My Kind of Town
>> Queen's Medical Center Imprinting Nina
Most men are simple creatures. Quinn Ah Sun, for example.
The HPD solo bike officer fell in love with his cousin Lily yesterday, which in turn led to him being shot in the right thigh last night, to being told to "go to hell" by that same woman less than an hour ago, and to being told less than 30 minutes ago by two guys from Internal Affairs that he was under investigation for alleged police brutality and unjustifiable use of a firearm. Like a punch drunk boxer, he was reeling, out on his feet. So to speak. In fact he was flat on his back in a hospital bed.
And then nurse Nina Ramones walked back into his life with her healing presence. She made him feel better, physically and emotionally. She made him happy. She made him look forward to seeing her again. Like a duckling imprinting the image of the first thing it sees after exiting the shell, Quinn was hooked. He'd imprinted Nina -- who, he was beginning to appreciate, was a beautiful young woman with curves in all the right places.
So it was a pleasure as she cut away the dressing on the wound to his leg, her touch soft and warm even through latex gloves. "Oh, this is looking really good," she said. "We'll have you back on your feet in no time."
"Hopefully back on my bike too," he said.
"You ride a bike for exercise." He certainly did something to stay so fit.
"No, motorcycle. I'm a cop."
"Oh my." There really was something about a man in uniform.
With all the attention span of a just-imprinted duckling, Quinn was absorbed in Nina's attention to his leg. It was as if the photocopy of a news story about the mysterious disappearance of entertainer Clarence "Bobo" Ah Sun that lay on the stand next to his bed did not exist.
>> Portlock
Lily Ah Sun thought she'd feel better seeing the AAA truck towing away Quinn's big pickup from in front of her house where he'd left it last night. Instead, tears ran down her cheeks, set free by the lingering fantasy of him parking the truck in the driveway every night after he'd moved in with her. But they'd never get that far, not after Lily walked into his hospital room and saw him kissing and being fondled by that hoochie mama, and not complaining one bit. And so she'd thrown all the photocopies of newspaper references to the Ah Suns across the room and stomped out.
As the truck disappeared around the corner, Lily wondered again about the mysterious Clarence "Bobo" Ah Sun. She knew all the Au Suns and had never heard of him. She'd have to ask her mother about Bobo.
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek.
His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin
with weekly summaries on Sunday.
He can be emailed at dchapman@midweek.com