My Kind of Town
What he didn’t do
>> Queen's Medical Center
The average guy, when his wife or girlfriend is mad at him, doesn't have a clue about what he did to set her off. Often it's just because he wasn't paying attention, which tends to be an affliction of the species. At least, that's the premise of the hot, new relationship book written for men, "Women Aren't From Venus, They're From Left Field." Makes as much sense as anything.
But Quinn Ah Sun really didn't know why his cousin Lily was so PO'd at him. And he didn't really care. All he knew is that when he heard about the terrorist attack on Pearl Harbor, it made him think about what's really important in life. And that he wanted Lily back in his life and was willing to apologize for just about anything short of murder, even if he didn't do it. Just give him a clue about what it was he didn't do and he'd say he was sorry.
The door to his room got knocked on so often, Quinn didn't think twice when he heard someone rapping on it. "Come in."
Lily peeked in, relieved to see Quinn was alone. Well, as alone as any guy ever is with "ESPN SportsCenter" to keep him company.
"Hey, cousin," she said. Emphasizing that relationship, not the tongue-in-his-mouth one.
God, she looked good. A pastel orange blouse, long-sleeved and poofy, was perfect against her brown skin. A form-fitting gray skirt showed she worked out, and hard.
Lily stood at the foot of the bed -- keeping several moments of weakness between them. "You said you had some questions for me."
Her coolness didn't surprise him. But it did disappoint. "Lily, I don't know what the hell I did to get you so angry, but I'm sorry."
"You should be." But he really did seem confused. "You should also know very well what happened."
"All I know is that just before the painkillers knocked me out, you were going off to the State Library to research the newspaper archives for references to the Ah Suns." He paused a heartbeat. "For us."
"I did, found lots of good stuff. Pages and pages."
"Like I told you on the phone, when I woke up all I found was one page. About the mysterious disappearance of Clarence 'Bobo' Ah Sun. It was on the ground over there under that chair."
Lily took a deep breath, fought through a moment of weakness. Then another. "Quinn, how can you not remember me throwing the papers at you?" His baffled look told her everything.
"You really were still knocked out, weren't you?"
Lily had not left enough moments of weakness between them. And suddenly, somehow, there was only clothing between them.
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