My Favorite Drug

The one that’s never let me down

I spent the summer between my junior and senior year in high school living with my uncle Pete in a one-bedroom bungalow on Oahu’s North Shore — right next to Waimea Bay. (below)

Waimea (wi-may-uh) is famous for being mentioned in the Beach Boys classic “Surfin USA.“ It’s also famous for being mispronounced “wi-mee-uh” in the song.

Of course, most mainlanders wouldn’t know this, and the locals are friendly enough to appreciate Brian Wilson’s slightly inaccurate shoutout.

In the photo, my Uncle’s place was just a quick jaunt to the white church tower in the distance. Not a shabby place to land for a 17-year-old who had never been off the East Coast.

Uncle Pete is my mother’s brother, and while this has never been communicated to me, I believe the two of them were in on a conspiracy.

Since the age of 8, I was the fat kid at school.

My parents had recently divorced, and I started overeating. I was too young to realize it at the time, but in retrospect, it…