Love and Truth by Kathryn Vance-Perez Page A

for a few hours while going into the water to cool off every thirty minutes. We laughed and talked about random girl stuff. I looked around to see groups of people barbequing, guys playing volleyball, and kids building sandcastles. I realized after a an hour that I felt better than I had in days. After hours on the beach and exhausted from the heat, we walked to one of the restaurants along the boardwalk. Emiko insisted that I try taco rice.
    “What’s that, like Spanish rice?”
    “Oh no, it’s a Japanese spin on the American taco salad. If you like Mexican food you’ll love it.” I knew I would like it. She ordered for us and pretty soon a waiter came out with a big plate that had a mound of white steamed sticky rice covered in ground beef, lettuce, cheese and tomatoes with a side of hot sauce. It smelled terrific and even though it seemed weird to eat it on a bed of rice, I dove in.
    “Sweet Jesus, Emiko. This is amazing.” The rice was perfectly cooked and it tasted awesome with all the ingredients. I doused it with hot sauce and the extra kick of spice was perfect.
    “I’m going to have to tell my Mom about this. She would love this.”
    Emiko laughed and I stared at her. ‘Wait. What’s so funny?”
    She took a bite and shook her head. “Nothing. It’s just that every American I’ve met gets giddy about the taco rice and there’s nothing Japanese or special about it. Everything is pretty much American. But they rave about it like they discovered some culinary secret.”
    “Hey, leave us Americans alone,” I teased. “We like to eat and this is good.” I shoved another bite into my mouth. After we finished we caught a cab back to the house to shower and rest up before going out tonight. I was excited about going to the karaoke club. I had sung karaoke before, but never in a public place. I had read up on it and it was a pretty big deal. Emiko said that we were going to a popular one on the island tonight.
    “We‘re going to Naha City to Bar Spade. It’s actually owned by an American and most of the staff speaks English and Japanese. The atmosphere is great and I know you’re going to love it.” I was thankful to hear that; at least I wouldn’t have to rely on Emiko to translate for me all night.
    “It sounds like a blast,” I said. “What should I wear?” She smiled and waggled her eyebrows.
    “Nicole San, it is a club. Dress up. Look hot.” I smiled and knew I could definitely do that. It was a great chance to wear some of the new clothes I bought on our shopping spree.
    “I’m excited. I’m going to start trying to put an outfit together right now. Then I’ll jump in the shower. What time should I be ready by?”
    “We need to leave by 8 pm because the traffic going up to Naha City is bad and I want to stop and eat before we go to the club.”
     

     
    I started thumbing through my clothes and grabbed the shimmer slate-grey shirt that I had bought at this funky store yesterday called Spank. It was made out of a stretchy sheer material and the designer was Mikio Sakabe, who Emiko said was very popular in Japan. It was a little loose and hung low on my hips. It had a plunging back that showed just enough, but not too much. It also had a built-in shell in the front so there was no need to wear a bra. I’m pretty flat-chested anyway so that was no problem. I doubted there would be any reason to worry about a wardrobe malfunction. I laughed at the thought that there would be no way Annie could ever wear this shirt, not with her big boobies. I chose my new black mini to go with it. It was horizontally ribbed and made out of a gauzy material. The shirt had half-length sleeves, so I picked out my silver bangle bracelets. I wanted to show off how the shirt exposes my back. I put my hair up into a low tousled twist, leaving a few loose strands around my face. My Vera Wang silver chandelier earrings would go with this ensemble perfectly, I laid them out on the dresser with the