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

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 One - Mele Kalikimaka

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 Seventeen - Just Get On Boat

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 Fifteen - Posterized

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

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 Eleven - Drifting

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.