Lopaka begins to make his way slowly to the front of the stage, taking his time to create drama. As he reaches the lip of the stage and right as Christina start’s her first lyric, Alexus pushes Lopaka out of the way and takes over the front of the stage. She starts lip-syncing Christina Aguilera’s portion of the song while Arita and Karmen create a wall trying to block Lopaka from getting any attention.
Realizing that the three girls aren’t going to let him have any part in this song, Lopaka gets pissed. He tries to work his way to the front of the stage, but the three girls keep creatively finding ways to block him while still performing for the audience. He tries a couple more times before finally giving up. FUCK THIS! I don’t need this shit! He walks off the stage while the song is still playing, leaving the three girls to finish performing without him.
The three Fish y Chicks watch Lopaka leave the stage from the corner for their eyes and smirk; their plan worked. With only about thirty seconds of the song left, Alexus goes down into the audience, grabs Matt Makeup and brings him back onstage. Half of the audience is too drunk to comprehend the situation, while the other half is completely turned off by Alexus’ bold move. As the song comes to an end, the Fish y Chicks, now with Matt onstage, take their final pose. A mix of drunken cheers and sober boos fill the club.
Back in the dressing room, Lopaka packs his things. He’s upset with the situation that just happened, but not surprised by the Fish y Chicks childish reaction. He knew going into this competition that they weren’t going to accept anyone into their group, except Matt. Now that Matt lost, however, they don’t really have a choice. He weighs his options and thinks, Maybe I should stay in the group just to piss them off, but I would be fucking miserable having to spend every weekend with them.
The Fish y Chicks walk into the dressing room giggling with cynicism. They side-eye Lopaka as they walk in, but don’t say a single word to him. They go about chatting to each other as if Lopaka is invisible.
“Ho her God, that was so much fun! Wasn’t it, girls?” Alexus says making sure she’s loud enough for Lopaka to hear.
“Yeah, it was!” Arita agrees like the good right-hand woman that she is.
“You did so good, Matt!” Karmen compliments.
“I know, right?” Matt overconfidently accepts.
Lopaka, trying not to start a commotion, remains quiet and gathers the rest of his belongings as quickly as humanly possible.
“Yeah, you were the best!” Alexus passive aggressively taunts Lopaka.
“Da best by FAR!” Arita agrees with Alexus again. “And when we brought you up to da stage at da end, the audience went crazy! Good one, Alexus!”
“Well, you know, I had to bring the real winner on stage to join us,” Alexus continues to verbally poke the bear. “The only reason he won was because he works here.”
With being less than ten feet away from them, Lopaka can’t drown out the voices of Fish y Chicks any longer. Having heard every word that they strategically chose to prod him with, he finally has had enough.
“You know what, Alexus…” All four girls look in Lopaka’s direction. “You can have your stupid Fish Sticks show, I don’t want any part of it.” Lopaka looks directly at Matt, “Congratulations Matt, the spot is yours. I hope you like doing a two-step in the background.” He changes his focus back to Alexus, “Just remember… I won. All of your “millions” of followers… voted for me. Yup. And don’t think that you’re fooling anyone. We all know you bought every follower you have on Instagram, well, except for your three minions here. Like they say back in your country… Putang Ina Mo! (Putang Ina Mo is the Filipino equivalent of ‘Fuck You’ in the Tagalog language). Lopaka grabs his things and walks out of the dressing room.
“I WAS BORN HERE, BITCH! I’M AN AMERICAN!” Alexus yells and then starts cussing in Tagalog under her breath.
Just outside of the dressing room, Lopaka runs into Robin. “Hey, you ok? I saw what the girls were doing to you in that last number,” Robin asks.
Lopaka just throws his hands up and shakes his head. He points at the dressing room and still without any words spoken, he gestures to Robin that he’s going to leave.
“Ok.” Robin understands his body language. Lopaka starts to walk away, but Robin stops him and says, “I’m proud of you.” Lopaka nods his head and smirks a fake smirk, then turns around and walks out.
Robin kicks the door open to the dressing room. “What the hell was that?!”
18. Surfer on Acid
- 1 oz Jägermeister
- 1 oz Malibu Coconut Rum
- 1 oz Pineapple Juice
*Shake and serve as a shot
A couple of days later in the middle of the ocean, Kaleo and Parker are out surfing at one of their favorite spots. Having surfed together for many years, they know each other’s surf style well. However, with Kaleo having recently been in a funk, Parker starts noticing his friend is struggling more than usual.
“You good?” Parker asks.
“Man, I’m outta shape!” Kaleo huffs and puffs. He paddles his surfboard up to Parker and sits in the line-up next to him.
“Yeah, you haven’t been out in awhile,” Parker mentions.
“Yeah, I’ve just been busy with a bunch of shit,” Kaleo tries to cover, still trying to catch his breath.
“You’re looking a little pale, too!” Parker jabs.
“Shut up!” Kaleo splashes water at his best friend. “I’m still darker than you, haole!”
“Barely!” Parker counters. “Oh, here comes a set.”
A set of waves start to make their way toward the boys. They both start paddling a little further out to be in the right spot. Parker blazes ahead of Kaleo and catches the first wave of the set. Kaleo duck-dives through the first wave and sees the next one coming. He tries to get into the perfect position to catch the wave, but he’s not quick enough. Another surfer, with a stronger stroke, stands up and takes the wave before he does. A couple more waves roll through, finishing the set, and Kaleo misses them all.
“Shit, I missed the whole set,” Kaleo says as Parker paddles up next to him.
“Nah, that was just a warm up set,” Parker down-plays.
Kaleo looks at his sexy best friend and can’t help but check out his body. Now that Parker’s wet, Kaleo starts to have flashbacks of the time in high school when he saw Parker standing in the locker room shower completely naked. He catches himself and quickly tries to make conversation to stop his wandering mind. “So, what’s up with you and Momi? She still not talking to you?”
“Nah, she is… but she hasn’t really been sleeping at my place that much,” Parker confesses.
“For real?” Kaleo inquires.
“Yeah, it’s weird. Like, we used to sleep together every night, if not at my house, then at hers, but… she’s been going out a lot,” Parker reveals.
“With who? By herself?” Kaleo asks.
“Nah. She’s been hanging out with Tisha a lot,” Parker tells his friend. “Almost every night.”
“Do you think she became a stripper?” Kaleo half-jokes.
“Fuck, I hope not! I thought about that, though, to be honest. Cause Tisha used to be one,” Parker admits.
“Nah, I’m pretty sure we’d all know if Momi did,” Kaleo consoles. “Oh, another set’s coming in.”
The two boys paddle out again hoping to line themselves up with a good wave. This time, Kaleo gets slightly ahead of Parker. Having not caught a wave yet, Kaleo starts to surf more aggressively. The first wave passes them both by, but Kaleo sets his eyes on the second. He sees someone already paddling for the wave, but he starts paddling anyway. The other surfer stands up and starts to surf the wave, but Kaleo doesn’t care; he’s getting this wave no matter what. He paddles a little harder and drops-in on the other guy, blocking the other surfer and taking his wave. Parker watches the whole thing unfold.
After the set passes, Parker and Kaleo meet up again. “Dude, you totally dropped-in on that guy,” Parker cal
ls Kaleo out. In surfing, there’s an unspoken etiquette. It differs slightly from place to place, but the overall theme is always the same: Respect.
“So? He wasn’t that good anyway,” Kaleo counters. “I didn’t want him to waste a perfectly good wave.”
Parker shakes his head and thinks, Whatever. “So, anyway, what’s going on with you?”
“What do you mean?” Kaleo says, caught off-guard.
“You know… you’ve been… off, recently,” Parker answers hesitantly, unsure of how Kaleo will take it.
“No, I haven’t. I’ve been at work all week,” Kaleo deflects.
“No, not like off of work, like off-track, off your game. Something’s up and you’re not telling me,” Parker finally confronts his friend.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kaleo tries to convince his friend.
“C’mon Leo,” Parker isn’t buying it, “I tell you everything about Momi and my family and all that. What’s up?”
Kaleo is silent for a second and then speaks up, “So… there’s this guy…”
“OHHH! So, it’s guy trouble! Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Parker exclaims. “Guys love me!” He says smugly.
Yeah, don’t I know it, Kaleo thinks to himself, I’m one of them. Kaleo has been in love with Parker since high school. Over the years, their friendship has grown into a type of brotherhood, but Kaleo has always hoped that one day, Parker would wake up and change their relationship status from ‘bromance’ to ‘romance.’
Having fooled around with Parker when they were younger, Kaleo knows they’ve been through just about everything with each other. The trust and bond that they share is so sacred to Kaleo that even compared to his past relationships, Kaleo still holds Parker higher than any boyfriend that he’s ever had. Without realizing it until recently, Kaleo has held out for the possibility that he and Parker might end up together.
“Yeah, no, I don’t know...” Kaleo starts. “He came in once and was a complete asshole and then he came back this past weekend and apologized. He said that he wasn’t ‘out’ to his friends yet and all that bullshit… and then he asked me out…”
“And you said ‘yes,’ right?” Parker asks hoping he’s correct.
“No.” Kaleo disappoints his friend.
“WHAT?! Why? Dude, you need to get out, go on dates. You haven’t even hooked-up with anyone in awhile,” Parker scolds.
“You don’t know that,” Kaleo counters.
“Why? Have you?” Parker checks Kaleo.
“No,” Kaleo answers quietly.
“See. I know you, Kaleo.” Parker grins, “I can read you like a book.”
“It doesn’t matter anyway, I can’t go out with him,” Kaleo says under his breath.
“Why? You got something else important going on?” Parker pushes the issue.
“No because…” Kaleo stops himself.
“What? Say it. Come on. Hey, remember, ‘You gotta finish what you started.’” Parker brings up the motto of their friendship.
“Because I’m in love with another guy,” Kaleo blurts out.
“Who? Oh, don’t tell me you’re still hung up over your ex, Joey,” Parker scoffs
“No…” Kaleo pauses and takes a deep breath.
“Who then?” Parker presses the issue. “Come on! Tell me! It’s just me, Leo. You gotta tell me now.”
Kaleo exhales heavily and thinks Fuck it. It’s now or never. He looks Parker right in his eyes and says, “You!”
“What?” Parker is stunned.
“You, Parker. I’m in love with you. I’ve been in love with you.” Kaleo looks to Parker for a reaction, but his face is blank. “I don’t think I was aware of it until recently and I didn’t want to say anything because I don’t know… I don’t want things to get weird between us if you don’t feel the same way…”
“I, uh…I…” Parker takes a breath and gathers himself. “I love you too…”
“Really?” Kaleo says excitedly. Maybe he’s been feeling the same way this whole time, but we both didn’t want to say anything!
“…just not in that way,” Parker finishes his sentence. “You’re like a brother to me. You know that. And yeah, I know we fooled around way back when, but I’m with Momi now and… even though things are a bit complicated at the moment… I’m in love with her.”
Kaleo’s short-lived hope that Parker’s feelings were mutual died in a matter of seconds. With his heart shattered and feeling completely embarrassed, Kaleo responds quickly, “Yeah, I know you do. Sorry, it was stupid of me to say anything. I love Momi and I love the two of you together, I hope you know that. I wasn’t trying to…whatever… just forget I said anything, ok?”
Just then, another set of waves come rolling in. “Oh look a set’s coming in,” Kaleo says and starts paddling away from Parker.
“Hey, wait! Kaleo!” Parker yells.
Kaleo paddles up to a wave, this time lining himself up perfectly. He turns around and catches it. As he’s on the wave surfing he sees Parker paddling to get out his way. He yells, “I’m going in! I’ll catch you later!” and rides the waves all the way to shore.
“No, wait!” Parker tries to stop his friend from leaving, but Kaleo is already long gone.
Parker tries to catch the next wave, but someone is already on it. He tries for the wave after that, but the wave is too weak. Before he knows it, the set is over. He looks back to the shore and sees Kaleo getting out of the water. Without a wave to catch, Parker is stuck out in the ocean until the next set rolls in.
Once back at his truck, Kaleo wipes himself down with a towel. Although still decently toned, he notices that he’s starting to put on a little bit of chub from drinking every night. He grabs at his developing love-handles, Man, I need to work out. He replays what just happened out in the water and can’t believe he just confessed his love for Parker. What was I thinking?
With his surfboard already thrown into the bed of his truck, he wraps the towel around his waist and opens the door to the driver’s seat. With the towel covering his surf shorts and still without a T-shirt on, Kaleo looks like he just got out of the shower to anyone passing. Before he even sits, he hears something vibrating from the middle compartment of his truck, where he hides his phone. He opens the compartment and grabs his phone. It’s Lopaka.
“Hey, you alright?” Kaleo answers his phone.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” Lopaka assures from the other side. “What are you doing right now?”
“Uh, I just finished surfing. I’m still at the beach, but about to go home. Why?” Kaleo inquires.
“I need a favor,” Lopaka appeals.
“Sure. What do you need?” Kaleo wants to help his brother, especially after what has happened to him over the past couple of weekends.
“Can you take me to the airport?” Lopaka asks.
“Yeah, when?” Kaleo questions.
“Right now,” Lopaka answers.
“RIGHT NOW?!” Kaleo shouts. “Wait, hold up. Where are you even going?” Kaleo’s thoughts quickly shift from Parker to Lopaka.
“I’m moving.” Lopaka is short.
“MOVING?!” Kaleo is completely confused. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Since when are you moving? And to where?”
“I’m going to L.A.,” Lopaka informs.
“L.A?!” Kaleo is starting to get slightly angry. “God, Lopaka, were you gonna tell any of us?”
“I’m telling you now,” Lopaka defends himself.
“Yeah, right before you’re leaving,” Kaleo comes back with angrily.
“I just need a change of life, ok? There’s nothing for me here already,” Lopaka explains.
“Nothing for you? What about us? What about your family? Does Robin even know that you’re leaving?” Kaleo asks a myriad of questions to get the whole picture.
“No,” Lopaka remarks shamefully, then quickly changes his tone to a stern one, “Look, can you take me or not? I gotta catch a flight. Should I just call an Uber?”
/> “No, no, I can. I’ll be right there.” Kaleo puts aside his anger for now, wanting to at least see his brother once before he leaves.
“Thank you,” Lopaka responds.
“Yup,” Kaleo replies dismissively.
The two brothers hang up and Kaleo shakes his head. Fucking Lopaka! He always does spontaneous shit like this and doesn’t think about the consequences. Kaleo gets in his truck, starts the engine and heads over to Lopaka’s apartment.
19. Hot Toddy
- 1 oz Bourbon
- 1 Tbsp Honey
- 2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1/4 cup Boiling-hot Water
Robin and Chyna sit in the exam room of a doctor’s office waiting for the doctor to arrive. Robin was just here last week to get her blood work done. Her health has been fluctuating and she’s developed a bad cough.
“Thanks for coming with me, girl,” Robin thanks her friend.
“Of course, girl. I don’t have anything to do today,” Chyna reassures. “Plus, nobody should go through this alone.” Chyna touches her friend’s arm. She knows it must be hard to be living with HIV. With all of her own late night escapades, Chyna knows she tempts fate. She knows she’s lucky for remaining HIV negative. “How are you feeling, sis?”
“I’m ok,” Robin assures. “I’m just a little weak. It’s weird though, I get bursts of energy, but then come back to this feeling of exhaustion.”
“You have been working a lot,” Chyna reminds her.
“Yeah, but not more than usual,” Robin counters.
They share a quick moment of silence before Chyna speaks up, “What’s going on, Robin?”
“I don’t know. We’ll find out, I guess,” Robin answers.
“No, not that,” Chyna investigates. “I mean, I know your health isn’t a hundred percent, but what’s going on? I can tell there’s something on your mind.”
“Nothing,” Robin deflects, “Really, I’m good, it’s just my health and—”
“Cut the crap,” Chyna says, seeing through the bullshit. “Come on. We tell each other everything, right? So, spill.”
On the Rocks Page 11