Ken Mochizuki’s Beacon Hill Boys reminded me of my relationship with my friend Jian, or I’d like to call him, Jay. That’s because we were the Chinatown Boys growing up in the I.D.
We both attended Thurgood Marshall, then TOPS K-8 school. Our origins are from Chinatown.
See, we both grew up playing the legendary game Runescape and StarCraft in the Chinatown library and community center with all the other Chinatown kids. Jay was an age younger than I.
I still remember playing basketball from noon till night with the boys who also lived in Chinatown, but some lived on Beacon Hill or Rainier. We all gathered at the community center like it was our second home. At the time there were only two things that concerned us: teenage girls and basketball. Man, were we living the fast-life.
Jay was a lot more insecure than I was growing up. Probably because I got more attention, and he was always in the backdrop. But he wanted the spotlight just as much as I did. He even paid me to get the contact information of some girl he liked.
I’ve always saw him as the weaker link when we were younger. We always fought at school and in person. This one time, he brought a machete to the gym and I smacked him in the face and called the cops. He was arrested for one night. He was only thirteen years-old.
In our teenage years, Jay would always be the tag-along in our mischievous adventures, and I would be the one taking initiative. Things changed when we got older. When I opened up to Jay about my Christian beliefs and how I told my small group to pray for him, he saw it as more or less imposing. He didn’t blindly accede to orders anymore. He’d gained an independent mind. For that reason, I think it’s important not to judge a book by its cover, because people change. Jay began taking matters into his own hands—that’s how he was able to stabilize and manage life’s challenges.
Fast forward ten years, I would call up Jay and he would be tired from working extra shifts at the pawn shop as a manager. He would reiterate the fact that he knew me when we grew up in Chinatown otherwise he wouldn’t pick up my late night calls. From this, I knew our bond was more than just friendship. It was the fact that we were both Chinatown kids. When we gambled together, he would say things like, “I know how much money means for people like us.” Again, Chinatown kids grew up knowing the value of money. We didn’t have any.
After graduating from the University of Washington, I didn’t find a job right away. And after I found my job, I lost it due to suffering from mental illness from smoking marijuana. Jay didn’t fall off—despite never attending college, he was able to buy himself two cars, make a steady income, and be responsible, a whole lot more responsible than I was.
Today, Jay had two fully tattooed sleeves on his arms and wore a gold watch and chain. When we showed up to my friend’s front door, an acquaintance we both knew from our younger days, he kept asking me: “What do you think John thinks about me? Do you think he’s scared of me? We all used to be scared of him but now look at me. I think he’s scared, huh?” He would boast about his image, now that he’s got tattoos.
“You know, I don’t care what others think about me when they see my tattoos. I have customers that come in and tell me they love them all the time. When women see them, they probably think, ‘Here’s a guy that can withstand pain,’ and that’s attractive.”
Jay turned his childhood insecurity into something he can call confidence with swagger. He was pretty good at it too. He had a million girlfriends, while I, on the other hand, have been writing in solitude for a thousand years.
People change. That’s something we hear often, but Jay experienced it. He changed from a class clown to a man who stands on business.
From where I come from, China, people often end up in the same place, making the same amount of money because the economy isn’t as great as America, hence less opportunities. For example, whether you are in IT, computer science, or communications, all end up making about 500 dollars a month in the city of Guiyang, because the demand is low and wages are equally divided. That’s why family background is crucial in China. As far as I can see, in America, as long as you work hard, you can succeed. Jay is an excellent example. Raised by his grandmother in the early days, and having parents that worked multiple jobs, he had to think about how to become successful on his own terms. He was able to become a manager making a decent income while the equivalents in China can never buy two cars on their own without family support. That’s why America is the land of the free. There’s always a choice. There’s always a chance at pursuing your dreams.
