out on bicycles
and we are definitely
the only ones
out on the road
by the beach
where the wind
slams us
full force
wobbling
our bikes
we pedal down
the coast road sidewalk
but I hadn’t counted on
rain lashing us
so hard it hurts
at the crossing light
we fight against gusts
walking our bikes across the road
to the landing of concrete stairs
that lead down to the beach
and there, high above sand
and waves that we can barely see
we hold our handlebars
in the punching
howling wind
below us, surf
pounds the beach
so hard it’s like being
inside thunder
salt spray
tropical wind
and rain
slap us
and just
standing there
or trying to
we’re nearly
drowning
Cora shouts, but I can’t hear
so we turn our bikes around
on that beach stair landing
and there
by the crossing light
in an oversized
clear plastic raincoat
is a kid
he’s wearing flip flops
and his raincoat
flaps and snaps wildly
and under the raincoat
he’s wearing shorts
a sweatshirt
and I think
binoculars
he presses the crossing button
and when the light changes
the wind
thrusts us all
fast across the road
we don’t ride
just push our bikes
to escape that beach
the gusting salt
rain and sand
and when we turn inland
to the main street
between buildings
I shout to Cora
you okay?
she nods
but she’s frowning
and her eyes say
this is so NOT
a good adventure
the boy steps around us
shouts above the wind this way!
and beyond a noodle shop
he leads us off the road
to a streetcar crossing
that doesn’t have a gate
we’re so wet and nearly drowned
that we follow, watching
and listening for trains
as I carry my bike
and the kid carries Cora’s bike
over the streetcar rails
he motions for us to
lean them against a wall
then beckons for us to follow
through a tile-roofed gate
and suddenly we are in a garden
and the big gate door
is latching behind us
Chapter 21
HOT TEA
before us is an old house
palms bending in the wind
and a tall stone lantern
beside a pebble path
the kid leads us up the path
past a huge pottery urn
catching plopping rain
and into a stone-floored entryway
we are so soaking wet
even inside our rain suits
that not even Cora
hesitates to step inside
the kid leaves us there
dripping puddles
onto the floor
returns with towels
and tells us to take off our shoes
and rain suits
so we towel off
then he motions for us
to step up into the house
which we almost do
but I stop
because I realize
now that he’s out of his raincoat
the kid is actually older than me
maybe much older
and I don’t think
anyone else is here
in this quiet house
but Cora steps up
follows him into the kitchen
where he turns on a burner
starts heating water
and spoons tea
into a teapot
do you go to the middle school?
I ask from the doorway
he tilts his head
points to a chair
for me to sit in
says no, nothing more
high school? I ask
no
well what school DO you go to?
Cora asks
I don’t he says
but if I did I’d be
third year middle school
the kid mutters about
searching for rice crackers
why don’t you go to school? Cora asks
he shrugs and says
I study at home …
do you like hōjicha?
any tea’s fine I say
so, do you? Cora asks the kid
what? make hōjicha? he says
no, study! do you study at home?
he thinks a minute then says
mostly no
and we all laugh
he moves aside his wet binoculars
and pours the tea into cups
as Cora and I sit down at the table
I’m Cora Cora says
pronouncing it the Japanese way
so it sounds like “cola”
and this is my brother Jason
but most people call him J
the kid nods, that’s all
till Cora sticks her head out
like a bird, expectant
and finally he gets the hint
and says
I’m Daiki
Nakano Daiki
like he’s out of practice
saying his own name
we sit without talking awhile
just sipping hot tea, then he says
I watched you going to the beach
I wanted to make sure you didn’t
go down the stairs to the water
people do that sometimes
check out the waves and try surfing
even in weather like this
people drown, you know
I say
we were just looking
he nods
not believing
like he knows everything
like I could have been one of those people
going too close to the waves
and Cora is looking at him
like he’s her big hero
really I say
we were just looking
but Daiki continues
last year after I quit school
I started watching the water
when the weather’s rough
one time
like today
before a typhoon
I watched a surfer go out
but he got tossed all over
and disappeared
so I called emergency
by the time firefighters
arrived with rescue stuff
he’d been under too long
and they couldn’t revive him
he died? Cora says, and Daiki nods
didn’t you call 119? Cora asks
of course he says
and they couldn’t help him? Cora whispers
and this Daiki guy says coldly
no, they can’t do everything, you know
and I’m thinking it’s time to leave
but Cora goes cold right back at him
changes the topic, and says
I think you should return to scho
ol
Daiki snorts
not that school
and he jerks his head
and by the direction and his eyes
I know he’s talking about
the local middle school
the one I’ll go to
if we can’t afford
international school
why? I say
see this? he says
and shows me a scar
on his forehead
near his hairline
that’s from when they tried
to shove me into the toilet
head first
so what happened? I ask
what do you mean? he says
were those kids punished?
they made them apologize Daiki says
made them clean bathrooms
so then it got better? I say
no he says
it got worse
after tea
before Cora and I leave
Daiki and I
trade cell phone numbers
so, maybe see you again?
Daiki says
and Cora and I both say
yeah, see you again
Chapter 22
TYPHOON DAY
the next day there is no school
because the typhoon moves toward us
faster than expected, and there are
flood warnings
landslide warnings
and the wind is blowing
garden furniture
branches
shutters
signs
and I guess the principal
figures it’s a good idea
not to have any accidents
at least not from natural causes
Mom’s and Dad’s
classes are canceled
aikido’s canceled
so we are all home
with rain shutters closed
and even though it’s
midday in October
it’s like a hot summer night
inside our house
the bell cricket
drives us crazy
singing rin rin rin
from the kitchen table
where we set the cage to keep it
from drowning on the balcony
and throughout the day
we find inside the house
escaping the rain
one lizard
one huge spider
one gecko
and two big cockroaches
that I chase and—thwap!
Mom puts on a Tora-san DVD
from a collection Dad got for her birthday
and first it’s just her watching
then Cora and her
then Cora, me, and her
then Cora, me, Dad, and her
all the Tora-san films are similar—
this weird guy Tora-san
sells trinkets and stuff
in different parts of Japan
and wants a girlfriend
but doesn’t get one
Mom says Tora-san
is good for her Japanese
and even though the films
are kind of old and dumb
whenever she puts one on
I can’t help but watch
in this episode
Tora-san takes his first flight
all the way to Okinawa
to see his girlfriend who’s sick
he helps her get well
but doesn’t stay
and at the end of the movie
all of us decide we, too
want to take a flight
to the southern islands
and Cora asks
if that’s possible
or if we could take a train
all the way to Kyūshū
then take a ferry
to that tropical island
where they sing
and eat outside
and where the beach sand
is perfect and clean
Mom’s happy face turns serious again
maybe—IF I get a full-time position she says
and Dad says
well, probably not a train
but maybe we could drive
then he pulls out his phone
and looks up drive time
from Tōkyō to Kagoshima
and says it would take us
eighteen hours each way
and the gas and tolls
would cost a fortune
and I know right away
this trip won’t happen
not with their schedules
and the cost of our visits
to the States each summer
and everyone knows
we can’t afford the trip anyway
but no one says why—that
we’re saving money for me
to change schools
we still don’t have the money
for international school, do we I say
and Mom says to be patient
that we’ll have it soon
that since she’s teaching
the Wednesday classes
on top of her other classes
all different days of the week
we’ll have the tuition
for the fall
fall? I say
but elementary school graduation
is in March!
they look at each other and Dad says
that actually, because Japanese school
ends in March and starts in April
yet the international school year
ends in June and starts in late August
that means from April until the start
of the international school year
I might be homeschooled or something
or something? I say
you mean, like
go to the local middle school?
no way!
why can’t I just start
international school in April?
Jason Mom says all soft and quiet
like I’m being unreasonable
besides tuition you have to pay
a big registration fee
and given the cost
we think that rather than start
at the end of their school year
it makes more sense to start
at the start of their school year
with all the other new students
and suddenly I think of Daiki—
how he doesn’t go to school
and I ask
how old do you have to be to quit school?
my parents look at me funny
then Cora opens her big mouth and says
yeah! that boy we met yesterday
at the beach
he doesn’t go to school
that’s illegal isn’t it!
the beach?
Mom and Dad both say
and Cora clamps
both her hands
over her mouth
too late
Chapter 23
WHITE DEER
that night we’re
lying in our beds
and I’m not talking to Cora
but she’s yakking and yakking
at me
I already had to listen to
a lecture about water
a lecture about my responsibilities
a lecture about strangers
a lecture about thinking about Cora
and I’m tired of thinking about Cora
so I don’t answer
she’s jabbering on and on
and I’m not listening and
shove my head under my pillow
but she climbs the ladder to my bunk
she lifts the pillow
money! she says
I’m talking about money
so listen
she tells me her business plan
for us to take pictures
of the beach and Mount Fuji
of temples and shrines
with her stuffed squirrel
named Gray in each photo
get it? she says
it’s like Gray
is a tourist
visiting Japan
taking a trip around Kamakura
and this whole area
I lift the pillow
all the way off my head
and stare at her
and what exactly will we
do with these pictures of Gray?
sell them!
make postcards!
make folders!
I groan
how? and why?
and WHO would want pictures
of a stuffed squirrel? I say
I don’t know!
YOU think of that—
I thought up the product
YOU do the marketing
right I tell her
and finally
she climbs down the ladder
and leaves me alone
the typhoon wakes us both
in the middle of the night
with wind that screams and
gusts that hit with such force
they make the house shudder
in between gusts
there’s a steady roar
which I finally realize
is the ocean
way down the hill
as loud as if it’s
outside our door
Cora comes up to my bunk
and in the typhoon night
things rattle, crash
smash, slam
and groan
finally we take our pillows
into Mom and Dad’s room
and wriggle into their futons
then we all give up sleeping
go down to the living room
and watch TV news of the storm
until the power cuts off
then we’re in the dark
pointing our flashlights
setting up the camping lantern
opening the sofa bed
that we bought when we moved here
for visitors from the States
who never seem to visit
and we squish in together
and in the lantern light
we listen to Dad tell a story
a story he learned
in Massachusetts
when he was a boy
Dad’s story
which he says may
or may not be true
is about a white deer
considered sacred to Mohicans
a deer that came in the early morning
and at dusk to drink from a lake
and a French fur trader
who wanted very badly
the skin of that white deer
but the tribal leaders wouldn’t
give it up and guarded the deer
and its fawn which was
also white
until one night
one member of the tribe betrayed them
took the white deer to the Frenchman