Falling into the Dragon's Mouth

by Holly Thompson

  but when everyone’s gone home

  and you have to return to school

  because you forgot something

  it’s creepy, quiet, and still

  so we all want

  that dragon paperweight

  returned

  everyone has a theory

  of who took the dragon and why

  but han six is quiet

  too quiet, until Yuki

  tells the teacher

  she saw me take it

  she offers a story about how

  I thought it was cool

  that since learning that this school

  was once called Dragon’s Mouth

  I wanted that paperweight

  and she thinks it’s in my house

  and why doesn’t the teacher just go check?

  Ōshima-sensei doesn’t

  disagree or agree but says

  he knows that if I took it

  I will certainly return it

  the whole class

  then seems convinced

  that I have done something

  with the missing dragon

  I’m so glad to get to aikido on Thursday

  so glad to see Yamada-sensei

  who makes everyone respect each other

  who’s strict but fun, and whose way

  makes everyone cooperate

  at the end of the class

  I linger a little

  talking and joking

  with the assistant teacher

  then I ride beside another

  orange belt, Manabu

  and his sister Nana

  as they walk home

  then I take my time along

  the river, listening for fish

  watching them jump

  before riding home

  that night

  I tell Cora

  about the dragon paperweight

  and how Yuki accused me

  and Cora says

  don’t worry

  Yuki doesn’t have evidence

  so Ōshima-sensei won’t believe her

  but being accused

  by someone in your han

  is bigger than just a matter

  of evidence

  and it takes me ages

  to fall asleep

  Chapter 28

  INTRUDER

  when I wake in the night

  I think it’s Mom or Dad

  standing in our room

  backlit by streetlight

  dimmed by thin curtains

  but then I see that actually it’s someone …

  shorter?

  I jerk my head up

  something clanks onto

  the desk and I yell

  and Cora shrieks

  as the intruder

  runs out of our room

  I race after

  whoever it is

  down the stairs

  out the front door

  and as he disappears

  down our street

  and turns the corner

  into the bath of streetlight

  I see the side of his face

  and I shout at Gō

  to stop!

  Dad reaches the front steps behind me

  what the hell’s going on?

  I tell him some guy was in our house

  did you see him?

  not really I say

  did he take anything?

  I don’t know I say

  and I go back inside

  run upstairs

  past Mom and Dad’s room

  where Cora’s crying

  and Mom is holding her

  into Cora’s and my room

  where I see that it’s

  not something taken

  but something left

  on my desk

  the dragon paperweight

  how’d the guy get in?

  Dad’s shouting from the hall

  I locked the door before

  I went to bed!

  and right then I know

  that someone

  Shō, Ken, or Yōhei—

  the only friends who’ve

  ever been with me

  when I forgot my house key

  the only friends who’ve

  ever seen me get the spare key

  from a jar under a clay pot

  that we keep near our bicycles

  must have told Gō

  I shove the dragon paperweight

  under my pillow

  before anyone can see

  and then I go

  into the other room

  and ask Cora

  did you recognize him?

  Mom has her back to me

  and Cora sees me

  just barely shake my head

  to mean no

  no Cora says

  but Mom whips around

  and narrows her eyes

  at me

  did YOU see? Mom asks me

  did YOU recognize him?

  I don’t want to lie

  but right now I can’t

  tell the truth

  I didn’t get a good look I say

  he was backlit and he ran

  as soon as I woke up

  when Cora’s settled

  back in her bunk

  and Mom and Dad

  have locked all the doors

  and windows

  I climb down the bunk ladder

  and scoot in next to Cora

  it was that boy from your class! she whispers

  the one who was with the boy

  on the lightning bike at the temple!

  yeah I say

  but don’t tell for now

  why not?

  what will you do?

  you HAVE to tell!

  no I say

  just give me some time

  so I can figure this out

  Chapter 29

  HEAD DOWN

  Dad discovers

  the spare key is missing

  and assumes that someone

  was watching one day

  when I retrieved it

  so now until we change the lock

  we have another secret hiding place

  that I can’t tell or show

  anyone

  and Cora and I have to always

  keep our keys with us

  when Cora and I leave for school

  Mom and Dad are gulping coffee

  waiting for the police

  should I stay home? I ask

  but they say no, they’ll share

  the general details I gave

  go on to school Dad says

  keep your head up

  don’t worry about this

  hah!

  he doesn’t seem to get

  that my head is a target

  smacked every day

  that keeping your head down

  is the way to survive

  in the Dragon’s Mouth

  at school I go straight

  to the teacher’s room

  on the ground floor and ask

  to speak with Ōshima-sensei

  I hand over the dragon paperweight

  and tell him Yuki was right

  it was at my house and I bow

  apologizing for the trouble I’ve caused

  Ōshima-sensei frowns

  and chews on his lips

  as he cradles the dragon

  with two hands

  he eyes me

  shakes his head

  like maybe he’s

  disappointed

  but I don’t know if he’s disappointed

  because he thinks I took it

  or disappointed because he knows

  I’m covering for the person who really took it

  upstairs in our classroom

  I don’t say anything

  don’t look at Gō or Yuki

  just keep a blank face

  Ōshima-sensei tells the class

 
; that the dragon paperweight was found

  and everyone waits to hear more

  but he doesn’t say how or where

  he wants our attention

  on classwork now

  the dragon paperweight case

  is closed

  han six seems puzzled

  but I just focus on kanji

  then on math

  and art

  no one hits me

  no one bothers me

  but tension builds

  all day

  at the end of school

  Ōshima-sensei tells Yuki and Gō

  to stay after

  then unlike usual, Yōhei

  doesn’t walk home

  with Ken, Shō, and me

  on the way, Ken and Shō analyze

  the situation, thinking Yuki and Gō

  are the ones responsible

  I don’t tell them

  I handed in the dragon paperweight

  I don’t say I know that Gō

  broke into our house

  I don’t say I know he did it

  with help from my “friends”

  but outside my house

  I duck my head

  tell them

  I can’t play soccer today

  Chapter 30

  DRAGON WEIGHT

  Dad is still at home

  and he says they talked

  with police and the principal

  and my teacher and they think

  it’s probably someone from school …

  can we talk later? I have to play soccer

  I say, and drop my bag and run out the door

  I ride my bike toward Takemura’s

  then detour to a convenience store

  for a bag of chips so at least

  I’ll have something

  to pass as a “gift”

  Takemura-san’s there

  and he motions me in

  with his hand even though

  his face is scowling

  we set up the shōgi board

  and when he asks about Cora

  I say she’s playing with a friend

  even though this might not be true

  we start to play and I try

  but I can’t focus on the grid

  even though his advice

  on moves is clear enough

  then I catch his words saying

  that my mood seems heavy

  I’m tired I admit

  then after a moment, I add

  and I’m kind of hiding out

  I catch the word mugicha—barley tea

  and following his waving

  go into the kitchen

  and in the refrigerator find a pitcher

  take two cups from a cupboard

  and pour us each some chilled tea

  I set his cup on the shōgi table

  gulp mine down

  then realize I have to

  pick up the cup

  guide the cup

  into his hand

  he’s shakier

  today

  I notice he’s watching

  waiting for me to speak

  so I tell him what happened

  with the dragon paperweight

  and how I thought my han

  members would be protected

  if I didn’t turn them in

  which would mean that I’d

  then be protected by the han

  and they’d stop bothering me

  but now I think somehow

  they’ve been found out

  and my plan totally failed

  also, I don’t think

  the matter is solved at all

  just because the dragon

  has been returned

  Takemura-san then starts right in

  telling the old dragon story

  but he’s halting, so it’s mostly me

  filling in with my mind

  where his words are slurred

  or me filling in out loud

  when he’s stuck for words

  it’s the story that I know

  from teachers, neighbors, kids

  and from Dad who loves local history and legends

  the story about the dragon

  who was always eating children

  snacking on them a few at a time

  and the Benten goddess on the island

  he fell in love with who persuaded him

  to finally stop his destructive munching ways

  and about how, after he stopped

  feeling badly for all he’d done

  he turned himself into a mountain

  the place called Dragon’s Mouth

  the place right here

  where we live

  Takemura-san says

  (more or less)

  you see?

  even dragons

  can change

  hah! I think

  maybe in stories I say

  I open the bag

  and we eat the chips

  then I say good-bye

  promising to bring Cora

  with me next time

  but when I step outside

  when I close the gate

  to Takemura’s house

  I see that my bike

  is not by the river wall

  where I left it

  and is not anywhere

  in sight at all

  Chapter 31

  BIKE TRADE

  I walk up and down

  side lanes by the river

  check paths along the banks

  walk both sides of the bridge

  and even stare down

  into the murky water

  I’ve gone halfway

  to the police box

  thinking to report

  my missing bike

  when I double back

  with one last idea

  that last idea

  for where I might find my bike

  being across the bridge

  near Takemura’s

  I search the shrubs

  edging the pine tree park

  where Shunta took us

  that day to watch the fire

  and there it is, still locked

  standing upright

  leaning on its kickstand

  like I’d parked it there myself

  I feel watched

  as I fit my key in the lock

  I feel spied on

  as I kick up the stand

  I try to act cool

  as I ride away from the park

  I decide to take the long way home

  the back road that meanders

  beyond the monorail

  across the town line

  but as I’m cutting over to that route

  past the station’s rear parking lot

  I glimpse the familiar flames

  and lightning bolts of Shunta’s bike

  I pedal past

  telling myself

  be cool

  be smart

  ride on

  but I can’t help myself

  I make a U-turn

  I don’t carry his bike far

  just to a small alley

  two houses down

  from the parking lot

  then I pedal fast

  out of that neighborhood

  across the city line

  on the way I stop to call home

  and Cora answers

  says Yūsuke just left

  and that she got to have

  my tutoring session

  Mom gets on the phone

  and says I’m in hot

  hot water

  I zigzag

  through back lanes

  and climb up the far

  shoulder side

  of the dragon hill

  avoiding

  the school

  the park

  the neighborhoods

  by the streetcar

  taking the long, safe way


  to our house

  I’m so late

  that Mom’s yelling

  when I open the front door

  but she stops

  when I tell her

  about my temporarily

  missing bike

  now found

  I don’t tell her

  about the other temporarily

  missing bike

  found by now?

  during dinner I learn that the police

  questioned Mom further about the night intruder

  and seem to believe it’s a kid from my school

  but to Mom’s interrogation about who it might be

  I insist I have no idea

  I take an extra-long bath

  wondering if

  moving Shunta’s bike

  was like

  an aikido strike—uchi

  or if

  moving Shunta’s bike

  was like

  a defensive throw—nage

  and I’m wondering

  if I’ll have to quit school

  like Daiki did

  if I’ll have to

  stay home

  and never go out

  later Cora climbs up to my bunk

  and even though I turn to the wall

  and tell her I don’t want to talk

  she says she has our Gray agenda

  all planned for the weekend

  whatever it is I say

  it better be

  far away

  on the other side of town

  or in another city

  or prefecture

  or country

  or universe

  oh she says

  and climbs down

  then something lands on my back—

  one of Gray’s friends

  a stuffed raccoon

  tossed up for me

  Chapter 32

  GAMES AND PLAY DAY

  it’s just my luck that Sunday

  is the annual Games and Play Day

  and we have to go to school

  Mom and Dad are both volunteers

  Dad at the stilts area outside

  Mom on slime making inside

  I figure with all the parents

  there at school

  nothing major can happen to me

  hah!

  fortunately in the bowling room

  han six is in charge with

  han two which is Ken’s han

  so I can mostly hang with him

  and not get too close

  to anyone from han six

  but Shunta and Gō

  maneuver around

  and attempt to trip me

  or slam me into the wall

  and throw tennis balls

  and plastic bottles at my head

  Ken inserts himself

  between me and them

  again and again

  and some other kids

  join to protect me

  like it’s a big game

  when our shift is over