The Boy with the Bubblegum Hair

“Are you there, God? It’s me, Kai. I know we haven’t talked in a while. I just wanted to let you know I’m scared about school tomorrow. I don’t have any friends here. Could you please maybe send me one?”

Kai opened his eyes and unfolded his hands. He looked at his new bedroom. It was smaller than the room he grew up in for the first eleven years of his life, but he liked that it was a cozier shade of blue. The mattress on the bedframe was bare, its linens sitting in the unopened box next to him.

***

Kai woke up the next morning and opened his phone, checking the recent messages.

ISAIAH, SUNDAY, RECEIVED: good luck in miss sip pee

KAYLA, SATURDAY, READ: I always kinda liked you cuz your sigma. hope thats not weird.

Kai sighed. He got dressed into the outfit he picked out the night before: a black t-shirt that read, “I PAUSED MY XBOX TO BE HERE,” grey jeans, and checkered Vans.

He walked downstairs to a plate of pancakes on the dining table. He sat down when his mom said from the kitchen, “Nuh uh, it’s your first day of school. Go get dressed in something nice, and wear shorts. It’s gonna be ninety-four degrees.”

***

Kai’s heart dropped when the bus pulled up. The door swung open, the air filling with the chatter of kids. “It’ll be okay,” he thought, Maybe one of them will be my friend.” He stepped aboard, stopping next to the driver. The chatter died down as kids started looking at him. He smiled at them, but nobody smiled back.

“Kai Hoku?” asked the driver.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Please, take a seat.”

“Oh. Right. Okay.” Kai looked around. The kids who weren’t ignoring him took up as much of their seats as they could. He saw an empty seat right above the wheel well. He sat down, shouldering off his backpack. He plugged his earbuds into his phone and turned on his playlist. Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls started playing. He was looking out the window at the houses and trees passing by when he felt something smack his shoulder. He looked forward, seeing a freckled boy with pudgy cheeks looking at him over the seat, mouthing something. Kai smiled and removed his earbuds,

“What?”

The freckled boy spoke loudly and slowly, “I said, are you legal?”

Kai’s smile vanished. “Yes.”

“You don’t look like it, beaner. That polo ain’t foolin’ no one,” said the freckled boy. The brown haired boy sitting next to him laughed and gave him a high-five.

This caught Kai off guard. “Some of these people sure are stupid,” thinks Kai. He says, “Huh? Well, I’m actually Half-Native—”

“I’m gonna call ICE on you. We don’t need y’all gringos takin’ our jobs. My daddy says—”

“Look, I’m sure your father says a lot of things, but I’m not Mexican. And gringo means American. I’m from California, so…”

“Hmm, I guess you don’t sound Mexican, but I got my eye on you, amigo.” The bully turned around. He and the boy next to him cracked up. Frustrated, Kai put his ear buds back in and skipped to the next song, One Step Closer by Linkin Park.

***

The class periods leading up to recess went as expected; the kids avoided talking to Kai unless they had to for an assignment. Even at lunch, everybody avoided making eye contact with him. It was as if he were invisible.

When he stepped outside for recess, the sky was blue and unblemished with clouds. Upon an immediate ninety-degree left-hand turn, there was a blacktop with basketball hoops at the far end. To the right of the blacktop was a fence partitioning the blacktop from the staff parking lot. To the left was a playground. There was also a corner that extended the blacktop to the gymnasium’s entrance. Kai turned the corner and saw a bubblegum-haired boy wearing a black baseball cap kicking and running with a soccer ball.

The boy was tall and had an athletic build. His tan skin glistened in the sun. He turned to see Kai standing there and locked eyes with him, letting the ball roll against the wall. He had eyes as blue as the sky, like they could have been portals to the sky. Underneath a cross necklace, the boy wore an exact copy of the shirt Kai was planning to wear that day, the one that said “I PAUSED MY XBOX TO BE HERE.”

He then interrupted the staring contest and asked with a straight face, “What’s my spirit name?” He slowly approached Kai and looked him over as if sizing him up. “Are you real?”

Kai twisted his face. He didn’t understand the question and was, in fact, a little offended. He said, “Of course I’m real. What kind of question is that? Man, everyone here is racist.” He turned and started walking away. “I’m agnostic, by the way. I don’t do spirit names.”

“Wait.” The boy caught up with Kai before he left and stepped in front of him, saying, “It’s just that I’ve never seen an indian in person before. Only movies and Netflix.”

“Again, racist.” Kai took a deep breath and rubbed his face with his hands. He recalled a talk he had with his dad and said, “I prefer to be called Native Hawaiian. Please respect that.”

“I will. I swear. Hey, I’m Vincent. What’s your name?” he said, sticking out his hand.

“Kai,” He took his hand and shook it limply on purpose. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about Vincent. “He has potential to not be an asshole, I’ll give him that.”

“Oh! I know you. You’re that new kid,” he said, hugging the ball against his chest, “You know, Mr. Johnson, our principal, told us all to welcome you to Powell.”

“He did?”

“Yeah. Bet no one’s been doing that, though, huh?”

“No, uh, not really.”

Vincent chuckled weakly, “Sounds about right. Kids here are self-absorbed. Hey, do you like Fortnite?”

Kai grinned, his eyes growing wide, “Bro, I fuck with Fortnite.”

“We should totally play sometime! Do you have Xbox?”

“Yeah!”

“Bet,” Vincent retrieved a blue pen from his pocket. He handed it to Kai and said, “Write this on your hand: “FireFalcon69. No spaces, and the F’s are capitalized. That’s my Gamer Tag. Send me a friend request after school.”

“For sure!” Kai could barely contain his excitement.

“Nice! Not many people want to be my friend. They think I’m weird.”

“I’ll be your friend,” said Kai, confidently, “Just don’t call me Indian.”

“I promise I won’t!” said Vincent as his face exploded with joy. He stuck out his pinky, saying, “Pinky promise.”

Kai wrapped his pinky around Vincent’s.

***

Kai thanked the bus driver and walked down the steps. As soon as the bus pulled away, he took off running down the street, thinking about Vincent and Fortnite. He dashed past a driveway that a luxury sedan was pulling out of, nearly hitting him. Kai reached the bottom of his winding driveway and ran up. He tripped as he ascended and slammed his chin into the concrete. He pushed himself back to his feet and finished the ascent to the home’s colonial portico. He headed inside.

After answering a million questions about his day at school during dinner, Kai ran upstairs. He got on his Xbox and sent Vincent a friend request. He worked on his homework while waiting, until he received a text message.

VINCENT, NOW, RECEIVED: I forgot to tell you about my soccer game sorry

Kai immediately texted back: I would have totally gone if I knew!

He stared at his phone until the next one came through.

VINCENT, NOW, RECEIVED: its only halftime you can still come its at school

Kai smiled. He texted back: lemme ask my parents!

His smile vanished when he removed his headset and heard his parents arguing downstairs. If living with his parents this long had taught him anything, it was to avoid asking them for favors when they were angry.

He texted back: i cant sorry

There was a delay before the next text.

VINCENT, NOW, RECEIVED: damn ok i’ll be on fortnite in an hour

***

Kai finished his homework and played a few games of Fortnite by himself. He was in the middle of a match when Vincent finally accepted the friend request. He returned to the lobby and invited Vincent to his party. He joined.

Kai turned on his microphone and said, “Hey, Vincent!”

“Hey, Kai,” said Vincent in an unenthusiastic voice.

“Is something wrong?”

“My team lost. We could have won if that dumbass Mason Finch kicked the ball to me so I could score, but no, he has to keep it for himself. Ends up trying to kick it and eating shit. Ball didn’t even make it to the other team’s goalie. Someone’s parents in the stands had to throw it back.”

“Does Mason have freckles?”

“Yup. I see he graced you with his presence.”

“Oh yeah. He was threatening to deport me.”

Vincent cracked up, “He’s so full of shit.”

“Good to know,” said Kai, chuckling.

“Yee. So, we gonna ready up or sit here in the lobby and gossip all night?”

They joined a game and played it for a while. Vincent got the majority of the kills.

“Bro, you’re cracked,” said Kai.

Vincent ignored this compliment and said, “Five duos left. We got this, man.” He continued, “You know, you’re not doing too bad. You’re a big help.”

“Yeah, I’m leading them to you,” Kai chuckled.

Vincent laughed, too, and then said, “Thank you for playing with me. Not many kids from school try to get to know me.”

“Their loss, you’re awesome!”

“Thanks. Hey, look at the player count. Three duos left. We got this in the bag! Just follow me.”

They ended up winning the match.

“Nice! Good job, Vincent!”

“Thanks! Couldn’t have done it without you, man. Wanna go again?”

“For sure!”

“Bet. Ready up.”

The two played a few more matches, winning each one.

“Welp, it’s been a blast, but I gotta get off and do some homework before bed or my grandma will kill me,” said Vincent.

“Okay, thanks for playing with me,” said Kai.

“Nah, thank you. Really.”

“Hey, one question before you go.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Well, it’s my twelfth birthday next Saturday. I don’t know anyone else here really, so I was wondering—” he felt like a tiny wrestler was suddenly pinning down his tongue.

“I’d love to come! Just let me know where and when.”

Kai smiled. “Sweet, I’ll text you the deets.”

“Sounds good, Kai. See you tomorrow.”

“See ya.”

***

Vincent was true to his word and came over to Kai’s house for his birthday. After opening presents, Kai suggested they play soccer outside. However, Kai couldn't care less about playing soccer; he just wanted to keep his friend interested in hanging out with him.

Kai brought the ball out from the mansion’s garage as Vincent stood, watching. Vincent had left his hat on the dining room table, his hot pink low taper fade on full display. As Kai carried the ball around to the backyard next to the above-ground pool, he said, “Now, before we start, you’ll have to go easy on me. I’m not that good at soccer.”

“Meh, I just want to have fun. I’m not gonna try that hard. Besides, I’m sure you’re gonna be good at this.”

“We’ll see,” Kai chuckled nervously. “So, how are we doing this?” He looked at Vincent curiously.

Vincent put his hands on his hips for a second as he stared off into the sky and then looked at the area around them. The sidewalk cut vertically across the backyard, with the pool to the left and a square of grass to the right. On the other side of the grass was the backyard’s fence. He walked in front of the sidewalk.

“Go stand over by the fence.” Kai followed Vincent’s directive. “If you kick the ball onto the sidewalk behind me, you get a point. If I kick it and it hits the fence behind you, I get a point. First to twenty points wins.”

They started the game, kicking the ball back and forth. Vincent was obviously letting Kai win, so Kai stopped about five minutes in. Both of them were panting, “Why are you going easy on me? Huh, buddy?”

“I’m not, I promise,” laughed Vincent, “it is hot as balls out here, though.” He removed his shirt and threw it onto the sidewalk, revealing the beginnings of a six-pack and semi-muscular arms. “I wish I looked like that,” thought Kai. No twelve-year-old boy cares that a flat torso is developmentally appropriate.

They played for a few more minutes. Vincent was at fifteen points; Kai was at nine. Suddenly, Kai tripped and cried out in pain. Vincent ran over to him, repeating, “Shit.” He asked, “You okay, Kai?”

Kai groaned and sat forward, “Yeah. I think it’s just a sprain.”

Vincent bent down and gave Kai his arm, saying, “Let’s just go inside. We’ll say you won.”

Kai put his arm around Vincent’s shoulder and limped inside. “No way!” he protested, “You were winning.”

***

The two boys sat on the floor of Kai’s bedroom, building the lego set his uncle got him for his birthday.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” asked Kai.

“No.”

“Are you gay?”

Vincent looked at Kai. “What?”

“Your hair. Only girls and gay boys get their hair pink.”

Vincent shrugged and went back to the legos, “I like it.”

“Oh,”

Vincent echoed Kai, “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“No. I wish I did, though.”

“Why? My big brother says girls are nothing but trouble, especially at our age. We should be focusing on other things, like school… and Fortnite.”

Kai sighed, “I don’t know. I was just looking at myself in the mirror the other day. Bro, I’m ugly. I have no muscles.”

Vincent shrugged again, not looking up from the legos, “I think you’re beautiful.”

Kai side-eyed Vincent. “That’s odd. Why would he say that?” There was an air of silence between the two before Vincent interrupted it.

“I mean, I’m a year older than you. You’ll get there.” Randomly, he changed the subject, “You should join my soccer team. It’s fun.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been much of a sports guy.”

“That’s okay, man. You gotta find the things in life that bring you happiness. That’s what my shrink says.”

“You see a shrink?”

“Yeah, man, therapy is cool.”

***

Over the school year, Kai and Vincent spent a lot of their time together hanging out, both in and out of school. They played Fortnite every afternoon. Nobody hung out with them, and they were okay with that. All they needed was each other. Vincent quit the soccer team because he felt nobody took it seriously enough, or so he had told Kai. By May, he stopped attending school. Whenever Kai asked, he said he didn’t want to talk about it.

Kai sat in the back of his family’s Range Rover as his mom drove them to Vincent’s house. His dad glanced up from his phone.

“You sure this area is safe?” said his dad. Kai looked at the unkempt foliage at the base of run-down trailer homes.

“Seneca!” exclaimed his mom, “It’s Vincent’s fourteenth birthday. Remember what we talked about.”

“I don’t do sentimental unless alcohol is involved.”

She shot him a dirty look.

“But I’ll try my best.”

The three of them walked up the rickety steps of Vincent’s home. When they knocked on the door, a woman with disheveled, greying hair, Vincent’s grandma, answered. She greeted them, led them inside, and told Kai that Vincent was waiting in his room. Kai nodded, thanked her, and walked down the hallway.

The door was shut. Kai knocked. An emaciated boy with pale skin, raccoon bags under his eyes, and a bald head under a black baseball hat opened it. Kai impulsively shuddered and took a step back.

“Vincent,” said Kai, almost forcefully. Was it a reaction borne out of horror, or was it a question masquerading as a statement, like an answer to a pop quiz, one that he was too embarrassed to ask? What monster was this that had inhabited his friend’s body?

But Vincent understood. “Hey, Kai,” he said weakly.

Vincent sat on his bed. Kai followed. For the longest time, they said nothing. They just stared at the grey carpet.

Kai broke the silence, whispering, as if saying it any louder would curse them both, “I’ve never been around someone with…” His voice broke.

“Cancer,” mumbled Vincent.

Kai whimpered, choking on his tears, “How long do you- how long do you have left?”

Vincent lowered his voice and bluntly said, “Doctors say a week.”

Kai wanted to scream, but knew he had to be strong, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Vincent’s eyes started to water, “I didn’t want you to worry about me. I wanted you to treat me like nothing was wrong. I wanted to enjoy our time together.”

Kai started to sob, “You could have told me.” He broke down and cried like he never had before.

They had a sleepover. That night, Vincent had a seizure. By the time he paramedics brought him to the ambulance, he was gone.

Vincent’s last words were, “I love you, Kai.”

***

Kai’s mom parked their Range Rover outside the hair salon.

“You sure you want to do this?” asked Kai’s mom.

Kai wore his “I PAUSED MY XBOX TO BE HERE” shirt underneath a cross necklace. He smirked weakly and said, fighting back tears, “For Vincent.”

They walked inside.

The stylist draped the cape over Kai. She asked, “So what color are we doing today?”

He looked into the mirror, seeing Vincent, “Hot pink.”