Joe Burke's Last Stand

e other was several years older, heavier. Joe stopped at Coco's, ordered coffee, and tried to describe the girls in a notebook. They were so beau

ew yards, waited, and dove quietly under a three-footer, bobbing up on the other side. The locals live in the water, Joe thought, they don't fight it. He remembered a story in The Ad

was one of those big laughing Hawaiians who

. Locals grinned from the sides. When enough people had gathered, the gorilla would sneak one hand behind and below him and without warning blast the tourists with

s he walked all the way to the Kahala to watch the dolphins zoom around their salt wa

show of her photographs. The print on the card was deeply silvered. It showed the base of a banyan tree by a bus stop: high roots radiated out and sank below the sidewalk; a man was asleep,

an," Joe said.

early. Empty wine bottles, a few pupus on bare trays, a glass punch bowl, paper cups and napkins were scattered across white tables. Conver

young Japanese ma

itation," Joe said,

friend of W

Joe

ell S

ky through the branches of a koa tree. There was a large one of the city at night, lights running high up the ridges. His favorite showed two young women walking toward the camera on Kalakaua Avenue. The light was

them that was interesting. They were all black and white but one-a close-up

partially. "How come it'

rs, bamboo and that tender green. They're both off in the same way, so the relationship works. And the co

med more helpful than talking to anyone. Mo worked the crowd. After a time, Joe thanked the owner, wa

he called. "

ank

e Burke award-excell

dream," she said i

un

y, let's see . . . How about Tuesday? I want to check som

d de

As they drove toward the pali, Joe said, "I'm sentimental about that sandbox. Kate use

-from a condition my husband forgot to tell m

awf

aid. They were silent for a few min

nvolved in the market. I made a m

got out and walked to the other end of the bridge where a tall grove had grown from the bank below. Mo put her elbows on the side wall of the bridge, and l

a few minutes and then drove through the pali tunnel, emerging high over Kaneohe Bay-pl

've got to stop a moment in town a

ong Oneawa Street past the Racquet Club. Joe pointed. "See that hedge? I planted it!" A tall oleand

oots in

here with Sally and Ka

ld is

rd to believe. Wh

op

citing. We can ea

s apron stood in front of the grill. Her black hair, gathered behind her head, was held by a tortoise shell comb. Her face was long and utterly calm. Eggs, homefries, and burgers sizzled in front of her. She dropped slices of bread into an industrial t

g else,"

o get a picture o

n't k

r stool. "I've go

d ask her

hen . . . You mean i

"naked in a wate

he contrast with the grill. But

can she be so busy and so

catch it," Mo said. "

dmit, Mo, I like looking at things. Why don't we go over to Kauai some time? Day trip. Catch an ea

the canyon. I have to go to the mainland next week. How about the week after

light to seven o'clock,

irline?"

t know-

my books if I get my

. Good luck with Jade Willow Lady." Mo dropped him off at the

ght. It was in their genes or something. Or maybe it was just that they cared. He almost bought a porcelain doll to keep Batman company on the lanai, but he decide

s, ordered a Glenlivet, and stretched out to enjoy the view of masts in the marina. The trade wind ke

dly. As the first group of well dressed office women came through the door, one of the men leaned bac

g him in Mo's direction. She wasn't as natural as Sally, his first wife, or as cheerful as Ingrid; she was more independent, focused, more like him in some ways. Too bad about he