WHEN I WAS GROWING UP on Kauai, the pecking order was always really well defined. If you dropped in on one of the older guys, you'd get your head slapped, no ifs, ands, or buts. It wasn't like there was any one guy who was the enforcer. It was a way of life. You have to respect the locals, the guys who were born and raised there or who have lived there long enough that they've paid their dues and become members of the community. You drop in on someone at his home break, and he's been working all week and just wants to surf—you have a fight on your hands, sometimes even if you were a local.

I was born on the North Shore of Oahu, March 20, 1969. But my dad left my mom when she was pregnant, and she took me to Kauai when I was 11 months old. My dad was Hawaiian and Filipino, and my mom was Irish, German, and Scottish, from Detroit. People would ask whose kid I was because I was so brown and she was blond with blue eyes.

We had no money. We lived on the beach for a few years, hitchhiked around. My mom had to work two, three jobs. And I had to learn about the Hawaiian culture from other people, because I didn't meet my dad until a family friend named Eddie Rothman took me to meet him when I was six. Hawaii's a lot mellower now than when I was a kid. Back then, if you were white, you'd get your ass kicked.

I'm proud of all my heritage, though. I'm not just a Hawaiian or just a haole. I'm Hawaiian, Filipino, Irish, German, and Scottish. People misconstrue things and think I have something against white people or people from the mainland. No. I just have a problem with idiots.

When it came time to go to high school, I scored in the top 5 percent on statewide tests and got an academic scholarship to go to the Kamehameha Schools in Oahu. They're private, but you can get a scholarship if you're native Hawaiian. They don't really advertise, but I'd say they're probably one of the best high schools in the country.

On Oahu, I lived at Eddie Rothman's for a while, then with my dad and at the dorms, and I rebelled the whole time. I got kicked out at the end of my sophomore year for smoking pot and insubordination. After that, I went back to Kauai and graduated there.

I had a landscaping business for a while. Then I got my real estate license and started selling timeshares. I also worked on the tourist boats going down the Na Pali Coast. I was really good at talking to tourists. But in 1992, just after my son was born, I went to prison.

Hurricane Iniki hit Kauai that year, and I lost the roof to my house. Then my mom was hurt in floods after a rainstorm, and she died from her injuries. I watched her die right in front of me in the hospital. So it was already a rough time. Then my half brother's father had another baby, a girl, and she was raped and murdered. She was four years old. I lost my mind. It was the most painful, hurtful year I've had in my whole life, and I was at my wits' end.

There was a guy in town doing construction work after the hurricane. He was speeding down my street and ran over my dog and killed him. I just snapped. I chased him down and beat him up pretty bad. I got arrested and was sentenced to five years in prison. I got out after nine months for good behavior, but I ended up going back in for another 16 months because my wife was caught over at my halfway house, which violated the conditions of my parole.

That was the worst period of my life, and I became really bitter. It didn't seem like God or the world cared about me, so I didn't care much about other people. Then my wife and I decided to divorce, and since there are so many more job opportunities on Oahu, I decided to get away. I moved to the North Shore in 2001.