WAHI: MAILI, WAI'ANAE
MAKAHIKI: 1971
"Wake up, gook," I opened my eyes from a dead sleep and saw Randy's face right in front of me.
He wore some kind of strange green and black paint on his face, and he was dressed in what looked like black pajamas. My nine-year-old mind couldn't make sense of what was going on, but Randy was dressed like the enemy he fought in Vietnam. Randy had the tip of a knife pressed up against the inside of my nose. "This is to make sure that you keep your mouth shut about what you saw the other night." I tried to say something, but Randy pulled back the tip of his knife while it was still in my nose and sliced open my left nostril. Immediately, I let out a high shrieking scream, but Randy put a pillow over my face. I struggled and squirmed under his weight, but the more I moved, the more he pressed on me. Once I was done screaming and struggling, Randy eased up and pressed his face up against mine. "You think this shit hurts now, gook? Imagine how worse it'll be if you tell mom and dad?"
He pushed his full weight on me, and all the air left my body so suddenly that I nearly fainted. All I could do was cry tears of anger the entire night. After that, it was the same routine. Tuesday nights were bowling nights for the parents, and it was Randy and Anne's night to dance naked in his room while John Fogarty sang again and again, "Say that you'll be true, say that you'll be true. Say that you'll be true and never leave me blue, Suzie Q,"
~
Mom picked me up from school one afternoon because she had to make a stop at Tamura's market. Once she got all the groceries she needed, we headed to the checkout. Randy happened to be our bag boy. He was friendly to the customers, and of course, he showed a lot of filial piety to mom, and he even gave me a playful punch on the shoulders. I didn't say anything, I just stared at him.
"Hi, Mom," came the voice from behind us.
Even before I could turn around, I felt someone place a kiss on my cheek, but I pulled away because my nose was still stitched up and bandaged, and that same side of my face was sensitive. It was from Anne. I stepped away from her and watched as she hugged my mom next. She then looked Randy in the eye and said, "Aren't you going to say hello, at least?"
"I have nothing to say, Anne," Randy shrugged his shoulders.
"I put four years of my life on hold for you Randall, you owe me that at the very least," she insisted.
I didn't understand what was going on. Those two danced naked in Randy's room at night with the loud CCR music, and now they pretend like they don't know each other?
"Randy! Don't be rude to Anne, and don't embarrass me in front of all these people!" My mom scolded him.
"I'm sorry, Mom," Randy apologized. He finished loading our groceries and moved two lines over to pack someone else's bags.
My mom is apologizing profusely to Anne, who is crying in her arms. Meanwhile, my mind is trying to make sense of something I thought I understood. while at the same time, My brother is bagging groceries. He whips his head and looks back at me and smiles; his eyes roll over black.
.........to be continued
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