BECOMING SUPRA

Chapter 26.2: You can't refuse if it's the Yakuza calling

Æsh lays in bed tossing and moaning, holding an ache deep in his stomach. The curtains are closed, his bedroom is pitch dark.

Knock. Knock.

The door opens and a sliver of light slices in. Mrs. Thomas, his dorm parent, peeps in.

"Æsh."

Æsh can't hear her over his moans.

"Æsh," she says loudly.

Then suddenly, flailing up, Æsh turns to face her.

"Your father is on the main line. He said he's been trying you on your cell phone but is unable to get through. He's on the phone in the Common Room."

Æsh drags his aching body out of bed and makes his way to the commons. The room is empty, except for a water tank with a black feather-tailed fish swimming in isolation.

Æsh picks up the receiver. "Dad?"

"I can never get through to you," says his father, his frustration evident.

"You know how remote this place is. It's close to impossible getting a connection," says Æsh, touching the throbbing welt on the back of his head. He recalls the chase in the forest and the handlebar moustache of the forest ranger just before all faded to black.

"How've you been?"

"Good."

"You've stopped replying to my texts."

"I've not had the time."

"I received the invite."

"Which invite?"

"Graduation ... I will not be able to make it, Æsh.

"I know."

"I ... can't leave the country."

"Can't leave or not allowed to leave?"

"Not allowed to leave."

Æsh switched the receiver from hand to hand, his knuckles turning white.

"I'm being sent to Japan."

"Japan? Why Japan?"

Silence.

"Dad? Why Japan? You said this was the last assignment. You said you will join grandma and me in Bali this summer.

"There's one last stint they want me to do."

"Refuse them. You've put in your time. The year is up."

"Can't refuse."

"Yes, you can."

"You can't refuse if it's the Yakuza calling."

"The Yakuza?" Æsh felt his knees shiver.

"One last job ... then I'm free. You're free. Free to explore all the opportunities life has to offer. But first I need to wipe your slate clean."

"I don't care about the damn record!" yelled Æsh, stiff fingers grabbing the bulb of pain in his gut.

"I do! You have your entire life ahead of you. We can't throw it all away because of one mistake. Not after all the time I've put in."

"I told you not to get involved. I went blue in the face telling you not to make that deal. But you shook on it and now, just like I predicted - you're trapped."

"What other option did I have? No father wants to see his only child grow old in prison. Instead, I'm compensating by committing a financial crime. It's not that bad. And besides this is my last job."

"The Yakuza are not Russian oligarchs. They are the mafia! They will shoot on sight if ..."

"I know who they are!" his father spat angrily into the phone. "I said, it's my last job."

"That's what you don't get. They're lying to you. Don't you know that? They'll keep trading you again and again and now you're stuck ... you're stuck for life."

"What's done cannot be undone."

"That's why I said don't get involved."

"There was no other option!"

"I said I'd do my time, do my penance ...."

"You were being destroyed in there!" His father choked, tears welling up in his eyes. "Your spirit was broken weeks into being imprisoned!" His father broke down crying. "How could I watch my son wither away like that? You deserved a second chance."

"I don't deserve second chances, Dad. I squander away each opportunity I get," said Æsh, swallowing a lump of emotion. "I keep making mistakes ... over and over again. I keep creating knots when I should be undoing them. I'm a failure. A liability." Tears were streaming down his cheeks. "Why bother saving me, when I can't save myself." Æsh bent his head, crying.

"Don't say that! Don't ..."

"Dad, listen to me, you've got to get yourself out of this! It's hopeless. It's all pointless."

"No, it's not!" screamed his father into the phone.

"It's better if I died."

"No. No. No. We're not going there again!" his father pleaded desperately. "We have dealt with that chapter. No more of that kind of talk," he said, weeping with his son. "You've been given a fresh start. You're no longer in solitary confinement ... you're in a high-school cloistered in a rainforest! Fresh air, sun all year round. It can't get any better than this. This is the most wholesome option out there. An option hard to get. Look onward; your future awaits you. It's pointless only if you make it so," he breathed heavily into the phone.

Muffling his cries Æsh said, "Dad ... did I ever tell you ... I'm sorry ... sorry for all that I've put you through."

"This is not the phone call for apologies. This ordeal is going to end. And very soon, you and I will meet. Promise me that."

Æsh wiped his tears with the sleeve of his shoulder. He pulled himself together and in a deadpan tone said, "I promise."