Summertime of the Dead (20 page)

‘Very frightened!' said the Lump.

I never told the Lump we were leaving. I didn't have to. I just put on my helmet, kick-started the engine and tore away.

‘Scary man!' she shouted.

The Lump had never spoken a truer word. Because I knew who that man was. His name was Yama and he was an absolute maniac! There are two Yamas. One's from Buddhist mythology. He's the god of the dead, the ruler of the underworld. And he did some terrible things to some terrible people. But he was nowhere near as bad as this Yama. He was Uncle Benni's most feared enforcer and it was rumoured that he drank the blood of the dead. And the worst thing was, it might be true.

You see, the triads, who are the yakuza's equivalent in China, were having trouble this one time with a rebel crew. They asked Uncle Benni to sort the situation and he sent in Yama. Afterwards they found the triad crew in a basement – leastways they found their body parts. And the Hong Kong papers reported that some of the body parts had
been eaten. Yama was arrested and held in custody for two years, but they couldn't make the charges stick and so he was released. When he came back to Tokyo one journalist made the mistake of saying, ‘A beast like Yama shouldn't be allowed on the street.' Three days later the journalist's body was found in a dumpster. But he had no tongue; someone had bitten it off. After that nobody said a word about him.

Like the Lump said, he was a very scary man. And just the thought of him standing in the shadows was enough to give me the creeps.

‘Hungry,' said the Lump.

I couldn't believe how lucky I was bringing her with me! I would have been dead otherwise. Yama might have been able to hide from me, but nothing escapes my cousin.

‘When we get home, my little Mikazuki, I'll cook you whatever you want. I don't care how late it is.'

It was silent as we sat at the kitchen table. I drank some green tea and concentrated on the paper. The Lump drank her hot chocolate and concentrated on her cookies. Then we heard a noise coming from the hall. Me and the Lump looked into the
darkness and saw an image like a ghost. Then Grandmother came in and took a seat. It was rare to see her out of bed. And she was still wearing her night dress.

‘You OK, Grandmother?'

She held her head in her hands, like she'd had a bad dream, and so I put some tea in front of her. The Lump looked concerned. Getting down from the table she gave Grandmother the last of her cookies. Grandmother sat up then as though coming to her senses.

‘And how are you, Mikazuki?'

‘Good,' said the Lump.

‘I hope my grandson has been treating you well.' She gave me a strange look. ‘He can be selfish at times, but he is a brave warrior to be sure. Even our ancestors would be proud of him.'

For just a second I thought that Grandmother knew! But then she looked away.

‘Tell me, Mikazuki, what do you think of your Uncle Yukio?'

The Lump looked at me. ‘Very nice man,' she said.

‘And have you enjoyed your stay?'

‘Very much!' said the Lump.

‘Well, your sister's tour finishes soon. So you'll be able to go home.'

The Lump's face clouded over. She gave me a look and I knew I had to say something. ‘Could she not stay with us, Grandmother?'

The Lump's eyes shot to Grandmother. But Grandmother looked confused. ‘She is staying with us.'

‘For good, I mean.'

Then it sank in. ‘Well, well, well. Who'd have thought that you two would end up being friends?' Grandmother had a chuckle to herself. But then she stared into nothing and seemed far away.

The Lump gave me another look.

‘Well, can she?'

Grandmother didn't look happy then. ‘Of course she can't. Her family will miss her.'

I could have said something about that, but I didn't. But the Lump saw it was no good and her head went down. But Grandmother's face softened.

‘I'll tell you what – I'll ask her mother if she can stay with us every time she has a school holiday. And every time Hatsu goes on tour. Not only that,' said Grandmother with some formality, ‘I will request that she comes and lives with us when
she's a little older. So she can be educated here in Tokyo. And I'm pretty sure she'll agree, if it's put properly.'

‘Thank you, Grandmother,' I said.

When I looked at the Lump she was finding it hard to control her joy. She got down from her chair. I thought she was going to bow to Grandmother, but she ran into her lap and threw her arms around her. Grandmother was taken aback at first, but then she stroked the Lump's head. She even looked a little touched. ‘OK, that's enough, let me get back to bed.' She got up and headed to her room. ‘Don't you two stay up too late.'

‘We won't,' I said, even though it was late already.

The Lump took a seat and drank the last of her hot chocolate. In all my life I'd never seen anyone look so pleased.

‘Very happy!' said the Lump.

She made me laugh. ‘Me too,' I said.

I sat on a bench in the park with the newspaper in my hands. I'd read the article a few times and each time it was a little more painful. And so I stopped reading it and watched the ravens bicker over a piece of bread. It must be nice to be a bird or a small animal, something that doesn't have problems. Because my problems had just got a lot worse. That yakuza I'd killed on the chopper, the one who rode into an oncoming car, well, he wasn't a yakuza at all. He was an undercover cop, and the police were vowing to hunt down his killer. His chief said that he was a dedicated officer respected by his colleagues and that he would be sorely missed. He wasn't married and had no children. But his mother said that there was a girl he was fond of, but she married someone
else. She also said that ever since he was a small boy, all he wanted to do was help people. And now that he was dead she wanted to die herself.

I put the paper in the garbage and headed back to the house. As soon as I opened the door the Lump was there. She was sitting in the hall with her rucksack on her back. She stood up and smiled when she saw me and I smiled back, but she sensed that something was wrong. ‘OK, Yukio?'

‘I'm not feeling too good. We'll go out later, I promise.'

I went to my room and closed the door and then I stood there feeling as lost as I'd ever felt. And I was so tired – it was like all my chi energy had drained away. I'd started out to avenge the twins, defend the weak and live by the bushido code. I'd wanted to live with honour or die an honourable death. But I'd ended up killing an innocent cop, which is such a dishonourable thing to do. But ashamed as I was, I took a deep breath and tried to get my mind straight. Because tonight I was going to Uncle Benni's house to kill Riko. And there was a good chance I wouldn't make it out. They say karma always catches up with you in the end, and so I suppose if I'm killed tonight then that will be justice for the cop. But then the
thought of death sank into my mind and saddened me, and I had no right to feel sad. I've taken life and therefore I should be willing to face death. But it wasn't death I was afraid of. There were animals in that house, and I knew if they caught me I wouldn't die quickly. ‘I have to train!'

I took off my shirt and took the sword from the wardrobe. There was enough space, as long as I didn't raise it in the
jodan
stance. And so I started the katas from the
chudan
stance. I imagined there was an opponent in front of me and I thrust the sword into his throat, stabbed at his torso and struck at his shoulders. I stooped and jammed the sword into his armpit. I hacked at his hands and fingers and I chopped at his elbows.

I kept performing the katas until I was sweating and the room was spinning. But then something strange happened. It was as if my mind went into a trance. I started to see real people in front of me. It was like I was being attacked by an army of tattooed men, and the more that came the harder I fought. I struck their skulls, gashed their throats and stabbed at their eyes. I could feel the sword breaking bones and severing arteries. And I could see the men falling in agony around me. I hacked
at their raised hands, and their fingers fell to the floor. Blood spattered on the bedroom walls and dripped from the ceiling. I could feel its warmth running down my back. But then I stumbled on the screaming bodies and the body parts and the heads that were staring up at me. And then I fell to the floor, which was swaying like a rolling ship. The screaming turned into that clanging sound. It got louder and louder until it was so painful I had to cover my ears but that didn't help. I looked up at the statue of the Buddha and I begged him to make it stop.

Next thing I knew, the Lump was there. She said something, but I couldn't understand her. She pulled my hands away and put her hands over my ears. Suddenly the ringing stopped. ‘Poor Yukio,' she said, and she looked so worried. She took the sword from me, and putting it in the wardrobe she piled pillows on top of it. I just sat there in a daze like the shocked survivor of a train crash. I even looked around the room searching for body parts, but of course there weren't any. I felt frightened then, and sad, because I knew I was changing, and I liked the person I used to be.

The Lump took my arm and helped me to my
feet. My whole body was aching and shivering and I felt exhausted.

‘Come, Yukio,' she said, and handed me my shirt.

I put it on and followed her downstairs and then she opened the door and led me outside. She wanted to lead me down the street but I pulled away. I don't know where she was trying to take me, but I didn't want to go. But the Lump grabbed my arm. ‘Please, Yukio!' I was too weak to argue and so I went along. She led me over the tracks, and across the road, and pulling me up the concrete ramp she led me into the park. She walked me through the trees, and all the time her eyes were searching. It was like she was looking for something and she seemed desperate to find it. Then she stopped. ‘Ants! Look, Yukio, beautiful ants!' I looked down at them just to please her, but they were just ants. She saw a butterfly land on a plant. ‘Look, Yukio, beautiful butterfly!' It was a big butterfly with emerald-coloured wings. It fluttered upwards and I watched it go. ‘And look, beautiful trees!' said the Lump. I looked up at the trees. The golden sunlight made the leaves see-through and it warmed my face. The Lump took my hand and we came out on the common. There were families having picnics and there were small
children running around. An old woman with a camera smiled as she took photographs, and a proud dad was teaching his small son to fly a kite. To me it all seemed as unreal as the bodies in my room.

A couple of common sparrows landed on the ground. The Lump pointed at them. ‘And look, Yukio, beautiful birds as well!' She held out her hands and cringed as though the beauty of it all pained her. ‘Beautiful park! And beautiful people! And beautiful sky!' Then she looked up at me. ‘And beautiful Yukio!'

That killed me! A pain came into my heart and I collapsed to my knees! I tried to be strong, but for the second time in that park I broke down. I cried for the twins and the cop and the girl with no fingers. And I cried for Yoshe's baby and Grandmother and for the Lump, who thought everything was beautiful. I felt so pathetic but I couldn't stop. And so the Lump put her arm around me and hugged me and wiped away the tears. Then she knelt next to me and held my hand. I felt peaceful in my head then, just the way I did before all of this started.

We watched children chase each other around the trees and we watched a mum with her little girl as she rode her bike for the first time. We smiled at the
small boy as he ran with his red kite and we flinched when he fell down. But he got up and laughed, and then we got up and headed home.

The Lump linked arms with me as she walked me back to the house. And as soon as we were through the door she ran to my room. I knew what she was after, and sure enough she came out carrying the swords.

‘Hide,' she said.

I climbed the steep steps into the loft and the Lump followed. She looked around and seeing only the chest she opened it. She started to take out all my grandfather's things – his books and his medals and his uniforms. I helped her, and when we were done she put the swords at the bottom. Then, very quickly, she started piling the other things on top. She kept going until the chest was full and then she closed the lid and stood back. She scowled at it, as if she didn't like it, and then she turned to me.

‘It's OK,' I said. ‘It's over.' I was so relieved when I said those words. I felt like a soldier on a battlefield, ready to make a suicide attack, only to be told that the war was over. The Lump had saved me and now I didn't know what to say to her.

‘Hungry?'

‘Hungry,' said the Lump.

As soon as we went downstairs Grandmother came out of her room. She had a letter in her hand. ‘Mikazuki, your parents are home. You will be leaving us tonight on the sleeper to Sapporo.'

The Lump looked sad and so did I.

‘Don't worry, Yukio,' said Grandmother. ‘She'll be back soon enough … Now you get packed, Mikazuki, and I'll have your things sent to the station. Then, if your uncle so wishes, he can take you somewhere nice for dinner. Would you like that, Yukio?

‘Yes, Grandmother, I would.'

The Lump went upstairs to pack and I went in the kitchen and sat at the table. Yoshe put tea in front of me, without being asked, and then she took a seat.

‘You look so pale, Yukio. Are you OK?'

‘Sure,' I said.

‘It was nice you looking after her while she was here. I think she really enjoyed herself.'

‘I'm going to buy her a present before she goes. What do you think she'd like?'

‘I don't know. She's so … different. Maybe you should ask her.'

We heard her coming downstairs and went out into the hall.
Grandmother came out of her room. ‘Where're your clothes and your suitcase?' she asked.