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My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
Waiting to connect
>> Honolulu
Cruz MacKenzie was on his way out of the office to hear allergist Dr. Bill Miller speak on silicone poisoning when the phone rang again. "This is MacKenzie."
"Didn't expect to find you in today. This is Root." Virgil Root, Daren Guy's cousin.
"Eh, howzit."
"Excuse me?"
"Local greeting, contraction of how is it -- howzit."
"I was told that I could drink the water over there, but I didn't realize I'd have to learn a new language." Root spoke with an Oregon accent, a blend of lumberjack, farmer and fisherman inflections. "This is my first time in Hawaii."
"You're here already?"
"Just checked into the, uh, King Ka ... King Kamahaha ... , er, the King Kamammymammy..."
"Kamehameha. I'd recommend learning to say it. Kind of an important name over here."
"Thanks. Actually, the Hawaiian I've heard reminds me of some of the Indian tribes of the West, and I can handle those. Anyway, I was wondering if you had a number for my late cousin's girlfriend? What was her name?"
"Sonya. Sonya Chan."
"You have a number? I thought I ought to say hello and offer condolences, maybe see what she could tell me about my long-lost cousin."
"Actually, I've been trying to contact Sonya for the past five days for exactly the same reason and haven't been able to reach her. I can give you a couple of numbers of people who might see her. But I was told that she's basically in emotional hibernation for a while."
Off the face of the earth was more like it. Cruz gave him phone numbers for the Yacht Club and attorney Perry Brown.
"If it's alright, it would be interesting to watch you shoot one of your shows," Cruz said without forethought. He hadn't planned on seeing Root when he was in Hawaii. Instinct suddenly said it would be a good idea.
"Well, one of your local channels over here is picking up my show. I hear my cousin has been all over the news, so a little publicity of the positive variety would help."
"Hey, pub is pub."
"I've heard that." He sounded dubious. "We'll be scouting locations the next day or two. Stay in touch. And if you talk to Sonya, tell her I'd like to connect -- since we're almost related."
Root wasn't the first male who wanted to connect with Sonya.
At that moment, at Pele's Bath on the Big Island, Daren Guy waited for Sonya, wanting to connect with her again. Maybe with a jab to the nose.
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Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek. His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin. He can be e-mailed at dchapman@midweek.com