He felt nothing but nervous as he parked his motorcycle at the diner.
Like the day before, it was quite windy. The high was fifty, if he was lucky. His neighbor sped in by in his motorbike. He was out in a ride that day as well.
As his adult friend passed, water splashed on the concrete. Girls from behind the area got splashed with little drips and cursed his name as he sped ahead.
Nanahara needs to work on his ethic, doesn't he?
Kinji put his helmet into the storage bag on the back of his seat. It was already crammed with his extra helmet. That helmet was normally obtained by his brother, but for the day, he let Kinji borrow it.
He then stood by the window in the diner and patiently waited for Hudson to arrive.
"Rydell High School from Venice, California won the National Bandstand's high school dance contest..."
While listening to the radio coming in from the diner, he pondered that thought. They never mentioned the three boys who were mooning the television during that exact program.
Well, it's the effort that counts.
Hustled footsteps sounded through the sidewalk. Kinji looked up to see Hudson rushing towards him. "I'm sorry I'm late! I had to have a reason to leave... I didn't think it through."
"It's alright, I don't care. You don't need a excuse. Look, you're right on time!" He showed her his watch. It was exactly noon. "Don't fret, sweetheart."
"Thank you... For reassuring me."
He grasped her hand and grinned at her. He got a glimpse of her hair. It was a auburn color. It reminds me of fall...
"You're welcome. The pleasure's mine."
They walked in the restaurant hand in hand and all smiles. The music on the stereo only created a more exciting atmosphere.
"Go go, go Johnny go go! Go Johnny go go, go Johnny go go!"
They decided to sit the counter. Normally, they would only let whites sit at the counter. Hudson make the decision to contradict the rule. She was the daughter of the kitchen man, so she knew that they wouldn't object.
She was one to pick on when her father want watching, at least by the other girls. She was beyond attractive to the boys, however. Every once in awhile, one would try to pursue her. The denial was usually quicker than a flash of lightning; the boys went home running to the mothers.
"What would you like?" The waiter, one of the two boys who wasn't instantly denied, asked. He had broken up with Hudson a mere month before.
She saw him out with another girl. She ended it like she should have earlier. With a flash.
"Well... I'd like a milkshake." She told him. "And a basket of fries." The waiter stared at her as he wrote down the order in chicken scratch.
"And what about... Him. You brought 'im 'ere, didn't ya'?" His words came from him like the hiss of a snake. Sputtered out in intervals of dialogue and fluid.
"Yes, I did. And you better be kind. Your judgment's not stopping me from anything." Hudson gave him a frown. "Let him speak for himself."
Kinji looked at the waiter. "Give us two straws. And some ketchup on the side of those fries." The waiter added that to the order. "I know we've already got bad blood, Olsen. I don't wanna hear a bad word from you. Don't start me up, not here."
The waiter then looked back at Hudson. His vision and mind were both still clouded by the talk from the new, non-white boy she was supposedly dating. "What flavor do you want? For the milkshake."
"Strawberry." He wrote that down, still looking at her.
"Don't look at her like that!" Kinji looked at the waiter. The waiter stared back.
"But you can." He told his customer, put his pen on the counter and walked off. Hudson knew better than to cause anymore trouble. Even by explaining the situation, as much as it was needed.
"Who does that boy think he is anyway?" Kinji sighed. "Don't tell him, but I'm not leaving a tip."
"Good. If you love him, he'll leave you."
"He's a cheater then?"
"Yes, to say the least.." She looked at him. "You won't do that, will you?"
"No. I'm lucky I have friends, let alone..." Am I implying too much?
"I know. I understand." Hudson interrupted his thoughts. "People only like me for my looks and my father's appliances. My emotions are never a concern."
She glanced at the lights at the ceiling. "People think we're just toys to play with. Only until they become involved.. Once it hits them that they've hurt someone, they run. It's racism. It's sexism. It's classism. It's the divide that breaks us apart, and we have to break that instead."
Kinji was shocked she had said anything. He knew she wasn't stupid. Her views were ahead of her time. Not one girl like her did he know who opposed racism. It was Arkansas, for Pete's sake! It was something he had to accept.
In other words, he radically accepted racism. He was shocked to have Hudson not judge him. He was shocked she had no cares. She liked him for who he was.
"I agree. Hopefully, one day, they will."
She nodded her head and changed the subject.
"We've become more accepting.. To blacks, anyway. I'm unsure if they've forgiven the Japanese yet. I know you had no involvement with Pearl Harbor, but you know it goes.."
"We're still gonna be stuck where we're at for a while. In fifty years, it'll still be about that. We're Americans now. It's our native country who did it, not us. But we take the blame for everything the dictator does. Still."
"I wish I understood what it was like... To be oppressed. I'm quite lucky to be who I am... I'm thankful I'm not on that side of the story."
"Be thankful, feel lucky. I just wish someday they'd realize we weren't the ones who came up with Pearl Harbor. I'd do anything but damage my country. We came here to be part of it. They shouldn't question out loyalty. We came here to be the quintessence of what we stand for. Loyal, working, citizens."
As he was awed of her testimony, she was awed of his. "My ancestors did all of that stuff. Nobody would fight if they didn't just... Know who was human or not. It's not about color. It's about attitude." She put her hand over his, which was rightfully shaped in a fist.
As he felt her touch, his fingers slid back on the laminate counter.
He felt better; he felt safe.
A different waiter from before sat their milkshake in front of them. The two straws were already placed in it. "The second I heard Olsen complain, I knew to take it over." It was a boy named Jerry Milson, who Hudson knew from school. He was on the football team with Derek (Olsen). "He was gonna spit in this thing.. And listen, don't leave him a tip."
Jerry was kind and well mannered towards all races, like Hudson. He had been careful to not rile Derek by simply taking over his job. He knew what it was all about. He knew Hudson would run off with someone else one day, but he didn't expect it to be so soon.
"Thank you so much, Jerry!" He placed the fries on the table, taking note of Hudson's gesture. "He was being really rude earlier."
"How's that?" Jerry questioned her.
"Well, he was more mean to Utsumi. He insulted him and you know where that goes..."
"He wanted to call the manager and ask him to leave. So, the manager came and saw no harm in letting your friend stay." Kinji intertwined his fingers with Hudson's as Jerry spoke.
It was almost natural to respond to him, as Hudson did nothing but grip his hand right back.
"He's so awful sometimes."
"I know, and I'll get you those fries. You stay right there!" Jerry ran off to receive the second half of their order.
"He's a nice guy. Hopefully he waits on us for a while."
"Hopefully." Hudson gazed at the milkshake and took a sip. He was too busy watching her to notice that they already had it.
"Come on, try some! It's good!" He reluctantly drank some of the milkshake. Then he drank more, and a little more on top of that.
"Don't guzzle it all up!" Hudson laughed and playfully shoved his shoulder.
"I'll buy us another! Don't worry!" Unknowingly, he thought he was paying the bill. She assumed it was her and brought her own money. He had money with him to last a while. He worked at the oriental food market run by his grandmother in Little Rock. He made plenty of money, as his dumplings were famed by many citizens, white and Asian alike.
"You're paying?"
"Yep."
"I brought money..."
"I've got the tab, you're fine, sweetheart."
Every time he said that, he got more and more romantic. And her heart would skip one more beat. They both secretly hoped they would have a kiss by the end of the night, that was, if they stayed together all day as he planned.
"I don't know how many times I've said thank you today.." She told him.
"You worry too much. It worries me." He chuckled at the irony of his statement.
Jerry came running back. "The ketchup's on the side, just like you ordered." A small cup of ketchup was placed on the counter, along with the fries. "You need a refill on that?"
Jerry was pointing at the milkshake. It was almost completely gone.
"Yes, sir!" Kinji took the last few drops of it and gave it to Jerry. "We still need two straws."
Jerry laughed. "How could I forget that?" Jerry knew Derek was still angry, he saw him moping around the kitchen. He brought this upon himself... He thinks lashing out's gonna help him.. He can make a salad away from me when he does.
"Thank you." He gave Jerry a nickel. "Play a song for us, will you?"
"Like what?"
"Anything."
"Sure..." After a while, while they ate their fries, a song played.
"Stars shining bright above you, night breezes seem to whisper I love you. Birds singin' in the sycamore tree; Dream a little dream of me.."
Jerry put a milkshake on the counter. Hudson acknowledged him with a nod and a "Thank you!"
Hudson ate her fries plain, while Kinji dipped his in the ketchup. "After we're done here, where do you want to go?" She asked him, causing him to sit up straighter and become more alert.
"You weren't plannin' on goin' home?"
"No. I wanted to stay out all day... If you don't mind having me around."
"No, no. I don't mind at all!" He stirred one of the fries around in the milkshake.
He picked up the strawberry doused fry and ate it. Hudson decided to do that same. She found it quite delicious and dipped another in it. And another. She had to revel that time she had outside of home. She had no desire to go back to the pepto-bismol pink house out of the neutral zone.
No way.
After an other minute, they both placed their hands in the basket. Both of them searched blindly for another French fry. They finally came to the conclusion, that after a few seconds of groping around the parchment paper, that there was only one left.
"You have it, sweetheart. I'm stuffed!" Kinji had felt it was the polite thing to do. Hudson, however, felt a little guilty.
The fry was in the wrong hands, she thought. He was paying for lunch anyway. "No, you take it." She hadn't even put her dainty grip on it.
"No... Let's just split it."
It was the strangest thing she had ever heard. It wasn't even that large of a piece. Split it? That's absurd? Aren't we supposed to be fighting? It was a different scenario than when she took her father out. Or when she took Derek out, that one time, for that matter. She remembered he insisted on having the last one. Good times...
"That sounds fine." She was a little confused, and he saw that. It was her first glimpse into a poorer world. Outside of kitchen appliances and glistening metal, there was dirt and grime left and right. It was her first vision of one of the results of racism.
She split in half and handed him the larger half. "I'm not quite used to doing things like this."
"Don't sweat it.. Really." He ate his fry, helped her drink the rest of the milkshake, and left a bill and tip for Jerry.
Jerry's name was written in bright, red, ink. A long, matching, scraggly line was scribbled underneath. Finally, "be careful" written in kanji was written underneath the whole thing. Even Kinji couldn't handle Derek anymore.
It was completely apparent then.