My Kind of Town
>>Honolulu Soap Co. Alone again,
naturallyWhen she arrived at work, her father's black Coupe de Angeles was parked in a space reserved for "Sheets," according to the spray-stenciled name on the wall. His legal name was Shitsuru Ah Sun, but even his business cards identified him as Sheets. If his golfing buddies made jokes about his ability in bed, or maybe having girlfriends, well, fine. But Lily knew that her father and her mother had always been faithful, and she was the first fruit of their love. They had given her a wonderful example of what a marriage could and should be.
So why couldn't Lily even approximate a good relationship? Thank God for work. She was good at that.
Hurrying inside with her purse and briefcase, she thought that when Sheets retired and appointed her to run the Honolulu Soap Co., she would always keep the No. 1 space reserved for her father, out of respect, because her success would not have been possible if it wasn't for his courage and vision.
>>H-1, Town-bound
After he perished of a massive heart attack at 50 mph coming down the Puuloa onramp, Mr. Donald Chock's cherry '72 Mustang only contacted two other vehicles, a van and a school bus full of children from Aliamanu on their way to the Academy of Art.
But behind them the mayhem was only beginning. A Schofield soldier on a Kawasaki cycle dodged through the initial collisions, but Mr. Chock's two touches set off countless others. Every other vehicle behind him for a quarter-mile was involved, suddenly braking, swerving, skidding, trapped in a maelstrom of crunching metal and swirling smoke.
>>Cartwright Field
HPD Officer Quinn Ah Sun heard the wail of an ambulance siren approaching from Queen's. It had been just a few minutes since he arrived, but time was speeding. The crowd was growing in size and volume. The media was getting more insistent about getting up close to the canary yellow Town Car that was upside down on the first base line. And the Makule League softball guys were getting edgy about starting their game on time.
Quinn's helmet radio crackled and he knew that he would be handling this one alone:
"Multiple-vehicle accident on the H-1, reportedly 50 vehicles at least. All available officers, repeat all available officers report immediately."
Quinn was not available.
>>State Capitol
Another media horde descended on Sen. Donovan Matsuda-Yee-Dela Cruz-Bishop- Kamaka's office. When they asked his secretary Grace Ah Sun if she knew where the senator was, they were as disappointed in her reply as she was, especially since it was the truth.
"I don't know," she said rather sadly.
>>Tomorrow: Honor thy fathers
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek.
His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin.
He can be emailed at dchapman@midweek.com