by Zane
The figure turned to leave the building that they had both come to love.
“No, don’t leave me, Aiko. I will get back to you. I will find you. Don’t let yourself be taken off. Go to the building, Aiko. Go there and wait for me. I vow to meet you there one day. If it kills me, I will escape this horrid man I’ve been sold to. Don’t give up on me!”
The spirit raised a finger into the air and gave a nod as she exited down the old stone steps. Takumi couldn’t tell if Aiko had given her a positive or negative response. She would hope for the best. Escape was her only option. Tears poured down her cheeks.
“I’ll be there soon, my love.”
Takumi woke with dried goop all over her skin and in the corner of her eyes. Her heart felt a stab of forewarning. I must run tonight. The rest of the morning and afternoon would be spent calculating a plan of flight. No land or prison could contain her love.
“Sleep well, ma’am?” Takumi hadn’t realized that Mae was standing over her until she opened her eyes.
“I slept fine, thank you.”
“Something troubling is brewing in those eyes of yours, young lady. What are you planning to do and when are you planning to do it?”
Takumi looked down at her hands and fiddled with the blanket covering her legs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mae.”
“Takumi. Please, I won’t share your thoughts or intentions with that ogre of a man that I must serve. I, too, stay here against my will. It has become commonplace for me, but the thought of leaving is a distant hope in all of my nightly dreams.”
“I had no idea, Mae.” Takumi thought for only a few moments before revealing her plan. “I’m leaving tonight.”
“Tonight, ma’am? Mr. Nagumo has a special party planned for tomorrow tonight. Did he not tell you? He plans to out you to his business friends and family. He flaunts girls like others flaunt money. He is truly an evil human being. I detest him. It eats away at you to hate someone so much, but I can’t help myself.”
Takumi saw a weird look pass over Mae’s face when she mentioned Mr. Nagumo.
“Did he used to flaunt you also, Mae?”
The shock that registered on the woman’s face verified Takumi’s suspicions. That’s why she still lived here. She was as much a prisoner as the young geisha herself. A thought flashed through Takumi’s mind: I must take her with me.
“I want you to come with me when I escape. You must. This is no life for the likes of you, for anyone for that matter.”
“Takumi, you don’t understand. He will catch us. He will catch us leaving his lands and bring us back. I saw what happens to girls who attempt that—you don’t want it for yourself.”
“What is the worst he can do? I would risk anything to be free of him.”
“The last girl, Denee, was English. Her family sold her to him to get rid of a massive debt. Her brother came for her one night. He disagreed with the way her family had cast her off for monetary gain.”
“How sweet. How far did they get, Mae?”
“They never made it out of the house. She was thrown into a cage in the dungeon, and he, well, he was never seen again. The poor girl quit eating and starved herself to death. Some men like that emaciated look, and he used that to his advantage. When she became too weak to speak, he sold her off to such a man. I heard that she died soon after.”
“Don’t the authorities come looking for some of these missing people?”
“He sells to them also, Takumi. There’s no hope to be found in this situation. Please, promise me you won’t attempt it.”
“I can’t make you that promise, Mae. In fact, I wish you would promise to come with me. There’s no honor in staying. There’s no hope that things will improve. At least this way you have an inkling of salvation on the horizon.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. I don’t have it in me after all these years. I’m tired. It’s a sad, lonely life to be sure, but it’s the life chosen for me to live.”
“I don’t understand your thinking, but I’ll respect your wishes, my friend.”
Takumi formulated her plan in her mind over lunch and into the early afternoon. Mr. Nagumo gave her many strange looks throughout the time she spent with him.
“How are you enjoying your stay here, girl?”
“It is fine, sir. I’ll come to be used to it, I expect.”
“A very good attitude indeed. Some come here with thoughts of returning home, but those must be squashed immediately. You belong to me now. My property is quite valuable to me. I fight for what’s mine.”
A sinister glare greeted her when she looked up into his burly face.
“Of course, sir. I wouldn’t dream of trying to leave you or the good life you’ve made for me here.”
Seemingly satisfied, Mr. Nagumo looked down into his dish and continued to tear into the food before him. He didn’t speak another word during the meal.
Takumi wandered the household looking and listening for a sign. Aiko had said she was coming for her. Surely she would announce her presence with some sort of sign. By dinnertime Takumi became withdrawn and sullen. Aiko should have been here by now.
“Is something wrong, girl?” Mr. Nagumo had no patience for those around him.
“No, sir. I don’t seem to be rested up from our long trip quite yet. May I be excused to my suite?”
The old ogre didn’t even answer verbally but waved her away from the table with the back of his hand. Takumi slipped a steak knife into her sleeve, stood up to push her chair in, and left the dining room.
She walked up the stairs as if they were a carpet leading to a death sentence. I can’t do this again and again. I can’t live with this hideous creature who calls himself a man. If Aiko doesn’t show up in some form tonight, I will end it myself. Better to be dead than mating with a monster!
Mae assisted Takumi with her nightgown and stoked the fire on her way out. Mae didn’t speak of the escape out loud but she pleaded for normalcy when she looked at the young geisha. Takumi didn’t have the words to tell her the plan had changed.
Aiko’s plan must have been thwarted. It was the only explanation. This would be Takumi’s last night of sleep. At dawn she would hike to the top of the hill behind the mansion and watch the sun rise. When the rays were shooting through the air with hope and the day was at its pinnacle, Takumi would stab herself through the heart.
“I want you to look over my mother. She never understood me, but she did the best she could with what she was given. Please let Aiko move on and lead a happy life. Mae needs to get away from this prison household. Give her the courage to attempt her own escape. I’d ask you to forgive Mr. Nagumo and Madam Oy, but that is something I can’t do myself. Please do forgive me for what I must do in the morning. It’s my only way out, the only way to preserve what is truly mine—my body and soul.”
Takumi unfolded her hands and folded them under her head. The knife she put beneath her pillow. Maybe it will cut the pain of losing my true love in half. She was asleep within minutes.
10
THE OLD BUILDING was before her. Takumi looked down and she was standing in the street looking up at the magical doors. If only she could reach those doors. Aiko must be waiting for her there. Try as she might her feet would not move. The doors opened and Aiko stood before her. Madam Oy was holding her by her unraveled hair.
“Help me, Takumi. We must be together. I love you. Don’t let them take that away from us!”
“I’m coming, Aiko. I do love you. More than the moon and the stars in the sky. Wish it and it will come true. You are so close to the magic—it must work for you. Try it, Aiko.”
Takumi woke with a gasp. Had she really seen Aiko? She often dreamed of events before they happened. This time it felt like she was witnessing an event from the past. The dense night was lifting. The sun would soon rise. She could not waver. Second chances never came easily. This might be the last time she could get away—be it to escape physically or mentally, she would escape. Knife in han
d she crept down the stairs and out a side door to the gardens.
She saw no reason to change what she was wearing. The billowy, sheer fabric that made up her nightgown swayed in the morning breeze as she plodded up the grassy hillside. No one was about this early. The sweet smell of fresh-bloomed flowers rose to her nostrils. Mr. Nagumo did have a magnificent garden. He used the blossoms to decorate for his many parties.
Takumi reached down and picked one pale pink flower. It was called a wineberry in these parts. Mr. Nagumo paid lots of money to get exactly what he wanted. This flower needed lots of care, and he paid someone to do that for him. He did nothing himself except rule over his massive domain.
This flower would be his last gift to Takumi. She slipped it behind her ear and continued her ascent. Once she was at the highest point of the hill, Takumi sat down, eager to watch her last sunrise. The cool morning air chilled her, but she made no effort to warm herself. It seemed silly knowing what she was about to do.
Below her the first rays of sun shot through the sky. The light took on her favorite color and mimicked the pink of the petals that adorned her hair. A ball of pale pink fire rose on the horizon. She must prepare herself.
Takumi stood, legs straight and stiff, and slid the knife from inside her sleeve. Both hands encircled the handle of the ordinary, black steak knife. Her arms lifted into the air and her wrists rotated toward her body. She had it positioned to the exact point of entry. This is how she intended to view the last minutes of nature’s spectacular wakening, in suicide mode.
It wasn’t like her to lie to herself or try to make things pretty. She wasn’t a pretender. This was her only way out and she was taking it. Before her the last of the fiery ball rose above the land. Bursts of sunshine pervaded her inner being. It was time.
Takumi lifted her arms out straight in front of her and plunged the knife to her heart. Two events happened simultaneously. Her legs, which she didn’t realize had locked up on her, gave out and made her fall to the mossy ground. And she heard a voice call out to her that she had never thought she’d hear again—Aiko’s.
“Ta-kum-i….”
The knife had plunged deep into her body. Luckily for her, falling to the ground had messed up her mark. The knife stuck out between her shoulder and neck. The pain was intense but so was the joy of hearing her lover’s voice.
“Oh my goodness, Takumi. What have you done?” Aiko leaned over her with concern and tears in her eyes.
“It was you or death, my love.”
“You idiot! I’m here now. How will you run with this wound, Takumi?”
“I’ll run, girl. I’ll run like the wind, just help me get up.”
The pair knew that removing the utensil would cause a great flow of blood so they left it in as they fled. They ran hand in hand to the edge of the Nagumo property and laughed as they did so.
Mae stood at a window and watched the pair flee in their quest for freedom. She envied the both of them. It’s too late for me, but I’ll do what I can to help the both of them.
“Mae, where is Takumi? I’m ready for breakfast early this morning. Get that girl down here.”
“Of course, sir. I’ll bring her right back.”
Mae spent so long upstairs that Mr. Nagumo came to the end of the staircase and yelled up to her. “Mae, what’s taking you so long?”
“Sir, Takumi is feeling quite ill. Would you care to come up here and speak to her?”
“Ill? Of course I don’t want to speak to her. You know I detest germs. Make her stay in bed all day and tend to her. She must be better by tomorrow. I’m having a party and I plan to introduce her talents to my many male guests. Make sure she’s ready.”
“Of course, sir. She’ll be ready.”
The day of respite allowed Takumi and Aiko to travel to their building. Neither knew how they’d made it so quickly. It seemed that every road had a willing driver who would let them tag along. It was as if they were meant to reach the building.
Hand in hand they walked up the steps of the magical respite. Each of them opened a door and slipped inside, closing and locking the gigantic structure behind them. The two doors interlocked on the inside.
“Are we done, Aiko? Is all of the bad stuff behind us? Will we really and truly be together forever?”
“Yes, Takumi. As long as we vow to stay here and never leave.”
The two women interlocked their pinkie fingers. “I vow it.”
Chocolate Cream
TRACEE A. HANNA
ARE YOU THE GOOD girl or the nice guy—you know, the one who always makes the right choices and never rocks the boat? Well, I am…. I was raised in a traditional South Korean society where, even on television, couples did not kiss in public unless it was a serious relationship that was leading to marriage. I am such a goody-goody that it took a year of dating and a marriage proposal for me to finally lose my virginity. That was five years ago, after I finished college, and although that relationship has ended, not much has changed.
I am a Korean-African-American, dimpled darling, a hot, single suburbanite, in my midtwenties, with a great body and hair down to my waist. I was born in Old Songtan City, now known as the Shinjang section of the Songtan area of Pyongtael City, which is located right outside the American air force base in Osan, South Korea. I am the product of a love affair that my mother had with an American soldier. My parents died in a freak boating accident seven weeks after I was born, the day before they were to marry, leaving me to my elderly South Korean grandparents. Harabujy, my honorable grandfather, died when I was only three years old, and Harmuny, my devoted grandmother, died the year after. I was raised in shame and poverty—being of mixed race and the child of an unwed South Korean lady was a major social encumbrance. My life seemed bleak until I moved to the United States when I was eighteen, which is when I obtained dual citizenship, with the help of my loving African-American grandparents.
I hated being poor, therefore I was determined to make something of my life and make my African-American family proud of me—I will forever be grateful to them. Unfortunately, I have allowed my corporate and financial ambitions to control my life. I have successfully traded in the companionship, sex, and the multiple orgasms of a personal love life for the praise, promotions, and financial rewards of the corporate world.
I have secretly been jealous of the women who are bold and liberated enough to go with the flow, take life as it comes, and welcome life’s sweet taboos. I have yearned ever since I was in college to be one of those wild and free females who have amazing sex lives. I would frequently fantasize about indulging in just one moment of reckless abandon. I have always wanted to know what it felt like to take a walk on the wild side. So finally one night I did….
The story that I am about to tell you concerns my one night of being bad; last night. I can never tell my family or friends this story simply because they would never understand, plus they would never believe me. But, I have to tell someone. Who better than a complete stranger? Who better than you?
Every Friday after work I go to my local ice cream parlor to get my Friday-night treat, chocolate Yukimi Daifuku ice cream. In my busy life I don’t have time for any other indulgences. I don’t go to bars, nightclubs, or even out to dinner. I go to the office, to the gym, and back to my house. What’s worse? I haven’t been out on a date in over a year. And what’s even sadder still? Until yesterday night I had been celibate for so much longer than that. However, last night changed all of that. I lost utter control of my senses and inhibitions for one moment. I allowed my inner diva to rear her sexy, saucy head. I guess what they say, timing is everything, is so very true. If I had not stopped to break past the rice crust of my ice cream ball and take just one teeny tiny nibble before exiting the store, I would not have run into the sexiest man that I have ever laid my eyes on. I was standing in front of the entrance licking my spoon when the door swung open.
“Excuse me. I am sorry,” I said as I looked up, already smiling a guilty smile. “I
just had to—”
“Take a taste.” He finished my sentence. His sexy baritone voice caught my attention.
“Yes, exactly.” I smiled; my voice was just above a whisper.
We both felt the spark between us—a primal chemistry. It was as if our eyes were speaking the words that we could just not say, having met only seconds ago. I thought to myself…Oh my, he is lovely. Oh, wow! Tall, dark, sexy, and he has dimples, just like me. He is definitely fuckable, even if only for one night. Just to think, if those were my underexperienced thoughts, I can only imagine what his must have been. But I can tell you this, the expression in his gaze made my libido soar.
“Geoffrey.” He introduced himself in a word.
Geoffrey was a well-built, masculine man with loads of sex appeal and distinct features. He was an all-American manly man, not some pretty boy or metrosexual. He was the kind that I would not mind walking two steps behind; to hell with being liberated, I would take my place.
“Tessa.” I followed his lead.
“Tessa?”
“Yes, I am named after my father’s mother.”
“Wait for me, please?” His voice was so laden with passion and promise that I had to agree.
“Alright,” I purred.
I do not know what I was thinking at that moment or if I was even thinking at all, because I just stood there and waited for him as he bought a pack of cigarettes and some gum. He took me by the hand and led me to the ladies’ restroom. As we walked, I looked up at him, my uncertainty clearly written all over my face. He took notice right away.
“Do you want me?” he asked candidly.
