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My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
I’ll remember you
>> Off Kona
Having lured a huge tiger shark to bite his nylon neon green swim shorts in half with a large chunk of ahi in one pocket, Daren had been swimming back to his boat when he heard two other voices. Just 20 yards away, two men swam away from a sailboat. They'd board his boat, they said, lie in wait, kill him, and then share his millions with Sonya.
They didn't make it that far. He intercepted them, shot one with his spear gun and took that one's speargun. With blood in the water, the shark appeared again, and Daren fin-kick-sprinted to the nearest safety -- the sailboat. The one who hadn't been shot tried to help his friend. Daren, realizing that his plan would go to hell if either of them were attacked by a shark, threw out one of the boat's pink life rings attached to a rope, and pulled them to safety just ahead of the shark.
Then when they were safely aboard, he made sure each was dead, and he sailed away on the luxury yacht.
Somebody had to have told Sonya about being the beneficiary of the policy, and the terms? Only two people knew, Don the bartender and Ornellas the insurance agent. So all of this was the fault of one of them. But Sonya was the one who betrayed him, and that's why he could never trust her again.
But he could use her. He waited in the dark, thinking of ways to do that, and helped himself to a mug of Bad Dog Bitter from the tap.
The radio was on, tuned to a local station, but he was so lost in thought that he was barely aware of the music and chatter. He was drawing another beer when he heard Sonya approaching in the dinghy. He was ready.
He would arrive moments after she did, maybe catch her undressing. He wanted to shock her. He grabbed the blue captain's jacket and started up the ladder. The radio DJ stopped him in his tracks.
"We just got a call from Mrs. Tamura over at the harbor. You know, Mrs. Tamura at the fishing supply shop? Nice lady. And she says there's going to be a memorial service for Daren Guy at the harbor tomorrow morning at 10. He had lots of friends and she hopes they all come out to pay respects. OK? OK. And Mrs. Tamura asked us to play this one for Daren."
Kui Lee sang "I'll Remember You."
That song had brought tears to his eyes before. And it did again now. But if Daren Guy was dead, who was he?
And when would he ever get to talk to Sonya? He couldn't visit her tonight.
She had to act natural at the memorial service tomorrow. She had to be able to fake real grief.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek. His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin. He can be e-mailed at dchapman@midweek.com
