Turning to the right, I squinted my eyes into the setting sun. About three blocks from the main intersection a brand-new building took up a whole block that used to be empty space. It looked almost complete, lights on inside, and a green triangle lit-up sign outdoors. A Midori Sankaku grocery store! I couldn’t believe they were opening one here. The town’s tiny local grocers had always done well without the big chains.
Sirens blared and knocked me straight out of my head. I tripped over my suitcase, falling down hard on my butt at the corner. Ow! I cringed at the pain radiating up my spine as two police cars, blue and white lights blazing and sirens wailing, zipped past me and headed out of town to the outer farming houses.
Towards my neighborhood.
The quiet town of Chikata didn’t need a large police force. In fact, I think they only had five cars total. They flew by too quickly to see if I knew anyone inside. Goro, my mom’s best friend’s son, was a policeman in the town precinct, and I wondered if he worked a desk job or patrolled in the local koban, police box.
I increased my pace across the street, my heart beating faster as my legs tried to keep up with my thoughts. The family house was about a kilometer from here, past the school, the town hall, some closed up businesses, and the town’s only gas station.
The sun started to set, and the road lost its sidewalk as the land flattened out. Rice fields took over the vista to my left and soy to my right. Damn, I should have called my mom and asked to be picked up, but I was only a ten minute walk from home now.
I switched my suitcase handle around and pulled my phone from my bag, dialing up Mom and hoping she was home.
“Moshi moshi! Mei-chan, is that you? Is everything all right?” Mom’s breath came in puffs on the other end.
“Hi Mom. I’m fine. I decided to come up for the weekend since you said you needed me. I’m on San-dōri right now walking out to the house. I should be there in ten minutes —”
“I’m coming to get you right now,” she said, keys clinking in the background and a door slamming.
“What? Mom, that’s not necessary. I’m only ten minutes away, and it’s still plenty light outside.”
Another door slammed on her end of the phone, and I heard a car engine start.
“I see police car lights at Akiko’s house. I’m coming to get you and we’ll go there.”
The phone disconnected and I held it out in front of me. The police went to Akiko’s house — Akiko, my best friend growing up and friend to that day. I threw my phone in my bag and started running home until my mother’s headlights approached me from around the bend.
“Akiko-chan!” I jumped out of Mom’s car and slammed the door behind me. “Are you in there?” I shouted, cupping my hands over my mouth.
The two police cars waited silently outside of her home, but the door stood open and the lights blazed inside. Soft cries leaked out towards Mom and me, and a chill ran up my back.
“Maybe we shouldn’t interfere,” Mom said, clutching at my arm. Hadn’t she just picked me up from the road so that we could get there quicker? I thought we planned to interfere.
I ignored her. “Akiko-chan!”
“Mei? Mei-chan, is that you?” Akiko, her eyes red and face wet with tears, poked her head out of the house, and upon seeing me, sprinted in my direction. I opened my arms just in time for her to land in them. She sobbed against my shoulder, and my mom patted her back.
“What happened, dear? Is everything okay?” My mother asked, looking between the police cars and Akiko’s front door. I couldn’t imagine that anything was okay.
“Dad… Dad is dead. I came home from doing my rounds, and he was on the floor. I thought maybe he passed out somehow, but his skin was cold and he had no pulse. He probably died early in the day while I was gone.”
Oh no. Akiko’s dad was the only parent she had left, her mom having died ten years ago from a bad flu outbreak. I looked over her shoulder and saw her brother, Tama, watching us from the front porch. His face had changed a lot in the last couple of years, and the long days as a high school teacher had taken their toll, his sunken eyes red and his hair jutted out in a million different directions.
Akiko pulled away from my shoulder and sniffed. “I can’t believe he’s gone. He had been doing so well lately. He even met up with his friends more often, and his stomach aches had all but ceased.”
Tama came forward and took his sister’s shoulders in his hands. “There was only so much you could do. He was sick for a long time, and it was just his time to go.”
Akiko shook her head. “I just don’t believe it. He was fine when I saw him this morning.”
My gut told me Akiko was right. She had been a nurse for a few years already and had always been good at divining sickness in her patients. When we were kids, she was always the kid who could correctly identify which ailment everyone had at school. I never understood this. I hated being sick, I hated being around sick people, and I hated blood most of all. But Akiko loved everything about the human body and how it worked. She flew through nursing school faster than anyone else her age. Now she worked for a visiting nurse service and attended to the elderly and sick around town, including her father. Well, including her late father.
“He said he was going to go out and visit friends. I wonder if he even made it out of the house.”
Tama shook his head. “Every time I saw him recently, he was unwell, shaking and pale. You wanted him to get better. That’s not the same as actually healing.”
Three police officers exited Akiko’s home, and one of them turned off the blinking lights in each car, plunging everyone into semi-darkness before the motion sensors outside of the porch clicked on. One policeman, a rounded, barrel-shaped and tall man, approached us, and it took me a full moment to recognize Goro, son of my mom’s best friend, Chiyo.
“Akiko-san, Tama-san.” He nodded to each of them before he caught sight of Mom and me. “Ah, Mei-chan. It’s been at least a year since I last saw you. How are you?”
I inclined forward in a slight bow. “I’m well. How’s your mom and Kumi-chan?” Kumi, Goro’s wife, was a sweet, young woman a year younger than me. I had attended their wedding a few years ago.
“They’re both well. I’m sure they’d love to see you. Yamagawa-san,” he said, inclining towards my mom, no doubt addressing her formally because his coworkers hovered nearby. He saw her enough to call her Tsukiko-san.
Mom directed her eyes at the house, her hands worrying together. She was friends with Akiko’s father and mother, though they had been a few years older than her. I remembered how upset and depressed she became after Akiko’s mother died. They used to spend their days together when they weren’t working the farm, and Akiko’s mom had been an avid cook, like my mom.
Goro nodded at Mom and the two acknowledged each other enough to be considered polite. Everyone turned as an ambulance arrived, lights on but sirens muted. “Are you in town this weekend from Tokyo?”
“I… Yes.” I coughed to cover up my lie.
Tama, Akiko’s brother, glanced my way and a warmth flowed over me from head to toe. Tama was an old flame, and his smile still had a magic spell over me. It used to be that Tama and I would sneak out after dark and meet up in the grapes arbor to make out once our parents were asleep. We had dated during my high school years, but then he cheated on me, we attended different colleges, and we hadn’t spoken since. Despite the bad breakup, it never stopped me from being attracted to him. Unfortunately.
This is not the time, Mei.
“We’ll have to take your father in for a postmortem exam, Akiko-san,” Goro said, as Akiko’s head dropped and she began to cry again. I pulled her shoulder to me and squeezed. “But you’ll need to stay here and answer questions for a little while. We just need to double-check everything. It’s standard procedure. I’m sorry for the hassle.” He bowed, polite and yet forceful but empathetic. Law enforcement was a good choice for Goro. He was always good at following the rules.
I
squeezed Akiko’s shoulders again and leaned into her ear. “I’ll come by and check on you tomorrow morning. Get some rest tonight.” Releasing her to her brother, I stepped back next to Mom and gave them room.
“This is no good, Mei-chan,” Mom whispered, as she took me by the elbow and directed me back to the car. “The whole town will be crawling through here the next few days. Akiko-chan and Tama-chan will get no peace.”
I opened the door and sank into my seat, pinching the bridge of my nose, my headache resurfacing. “I’m sure it won’t be that bad. I know they were popular and all, but he was an old man. It was expected.”
Mom shook her head. “You don’t know the half of it. Come. Let’s have dinner, and tomorrow I’ll fill you in on everything.”
Chapter Three
The sound of pots clanging in the kitchen brought me up from a deep sleep, and I squinted my eyes against the bright morning sun streaming in through my childhood room’s window. Rubbing at my eyes, I rolled over and disconnected my phone from the charger. It was 8:30, and my mom had already been up for hours. She took care of a dozen chores every day after waking at 5:00, and by the sound of it, she was in the midst of making morning breakfast.
I curled over on my side, putting my back to the bright morning window. My email inbox was empty, work having already cut off my incoming emails from clients. All I had now were personal emails to attend to. I turned off my phone, set it on the bed, and curled up into a smaller ball. I didn’t tell Mom last night about getting fired or why I came to town. Mom only cared about feeding me and sending me to bed. Akiko’s father’s death had shocked us both.
My futon shifted and a soft head rubbed along my back, purring. Mimoji-chan had come to see me. “Hey Kitty, come to wake me up?” My mom’s orange cat purred as I rolled over. His yellow eyes gazed deep into mine before he head-butted me straight in the face. I laughed and swiped the fur from my mouth. “Okay, okay. I’ll get up.”
It had been a few months since I stayed at home for more than an afternoon. Sometimes I only had enough time to drop by for dinner. I hadn’t spent the night in this room in at least a year, maybe two. When I got up from my spot in the bed, Mimoji-chan burrowed into the warm blankets I left behind. Of course. It was the reason he got me up anyway.
My rolling bag, parked next to my old desk, contained all my traveling clothes, so I unzipped my bag and threw on a yukata before going to see Mom in the kitchen. I didn’t know where my house slippers were, so barefoot would have to do. I nudged open my bedroom door and made my way down the long hall towards the kitchen. Sliding the soles of my feet over the warm, wood floors brought a comfort I hadn’t felt in a long time.
This was our family house, the house my parents inherited from their parents who inherited it from theirs and so on. After my father had died, my mother had had the entire farmhouse updated. The rooms stayed warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, and the kitchen and bathrooms were renovated. What used to be a creaky old Japanese farmhouse was now a modern homestead, even with Wi-Fi. Someday when my mother died, this house would go to my older brother, even though he had no use for it anymore. He did fine with his businesses in Osaka.
“Mei-chan, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to wake you.” Mom stirred rice in the rice cooker, bowls of miso soup steaming next to it. On the stove grill top, fresh fish smoked away. A typical Japanese breakfast.
“Don’t worry about it. I should’ve been up an hour ago anyway. I know you wanted help with the chores this weekend, and I slept through the morning work. Sorry.” I yawned as I crossed the kitchen. “Do you want me to bring this to the dining room?”
“Yes, please.” She pointed to the bowls of soup, so I loaded up a tray with the soup, rice, and chopsticks, and I carried everything into the dining room, a small room off the front of the house. The long table could seat at least a dozen people on their knees, but when it was just Mom and me, we sat at one end.
As I unloaded the tray onto the table, Mom entered with a heavy sigh, carrying the fish. “I picked a lot of potatoes this morning, and the second planting of greens need to be picked this afternoon. There’s always too much work in the autumn!” She laughed as she sat down next to me. “Itadakimasu!” We chimed the usual before-meal prayer, and she clapped her hands once and bowed to the food on the table. I closed my eyes and followed suit.
We both started with the rice and miso soup, and Mom stayed quiet for some time. She looked between me, the food, and the window that pointed towards Akiko’s house. “I wonder how Akiko is doing today. Do you think she got any sleep last night?”
“Probably not.” Akiko had always been a little anxious growing up, and I doubted she could easily sleep after what happened.
“So, do you want to tell me why you’re really here?”
I spluttered in my soup, trying not to choke on it. Great. What had I said to give myself away? She took one look at me and knew.
“I’m here to help out just like you asked me to.”
She huffed. “I asked you to come in the spring too, but you only came for a few hours. It’s not like you to stay for a whole weekend.” She set down her chopsticks and narrowed her eyes at me. “You lost your job, didn’t you?”
I only stared at her. I imagined laughing or smiling and waving my hand, telling her that she was crazy, of course I didn’t lose my job. I was great at my job. But those thoughts were only dreams in my head.
I set down my chopsticks and dropped my head. “I was let go yesterday. I guess I’m just not good at selling things.”
“Of course you’re not good at sales. I could’ve told you that years ago.” Mom laughed and I sulked. “You’re too creative for a sales job. You received high marks in business school, but your passion is in creating, not selling.”
Mom nodded at the end of the dining room and one of my original paintings on display, the local rice fields at daybreak. I did love that painting, and I had loved to paint, but who was going to pay me money to be an artist? No one.
“I can dream and paint until the cows come home, but earning a living doing either of those is not going to happen. I’m a good project manager, and I’ll have to work hard at finding a project management job. No more settling for selling.”
Silence fell on the room as we both sipped our soup and ate rice and fish. I may have been an artist at heart, but I was a modern woman. I loved my mobile phone, my computer, the city trains, the night time fun in Tokyo, and the convenience store food. Too bad all of those required money. I ran my fingers through my wavy hair, twisted it, and let go. Mom had never cared for the city.
“Well, you could stay here for a few days while you look for a new job…”
I tapped my nails on the table and avoided eye contact.
“Mei-chan, what else is going on?”
“Well… You see… I can’t afford another month’s rent in the city. And if I come home now, my landlady is going to demand the back rent. Actually, she’ll evict me, if she hasn’t started the process already.”
Mom sighed. “How much money do you need?”
“180,000 yen to cover rent and the bills I owe.” Mom’s face blanched. “But don’t worry about it. I’ll find the money somewhere.” I could sell a few things and offset at least half of what I owed, but this debt spelled the end of my life in the city.
“I’ve had just about enough of this. I will give you the money and help you find a job.”
“Mom, there’s no way you’ll be able to help me find a new job in Tokyo. And even if you did, you’d have to help me find a new apartment as well because my landlady is sick of me always being late with the rent.” I dropped my face into my hands and rubbed my eyes. “I’m not even sure what to do anymore.”
It’s not like I had any marketable skills other than general business and project managing. And I didn’t want to do either of those for the rest of my life. If only I had figured out my life like Akiko had, I wouldn’t have been in this mess. I glanced out the window towards her
house and wondered how she was doing.
“Hear me out on something,” Mom said, patting my shoulder. “I know how much you love the city, but maybe you need a break. Why don’t you consider staying home for a year, saving up some money, and trying again when the timing is better?”
As much as I hated to admit it, her words were sensible. I had no savings, and I was up to my eyeballs in debt. And since I didn’t know what to do with myself, I might as well stay home. I was such a failure. Even though it made me sick to my stomach, I nodded at Mom, and she nodded back. If I could come up with an alternate plan in the next two days, I would talk her out of this. It’s not like I’d ever be happy living in Chikata anyway. I needed to return to the city. Needed to.
“Okay then. I’ll drive you into Tokyo on Monday, we’ll get your belongings from the apartment, and pay your landlady what you owe. Then you can come back here and help me with the harvest this fall. You can assist me while I teach classes during the winter and seed the fields in the spring. We’ll see where we are once that’s complete.”
I wanted to die of embarrassment. A farm girl once more.
Time to change the subject.
“I’m worried about Akiko-chan, so as soon as were done with breakfast, I’d like to get dressed and go over to her house.”
“That’s a good idea. She seemed very distressed last night. I’m sure she could use a strong shoulder to cry on. Everything is about to get very hectic for her.”
“Why do you say that? I’m sure Tama-chan will handle the funeral details.” I picked at the fish in front of me with my chopsticks.
Mom stared at me for a long moment. “Has she not told you about the offer on her land?”
“No. What are you talking about?”
“Well… It’s not really my place…”
“Mom,” I said forcefully. “Don’t hold back now. It’s not like you ever keep any secrets.”
The Daydreamer Detective Page 2
