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My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
Eternal makers
of whoopie» Kaneohe
"I hate to be abrupt, your holiness," Kamasami Khan said in answer to a question, "but you need to know the truth. Fon Du is the head of the local Te-Wu, posing as a banker, the one who deviously established the Bank of Lhasa's investment fund in your name today. For the past six months, Bodhicita has been his lover. It was through her that we learned about the plot to kill you."
"I think," the second Lama Jey Tsong Khapa said, "this is what you call good news, bad news, yes?"
"It is what it is," Khan said. "Isn't Buddhism all about reality, living in the moment?"
"Largely, yes," the young lama said.
"So this is my moment," Bodhicita said. "I'm trapped by my reality. I don't want to be with Fon Du, I loathe him now, but I can't leave him or it could be bad for the man I do love."
"I am not asking you," the young lama said, "to betray your own heart on my account. At the same time, as much as I am pleased by your presence, neither am I telling you to not do this thing Khan asks of you. In either case, I don't want you to put yourself in danger."
"She already is," Khan said. "And so are you, your holiness. Listen, I know that Buddhism teaches there's no such thing as a coincidence -- things happen as they happen, random events, then we humans attach meanings that suit us. But still yet, don't you think it's significant that six months before your return to Hawaii fate found a way for Bodhicita, one of our supporters, to get inside Te-Wu and learn they have orders to kill you?"
"When you put it like that, jeez," Bodhicita said. "But it's true, meeting Fon Du was such a fluke."
"Simple twist of fate, to quote Dylan," Khan said. "And to attach my own meaning, a blessing from Buddha."
"It's not so simple any more," she said.
"Listen, if you two are eternal whoopie makers," Khan said, "what's a few more days apart? Only until Jey goes back to the Himalayas next week."
Bodhicita hadn't thought that far ahead. "I'll do anything for you, Jey. If this is what it takes, I'll do it."
"It's your decision. But I saw in the paper that a Buddhist meditation center is opening ..." He checked the Star-Bulletin calendar. "... in Kainalu. I hope you can find time to attend with me."
"Absolutely!"
Khan rolled his eyes. How do you tell a lama to stay away from meditation? At least Kainalu was practically next door.
Note to readers: The Kailua Shambhala Meditation Center opens Sunday morning at the Aikahi Shopping Center, including free meditation instruction. For more information, call 254-5577.
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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