My Kind of Town
Friend of the terrorist
>> Queen's Medical Center
When she first heard the news about the terrorist attack on Pearl Harbor, Lily Ah Sun worried about her maid Rosalita Resurreccion and her little daughter Elizabeth. They were going to the Arizona Memorial today with the cousin of Rosalita's late husband Jesus, Muhammed Resurreccion. So she was relieved to get a message on her cell from Rosalita, saying they were alright, but asking her to call.
As Lily found a quiet corner of the lobby and sat down with her cell, Rosalita was at the top of her to-call list. A TV was tuned to a news station, but Lily paid no attention until she heard, "We've just received live footage of the terrorist attack on Pearl Harbor from our local affiliate in Honolulu."
Lily speed-dialed Rosalita's number.
"This is the man who is suspected of bombing a tourist shuttle boat at the Arizona Memorial. Police are not releasing his name."
Lily looked up. The earlier footage she'd seen hadn't show the man's face. "Muhammed!" Lily said rather too loudly.
Heads turned.
"You know the terrorist?" a man said.
She could only nod.
He moved away, telling one and all, "She's a friend of the terrorist."
Lily heard Rosalita answer. "My, God, Rosalita, I just saw Muhammed on the news! What happened?"
It was a long story, Rosalita said. But she and Elizabeth were at Pearl Harbor military police headquarters, being questioned. And they wanted to talk to Lily too. "There's one man here knows you, Mum," Rosalita said. "Here he is."
Lily knew who it was before hearing his voice. "Hey, Chuck. I saw you on the news." Earlier, when her co-best friend Fawn Nakamura's new boyfriend put a gun to the suspect's head and handcuffed him.
"So I heard. I, ah, talked with Fawn."
"I don't understand why you need to talk with me."
"You met Muhammed, spoke with him." And that was that.
"Give me directions. I can be there in 45 minutes."
"Go to the main gate. I'll be waiting for you."
Lily punched off. She'd call her mom's cell later and tell her. No sense going back to Lance''s room now and getting further involved in the Ah Suns' imitation of the Osbournes.
But she did want to see her cousin Quinn again. And she wanted to bring him some news about the mystery of Clarence "Bobo" Ah Sun. Lily punched in 1-411, asked for the Star-Bulletin number, was automatically connected.
"Is Dave Donnelly in, please?"
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