Dreams of a Virgin (3 page)

A few months? I dropped to my knees and
started crying. There were so many things I wanted to do in this
life that now I wouldn’t be able to do.

I decided to do what I could in the time
left. The one place I had always wanted to visit was Hawaii. I
cashed in my 401K and booked a flight to Honolulu for five
days.

When I checked in on Tuesday, I met Shauna,
the concierge. In a land filled with peace and beauty, she stood
out from all the rest. I asked her for some suggestions on places
to go to eat.

Once I unpacked, I decided to go shopping.
What better place to buy Hawaiian shirts than the source itself. As
a typical tacky tourist did, I picked up a few souvenirs, too.

I wanted to experience some Hawaiian cuisine.
That night, I went to one of the best restaurants in all of Hawaii.
Great but expensive.

I woke up early Wednesday and headed to
Waikiki Beach. I wanted to learn how to surf. As expected, I
couldn’t get my balance for the first ten or twenty tries. On that
twenty-first try, I actually rode a wave in. A small wave, but
still a wave. As I was trying another wave, the headaches came back
and threw off my equilibrium. With that, I called an end to my
surfing career.

Still early in the afternoon, I wanted to
check out Diamond Head Crater. It took me a while to climb it, but
eventually, I reached the top. What a view. I didn’t stay long. I
climbed down to change for dinner.

As I came back to the hotel, I saw Shauna and
told her how I rode my first wave. She greeted me with a blinding
smile and gave me a brochure about the Polynesian Cultural Center
on the North Side. She also recommended a great place to eat dinner
tonight.

I changed and went to her recommendation.
Dinner by myself in such a beautiful place just didn’t feel
right.

The next morning, I got up early to catch the
trolley to the North side. As I walked out, there’s Shauna,
flashing me another smile. I spent the whole day there, just taking
in all of the sights.

Coming back to change, there was Shauna
again. I knew what I need to do now. However, when I came down to
leave, she was gone. Guess her shift was over.

Thursday night, I went out to eat again.
While I had been having Hawaiian food these past three days, when
people thought of Hawaiian food, they thought luau.

On Friday, I decided to head out to Pearl
Harbor and the monuments out there. It was also suggested to me to
check out Iolani Palace.

When I left the hotel, there’s Shauna again.
Thinking of the past two nights eating alone, and with this being
my last night on Maui, I approached Shauna.

“Hi, Shauna. Thanks for all your help.”

“It’s my job.”

“Listen, I was wondering. I am going to the
luau tonight, and I wanted to know if you would like to accompany
me.”

“Wow. You know, as long as I’ve lived here,
I’ve never been to a luau. Okay. Sounds like fun. I get off at
six.”

After a day of historic sightseeing, I got
home to dress for the luau. I was meeting Shauna in the lobby. I
lost my breath when I saw her. Flowered bikini top. Flowered
sarong. And a flower in her hair.

As we walked into the luau, I got leid by a
stunning Hawaiian female. They seated us at a table and gave us
each a mai tai.

After everyone was seated, the first course
was presented. While they were serving us, the pig was dug up from
the imu.

I could tell Shauna was a bit nervous,
because she was on her second mai tai. Me, I was just soaking in
all of the entertainment. Hula dancers. Flaming batons.

After an hour, the main course was served.
Kalua pork, from the roasted pig. Poi. Various fish caught that
day. Pineapple coleslaw.

Shauna had already had two mai tais and was
working on her second blue Hawaii. I had only had the one mai tai.
When dinner was served, I tried a lava flow.

After dinner, we had a choice for dessert.
Haupia, a coconut pudding, macadamia nut tartlet, or pineapple
caramel cake. I tried the haupia; Shauna had the cake, along with a
piña colada.

I had to help Shauna home. After all those
drinks, she was in no condition to drive. She could barely stand. I
walked her in. As I was leaving, she grabbed my hand.

“Where are you going? All this time in Hawaii
and I haven’t had the chance to get you leid.” Her voice was
slurred.

“I don’t want to take advantage of you, not
in this condition.”

“C’mon. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of
me.”

Seeing as I didn’t have much time left on
this earth, and this opportunity was right in front of me, an
opportunity I might never get again, I said Mahalo God.

She pulled me inside and threw me down onto
the bed. She tore off the sarong and jumped on top of me. She
started tearing at my clothes.

By the time she got to my pants, my helmeted
soldier was at attention and ready for battle. After she took off
her top and panties, my soldier charged into the field. Like a
bayonet, I jabbed in and out. Finally, it was time to bring out the
big gun. I loaded my bullet into her cannon and fired. After one
shot, the war was over and everyone came out a winner.

After she passed out, I got dressed and left.
A night I would never forget and a night she would barely
remember.

The next morning, I checked out early to
leave for the island of Hawaii. When I left, Shauna was not there.
Guess she was still recovering from the night before.

I checked into a bed and breakfast in the
city of Volcano. I wanted to get there early so I could check out
the lava flowing at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. From what
everyone had told me, it was one of the most amazing sights you
could see.

They were right. The bright red magma glowing
in the dark as it flowed into the ocean. After taking this in for
an hour, it was time to go. I had an early flight back home
tomorrow.

During this trip, I had been toying around
with a song. You see, I was a song writer. Well, I tried. I had
written several songs that artists had used on CDs, but I had never
had that one breakthrough hit. Being around Shauna had inspired me.
She had made me feel happier than I had ever felt before.

I knew I would never see her again. This
first day away from her showed me just how special a person she
was. Before I left Hawaii, I finished my latest song.

When I got back to Los Angeles, I sent this
song to all the major labels. For the first time ever, I had labels
fighting for the rights to my song. I chose the best offer, the one
with the biggest name singing it.

By the time the CD was to be released, my
cancer was at its worst stage. It was then that I decided to sign
over all royalties to this song over to the inspiration, Shauna. I
knew she needed to know this. I copied the lyrics and the contract
and mailed them to Shauna.

She was surprised to open the envelope and
see the contract. At first, she thought it was a joke until she saw
the notarization and the first check. Then, she looked at the lyric
sheet for the song “I Miss You”:

“
You’ve filled a void in my life.

You brought joy to this lonesome soul.

Whenever you’re around, I feel complete.

I feel whole.

But we’re not together all the time,

At least not where I can touch.

But you’re always with me in my mind

Though at times it don’t seem like much.

I see your picture every day.

I hear you on the phone.

But it’s not enough. I want more

Whenever I’m alone.

I miss you like the flower misses the sun

When it goes down for the night.

I miss you like the birds miss the sky

When they’re not in flight

I miss you more than I ever thought I
might.

I miss you.

Maybe missing you ain’t so bad.

It makes when we’re together so much
more.

But the missing gets worse every time

You walk out that door.

I see your picture every day.

I hear you on the phone.

But it’s not enough. I want more

Whenever I’m alone.

I miss you like the flower misses the sun

When it goes down for the night.

I miss you like the birds miss the sky

When they’re not in flight

I miss you more than I ever thought I
might.

I miss you.

There will come a time when we’re
together

For every day of the rest of our lives.

But until then, I’ll be missing you.”

A month later, I passed away, but not before
I saw that “I Miss You” was nominated for a Grammy for Song of the
Year. When I saw that, I knew I could die in peace because I had
left behind something that I would be remembered for, my love for
Shauna.

High school. When you spend so much time studying
math and history, sometimes we forget to study life. And sometimes
we get a reminder of it.

Junior year of high school. One week before
finals. The time of year all high school students dreaded. Except
me. I’d been getting straight A’s all year.

Because I spent so much time on my grades, I
had little time for anything else, like dances or dates. You could
say I was a recluse.

That’s why I was so surprised when Lindsay,
the prettiest girl in the history of our school, approached me at
my locker.

“You’re Jeff, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Well, Mr. Wilhelm recommended you. You
see,” talking in a more seductive voice, “I’m having trouble in
algebra.”

“You? Get real.”

“No, seriously. And I need a C on the final
to pass. So, I was wondering, would you mind tutoring me this
week?” She drags her fingers up and down my chest. “If I pass,
maybe we could go out on a date. And the better I do, the more fun
we’ll have.”

Swallowing in complete surprise, I responded,
“Uhh. Sure, I could tutor you. When did you want to start?”

“How’s Monday? The final’s on Friday. This
way, if I need it, we could meet more this week.”

“Okay, Monday it is. See you then.”

“Thanks.” She messed up my hair before she
left.

The rest of the day, I was a nervous wreck.
The prettiest girl in the school wanted to go out with me? Who’d of
thunk it?

Monday came. We met at her house. Her mom
left us chocolate chip cookies to snack on.

“Okay. So, where do we start?” I couldn’t
help staring at her. She was wearing a tank top and short
shorts.

“I’m having trouble with my factoring.”

“Okay. That’s one of my favorites.”

“I can’t tell which one to use when.”

“Well, I can help you.”

I made up some problems for us to start
on.

“x
²
- 25.
This is a difference of two squares. It’s easy to see because there
are only two terms. You just take the square root of each term and
arrange them as (x + 5) (x - 5).”

“That seems easy enough.” She drew her chair
closer.

“x
²
- 6x
+ 9. This is a perfect square. The first and third terms are both
squares. The middle term is twice the sum of the square roots of
the first and third. It factors as (x - 3)
²
because the sign of the middle term is
minus.”

“I see that now.” I felt her foot brush up
against my leg.

“x
²
+ 2x
- 8. This is the hardest kind to factor. The first thing I write
down is (x + )(x - ). I can tell that it is plus and minus because
the sign of the last term is minus. If it was plus, it would be
either both plus or both minus, depending on the sign of the middle
term.

“Now, I look at the last term. I think of
factors of 8. The difference must be 2. So, I use 4 and 2. Thus the
answer would be (x + 4)(x - 2). I put it like this because of the
middle term. The larger number goes with the sign of the middle
term.”

“Ooh. You’re so smart.” She grabbed my
hand.

We worked on some more problems for a half
hour.

“I think I get it now. Now, can you help me
with my systems of equations?”

“Well, I think it would be better to work on
that tomorrow. I wouldn’t want to work on too much at once.”

“Okay. You’re the tutor. You know what’s
best. See you tomorrow.” She hugged me on my way out. I started to
feel a rise in my Levis.

The next day at school, she waved at me coyly
whenever she saw me. I smiled back at her.

That evening, we worked on algebra for an
hour. I thought she was ready for her final.

“Do you think you could come over Thursday
night? I want to be sure I’m ready.” She looked at me with those
cute hound dog eyes. How could I say no?

Thursday, we touched on a little of
everything. Now I knew she was going to ace this thing. She kissed
me on the cheek as I left.

Day of the final. As expected, I aced all of
mine. I waited outside Mr. Wilhelm’s class.

“So, how’d you do?”

“Great. I think I might have gotten an A.”
She hugged me. “Thank you so much for all your help.”

“No problem. Glad to help.”

“I’ll find out for sure on Monday. But hold
off plans for next Saturday.”

“Okay.”

Monday night, I got the call I had been
hanging by the phone for. She was ecstatic.

“Jeff! I got a 93!”

“That’s great.”

“And I owe it all to you. So, I’m going to
make Saturday a day you will never forget. Leave everything to
me.”

I was a complete basket case all week. I was
more worried about embarrassing Lindsay than myself.

Saturday night. Butterflies were churning in
my stomach. She was picking me up. I wore a sun yellow henley shirt
and denim shorts. I heard a knock at my door.