Clay's Way

Clay’s Way by Blair Mastbaum is set in Hawaii. Guide books would have you believe that Hawaiians are a racially tolerant society. These would be written by the same demographers who once termed Oakville the richest community in Canada ignoring majority who live at or below the poverty line. Just last week I was reminded of how much this has become the case when someone panhandled me in the parking lot of an upper class suburban mall. A thing that is common place on the streets of Toronto but unknown until recent years on the streets of Oakville.

 

To Native Hawaiians there can never be forgiveness for the Haoles who invaded their islands and destroyed their culture and way of life deposing their king. Knowing your place is important and enclaves tend to be uni-racial in nature. Attempting to crash a surfing break will make you quickly learn that surfers jealously guard their bits of ocean.

 

As in 1941 today the military is a major presence in the Hawaiian Islands. Their bases are everywhere as must be men in uniform throughout the islands. The dollars and jobs they bring may be welcome but competition for the attention of island females cannot be.

 

Sixteen-year-old Sam is a pain in the ass to his parents and his friends alike. He is not a kid I’d want to meet or have dealings with. He smokes, drinks, tokes and will do whatever drugs he can get his hands on. He skate boards but by his own admittance will never do it well. He does not surf but he dabbles in martial arts and otherwise spends his time hanging with his buddies and beating off. Did I mention he’s gay and he writes Haikus.

 

Much of the book is devoted to his infatuation, nay obsession with nineteen-year-old Clay who embodies the ideals he aspires to. Where Sam’s parents are white Clay’s are Portuguese. Sam possesses an aura, a swagger, a persona Sam would love to emulate. However Sam lacks the body, the years, the self-possession, the machismo, the skills to pull any of it off. Clay is somehow flattered by Sam’s devotion and allows him to play along until the point where Sam becomes a nuisance and an utter embarrassment. There’s being a free spirit and being aware of when to play it cool; Sam never knows when to stop. The end comes with Clay giving Sam a black eye in front of his surfing buddies to recoup his rep.