Two Witnesses
Tasi Returns to Guam
Christopher borrowed Seth’s truck to take Tasi and his family to the airport. They tried to make conversation, but a sad undertone kept any small talk from developing.
As they passed Treasure Island while crossing the Bay Bridge, Christopher noticed the planes taking off and landing at San Francisco International Airport to the left. “I can’t believe you’re really going to Guam today… I bet your parents are excited.”
Tasi stared at his ticket. “Yeah, this is the first time we bought one way flights… but they know we aren’t selling our house.”
Christopher pulled into the far right lane on the bridge. “Want a last look at the city?”
“Come on man, we’ll be back. We’re only taking a handful of suitcases.” Tasi pulled a pamphlet from his bag. “Travis Air Base has a program using furnished homes like we have as executive hotels during extended stays for officers and families. You know I’m not going to let people have the run of my place for too long.”
They pulled into the international drop off. Security guards stood every fifteen feet. People were monitored as they unloaded, and were quickly ushered on their way.
Christopher barely got the last bag from the back of the truck to the curb when the baggage people helped him close the tailgate and whistled for the next car to come. He turned to say bye, but only could manage a wave.
The meter maid started walking toward Christopher, so he jumped inside the truck and buckled in. He pulled into the exit traffic and reached for the radio, but his cell phone vibrated in the cup holder. He looked at the message from Seth. “Don’t forget the beer, we’re having a band practice tonight.”
Christopher tossed the phone in the cup holder. “I forgot all about that. How can I play on a day like today?” He replied. “Sad day man. I’m going to chill with my girl.”
Another message vibrated in the cup holder. “Forget that! Megumi’s cooking, bring your girl and come early for dinner… see you after 6:30.”
*****
Christopher and his girlfriend arrived at 7:00. Megumi opened the door and invited them in. “I hope you like Korean Barbeque?”
Christopher held the screen door open for his girlfriend. “Seth told me you marinated overnight.”
Megumi took their jackets. “Of course. You know me. We’re also having a mixed salad with a soy sauce vinaigrette.”
Christopher asked. “And steamed rice? I love your rice cooker.”
“I’m making the rice now. Let’s go in the kitchen.” Megumi opened the fridge and gave Christopher two beers. “Can you give one of these to Seth? He’s out by the grill.”
Christopher took the beers through the garage to the back yard. “What’s up Seth?”
Seth turned around. “Hey! Glad you made it for dinner. Couldn’t have you pouting at home man.”
Aizu jumped up on Christopher. “I thought for sure Aizu would have been at the front door.” He blocked her with his arms, being careful not to spill the drinks.
“Not when the grill is on.” Seth opened the cover, letting out a plume of seasoned smoke. “She likes the grill more than people. People are always there.”
“Not always man, not always.” Christopher handed Seth a beer and took a drink of his own. “My friend is gone. My dreams for business put on indefinite hold… and now I’m supposed to sit around and spin for a year or two waiting?”
Seth turned a few strips of meat on the grill. “You’re not spinning. You’re practicing patience.”
“Screw patience.”
Seth laughed. “That’s what I used to say. And from your perspective, I can totally see your point. You’re right. Screw patience. You’re free to start your own restaurant here. You can find a different partner. You can get a job that has something you haven’t experienced yet. Or you can do like you said from your heart, and work on perfecting your recipes.”
“Thanks dad.” Christopher took another drink.
“No Christopher. Not like that.” Seth put the cover back over the grill. “The trick about patience isn’t sitting still, or temporarily giving up. It’s all about understanding timing, and trust. Just because a motorcycle can go over a hundred miles per hour doesn’t mean you should do it every time you get on it. You have to develop the balance between internal control and the limitations of the scenario. If a cop pulls up next to you at a stop sign, I bet you develop a real quick sense of patience… at least until he’s gone.”
“So?”
“So I know you’re ready. I know you feel ready, but this is where trust comes in. Hey, you’re wearing a cross on your neck. You have to trust Him to open the door when everyone is ready, and when the overall timing is right. There might be something you still need to learn, or something that Tasi has to experience before you guys are seasoned just right. The man upstairs is the Master Chef… Trust Him and stay ready. Your dreams could happen faster than you think with Him in control.”
Christopher took a deep breath. “Sure… but that doesn’t make it fun today.”
“At least you still have a dream, and a friend.” Seth checked the meat and turned off the grill. “Dude, I had over ten of my friends working for me. We made video games. Our design and creative sides were awesome. We had a cute little technology that worked on PCs, but our engineering team couldn’t make the jump to the technologies that really paid. You know, Nintendo, Sega, and Sony… Game machines. Unfortunately, Tahoe was a long way from the talent pool. We did the best we could, as long as we could.”
“What happened?” Christopher asked.
Seth took the meat from the grill and placed it in on a serving plate. “Engineering was the third leg of our stool, and you know what happens when a stool only has two legs you can rely on. Those guys sunk our ship.”
“Did you have to close?”
Seth finished his whole beer, and crushed the can in his hand. “I lost everything. When our clients saw we couldn’t finish a project… well, they ran. And they should have. Our programmers were in way over their heads. That meant I was in over my head, on a mission without the resources to complete it. I thought I was ready. I know our art and design was where it needed to be, but the total package was incomplete. Maybe I was inpatient and started too soon. Who knows?”
“You couldn’t save it?”
Seth bit his lip. “We crashed. I brought over a million in the door from people who liked our vision, design, and processes, and I still believe we couldn’t have set it up any better. I could do it again tomorrow. I still have some hot game ideas that I would love to make. But those days are long gone. I learned some real hard lessons, and I don’t want to take those classes again.”
Christopher followed Seth into the garage. “So it really hurt, huh?”
Seth stopped and turned around. “Dude, when my company died it really set me back. I lost all but one friend. He lives in Yuba. Everyone else stopped believing in me. My wife even left me to go back to her parents, and took our kid with her. It sickens me to this day. I can’t tell you how painful it was, except… I can tell you about a day when I sat in my truck overlooking a drop off to Lake Tahoe. I can tell you how I thought about cuffing myself to the wheel and going for it. Most everything else I’ve managed to blot from my memory, but some things ride forever.”
“You sure seem happy now.”
“That’s Megumi man. She knew I had to start over. That is when I got into construction. Now I even have my license, and I love my work when I have it. We’re not rich, or even close to what one game could have generated. I mean look around. . . We really struggle.” Seth turned toward the kitchen and started walking again. “But we are truly happy bimbos.”
Megumi came into the garage. “I’ll take the meat. Everything else is ready.”
Seth handed her the tray full of fresh grilled meat and turned back to Christopher. “Yet you and I are here today? When I went through that time, I never thought there could be a today. Now I have a wonderful wife, a fabulous dog, friends, and I even have lots of bills. But I’ll never forget the time when I did not want to go on, and the cold depths of Lake Tahoe looked better than what I was facing. At least you are just putting your dream off a few years. In addition, you may even see it turn into something better because of this. You have to turn this into something in your favor, and I really think you can. That’s all I’m trying to do, and it’s slowly working.”
*****
After dinner, Seth turned on the X-Box and started setting up. “Ready to play a little before the guys get here?”
“Sure. What do you want to play?” Christopher started scrolling down the song list.
Seth thought about the events of the day. “How about ‘Float On’ by Modest Mouse? You can play drums. Nobody’s here so I’m going to sing.”
Christopher laughed. “What? You never sing.”
“That’s because I suck.” Seth grabbed the mic.
“That bad?”
“Worse!” Seth laughed.
Christopher got up from the drums. “I tell you what? You play drums and I’ll sing.”
“Can you sing?” Seth handed him the mic.
Christopher pointed to the television. “I can sing this.”