by Daniel Wyatt
She hugged her brother-in-law. “David! You look great. A little heavier, but great.”
“Thanks.”
“You must be Toshika.” Gail shook her hand. “I hear you’re almost hitched. Congratulations. Oh hell, it’s wonderful!” She hugged her.
David introduced Toshika to Les and the kids, then asked, “Where’s pop?”
Les cleared his throat. “He’s stalling. He sat at the tail, all by himself. He hasn’t been talking much these last few days.”
Finally, after several minutes, the group saw Robert, his head down until he reached the automatic door at the bottom.
“Brace yourself,” Les whispered to David and Toshika.
“Hi, dad,” David said, once the door opened. He put his hand out. Robert ignored the gesture and instead hugged his son. The two embraced.
“Dad,” David said, pulling away, “I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Toshika Ushida.”
Robert’s eyes showed no emotion. He stood for a long time staring at her. Forty years of prejudice ran cold through his body. Looking into Toshika’s brown eyes, he could see the faces of his buddies who had never returned from the war that the Japanese started. He saw a panoramic view of North Field, Tinian, B-29 after B-29 on the tarmacs. He saw himself twisting and tugging with a wrench, laboring away in the heat on one of Mary Jane’s engines. Robert was at a crossroad now. He could continue to hate the Japanese for starting the war or he could accept Toshika as one of the family.
Robert sighed and opened his arms. Toshika, tears in her eyes, embraced her future father-in-law. Robert looked into her eyes and said, “You are very pretty, young lady.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking the last few days. It’s going to take me some time to accept this arrangement, but I have to think of your futures. Times are different now. David has probably told you about me. I’m willing to change. I want us all to have a good time. I hope that in the next few days you’ll show me all you can of your city. That’s if you want to be caught with some crusty old goat.”
Toshika wiped her tears. “Of course... dad.”
Robert laughed out loud. “This may be tough for you, too.”
“Let’s get you all back to my place,” David said, clapping his hands. “Toshika and I are on holidays for two weeks, so we’re at your service. We’re going to paint the town red!”
“Oh, no,” Robert said. “Not another Tinian blowout. I’m not twenty anymore.”
Daniel Wyatt
Historical fiction author Daniel Wyatt is Canadian, born and raised on the prairies of Saskatchewan. He now resides with his wife and two children in Burlington, Ontario, thirty miles outside Toronto.
His first published work was a set of first-person stories from World War II allied air force veterans called Two Wings and a Prayer by Boston Mills Press, Erin, Ontario, Canada in 1984. This was followed up in 1986 by Maximum Effort with the same publisher. In 1990, Wyatt made the switch to historical fiction with The Last Flight of the Arrow, a techno-thriller set during the Cold War years of the late 1950s. Originally published by Random House of Canada, it sold 20,000 copies in paperback form. The Mary Jane Mission came out two years later, also by Random House. “The Falcon File” series, consisting of The Fuehrermaster, The Filberg Consortium and Foo Fighters was published as an ebook original by Mushroom eBooks, and in paperback as The Falcon File by Bladud Books in 2007. Wyatt's other published works include aviation magazine articles in Canada and the United States.
A big baseball fan, Wyatt enjoys collecting Detroit Tigers memorabilia.
Books by Daniel Wyatt
Two Wings and a Prayer
Maximum Effort
The Last Flight of the Arrow
The Mary Jane Mission
The Cotton Run
Pennant Man
Route 66
“The Falcon File” series:
The Fuehrermaster
The Filberg Consortium
Foo Fighters
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