With all the drawers and compartments open, Ken’s trailer loses its normal white cleanliness, and looks more like a wood cabin. The previous owner of this trailer put fake wood paneling on the inside of all the compartments. Ken didn’t quite understand why, but he enjoyed the atmosphere of all his things being out in the open. Ken usually works on his coffee table with his white laptop, keeping a rotary phone a hands reach away. People usually call him on his cell phone, but he enjoys the white pearl headset the phone has.
It suddenly rings, which surprises Ken, but he is quickly filled with dread, as the only person he has given the number to this phone is his mother. He lets it rings three times before psyching himself out and picking it up.
“Hi Mom!” Ken says as confidently as he can.
“Yamato Mishima! Why in the world haven’t you called me!?” Ken’s mother
answers. He knows he is in trouble when she uses his real name. Ken
tells her to use his code name, but all it has done is given her more
tools to chastise him with. “I sent you an email two months ago, and you still haven’t responded!” She says angrily.
“You also send me at least three cat pictures a day! How am I supposed to sift through all that?” Ken responds, thinking that he should have at least sent an email telling her that he got the email.
“Well, you should respond to those too! Your mother here is all lonely and has nothing to do!”
“What about all those clubs you joined!”
“Ug, let me tell you, they tell you that you can choose your friends, but sometimes when you begin to hate everybody, you start to just choose the people you can stand the most.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“Really? Not making many friends in that ‘job’ of yours?”
“I mean, I have friends, its just, I am isolated, you know?”
“No, I don’t know. Because I am a normal person that doesn’t do crazy things in the desert. You are just like your father!”
“This is an extremely legitimate profession!”
“Oh yeah? and killing people is a profession?!
“Mom, for the hundredth time, I don’t kill people! I stop people from killing people! I don’t even hold a gun!”
“Yamato, come home. Please. At least go to this family gathering with me. It is like two towns away from where you are! It is right by Los Sue-Me-Wake!”
“It is pronounced ‘SU-MI-WA-KE’ and I can’t go because we are busy! A new recruit is coming in and I gotta meet him!”
“Who is this new recruit? Is he more important than your mother!?”
“No, mom, of course not. But Maxwell said we need all the staff on hand because he is a famous anti-assassin and if something goes wrong, we need everybody!”
“Ridiculous. You haven’t taken a single vacation day since you have been there. You deserve to take a break.”
“I work for the UWG! If I do this job right, we can finally get enough money to live the life we always wanted!”
“Life YOU always wanted! All I want is to be with my son! I would trade all the riches in the world to be a family again! At least come to this family gathering with me. The Tanakas are going to be there too and you can talk to that Maria girl again!”
Ken couldn’t think of anything less he wanted to do than to talk to Maria Tanaka again. Last time he met with her, it started with an awkward kiss and ended with the shame and regret that came afterwards. The worst part wouldn’t be that Maria didn’t want to see him again, the worst part is that she was perfectly fine and happier without him.
“I am not going mother, and that is final!” Ken says while slamming his fist to try to fight the memories forming in his brain.
“Fine! Fine, Mr. Bigshot. You do what you do over there and let your mother die alone. But I swear to God, if you die before me...I’ll...I’ll...” she says as she starts to sob.
Ken saw this coming, he knew these were genuine tears, but he couldn’t help but feel like they were just another trick up her sleeve to guilt him back home.
“I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU YAMATO MISHIMA! YOU HEAR ME!”
“I hear you Mom, don’t worry, it sounds like this Josh-guy is the best in the business, so I’m sure that it will be smooth sailing from here.”
“My God in heaven, I wish it was a woman! I wish he died saving some girl half his age, but he died playing mahjongg! Mahjongg! He just had to go to Japan and play some stupid game with his friends and it all went to hell...”
“Mom, c’mon, everybody lost someone in the Catastrophe.”
“At least I could understand! I can understand lust, but a stupid game? Who dies like that! Fools!”
“Mom!”
“And you are a fool too! Just like your father! You are going to die, and I don’t think my heart can take it!”
“Mom, I know losing Dad was tragic, but at least he died what doing what he loved right? He even let those people on the rescue helicopters! He was a hero!”
“How dare you defend that man!”
“No, Mom, I just saying, he died in extraordinary circumstances, if I told you once, I told you a hundred times! I’m not Dad, and I am going to be fine!”
“No, at least he died being a crazy, irresponsible person, you are going to die working for some slave drivers!”
“Just because I can’t come to the gathering doesn’t mean I am a ‘slave,’ okay? Once things get a little slower around here, I’ll take the first flight back home and visit you.”
“You better not be lying. I am going to tell everybody about you, and I will start getting them to pester you to until you come down here.”
“I look forward to it Mom.”
“Will you at least video call when the gathering happens?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Alright, Yamato, I love you.”
“I love you Mom, and can you please call me Ken? It is my code name and I don’t want people to know my real name around here.”
“You come up here and visit, and maybe then I’ll call you ‘Ken.”
“Haha, okay Mom, talk to you later!”
“You’d better.”
Ken hangs up the phone, and takes a big breath. If there is something she is right about, he does need to get out of here. He is hoping that with his good record and this famous anti-assassin coming in soon, a few opportunities can rise up and present themselves. Ken takes another big breath. He knows that he is like his father in a lot of ways, but he knows that he also has his mother’s wit and practicality as well. Ken wishes he could talk to somebody around here, but he feels like he has to constantly have his shield up. Maybe that is why he has been spending most of his time alone lately.
Ken’s cell phone rings, he picks it up without looking at the caller ID.
“Hello?” Ken says as he holds the phone to his ear.
“Hey, it’s Dan.” Dan responds.
“Oh, hey Dan.”
“I got that Josh guy, totally out cold back here. If he stays asleep, can he stay at your place?”
“Sure. No problem.”
“Cool. Also, do you got any clothes he could wear? This guy looks like he got messed up a bit.”
“I’ll get right on it.”
“Thanks man, I owe you one.”
Dan hangs up, and Ken begins to look through everything to see if there are any clothes. As he looks, he begins to smile. “He could really be my ticket out of here,” he thinks to himself.
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