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My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
Karmatic concerns
>> Off the Big Island
Sonya Chan was the second of three children born to Mary and Kin Wah Chan of Lahaina. He was Buddhist, she was Catholic. "Lots of cross-currents," Sonya once told Cruz MacKenzie after they'd made love. "I was never sure what we were. Except poor."
Kin Wah Chan worked at Pioneer Mill. They lived in a dilapidated plantation house. Sonya was the classic middle child -- not ignored, but in a sort of vacuum between an older sister and younger brother.
She had to do far more good than they to be praised, be far more naughty to get scoldings. It fueled a desire to be noticed, as well as an inner ethical code that said: "It really doesn't matter what I do."
She went to work for the Sheraton Maui at 17 and when she had a chance to transfer to the Kona Sheraton at 19 she jumped. Cute face and legs, but only a 32 chest. She was not getting noticed by the right people. So she lived frugally, saved for her new boobs, overindulged -- 38 was her new chest, on a 5-foot, 95-pound frame. Having invested in her future, Sonya dressed to allow the general public to admire her new assets. And she suddenly got noticed.
And started looking for Mr. Right, the job description for which included money, like the millionaire fisherman in the marlin tournament. Or even a minor celebrity, which is how Cruz came into her life. There had been a pro football player, whom she saw several times when he visited Hawaii. And various others. But none wanted more than a fling. She had actually thought that by posing topless in Pet House magazine's Girls of Hawaii pictorial that it would help her find Mr. Right.
And now as the yacht Wet Spot approached the remote Pele's Bath for the rendezvous with her formerly dead fiancee Daren Guy and Sushi Leclaire, Sonya had a chance to be wealthy beyond her wildest dreams, on her own. All she had to do was make certain that Daren remained dead, officially and otherwise. The Glock 9mm she'd taken from Sushi and the two spear guns would make that relatively easy.
But all of a sudden, for reasons she only vaguely understood, Sonya was feeling the need to do the right thing, to put her karma in better order. So she had asked Mano Kekai to take the injured Japanese fisherman to get medical help before he died. It was a risk, but she didn't want him on her conscience.
And now there was the matter of these 12 young Filipinas, who would soon be working on a porn Web site if Sushi had his way.
Sonya, who had been shocked to learn what some men did while looking at her topless photo, was not going to let that happen.
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Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek. His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin. He can be e-mailed at dchapman@midweek.com