Summer Haikus – Chapter 36

When we enter Masa’s grandparents’ house in Kamakura, a young detective sits seiza at their common room small table, awaiting our arrival. His grandfather, a tiny graying man with bushy eyebrows, smiles at us from the doorway as we remove our shoes. Masa’s grandmother, her hair laced with gray in a bun and wearing a cream-colored kimono, sits sullenly, her eyes directed at the floor. With a flurry of activity, his grandfather and the detective both rise to greet us and bow.

“Sorry it took us so long to get here. We should have taken a cab from the train station. I forgot how long the walk was.” Masa’s forehead glistens with sweat and he inhales a deep breath and lets it out again, rolling his eyes. “Isa is in much better shape than I am.” He laughs at me, hardly sweaty and not even breathing deep. We walked about two kilometers from the station, up the side of a mountain overlooking the bay, to a lovely two-story traditional house with a balcony and clothing hung out to dry.

“Grandpa, this my girlfriend, Isa.” Masa gestures to us both.

I bow to cover up my blush at being called Masa’s girlfriend, something I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to, especially since we’ll be separated soon.

“It’s so good to meet you. We’ve heard a lot about you from Masa and his parents.” His grandpa shakes my hand and smiles while glancing at his wife. She still hasn’t moved from the table, her eyes downcast.

“It’s good to meet you, too. I’ll…” I glance around at the new house I’ve just invited myself into. “I’ll take a seat over in this room with Masa’s things while you discuss what’s going on.” I gesture to the adjoining room and bow before smiling at Masa and wheeling his bag in behind me. Remembering my manners, I kneel at the sliding door and push it closed quietly with both hands.

I can’t hear anything going on in the other room but muffled voices, so I try to ignore them and busy myself by returning emails on my phone. I sit on the couch next to a power outlet, my phone plugged in, and sweep my eyes over the room. The space is an extension of the living room Masa’s in right now, but whereas the living room is tatami and traditional, this room has hardwood floors, couches, an entertainment center, and high ceilings with dark wood beams. The walls are painted white and the windows are open, the sound of the ocean washing in. The kitchen is part of this large room, decked out in stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.

Masa slides open the door thirty minutes later as the detective is leaving, and his grandma walks past me and straight up the stairs to a bedroom, closing the door behind her.

“Can I get you something to drink, Isa?” Masa’s grandpa asks. I glance at Masa.

“Actually,” he interrupts, coming over to me and handing me my bag. “I’m going to take Isa out to dinner and drop her off at the train station. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

His grandpa nods, sadly. “Of course. Why don’t you take her to the ramen shop you love? I’m sure you’ll get in, since it’s early for dinner.”

“Ramen sounds great,” I say, rising to my feet. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to stay and talk more with you.”

“Next time, Isa.” We bow to each other. Masa and I grab our shoes and head out the door.

“It’s this way,” Masa says, gesturing down a road we didn’t walk to get here. Ambling down the road, he keeps his eyes on the sidewalk in front of us, kicking at stones, and winding around potted plants, all the while, his hand on my back or my elbow.

I don’t want to pry, but his grandma seems really upset, and when Masa is this quiet, it’s never a good thing.

We walk in silence for five minutes, and when we arrive at the ramen restaurant, the tables are only half full, leaving us with no wait. Masa doesn’t say a word until we’ve both washed the city off our hands with the hot towels provided and beers land on the table, ice cold.

“So, I think I’m going to stay here for a week until my parents show up. My grandma is depressed with everything that happened, and my grandpa still has to go into the office every day.”

“Where does he work? And what happened?”

“The family fortune is in dental supplies,” he says, chuckling before drinking from his glass. “You can see why my dad became a dentist.” He flashes his gorgeous grin at me and winks. I splutter in my beer, choking on the freezing liquid before Masa pounds me on the back. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to blind you with my pearly whites.”

“You crack me up.” I sigh, wiping my chin. “Makes a lot of sense, but I never thought of dentistry being big in Japan.”

“Well, dental supplies is a fine business especially since they export. But no, dentistry is socialized here so my father did much better in the States.” He sighs. “Anyway, have you heard of the ‘Ore, ore’ scam?”

“No, what’s that?”

“The detective told me it’s been around for ages now. Basically, scam artists call up older people, pretend they’re a family member in need of money, and get the person to drop off a huge sum of cash to help that person out.”

My scalp prickles. “Uh-oh.”

Masa nods his head, staring off into the kitchen where the ramen chefs shout to each other and prepare bowls of noodles and broth. “She thought it was me on the phone. Maybe because I haven’t called in a long time since being here? I don’t know. I’m an asshole for not checking in.”

I place my hand over his on the table and squeeze. “Your family is so big. You’ve been talking to your dad’s brothers and sisters.”

“I’ve completely neglected my grandparents though, and now they’ve lost close to seven hundred thousand yen because of this.”

“Oh my god! That’s so much money!” I cover up my mouth and glance around, but I don’t think anyone heard me.

“They told my grandma I was in some kind of gambling debt. You can imagine what my father thinks of me now.”

“But it’s not your fault. And why didn’t she talk to your grandpa about this? I’m sure he would have stopped her.”

Two bowls of ramen, topped with tempura shrimp, land on the table in front of us, and my mouth begins to water. Masa licks his lips. It was a stressful day and we both eat our feelings.

“No clue.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Grandma won’t say a word. She withdrew the money from the bank and gave it to the scammers the same day. It happened too quickly for my grandpa to figure it out.”

I tap some shichimi togarashi, spiced red pepper flakes, into the bowl and swirl around the noodles before taking a sip with the spoon. Masa lifts his spoon at the same time and we say, “Mmmm,” synchronized.

I quirk a small smile at him, and we stare at each other for a long moment. Some days it’s as if we share the same brain or emotions, like he’s my other half.

It hits me in the chest that I’m about to go home to Kichijōji, and I don’t know when I’ll see him again.

I set my chopsticks down and rest my hand on his leg under the table.

“Is this the last time I see you before you go home?” I whisper. I close my eyes and prepare for the worst. My hand shakes as I grip Masa’s leg. His father will show up, deal with his grandparents, and drag Masa back to the US with him while he’s at it. And this dinner in a ramen shop will be the last I see of him in person.

He picks up my hand and sandwiches it between both of his. “I really hope not. I’m an adult and all that, but I’m at the mercy of my father’s bank account until I get my own job.”

“I could make you a ryokan employee,” I say, my voice lifting and chest fluttering.

Masa shakes his head, smiling but sad. “Sweet Isa. How did I get so lucky?” He sighs as he lets go of my hand and tucks a loose strand of my unruly bangs behind my ear. “I want to make this happen on my own terms. I love my parents, and I want them to love you like I do, and I don’t want to piss them off, and I want to stay in Japan.”

My eyes water hearing him say he wants to stay with me.

“Don’t cry,” he whispers, so I sniff up and blow out a breath. “I just have a lot of work to do here.”

“Okay.” I return to the noodles and pause. “But promise me one thing?”

“What’s that?”

“That we call and text and talk. I don’t think I can get through the coming weeks without hearing your voice.”

He smiles and nods his head. “That I can do.”