Page 35 of Try Easy

Might As Well Stay

Keoni

Keoni easedhimself into the front seat of Bones’s station wagon.

“You look like shit, bruddah,” Bones said, staring at him.

“Thanks, eh?”

Keoni sank against the seat and closed his eyes. The beating Keoni had taken at Waimea Bay felt worse today. The bruises on his face had darkened to deep purple and yellow, and his ribs ached every time he moved.

He had just gotten off work at the pineapple factory where he worked nights. He should have been exhausted from standing up all night, but he was too excited to be tired. He and Bones were spending the day with the girls from Seattle, and Keoni couldn’t wait to see Lou again.

“I got the boat for next Sunday,” Bones said.

“What?”

“For the coral dive. Next Sunday. The day after the Duke. That okay?”

Keoni leaned back in the seat and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. He had forgotten all about the dive.

“Sunday’s fine,” he said.

His mind drifted back to Lou. He had been thinking of her all night. Good thing his job at the cannery was mindless, or he would have screwed up a hundred times.

The kiss they had shared kept playing in his mind over and over. Lou had started it by brushing her lips against his, and then Keoni had finished it. Keoni had meant for the kiss to be a warning, but his plan had backfired on him, leaving him the one wanting more.

Keoni reached into his backpack and pulled out the clean shirt he’d packed before his shift. He didn’t want to smell like a pineapple cannery. Moving slowly, he lifted his arms and pulled off his uniform shirt. His cracked ribs protested with every move. He was sweating from the effort by the time he got on a fresh shirt.

He flipped down the visor and sighed over the disheveled appearance of his hair. Using his fingers as a comb, he did his best to arrange it neatly, but it refused to cooperate and sprung up in messy waves as soon as he dropped his hands.

Bones was right: he looked like shit.

There was nothing more he could do about it. They were turning into Henry’s neighborhood, and he would be seeing Lou in a few minutes. His heart started beating faster as he thought about seeing her again.

Was she as pretty as he remembered, or had Keoni built her up in his mind? It didn’t matter, he realized. Lou was more than a pretty face. He was attracted to more than the way she looked. He loved watching her take pictures. She was a natural at it, Keoni could tell. The way she moved her body into the best positions to capture her shot was like a dance.

Keoni wished he could see some of her photographs. He was sure they were good. Maybe she would send him some when she got home. Keoni knew he was a fool to think he and Lou would still know each other after she left Hawaii, but he couldn’t help wishing it all the same.

This was why he didn’t get involved with tourists, he reminded himself. They all left eventually. They were here to take what they wanted from Hawaii, and then they left.

“Why you so wound up?” Bones asked as they stopped in front of Henry’s house.

“Who says I am?”

“You’re about to jump outta your skin, cuz.”

“Nah,” he said.

Bones laughed and smacked Keoni hard enough on the shoulder to make him wince. “You need to relax. Have some fun,” he said, grabbing Keoni’s shoulder and squeezing it. “Quit being so damn serious alla the time, eh? They’re just a coupla girls lookin’ for a good time, and we are here to give it to them.”

Keoni looked away from his cousin. Keoni didn’t do good times with tourists. He didn’t do anything with tourists.

“You like her, or wot?” Bones asked.

“Course I like her. I’m not blind.”

“So what’s the problem? You make too many rules for yourself, bruddah. Stop making your life so hard.”

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