Yas Morgen
They were like hippies, like beatniks, like alien lifeforms to me. They were so different from me, it took me three whole years to understand how they even talked. What they liked. How they lived. Them Grains of Rice people were so fucking different.
Jaycie came from the South Bay. I didn’t even know there was a place called the South Bay. From what they told me, a lot of Hawaiians and Japanese and smatterings of Koreans lived there. She was one of those Japanese-Americans. Fiercely Japanese-American. One of those activist types. And I didn’t even know what an activist was until Jaycie explained it.
“An activist is someone who advocates for a specific cause. For me, it’s the imperialism of America.” She said, in her most serious tone. Her eyes would become aggressive. Her stance became rigid. Not argumentative. Not confrontational. Just stoic.
“Cool.” I said.
She was the girlfriend of Tom, who also happened to be the director of the Grains of Rice Theatre Company.
It was always weird for me to say the name out loud. Here we were, a bunch of Asian-Americans, calling ourselves Grains of Rice. But I guess, the obvious play on words made sense in the grand scheme of things.
Anyway, she was the girlfriend of Tom Tokugawa, the director of the Grains of Rice. Which didn’t go over too well with the rest of the cast. Or so it seemed to me. There was a few people in the group who sometimes would give her the stink eye. Later on I’d come to find it was because Tom was cheating on Jaycie with another cast member named Annabelle Lee, but that surface until the final years of the group.
Annabelle Lee was this short, bug-eyed, Chinese girl from Irvine. I couldn’t stand her. She always talked about herself, even if the conversation had nothing to do with her.
“Hey, Jay.” I would say. “How about them Lakers?”
“Lakers?” She pipe in. “I auditioned for the Laker Girls my freshman year at Irvine. I had a Janet Jackson routine. It was really, really, good! I choreographed it myself! It took me three months to perfect it, too! The only reason why I didn’t get it was because I was, simultaneously auditioning for Miss Saigon! I was auditioning for the part of Kim. That’s the role I’ve wanted since I was a child! Ever since I was seven years old, I knew, I just knew, I wanted to be an actress! Hey, guys! Have I ever told you how I became a touring member of the Grains of Rice?” And on and on and on and on. Jesus Christ, that girl was annoying.
Jay Chang was one of the founders of the group, along with Tom. They were both around 40 years old, been doing theatre for a very long time. Jay was really gifted at mime and singing. He was pretty quiet, though, so I never talked to him much. He kept to himself. Only really talking to Tom and to this other guy named Ian.
Ian Sato was this guy from Gardena. Lanky, always wore a pompadour, jean shorts, and a t-shirt. He always had a exaggerated frown on his face, or a large smile. Nothing in between. He was good at building sets. On the side, he worked at a silk-screening place in Torrance.
And that is where Yas Morgen came into the picture.
Yas Morgen was originally from Chicago. He was half-Japanese and half-German. He rode BMX bikes and studied karate. He never talked. And I mean never. And for a theatre group, that was odd.
“I don’t think you guys would get along.” said, Ian, hammering some wood together.
“Why not?” I asked, holding a two by four. We were building a set for one of the shows the Grains of Rice would be doing in Los Angeles.
“I don’t know.” Ian said. “It just doesn’t seem like you guys would mesh, ya know?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Jeesh, you asked a lot of questions.” Said Ian, a little annoyed ay my distraction, frown on his face.
“Sorry.” I said, sincerely. “I was just curious.”
“It’s cool, man.” He said, quickly changing into a smile big as his face. “I just think he’s too introverted and you’re too opinionated.”
“Oh.” I said, thinking about it. “Okay. That makes sense.” And went about my business carrying wood.
And I didn’t talk to Yas Morgen for three whole years because of that.
