San Diego, California. I'm lucky to be here. Not just lucky to be here; lucky to be alive. Lucky to be free. Shit, the only thing I ain't free of is Sato. Motherfucker followed me over to the States. At least he lives in L.A. Give's me a little space, you know?
It's been ten long years since I got out of prison. Takeda's trial wasn't long at all. Just a few months. I was out before he was arrested. The Yakahito-gumi collapsed after that. I did my part, and Takeda's right hand man did the rest; plea bargain for freedom, just like me. Best of luck to you Kokoru. But you can't get half as lucky as I have.
I have a mother now, and a little sister to go along with the older one. Kimi graduated with honors from Nekomi Tech with a degree in architectural engineering almost two years ago. She's been designing buildings for big corporations ever since. I have a father too. Still haven't paid for a car, although I'm stuck driving Koreans. That's okay though. Kyung's the closest to a real pop that I've ever had. I'll never talk shit about him. He did right by my mom when he met her, and he raised my little sister right. He's a good man. A better man than me.
Aiko got out of the NJ and moved to Yokosuka about seven years back, courtesy of a two million dollar payout in return for her raising my sorry ass. She married four years ago and has a two year old son. Better late than never, right?
Sato, like I said, moved to L.A. a couple years after me and Nabiki came to San Diego. He ain't married. He's a big-time sports agent. Dudes got seven clients in the NFL; has a different girlfriend every time he visits for Christmas.
Me? I married Nabiki when I was twenty-three. Our first daughter was born less than a year later. We named her Aiko, for my other sister. Michiko came two years after that. It's hard to believe, but they're eight and six now. They're both as American as can be, no matter how much their Aunties back in Japan (Aiko, Kasumi and Akane) try to remind them of their roots. I don't give a shit though. I have my three girls, and that's all that matters to me. Nabiki and our babies. Their happiness is my happiness.
As excited as mom was to find me again, she must have been even happier when she watched her granddaughters being born. Ol' Grandpa Tendo still cries like a little bitch every time he sees em' though. Ol' sissy. Seriously, I've got hardwood floors in my house man. I worry about that shit rotting out whenever he visits us in the States. Shit is expensive too...living on the beach in La Jolla ain't cheap. Heh, all that cash had to go to something, right?
I work now. Legit, I mean. I'm a youth counselor and a high school football coach. Some of the kids I work with come from rough neighborhoods, fucked up families. They ask me about my past sometimes. I guess the tattoos are kind of a give away, even over here in America. Of course, I never talk about the really bad shit...I mean, the killing and all that. But some of them know that I've been in prison. They know that I know about gangs, some of the violence and all that. It lends me a certain amount of credibility. They respect me for that. And that's the first thing you have to have when you're trying to deal with kids. You gotta have their respect. And it don't matter how young they are, you can't just expect it; you gotta earn it.
Yeah, life is good. Life is better than I ever thought it was going to be. Ten years ago, I thought I was going to die in jail. But somehow, someway, I made it. God ain't done much for me in my life, I've had to do it all myself. It's only reasonable to assume, after all, that if everything good is god's doing, then he's got his hand in all the shitty stuff too. But that's okay. Every bit of heartache and pain was worth it to get where I am today. Every time I kiss my wife good morning; every time I see a smile on my baby girls faces...it's all worth it.
Sometimes, when I'm all alone, or when it's just me and Sato hanging out, I remember the old days. Sometimes I wish that I could go back and change things. But if I did, I wouldn't have my wife. I wouldn't have my mother and my little sister (which isn't to say that I'm any less grateful for my big sister). I wouldn't have my daughters. And that would be unthinkable. My life turned out exactly the way it should have, even if I had to take a few back roads to get here.
I guess my point is this: don't ever have any regrets. You can't change the past, you can only change the future. Take what you've got and make something out of it. That's all you can do. If you spend all your time wishing you'd done things differently, you'll never have anything worth keeping. So mourn when you have to and grieve when the time is right, but let that shit go when it starts dragging you down. Life is meant for living man. That's all I got to say.
Peace, I'm out.
Tendo Keona-
Well...I guess that's it. It's over. End of story. Thanks for following along. Like Keona said...Peace, I'm out.
Joustingforcancer-