|| Hana ||
HANA MINAMI. YOU HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE MAROON JACKETS. MEET AT THE RENDEVOUS AT 2 PM TOMORROW.
An order has never been that sweet to hear. I'm so happy that I nearly kiss the screen of my laptop. I've been accepted! My years of excessive training have finally paid off. Maybe racism isn't so bad for me after all.
I remember writing my name under the club sign-up sheets in school. Gymnastics. Kickboxing. Swimming. I got denied in each one. Heck, I even got denied in karate, and that's Asian! I was an outcast back home, where everyone thought that if you weren't American, you were a loser. I had no friends. I'd been on the verge of giving up on an after-school program when suddenly I met this mysterious brunette one day in a sports store.
She'd observed me punching a practice dummy at the far end of the store and out of nowhere offered me a folded piece of paper before slipping away silently. I shrugged, unfolded the paper, and my jaw dropped. Because on that piece of paper was a single sentence. A single sentence that totally changed my life.
YOU ARE NEEDED IN THE MAROON JACKETS.
I must've had screamed or something, because the saleslady who was previously helping me out with a pair of boxing gloves was staring at me. Anyway, I didn't really care because I was so excited to sign up for a new club.
**
Turning off my laptop and stowing it under my bed, I skip to prepare my outfit for the next day. What do government agents wear, anyway? In the books my okaasan* gave me before I moved to America, spies and secret agents wore black outfits. Should I wear black too?
Finally, I settle on a black Hollister jacket, red tank top and a pair of faded jeans. I heard that spies go undercover too, and what better way to dress up undercover than acting like it's another boring day? Ingenious, right?
As I walk out of the bathroom, my eyes land on the framed photograph on my bedside table. It's a picture of my okaasan*, otousan** and I, but three years younger. I was only twelve when I had to move away from my family back in Japan and into the USA, because of a plague that broke out.
My ryoushin*** entrusted me in the hands of my uncle, Hideyoshi, whose name is totally ironic because he is not esteemed nor excellent. He turned out to be a slob and gambler so I had to move out and rent my own apartment with the money I was able to save from Japan. But now, my savings are running out, and I need some work. That's why I'm going to join the Maroon Jackets.
I can't believe it. If I hadn't been pushed away by so many people, I wouldn't have gotten my big break. The Maroon Jackets, according to what I researched online, is a government spy agency that only undertakes extreme cases which usually involve crimes. A normal fifteen-year-old would probably freak out, but then again, I'm not exactly a normal teenager.
Racism truly changed my life.
**
The next day, I put on the attire I planned last night and retrieved the piece of paper I got from the mysterious brunette two days ago. The rendezvous spot she'd scribbled on the back of the note read 'behind 108 Reaper Street, by the storehouse'. Again, my doubts from two days ago arose. What if this is all just a trick? What if the Maroon Jackets don't show up, and I've just walked into an ambush?
But I reassure myself firmly and square my shoulders as I walk out of my condominuim building and into the busy streets of Metro Avenue. If this is all a trick by some gang, they don't know what they're up against.
--
TSG Dictionary:
*okaasan - (noun) - Japanese - mother
**otousan - (noun) - Japanese - father
***ryoushin - (noun) - Japanese -parents
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The S.H.A.N.E. Game (editing)
Action[ highest ranking: #43 Action ] Sara Williams, Hana Minami, Alicia Denver, Nikki Connor and Erin West – can you guess their acronym? – are not as girly and gentle as their names give away. They are the Maroon Jackets. They are the equivale...
