On Saturday morning, I couldn’t pull myself out of my head to concentrate on the tasks in front of me. Mom made eggs and rice for breakfast with seaweed and I only stared into space. I relived the kiss over and over in my head, until my insides squirmed so much, I had to stand up and walk around to return to normal.
“What is with you today?” Mom asked, eyeing me as I walked back and forth in the dining area. “Are you sick?”
I took a deep cleansing breath and sat back down at the table.
“Maybe a little love sick. Actually a lot love sick.”
Mom set down her chopsticks.
“Yasa-kun asked me to date him last night.” My face broke into an uncontrolled smile. If I had more sense, I would’ve acted like it was no big deal, but it so was.
Mom squealed, clapping her hands together. “Oh, I hoped for this from the beginning! He used to ask all types of questions about you, always looking at your photos.” She glanced over her shoulder at the wall that separated the living space from the kitchen, covered in framed photos, her prized possessions. “I didn’t want to tell you about him in case I jinxed it.”
I slipped back in time and remembered all of my conversations with Yasahiro, all the little mentions of how he knew this or that about me. Huh. I was set up! And I didn’t even see it coming. It’s possible he had been planning to woo me from the beginning and I played right into it with the challenge. Wow. I never saw it coming.
She smacked my arm, regaining my attention. “And what a gentleman! Asking to date you. I’m glad he didn’t turn into one of those awful Western men.”
I rolled my eyes at Mom, shoveling some food in my mouth. I’d watched enough American TV shows to know that Japanese dating practices were strange in comparison. Here, men or women declared their love first and then asked to date. In the U.S., it was the opposite. I never understood that. How could you go on dates without saying you liked the other person first? It didn’t make sense.
Of course, I’d jumped way ahead of the game by kissing him last night, but that was necessary. He’d won the bet after all, and I never went back on my word.
I didn’t tell Mom, though. She’d probably faint.
“He’s a gentleman. I’m sure I won’t step into his apartment for another few months.” Though I wanted to because I was curious about the space. That side of town had the most gorgeous buildings and bordered on the park. I used to stare at them all the time growing up.
“Great. Then you must invite him here. All the time. No use playing coy, Mei-chan. You’re already twenty-six. Time is ticking.”
“Thanks, Mom. That’s just what I need, a reminder of my fading youth. And I don’t play coy ever.” I smiled, remembering how I said the same thing to Yasahiro last night.
“Text him now and ask him over tomorrow.” Mom pushed my phone at me across the table.
“Mom,” I said, warning in my voice. “Don’t meddle.”
“Meddling is my way, and as long as you’re living at home, you’ll do what I tell you to do.”
I grumbled, knowing she was right. No one gave their mother a hard time when they were living at home. She paid my bills and gave me a weekly salary for working around the farm, so there was only so much leeway I had.
I swiped my phone on and realized I’d never called him or texted him. Hmmm, our dating life was not off to the best start.
“I don’t have his number.” I turned off my phone and set it down, hoping this would put Mom off. She pulled her own phone out of her kimono and turned it on, though. Damn.
“I have it. Here you go.”
I sighed as I put the number in my phone and dialed, figuring I should call the first time. The phone rang, and he answered, his voice hesitant.
“Hello?”
“Yasa-kun, hi. It’s Mei.” My face burst into flames with Mom’s attention on me one hundred percent.
“Mei-chan, hi! I just realized I don’t have your number in my phone. How did that happen?”
I giggled, and then hated myself for being so girlie. Pull yourself together, Mei!
“I’m just glad the stupid thing works after it took a bath. I, uh, wanted to make sure you have my number so you can, you know, get a hold of me or text or whatever.” I stammered all over the place, like, suddenly, my brain was unsure anything happened yesterday, and I would look like a fool.
He laughed. “Do you miss me already?”
My face burned so hot I feared it would melt off. “Maybe.”
I turned to Mom and her eyes were wide and starry. She looked more in love than I did. I waved at her to leave me alone, but she whispered that I should invite him over.
I cleared my throat. “Anyway, my mom is sitting right here, and she suggests you come over tomorrow. If you want to —”
“I’d love to! How about I bring something for lunch?”
I covered the mouthpiece and whispered that to Mom. “No!” She blurted out. “I’ll cook lunch. He cooks enough.”
He laughed again and the sound coated my brain in stupidity. Had I mentioned that I become inane and dumb when I’m gone for someone? Well, it was the truth.
“I heard her. I’ll come around noon. Okay?”
“Okay. That sounds perfect.” I closed my eyes and pulled myself together. “Great! We’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
We hung up the phone at the same time, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I anticipated calling him and him denying last night ever happened. It wouldn’t be the first time.
My phoned buzzed with a text from him. “I’m glad I can text you now. I don’t need to be at Sawayaka until 16:00 tomorrow, so I can come for a while.”
“I’m already looking forward to it,” I texted back, trying for honesty and directness, which he liked.
“Me too.”
I put his number in my address book and turned it off.
“Mmm, mmm, Mei-chan. You have it bad.” She rubbed her hands together in glee. “I’m so happy!”
“Don’t plan the wedding yet, Mom. I’ve only known him a whole week.”
After breakfast, we piled into the car and headed out. Mom had hitched a ride with Senahara at 8:00 and retrieved the car from the town lot since I was in no condition to run. My brain was too clouded with visions of kissing and hand holding and the possibility of sex. It had been too long since I had romance in my life, and it made me clumsy and awkward.
Autumn grew colder every day and spending time outside got more difficult as the winter approached. We hadn’t had a hard frost yet, so the farm still required a lot of work until that happened.
We met up with Goro outside the house of the first person on our list, a woman named Shika Hachiman.
“I don’t know this woman, unfortunately,” Mom said, blowing warm air into her hands.
As we approached the door, I scanned the surroundings. The building, a one-family home, occupied a small plot of land. Even though it was freezing outside, a line of laundry hung on the upstairs balcony and a cat sat there, staring down at us. No car, but there was a bicycle. Whoever lived here could get up and down the stairs and take care of the property.
Goro rang the bell, and we all stood together and waited.
“Hello?” An old woman cracked the door a small amount, saw Goro in his uniform at the front of us, and opened it further. “Is there a problem, officer?”
Goro smiled, immediately putting her at ease. “None at all. My friends and I have a few questions for you about your visiting nurse service, and we wondered if we could come in and talk to you for a bit.”
“Of course, of course,” she said, nodding and opening the door to us. We entered, slipping off our shoes in the genkan. I took a deep breath and smelled rice, but nothing else. She kept the place neat, no piles of anything stacked against walls like in Senahara’s house. We walked past the bathroom and kitchen to an informal living area with a kotatsu and TV on but muted. “Please sit. Can I get you some tea?”
“Thank you,” I said, bowing.
“Please let me help you,” Mom said, following the old woman into her kitchen.
Goro and I sat at the kotatsu, and I placed the box of sweet bread we brought on the table.
In the kitchen, Mom and Hachiman spoke to each other.
“I think I know you,” Hachiman said. “Have I seen you at the market?”
“Yes, perhaps you have. I own a farm out on 529 and sell my vegetables at the market on 72.”
Hachiman hummed as they loaded tea and mugs onto a tray. “I’ve seen you there then.”
They brought in the tea and sat down at the table, dispersing the mugs to each of us.
“My mom and I brought some sweet breads, if you’re interested —” But she waved at me, cutting me off.
“I’m diabetic and unable to eat them, but thank you for your hospitality.” She bowed to us, and Goro opened his notebook.
“Is this what Kano-san helps you with?” I looked over Goro’s shoulder and saw him write “diabetic” in his notebook.
She sipped her tea, setting the cup down lightly. “Yes, indeed. Kano-san is most helpful. She brings me new insulin, checks my heart and blood pressure, and she also makes sure I can get around. Diabetes can cause sores, too, so she checks me to make sure I’m healthy.”
I puffed with pride, hearing how Akiko takes good care of these people. “She sounds like an excellent nurse.”
“One of the best they have. I didn’t like the woman they sent yesterday. Where is Kano-san?”
Goro cleared his throat. “She’s under the weather and hopes to be back next week. Can you tell us if you remember her being here three weeks ago Friday?”
“Three weeks? I barely remember what happened yesterday.”
Goro frowned at his notebook. “Do you recall an officer stopping by to see you three weeks ago Saturday?” He double-checked his notes. “Around 19:00?”
She shook her head. “My son is here in the evenings because I tend to forget things like taking my insulin. He checks my blood sugar levels and administers it for me, then cooks dinner.”
Goro flipped back and forth between two pieces of paper. “The officer said that he spoke to your son and you told him no one visits you.”
“I did? I’m sorry. I don’t remember.” The woman’s face scrunched as she concentrated hard on recalling the day. She sighed, her body deflating to half its size. “My memory has really changed the last few years. I’m so forgetful.”
I glanced at Goro’s notes again and then back at the old woman. “Do you happen to keep a diary of your medication?”
“Ah! I do!” She stood up and crossed the room to a closet behind a sliding door. “I keep my medication in here.” She grabbed a small notebook from the shelf and brought it to us. “I should have thought of this. I write down my blood sugar checks and how much insulin I take, plus the readings from Kano-san when she comes here. This way I can show the doctor I’m taking care of myself.”
She handed me her notebook and I flipped back three weeks to find the information from when Akiko was here.
“It’s not really evidence because it’s not in her handwriting, but it’s not as if Hachiman-san could get these readings without Kano-san being here,” I said, turning the notebook over to Goro.
“Hmmm,” he said, stroking his chin. “Hachiman-san, do you ever remember a Friday when Kano-san did not come? When no one showed up?”
“Someone always comes no matter what. I have never had to call and complain.”
Goro nodded, satisfied. “That’s good to hear. Well, we won’t take up any more of your time. Thank you for speaking with us.”
She smiled as we all stood up. “Anytime I can help, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
Our second patient of the day wouldn’t even open the door to us.
“Please leave me alone. I already spoke to an officer about this weeks ago,” she said, from the crack in her doorway.
“I understand,” Goro said, trying to look inside. “And we’re not here to give you any problems. We only want to make sure that Kano-san is not falsely accused of skipping work on the day she was supposed to be here. At 18:00 on the Saturday after she was supposed to be here, you told the police she never showed up to your house. Is that correct?”
Goro did his best to ask questions while we smiled behind him in the freezing cold.
“That’s right.” I detected a head nod from my blocked view but I couldn’t see her face. Regardless, her voice sounded agitated and unnerved, cracking and short.
“Why didn’t you call the nursing service the day of to complain? They have no record of a call from you.”
“I… I forgot about it. My memory is bad. Can you come back some other time? I’m busy right now.”
“Of course,” Goro said, bowing and pulling a business card from his pocket. “Please take my card and call me if you remember anything.”
She didn’t open the door to accept the card so he slipped it underneath. Back out on the sidewalk, Goro sighed and gestured to a café next door. This was a busier street than Hachiman’s residential address five blocks to the south. Only a few residences were sandwiched among the local businesses: the café, a pharmacy, a saké shop, and a bank on the corner. Inside the café, we all bought coffees to warm ourselves up.
“Is it just me or did she seem scared?” Mom asked, as we sat down.
“It wasn’t just you.”
“I visit people’s houses all the time,” Goro said, pressing into his chair, “and that’s the first time I’ve ever been turned away at the door like that.”
We stared out the window at the block, the people walking bundled up against the cold, and the doors opening and closing at the pharmacy. Inside the pharmacy, the lights blazed.
“Oh, Mom wanted to let you know that she’s holding an opening night party at the bathhouse on Wednesday night. 19:00. Yasahiro-san from Sawayaka is going to be catering the whole thing. Hey, aren’t you still having lunch with him during the week? Kumi-chan couldn’t stop talking about it.”
I piped cool thoughts of winter with two meters of snow on the ground to my brain and shook my head.
“We stopped yesterday.”
Mom kicked my foot under the table, and I narrowed my eyes at her. I wasn’t saying anything.
I went back to staring out the window and the flash of a TV in the pharmacy caught my eye.
“Goro-chan,” I said, touching his arm and pointing across the street, “do you think maybe the security cameras in any of these businesses have views of the street?”
He sat up in his chair and peered out the window. “Hmmm, I’m not sure about the pharmacy, but…” He angled his head to look farther up the street. “That bank would definitely have them. It’s worth a shot to ask.”
“Good thinking, Mei-chan,” Mom whispered to me.
“But it’s the weekend. I’m sure I can go in and ask the pharmacy, but the bank will have to wait till Monday. And it may take a day. Then if we find anything, we’ll still need to run it by the prosecutor.” He sipped his coffee again, glancing around the café. “I’m going to question the people here too. Maybe one of them saw something. In the meantime, I don’t feel comfortable holding Akiko-san at the station, even if she’s there of her own free will. I’m going to call and have my partner drive her home.”
“Yay!” I pumped my fist at my side.
“I honestly don’t believe she did it, but something else is amiss here. We have more work to do.”
I opened my mouth to tell him about Tama and his weird behavior but sat back instead. If I told him, I’d have to tell him I was out with Yasahiro and that Tama made comments about my body. And though he knew of my scars too because Chiyo and Mom had been friends for ages, I wasn’t sure if Yasahiro wanted to broadcast our new “relationship,” if that’s even what it was.
I was going to have to look into Tama myself.