“Oh. I see. Maybe some other time.”
Reina gave a polite nod and turned away, ready to march back to the train station. “Some other time.” Never.
She walked down the street as casually as possible, although her legs begged her to sprint to the train station – her mother’s eyes burrowed into her back, and the one time Reina glanced over her shoulder she saw Sachiko still standing in the cemetery, watching her, flowers dangling from her arms.
* * *
“Have you heard about my daughter?”
Aiko stopped outside the entrance to the Japanese-style room in her family’s house. Inside her mother, Saki, and her sister-in-law sat around a low table gossiping after the main obon meal. At first Aiko assumed it was her mother talking shit about her again, until she realized the voice belonged to her sister-in-law.
“Yes, yes, Mother told me. It’s troubling, isn’t it?” Saki sat on her legs, head bowing in acknowledgment. “It’s not a good sign for a new mother.”
Aiko slid the door the rest of the way open and helped herself inside. “What happened to Eri-chan?” She didn’t care if she wasn’t invited.
The three women exchanged wary looks before making room for Aiko to join them at the table. “Her doctor has already put her on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy.”
“What?” Aiko counted on her fingers how long her niece had been pregnant. She’s barely into her third trimester. Over a whole month left in bed? “What’s wrong?”
“Something about a delicate disposition. Well, that’s the polite term for it.” Her sister-in-law sighed a weary mother’s sigh.
“I never had such problems with any of my pregnancies,” Junko said.
“Me neither,” Saki said.
Aiko had no comment.
“She must get it from my side of the family. It was difficult enough for any of us to get pregnant to begin with. So when she got pregnant so quickly after her wedding, I thought it had skipped her…but apparently she’s as cursed as the rest of us.”
“Will she be okay?”
Her sister-in-law turned to face her. “If she obeys the doctor’s orders, then I don’t see why not. I visit her almost every day so she has someone to talk to. Her husband is already working so hard. It’s almost like she doesn’t have any friends.”
What about her girlfriend? “If you tell me where she lives, I could go visit her too.”
Conferring with one another through the means of their twitching mouths and darting eyes, the three women all came to a consensus. “That is unnecessary,” Aiko’s sister-in-law said. “I was merely being flippant about the friend thing. Of course she has friends who visit!” She forced a laugh. “No, no. Too many people would be too much of a strain on her, and we wouldn’t want something to happen to the baby. Your kindness is noted.”
Aiko got up and excused herself – her kindness may have been noted, but her family’s disgust for her was as well. After so many years of fielding such comments, Aiko learned that she did not have to take them.
She wandered into the hallway, wondering if she should return to the living area, where the rest of her family discussed the usual sports. I wish Reina were here. No. I wish I were home. That was it. The last place Reina needed to be was this sort of gathering. Yet Aiko could not leave until the party was over in another couple of hours.
She could, however, go outside for some fresh air.
The heat was as toxic as always, especially with a pre-storm buildup brewing in the air. Aiko sat on a bench outside the house and counted the tulips in the yard. When she reached two dozen, her cell phone rang.
“Moshi moshi?” she said into the receiver.
A pause. “Auntie Aiko?”
“Eri-chan!” An unmistakable voice. “We were talking about you! Your mother says you are not doing well?”
After a few hmms, Eri corroborated her mother’s story. She also mentioned that she was home alone since her husband was off visiting his own family for obon. “I wanted somebody to talk to. Am I bothering you?”
“No!”
“Yokatta. There is an important issue I must discuss with you. It has to do with…Ruu.”
Aiko sat up and looked around. Once she confirmed she was alone, she replied, “Un.”
“My mother has been coming by every day, and it makes Ruu too nervous to come see me. I can talk to her on the phone, but…”
Aiko nodded. “It’s not the same, deshou?”
“No. Anyway, I need to ask you a favor.”
“What is it?”
“If something happens to me, I need you to let Ruu know.”
“Ara! Eri-chan! Don’t be so negative! You’ll be fine!”
“Please.”
Aiko felt she had no choice but to agree. “Of course I will. Give me her number and she’ll be the first person I tell.” But nothing is going to happen to you. Eri was a bigger worrier than Aiko. And that said a lot.
“Thank you. I feel so much better now.”
Aiko wished she could say the same.
Somewhere within the confines of numbers and their calculations, Reina found her own (non-sexual) Nirvana.
She sat at the table in the living area, going over the household budget while Aiko read the newspaper across from her. Every time her wife flipped a page and perused columns of Japanese kanji, Reina finished another equation. A calculator gathered dust beside her. She was competent enough at math to not need a calculator, but she liked to have it nearby just in case.
“A sale at the local Apita?” Aiko grabbed her spouse’s calculator and punched in some percentages. “Hora! I could buy two weeks’ worth of groceries instead of one for this price!”
Reina glanced at the current food budget among her scribbles. “How are you going to get all of that home?” They no longer had a car, and supermarkets required customers to bring their own shopping bags anyway. Aiko had amassed quite a few cloth bags over the years, but it still wasn’t enough to carry so many groceries.
Eventually Aiko shrugged and went back to reading the paper, mumbling something about borrowing her sister’s car for the haul. Oh yeah, she’ll love carrying the groceries that feed our dyke-stomachs.
Reina didn’t have another two seconds to spare before the doorbell rang.
“If it’s Chloe, tell her to fuck off,” she said as Aiko got up to answer it. “I’m spending my day relaxing.” And fucking. She hoped, anyway. As soon as she was done with her chores, Reina planned on absconding her wife upstairs for Sunday afternoon lovemaking.
The only response Aiko managed was when she gasped in the genkan.
When voices rose and footsteps stomped around the genkan, Reina closed her notebooks and shoved aside her pencils. The living area door opened to reveal Aiko’s gracious frame as she motioned their guests to the sitting table opposite Reina. A man and a little girl walked in, the former bowing his head and apologizing for intruding.
Reina swore she knew them from somewhere, but her ability to recognize faces was not noteworthy. It took her another few seconds to realize the pair were the rest of Yuri’s immediate family: her husband, Hiroyuki, and her daughter, Hana. Reina only remembered their names because they were written on their family nameplate. What are these two doing here? She dropped her reading glasses as the horrific thought of a confrontation crossed her mind. Was Hiroyuki here to accuse Reina of fucking his wife? Wait, no. He wouldn’t have brought his daughter if that were the case. Or would he? Maybe they were going to be an example for young and impressionable Hana.
“I’ll get some tea,” Aiko said. She disappeared into the kitchen, her chin posing over her shoulder as she sent Reina a cautionary look.
“Tea would be lovely.” Hiroyuki had a gentle voice to go with his nondescript face and figure. I don’t get it. Reina knew Yuri was a submissive little homemaking princess, but she still didn’t understand what attracted women to men like Hiroyuki. Sure, by all accounts he was a decent man, but there was nothing “special” about h
im, either. If women were to give up their hearts and omanko to a man, Reina figured he might as well be a real-life prince. Not some salaryman. Even I can do that.
“It smells weird in here,” Hana said with a wrinkle of the nose.
Both Hiroyuki and Reina gaped at her – the former in parental horror, and the latter in amusement. The way the twelve-year-old girl regarded the adults around her with disinterest reminded Reina of someone else from almost thirty years ago. There’s hope for her yet.
“Hana-chan,” Hiroyuki admonished her, “don’t be rude.” He turned to Reina with a smile. “And how are you, Yamada-san?”
She shrugged with a mustered smile. “Fine.” If those were the only words they ever exchanged in their lives, Reina would be pleased with it. She rarely saw Hiroyuki due to his hectic work schedule and still considered him a stranger after all those years. The daughter she saw a couple of mornings a week as their commutes crossed, but she only ever recognized the pink backpack and yellow hat. Shit, when she thought about it, the only person she knew in the Furusawa family was Yuri, and that was carnally, at best.
Aiko returned before the awkwardness could settle in. She lowered a tray of iced tea onto the table and served them all a glass.
“Arigatou gozaimasu,” Hiroyuki said with a nod of his head. He poked his daughter in the hip. “What do you say?”
Hana pursed her lips into a pout and looked the other way. “Thanks,” she mumbled.
Sitting at the head of the table, Aiko covertly pushed away the budgeting items and put on a plastic smile. “To what do we owe this pleasure today? It’s not often we get to see the two of you like this, especially without Yuri-san in attendance.”
“Ah, yes, my wife is visiting her parents today. She knew we were coming here and sends her regards.”
Reina held in a twitch of the mouth. I bet that’s not all she sends. She could still remember the way Yuri’s face scrunched when she came on the other end of a strap-on. The super submissive ones are always the most fun to fuck. Reina doubted this skinny guy without a trace of facial hair gave it to his wife like she did. My dick is totally bigger than his. Not that she wanted proof.
“Anyway, my wife and I have decided to ask you something, Takeuchi-san,” Hiroyuki continued, facing Aiko. “She wanted to ask herself but has been busy lately. You see, our daughter received her test scores in English, and they are, ah, disappointing.” He did not turn to see Hana give him the stink-eye of the century. “We’re worried that when it comes time to take the entrance exams for her choice middle schools, her English scores will bring her down. My wife tells me you are also fluent in the language. While she is too, she admits it’s difficult for her to tutor our daughter since she becomes as distressed as her mother. We would like to ask you to please tutor our daughter in English.” Hiroyuki bowed his head toward the carpet as if he had asked to borrow some money instead.
Aiko lowered her glass of iced tea. “Tutoring?” She averted her gaze to Hana, who burned in embarrassment.
“We would pay you, of course.” Hiroyuki lifted his head. “It’s both of our idea. I will pay you myself, since it may be awkward for my wife, who is your friend, to do it. We want our daughter to have the best opportunity.”
Aiko tilted her head. “Well, I admit I’m not the greatest teacher. I hardly have the credentials.”
Hiroyuki prostrated himself on the floor, much to Hana’s further chagrin. “Onegaishimasu!”
As her wife turned to her for silent consultation, Reina lifted one brow and shrugged. Why not? They could use the extra money, if the budget had anything to say about it.
But Aiko remained unconvinced, even after she promised Hiroyuki that she would “think about it” in the coming days. The father and his daughter excused themselves, Hana sparing them both incredulous looks on her way out the door. Reina didn’t know if she liked the uncertainty on the little girl’s face or found it alarming. Run, child. English is evil. Didn’t help that all the other women around Reina spoke it without issue while she floundered to put “good” and “morning” together without a heavy accent.
“Ara ara,” Aiko said as she slumped back down. “I don’t know what to make of that!”
“What’s wrong? Sounds like a good gig to me.” Reina retrieved her notebooks and pencil.
“Yuri may be our friend, but do you think it’s a good idea to have her daughter hanging out around our house?”
“What are you talking about?” Their house was clean, apparent weird smells aside. Certainly it was cleaner and better taken care of than houses crawling with children.
“Never mind.” Aiko got up and took the dirty glasses into the kitchen.
Reina went back to her budgeting without another word. Whatever was bothering her wife probably had nothing to do with her anyway.
Although it went against her better judgment, Aiko eventually agreed to tutor Hana in English. Since it was still the young girl’s summer vacation, she came over to the house every afternoon for one hour. Aiko attempted to get the girl to have simple English conversations with her, but they all ended with Hana staring blankly at her and saying, “This is a pen.” When pressed about the English teachers at school, the girl admitted her Japanese teacher wasn’t fluent and the foreign Assistant Language Teacher was a walking cassette player from New Zealand.
That was not the most stressful part, however. Every day when Hana was due to come over, Aiko had to go through and get rid of everything “gay” in the downstairs area. Romantic photos such as wedding portraits, rainbow items both she and Reina accumulated over the years…Aiko never realized how much about her house screamed her sexual identity. Granted, Hana was young and probably knew the bare minimum about sex, but Aiko wasn’t taking her chances. The last thing she needed was Hana realizing her mother associated with them all the time, and the meanings that implied. Yet she forgot the most telling item of all until Hana asked her about her wedding ring Thursday afternoon.
By Saturday Aiko was glad to have a reprieve. She had received an invitation to attend a potluck dinner at Takeshi’s, which worked out since Reina had an appointment with her therapist and was later going out on a makeup date with Jun, who was back in town for another conference. Aiko had been invited to tag along on both, but she decided she preferred the idea of spending the evening with intellectuals and possibly making new friends.
She took a dish of assorted cooked vegetables marinated in her own special sauce. When she reached Takeshi’s neighborhood, her hands had gone numb from carrying the heavy container. By the time she reached his front door, sweat began pouring down her face, ruining her combed hair and the collar on her blouse.
“Aiko-san!” Takeshi beamed at her from the other side of his door, a rabble of voices already floating behind him. “You’re in time! What’s that?”
Aiko let him peek at her food. “Vegetables. I figured someone has to bring them.”
“Looks delicious. Come inside and meet everyone!”
“Everyone” was a half-dozen couples, all male-female, who were somehow related to Takeshi’s job. Most were professors and their significant others. When Aiko walked into the room, they all greeted her in flawless English, to which she froze and was reminded of a twelve-year-old girl failing to recite the alphabet. Although Aiko graduated with a degree in English, she immediately felt beneath so many academics and their careers. And what am I? A fucking lesbian housewife.
Dinner started shortly after her arrival. Takeshi invited her to sit next to him at the head of the table. When Aiko looked at the other couples, she noticed they either all shared wedding bands or were otherwise an item. Takeshi is single. And he thought she was. From the way the other people deferred to her as the second voice of Takeshi, she got the distinct feeling that…
No, that was ridiculous. They were barely good acquaintances, and Takeshi had never asked Aiko out. Why would he assume they were dating? No, it was most convenient for her to sit in the open spot, which happened to be nex
t to him. Still, the other couples went out of the way to compliment her special sauce as if she were the host of the household. In turn Aiko complimented the braised shrimps, the homemade fried potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, and cucumber rolls, but she made the egregious mistake of assuming all the dishes were created by the other women. When they corrected her by saying either half of them were prepared by the men or were a team effort, Aiko had to excuse herself to the toilet to hide her embarrassment. What is going on? As much as Aiko wanted to believe in a world of sharing the work, she didn’t believe it was possible around her. Reina would never help me with that sort of thing. Not that Reina was a man. But with their gender-role mimicking places in their household, the status quo dictated Reina not care about that sort of thing.
“Aiko-san!” Takeshi patted the cushion next to him as Aiko reemerged in the living area. The other guests all looked at her with pleasant expressions. “I was telling everyone about how well-read you are.” He turned to the man to his left. “We’ve been swapping books for about a month now. She goes through them so fast you wouldn’t believe it.”
I haven’t actually finished most of them. Aiko sank down to her spot and stared at her bare plate. “Well, I do love reading English literature,” she said.
Takeshi’s eyes sparkled in what appeared to be pride. “Pretty soon she’ll have read all of Dickens. When was the last time you read Dickens, Ishida-san?”
The man stroked his goatee and smiled to himself. “Been a few years, I will admit. Ever since we had the second child, there hasn’t been much time for reading.” He gestured to the woman sitting on his other side, who nodded.
“Ah, yes, children. I suppose that would do it.”
“Are you planning to have more?” asked a woman from the other side of the table.
“God help it, we won’t!” Mrs. Ishida said. “I was hesitant about having our son to begin with, but my husband here is so helpful with our daughter that I eventually came around to the idea. If he wasn’t, I’d have to quit my job at the university to take care of them. Become a juku mother.” She twisted her nose in disdain.
Koibumi Page 16
