Summer Haikus – Chapter 41

Masa’s fingers grip my waist, and I become lost in a haze. My brain shorts out, taking in the world around me, his living room and us on the couch, naked and unwilling to move to the bedroom. The morning sun slants in the window, the day blazing to life. Masa groans in my ear and bites my earlobe.

Beep, beep, beep. “What is that?” I lift myself up off of him, and he’s on the phone. “Masa, why are you on the phone?”

Beep, beep, beep.

“Isa, I can’t reach you,” he says into the phone.

Beep, beep, beep.

I gasp and jolt upright in bed, my hand slamming down on the alarm clock on the floor, knocking it over and sending the batteries across the room. Panting, I try to catch my breath, my whole body on fire. I think, though it’s all foggy, I had a sex dream about Masa. I groan and fall back into bed, ignoring the pulsing beat of my heart between my legs.

Yeah. I know, body, I miss him too.

I blink my eyes in the dark and scramble to get out of bed. It’s race day! And my four in the morning wakeup call is so I can get to the stadium with Halley and pump her up before the start. I turn on the small lamp next to the bed and pick up my iPhone on the charger. The screen comes to life with hundreds of notifications, and I rub my eyes to focus them.

At least fifty notifications from Instagram and YouTube clog my locked screen, and I scroll for ages trying to see them all. The mail program gave up after the seventy-plus pieces of email I received, too, in the middle of the night.

I swipe my phone, reluctant and scared about what I’ll find. I have 167 new followers on Instagram and new ones pop up as I’m looking at the newsfeed. My YouTube channel is suddenly extremely popular, comments overflowing on every video and the views rocketing into the thousands. I click through to read some of the comments, cringing and wondering if I’ve been spammed or trolled.

“Love your videos! So cool you’re friends with Halley.”

“I learned some new words today. Thanks! Tell Halley we’re all cheering for her!”

“Keep up the videos!”

The mention of Halley raises the hairs on the back of my neck. I’ve been careful over the years to keep her out of my online social presence. Halley has her own space and it is rightfully hers. Every now and then, she’s appeared in my Instagram feed, and I’ve appeared in hers, but we’ve never promoted each other. The video I took of her in the garden for the latest YouTube Japanese lesson was a fluke, the first time she’s ever been in one of my tutorials. I don’t even mention her in the comments. I don’t even know how people knew she was there!

I navigate to my email and amongst the million notifications is a share email from Halley from The Japan Times website. “It’s your turn to shine, Isa,” she wrote with the link to an article.

—-

How do you like Japan, Halley?

I love Japan! I wish I could spend years here instead of just a few months for the Olympics. It’s one of my favorite places to travel to. I feel really at home here.

You’ve been here before…

Yes, I ran the Tokyo Marathon in 2017 and came in second place. It was one of the highlights of my life. I had a great race, even though my best friend couldn’t be with me.

We’ve heard your best friend is your training partner and taught you Japanese, is that correct?

Yes it is. My best friend, Isano, and I have been friends since we were kids. She’s half Japanese and has spent a lot of years teaching me little phrases and words. Before we left for Tokyo, she gave me this dictionary as a gift, and I use it every day. I’m sure a lot of my love for this country has come through her. She introduced me to sushi and Girls’ Day, and I even have my own kimono. Isa is extremely smart and talented, and I’m so lucky to have her as my best friend. She runs a YouTube channel where she teaches Japanese lessons. I love them and watch them religiously. I bet if more people watched them, they would love Japan as much as I do.

—-

Holy shit. The article has been shared over five thousand times already, and it’s only a few hours old! I scan down the page, and they included links to my YouTube channel and my Instagram feed. No wonder my notifications are blinging off the chart. This is sweet. This is so sweet. What did I do to deserve such an awesome friend? She didn’t have to do this for me.

I stare forward, out at the darkened Tokyo skyline. “Have you turned on the advertising on your YouTube channel yet? Turn it on. Any money is better than no money,” she said to me, and I did. I turned them on later that day. I dash back over to YouTube, and my account is slowly ticking up revenue. It won’t bring me much money, but if I want to pay for extras like trips back to the US or flying Masa here to see me, I’m going to need every penny I can get. Assuming we don’t break up when he goes back, because we still don’t know what’s going to happen. He’s been in Kamakura for the past week, boxing up his grandparent’s home and staying out of the way while they sell the house.

Halley knew I needed this. She saw my pain, saw my struggle, and gave me something from her heart.

“I got the article. My notifications are off the charts. You didn’t have to do that!” I type to her in a new text.

“Girl, you deserve it. What you’ve done is awesome. You’ve always sacrificed everything for me. I wanted to do this in return.”

“I love you. You know that?” A tear skitters down my nose and falls on the iPhone screen.

“I love you too. You’re my BFF and always will be. Even if I’m far away. Now get your ass here. I’m nervous as all hell!”

A small laugh leaks out and I jump up to grab my clothes for the day. My bag is already packed with sunscreen, water, and snacks, so I throw on my shorts and a USA t-shirt and take the stairs down two-at-a-time.

Texting with one hand, I check outside and the car I hired is waiting at the curb.

“I’ll be right there.”

—-

I arrive at the stadium forty-five minutes later. Traffic on marathon day is out of control with so many streets blocked off for the route. I got within eyesight of the stadium before I paid the cabbie and walked the rest of the way.

“There you are!” Halley screams, jumping and throwing her arms around my neck. I squeeze her in the early morning light, wishing there was more time to talk before the race begins. “I was worried you wouldn’t make it.”

“Me? Not make it today of all days? Nope. This is why I make plans.” Goodness knows I had four possible ways to get here, all plotted out.

Halley steps back from me, and I examine her from head to toe. She shellacked her hair into a sturdy ponytail and her skin is glowing, always a good sign before a race because it means she’s been hydrating. The air around us is sticky with humidity and stagnant. No breeze. It’ll be a difficult day to run, but she’s ready in her favorite shoes and lucky running shorts. Yes, she has lucky running shorts. I have a lucky running bra. I swear, this is normal.

I smile and hug her mom and dad, but they both look green and nervous, so I pull Halley to the side for stretching. This part of the parking lot is cleared away for now so athletes can get final words in from their friends, coaches, or family. The stadium doors are still closed, due to open any minute now. Cars wait at the gates to be admitted entrance for the day.

“Hey,” I say, clasping her shoulders and looking her in the eyes. “This is it. It’s what you’ve worked so hard for.”

“I know.” She smiles and bounces on her toes, windmilling her arms and warming up her body. In all the years I’ve known her, she never gets nervous before a race, despite her texts to the contrary, no matter how challenging the course, the conditions, or the prizes at stake. She was born to run, just like me, but we have different goals. She runs to win. I run to lose myself, to get away.

“Remember to pace yourself and stay at the front. Save some energy for the last mile. It’s always the difference between winners and losers.”

She laughs and punches my arm. “I got this. Hey, is Masa going to show up?”

I nod my head. “We texted yesterday afternoon. He spent the entire day moving his grandparents, so he said he’d be on the first train this morning. Hopefully he can get here soon.”

“I have faith he’s going to make it, and that he’s going to stay here in Japan with you.”

“I can only hope. At this point, I’ve done everything except throw myself at his father’s feet and beg.”

“Hope has gotten us pretty far.”

“Hard work does too,” I remind her. “You’ve got this.”

The doors to the stadium open behind us and the crowd ebbs towards the entrance, athletes in a dozen colored outfits streaming past us, leaving their loved ones behind on the pavement.

“Halley!” a young woman also wearing a USA running top calls and waves. She waves at me too, and I wave back. I’m pretty sure I know her since these runners do the same marathons over and over, but my brain is too slow to drag up her name in time.

“Gotta go.” Halley cocks her head to the side and raises her palm to her ear. “What’s that I hear?”

I smile and respond like I do every race. “Let’s see that comet tail!”