by Vincent Yee
Minami noticed that her father had lost so much weight that he was actually skinny, which contrasted sharply from his familiar fisherman’s build. His hair had grown out and was no longer the deep black that it once was, but a charcoal gray. But she noticed with concern that her father seemed frail and a bit oblivious to his surroundings.
It wasn’t long before Minami and her father heard excited footsteps running toward them with Yoshi bursting through the blanket partition. He stood there frozen and for a moment didn’t recognize his own father. Minami’s father’s eyes suddenly lit up and he yelled out “Yoshi!” Perhaps it was the sound of his voice that evoked the final recognition that Yoshi needed. His face then lit up as he raced into his father’s lap. Miho and Yuka then came in and rushed to throw their arms around their seated father as well. Minami’s father hugged each one of his children, pulling them into his embrace. For a moment his old strength was back. It was then that Minami’s mother entered and she looked at her husband with some trepidation. She stood there in her wrinkled clothing.
Minami’s father looked up from his clinging children. He gently eased each one down as his eyes locked onto his wonderful wife, the mother of his four children. He wobbled to a standing position and straightened out his pants as if he was presenting himself for the first time to his wife. Then in a tense moment he whispered her name: “Mayumi.”
Minami’s mother’s face crumbled into tears as emotion washed over her. She brought her trembling hand to her mouth as she walked towards him and mouthed his name: “Tatsuo.”
Minami’s father stretched out his arms and took a few steps forward to finally embrace his wife as the rest of the family rushed to embrace both of their parents. Hiroshi looked on, moved. He watched Minami’s father holding onto his wife, sobbing with happiness into her shoulders and assumed she was doing the same. He saw Miho and Yuka simply clinging to their parents and Yoshi along his father’s leg. He saw Minami leaning into both of her parents, holding them, cherishing them. The family was finally united and they needed their time together, to be a family again. Hiroshi turned quietly away and walked past the blanket partition.
Later that night, the Ito family was eating dinner together. Mr. Ito was flanked by his wife and Yoshi and his three daughters were sitting in front of him. Everyone was in a joyful mood. But Minami noticed that there was a subtle change in her father’s demeanor, as if his smiles and chuckles hid something. His eyes would dart back and forth and he seemed overly cautious, inspecting every piece of food. He did things that Minami had never seen him do before–wiping down his dish, cup, and silverware with his napkin. Minami’s mother also noticed his odd behavior too and assumed he must have picked it up during his detention in North Dakota.
Hiroshi observed the family reunion from about five rows away. He saw her smile and laugh with her sisters, her brother, her mother and of course her father. On any other night, he and his family would have sat with them as well, but he suggested to his parents that perhaps for that night, they should let the Ito family eat together as one family. His parents agreed. When he spied Minami looking around for him, he casually ducked down and was comforted in the thought that he had not been forgotten.
With their father home, everyone thought that a sense of normalcy would settle in. But that night, the troubles began. The family was awoken with agitated shouts from their father who seemed to be having nightmares. Minami and her mother would together shake their father awake from the mental grips of whatever demons tormented him. Minami found her hands wet from her father’s sweat-drenched pajamas.
His behavior had also changed. He showed a heightened sense of paranoia. His eyes would dart towards every ordinary sound. He became quite particular about how he wanted his belongings to be stored, and demanded that no one touch them. This caused Minami’s mother to worry.
But on other days, he was entirely fine. He was attentive, and he would lead the family and play games with his children, like the Japanese pebble game Go. But he had become exceptionally moody. His temper scared everyone. Something simple would set him off, and he would suddenly yell at his children, telling them how they failed to live up to his expectations. But the worst things he would say were to his own wife, accusing her of cheating and collaborating with the U.S. Army to keep him in prison. With tears streaming down her face, she would deny it profusely, but he wouldn’t believe it.
Mrs. Ito tried to be supportive. She knew that something terrible had happened to him. She blamed the U.S. Army for somehow changing her husband, and she desperately wanted to reach deep within his very bowels and pull out the husband whom she had grown to love over the last two decades. She wanted the man that she remembered before he was taken away.
Soon his outbursts and temper tantrums started to subside, a calming effect from Japanese sake. Many of the men in the camp had taken to the fine art of brewing their very own Japanese sake. It wasn’t the best sake since it was concocted from U.S. Army rice, but it was acceptable. Her father got wind of it and became quite addicted to it. For Mr. Ito, the sake washed away the inner demons that haunted him daily. Somehow, the sake kept them at bay. But they were hiding and lying in wait until he had sobered up.
This turn of events devastated Minami. It hurt her deeply to see her father taking out his anger on her and her family. She felt such sorrow for her mother, who had to endure the brunt of the false accusations and verbal punishment. What must the other people in her barrack think of them? Minami wondered. She could barely show her face to them when she passed through the barrack. But she admired her mother’s steadfast devotion and credited her inner strength as a devoted wife. She was also convinced that the man that wandered back into their lives wasn’t their father, and that something terrible had happened to him while he was imprisoned. She would always reluctantly forgive him.
Minami’s only source of solace was Hiroshi, and when she could spend time with him, she would tell him about her father. She talked about his changed behavior but avoided the worst of the stories. She couldn’t bear to tell Hiroshi everything–she worried what he might think. But she also felt a sense of duty to her family to hide the most shameful moments. Her father had always taught her that protecting the family honor was the first priority.
Meanwhile, Hiroshi was deeply concerned about Minami’s situation, but he couldn’t see how he could help her. He couldn’t pull her away from her family, nor could he take her off the prison camp. Hiroshi felt helpless as he saw the beaten and tired look on her face.
There were nights where Minami and Hiroshi strolled along the inner perimeter of the prison camp. They had not revisited the rooftop of the mess hall since the encounter with Kiddache. They did, however, still found time for each other at the water pump. One night, they simply sat along the wall together, admiring the night sky from their limited vantage point. It was after one of those outings on a summer night when Minami was walking back to her barrack with Hiroshi. They walked in silence holding each other’s hands.
“How’s your dad?” asked Hiroshi.
“Mmm… he’s doing better this week. He wasn’t as bad as last week,” replied Minami.
Another long pause passed between the two when Hiroshi asked, “I know it’s been tough, I just wish you weren’t so distant.”
Minami looked up and stared ahead of her, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be distant. With my father coming back, I feel I have to give my family more time. I hope you understand.”
Hiroshi let out a sigh, “I do. I just miss you, that’s all.”
Minami squeezed his hand and looked up at Hiroshi. It had been awhile since she heard those words and it was nice to hear it. She smiled and replied, “I miss you too,” as she placed a kiss on his cheek.
Hiroshi eked out a smile and they continued the walk back to her barrack. They had just rounded the corner to the steps when they heard a woman’s scream coming from the back of the barrack. Minami’s eyes widened in terror and she cried out, “Mom!”
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nbsp; Minami raced up the steps with Hiroshi right behind her. There were startled looks on the faces of the people peering forth from their partitions toward the back, as another panicked scream pierced the barrack. Minami frantically parted the partition and entered, with Hiroshi close behind when he saw Minami’s father lunging at her mid-section with a large knife.
Hiroshi instinctively grabbed the frozen Minami by the waist and pushed her aside as he deflected the knife’s plunge with the outside of his left hand. Minami fell beside the bed with Miho, Yuka and Yoshi cowering together at the top of the bed. Minami’s mother was on the other bed, crouched up in a ball against the wall.
Mr. Ito had a wild deranged look on his face as he pulled back into a fighting stance, shaking his head from side to side and then finally focusing on Hiroshi. Hiroshi immediately assumed a non-threatening stance with his arms flared out to the side, but readying for any additional moves from Mr. Ito.
“You won’t take me!” screamed out Mr. Ito. “You can take my home away, my family, even my country, but you will never take me!”
“Mr. Ito!” Hiroshi yelled back in a firm tone. His eyes were steady and focused, his moves slow and deliberate.
Hiroshi’s voice caught Mr. Ito’s attention as his ears perked up and then his eyes centered on Hiroshi. “I won’t lie to satisfy you! I’m not a traitor! You’ll have to kill me if you want to take me!”
“Mr. Ito, no one is going to take you anywhere. You’re here, with your family who care deeply about you. You’re free…”
“You’re lying! How can a man be free if you take everything away from him?”
“Mr. Ito, you are free, look around you. Do you see your family?”
A frenzied Mr. Ito then cautiously looked to his right and saw his wife. He then looked to his left and saw his children still cowering on the bed. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand and then screamed back.
“They can’t be here! You’ve kept me away from them for so long, always promising me that I will see them, but they’ve all been lies!”
“Mr. Ito, I assure you your family is here and you’re scaring them. You don’t want to scare them right?”
“No,” and Mr. Ito paused as he stared up into the ceiling with an expression of anguish on his face. He then looked back down at Hiroshi with intense eyes.
“I only want to see my family and you’re keeping them away from me. I’ve answered all your questions,” said Mr. Ito as he choked back his tears.
Hiroshi realized that Mr. Ito wasn’t seeing him for him. He was remembering something horrible from whatever place the U.S. Army took him to. Mr. Ito was talking to Hiroshi as if he was someone from that unknown place. He had to convince Mr. Ito to snap out of whatever hallucination he was in.
“And you answered them so well that now you’re back, back with your fam…” said Hiroshi when he suddenly said something wrong.
“All lies!” screamed Mr. Ito as he lunged at Hiroshi with the knife.
Hiroshi’s eyes lit up momentarily as he deflected the knife away. He spun around with his back to Mr. Ito and gripped his right wrist with his right hand as everyone in the room screamed. He tightened his grip, which elicited a grunt of frustration from Mr. Ito, who pulled back sharply. But Hiroshi held his arm in place. He then brought Mr. Ito’s hand forcibly onto his raised knee and the knife sprang from Mr. Ito’s grip and onto the floor in front of them. Hiroshi took a step forward but found Mr. Ito surprisingly strong. He took another step forward and kicked the knife out of the way.
“No! I need that to fight back, to escape!” exclaimed Mr. Ito who then threw his left arm around Hiroshi’s neck.
Hiroshi gasped for breath as he felt his Adam’s apple being crushed as his veins started to pulsate. Instinctively, Hiroshi elbowed Mr. Ito’s mid-section, which released the arm around his neck and made Mr. Ito stagger back a couple of steps. Then suddenly, Hiroshi landed a powerful spinning back kick onto Mr. Ito’s chest. This sent him flying backwards through the center window as glass exploded everywhere.
Hiroshi stood stunned. Outside on the ground, Mr. Ito was flat on his back with glass and wooden shards of the window all around him.
“Hiroshi!” screamed Minami in horror.
Hiroshi was in shock himself. He had not intended to kick Mr. Ito out through the window–it just happened. Minami looked at him with rage as he stared at the broken window in front of him. Then Hiroshi did another unexpected thing, he jumped through the window.
Hiroshi rushed to Mr. Ito, who was lying on his back mumbling incoherently and staring up into the night sky. He clutched the front of Mr. Ito’s shirt and placed his left hand behind Mr. Ito’s neck and eased him up into a seated position.
“Mr. Ito,” said Hiroshi calmly. “Are you hurt?”
Mr. Ito’s head shook a bit and then his gaze settled onto Hiroshi. He gazed aimlessly as he said, “I just flew out of a window.”
A look of guilt and concern came over Hiroshi’s face as he first closed his eyes, looked down and then back at Mr. Ito. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to… you were just fighting back…”
“I can’t fight back. I can’t fight back,” Mr. Ito’s words tumbled out of his mouth. “I fought back every single day until I finally believed them.” Tears of immense guilt streamed down Mr. Ito’s face.
Hiroshi realized that Mr. Ito was still in that place and he needed to get Mr. Ito out of it fast. While he was still clutching his shirt, Hiroshi firmly backhanded Mr. Ito across his face, knocking his head to his right. Hiroshi slapped him again, sending Mr. Ito’s face to his left. When he began to swing his hand again, Mr. Ito caught it firmly with his right hand, inches away from his face. There was a momentary struggle of will when Hiroshi relaxed and brought his left hand down. He looked deep into Mr. Ito’s eyes.
“Yes, that’s it Mr. Ito! Fight back! I don’t know what hellhole they put you in. I don’t know what god-awful things they did to you but you’re not there now. But you brought them back with you in your head and you need to fight them. Do you understand me?” asked Hiroshi.
For a moment, the watery glaze over Mr. Ito’s eyes cleared as the ferocious intensity that blared from his eyes receded. He blinked again as clarity returned and looked straight at Hiroshi. “I can fight back again?”
“Yes, you can fight back,” stammered Hiroshi. “You can fight…”
Before Hiroshi could finish, Minami rushed to her fallen father and violently shoved Hiroshi off of him sending Mr. Ito onto his back again as he let out a gasp.
“How could you kick my father out the window!” screamed Minami at Hiroshi. There was such anger in her eyes that Hiroshi was too stunned to respond.
“Hiroshi said I can fight back,” Mr. Ito said as he struggled into a sitting position.
Minami glared at Hiroshi but spun around, brushed her hair aside and lowered herself beside her father as her mother arrived to kneel beside him.
“Mayumi! My beautiful Mayumi!” Mr. Ito said to his wife who at first was taken aback by his clamoring. Mr. Ito then looked at Minami, “My sweet daughter, Minami! Oh my children!” as Miho, Yuka and Yoshi rushed to their father’s side but they weren’t prepared for his boisterous embrace as Mr. Ito pulled his family inward.
“I’m so sorry, can you ever forgive me?” pleaded Mr. Ito as he rocked his family back and forth. Everyone was sobbing softly. In an almost relieved tone Mr. Ito said, “I can fight back now.”
Mrs. Ito looked up at her husband in a confused look and replied, “Fight what?”
Mr. Ito looked down into his wife’s eyes whose ever-present beauty he had always admired, but had neglected in the past few months. He looked up to his right to see Hiroshi hovering over them a few feet away. Mr. Ito hadn’t noticed Hiroshi either, just vaguely remembering him on that first day when he returned to his family. He noticed his strong build, his handsome features and for a moment, Hiroshi reminded him of himself when he was younger. He extended his hand out to Hiroshi. Hiroshi at first h
esitated. He didn’t know how the rest of his family, especially Minami, felt about him since he had just kicked their father out the window.
But Mr. Ito beckoned with his right hand and Hiroshi walked forward and shook his hand. Mr. Ito’s handshake was surprisingly strong. He looked up at Hiroshi once more and spoke, “Thank you Hiroshi, for making me see again.”
That’s when Minami bolted upwards, slapped their hands apart and blurted out, “Thank him for what!” Minami then turned to Hiroshi and pushed him back with her hands when her father sharply interjected, “Minami!”
There was a familiar strength to his tone, it sounded confident and it shook through Minami’s very being. She turned to her father obediently. Her father didn’t look angry. Rather there was a sense of calm in his expression. “Minami,” he spoke her name gently. “Don’t be mad at Hiroshi. He’s actually done me a favor, which is hard to explain. Just accept it and know that it’s a good thing.”
Mr. Ito then looked firmly at each of his children. Then he looked at his wife and he whispered to her, “He did a good thing, trust me.” Mrs. Ito was just as confused, but there was a sense of familiarity back in his voice that convinced her. “Okay, why don’t you help me up and we’ll go back together. I promise I won’t yell anymore tonight.”
Mrs. Ito and Minami helped their father up and he looked up at the broken window, as shards of jagged glass and splintered wood clung along the frame of the window. Mr. Ito shook his head in disbelief and then looked back at Hiroshi.
“Karate?”
“Yes Mr. Ito.”
“Mmm… maybe you can get me back into shape one of these days. I used to know a few moves in my younger days.”
“Any day, Mr. Ito, it’d be my pleasure,” replied Hiroshi.
Mr. Ito and his caring family were about to round the corner when he paused and whispered something into Minami’s ear. Minami turned toward Hiroshi with a cautious look and nodded her head. She gently eased her father’s arm off her shoulders and onto Miho’s.
