The grass that withers
In the warm evening breeze stands
Proud in the cool dawn.
“I would like to believe you knew nothing of this, Mi. But how can I when you even lie about yourself?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.” I wondered at once what new devious route Manaka was traveling.
“You call yourself a doctor, yet you have never been to medical school. You have no license to practice as a doctor. Is that not the truth of the matter?”
“I do not call myself a doctor. I am a healer, as is traditional.”
I was indignant. I had never described myself as a doctor. Although there were no female doctors in Tokyo, I had read of one courageous woman who had managed to get herself enrolled in medical school and was training as a doctor. I guessed the road she had chosen would be hard indeed, but I would not want to follow her lead. I was happy as I was.
“Really? And do your patients see you in the same way?”
I shrugged. “That is up to them. If I do not know how to cure them, then I tell them to go to a doctor. I am a healer. Nothing more.”
“I see. One can only hope that such an irregular situation is not brought to the attention of the authorities. It would be a shame if you were barred from caring for those who choose to come to you.”
I caught my breath. Manaka’s tone was solicitous, but I knew he would not hesitate to carry out the implicit threat. I felt my heart shrivel in my breast. If the only thing that had purpose in my life was taken from me, then the authorities might as well take my head from my shoulders now.
“What does that have to do with my father?” I asked dully.
Manaka smiled almost tenderly. When he spoke again, his sudden change of direction caught me by surprise.
“I believe you are genuine when you say you knew nothing of your father’s actions. At the very least, it’s obvious that you were unaware of your father’s rise to power. But surely you must have wondered why he wanted you to marry a gaijin. Why it was so important to him.”
I had no need to pretend bewilderment. Somewhere in the last few moments, I had accepted the depths of my stupidity. It was true. All this was about Father, not Gen. The knowledge left me drowning in a deep lake of panicked confusion.
If I could never have betrayed Gen, how much more impossible was it for me to betray my father? Yet it seemed that whatever I said, no matter how innocent I thought it, could lead me to betray him.
Manaka broke into my thoughts. “Mi? Answer me, please.”
I held out my hands, palms up, in a gesture of helplessness. “Why does it matter? Father had many gaijin clients. The most important among them was a man called Dickson-san. This man’s nephew fell deeply in love with me and wanted to marry me. Dickson-san was delighted with the match, and because he was so important to Father’s business, Father agreed to the marriage.”
“And you?” Manaka leaned forward, his gaze sharp and intent on my face. “You were happy to be married to a gaijin? You never questioned your father’s actions?”
“Of course not. What girl would dare to challenge what her father said was right for her? Besides, you forget that I’m crippled. Who would want a cripple for a wife?”
I sounded bitter. I stared at Manaka rudely and saw surprise flicker over his expression.
“I think you do not do yourself justice,” he said quietly.
I thought he was probably lying to me again, but I seized the initiative while I had the chance.
“What does it matter? Why are you asking me all these questions about my father? Why don’t you just ask him? Does he know I am being kept prisoner here? He must not, or he would have secured my release at once.”
I was almost panting with anger. None of this made any sense to me. If Father really was such an important man, how dare Manaka keep me prisoner! What was the purpose of all his questions? My thoughts whirled helplessly until, finally, I began to wonder all over again if this was not simply a cunning way of throwing me off balance in the hope that I would become so confused that I would incriminate Gen.
“As far as I am aware, your father does not know you have been arrested,” Manaka said tersely. I stared at him suspiciously. “Not that it really matters. Neither you nor your husband has ever asked for a divorce. As that is the case, you are the responsibility of your husband, not your father.”
He was right, of course. I acknowledged that with a wave of my hand.
“But if Father did know, he would have had me freed.”
It seemed very important to me that this was so—and that Manaka knew it. He shrugged, making it obvious that it mattered nothing to him.
“Perhaps so. Although, I think he has more important matters to attend to at the moment. And as for your question, it is precisely because he is such a very important man that neither I nor anyone else can ask him to explain certain things.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said flatly.
“Don’t you? I will be honest with you, Mi. I believe that you are a loyal daughter, and that you would never knowingly seek to bring harm upon your illustrious father.” Manaka stood abruptly and stretched his arms out full length. His joints cracked and the sound made me wince. “Perhaps if I explain the situation fully to you, you will understand how you can best help him.”
He was smiling again. I trusted him less with each word but nodded warily anyway.
“The blunt truth is that rumors have begun to circulate about your father. It is whispered that he was the gaijin Dickson’s dog. That in exchange for great wealth, your father supplied him with important information, information that could have caused great discomfort to the emperor. If these rumors are true, then your father is a traitor and must be dealt with accordingly. Now do you understand how important it is that you tell me the truth, Mi?”
I remembered the sick horror I felt when Ian had explained to me, gloating over every word, how Tom had entwined Father in his web of deception, wrapping him so securely that there was no turning back. Father had been innocent of any ill-intent, but Manaka would never believe that. If I told him the truth, then I would condemn Father with my every word.
I rubbed my forehead with the back of my hand, desperate to buy myself a few moments to think.
“That is nonsense,” I said finally. “Father dealt with many gaijin clients. Dickson-san was the most important of them, but he was just a merchant. The money he borrowed from Father enabled him to buy Japanese jade and gold items, things that the gaijin love. Dickson-san made a good profit, and he always paid Father back in time, never arguing about the rate of interest. I know that for certain. I worked with Father in his business and I saw the accounts. There was nothing wrong with that. It was just good business.”
I thought I sounded convincing—until I glanced at Manaka and saw he was shaking his head.
“If that were all there was, then certainly it would be a sound business proposition for your father. But we know that Dickson-san was no mere merchant. He was a spy, Mi. He was paid—no doubt very well—by business interests in his own country. They sent him here to obtain information about the political changes happening.”
I stared at Manaka silently, hoping that my expression was one of innocent disbelief. Tom himself had told me he was a mercenary, working for whoever paid him most. He had no need of the money, but he loved the excitement of dicing with danger.
“No.” My voice croaked and I cleared my throat before I could speak again. “No, that is not possible. Dickson-san was always very kind to me. And he was very fond of my husband, his nephew. He never even spoke about politics that I can remember.”
“He did to your father.” Manaka was implacable. “Your brothers have told us that he did. As has your brothers’ father-in-law.”
He was lying, I was sure of it. “Then they know more than I do. If you have their word for it, why are you asking me?”
“Because you were closer to your father than they were,” Manaka said smoothly. “And you were married to Dickson-san’s nephew. Who would know better than you what was said and done?”
“Nothing. Nothing was said. Nothing was done. Politics were never discussed in our house. Dickson-san was a merchant, no more.”
“Did you care for him, Mi? Perhaps more than you cared for your husband? I understand that he was a cultured man. He spoke excellent Japanese and took great care to learn about our traditions. I have been told that he was a very handsome man for a gaijin. You can tell me. He is no longer here and would be a fool to ever return to Japan.”
“I respected him. It was only through his kindness that Ian—my husband—was able to practice as a doctor in Tokyo. Ian had no money at all of his own, only what his uncle gave him.”
Surely, that was innocent enough. I knew I was wrong when Manaka skewed my words and threw them back at me.
“And you, Mi? I understand that Dickson-san kindly gifted your house to you before he left. A generous man, to be sure. Or was it perhaps that his generosity was less a gift than a bribe to keep you silent?”
I was so exhausted and confused that I had nothing left. I spoke softly. “Whatever I say, you will twist it. I can tell you only that my father is innocent of any crime, as am I.”
Manaka stared at me and then walked away without a word. I lay on my futon and dropped at once into an uneasy sleep, my dreams haunted by Tom’s smiling face.