Read Online O'ahu Lonesome Tonight? (Islands of Aloha Mystery Series #5) by JoAnn Bassett - Free Book Online Page B

jams, along with a delightful
array of finger sandwiches.”
    “But it says
here we can have our tea iced.”
    “Yes, you may.”
    “So use the
same glass you’d put the ice tea in and make it a beer instead.”
    “I’m not sure I
can—”
    Moko broke in. “No worries, man. I’ll take the iced tea.”
    “No you won’t,”
said Stu. “You want a beer, you get a beer. Do you know who we are?”
    The waiter
looked around the table, ostensibly trying to put a name to any of our faces.
    “No, sir, I’m
afraid I don’t recognize you.”
    “Well, that’s
too bad. Because if you did, there’s no way you’d be hassling my brother about
his order. Make it three beers and that’s that. We don’t want any of that other
stuff.”
    The waiter’s
face had paled to a shade just a tad darker than the crisp white tablecloth.
    “Very well,
sir. I’ll bring your order right out.”
    As the waiter
turned to leave, Moko leaned toward me and whispered.
“See what I mean?”
    The beers came
and soon we were talking like old friends. “So you went to public school over
on Maui?” said Stu. “How was that?”
    “It was good.
Things aren’t so hectic over there. The public schools are pretty decent. We
had our share of lowlifes and screw-offs, but mostly it was just a bunch of
regular kids from the neighborhood.”
    “Huh. Well, Dad
insisted we all go to private school. Moko messed up
a little and ended up in a Catholic high school, right Moko ?”
    “Yeah. It was just boys. No girls.”
     “But it
didn’t slow him down. He got his girlfriend pregnant twice before he
graduated.” Stu laughed and clapped Moko on the back.
    Moko shook his head. “Big mistake. First time she got rid of it and I felt so bad. Still do. But the next time, I
do right by her. We got married right outta school.” He reached into a shorts
pocket and brought out a worn canvas wallet. “You wanna see a picture? This one’s a little old, but it’s my favorite.”
    Moko’s kids were darling, with big dark eyes and
mischievous grins.
    “Two boys, two
girls,” he said. “I got one extra of each.”
    “Wow. So that
makes me an auntie,” I said.
    “Yeah. These kids already got a bunch of aunties to spoil
them rotten but I’m sure they’ll be excited to find out they got a new one.”
    The
conversation turned to Stu’s anticipation over the birth of his first child.
After that, things started to wind down. The dregs of our beer had grown warm
and the veranda had emptied out. The waiter had come back twice to inquire if
we needed anything else.
    Stu had a
flashy watch strapped to his wrist so I asked him the time. He extended his arm
my way so I could read the time on it myself, as well as to show off his Rolex
Oyster.
    “Whew. That’s
quite a timepiece you’ve got there.”
    “Yeah. It was a present from my dad. When
I graduated from the U of Dub.”
    “You went to
the University of Washington? My brother, Jeff, went there. You guys might have
been there at the same time.”
    “When did he
graduate?”
    I did the math.
“He’s three years younger than me and he got a five-year master’s, so it
would’ve been around 2004, maybe 2005.”
    “Yeah. I got out in 2005.”
    As if on cue,
my brother Jeff appeared at our table. He didn’t look pleased.
    “Did you turn
off your phone?” he said in lieu of a greeting.
    “Uh, no. I don’t think so.” I rummaged through my beach bag
purse. My phone wasn’t there. “I must’ve left it in the apartment.”
    “Don’t you
think I would’ve heard it ringing if you left it there?” Jeff said in his
‘cranky’ voice.
    “I don’t know.
Maybe I set to ‘vibrate’ or something.” Then I remembered my manners. “Jeff,
these are my half-brothers, Stuart and Michael. And guys, this is my other
brother, Jeff Warner.”
    At hearing my
brother’s last name both men seemed to wince ever so slightly. The sad
connection between the Warner and Wilkerson families was painful for