The Purple Heart

by Vincent Yee

  “Did you hear that?” asked Mr. Ito of the interrogator.

  “No, I did not hear anything.”

  “That was my daughter’s voice.”

  “No, that was no one, Mr. Ito. Your daughter is dead, along with everyone else in your family,” said the interrogator.

  “But I heard my daughter’s voice. It was her voice.”

  “What you heard were ghosts, Mr. Ito.”

  In an incredulous tone Mr. Ito snapped back, “Ghosts? Are you saying that my family is now calling me back from their watery graves?”

  “No, I’m not saying that,” the interrogator replied defensively.

  “You’ve been in control of me since Day One. Stripped me of my very senses, manipulated me, took away my dignity, and my sense of truth with your lies. But surely, even if you wanted me to believe that my family was dead, you’d never allow that voice to appear like it just did. It would work against you, the lies you are trying to force feed me. Maybe, maybe you’re not in control anymore?”

  “No, Mr. Ito, I’m always in control,” stated the interrogator but his tone sounded less confident.

  “I don’t think you’re in control anymore,” mocked Mr. Ito, growing confident.

  “You’re wrong. We are your source of the truth.”

  “You’ve been filling me with lies all this time! Manipulating me, making me believe what you wanted me to believe so that I would confess to your fabricated accusations! You said it, the truth is what you want it to be and they’re all lies!”

  “No, you’re the one in denial, Mr. Ito. You’re the one that needs to be told the truth.”

  “No, I think you’re full of shit. You’re the lie,” said Mr. Ito as he raised the handcuffs directly in front of the interrogator’s face. “And these are lies as well,” and the handcuffs suddenly vanished. Mr. Ito stared coldly into the eyes of his interrogator. Mr. Ito stood up, which prompted the interrogator to stand up and order Mr. Ito to sit back down.

  Mr. Ito simply looked at the interrogator and then he pointed down to his ankle restraints. “These are lies too!” he exclaimed as the ankle restraints too disappeared.

  “That’s enough! I order you to get back into your seat to finish up your confess…”

  “You mean this seat?” as Mr. Ito spun around, picked up his seat and threw it toward the interrogator, who ducked down. The chair flew across the small room into the mirror and shattered it, revealing an empty room behind it. Mr. Ito then grabbed the right edge of the steel table with his left hand and flung it away as it flew against the wall.

  Mr. Ito interrupted the interrogator and simply asked, “What’s your name?”

  The interrogator looked up stupefied, cocked his head and didn’t answer.

  Mr. Ito took a couple of steps forward and asked the question again, “What’s your name?”

  The interrogator stared back at Mr. Ito and answered, “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know? Surely you must have a name? Everyone has a name, wouldn’t you agree?”

  The interrogator looked at Mr. Ito and replied, “Yes.”

  “Then what’s your name?” asked Mr. Ito once more and before the interrogator could answer he said, “The reason why you don’t have a name is because I never gave you one!”

  The interrogator began to interject when he slowly faded away.

  Mr. Ito smiled and walked slowly to the door and looked at the doorknob. “And this locked door is a lie.” He opened the door to an awaiting ocean shoreline with the sounds of seagulls in front of him. In the distance, he also saw his boat gently bobbing up and down in the water, the Mayumi. Sitting on the stern of the boat, was a large pelican that turned to him with its beady eyes. Mr. Ito didn’t look back, but he inhaled the ocean smell that filled his nostrils. He walked through the doorway, his posture tall and confident and allowed the door that lead to his mental prison close behind him, forever.

  “Mom,” whispered Minami. Mrs. Ito also took notice as well and felt her husband’s shaking suddenly subside. Mr. Ito’s breathing returned to normal, and the sweat on his face started to slowly fade away. “Mom, look,” whispered Minami. Mrs. Ito peered over her husband’s face and saw a faint smile. Minami felt the warmth come back into her father’s hand as a sudden look of calm settled over him.

  Minami slowly pulled her hand away and brushed aside her hair. She looked up at her mother, who caressed her father’s face. Minami whispered encouragingly to her mother, “I think he’s going to be okay now. I think he fought them and won.”

  S I X T E E N

  In the months after Mr. Ito’s quiet personal triumph over his inner demons, he showed a dramatic transformation. His confidence shot up, his attention to his family was much more apparent, and he even began to get his color back. He was starting to give orders to his family again, which they welcomed. The Itos finally had their father back. Though he yearned for the ocean and to be out in his fishing trawler, he kept busy by sprucing up their space. With the help of Hiroshi, they uninstalled the new window that Hiroshi had nailed in place, and with a little resourcefulness and some well-placed nails, created a swing-out window. When he swung out the window for his family to see, he beamed with pride as the cool breeze came in. His family playfully gasped in awe at his new accomplishment.

  Minami took up a role as a teacher’s assistant at the newly formed school for the children in the prison camp. She needed something to pass her time and found she enjoyed teaching. Her pupils were not-very-eager fifth graders, who had spent most of their time up to now forming little groups and making mischief.

  Hiroshi arrived before the end of each of Minami’s two daily classes. In that short period of time, they would steal a few moments alone together, giggling and kissing like any young couple would.

  Hiroshi busied himself as a carpenter, along with other men. He could usually be seen on the roofs of barracks, hammering away or on a ladder fixing a window. But what made Hiroshi and his team of carpenters feel wanted was when they took on the project to convert each barrack window into a swinging window, similar to the one in Minami’s barrack. The air inside the barrack was usually stuffy and hot, but the popular swing windows allowed welcomed breezes to enter freely. But there was only so much work to do, and Hiroshi spent many of his days idle.

  With many of the kids in school, Hiroshi couldn’t play baseball with the children as often as he once did. He had become not only the children’s baseball hero, but also their coach. Even that novelty had started to wear off, and for the most part, Hiroshi was glad. It was fun in the beginning to be the center of attention, but he longed for his privacy. He preferred to spend his time alone with Minami, holding her, kissing her, being intimate with her whenever they could find the time.

  With little to do on the prison camp, Hiroshi was becoming extremely restless and sometimes frustrated. He had no choice but to accept his fate, but he would sometimes stare out into the desert. He thought about climbing the fence and heading into the mountains to take his chances. How difficult could it be? He asked himself. But he would always brush this outlandish notion away. He couldn’t leave Minami.

  He never expected to find a woman like Minami in the prison camp. She was the surprise of his life and found that with each passing day his love for her grew even more. If it weren’t for her, his life on the prison camp would be a daily dread. She lifted his spirits in the grueling and dulling environment. She was his last thought before he went to sleep and his first thought upon waking up. But surely, they were not destined to live out their lives on the prison camp. At least he hoped not.

  With limited choices and little contact with the outside world, ways of satisfying natural wants and desires were scarce. In the absence of opportunity, prisoners could only pursue the basic necessities of human survival. Even getting to know their neighbors became a reluctant need; there wasn’t much possibility of original conversation. They all shared the same present, and they couldn’t talk about the future when they coul
dn’t foresee any. The past was redundant since everyone in the camp shared a similar past and reasons for coming to America. Life on the prison camp had become a dull daily grind.

  Hiroshi and Minami fell into a regular routine. After dinner, they strolled along their usual path. They talked about their day, which usually dwelled on the same topics. Silence usually accompanied their strolls, but it wasn’t an awkward silence. Hiroshi and Minami had grown comfortable with one another and were content simply holding each other’s hands.

  They had reached the corner of the perimeter and usually, Hiroshi would walk Minami back to her barrack. It was still early, and Hiroshi suggested that they walk a little longer. Minami quietly agreed as they double backed toward the mess hall. Their steps were in sync with one another, slow and deliberate as if they were stretching out time for as long as they could.

  It was another clear night. The moon was bright and illuminated the shadowy structures spaced out along the neat grid of the prison camp. The stars twinkled softly against the pitch blank canvas like specks of luminescent white paint.

  The couple approached the darkened mess hall. It sat quietly like a sleeping, hulking giant resting after a day of feeding the hungry masses.

  “Minami?” asked Hiroshi as he broke the silence.

  “Mmm?”

  “I know it’s been a while, but I thought it would be nice to maybe do some stargazing.”

  Minami squeezed his hand gently and responded, “Mmm…I don’t know. I’m not sure if I want to walk all the way over there.” She’d been avoiding the mess hall where she had been attacked.

  “We wouldn’t be going over there. I was referring to our own mess hall,” stated Hiroshi as he looked down at Minami.

  “Our mess hall?” asked Minami.

  “Yeah, it’ll be nice, I promise. I think I remember some of the stars that should be out tonight.”

  Minami placed both of her hands around Hiroshi’s upper left arm, tugged on it gently and looked up, “Like what?” she asked playfully.

  “I think there is a swan and maybe even a dolphin,” offered Hiroshi as he felt confident that she would say yes.

  “I’d like that,” replied Minami.

  They walked to the mess hall and came to one side of the wall. Hiroshi removed the ladder from underneath the mess hall and propped it up against the wall. He quickly climbed up the ladder as his breathing quickened a bit. Minami followed him up and he gently hoisted her over the ladder and onto the rooftop.

  Hiroshi reached out for her hand and she slipped it into his as they gently walked up the roof’s gentle slope. Minami noticed that Hiroshi had already planned the evening out: A blanket had already been draped over a spot on the roof. Minami carefully spun around and smoothed out her dress as she sat down onto the blanket. He then sat down beside her and let out a long exhale, which Minami noted.

  Hiroshi searched the night sky and pointed out the stars that made up the constellation Cygnus. Minami watched, as each star seemed to twinkle with each touch of his fingertip. It was almost magical. Minami didn’t realize how much she had missed stargazing with him, and was glad that Hiroshi had asked her to go. “That’s the swan that I told you about.”

  “Mmm… she’s beautiful,” remarked Minami with a grin on her face.

  As she mentally connected the starry dots in her mind to bring out the swan from the night sky, Hiroshi once again scanned the night and squinted a few times. His face was a little contorted until it relaxed into a smile and he pointed once again to another grouping of faint stars. Minami’s attention was diverted to his fingertips once more as he highlighted the stars that made up the constellation Delphinus, “That’s the dolphin I believe–it’s kind of faint tonight.”

  Minami squinted as she made out the dolphin and smiled once more. She looked over at Hiroshi and spoke. “I learned a constellation too.”

  Hiroshi looked over to her in surprise and asked, “You did?”

  “Uh-huh,” replied Minami with a playful grin. “Now where is it?” said Minami as she looked up into the night sky. She hesitated, as she had never actually seen the constellation. She happened upon a book on stars in the school one morning and it reminded her of stargazing with Hiroshi. As she flipped through the numerous constellations, she found one constellation that brought a smile to her face. That night, she would be the star chaser and show him her favorite constellation.

  “Which one is it? Maybe I can help you find it,” said Hiroshi as he watched her scan the sky.

  “I can do it, give me a minute,” responded Minami as she bit her lip. She then smiled and said, “I think I found it.”

  She pointed to the right and squinted as she pointed out each star. Hiroshi followed silently along until she spoke, “That’s Aquarius.” Minami looked at Hiroshi, who was still looking up and admired him. He looked back down and his eyes seemed to glisten for a moment. “I’m impressed, Minami,” he said.

  “Do you know why I like Aquarius?” asked Minami.

  “No, I do not.”

  Minami offered a playful grin and gently poked Hiroshi on his chest and said, “Because he reminds me of you, and do you know why?”

  Her statement bemused Hiroshi and then his eyes lit up. Minami saw that he had figured it out and began to say, “Because Aquarius is the…” but before she could finish, Hiroshi blurted out in unison, “water boy.” They laughed together and their laughter echoed into the night.

  “Now I’m really impressed,” said Hiroshi.

  Minami gave Hiroshi a big smile and replied, “I’m glad that you are.”

  “You know, I can do better,” offered Hiroshi with a hint of intrigue.

  Minami’s attention was once again pleasantly diverted and said, “Oh, you can?”

  Hiroshi then rolled his body over and straddled Minami’s upper thighs. Hiroshi then got up on his knees as his clothing stretched taut along his body. Minami couldn’t help but admire how his white T-shirt was pulled tightly across his broad chest. She followed the T-shirt to where it was tightly tucked into his jeans that hugged his waist and thighs. For a moment, his masculine frame aroused her as he looked into the night sky.

  Hiroshi selected a bright star to his right and pointed to it. “Do you see that bright star?” asked Hiroshi. Minami nodded her head and looked up at him. “Well, believe it or not, I’m going to pluck that star right out of the sky and give it to you.”

  “I’d like that,” said Minami, enthralled.

  Hiroshi smiled, turned his head back up, and slowly reached into the sky toward the star. Minami watched with anticipation as he pretended to tug at the star with the tips of his index finger and thumb. Hiroshi started to breathe loud to give off the impression that he was using all his might to coax the star out of its constellation. Minami giggled at his feigned attempt. The star even seemed to glisten during the struggle until finally it seemed to disappear. Hiroshi then cupped the captured star with his other hand and slowly lowered his closed hands in front of Minami. She played along and looked at Hiroshi’s hand in childlike wonderment. He looked at her and smiled nervously.

  He slowly unfolded his left hand away from his right hand to reveal what at first was simply darkness. Minami looked up with playful disappointment, but Hiroshi looked at her and gestured with his eyes to look down once more. She played along, looking down and focusing on the fingertips of his right hand when suddenly something glistened brightly like a star. It was a momentarily flash of white light that flared upward and then it receded, revealing its source, a diamond ring.

  All of Minami’s senses went immediately blank, as the realization of what was happening became clear. This couldn’t be real, she thought. This couldn’t be happening, not now, not here. But she blinked in disbelief and the ring glistened back, beckoning for her attention. She brought her right hand to her mouth, letting out a gasp as she looked into Hiroshi’s eyes. Then for a moment, her body went limp, and she suddenly began sliding down the roof in between Hiroshi’s legs. H
iroshi’s eyes lit up in alarm but he reacted swiftly.

  He nimbly grabbed Minami around the waist with his right arm, while still holding onto the ring. Minami threw her hands around his neck and for a moment they just stayed that way, motionless. Hiroshi gently eased Minami back to a seated position. She still looked shocked as she settled back into place. There was still silence between them with Minami in dumbfounded awe, and Hiroshi suddenly became nervous as he searched for the words he wanted to say.

  Hiroshi brought his hand back into view as he held the ring in front of her. Minami stared at him with trembling eyes.

  “Minami…” started Hiroshi with a slight quiver in his voice. “I never expected to meet you here. But once I met you, I quickly found you to be the most beautiful woman I have ever met, and I knew soon enough, you were the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I have truly fallen in love with you.”

  Hiroshi paused and took in a deep breath and continued with a bit more confidence. “Minami, will you marry me?” he asked as he extended his left hand.

  Minami was still caught up in the moment as such a wonderful man professed his love for her. She too had also fallen in love with him, but it was the first time that Hiroshi told her so. The proposal overwhelmed her. It was the last thing she expected while being on the prison camp. But she delicately extended her left hand to his and let the simple word “yes” tumble from her mouth. She watched nervously as he slid the simple ring onto her ring finger and it glimmered when it was finally in place.

  She held her left hand in front of her and looked at the ring as the moonlight reflected in it, infusing it with a white light of unparalleled purity. Then she looked back at Hiroshi, whose frame relaxed as he let out a sigh of relief. He then simply said to her, “I love you.”

  Minami couldn’t control her emotions, but she spoke back with conviction the words that he probably yearned to hear as well: “I love you too.” Tears of joy began to form around her eyes as she managed a smile.