About a month later, with the new year quickly approaching, Kahakai had its yearly employee holiday party. They rented out the event space at the Sheraton in Kaanapali and had a prime rib dinner, award ceremony, and dance party. Ricky was recognized for being employee of the month for September, and being the upstanding coworker … Continue reading Mixed Feelings
The world is won by those who let it go.
“You gotta just not try so hard,” Mark gave Ricky lady advice during a practice smoke break as Hooper yelled at her phone, the Brooklyn in her ripping whoever was on the other end a new one. Mark blew out a cloud of tobacco. “Like, I’m not saying that you are trying too hard, but, … Continue reading The world is won by those who let it go.
Euphoric Delusions of Grandeur
Since he was a teenager, from the moment he picked up an electric guitar, Ricky knew he was meant to be a rock star. He’d tried to play sports. Loved baseball since he was a kid, but couldn’t field a grounder or swing at a curve without flinching. He also got crushed in football freshman … Continue reading Euphoric Delusions of Grandeur
Back to Maui
The evening’s muggy, tropical air was the first thing to greet Ricky as he got off the plane. It had been heavier and less fragrant the last two times he’d flown into Kahului, and while those trips had felt like nightmares, this time he floated through the airport like he was in a lucid dream. … Continue reading Back to Maui
Maui Memorial
A little over a year after Ana and Ricky bought their brownstone, (actually the bank had bought it, and they were just paying the bank back, something that Ricky never allowed himself to confuse) his mother, Lala, had been on a weeklong trip to Maui with her long-distance, still sort of married, oral surgeon boyfriend, … Continue reading Maui Memorial
Maximizer
Ana had once called him a maximizer. He couldn’t recall if this was before or after the breakup, but he was pretty sure it was after he’d left the city, during one of those emotional back and forths that they each used in search of some closure. When she called him that, part of him … Continue reading Maximizer
Desire
A catch twenty-two: looking for zen; a want to stop wanting anything. Then, the longing for calming: a lesson unlearned; until I can just be the peace I don’t search.
Manali
There’s a certain mastery of mind that can give us the ability to transform desire into a fleeting thought, a simple vision that can be joyously taken or left, and where you can find a balanced bliss in both loss and in achievement. But how do you release what your monkey mind insists you want … Continue reading Manali
Konstantine
“Can I take a personal call?” Ana asked me at work one morning. “Of course.” When she returned ten minutes later, I could tell that she’d been crying. “Are you okay?” I whispered, trying not to make it seem like I was consoling my girlfriend at work. “No. Yes. It’s fine. I’ll tell you about … Continue reading Konstantine
The Writing of Eddie G Garza 