by Neil Plakcy
“From the drugstore. I used to talk to her sometimes. One day I saw her checking out pregnancy tests, and she told me she didn’t believe she was pregnant.”
Ray stood behind her, holding the baby in his arms and swaying gently.
“She didn’t even want the baby. And I did.”
I nodded.
“She wouldn’t go to the doctor or anything. Finally one day I told her that I was a midwife, and I would deliver the baby for her, and no one had to know.”
“But you’re not a midwife, are you?”
She shook her head. “I thought I would help her deliver, and then she would give the baby to me. But she started bleeding, and she wouldn’t stop, and then she passed out.”
She looked up at me. “I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to call 911 but I knew if they came, they would take away the baby.”
“So you just let her die?”
“We were both so stupid. We thought the baby would just come out and she could go home. When she passed out I got scared, and I took the baby and went for a walk. By the time I got back she was dead. I didn’t know what to do—she was so big and I couldn’t carry her anywhere. So I had to cut her up in pieces.” She shivered and began to cry.
I sat there with my arm around Charlotte’s shoulder as Ray called Social Services to take custody of the baby, and a squad car to take Charlotte downtown. Lidia Portuondo answered the call, and I knew she’d be kind, yet careful, with Charlotte.
As Lidia was driving away, the crime scene techs showed up and sprayed a mix of luminol and a chemical activator in Charlotte’s bathroom. The luminol reacts with the iron in blood to show traces of any blood residue, even after the surface has been cleaned, and the activator causes the luminescence that reveals the traces. It works best on non-porous substances, like the nubby tile on the bathroom floor. They turned the lights out, and we saw a blue glow where Alamea’s blood had spattered. They took some long-exposure photographs that documented the traces.
Fortunately Charlotte wasn’t a great housekeeper; if she had scrubbed the entire bathroom with bleach or some copper-containing substance, the whole room would have reacted with the luminol, giving us a false positive and effectively camouflaging any of the blood traces.
When the crime scene techs were finished we locked up the house and drove down to headquarters, where we read Charlotte her rights and she gave us a full statement.
≈≈≈
Alamea had never told Charlotte who the baby’s father was, and no one else even knew she was pregnant. As next of kin, Betty signed the papers so the baby could be put up for adoption. Charlotte was arraigned on charges of negligent homicide, and released on bail.
We moved on to other cases, but I couldn’t help thinking about Charlotte Montes, and the lengths some people went to in order to have a baby.
Saturday morning, Mike and I drove to St. Filomena’s with Dominic and Soon-O. It was our first opportunity to meet both Ray’s and Julie’s parents, who had flown in for the occasion, and it was funny to me how quickly Dominic and Mike blended into the crowd of exuberant Italian-Americans from Philadelphia. I was left on the sidelines with Soon-O.
“Was this what it was like when you guys lived on Long Island?” I asked her.
Dominic and Soon-O met in Korea, when he was a wounded soldier and she was his nurse. After some opposition on both sides of the family, they had married, and she had worked to put Dominic through medical school, living near his big family in New York.
“Yes,” Soon-O said. “Except there was a lot more talk in Italian. Dom’s parents were born there, you know.”
I knew that Soon-O had been unhappy in New York, far from her family and her culture, and that Mike had been uncomfortable as a mixed-race kid. The Riccardis had moved to Hawai’i when Mike was seven, in an effort to make both of them happier. As far as I could tell, it had worked.
“I’m sorry Michael couldn’t grow up around his cousins, on both sides,” Soon-O said. “And now Vinnie will be the same, so far from family.”
“We make our own family.” I took Soon-O’s hand. “Look at us.”
“I know,” she said. “I almost feel like your mother is my sister. And now, Michael will be connected to Vinnie, and to Ray and Julie and their families. That means we all will be, too.”
I looked up and saw Ray at the door of the church, trying to get everyone to go inside. “Well, then, we’d better go in and join them,” I said.
I gave one last thought to Alamea Kekuahona and her baby, and hoped that both of them would find loving families, in Heaven and on Earth, and then I joined my family of choice for the ceremony to welcome our newest member.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NEIL PLAKCY is the author of Mahu, Mahu Surfer, Mahu Fire, Mahu Vice, Mahu Men, Mahu Blood , Zero Break about openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka. His other books are Three Wrong Turns in the Desert, Dancing with the Tide, The Outhouse Gang, In Dog We Trust, Invasion of the Blatnicks, and GayLife.com. He edited Paws & Reflect:A Special Bond Between Man and Dog and the gay erotic anthologies Hard Hats, Surfer Boys and Skater Boys. His website is www.mahubooks.com.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A writer needs an ohana, a family and a community, in order to put out a book—and I’ve been lucky to have a very supportive ohana during the years of the Mahu series. Christine Kling, Sharon Potts, Mike Jastrzebski, and Miriam Auerbach all critiqued parts of this book, and their help has been invaluable.
Cindy Chow once again provided invaluable service by reading the manuscript and pointing out so many mistakes I’d made about Hawai’i, though any remaining errors are my fault, not hers. She has been a wonderful tutor into the intricacies of life in the Aloha State.
For their personal support I am grateful to my mother, to Eliot Hess and Lois Whitman, Fred Searcy, John Spero, Steve Greenberg, Eileen Matluck, Andrew Schulz, Elisa Albo, and Lourdes Rodriguez-Florido. And as always, gratitude is due to my other colleagues in the English department at Broward College’s South Campus for their support and encouragement, and to the college’s Staff and Professional Development program, which has allowed me to attend conferences and conventions.
For professional advice and encouragement I want to thank Wayne Gunn and my fellow members of the Florida chapter of Mystery Writers of America.
A big mahalo to Laura Baumbach, Kris Jacen, J.P. Bowie, Lisa Edwards and Victoria Landis, for all their help in bringing this book out.
TRADEMARKS ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
7-11: Southland Corporation
Aloha Stadium: State of Hawaii
Bank of Hawai’i: Bank of Hawaii
Barbies: Mattel Inc.
Blackberry: Research in Motion Limited
Bluetooth: Bluetooth Sig Inc.
BMW: BMW of North America LLC
Brooks Brothers: Retail Brand Alliance
Camaro: General Motors
Cartier: Cartier International
Children’s Discovery Center: Children’s Discovery Centers of America, Inc.
Crocs: Crocs, Inc.
Denny’s: DFO, Inc.
Dole Plantation: Dole Food Company, Inc.
Excel: Microsoft
Facebook: Facebook, Inc.
Fire Rock Pale Ale: Kona Brewery LLC
Foodland: Foodland Super Market, Ltd.
Google: Google, Inc.
Gucci: Gucci Shops, Inc.
Harvard: President and Fellows of Harvard College
Hawai’i Five-O: CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman Productions
Hilo Hattie: Pomare Inc.
Honolulu Community College:
Jeep: Chrysler Group LLC
Kawasaki: Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A.
Maui Divers: Maui Divers of Hawaii, Ltd.
Mini Cooper: BMW of North America LLC
MIT: Massachusetts Institute of Tec
hnology
NASCAR: Turner Sports Interactive, Inc.
Nissan: Nissan Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha TA Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Old Navy: Gap Inc.
PowerPoint: Microsoft
Roy’s: OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC
Royal Hawaiian: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Sears: Sears Brands, LLC
Shirokiya: Shirokiya International
Star-Advertiser: Honolulu Star-Advertiser
The Wizard of Oz: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros.
TiVo: TiVo Inc.
Toyota Camry: Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
Toyota Highlander: Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
UH Warriors: University of Hawaii
Vicks Vapo-Rub: Proctor & Gamble
Word: Microsoft
Zippy’s: Zippy’s Inc.
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The Trevor Project operates the only nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. Every day, The Trevor Project saves lives though its free and confidential helpline, its website and its educational services. If you or a friend are feeling lost, alone, confused or in crisis, please call The Trevor Helpline. You’ll be able to speak confidentially with a trained counselor 24/7.
The Trevor Helpline: 866-488-7386
On the Web: http://www.thetrevorproject.org/
THE GAY MEN’S DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROJECT
Founded in 1994, The Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project is a grassroots, non-profit organization founded by a gay male survivor of domestic violence and developed through the strength, contributions and participation of the community. The Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project supports victims and survivors through education, advocacy and direct services. Understanding that the serious public health issue of domestic violence is not gender specific, we serve men in relationships with men, regardless of how they identify, and stand ready to assist them in navigating through abusive relationships.
GMDVP Helpline: 800.832.1901
On the Web: http://gmdvp.org/
THE GAY & LESBIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST DEFAMATION/GLAAD EN ESPAÑOL
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (glaad) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
On the Web: http://www.glaad.org/
glaad en español: http://www.glaad.org/espanol/bienvenido.php
SERVICEMEMBERS LEGAL DEFENSE NETWORK
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, legal services, watchdog and policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (dadt).The sldn provides free, confidential legal services to all those impacted by dadt and related discrimination. Since 1993, its inhouse legal team has responded to more than 9,000 requests for assistance. In Congress, it leads the fight to repeal dadt and replace it with a law that ensures equal treatment for every servicemember, regardless of sexual orientation. In the courts, it works to challenge the constitutionality of dadt.
sldn Call: 800-538-7418
PO Box 65301 or (202) 328-FAIR
Washington DC 20035-5301 e-mail: [email protected]
On the Web: http://sldn.org/
THE GLBT NATIONAL HELP CENTER
The glbt National Help Center is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization that is dedicated to meeting the needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and those questioning their sexual orientation and gender identity. It is an outgrowth of the Gay & Lesbian National Hotline, which began in 1996 and now is a primary program of The glbt National Help Center. It offers several different programs including two national hotlines that help members of the glbt community talk about the important issues that they are facing in their lives. It helps end the isolation that many people feel, by providing a safe environment on the phone or via the internet to discuss issues that people can’t talk about anywhere else. The glbt National Help Center also helps other organizations build the infrastructure they need to provide strong support to our community at the local level.
National Hotline: 1-888-THE-GLNH (1-888-843-4564)
National Youth Talkline 1-800-246-PRIDE (1-800-246-7743)
On the Web: http://www.glnh.org/
e-mail: [email protected]
If you’re a GLBT and questioning student heading off to university, you should know that there are resources on campus for you. Here’s just a sample:
GLBT Scholarship Resources http://www.hrc.org/resources/entry/tell-us-about-an-lgbt-scholarship
Syracuse University
http://lgbt.syr.edu/
Texas A&M
http://glbt.tamu.edu/
Tulane University
http://tulane.edu/studentaffairs/oma/lgbt/index.cfm
University of Alaska http://www.uaf.edu/woodcenter/leadership/organizations/active/index.xml?id=61
University of California, Davis
http://lgbtrc.ucdavis.edu/
University of California, San Francisco
http://lgbt.ucsf.edu/
University of Colorado
http://www.colorado.edu/GLBTQRC/
University of Florida
http://www.multicultural
.ufl.edu/lgbt/
University of Hawaiÿi, Mānoa
http://manoa.hawaii.edu/lgbt/
University of Utah
http://www.sa.utah.edu/lgbt/
University of Virginia
http://www.virginia.edu/deanofstudents/lgbt/
Vanderbilt University
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lgbtqi/
Table of Contents
ZERO BREAK
blurb
copyright
dedication
Little Caesar’s Discovery
Home Invasion
Sunshine and Colorado
Searching for Suspects
Finding a Dragon
The Baby Daddy
Dinner Discussions
What Judy Knows
The Linebacker
Finding Freddie
Neng Yuan
Defensive Tactics
Juvenile Records
Baby Daddies
Moving to the Mainland
Marriage Matters
School Days
Numbers Don’t
Crash
The Cat is the Key
Go Fly A Kite
Helen Wheels
North Shore
Dinner with Ben
Field Trips
Lunch Break
Nishimura
Breaking Up
Boat Rescue
Pursuit
Interrogation
Finale
Other People’s Children
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Trademarks Acknowledgment