Meisa Ozawa of Japan

After a grueling way of training and classes at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, Meisa Ozawa was definitely looking forward to getting some rest. For once, things were quiet on Taylor's Point, seat of the foremost military academy in New England. Looking at the small seaside town, and the beautiful ocean that surrounded it, Meisa finally felt at peace.

The town of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, strangely enough, reminded Meisa of her hometown of Yakushima, one of the Osumi islands in the Kagoshima Prefecture of Japan. Growing up surrounded by the ocean, Meisa absolutely loved the water. From early on, Meisa knew that she wanted a career that combined her love of the water and her family's passion for military service. After all, her parents Takuma and Hana Ozawa met while serving in the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force.

This is one of many reasons why, after moving to the United States, Meisa decided to study in someplace which felt like home. The Massachusetts Maritime Academy had become home away from home, after a fashion. Of course, there were kinks to be worked out. In today's America, with tension between different ethnic groups, and a sharp rise in nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiment, Meisa knew that she had to walk a fine line as an international student from Japan.

"Here comes tiny mama," came a masculine voice, snatching Meisa Ozawa out of her little trip down memory lane. Meisa, who'd been sitting on a plain steel chair by the waterfront, removed her glasses and closed her eyes, hard. Here comes David only unlike the Biblical one he's here to torment rather than save, Meisa thought as David Montrose came closer, and totally got in her personal space, as usual. Pestering fellow cadets, especially her, seemed to be part and parcel of David's daily routine...

"David, dude, come on, I'm dead serious, don't poke my nose," Meisa Ozawa said angrily, glaring at the annoying dude who simply didn't know when to quit. David Montrose, the annoying dude in question, smiled and then let his index finger hover an inch from Meisa's nose, smirking while smugly holding the infuriated young Japanese woman's gaze.

"What are you going to do about it, little lady?" David asked, and he licked his lips while looking Meisa up and down. Standing six feet two inches tall, broad-shouldered, muscular, and ruggedly handsome, the chocolate-hued, curly-haired stud was used to getting his way. Around David, men and women either did what he said, bent to his will, or they lived long enough to regret the error of their ways...

Stay calm, Meisa silently reminded herself. The petite young Asian woman took a deep breath, remembering her father's words. When someone initiates hostility and underestimates you, it is your duty to always make them pay dearly, Meisa's father Takuma Ozawa told her on many occasions. Smiling beatifically at her erstwhile tormentor, Meisa did something completely unexpected...

"Show you the error of your ways," Meisa said as she snatched her water bottle from the sand, and swiftly shoved it at David's crotch, stopping a mere inch from her target. David looked down and saw the gravity of his situation, and that's when his face fell. Taking a deep breath, David flashed Meisa a nervous smile, and raised his hands in surrender.

"Easy there, Meisa, I was just joking," David replied, and Meisa cocked an eyebrow, watching the smirk and the cocksure look evaporate from his face. David was handsome, that much Meisa could admit, but his egotistical ways and blatant disregard for boundaries made him something of a pest. Everyone in the Regiment of Cadets at Mass Maritime Academy seemed to think so.

"David, you always tease me, and hassle me, I'm a hair away from telling the Dean of Students about you," Meisa said angrily, scoffing at his half-baked apology. David nodded, and for once, he did not smile or smirk in any way. Instead, the towering, brawny young African American cadet sat on the sand right next to her, and fell silent, looking at her intently.

"Meisa, I'm sorry, I'm a dick sometimes, and I don't even know why I do it," David said earnestly, and Meisa looked at him, surprised by his apparent candor. She was still suspicious of his words and motives, but his apparent honesty was definitely a surprise. Maybe David isn't a complete douchebag, Meisa thought, still hesitant to give him the time of day.

"Well, David, I'm not your psychologist or your conscience, I just want you to keep your distance, thank you very much,"Meisa retorted, unwilling to buy David's load of fake remorse bullshit. With that, she got up and walked away, without bothering to wait for his reply. Kiss my ass you sorry excuse for a human being, Meisa thought as she headed back to her place.

"Hmm, what an ass, I have got to get back on Meisa's good side, oops, I was never there," David said to himself, chuckling softly. He watched Meisa as she walked away until she turned a corner around a school building and vanished from his point of view. The short, curvy Japanese gal had one hell of an ass on her, and he definitely wanted some of that.

David Montrose, the so-called "urban prince" of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy came from a rather rough background. His parents came from different worlds, to say the least. His father Jerome Montrose hailed from the island of Jamaica, and moved to the City of Randolph, Massachusetts, for work in the early 1990s. Jerome Montrose felt like a fish out of water in New England, until fate changed everything...

While working as a bricklayer in Brockton, Jerome Montrose met the love of his life, Roberta Fay McConnell, a newcomer to New England by way of Belfast, Ireland. Sparks flew between the mismatched pair. Jerome became a regular at The Parthenon, the famous Randolph restaurant where Roberta happened to work as a waitress. They fell in love, and ended up getting married. A son was born to them, David Montrose. They still live in Randolph to this day...

Growing up as a young biracial man in southeastern Massachusetts, David Montrose learned early on that the world was a harsh, unforgiving place. He saw the way folks in his otherwise quaint hometown looked at his Irish-American mother and Jamaican-American father. Sometimes, people hurled slurs at them while driving past them on the street. Racism was alive and well in the United States of America, even in liberal New England.

The public schools of Randolph, Massachusetts, are racially diverse due to Randolph being situated between the two largest and most diverse locales in New England, Boston and nearby Brockton. Still, David felt like an outcast at school, because he was mixed and thus not Black enough for the Black students and too dark for the White students. David learned that the world was a cruel place, and he had to get to people before they got to him, and this hardened him inside...

By the time David enrolled as a cadet at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, intent on a career as a military engineer, he'd become a bona-fide jerk, complete with good looks, charm, intelligent, and a talent for exploiting people's weaknesses and failings. For David, being one of the top cadets and brightest students wasn't enough. He enjoyed crushing other people's spirits. Meisa Ozawa was pretty, smart, and well-liked. To David, she was a threat...

"You have to get them before they get you," David's father Jerome Montrose told him, the summer of his nineteenth birthday. David Montrose, who would be starting as a cadet at Massachusetts Maritime Academy in September, was enjoying the summer at his parents cottage in Andover. He was a young man at the threshold of destiny. It was to be his last summer of innocence, in more ways than one.

The rather sleepy town of Andover, Massachusetts, at first seemed idyllic to David Montrose. While there, he'd met a tall, lovely young blonde woman named Astrid Jacobsen, and they had a whirlwind romance. Astrid was home after concluding her first year at Stonehill College. Everything was wonderful between them, until Astrid's parents found out about her and Jerome. That's when all hell broke loose...

"Dad, Astrid's parents looked at me like I was a demon when they saw us at the store, and she actually let go of my hand," a crestfallen David said to his father, and Jerome Montrose hugged his son. As a Black man married to a White woman, the head of an interracial household and the father of a mixed-race son, Jerome Montrose was all too familiar with White racism.

As a police officer with the Massachusetts State Police, Jerome Montrose endured a lot of racism, both from colleagues and the general public. It was eerie and kind of sad how the same nice, smiling New Englanders who bragged about voting for liberal icon and New England legend Governor Deval Patrick back in his heyday had no qualms about hating a police officer simply because of his skin color, and the fact that he was in an interracial relationship. Go figure...

"Son, you will meet a much better woman than Astrid someday," Jerome Montrose promised his son David, and the younger man nodded. Father and son went home, and shared the story with David's mother. Roberta Fay McConnell-Montrose was thankful to have her husband and son back at the cottage. When David shared the tale with his mother, Roberta was incensed.

"If I ever get a hold of this bitch Astrid and her clan, there will be blood," Roberta said hotly, and Jerome and David looked at her and smiled. The lady of the Montrose household was not one to be trifled with. Tall, blonde, blue-eyed and athletic, Roberta was feisty, strong, smart and absolutely dedicated to her husband and son. As a restaurant manager, she was used to dealing with the rude and the uncouth, and wasn't intimidated by the prospect of confronting the family of the young woman who'd wronged her son.

"It's alright, Mom, I will find someone better," David said, and he hugged his parents, hoping that this was true. After a year at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the young man had a reputation both as a ladies man and as kind of a jerk. David, who'd started out as a nice guy until the world did him wrong, found that he couldn't simply revert to his previous persona. He didn't like what he'd become, but couldn't stop himself...

David went back to his room, and thought about the events of the day. Things were going alright at school, but he felt like something was missing in his life. Bored, he pulled his laptop, tagged it on the school Wi-Fi, and began browsing online. Seeing messages on his Facebook, he decided to check them out. The messages and their sender shocked the hell out of David, to say the least.

"Dear David, I know you can be a bit of a jerk but I swear that sometimes, when I look into your eyes, I see a decent human being trapped behind the façade of the douchebag, if you are sincere in your apology, then I accept it," Meisa Okawa wrote, then she clicked send. David received the message right away and read it twice while pondering how to reply to such an unexpected missive...

"Dear Meisa, thank you for accepting my apology, sorry for being a dick, I promise I'll do better," David typed back, and he added a smiley face for effect. When David didn't get a reply right away, he started to log off, figuring that Meisa was one of those gals who took forever to reply to a guy's message, whether in email, social media or text messaging. Imagine his surprise when he got a friend request from a certain diminutive Japanese cutie...

"Hello again," Meisa typed, and David smiled and hastily added her as a friend. Curiosity got the best of him and he browsed through her profile. David checked out pictures of Meisa with an older Asian couple in military gear, and smiled. Meisa's folks were also career military, and she was a legacy, just like him. Prior to joining the Massachusetts State Police, David's father Jerome Montrose served in the United States National Guard. Legacy forever, David thought with a smile.

"Glad to be friends, online at least, I see that your family is in the military, mine too, well, my dad was in the armed forces and now he's a cop," David typed, and he got a smiley face from Meisa. As the night rolled on, they talked about their families and their future careers, and at the end of it, David once more apologized and Meisa waved him off.

"Water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned, David, have a good night, see you at school tomorrow," Meisa wrote, sending a smiley face before logging off. David wished her goodnight but did not log off. As he browsed through Meisa's profile, he saw an abundance of pictures. Meisa evidently loved the beach, judging by her numerous pictures there with friends and family. A picture of Meisa in a bikini caught David's attention. I was right, that gal's got a booty, David thought with a smile before logging off.

The next day, David went to the Dunkin Donuts located off of Main Street, and found Meisa there. He saw her sitting there, reading a book while sipping her coffee. As he pondered what to do, a group of guys came into the place. Three White dudes, scruffy looking types with beards, reflective vests and work boots. All three gawked at Meisa, and one of them seemed to lock onto Meisa like a shark seeing a wounded dolphin.

"Hey, China Doll, what are you reading?" said Scruffy Dude Number One, a chubby guy with a beard. He left his buddies at the Dunkin Donuts line, which was fairly long, and seemed to focus exclusively on Meisa. The young Japanese woman removed her glasses and looked at her latest harasser. Why am I a magnet for these creeps everywhere I go? Meisa wondered silently.

"Sir, I am not from China, I'm from Japan, and I'm reading Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth," Meisa retorted as she faced her harasser. The burly trucker-looking dude closed the gap between them and totally got in her personal space, just like a certain African American cadet had done, mere hours prior. Just my luck, Meisa thought as she faced the scowling workman.

"Shoot, don't get an attitude with me, honey? You Ching-Chong types are all the same," Mr. Scruffy said, and he was about to say more when a rather large hand gripped his shoulder. Meisa watched as Mr. Scruffy turned around, and faced David Montrose, all six-foot-two and two hundred and fifty pounds of him. The burly young biracial man was not smiling.

"Hey buddy, leave her alone or I'll lay you out," David said, glaring angrily at Mr. Scruffy, and the trucker smirked and spat on the floor, dangerously close to Davis's sneakered foot. The young man's gaze never wavered as he planted his hands on the trucker's face, and shoved. The trucker let out an angry snort, and signaled his friends, then all three were on David.

"Going to teach you a lesson, punk," Mr. Scruffy said, right before David struck him in the face with his balled fist. The trucker's two friends joined the melee and although David fought bravely, he was outnumbered. Meisa watched, amazed. Exploding into action, she took her tray and slammed it into the groin area of the nearest trucker, a tall White guy with dark hair. He howled in pain and doubled over, and she finished him off with a fist to the temple, knocking him out.

"Hang on David I'm coming," Meisa shouted, right before Mr. Scruffy, aiming for David, swung his fist. Meisa, coming forward to aid her would-be rescuer, caught the fist square in the gut. In spite of her stoicism, the young woman felt her world vacillate, and her feet suddenly felt like she had lead boots on. As Meisa went down, her vision blurry, she saw David struggling against the two remaining truckers. I was wrong about him, Meisa thought before passing out.

When Meisa came to, she was in a hospital room. She would later learn that she was in the Institute for Emergency Medical in the town of Bourne, Massachusetts. There were no hospitals in Buzzards Bay. The emergency medical techs had taken her to Bourne after she passed out at the Dunkin Donuts after being struck. There was a nurse looking at her, and Meisa looked curiously at the curvy, dark-skinned, attractive young woman.

"Good morning, Miss Ozawa, welcome back to the world, I'm Nurse Jasmin," the young Black woman said, flashing Meisa a bright smile. Meisa returned the doctor's smile, and looked around, her head still fuzzy. Slowly it all came back to her, the Dunkin Donuts, the fight with the truckers, and David coming to her aid. Where was David anyways? Meisa wondered.

"Hello Nurse Jasmin, there was a young man with me, David, is he alright?" Meisa asked, and Jasmin nodded. Before the nurse could speak however, a trio of very grim-faced people strode into the hospital room. The first one was David Montrose, sporting a few bruises but looking alright. The second one was Everett Donoghue, Dean of Students at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. The third one was a tall, well-built Latino man in a Massachusetts State Police uniform.

"Good morning, young lady, I'm Patrolman Ernesto Villanueva with the Massachusetts State Police, how do you feel?" the officer asked, and Meisa greeted him, but her eyes were on David. The stalwart young man flashed her a worried smile, and she reached for his hand. David hesitated, then took Meisa's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. So glad you're okay, David thought, looking into Meisa's eyes.

"Hello everyone, I'm alright, those racist bastards came at me at Dunkin Donuts and David here saved me," Meisa said with a smile, and David nodded, blushing on the inside. The state police officer and the dean of students had a lot of questions for Meisa, but she only had eyes for David. They took her statement, and David's, which seemed to corroborate witness accounts of what happened at the store. The two cadets had been victims of a hate crime, it would seem...

"Ma'am, I do have some good news, we have these men in custody, and will be laying charges against them, for assault as well as for hate crimes, witnesses overheard them mocking your Asian descent," Patrolman Villanueva said, looking at Meisa, who nodded. After much talk, the nurse had to usher the three men out of the room. The cop gave Meisa his business card, and David promised to keep in touch via social media.

"Take my number silly," Meisa said to David, and he grinned and managed to save her digits into his old Blackberry before Nurse Jasmin made him leave the room. Meisa smiled at David as he walked away, touched by his concern. As he exited the room at last, he dropped his phone, and bent to catch it right before it could reach the phone. David turned around and looked at Meisa one last time...

"Meisa, um, get well soon, I'll call you," David said before finally leaving. The brother has a cute butt, Meisa thought to herself with a smile as David exited the hospital room. Nurse Jasmin looked at David as he left the room, then looked at Meisa. The two young women exchanged a knowing smile.

"Hmm, if you don't mind my saying so, the brother can take a beating and he's lovesick, definitely boyfriend material," Nurse Jasmin said, laughing, and Meisa laughed as well, nodding in agreement. The nurse's facial expression changed to a much more serious one, and Meisa figured that it was time to get real...

"Meisa Ozawa, you are one lucky young woman, you've got a bruised rib but suffered no real internal damage from the incident, you're lucky, you'll be limping for a bit but you should be alright," Nurse Jasmin said seriously. Meisa smiled and nodded, the painkillers dulled the ache she felt in her rib, but she knew the pain would return. Such is the story of my life, Meisa thought resignedly.

"Thanks, Nurse, I'll live," Meisa replied, and she wondered if the Dean of Students had contacted her parents back in Japan about the incident. The last thing Meisa wanted was for her parents to fly to America and fawn over her like a weakened, wounded bird. I'm a survivor, Meisa thought to herself, steeling herself for the period of recovery ahead.