High Flyght – Chapter 9

I have visited Uba maybe five or six times in my life. It’s a small and quiet town. Some people would call it a hamlet, just a speck on the map between Sakata City and the capital city of Natal. I have to take two trains to get there, and the second train is a local offshoot with only three cars.

I’m slow on my feet, but a lot better off than I was yesterday. Gus checked me out of the hospital this morning with a reassuring smile and a promise he’d see me again soon. I’ll have to message him to set up our coffee date, and I plan to drop in on him when I’m back to visit my parents.

Out of the train station, I pass an old Japanese style building, dark wood and white walls with the off-tune sound of shamisens echoing out onto the street. Women sing and pluck the instruments, transporting everyone around to an ancient culture thousands of light-years and hundreds of years away. My family was a part of that culture at some point. It’s hard to imagine what Earth was like and those countries where my ancestors came from. All I’ve ever known is the Duo Systems.

Heading into a more bustling section of town, I pass two restaurants, the local inn, the convenience store, and the police station, really the only notable places around here besides the local handmade and artisanal craft shops. This town is well-known for handicrafts — woven silk, handbags, bespoke shoes, and woodcarvers. People wander the streets, eat grilled rice balls, and peer into windows.

I steer past the shops and down into an alley, over a tiny footbridge spanning a bubbling stream, and onto the block where Ken’s father lives. I smile and slow my steps as I approach their home and spot Ken’s dad, Alvar, hard at work hanging daikon radishes out to dry.

“You got a great harvest this year,” I call out.

He turns from the short ladder he’s on, and a smile splits his face.

“Vivian!”

Warmth flows through me as he jumps from the ladder and comes straight to me. If there were any hard feelings, he wouldn’t be happy to see me.

We laugh as we embrace, and I remember again why I love Ken and his family. His father is, and always has been, a good man.

“Alvar, it’s good to see you. Sorry for just dropping in like this.”

“Aw, please, Vivian. It’s not like I didn’t expect you.”

I huff a laugh and jam my hands into my pockets as he returns to tying up the daikon radishes and draping them over the outside drying rack. This year’s frame is almost two stories tall and about twenty meters long. Alvar is here alone, but I bet others show up to help. This is not a one-man job.

“So, where is he?” I look left at the quiet house, and the windows are dark. To the right, the barn is open, but I don’t see anyone inside.

“He’s in the house, in the back. Handling business.” His breath fogs as he hefts a wheelbarrow over with more daikon. “The usual.”

I nod, unsure of what to do. Do I approach Ken first? Or do I wait for him to come out and find me here?

Alvar works for another minute while I hem and haw over my decision.

“You know, Vivian. It’s not his fault.”

“What’s that?”

“The reason your parents didn’t want the two of you to marry.”

I tear my eyes from the house and slowly turn to face him. He’s not watching me, not making eye contact. He continues his work, tying and hanging like he’s a machine with no other task.

“What do you mean?” I ask, walking closer. I get underneath him, so I can look up and see his face.

“It was a long time ago.” He sighs, halting his task and smacking the dust out of his working gloves. “And I really didn’t think anyone cared about what I had done or hadn’t done. It was a surprise to learn that I had any impact on my son and his life.”

I wait for him to spit it out, but when he stares off into the distance for almost a full minute, my annoyance gets the better of me.

“Alvar, please. It’s cold out here. Either tell me or spare me some warmth?”

He descends from the ladder and folds it up.

“Let’s get out of the wind.” He jerks his head at the barn, so I follow along. “The sins of the father, you know? It’s a long story, but…” He shrugs. “When I was young, not even twenty, I joined the network of a real up-and-comer. A popular woman everyone was nuts about.”

“Yeah, Juliana.” I nod, remembering how successful Ken’s mother is.

“No. Not Juliana. Her name was Nendra, a bright and beautiful thing, with the kind of temper that could rip you in two if you weren’t careful.”

A flash of premonition hits me like a cold winter wind. I suddenly don’t like where this story is going.

“She was just plain mean, almost hateful, and I had no idea until I was in deep. I was her third.”

He leans against the inside wall of the barn. Out of the elements, this space is just a little warmer, but it doesn’t relax me. I’m tensed so tight I’m a statue.

“After a year of her abuse, I spent as much time away from Nendra as possible, and luckily, I had never signed the contracts. Contracts were just too final for me at that age. She was always ‘too busy’ or upset with me, or whatever, to make a go of it, anyway. I met Juliana on a trip to Rio, and I’ll admit now, we had a wild affair.”

I close my eyes and hold back a sigh.

“I didn’t think it would last. I figured I’d come back to Ossun and continue to live under Nendra’s thumb. But Juliana fell in love with me. Me.”

He gestures to his dirty work pants and scraggly beard.

“And I loved her.”

He shrugs as he grabs a stack of daikon and loads it onto the wheelbarrow.

Now I finally know why Mom was desperate for me to turn down Ken. His own father was a stolen man, exactly what I’ve been trying to avoid with Jinzo. Mom must think I’m crazy. No wonder she’s in the hospital with stress-related issues.

I am driving her to her grave with my choice of men.

“I was strong. I said no to Juliana and returned home to Nendra. I was miserable, but I would not humiliate Juliana by jumping ship. Nendra, though, was too smart for me. She had all of her men followed, and she knew what happened before I could even send my first love letter to Juliana.”

He snorts a laugh, and my smirk is weak.

“What happened?” I ask, swallowing through my discomfort. Normally, I wouldn’t pry, but he’s telling me this for a reason.

“You can probably guess. It was a big scandal for a bit. Blew up all over the duonet. Most of my neighbors shunned me.” He jerks his head at the houses just down the street. “And people stopped buying goods from the farm. I boarded up this place and left because Juliana stood by me and we married. We had two great boys, and once all the gossip died down, she insisted we return to my family home and start the farm up again. When I came back, people warmed to her first before they forgave me. Now, it’s ancient history.”

He coughs into his fist.

“At least, it was until the day your mother had us investigated and showed up here to confront me about it. She was sure Ken had learned bad habits from me. That he would leave you someday.”

“And she was wrong.”

Ken’s voice from behind startles me, and I jump.

Alvar looks between Ken and me. “Well, I guess I’ll let you two talk.”

He makes his exit swiftly with his wheelbarrow.

“Did you honestly think I’d leave you?” Ken’s nose flares. “When your mother told you about my dad, what were you thinking? How could you not trust me?”

My annoyance vanishes, and tears gather at the corner of my eyes. “Not trust you? I…” I want to strangle both of my parents. “This is the first I’m hearing of this. I had no idea.”

The air between us is frosty, and I’m sensing this could go wrong fast if I don’t intervene. It’s time to warm things up. I need to make this right and fix the damage my mother wrought.

“Can we go inside? Maybe have a cup of tea?” He hesitates and seems about ready to protest. “Ken, I literally just got out of the hospital two hours ago. Please?”

“Hospital?” His eyebrows raise. “Are you all right?”

I shiver as a brisk wind rushes through the door. Ken seems to snap out of his mood and come back to the present. I suspect his brain was stuck in that moment I broke up with him, three years ago.

He relaxes as he approaches me and pulls me to him. This… This is what I’ve been waiting for, longing for. I’ve missed this closeness with Ken. He wraps his warmth around me, holding my head to his shoulder, and I take the comfort this small gesture provides. There are days when all I want is a hug or a warm bed or a smile from a loved one. I’ll take what I can get.

“Let’s go inside and talk.”

Inside the house, the kitchen is warm and inviting. For a part-time bachelor, Ken’s dad keeps the place in tip-top shape. Probably because Juliana or any other member of the family could stop by at any time. I know he’s tight with Juliana’s other husbands and considers their kids his own as well.

Sitting down at the kitchen table, I stare at the photos on the wall like I did last time I was here. I always loved Ken’s family. Ken has remained close to his brother, and his cousins are some of his best friends. This was why I was so puzzled when my mom insisted I break up with him. From my viewpoint, he had the right kind of family, the kind anyone would be happy to be a part of.

“Thanks,” I say, as he delivers a hot cup of tea to my cold hands. I wrap my fingers around the mug and let the heat seep into my skin and bones.

“Well, so much of everything makes sense,” I begin, not even waiting for him to sit down. “After years of confusion and secrets, someone finally tells me that your mother is a ‘consort thief.’”

Ken grimaces as he sits down across the table. “I hate that term. It’s as if we’re property to be owned.”

I nod slowly. “Yes, you’re right. I have always agreed with that assessment and thought the whole thing was bullshit. But society has frowned on the practice of switching relationship networks for hundreds of years. People stay loyal, even in the worst of situations.” I hold up my hand. “Also, not something I agree with. I don’t see any problem with breaking up if things go bad.”

I blow on my tea and take a sip.

“It’s just too bad the rest of the universe doesn’t see it that way.”

Ken leans forward, resting his arms on the table. “My father is a great and honorable man, and even so, I don’t want to be judged by what he’s done.”

I press and twist my lips, not saying anything.

“What, Vivian? Do you judge me by his actions?”

“Look, I’ll tell you what I told Jinzo about getting involved with me. You have a brain and a will of your own. I’ll take the risks if you will.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” he points out.

I roll my eyes. “Give me a break, Ken. I have only ever judged you by you and your actions. Three years ago, you proposed, and I was going to say yes.” I lift my chin. “I was so excited to say yes. It was everything I wanted, everything I dreamed of. But my parents objected. They laid down the ultimatum, and I had to obey. Had to,” I stress. As the only daughter, I had no other option, and I wanted the family business then like I do now. “But they never told me why. I was instructed to trust them, and that was the truly hard part of that whole affair. I trusted them, but I trusted you too. Do you blame me?”

He’s quiet for a moment, looking out the window at his dad hefting radishes up the lattice outside.

“No, I guess I don’t.” He sips his tea and sighs as he pushes back into his chair. “If I had been in your situation, I would’ve done the same thing.”

We sit and sip our tea for an extended period without talking. I’ve never seen Ken this quiet before. He’s changed a lot in the last few years.

When I finish the tea, I stuff my hands in my pockets and lean back in the chair, stretching out my legs under the table. I’m glad my left leg no longer aches. They must have done an excellent job of patching me up.

“My mom has been in the hospital.” I rub my face with my hands, glad I’m not wearing any makeup. “I think she had a nervous breakdown when she found out Jinzo is leaving Cressida Briar-Stevenson for me.” I bark out a laugh and roll my eyes. “And then you re-enter the picture? She’s afraid of skeletons in the closet. Like what happened with your dad will influence you to leave me someday.” I shrug. “I’m fairly confident now that’s why she drove us apart so many years ago. She dug into your family and didn’t like what came up. It doesn’t excuse her actions, but it explains them.”

“Were you in the hospital too?”

I grunt and extend my leg towards him. “Jinzo and I were out late at night, and I fell and hurt myself. Ripped a gash in this leg and it got infected. I passed out while visiting Mom to talk to Dad yesterday afternoon.”

Ken looks under the table and gently pulls up my pant leg. The clear bandage covers a pink scar about eight centimeters long.

“Yikes, Viv.” His fingers cup my ankle.

“I’ll be fine. What I want to know is will we be fine? This was your idea, to get back together. Do you regret it already? I wouldn’t blame you if you did. My life is so royally fucked up, and there are other more approachable women out there. And we’ve barely spent more than a day together since you —”

“No, I don’t regret it, Viv,” he interrupts me. “I feel a sense of… relief for the first time in years.” His shoulders relax, and a genuine smile appears. “I was so angry for so long, and then I was ridiculously determined to make something of myself. To try and make up for my shortcomings. It all turned out well, but I still wanted to know what happened. It was hard forging ahead without an explanation or an idea of what I did wrong.”

“You did nothing wrong. Everything was my fault, my family’s fault. It wasn’t you or anything you did.”

“I see that now.” He rests his chin on his propped hand, and deep inside, I’m grateful that he’s letting me take the blame for our break-up. It was my fault, but now we have the chance to correct it.

“Does that mean we’re okay?” Hope rises in my voice.

“Yeah, Vivi. You and I are good. It’s like a three-year-long tale of miscommunication. We should put it behind us.”

That’s possibly the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.

“I have other problems I need to deal with, though. The Flyght board of directors are a pack of rabid dogs, and they’ll do anything to avoid any kind of negative press. Any chance we’ll be going to Palo Alto soon?”

I stand up and offer him my hand. “You’re in luck. We leave tomorrow for Rio, and then we’re going to deliver four litters of raposquirrels from Rio to Palo Alto for a client.”

“Raposquirrels?” he asks, taking my hand. “Is that kind of animal import legal?”

“Don’t ask too many questions. It’s better if you know nothing.”

He laughs as he grabs his coat. It looks as though he keeps some clothes at his father’s place because he’s no longer in the same suit he was in two nights ago. I doubt that suit would have been comfortable to sleep in.

“Okay. Good plan. What’s next on the agenda?”

Oh, I have ideas.

“You take me out on a date, and we’ll figure out if we’re still into each other… if we can possibly fall in love again.”

To me, it’s a logical move like my first few real dates with Jinzo. We said we’d give it a shot, see if we had chemistry, and we do. Ken is a new man to me now, nothing like the person I loved all those years ago. I should give him the same fresh start I gave Jinzo.

With his hand on my lower back, he ushers me towards the door. It’s promising that his smile is soft and sweet.

“Well, that won’t be too hard,” he says, his hand pulling my waist gently along, “since I never stopped in the first place.”