Blogs by Lynde Lakes

BREAK UP QUEEN ANTHOLOGY	3/2/2008 -- 10:40 PM

Anthology, “THE BREAK UP QUEEN” Available at Amazon.com Profits to literacy Excerpt: RAINBOW OVER THE ALOHA TOWER By LYNDE LAKES Chevron Office, Mainland. Ku looked up when his boss, Ray Angelo, plunked into a chair—and dropped the bombshell that could change his life. “We need someone to handle a negotiation in Honolulu,” Ray said, grinning like a full-cheeked chipmunk. “Since you were raised there, you know your way around and can use your connections—” “Count me out,” Ku shouted and threw his hands up. “I won’t take no for an answer,” Ray said, and then launched into his long-winded sales pitch. Ku tuned-him-out and looked out the sixth floor wall of glass and fixed his stare on a dark cloud that resembled a closed door. He curled his hands into fists, fighting the bitterness that sliced through him. Ray couldn’t ask this of him. A wide gulf of resentment and an ocean had long ago separated him from his past. None of his family knew where he’d ended up. And probably didn’t care. If he went back to Oahu, he’d wind up driving slowly by the old estate in Manoa, craning his neck to get a glimpse of his family. And that would be the biggest mistake of his life. Memories good and bad flooded his mind. He closed out the ones concerning his brother. But the ones of his parents tore at his heart. He could still see his mama’s smiling eyes, hear his papa’s raspy voice telling stories about the various gods. There was a lesson in every tale and his father seemed to believe his own stories. He’d told everyone who would listen that Ku had descended from the gods. Upon his birth he immediately named him Ku, after the god of prosperity, resolve, and balance. Ku shook his head. He hadn’t thought of that for a long time. Once he must have been special to his parents. But that had changed when they found the drugs in his room. He knew they belonged to his older brother. But no one would listen—they believed his lying brother and took his side. Ku couldn’t forgive that. Mary, the girl who lived next door, was the only one who had backed him up. He laughed to himself. She was a pesky kid, but loyal and dependable as the rising and falling surf. She was thirteen the year he’d stowed away on the Matson freighter headed for the Mainland. He’d been an angry sixteen-year-old. He remembered having a crush on her—even kissed her once. Why would he remember that? Maybe because it was one of the few honest emotions that came out of that hellish year. How old would she be now? Hmmm. Twenty-three. She was adorable at thirteen; imagine how appealing she might be as a woman. “Ku, are you getting all this?” Ray asked as he noisily flipped a page on the daily desk calendar. “Plan to arrive by October 31st.” Ku fixed his gaze on the date now under Ray’s fat finger. Halloween! The childhood vow! He’d told Mary of his plans to run away and promised to come back in ten years and give her a real kiss in the shadow of the Aloha Tower. What if she remembered? What if she actually showed up? # Halloween day, Mary paced beneath the Aloha Tower. “Don’t look up, don’t look up,” she told herself, struggling not to check the time on the historic clock. Again. Would Ku come? Not likely. After all, it had been ten long years since they’d promised to meet here. In the movies when couples agreed to meet at the top of the Empire State Building in New York, it somehow worked out in the end. Only this was Honolulu, Hawaii, and when she and Ku made their pact, it was a just a teenager’s silly game. Something neither of them really intended to honor. Right? So why was she here? Mary tried to convince herself that there was only one reason—she had no other way to reach him. He needed to know about the deadline on the balloon payment hovering like a vulture over his parents’ estate, and the conflict that had risen between their two families because of it. But Ku could help. He’d always been the problem solver, the thinker, the natural born negotiator. She told herself that her solitary goal for coming here was to locate him, save his folk’s home and mend the breach in their families. The strange excitement dancing on her nerves made her wonder if she was being totally honest with herself. She could still feel his full, warm lips on hers—feel her racing pulse. She must be pupule. How else could a quick, chaste kiss have left such an impact? She glanced across the parkway to the nearby pine. Every detail of that Halloween night was still startlingly clear: the darkness under the spreading low branches, the heady scent. They had both worn half-masks and capes covered with peacock feathers, pretending they were the mythological goddess Hina and the god Ku. When their lips touched and warmed, she felt for a moment that they really were the deities, destined to be lovers and rulers of their own lives, their own heaven and earth. The exquisite memory of that kiss had stayed rooted within her all these years; no other kiss, no matter how sweet or passionate, had ever topped it. God, she was a mess. All these musings about a kiss, when she didn’t even know if she’d recognize Ku. Of course, he’d be tall and muscular; all the men in his family were, even his rotund, poi-loving dad. Mary carefully studied the features of the only man so far who had even the remote possibility of being Ku. Her face flamed when he caught her staring. “Do I know you?” he asked with a hopeful grin. The smile and baritone voice were all wrong. “Ah…no,” she said quickly and turned away. A slew of people disembarked from one of the inter-island cruise ships. Tour buses dropped off more groups. How would she find Ku in this crowd? If he returned to the islands, it would probably be by jet. After all these years, his return wasn’t likely. Even if he came back, expecting him to show up here on a date set by impetuous teens was a fool’s dream. But oh, how she wished he’d come… # Hours Later: Mary’s neck prickled. She glanced around for the source of her discomfort. Oh, no. The man she’d stared at earlier had his gaze fixed on her. She had started the dangerous game by staring at him—and had to squelch his wrong impression—fast. She met his gaze with her most icy look and darted into the crowd. After a dozen steps, she looked back and sighed in relief. Good. He wasn’t following. At least she didn’t see him. So why was her neck still prickling? Mary sat down on a bench and took a sketch pad from her backpack. She drew cartoon faces of some of the passers-by. The long strand of maile draped around her neck—purchased for Ku—had turned limp, and its sweet fragrance mingled with her pikake lei and swirled about her in the sun-warmed breeze. A white tern fluttered its wings and landed nearby. She smiled. In Hawaiian myths many such birds appeared as kindred spirits and servants of the gods. She dug in her back pack for her sack lunch and crumbled the edge of one of the slices of bread and tossed it to the bird. “Hi Birdie, birdie. Do you have a message for me? Or, by some miracle, my feathered friend, are you the god Ku himself, taking this form to fly to my need.” Myths were full of such phenomenon, why not real life? She froze when she thought she caught a glimpse of the man who had stared at her. She relaxed again when he disappeared. Birds fluttered about waiting for her crumbs. The sun dropped lower in the sky. This was the most absurd thing she’d ever done. Even worse than when she’d dyed her hair the colors of the rainbow and had her tongue pierced. Although the sun was out, it began to sprinkle. She didn’t seek cover; it was merely a passing shower. The crowd changed to people closer to her own age—they were louder, wilder. This morning no one had worn costumes, now ghosts and goblins dotted the growing throng of people. As ridiculous as it was, she searched the crowd for a half-mask of the god Ku. The caped and feather-adorned deity would no longer have the lean body of a sixteen-year-old boy; he would be twenty-six and no doubt have a powerful build similar to his seven brothers. She shivered at the dynamic image so easily conjured up from memories, fantasies. 12 comments \|\| add comment

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Awesome Review!	12/31/2007 -- 6:34 PM

Lynde's Romantic Times Review- a 4 is an awesome score for RT!! Lynde, congratulations on your excellent review for BILLBOARD COP! I have never seen a 5 from Romantic Times. Your score of 4 is wonderful. -K, Aka. M.A. Tallmadge 1150 comments \|\| add comment

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BILLBOARD COP	7/7/2007 -- 5:27 AM

Available at www.amirapress.com See if you can find the 2 bad guys on the cover. :-) Click to see enlarged view. 6701 comments \|\| add comment

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