Walking over the toilet in my cell, I toss the note in and watch it dissolve instantly. No matter why that riot happened, I’ve got to make the most of this chance.
Stretching out on the cot, I think about how I got to this point and what this might mean. I close my eyes and think about home, wishing for sunshine and the smell of salt. Praying for the day when I can feel the sand under my feet again and the wind of my island around me.
My mother was from the Philippines and came to Hawaii as a small child. Her family was poor, but when she was old enough she began to work in a restaurant to make extra money. She cleaned tables and washed dishes until she was old enough to cook, then eventually she took over the kitchen. That’s how she met my dad. He was born in Molokai and came to Lanai for work. He was asked to deliver supplies to a restaurant one day, and that’s when he saw her. He told me that with one look he knew, even though he’d never spoken a word to her.
They were married soon after and had me almost exactly nine months later. My parents didn’t have much, but they gave me everything that mattered: a safe home filled with love and an education. They didn’t finish school, so it was important to them that I did. I worked hard because they had all of their hopes and dreams in me, and I carried that on my shoulders with pride. They cried the day I left for college, but not out of sadness. This was an opportunity they’d never dreamed possible, but they didn’t live to see me graduate.
My mother caught a cold that set into her chest and never left. Later the doctors found out it was pneumonia, but by then it was too late. My father disappeared the day she died, and no one knows what happened. Part of me used to dream about him being alive, but I know that he wouldn’t have wanted to live without her. He told me once that when his time was up, he would go into the sea, and that’s where he would meet my mother again. In my heart I know that they are together, I just hope they understand what I have to do now.
After I lost them, I decided the only way to move on was to fulfill the dream they had for me. I didn’t know that it would mean being behind bars and making deals with criminal kingpins.
It’s the best night of sleep I’ve had since I’ve been locked in here, and that’s thanks to Leo O’Neal. I didn’t have to worry about Reggie the tweaker trying to stab me while I was in bed, so I could sleep with both eyes closed.
The reason I haven’t been able to get close to Leo before now is because we were placed in different cell blocks, so we were on different schedules. I don’t know what’s changed, but after breakfast, I go into the yard and see him on the other side with his men. There’s five of them standing next to the fence and Leo is sitting with two guys at a table playing cards. He’s smiling and talking to them until he looks up and sees me. He motions for me to come closer, and I do as I’m told, walking past the groups of people in the yard that are watching us.
“Have a seat,” Leo says, and the guys sitting at the table stand up. With one look, they disperse, and we’re alone. “Sleep okay?”
“Thank you for that,” I say as he picks up the cards and begins to shuffle them.
“I’ve asked around about you.” He doesn’t look at me as he says this, just shuffles the cards and then places them between us. “Cut them.” He nods, and I do, placing half the pile on one side and putting the bottom half on top.
“Find out anything interesting?” I ask as he deals the cards between us.
“You don’t have any friends in here.” It’s a statement that doesn’t require a response. “So I’ve come to my own conclusions.”
“Which are?” I look at the hand he’s dealt me and put them in order. I haven’t played poker in a long time, but it’s not a hard game.
“One of two things.” He discards one card and then draws another.
I noticed he’s not playing with money, and he wasn’t with his men earlier. Leo O’Neal isn’t someone who needs money to get what he wants. He can do that with information and favors. Both of which don’t sit on a table for everyone to see.
“You’ve either been transferred here to kill me—” He looks up and his dark eyes remind me of Sienna’s. “Or you’re a cop.”