Something Different

After we played a football game, most of us would jump in the shower and change into our casual clothes.  The guys would always be joking around and roughhousing in the locker room. Including  swatting teammates on the butt with towels.  Whether if we won or lost we tried to have a positive attitude and build up our team camaraderie.  It felt good to be accepted as part of a team. Everything was fine until the conversation somehow turned to my love life with Sonoko.  They teased me saying I was still a virgin or asked me if I “hit that”. I would end up pushing them into the lockers and then throw their clothes into the shower. I let them think what they wanted about me, but I wouldn’t let them disrespect Sonoko.  Besides, even though Sonoko and I fooled around whenever we got horny, which was almost every day, she didn’t want to go all the way and I respected that.   The guys always wondered how I got with Sonoko.  I didn’t have a flashy car, clothes, swag/rizz, or money. Material things didn’t faze me and not because we couldn’t afford them, just for me they didn’t make me a man.  My mom always taught me that it was about a person’s character and being a person of my word that made me an upstanding man.  She said that all a person has is their word and character, so don’t ruin it by doing something stupid.  Every girl doesn’t want a bad boy or someone who likes to show off.  Some girls are looking for a guy that’s different, that’s all. 

I didn’t know why I was different though, but I needed to find out. Not knowing who your other parent is leaves a void in your life. The older I got the more curious I became.  I needed to know who my father was, where he was, and if he even knew I existed.  One evening when Sonoko and I were just hanging out eating pizza and playing video games, I told her that I wanted to find out about my father.  Sonoko didn’t know if that was such a good idea.  “Karl, if your mother wanted you to know she would have told you by now.”  I convinced Sonoko to help me look for my father. Instead of playing video games Sonoko started googling websites for DNA test kits.  We found one site called U Found Me DNA and they had a test kit that was 40% off for $59.   I had $108 in my savings account from doing odd jobs for the neighbors.  I walked their dogs, shoveled their driveways packed with snow and raked their leaves; I had the makings of an entrepreneur.  I asked Sonoko if she wanted to do it too.  She would have to add $10.   It would wipe out my savings account, but it would be worth it if we could get some answers.

Sonoko said she didn’t want to do it because she kind of had an idea who her father was. “My mother always talked about this guy named  Joe Chen and how he was training to be an Olympic athlete in track and field. That was her first love and I do believe that’s my father even though she won't confirm or deny it. She talks about him still even though she’s with Paul, I’ll  often overhear her talking to one of her friends about Joe. Joe broke mom’s heart and  She was intent on marrying him, but his devotion was to the Olympics, and she couldn’t compete. Joe was following in his father’s footsteps who had won a silver medal back in his day.  I don’t want to investigate, but I will help you Karl if you really want to know.” Sonoko said.

I took my focus from getting the DNA test kit for a minute and started thinking about the prom. The year had flown by and Now all people would talk about is prom. Many guys were nervous about asking girls to the prom and getting turned down. Girls were hinting around, flirting, and waiting for the guys to ask them. It was a game that I didn’t have to deal with because I already knew who I was going to ask. I had to do it formally when I asked Sonoko, she didn’t want me to assume. I swear, she was such a “girly girl” sometimes, I think she just wanted the extra attention. She was already ahead of me coordinating our colors. We would meet separately and then be together at the prom. It was a good thing that Sonoko’s mom and Paul didn’t want to be chaperones, they had a charity event that night. Her mom would drop her off and pick her up afterwards if she couldn’t get a ride home.  My mother was going to drive me and drop me off. I told Sonoko if they asked who her date was, to tell them that she was going solo, which wasn’t a lie because she was meeting me there, I wasn’t picking her up. When we got there we would take lots of pictures, dance together and just have the time of our lives. I was more excited to have this experience than about what we were going to wear.

Prepping for the prom was a distraction for a minute. But I was still determined to find out who my father was with or without my mom’s help. Sonoko did not want to send to get a test kit, so I took on this task alone.   I second guessed the validity of the test.  If I were the only one sending a saliva swab sample how would the company be able to track down my father? Would I be wasting my hard earned $59?  I had a right to know him.  I was going to try reasoning with my mom again.  I had to talk to her when she was relaxed enough after work.  I had to pick the right time.

Krystal had just gotten off work; she looked exhausted.  Nurses were holding picket signs striking in front of the administrative building.  The signs read that they wanted better wages and safety conditions.  The workloads amplified after covid and the ratio of nurses to patients was about 1 to 25 per day. She was short-staffed, and her nurses were overworked.  She hired temporary medical assistants but even with that, she had to step out of her business casual attire and put on her pale blue scrubs to pitch in.  She ran her fingers through her curly hair and pinned it up off her neck.

“Hi Karl.  How was your day at school?”

“It was good mom.  How was your day?”

“Exhausting.  I don’t see any end in sight for the nurse’s strike until their demands are met.  It has taken a toll on me since I’m used to working behind a desk. Why don’t we order out tonight? I’m craving some Asian cuisine and you?”

“That sounds good mom.”

“Okay, you place the order for delivery at China Cuisine while I take a shower and get out of these dirty scrubs.  Here’s my debit card.  Get what you want.  I’ll have the pork egg foo young with steamed rice, eggroll, and sweet tea.”

Krystal was still in the shower when the food arrived.  It felt so good to relax her muscles and let the water run through her curls and onto her face. She wished that all her problems would go down the drain like the shower water.  She needed to talk to Karl about something serious.  She had to think about how much she wanted to disclose.  After they finished eating, she would talk to him.

“Hey Karl, we need to talk.”

“Yes, mom I wanted to talk to you about something as well. “

“Can it wait a minute, Karl? I really need to discuss something important with you.”

“Ok mom. What is it?”

“I’ve been meaning to find the right time to talk to you about your father.”  Karl got wide eyed, and his heart was pounding out of his chest.  He listened intently and was on pins and needles.  He breathed deep because he started to hyperventilate.   This was the moment he had been waiting for and now his stomach was in knots.

“I met your father when I was 18 years old, and he was 22.  I worked a part-time temp job on a military base after school in my senior year.  I had to be fingerprinted and be processed for a secret clearance.  And even though it sounds like something in a spy movie, it was a boring job of counting supplies on a naval ship, taking inventory.  That’s where I met Wallace Mackey.  It was extremely hot on the ship in the summer down in the bunker.  I was sweating profusely, and my clothes were drenched and sticking to me.  It felt like 100 degrees with no a/c.  I continued to count the nuts, bolts and screws and write down the numbers on the inventory sheet.  A 6’2” cute white boy with piercing hazel-green eyes was staring down at me. He wore a sailor’s blue dungarees uniform. His light brown hair was disheveled as if he had just woken up from a nap. He handed me a portable fan.  I was apprehensive about taking the fan at first because he only brought one for me. The other temp workers looked at me like why did he only bring me a fan when they were burning up too.  I thanked him.  He told me his name and I told him mine. He sat beside me and started making small talk as I continued counting.   White boys weren’t usually my type , but Wallace was cute, and he seemed nice.  He left then came back at lunchtime.