Orchards (11 page)

I ask what year he is

and he says
middle school third

so he’s one ahead of me

but since he attends a combined

middle and high school

he doesn’t have to take

high school entrance exams

and study all this summer

I ask if he likes it there in Shimizu

and he shrugs

every day school, basketball

school, basketball

he says

I could be anywhere

then Kota asks about

my time in Kohama

so far

I start to tell him

little bits about

the district middle school

the
mikan
work

the projects with Koichi

but then I realize

he’s only half listening

I stop

wait

and he says

aren’t you here ’cause someone died?

I sit there stunned

so used to

no one

around me

talking about you

and then I have to stand

and turn

and face the cliff

and its eroded contours

because I am crying

Kota waits

and when I finally turn back

and walk over to where the sea

just barely laps the rocks

and lean down for a handful of water

to wash off my face

and sit down again

not far from him

he says he’s sorry

I shake my head

to mean

it’s okay

then he asks

was it a friend?

and I think

then weigh my words

and answer softly

adding the helping verb
hazu

tomodachi no hazu datta

she should have been

was supposed to have been

a friend

for a while

we just sit there

staring at the still water

then we head back

to the festival stalls

and Kota pays money

says
watch this

and with a circle of paper net

dips and slides and turns and catches

three goldfish

that he carefully drops into

a plastic bag

of water

and after he ties the string

shut

he holds them up

between us

and hands the

bag of flashing

darting orange

to me

T
hat evening we all go down

to the seawall

and watch

as Koichi with the other men

of the fire brigade

in
happi
coats and headbands

ignite the wood

for 108 fires

the number being symbolic

in Buddhism

for 108 things like

greed

pride

ignorance

egoism

jealousy

cruelty

deceit

rage

that must be overcome

to reach Nirvana

but since it’s the second night

of Obon I ask

are these

welcoming or

sending-off fires

after a moment

Baachan says

both

so I ask

but won’t that confuse the spirits?

and she says

they can come and go

as they please

with their free schedules

and I realize that Baachan

has actually attempted

a joke

108 fires

burn

blaze

spark

and snap

the flames leaping

and heating our feet

legs and hands

warming the faces

of villagers

perched and

illuminated

there on the seawall

above the pier

when the fires die

the fire brigade guys

sweep the ash

into the bay

and everyone jumps down

from the wall

and heads to the village hall lot

to sing

and dance

some of the dances

we’ve practiced

and compete

in a rock-paper-scissors contest

where I win …

a melon

and walking back to the house

cradling my melon

I wonder

if we could issue invitations

send word to spirits

from other lands and languages

to come midsummer

to this shore opposite Mount Fuji

and find the village

with the three needle-like rocks

that poke up by the river mouth

and locate the row of 108 fires along

a pier that juts out from this village

into Suruga Bay

if we could invite

distant spirits

to join in

the celebrations

here

and if I did

invite you, Ruth

well?

would you come?

T
he next morning

Uncle doesn’t let us sleep in

but hollers us

awake at six

when Yurie is getting ready

to go to work

which is way too early

for a holiday

we cram into two cars

and drive up into the hills

to do a ridge walk

along a path to the

nearest peak

from the parking lot

to the summit

is only an hour’s walk

but we hardly talk the whole way

everyone in a straggly line

groggy

          and sweaty

                 and cranky

                        and hungry

but when we reach the summit

we can see the sea

east and west,

and to the north

Mount Fuji, one side

still morning rouge

and to the south

rolling on

nearly forever

the swishing
sasa
grass

and mountains

of this peninsula

Uncle sets out a plastic sheet

and Baachan and both aunts

set out a picnic breakfast

of rice balls

and pickles

and fried chicken

and fruit

and salad

and there is coffee

and tea

and canned
mikan
juice

and everyone

gradually

comes to life

and there

at nearly a thousand meters

above the sea and higher

than just about everything

I feel

I could practically wave

at you

later, back at the house

I help with laundry

and kitchen cleanup

and prepare more foods

to set out later

whenever people are hungry

feeling sorry for Yurie

having to work

and wanting to do what I can

to be sure she

doesn’t have to work more

when she gets home

then when it is still afternoon

when Uncle and

other uncle and

Kota have gone off

Baachan makes me bathe

and upstairs makes me

dress in kimono underclothes

and kneel on a cushion

while she does my hair

up

and back

and pinned too tight with ornaments

then Yurie

gets home from the pharmacy

sees my hair and

takes it down

and does it

up

and back

and pinned again with ornaments

          but better

          with hair spray

          and gel

Baachan, Yurie and my aunts

then present me with

a
yukata
kimono

of morning glories

that Aunt has sewn

from fabric they bought

and an obi long as the room

that Baachan tugs, folds, bends

into a bow

tied tight around my waist

Baachan announcing to all

that she must add

extra towel stuffing

to straighten my figure and

compensate

for my extra-wide

oversized

butt

Yurie dresses in
yukata
, too

a single thin towel

enough

to straighten her

slim figure

downstairs

we find

Kota is waiting

now smiling

he, too, in a
yukata

men’s style

photos are snapped

indoors

outdoors

in all combinations of

cousins and aunts and uncles and Baachan

even one with me in the center

of everyone

holding my bowl of

darting orange

goldfish

then Kota, Yurie and I

step our feet into
geta

and shuffle out to the village hall parking lot

now strung with paper lanterns

now with music blaring

now full of the village and visitors

and Koichi and the fire brigade

then Aunt, Uncle

other aunt and uncle

and Baachan

and cousins I’ve met

cousins I’ve maybe met

neighbors I’ve seen

neighbors I’ve never seen

we all dance circles of

Bon dances

later I send pictures to

Mom, Dad and Emi

and Emi emails

you look so

Japanese!