The radio I had in 1978 was bought for me on my 16th birthday.
It was a colored yellow, and where the speaker should have been was one of those crystal screens from Star Trek, where various colors lit up in accordance with the beat of the music playing on the radio. The novelty would wear off soon as I came to terms with the fact that my aging father and I didn't see eye to eye. At the same time, there's all the social stuff to deal with, that's if people like you or not, as a friend, as a possible boyfriend, or whatever. In hindsight, one always wishes that they'd focused on one thing in particular and had just forgotten about all the fluff that didn't matter. If it were only that easy.At such a low point in my teenage life, I'd often get sick for no reason. A cold or the flu, I really didn't know. My bones ached, and usually I came down with a very high fever. Then all of a sudden, I'm fine until the next time. When the next time comes along, I'm sicker than before. At that age, you're in such a fugue state of being that you're not paying attention to all the external stuff that's happening around you.
My niece Amanda, who was in the same grade as me, often stopped by in the morning to wait for me so we could walk together. One morning, her friend Alishia came with her, and while they waited, I got dressed, even though I was feeling under the weather. Amanda introduced me to her friend, but I paid her no mind and walked out the door. From my house to school, Alishia talked to me the whole time. I couldn't understand a word she said because her voice fluctuated between a high pitch and a lower one every few sentences. It grated my nerves, so I tuned it out.
Alishia showed up every morning after that, invading my personal bubble. One morning, my nephew Shaul began walking with us, after we saw Amanda and Alishia off to their classroom, Shaul lost his mind. "Oh my god, did you see Alishia when she was sitting on the footstool by the door?" He screeched.
"No, why?" I asked as we walked up the slight rise to the high school.
"She wasn't wearing any panties!" He shouted.
"Keep your voice down!" I scolded him.
"You could see everything!" He was gushing and turning red.
"I don't care," I replied.
"She likes you," Shaul gave me a shoulder check. "She's all over you, all the time, but you don't give her the time of day! So, today she showed up with no panties on!"
"I keep getting sick all the time, and I don't know why," I sighed as we neared the front entrance of the school. "I get better, and then I'm sick again."
"You gotta take medicine for that," Shaul encouraged me to do so. "My stepmom has medicine for that, you should ask her."
"She's only gonna yell at me," I told Shaul.
***
I went straight home after school and skipped my homework. I crashed on my bed. About six in the evening, there was a knock at my door. It was my father, with Alishia standing next to him. She walked in, and my father closed the door behind her. "I got your homework from your teacher. She asked me to tutor you," Alishia said. "You have to get done, Mrs. Miranda said, otherwise you're going to flunk!"
I sat on the floor while she sat on my bed. It took an hour to complete, considering all the paperwork, but we managed to do it. I was relieved that I wasn't going to flunk thanks to Alishia. "I notice you're sick a lot. This is my medicine when I get sick like you. Take two teaspoons in the morning and then again before bedtime. You should be fine," she said while putting the bottle in a small plastic bag.
"This is your prescription?" I asked.
"I'm better, I told you. I don't need it anymore. You take it," Alishia insisted.
"Thanks," I said, holding the bottle up for her to see. "Do you want me to walk you home?"
"I can call my father and he'll come get me," she excused herself and went to the living room, where she asked my parents if she could use the phone. A few minutes later, we stood at the top of our driveway, waiting for her father to arrive. Alishia's father drove one of those Berlinetta-style Camaros. It was really cool. I waved goodbye to her father, who paid me no mind, as all fathers should to teenage boys like me. Alishia waved and smiled from the passenger's seat. The next morning, Alishia arrived earlier than Amanda and Shaul. She snuck into my room and curled up on the floor, and took a small nap until my alarm went off. I nearly stepped on her when I got out of bed. I had to turn away from her quickly, otherwise she'd see how my erection was creating a pup tent out of my pajamas. After I relieved myself, brushed my teeth, and sprayed on deodorant, I returned to my room, where Alishia was now sitting on my bed, placing all my homework in my folder. "I wanted to make sure that you didn't oversleep and that you were ready to turn in your homework today."
While I was getting dressed, she turned away so I could put on my pants. At the same time, she pulled out from a big paper bag the triangle rice musubi, shoyu chicken, corned beef hash, Japanese-style hot dogs, and two cans of RC Cola. That was our breakfast together. By the time we were done, Amanda and Shaul showed up, and Alishia handed those two another paper bag with the same food inside. The walk to school was nice as the four of us talked about everything and nothing. Alishia walked closer to me, which I didn't mind, but glancing over at Amanda and Shaul, they were losing their minds, mouthing to me OH MY GOD!
We hung out for most of the day, first and second recess, lunch, and after school. Things actually got better, and I wasn't as sick as much. Alishia just became a part of my everyday life. Her parents expressed to her that they were worried about spending so much time at my house, but my own parents, much to my surprise, told Alishia's folks that she had nothing to worry about. Close to the end of the year, Alishia and I ended up going to the prom together. Amanda went with Dustin Porter, the haole kid who ran the school newspaper. Shaul went with a girl from Campbell High School, who was just the shittiest person for him. She was purposely mean to us and kept Shaul from us the whole night. During the slow dance, Alishia cuddled herself into my arms and just swayed back and forth. Otherwise, nothing else happened. Her father picked us up downstairs on Kalākaua Avenue and took us to have a late dinner at House Saimin.
We shared small talk about everything that had happened, and who had been elected prom king and queen. "You guys didn't get invited to a hotel party, or anything?" He asked.
"A few are going on, but we're tired," I replied.
"Well, Amanda and Shaul are at a hotel party right now at the main outrigger," Alishia said. "I hope she doesn't get drunk or worse."
"You don't have a driver's license, Henry?" Alishia's father asked me.
"I do, but I don't have a car," I laughed.
"Your father doesn't let you use his car?" He was surprised.
"He won't let anybody drive his car, that's his pride and joy," I replied. "His '69 Dodge Charger."
***
Much to my surprise, my father let me use his car on Sunday to take Alishia around for the day. He even gave me some money, even though I'd already saved up some from my paycheck. At the end of the day, of all the places that Alishia and I could have had sex, we had it in my father's car. It's a good thing we brought towels and blankets. If he ever found out, my father would run me over with his car, for sure. If we weren't an official couple by that time, we surely would be by Monday, but Alishia was absent on Monday, as she was on Tuesday and for the rest of the week. The phone rang off the hook at her house, and none of her friends knew what had happened. It wasn't until Friday night, when my dad let me take his car to Alishia's house, that I found out. Alishia died in her sleep sometime Sunday night or early Monday morning.
The medication she gave me to help take away whatever my mysterious recurring illness was belonged to Alishia. She said it was her old medication, but it wasn't. It was the medication she needed to stay alive.
There was no sign or indication that she was suffering from anything, and yet she somehow knew her time was short. I got to carry her cap and gown to graduation, and they allowed me to accept her diploma on her behalf. Her folks were happy, as was Amanda, and Shaul, but not his train wreck of a girlfriend. Why would someone be so selfless at such a young age and risk their own health and well-being for someone as awkward and as dorky as me? I'll never understand it. However, it was because of Alishia that I learned what unconditional love was. For that, I'm thankful. I was sad for a long while, but in the end, I was thankful.
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