Free Date With the Devil by Don Lasseter Page A

small town called Makawao, about sixteen miles upslope from the airport at Kahului. She trekked up there several times and decided it would be the perfect place to live and work. To malihinis (strangers), Makawao appeared to be a place of supreme tranquility, but young locals knew that super parties could be found behind the serene mask.
    One of the best-known restaurants on Maui, Polli’s Mexican Cantina, hired Kristin, and she would stay there nearly eight years. Having lived in California, she knew all about burritos, tacos, nachos, chimichangas, and Polli’s specialty, margaritas. Coincidentally, the eatery is located on Makawao Avenue and Baldwin Avenue. Baldwin had been Kristin’s surname during her mother’s second marriage, and would be the name she would eventually use again. “Polli’s is one of the most popular places around there,” said Rick.
    Speaking of Makawao, he noted, “That’s where they have a rodeo every year. The paneolos (Hawaiian cowboys) participate, and they have a parade. Kristin rode a horse in the parade one year. It belonged to one of her friends. She knew how to ride at a very young age from our visits to the farm in Vermont.”
    In Peter Means’s memory, Kristin seemed quite happy with her life in Maui. She could walk from her first residence to the beach, and carried her board over there almost every day. “She did a lot of surfing and spent a lot of time on the beach. She would be out there on her board at the crack of dawn, before work. She was in love with the ocean.”
    On one occasion, her love affair with rolling waves nearly ended. Kristin had paddled out about forty yards, and sat waiting for the next breaker. A sudden, different kind of motion rippling the water underneath startled her, and she saw fish scattering in panic. Robin laughingly told of Kristin’s fright. “She just knew there was a huge tiger shark in the water right below her board. That girl paddled back to dry land like she had an outboard motor. She was shaking and scared to death. I know because she called me and her voice was still trembling. She was like, ‘I’ll never go back in the water.’ I told her, ‘Oh, you have to go back, but go to a place where a lot of people are swimming.’ Of course, she did and forgot all about the possibility of sharks.”
    Her devoted stepfather kept in contact with Kristin during the entire ten years she lived on Maui. After he remarried, Peter and his wife, Sue, visited there on more than one occasion. When Kristin moved up country, she needed a car. Peter came to the rescue by shipping his Acura to her.
    Although Rick and Kristin, due to living on different islands, weren’t able to spend a lot of time together, they still managed to exchange visits periodically. He recalled, “She came over to see me on the Big Island once and spent three days staying in my house. We went to the beach and hung out. It was great being with her. Another time I went over there for Halloween. That event is a big thing in Lahaina. They close off the streets and everybody dresses up in costumes. They walk up and down the town and have contests about the best outfit and makeup. I flew over there with my roommates, and the whole plane was full of people in costume who had rushed to the airport at the last minute.”
    Kristin spent most of her time working or on the beach, but she still managed an active social life. She never had trouble attracting men who wanted to date her, and even though an abundance of pretty women can be found in Hawaii, she seldom found herself sitting at home alone. None of the guys, though, lodged themselves in her heart.
    This pattern ended when Kristin met Mike Luna (pseudonym) and immediately felt a powerful attraction. Mike’s friends and acquaintances called him “Keoke.” Describing him, Rick said, “He was a couple of inches taller than I am, about six feet, slim,