My Kind of Town
>> Royal Hawaiian Hotel Going shopping
It wasn't until the taxi pulled into the port cochere and she'd paid the cabbie that Lily Ah Sun realized this was the first time she'd ever checked into a hotel without luggage.
In fact, with Lily's maid Rosalita Resurreccion and her 6-year-old daughter Elizabeth, there were three females and the closest they could come to luggage was Lily's Gucci handbag.
But this visit to the Royal wasn't exactly planned. They'd left Lily's home in Hawaii Kai in a hurry, and in an ambulance, rushing Rosalita to the ER at Queen's after the guy who broke into Lily's home attacked Rosalita. Which explained the bandages on her right cheek and temple.
And it wasn't until they got to Queen's that Lily thought about the bloody mess that her bedroom had become when her cousin Quinn interrupted the attack. He'd taken a shot to the thigh, but shot the guy in the groin. Both had bled all over, the bed and the carpet, and blood was splattered on the wall. No way she was sleeping there tonight. She might never sleep there again -- at least not alone.
And so here they were at the Royal, Lily wearing the Ann Namba white silk suit she'd started the day with. It was holding up remarkably well, considering her day. But two days in a row? No way. Rosalita had been wrapped in a sheet when Lily found her, and was now wearing the T-shirt and cotton shorts she'd pulled on for the ride to the ER, and Elizabeth was wearing shorts and T-shirt she'd worn to school today.
Turning away from the check-in desk, Lily saw that both Elizabeth and Rosalita were in awe. They'd never been anywhere so lovely.
"Ladies," Lily said, "we're going shopping." And she led them down the hall to McInerny's. Elizabeth would be so pretty in Royal Hawaiian pink.
>> Makiki Heights
Sen. Donovan Matsuda-Yee-Dela Cruz-Bishop-Kamaka left a message at the Kailua home of his secretary, Grace Ah Sun, explaining that he was heading to Portland for a few days, but he'd be in touch.
Dialing the next number, the senator took a deep breath. He didn't want problems with Laurie Tang. Make that Dr. Laurie Tang, the best would-be First Lady he'd met in a career of looking for one. OK, the sex wasn't so hot. Which was one reason he kept Serena at the secret house on the hill. The only problems would be if Laurie knew Serena was pregnant with his child. But how could she?
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