The Next Adventure
Malik had only a week’s notice when his mother’s transfer to the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, came through. He wasn’t sure if she had been given only a week’s notice, or if she’d just waited so long to tell him because she suspected that he would not take it well. As it happened, he didn’t take it well. He reminded her heatedly about his best friend Jamie’s sixteenth birthday party that was still a month away, and his own upcoming eligibility to acquire his driver’s license that summer. She had promised to take him for the test if he completed the driving safety course, which he had paid for just last week. But it didn’t matter what he said, because the professional movers were already there, and his mother wore the expression that told Malik he didn’t have the slightest chance, and that she was very busy with other matters.

The first week in Japan was predictably atrocious. Malik’s mother came home every night with infuriating new suggestions for how he could spend his time—or, as he preferred to think of it, how he could pass his sentence. They wouldn’t be there forever. She encouraged him to visit the skate park and the jogging trails like he used to do at home, or that he meet the other kids his age at the pool before the weather closed it down. He didn’t want to know the others any more than he wanted to settle down in Okinawa, two million miles from where he belonged. He preferred to spend his time browsing social media and trading complaints with Jamie. He and Jamie had been friends for their entire lives, which was a foreign concept to most of the base kids Malik talked to when his mother did manage to get him to interact. Whenever he brought it up, they all launched into a game where they named the place they’d stayed the longest, and he felt like the outsider he knew he was.

It was a whole month before Malik ever left the base. When he did, it was because his mother finally grew frustrated enough with his sullen behavior to force him out. She sent him with a colleague who volunteered to drive his son and some friends to a local museum. Malik didn’t even know the son, or any of the other guys. He only went because he knew he was pushing it with his mom lately, and she was the only person he regularly spoke to offline. That made it fairly uncomfortable when they weren’t speaking at all.

The museum was actually kind of cool, even if Malik had no intention of telling his mother he had a good time. He purchased several souvenirs he knew Jamie would like. They had always enjoyed studying history together, so he knew the gifts would be better received than anything he could have picked out in the states. The guys in the carpool weren’t so bad either. They weren’t his friends from home, but they still had good senses of humor, and excellent stories, and Malik found himself laughing along on the way home.

From there it all kind of unraveled as far as resistance went. Malik met up with the guys whenever he could do so without admitting to his mom he actually liked it. And then even that game grew old, so he just hung out whenever he wanted and paid no mind to her knowing smiles. Together, Malik and his new friends explored the whole island of Okinawa. They rode the monorail to all fifteen stations and found something compelling to do at each one, whether it was just walking around or seeing a film or eating somewhere—or something—interesting. Over the months, members of the group dropped off, transferred out with their parents. Others joined them, too. Gradually, Malik’s social media feed shifted from hometown news to an expansive collection of photos and stories from three or four continents at a time.

One afternoon, eight months in, Malik found his mother sitting quietly in the kitchen. At first, he thought she was just relaxing from a long day, but eventually he realized it was something more. She looked tired, but she also looked troubled. She didn’t meet his eyes, even when he nudged the letter laying in front of her with his knuckle. “Where are we going next?” he asked. She looked up at him, and he knew right away that he’d guessed right. He reached for the letter. “I hope it’s Germany,” he said. “Jake is there now, and he’s always posting about it.” Malik watched the tension leave his mother’s face. Honestly, he didn’t see what she was so worried about. He was more than ready for the next adventure.