Responsibilities (Daniel)

Responsibility Daniel

I walked through the front door of my family's townhome and immediately was hit with the smell of my mother's sembei. I kick off my boots before entering the kitchen. I hear Kimmie and my mother Komeko going over her daily lessons. There was an assortment of mochi and monaka on the island in the middle of the kitchen. I'm slicing myself a piece of Kasutera savoring the first bite because it's my favorite. Eyes closed my mind started to drift to a certain shy, curly head girl that I couldn't stop thinking about." Daniel, how was your first day at school", I hear Kimmie ask. Opening my eyes I see her practically bounce out of her seat. My mother turned in her seat before saying, "Son come join us, I was just finishing things up with Kimmie". Grabbing my plate I take a seat at the table. My little sister, all of 7, is the sweetest little girl you'll ever meet. I hear most guys hate their sisters but I only have two and I adore them both. " Daniel, I learned about times tables today. Did you have fun at your new school? Did you make any friends?''Kimmie squeals. I laughed thinking about Gabby and her blatant shyness, but also the cool-girl vibe she was giving off today. "Yeah I think I did make a friend today", I say. "Oh, what's his name?"Kimmie asks, coloring outside the lines and a little atop the table too. I look at my mother who is now looking at me expectedly. I clear my throat and say, "Gabriella". My brother Sam walks in stealing food off the counter. " Did I just hear you say that you met a guy named Gabriella?", he says, taking a swig from the orange juice carton. I snorted because that shit was funny. "No, she's a cheerleader I met today. We share most of our classes", I say thinking about how shy Gabby was this morning, but how brazen at the same time, it intrigued me. I also watched how every guy in that school watched her waiting to see if she looked their way. She never did from what I could tell. Now that was sexy! " OMG, that is so cool I always wanted to be a cheerleader", Kimmie squeals. Sam and I exchanged eye rolls because Kimmie talked non-stop about her cheering for the Seattle Seahawks. I watched as my mother got up and put the dirty dishes in the sink. "Is she Asian"my mother asks casually. So casually I knew she was fishing. "No, she's black", I say confidently because Gabby is good. I know I barely know her but, I just know and frankly, the racist shit is just not cool. " Well I'm glad you made a new friend and one day hopefully we can meet her", My mother replies. I've witnessed a lot of shit in this household and have

had to deal with a lot that I had no choice in. Slowly I exhale before saying,"Well, you will get to meet her soon. We have a lab project to do and we are going to a party Saturday ''. Sam and Kimmie looked at one another when my mother cleared her throat. "You need to check with your father and make sure he doesn't need help at the store Saturday '', she says while wringing her hands. Walking over to my mother I grab her hands and place a kiss on her cheek. "Where is he?", I am not clarifying who "he" is. "He and Jason went into the basement to fix a burst water pipe, go down and see if they need any help", my mother says nervously. I'm upset before I make it to my boots. Something as simple as a highschool party or a girl I want to be friends with can set my father off, so naturally, I understand my mother's nerves, but I'm not rolling over this time. I descend the stairs when I hear his voice. " Hand me that wrench, he says. I see Jason grab the wrench and hand it to our father. "Hey Daniel how's it hanging bro", Jason says. " Hey little bro, hey dad", I say. " You're just going to stand there or are you going to help your brother and me?", my father asked, his voice raspy from sake and cigarettes. " Sure, dad", I reply, trying not to cause waves. My father and I did not get along and that was putting it simply. We

I immigrated from Japan when I was five. My parents had nothing but the clothes on their backs and 200$ cash. " I came down to help", I said thinking about the years we lived in California before moving to Fremont, Washington literally " Center of the Universe". My father grunted before turning his back to me. " How was your first day at Fremont High bro?"Jason asks, trying to ease the tension. "It was cool, nice school, nice teachers", I say keeping it light. "What about the other students?", Jason says. I hear my phone chime and see a text from Gabby. "Miss me yet", the text read. My cheeks hurt from smiling as I texted back, "Definitely". I looked up to find Jason and my dad both staring at me. " Sorry, what did you say?", I asked. " I said what about the other students but, forget that, why are you smiling?", Jason asked with a smirk. I chuckled, ignoring the question and turned to my dad. " Do you need me to help out on Saturday?"I asked him, just going for it. " We won't be opening Saturday because of the Fremont Sunday Market, we will set up there", he replies not even sparing me a glance. Every Sunday the community has Fremont Sunday Market where vendors from all over come to sell their goods and products. I help my dad there some Sundays when he decides to go. "OK I was invited to a party Saturday and I wanted to go", I

say gauging his reaction. "Wow, you got invited to a party on your first day", Jason says excitedly. " Son, go upstairs and let me talk with your brother", my father says in a hard tone. Jason looked at me with a knowing face and I nodded for him to listen. I mentally prepared myself for anything he could do or say because that was the most dangerous thing about my dad he was unpredictable. Once the door was closed my father spared no time taking away that carefully practiced mask that he often wore. "Why do you think your mother and I chose to home school you and your siblings when we came to America?", he asks. I stood against the wall next to the door and looked at my father but, when I started to speak he cut me off. " The reason is that we wanted you all to be brought up our way, not influenced by the western ways. Now why do you think that is?'', he asks and I didn't bother answering this time. This is what he did best listening to the sound of his voice. "It is important that you hold onto your culture even if you live in a different place. Tradition never dies if you don't let it", he growls. "I haven't forgotten who I am, " I say, getting angrier the longer I'm in his presence. " Good. Don't forget your responsibilities to your family either", he spits." You may go. Jason and I fixed the water pipe", he finally says before turning

his back on me. I turned and walked up the stairs. My boots sound like thunder as they connect with each one. I passed Jason sitting on the couch. I grabbed my jacket from the coat rack and walked out the front door. My phone vibrating distracted me from the bubbling anger that I was feeling. I unlocked my phone to see Gabby's home. "Schools out! Yay! the text read. I chuckled at the goofy fucking emoji and decided fuck it. I want to hear her voice and hit talk. After about five rings I hear her soft voice. "Hey Danny", she says and I smile because I'm already addicted to the sound of her voice. I love hearing her talk. " Where are you?"I asked, a lot huskier than I meant to. "Ummm..", she chuckles. "On my way to Dusty Strings for my vocal lesson…why", she asks and I can hear curiosity and something else I couldn't place. "Over on Fremont Ave right?", I asked her to calculate how long it would take me to drive there. " Yeah that's the one but, what's up", she asks, sounding concerned. I look down the street and then back up at my family's townhouse. "No reason, will you text me when you are done?", I asked her. "Umm… sure but Daniel is everything ok" she asked again sounding worried. I smiled again because even though I just met her I knew that Gabby was a good friend. " Yeah Gabby, I just wanted to see what you were up to that's all" I say completely lying because I wanted to see her. "OK I'll call you in about an hour honey", she says before hanging up. I looked at the phone for like five minutes after she hung up. I got it bad. I chuckle to myself and run both of my hands through my hair and put my phone in my pocket. " So either you were on the phone with a girl or did I imagine the whole conversation" I hear from behind me. I spin around to find my older sister Chloe. Five-foot-nothing and a pixie haircut and you had Chloe Oh, did I mention she was 21 and pre-med Washington U. My father loved to brag about that like he once gave a damn about our education. "So which one is it little brother?", Chloe says with a look that says I caught you. " What do you think?", I ask, sitting on the step. " I'm going to go with a girl. I recognize that look", Chloe says plopping down beside me. "So what's her name?", she probes. "Gabriella", not being able to help the smile that steals across my face. " Oooo pretty. So tell me all about her", Chloe says smiling loving every bit of my uneasiness. I ran my hand through my hair, sighing. " She is my new lab partner at school, she is also a cheerleader", I finished not wanting to share Gabby with anyone. " No offense Danny boy but I never saw you as the pom-pom type", Chloe says wrinkling her nose while shaking her head. I chuckle

at my sister because she looks like she ate some bad fish. " That's the thing, she is not like that. She is mysterious and interesting and when I saw her..", I cut myself off to keep from embarrassing myself in front of my sister by fangirling and divulging all the things that I thought when I met Gabby. " I couldn't help but stare", I continued, sure that that was enough information for the day. "You seem to really like her and you just met her today?", Chloe asks surprised. "Yeah I know it's fast but everything that's in me tells me she is it. That she is real", I say smiling at my sister. Chloe levels me with a serious expression before looking up at the house. " Last year I met a guy. The first time we met was at the Solstice Parade. Then at the beginning of the semester, he walks into my biology class and we just click", she says looking at me humping her shoulders. " Why haven't you talked about him?", I ask her. Chloe rolls her eyes. " What was I supposed to say? Hey, I'm falling for this guy. You know what the next question would be", she says frustrated. " You're falling for him?"I am dumbfounded because my sister has never even dated that I knew of. " Correction little brother fell as if he had my heart a long time ago", Chloe replies with a light in her eyes that quickly died when she continued. " But we both know it's never

going to fly with ma and pa. They have their minds made up or rather he has made it for the both of them. We only belong with people like us", my sister repeated the words my father drilled into our heads growing up. That and a lot of other shit he tries to brainwash us into believing. At this moment I feel sorry for my sister because she was still seeking approval where I no longer gave a fuck. "How they manage to survive in such a culturally diverse community I will never understand", Chloe proclaims while kicking pebbles with the toe of her shoe. I also never understood why my father was so opposed to public school or people of different races. I know I'm not living my life like that. " He asked me to marry him and I said yes", Chloe blurted out. My mind starts racing because this is huge news but before I can get ahead of myself Chloe speaks again. " But you can't say anything until I tell them! Got that?", she says pointing her bony finger into my chest. Hugging her as tight as I can I reply, "Got you, sis". Chloe pats my back before walking to the front door. "Daniel good luck", Chloe says as she walks through the door. I watched as the door closed before saying, " You too".