Hana kolohe 2022

I remember when Jack Sprouse moved into our neighborhood in the 70s. He was one of those good kids that everybody liked, and those who didn't like him were instantly shunned. The school wasn't too far away from where we lived. We were all part of a large apartment complex filled with families and single people. There was always something going on, good and not so good. Jack's father worked in the meat department at the local Star Market, and more often than not, we would stop there on the way home from school and wait for Jack when he went in to talk to his father. A lot of times, he'd come out with a foot-long sandwich his father made. It was cut up into even halves for all of us to share. After that, we would have to buy sodas on our own.

Jack was a very good kid. So you can imagine our surprise when Jack was kidnapped right in front of us as we were in the Star Market parking lot, about to go in to get drinks. A car of which kind I can't even remember pulled up. Two big goons got out and slapped Jack around before they hauled him off to the idling car, and then they were gone. That's when we discovered that Jack's dad,  Jack Sr. was on the run from the Vegas mafia. They never found Jack; his dad picked up and moved elsewhere. Today, the old Star Market is now a Long's Drug Store. I'm parked out front, waiting for my wife, who is inside getting slippers for our grandchildren. I remember Jack, and I'm wondering what happened to him and if he is still alive somewhere. 

Jack Sprouse had to change his name along with his father before they went into the witness protection program. The kidnapping was all a rouse meant to fool anyone who might have already been tracking Jack Sr. Jack and his father traveled around the states and the world for years before Jack Sr. finally died. That's when Jack Jr., now James Harper, decided to move back to Hawai'i, where he settled into his old neighborhood and got a job sweeping the parking lot at Long's.