of friends. Pete introduced Rudy to skiing and, natural athlete that he was, Rudy quickly became a very good skier.

Just after the end of the ski season his senior year, Pete placed second in the Nationals in Park City, qualifying him for the US Ski team. It was Rudy and Beth who celebrated with him and what a night that had been!

The three of them partied at their favorite Park City Blues Bar, dancing to the live band and toasting the next US Gold Medalist in the giant slalom. They were laughing and jubilant acting like the immortal youth that they were and soon their joy had infected the place. Before long, the whole bar was toasting Pete, the Utah Ski Team, the US Ski Team and Budweiser and both Brigham and Steve Young, not necessarily in that order.

The three friends joined the band onstage, leading the cheering and dancing and keeping the joint hopping, electric with energy. They danced on their chairs and on the stage and even the barmaids joined in. It was a celebration of unbridled youthful joy and innocent, arrogant bravado.

When the last song was over and last call was a memory, Pete, Beth and Rudy sat alone until the bartender came over and told them that they were closing. None of them wanted the evening to end.

Rudy raised his glass and said, “One last toast: To Pete, the best friend I ever had and the best skier I ever saw. To dreams that come true, and to Beth, the woman I’d have fallen for if Pete hadn’t beaten me to it.”

They clinked their glasses in silence, each of them knowing that he meant every word. With that, Rudy went outside alone and drove away.

The young lovers strolled arm in arm down Main Street toward the snow-covered parking lot where Beth’s VW Bug was parked. The little bars that line Park City’s Main Street had long ago closed and the night was quiet as the frozen snow crunched under their feet. Their crystallized breath lingered in the cold mountain air and Beth’s hair caught the snowflakes and reflected the full moon in tiny, white sparkles.

They didn’t speak nor did they didn’t need to. Pete was a master at living in the moment. He’d been practicing since the 7th grade. He knew that this memory would last him a lifetime.

For one concise moment, the world stood still and everything in their Universe was just as it should be. Everything he’d ever wanted and more than he’d ever dreamed of was his and Beth was there to share it. This moment was theirs and theirs alone.

The little Bug left Park City and headed toward Interstate 80 then down Parleys Canyon to Salt Lake. It had been a long day - a perfect day – but Pete was trashed and he fell asleep in a matter of minutes. He was sleeping soundly when he awoke with a start from a loud bang followed by a violent jolt. The Bug had slid on a patch of ice, brushed off a guardrail and then left the highway as they were descending the steep canyon road.

When he opened his eyes the first thing he saw was Beth’s panic-stricken face illuminated by the dashboard, her eyes wide with horror. In an instant he realized that they were airborne and his reaction was to take hold of Beth’s hand. It must have been only a few seconds but it seemed like the Bug glided for hours through the deathly silent night before it hit the ground a hundred feet below.

After the silence came mass confusion as the car rolled end over end several times amid obscenely loud crashes. A blur of glass and dirt and snow were all he saw until the car finally came to a rest on its side against a pine tree, looking like a crumpled piece of paper.

Pete looked over at Beth to see how she was but she wasn’t there. Her seat wasn’t there. He unfastened his seat belt and crawled out of through the back window, the only opening left that a person could possible squeeze through.

His foot was bleeding profusely so he wrapped it with his scarf. His face was also pouring blood and he could hardly see through it. He looked for Beth but could see nothing.

“BETH!!” he screamed. “BETH!! E-LIZ-A-BETH!!”

He tried to stand but couldn’t so he began crawling up the embankment on his hands and knees. Halfway to the highway he saw Beth lying in the snow and he crawled to her, lifting her head onto his lap. She was limp and lifeless and he didn’t bother checking for a pulse; he knew that she was gone. He held her in his arms while tears mixed with his blood and dripped into the snow around them.

He sat alone in the moonlight, holding her as the blood oozed from his wounds and he prayed to bleed out quickly and end this nightmare. It had all been too perfect. No one has a right to be as happy as they were.

His toes were beginning to numb and he held her until he finally passed out from hypothermia and blood loss with Beth’s lifeless head still on his lap. So ended the day that was both the best and the worst one of his life.

He awoke in the hospital to florescent lights stabbing at his pupils.

Physically, he’d come though the accident in pretty good shape, thanks to his seat belt. Beth had been wearing hers too but it caught in her jacket and hadn’t latched properly. The way her seat had been torn from the car, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

Pete lost some sight in one eye and three toes to frostbite and he had a slight spinal cord injury. He would ski again, but not competitively. Aside from that, he had a few lacerations and lots of bruises but those wounds would heal.

He lay in the hospital and thought about his mother and about Beth. They were the only women he had ever loved and they had both been taken. Beth had Olympic aspirations of her own but there would be no Olympics and no Gold Medals for either of them now. None of that mattered. He would have given everything he’d ever had and everything he ever would have, just to hold Beth in his arms one more time.

Twenty-four hours ago, everything he’d ever dreamed of had been in his grasp and it had had all been washed away in thirty seconds.

He knew that he would never be happy again and that he never would love anyone again. Those things don’t last.

Annie Lennox’ clear voice sang about sweet dreams and the seven seas. Pete tucked his ski poles under his arms and he sped down the hill, trees flashing past in a blur. He was Zenning now, big time.

© 2008. David Heiniger. All Right Reserved.

Chapter Five - Elder Sea Nettle

2008-12-14T10:47:00.000-08:00

His fourth night in Hawaii, Rudy had a bizarre dream that was disturbing in the way that it felt real, though it couldn’t possibly be.

He was swimming in the ocean but not like a person swims, more like a fish, in blue water deep below the surface, fast and graceful and effortless. He was surrounded by rock formations, vibrant living coral and hundreds of smaller fish of every description and color, their beautiful scales catching the sunlight that filtered down from the surface.

He was powerful and agile and swift and he squirted through the water with ease and did gleeful underwater acrobatics and huge leaps into the air like a dolphin at Sea World. He was thoroughly enjoying his new found abilities.

“Alright, that’s enough. Knock it off.” He heard a voice in his head. Instinctively he knew that it belonged to a Jelly Fish and he looked around for the source.

There were no Jelly Fish in sight but he did spot the source and it was... well... it looked like a Mormon Missionary. He was dressed in black dress slacks, a white shirt with dark tie and sensible black dress shoes. He wore a nametag that said “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” and below that “Elder ....” He couldn’t make out the name that followed Elder for some reason.

“Was that you?” Rudy asked.

“Who else would it be, moron?’ came the telepathic reply.

“But you’re a Missionary... or a jelly fish or something.”

“I’m a Sea Nettle, actually, and I shouldn’t even be here. I live in the Atlantic so listen up so I can go home.”

“Why do you look like a Missionary?”

“Why do you ask so many dumb questions?”

“You know what? Screw you.” Rudy said and darted away but when he looked up he was face to face with the Elder/Jelly Fish.

“OK, I look like a Missionary because I get to choose a persona in which to appear to each of my clients. I thought it would be a fun little ironic twist to do a Missionary for you, Mr. Agnostic.”

“So you’re going to tell me that I’m wrong and the Mormon Church is true?” Rudy asked.

“No, no. How would I know about things like that? I’m a Sea Nettle, for God’s sake. Gospels are a whole other department and every one of those pricks thinks he’s God’s gift to the world, pun fully intended.”

“So what department do you work for, the department of assholes?” Rudy asked, suddenly aware of how utterly ridiculous it was to be trading insults with a Sea Nettle Jellyfish Missionary.

“You wouldn’t understand. I’m just here to give you a little encouragement since I know you’re a bit down about how things have gone the past few days. You’re feeling like this was all a big mistake and you’re ready to head back to Utah. Am I about right so far?”

“Yeah, that’s about right.” Rudy replied warily.

“Well, hang in there. The people in charge of such things want you to stick around. Someone higher up has taken an interest in you, don’t ask me why, and they want you to know that it’s not time for your Hawaiian adventure to end just yet.”

“Uh, Okay.” Rudy was very confused.

“Remember that half-season you spent playing in the Italian League and you drove that BMW 2002 all over Europe?” Elder Sea Nettle asked.

“Yeah, that was a sweet car.”

“Well maybe you should give the apartment hunting a rest and concentrate on finding yourself some wheels. I hear there’s a sweet 2002 Tii for sale in tomorrow’s newspaper.”
“A Tii? The fuel injected version?”

“Yeah baby. Check it out.” With that Elder Sea Nettle turned and disappeared into the blue water.

Suddenly Rudy felt a desperate need for air and he swam frantically toward the surface but he no longer moved with the ease of a giant Tuna. He broke the surface of the water and gasped desperately for air and then he woke up, still panting.

He lay in bed, catching his breath and thinking about the bizarre dream. He was soaking wet, the sheets were drenched and the mattress was so soaked that water dripped from it onto the floor. He’d have had to have lost 10 pounds to sweat that much.

Elder Sea Nettle was right, too. He had been nearly ready to admit his mistake and head back to Utah and he still probably would, but he knew he’d be checking tomorrow’s newspaper first. He felt a little silly at the realization.

Right now, he’d trade palm trees for spring skiing with Pete in a heartbeat. He thought about his best friend and all they’d been through together and he resolved to give him a call soon, if only to tell him that he was on his way back.

© 2008. David Heiniger. All Right Reserved.