All I Asking for Is My Body

Kiyoshi (Kiyo) Oyama is spending the summer before fourth grade swimming, surfing and spearfishing with his friends, Mit and Skats. An older boy named Makot recruits the younger boys for his “gang,” but Kiyo’s parents object. His parents are reluctant to explain their objections directly, so Kiyo ignores their complaints. When he tells his mother that he has been eating lunch at Makot’s house, his mother tells him he will bring shame on his family, as people will suspect they are too poor to feed him. This does not make sense to Kiyo, because his mother doesn’t object when he eats at the homes of Mit and Skats. When Kiyo counters his mother’s arguments, she loses her patience, and says, “Nemmind! You’ll catch a sickness if you go there too often” (3). 

Kiyo’s mother elicits her husband’s help in trying to dissuade Kiyo from going to Makot’s house. At dinner, Kiyo’s father tells him that he can no longer eat at Makot’s house. When Kiyo questions him, his father gets angry, and threatens to crack is head. Even though Kiyo is scared, his father rarely hits him. He saves his violence for Kiyo’s older brother, Tosh. 

Tosh also objects to Kiyo spending time with Makot and suggests he tell Makot to play with kids his own age.