Background
This story is presented as a continuation from the previous chapter, in which Daniel, Eu El's roommate, begins reading Eu El's palm, where, within the lines of his hand, a dark story is inscribed.
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In attempt to convince El to the credibility of palm reading, Daniel presents the story already within El's palm...
-1991, Stockton, California-
Laughter from a television audience mixes with the clamour of metal inside a garage, where two teenage boys trade their final week of high school repairing a rusted, broken ten-speed bicycle.
On cue, the defining phrase, "Did I do thaaat?" from the latest episode of 'Family Matters,' broadcasts from a television sitting on top of a dryer as El clumsily drops a small wrench in attempt to tighten a large bolt on the rear wheel.
Simultaneously, the boys laugh at the coincidence with comical, "nerdy" snorts.
"Duc, Can you find me a larger wrench?" El asks, examining the fresh abrasion to his index finger.
Duc, the theraputic sidekick during El's high school years, understood his friend better than his older brother. Together, though neither acknowledged it, they survived their separate experiences as that invisible kid in school; the guy who was always turned down by every girl he asked to a school dance; the boy who got stuffed into the locker between classes; the one whose pants is pulled down in the lunch line; the kid whose father spent their salary on material things that upgraded his status amongst the relatives rather than invest in their children's future.
They are both sons of immigrants. Though, to a degree, they shared these similar experiences, there were many differences between them that were equally unique as the cultures that defined their backgrounds. One being El's passion to compete in sports.
"Dude, El. I thought my Dad was bad. But, your Dad bites. He's turned you into a nut case."
Hopelessly, they stare at the broken bicycle with a tire that makes a hissing sound with each pump. El looks at Duc with a sense of urgency, hoping he can provide him a solution.
There is only silence.
"I have no idea how I'm going to do this," El admits.
"Don't look at me. I'm already lending you my bike. Sorry. This is all I got. It's a hand-me-down from my dad. I swear, the last time it actually raced was when 'The Flock of Seagulls' sung their last hit."
Again, simultaneously, despite their circumstance, they react to the reference with laughter and another "nerdy" snort.
"Seriously, El. My dad wouldn't let me go to the prom either. But, when you asked him to help you with this triathlon and he said 'No!' that's a Darth Vader altering his deal with Lando Calrissian kinda low."
El makes a sigh that augments their shared hopelessness. It was the kind of sigh that a person makes when it suddenly rains, but realizes they forgot to bring an umbrella.
"The difference between you and me is that I went to the prom even though my dad was upset," Duc adds.
"But," El argues, "you went with your cousin!"
"Correction. I went with my THIRD cousin."
El makes an awkward smile to Duc's statement.
"At least I went," Duc whispers. "Why didn't you go? Scared? I thought you were taking the only Chinese girl on campus to the prom? What happened with *Mo Chou?"
"I wasn't scared. She wanted to go with that wrestler who looks like Johnny from 'The Karate Kid.' Besides, my dad needed me home to babysit."
"How do you do it, El? You go from smelling like burgers and fries, to dirty diapers four days a week."
"I don't consider taking care of my sister as a job. My parents don't pay me for that," he answers as his patience begins to diminish with each futile turn of the wrench.
"Why is your dad against you competing, El?"
El makes another familiar sigh that adds to the frustration. "He said I'd fail and it'd be a waste of his money and time."
"I get it!" Duc proclaims. "You're competing in the triathlon because, you want validation!"
"What?" El looks confused. "What does that mean?"
"I learned this in psych class. This is more than just a triathlon to you. This is THE First Annual Tokay High triathlon; meaning you want to make up for missing prom by replacing it with something else that you feel is equally special. By competing, you cancel out missing prom. AND, at the same time, you prove to your dad you're a winner. It's a two-for-one win for you!"
El refuses to admit the relevancy behind Duc's analysis.
"Okay, Sigmund Freud. Maybe, you're right. But, don't you think it would had been easier had I went to the prom?"
"Correction," Duc replies, "It would had been easier had you asked her out before the blond and blue-eyed jock did."
El agrees with a head nod as Duc attempts to comfort him in the best way he knows.
"I respect you, El. At least you're trying to make things right. Even if I was athletic as you, I would not have that same motivation. Tomorrow, in the race, don't do it for *Mo Chou, or your dad. Do it for yourself, and ALL the fans of the Transformers! Your future is riding on this race, El."
"Riding?" El responds. "Is that a pun?"
As they did before, the two simultaneously laugh with a snort before continuing on with the near impossibility of repairing a bicycle meant for the junkyard.
--3:47 p.m., the following day after the triathlon--
Sitting in a recliner, El's father watches a blow-out baseball game between the A's and the Red Sox on a newly purchased forty inch television.
His father's attention is flatlined to the sound of the garage door closing.
In between innings, a McDonald's commercial reminds El as he enters the house that he has an hour to get to work.
The fast food commercial snaps his father's concentration enough from the comfort of his recliner. El's father is eager to validate the anticipation of his son's failure.
"How'd you do?" he asks, his eyes never leaving the television.
El, his hands cut and darkened with bicycle grease, walks pass him. His feet drag in defeat across the carpet, his head hangs low as if he lost not just a battle, but the entire war.
"I..." El could not utter his next word as his father interrupts him.
"See!" his father shouts, "I knew you'd lose! Good thing I did not buy you that bicycle. What a waste of money that could have been! If you had listened to me, then you wouldn't be soo grumpy!"
--Present moment, 1996, back at the Taiwanese restaurant--
Completing the reading of El's palm, Daniel stares back in amazement to the disturbing story he just revealed. El rubs his palm against his shirt, as a feeling of pity emanates from Daniel. El, however, reacts with childlike forgiveness to the event he's never spoken of since high school.
Daniel grabs El's palm again, hoping to clarify another detail.
"There is something else," Daniel tells him, pointing to the small jaded line on El's palm. "There is something you did not mention to your dad."
"Yeah. I never told him."
"What?" Daniel asks.
"During the triathlon, I never mentioned I was in the top three throughout the race. All I needed was to complete was the bike race. I would had won a medal; maybe even first place."
"'Would have won?'" Daniel repeats.
"The bicycle chain snapped halfway into the race," El admits.
"How many competitors?" Daniel asks.
"There were 370, maybe 400 students and teachers who competed.
I went from top three in the first two events to finishing dead last because of the chain.
I carried that rusty, old broken bike on my shoulders...
like a crucifix...
all the way back to school, while people laughed and threw rocks at me.
I never told anyone I didn't cross the finish line, or how different that day could have been if my dad had just believed in me."
"My attempt at erasing the prom," El adds, "ended up giving me more misery than I started out with."
Author Notes
*Mo Chou is a Chinese name, that, when literally translated, means, "free of sadness." In real life, Mo Chou's American name was Mary.
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