CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
After living in my new place for several months, I was very much enjoying life. Mike, Ken, and Chris were good friends and easygoing roommates. I was able to pay my bills with my paychecks from Macy’s and could even dine out a couple of times a month, which was always a nice break from cooking. I wasn’t bored and depressed like I was when I was living all by myself at the Scottsmen Apartments.
I began playing soccer with a local team called Sassoon. We were part of a Mexican league and had people from many nationalities on the team, but most of the players were Armenian. We practiced twice a week at Buchanan High School, which was relatively close to where I lived, and played games on Sundays. Our team organizer, Vartan, supplied all of the equipment and also coached the team. I remember Vartan as a fair-minded guy who believed in equality both on and off the field. During the two seasons I played with Sassoon, I felt accepted and valued by my teammates. From what I can recall, we placed second and third in a very competitive league, having faced many well-organized and hardworking mostly Mexican teams.
Seeing my roommates all dedicated students attending college began to have a positive influence on me. I was thinking more and more about my future, trying to look beyond the present moment and choose a life path. I was finally starting to give up on the idea that I could make it in life — especially in America — without a degree.
I began taking a few classes at Fresno City College. One of the most fascinating was Native American Studies.
Since I was a kid, watching Western movies and reading Jeriko comic books (a Western series published in Turkey), I had always had a fascination with Native American culture. I dreamed about living with the Arapaho and having adventures on the plains. Dances with Wolves was one of my favorite movies at the time. I have a few Native American figurines, including a large Medicine Man I bought in New Mexico, in my living room today.
Our instructor was a Native American woman, whom I remember as proud, confident, independent, and extremely knowledgeable. Although I was well aware of the difficulties many Native American tribes had faced, she presented a few facts of American history that were new to me. I learned that Columbus, for example, was not looked upon very warmly by Native Americans, and after reading about the historical events that followed the arrival of European settlers on the North American continent, I understood why.
Of course, I read multiple accounts of the history I was learning. I wanted to get perspectives from various sources before coming to a conclusion about any historical event, never taking just one side’s word in the matter. But after reading and thinking about it for a long time, I don’t believe Columbus Day is something to celebrate. In fact, there is much to mourn.
I also tried out for Fresno City College’s soccer team, and the coach said he could use me as a right midfielder. I was excited to make the team, only to learn that I would have to be a full-time student to play for the school. Due to my work schedule, I couldn’t go to school full-time, so I couldn’t play soccer there.
During this time, I had the opportunity to see one of my all-time favorite musicians and songwriters in concert. I could be starving, but somehow I always seemed to come up with money to see my favorite musicians that I grew up listening to. I got a ticket to see Eric Clapton in San Jose. Clapton was just as talented as I imagined, and he sounded amazing. In the mid-’90s I frequently listened to his Unplugged album, which I found soothing. I also recall being heavily into his live album, 24 Nights, which was full of amazing songs. The movie Lethal Weapon had become very popular in Turkey in the late ’80s and one of the songs on the soundtrack was “Edge of Darkness” by Eric Clapton and Michael Kamen. The song “Hard Times” off that album seems to make much more sense than ever now that I’m older.
I had been living with Mike, Chris, and Ken for about a year, and it was starting to become clear that I would need to find another place to live. My roommates were going to graduate college soon, and Mike had plans to sell the house.
I was also getting ready for a change of career. After many long months, I felt burned out by working in retail — although I liked my coworkers, the job demanded a lot, and the paychecks were small. I was still living from paycheck to paycheck. I decided to talk to a recruiter for the US Air Force, and I took the ASVAB. The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery is a multiple-choice test that helps determine a potential applicant’s academic and mental qualifications for enlistment into the US Armed Forces.
I don’t remember exactly what questions I was asked on the test, but I do remember it being a challenge for someone with my limited language skills. To my happy surprise, I passed.
A few years later, in 2004, I reunited with Mike and Chris when they came to our Halloween party. That would be the last time I would see Chris, as he would lose his battle with cancer in the upcoming years. As I mentioned in previous chapters, the loss of so many friends, one by one, would often leave me very sad and quiet. I would just throw myself on the couch, letting all the memories wash over me as I tried to make sense of it all.
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