Business at the Bakers'

The 18-year-old, with note in hand, knocks on the gateway to his career. In actuality, it’s just the house of some old guys he knows. As he waits, he smooths down his hair and shirt collar. No one answers. The young man is in no hurry, and instead of knocking again, he takes some time to appreciate the shrubbery near the door. 

The green and yellow, needle-like plants surrounding the doorway sport a column of white flowers, signifying early summertime. It’s a yellow sword yucca; enough botany books taught the almost-graduate that much. He also remembers the flowers being edible. After checking thoroughly to make sure he isn’t being watched, he plucks one of the bell-shaped blooms. He lifts it up close to his face, and…

“Well hello there, Kenji!” The door opens to reveal a warm, wiry-looking man. “You’re earlier than we expected. Taking interest in our plants, ah?”

“Y-Yes, Mr. Stanley.” Kenji holds up the flower innocuously, hoping his potential employer wouldn’t notice his plans to eat it.

Stanley appears to be taken aback by Kenji’s response. “Your voice! It’s gotten deep! Has it really been that long since we last checked up on you guys? Time flies so quickly these days… Next, you’re gonna be tellin’ me that Nicky’s grown 6ft tall!”

“Not yet.” Kenji quietly laughs. While his kid brother has grown quite tall for his age, he can’t see him reaching his own height. 

“Come on in.” The older man beckons his guest to follow him into the house. “You just wait right here, I’ll go wake up sleeping beauty.”

While Stanley goes to retrieve his husband, Kenji stays in place, surveying his surroundings. The Bakers’ home is a cozy one. It looks somewhat eclectic, filled with various knick-knacks, but not enough to look cluttered. Some were in a box labeled ‘For Sale’. Sunlight through the windows bathe the walls in a pretty glow. Realizing he has an opportunity, he pops a petal of the flower into his mouth. It’s a little bitter, but he enjoys the taste!

“Well if it isn’t the man of the hour himself!” A familiar voice booms through the living room as Benji walks in, followed by the taller man chuckling at his grogginess.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Benji! I hope I didn’t interrupt your sleep.” Kenji can’t help but stifle a giggle at the look the stout man gives him.

“You did.” Benji adjusts his glasses. “Count your lucky stars that I’m always glad to see ya’!” A hearty smile crosses his face. “Speaking of! I wouldn’t be able to recognize you if ya’ weren’t standing in front of me. You sound like a whole new person!”

“I was telling him the same thing!” Stanley interjects.

Kenji brushes back his bangs, looking toward the ground bashfully. “Thank you both.”

“By the way, how’s Ricky?” asks Benji.

“The pain in his leg hasn’t quite gone away, but he’s able to walk again.” Kenji feels somber at the mention of his father, but tries not to let it show too much.

“Oh, that’s wonderful.” remarks his husband. “Knowing him, he’ll be up and at it again before long. Hopefully he’s not giving Susan too much trouble.”

“Mom has to keep reminding him to sit down, but that’s nothing new.”

Stanley chuckles, shaking his head.

Benji blinks a few times. “Now that I’m finally up, we should cut to the chase and get right down to business. I hear you wanna become a star, izzat right?”

Kenji nods. To be honest, he just wants to get a job singing. Being famous isn’t necessarily something he aims for, but if he wants to keep singing as a steady career, he figures he’ll have to be. Besides, it’s the least he can do for his father...

“I’ve no doubt that you’re still a great singer, but I wanna hear how you sound now.”

The Bakers wait patiently for their guest to demonstrate his new voice. Kenji’s mind blanks out. He realizes he should’ve come up with a song to sing before coming here.

“Didn’t think of a song, did you?” Benji asks with a knowing smirk. He and his husband exchange an amused glance.

“You don’t gotta belt out a whole song or anything like that, just try Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” suggests Stanley.

“Twinkle, tWINkle LIttle stAR--” Kenji ends in an abrupt cough after some particularly awful voice cracks. He tries a lower pitch. The smoothness of his voice surprises even him as he sings a pretty good rendition of the song. He hit some of the lower notes much stronger than he ever could before.

“Wow! Impressive...” Stanley nods his head approvingly.

Benji’s gold tooth twinkles in the afternoon sun. “Have to admit, you had me scared with them first couple notes. Once you find your range, your name’ll be in lights for sure.”

“That’s an exaggeration, right?” the guest can’t help feeling flattered.

“Dunno. We’ll have to find out together! But I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t think you could do it. Isn’t that right, Dancin’ Stan?”

Stanley sighs in faux resignment. “When he’s right, he’s right. That’s all I’ll say.”

Kenji looks at the humbler of the two hosts, trying to picture him as a famous performer. His dancing is certainly good enough for the acclaim, but it’s surreal for the high-schooler to think that he’s standing in front of a former celebrity. He’d give anything to see one of his old performances, but then again, the stories he heard of America at the time are quite discouraging. Kenji’s glad he doesn’t live there.

“Come have a seat in the kitchen.” Benji begins walking away. “Unlike you, we’re old and can’t stand around on our feet all day.”

“Speak for yourself, I’m fit as a fiddle!” the curly-haired man calls after him. Kenji almost steps forward to follow Benji, but Stanley halts him. “Ah! Take off your shoes at the door. We just mopped today.”

“Oh, sorry!”

“You’re fine.” Stanley waves toward Kenji before youthfully strutting off to the kitchen. When his back is turned, Kenji eats another petal of the yucca flower.

“This is a nice house, by the way.” the youth compliments.

“Thank you!” Benji is already seated at a small wooden table in the kitchen. “It’s amazin’ what chump change will get you here in Jiyukoku. What did we come here with, 20 bucks?”

“It wasn’t that cheap!” his husband lightheartedly rolls his eyes before pulling up a seat next to him. “But it was cheap. By the way, Kenji, do you know what to do about those plants out front? I keep watering them ‘cause it’d be a shame if those little flowers went a-wiltin’, but Benj here says they did fine when he kept forgetting to.”

Kenji sits carefully in the remaining seat, but not before he notices the bills on the counter. He quickly glances away, after all, it would be rude to stare at someone else’s bills in their own home. “It depends on the season. They’ll do fine in fall and winter without any moisture, but it’s good to water them regularly.”

Stanley looks at his husband. “It seems we were both right, then!”

“It seems so!” Benji chuckles. “I’m just glad I didn’t almost kill ‘em.”

“Did you know that the flowers are edible?” Kenji chimes in. “They taste kind of like artichoke.”

“What, have you been eating our flowers?” jokes Benji.

“M… maybe one.”

The shorter man bursts into heavy guffaws while his husband stares agape in amused shock.

“Kenji, you can’t just go around eatin’ people’s flowers! Don’t tell me Nicky’s little habit rubbed off on you...” Stanley rests his hand on his head.

“W-well, no,” the guest explains, averting his eyes, “but it did force me to learn which plants are edible and which aren’t, so I can tell him which ones not to put in his mouth. And I remembered that one was edible, so I decided to try it out for myself… Thought I’d let you know, since you, um, own them. Sorry!”

The taller Baker stifles his laughter. “Well, thank you for your suggestion. We’ll have to try it someday, won’t we Benj’?”

Benji has not yet recovered from his laughing fit. He’s in tears. “Y-yeah, that’d be nice. Hooooo! I’m sorry, but--” He adjusts his glasses back into place. “Kenji, I appreciate your honesty… ‘cause I never woulda admitted that!” The old man bursts into another fit of laughter before finally settling down. “Ahhh, I’m sorry, we should get a move on so you can go home and frolic with your classmates or whatever it is teens do these days.”

He clasps his hands and leans forward. “Okay. What did your parents tell you about me as a manager? Be honest.”

“Um…. Dad said you were good at what you do?”

“And what did he say I did?”

“He never said…”

“Ricky, Ricky…” Benji shakes his head. “What your old man didn’t tell ya is that I’m really good at annoying people. I won’t stop until a venue listens to me, so I can guarantee you a chance to shine. And you already came prepared with the vocal talent, so we shouldn’t have any problems there. Understand?”

Kenji nods purposefully. “Understood.”

“But, in order to make sure you stand out, howza bout we add a little pizzazz? Take it away, Stan, my man!”

“Wait, what was I s’posed t--? Oh! Right.” Stanley recovers himself, making eye-contact with the guest. “How good of a dancer are you?”

“Uhhhhh.” Kenji flips his bangs. He has never paid any special attention to his own dancing ability. “I don’t really dance much. I have a sense of rhythm though… I think. Does that help?”

The mustachioed man smiles. “More than you know. Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you, at first. But by the time we’re done, you’ll be doing backflips!”

“B-backflips?” That sounds a little overkill to Kenji.

“I’m joking…” Stanley grows serious. “Unless you’re interested.”

“I think that’s a little much for me, Mr. Stanley.”

He shrugs. “Suit yourself! But any dancing at all is gonna set you apart from the rest, so we figured you might as well learn a little somethin’-somethin’. That’s further down the line, though. We’ll worry about that when ol’ Benj’ here sets you up a song to perform, unless your mom’s already written one.”

“Not that I know of… It wouldn’t be too much trouble to hire someone other than her, would it?”

“What’s the matter?” teases Benji. “Too embarrassed to have your mom write your songs for you?”

“No, no, it’s not that, it’s...” Between raising Nicky and tending to his father’s injury, his mother can barely get her freelance work done on time. He couldn’t bring himself to add more work to her plate. “She’s busy.”

The bespeckled man’s smile thins. “Ahhh, good looking out. Don’t let her run herself ragged. Suzie has a tendency to do that if left unchecked.”

Kenji nods dutifully. “I would try to write something of my own, but I’m not much of a poet...”

“Then I guess it’ll hafta come from our wallet, then. No problem!” Benji grabs a notepad and pen that had been lying on the table and starts writing in it. “A couple startup costs shouldn’t set us back too much.”

Stanley appears uncertain, and almost says something, but with a glance at Kenji and a polite smile, he stays quiet. Kenji can’t help but look at the bills on the counter again. It’s at this moment he realizes his parents might not be the only ones counting on him…

Before the budding singer could think of ways to earn extra money, Benji interrupts his thoughts.

“While we’re at it, let’s talk about aesthetic.”

“Aesthetic?”

“Your style.” Stanley adds on.

His husband scratches at his five ’o clock shadow. “You’re going to have to help us with this one because we’re not as on top of the trends as we used to be.”

“Whaaat?” Stanley pretends to be shocked. “I thought we looked pretty fashionable.”

“You both do look fashionable for your age.” Kenji compliments.To his surprise, both Bakers are taken aback, almost offended. 

“What’s that supposed to mean, kid?” asks Benji.

“I--”

“Nah, we’re just jokin’ with ya’! But that brings me to my point.” He closes his eyes. “We’re all handsome and dolled up for a coupla fellas our age, but we don’t know the first thing about the youth these days, with their long-haired guys and cone-bottomed jeans--”

“Bell-bottoms, sir.” corrects the guest.

“Yeah, see? You already know more than I do. Plus, you’re a pretty trendy-lookin’ lad yourself. I see you’re growing out your hair some!”

“I am.” Kenji nods.

“And you’re also wearing one’a those shirts with the collars that look like they could stab someone!”

“Yes, you look quite sharp.” observes the mustachioed man.

“Thank you, Mr. Stanley.” Despite not caring much for puns, Kenji genuinely laughs at that one. It’s one his dad would make.

“Have you been hanging out with Ricky?” Benji remarks, cementing Kenji’s thoughts. He shakes his head.

Stanley sighs, but smiles. “That wasn’t supposed to be a pun… I’d tell the boy to pass that on to his father, but it would probably lose it’s charm if he explained the context.”

 “He’d probably still enjoy it.” While saying this, the guest is already planning to tell his father when he gets home.

“Of course he would, what am I even talking about?” Stanly rests a hand against his head. “Anyway, what were you saying, Benji?”

“I was just saying that the boy here is gonna need to be the main one in charge of picking out his wardrobe.”

“I can do that.” Kenji answers.

“Of course you can, kid, that’s why I picked ya’!” Benji laughs heartily. “But also, we’re gonna need to spruce you up a little to make you stand out from any old teen on the street. Something that says Kenji Kezwick, you follow? We need to figure out your angle.”

“My angle?”

“Yeah, like the sweetheart or the cool loner or a beach boy--” He rests a hand under his chin, contemplating something. ”Say, your family lives on a beach, right?”

“We live on a lake, sir.”

“Ahh, that’s no good. We can’t market you as a lake boy… at least not without some creativity, but I don’t got the time for that right now. You got any hobbies, kid?”

Kenji thinks for a second. “I’m in theater club.”

“Oh, an actor!” Stanley appears to be amused. “Maybe you could branch off into an acting career.”

Kenji knows he’s joking, but seriously thinks about the suggestion. From the look on Benji’s face, he seems to be considering it too.

“Stan, you’re a genius!” the shorter man scribbles something down in his notebook. “See? That kind of thinking is why I love ya’!”

Stanley covers his face with one hand, trying to pose coolly and not embarrassed. He waves a hand in his husband’s direction. “Oh, hush, you! Kenji’s gonna think we look like a couple’a old fools.” He regains his composure. “But in all seriousness, we don’t even have his music career off the ground yet! How we gonna think about an acting career right now?”

“You’re right, you’re right… Still, we could keep it in mind for later!”

Kenji nods in agreement.

“See? Even he’s onboard!” Benji uses his pen to point at Kenji before setting it back down on the notepad. “Hmmm, we still haven’t found your style yet.” He stares at his guest so intently that the latter feels like he’s trying to glare through him.

“If it wasn’t for this, I was thinking about becoming a botanist.” states Kenji. “Though I doubt that would be a very… stylish profession.”

“You were always were good with flowers. That would’ve been a nice fit for you!” Stanley compliments. Suddenly, he chuckles to himself. Kenji looks at him questioningly and he reacts with surprise. “Oh no! I wasn’t laughing at you or anything. I was just thinking about this shirt I saw someone wearing in the city. He was a young guy, probably a little older than you. Looked like he was heading for the discotheque.”

“Are you talkin’ about that fella with the poofy shirt?” his husband asks.

“Yeah! I was just thinkin’ that it made him look like a big ol’ flower.”

“Stan, you brilliant son of a gun! That’s exactly the direction we should go with Kenji!” 

Kenji and Stanley exchange a look of slight worry.

“You wanna dress him up like a flower?” asks Stanley.

“It’s hip,” Benji continues, “it fits him, and we can make it into something special! Whaddaya think, Kenny-boy?”

Kenji thinks it sounds a little ridiculous, but he knows a few places where he can get poofy shirts for cheap from his time putting on renaissance plays at school.

“I think it’s a… solid idea.”

“You hate it, don’cha?” Benji gives him a wry smile.

“It’s not really my style, but it’s striking! ...And would probably be our cheapest option, especially since you might be paying more for the songwriting without… Mom’s… help.” The guest clears his throat.

“Since when did you become our accountant?” scoffs Benji. “Relaaax. Leave that stuff up to us, okay? You just worry about the singing. ‘Sides, I want ya’ to be able to wear something you can be confident in!” He reaches over the table to give Kenji a pat on the arm, but his hand doesn’t quite reach. The latter still appreciates the sentiment.

“If I could act in them, I should be okay. Besides--” Kenji clamps his mouth shut after letting that last word slip out.

“Besides what?” asks Benji.

“It’s nothing!” Kenji hastily responds.

Judging by his face, this does not fool Stanley. “You looked like you had something on your mind…” The Bakers stare at their guest, expecting an answer.

The student wonders what he should do. He doesn’t like lying, especially not to people who care about him, but to tell the truth…

“I was just thinking…” Kenji sighs. “Please don’t tell my parents about this, but… Sometimes I think, if I hadn’t chosen to wait, The Kezwicks could’ve taken off and Dad wouldn’t have hurt his leg. We still don’t know how to stop the pain...”

“Ohhh Kenji, noooo.” Stanley grabs the bridge of his nose. “If you keep thinking about stuff like that your whole life, you won’t get any peace!”

Benji shakes his head. “Now Kenji, you know none of your family would’ve wanted to force you into singing before you were ready, and if ya’ didn’t then I just told ya’! Besides, if your voice was changing that much at the time, you probably wouldn’t’ve sounded any good anyway.”

Kenji couldn’t help but crack a smile at that.

Stanley wags his finger at the highschooler. “None of this blaming yourself for things you didn’t do, ya’ hear?”

The guest smiles. “Yes, Mr. Stanley.”

“Your family is proud of you and they should be! You’ve become a fine young man.”

A small smile crosses Kenji’s face. He doubts it’s enough to convey how genuinely moved he is by Benji’s compliment, so he decides to express it verbally. “Thank you Mr. Benji…. Thank you both.”

“You don’t have to thank us for telling the truth!” Stanley chuckles.

“Yeah, now run along.” His husband makes a shooing motion. “I think we’ve got everything we can cover right now. Come back on Friday.”

“See you then.” The guest stands up from his chair. “And thank you for having me.”

“Always welcome!” Stanley waves.

“And eat some flowers on the way out if it’ll help you cheer up, but don’t get greedy!”

“Mr. Benji!” The young man puts a hand over his chest. His laughter made it hard for him to even pretend that he’s offended.

Kenji leaves the sound of laughing old men behind him, but he’s looking forward to his next visit. The yucca plants catch his eye once more as he exits the door. After making sure no one could see him, he takes a few flowers, mentally assuring no one in particular that they are for his brother’s consumption, not his own.

He takes a bite out of one.