My Kind of Town
The Honolulu Soap Co.:
Sunday digest>> Capitol Grounds
"Laird!" Lily Ah Sun screamed across Punchbowl Street to her younger brother, but he kept running, chasing two of the escapees toward City Hall.
The roar of a car engine behind her diverted Lily's attention and she saw a familiar car jumping the curb and racing across the Capitol lawn in pursuit of the other three escapees.
The car went into a slide -- directly toward the statue of Father Damien!
>> City Hall
Laird Ah Sun was a runner and jogged easily down Punchbowl Street, 20 yards behind two of the escapees. He followed as they entered City Hall grounds and practically ran over a tall haole guy in nerdy aviator glasses coming out the front.
"You da guy, eh?!" Moses said.
The tall man, noting their handcuffs, said he did.
"Yeah, I seen you on da news!" Abraham replied. "We need a pardon!"
The mayor waved his hand at the stucco building. "Hey, join the crowd, buddy."
>> Beretania Street
Stopped for the light where Pali turns into Bishop, Myrtle Agena, driver of TheBus No. 688, wondered what was up with the Lolo One. The woman stayed on way past her usual stop, back on 4th Avenue. In her rearview mirror, Myrtle could see the woman was spending even more time than usual looking back, obviously agitated.
The light changed, Myrtle pressed the accelerator, heard a pop, felt something give. Probably did something to the transmission when she'd stomped on the gas pedal and raced away from the van and its prisoners.
>> State Capitol
The statue of Father Damien was coming closer, the three escapees were running further away. "Help me, Father," Gomes the good Catholic boy prayed, "because I need it."
God helps those who possess superior driving skills. The race for the rotunda was on. The bad guys were just steps away when Gomes put the car into a spinning slide that closed their path, forcing them into the moat.
All three splashed into the moat and instantly began to shriek as they were set upon by the fierce new fish -- a mullet-barracuda hybrid -- brought in as part of the state's homeland security at the Capitol.
>> Beretania at Punchbowl
No one witness saw everything. It all happened too fast and the action spread too quickly after the Bronco smashed into an HPD van, knocked it on its side, and five prisoners escaped out the broken back window.
So many eyes were following the two groups of fleeing prisoners, only one witness named Sally saw a black SUV stop beside the van, two men get out, pull a sixth prisoner from the van and speed off. Fifteen minutes later Sally told this story to her psychiatrist at Queen's during her twice-weekly therapy.
Dr. Susan Strain often heard tall tales from her clients. But there was something in the way that Sally related this story. And so at the end of their session, Dr. Strain called 911.
>> Kawaihao Church
Rebuffed in their plea for a mayoral pardon, the two escaped prisoners dashed from City Hall across King Street, seeking sanctuary.
Running through the church gate, they saw a bride and groom greeting people as they filed out of the church. They appeared to be Japanese nationals. A white limousine idled.
The couple started down the steps, guests tossing rose petals, the limo driver waiting by the rear door. An instant later, Moses barreled into the driver, knocking him over. Abraham, the other escapee, was two steps behind.
This was their lucky day, Moses thought a moment before the first shot rang out and he went down, blood spurting from his forehead. A moment later Abraham screamed as a bullet tore into his shoulder.
The newlyweds were quickly whisked into the limo and driven away by the best man.
Later, police would surmise that this was a yakuza wedding, but it could never be proved. The shooters disappeared before police arrived, and nobody could or would identify who killed Moses Kuamano and wounded his brother Abraham.
>> H-1, ewa-bound
There was a sixth prisoner in the HPD van. He'd been hit his head just before the other five were thrown on top of him. Knocked unconscious, he was coming to again. His first thought that he was still in the police van. But this was not the cop van with steel mesh between driver and passengers. And these guys were not cops. They did have guns, though.
>> State Capitol
Gomes, the pursuing officer, did not want to be the arresting officer. Too much paperwork. So he let the folks in blue handle it.
He jumped in his car and drove away, calling HPD dispatch as he went. "Eh, Gwen, you ever hear back from the driver of TheBus No. 688?"
Gwen Roselovich read Gomes the message. TheBus 688 broke down in front of Farrington High.
"I'm enroute," Gomes said. "By the way, Gwen, what's up with the other escapees?"
"One's still missing. And it's your guy -- the senator."
Don Chapman is the editor of MidWeek. His serialized novel runs daily, with a synopsis on Sunday.
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek.
His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin
with weekly summaries on Sunday.
He can be e-mailed at dchapman@midweek.com