The Purple Heart (33 page)

Ruth’s expression changed
to one of sympathy and she immediately put her arms around Aiko. “Oh you poor
dear, I’m so sorry to hear that. Let me get you to the front.” Ruth gently
guided Aiko passed the throngs of people as she consoled her with one arm.

“The 11 o’clock flight?”
Ruth asked.

With her face still in her
hands feigning a soft sob, Aiko bobbed her head up and down. But she still
hadn’t shed a tear and she knew her story wouldn’t hold if there weren’t some
tears to show for it. She thought of sad thoughts but it didn’t work. She tried
to induce a yawn to no avail. She rubbed her eyes with her fingertips to cause
discomfort and still no tears. Then she did the last thing that was left, she
bit down on her inner cheek and her face winced in pain. She could suddenly
taste the warm trickle of blood seeping around her inner left gum. Then to
Aiko’s elation, she felt tears begin to well up in her eyes.

Ruth brought her to the
next open ticket agent as she gently rubbed Aiko’s back. Ruth mouthed to the
agent, “Bereavement,” and the ticket agent nodded in understanding.

“Here you go, dear, I’m
sorry to hear about your loss but at least you’ll get back home on United.
Kendra will help you,” Ruth said comfortingly.

Aiko looked up and stared
back at Ruth with her tearful eyes and managed a weak smile. “Thank you,” she
said.

Aiko looked up at the
ticket agent, a black woman who looked sympathetic to Aiko’s situation. She was
a slightly overweight woman with pudgy fingers. Her hair was pulled back taut
displaying her gold shell-shaped earrings and a gold necklace around her neck.

“I’m sorry to hear about
your loss. What flight do you need to get on?”

Aiko still struggling to
feign her emotional distress calmly said, “The 11 o’clock flight to LA.”

Kendra began typing into
her terminal when a disappointed face came across her face. “I’m sorry, but the
entire flight is full.”

Aiko’s heart sank. It can’t
be. She looked at her wristwatch and it displayed 10:35 A.M. “There’s got to be
a seat,” pleaded Aiko.

“I’m sorry but…” Kendra was
about to repeat the bad news when Aiko sank her face into her folded arms on
the counter and started to sob.

“Okay, let me check again,”
offered Kendra as she started to type again. “Oh wait, there is one seat left
in business class but it’s going to cost a lot of mo…”

That’s when Aiko flipped
out her credit card and driver’s license toward Kendra, who looked a bit
surprised. But she processed the transaction and issued Aiko her business-class
boarding pass.

Aiko then met Ruth, who was
waiting to expedite Aiko through the airport security check. “You look a lot
better, dear,” she said.

“I do feel better now. I
was just so worried that I wouldn’t be on that flight,” Aiko replied.

“Everything will be all
right now, dear. Now hurry along, you have like five minutes but I called ahead
and they’re waiting for you at the gate.”

Aiko gave Ruth a hug and
walked to the security checkpoint. She dropped her purse into the round
container, stepped out of her shoes and placed them right behind her purse. She
walked through the metal detector without alarming it. Aiko stepped back into
her shoes, grabbed her purse by the strap and made her way down to the gate. As
it turned out, it was the very last gate at the very far end of the terminal.
Aiko ran down to the deserted end of the terminal area and saw a lone figure.
She was a slender young white woman with past the shoulder length dark brown
hair. She was quite beautiful, and she couldn’t have been more than Aiko’s age.
She looked up with her soft brown eyes and asked, “Aiko Satoh?”

Aiko answered in
exasperation with her boarding pass in hand, “Yes, that’s me.”

“Oh you poor dear, I heard
what happened.” The woman, whose nametag read Renee, processed her boarding
pass and handed back the stub to Aiko. Renee looked up soulfully with her brown
eyes, trying to sympathize with her. Aiko suddenly felt a tremendous sense of
guilt for her ruse. “Thank you,” she said appreciatively.

Aiko quickly strolled down
the boarding ramp and tried to catch her breath. She had made it, she thought.
Suddenly, some other thoughts alarmed Aiko. What if Joey had the flight time
wrong and it wasn’t the right plane? Or what happened if Joey’s grandfather
didn’t make it onto the plane for some strange reason? If Joey’s grandfather weren’t
on the plane, how would she ever pay back the charge on her credit card on her
teacher’s salary? How would Aiko recognize Joey’s grandfather on the plane? But
she brushed her thoughts aside and firmly believed that Joey, the second
grader, was right and that his grandfather was on the plane.

A flight attendant greeted
Aiko and politely pointed out the empty aisle seat in business class to her.
Aiko slowly walked into the business class cabin as its passengers were reading
newspapers or sipping their complimentary drinks. Aiko peered down the aisle.
She could only see the top of the passengers’ heads. People were still stowing
away their luggage, giving Aiko a few more minutes. She passed her empty
business class seat and made her way into the coach class cabin.

She walked up the aisle and
slowly checked everyone’s faces. It wouldn’t be too difficult, she thought, to
find a man with a Japanese face. Then for a moment, Aiko froze as she thought
back to her grandmother’s experience. “My God, this was how they did it,” she
thought. What Aiko was now doing unconsciously was exactly the same thing the government
did to find the Japanese Americans and put them into those darned internment
camps.

As she passed row 30, she
saw him on the right in a window seat.

He was an older Japanese
American man who still had a full head of hair, but it had turned white with
some gray on the sides. He was slightly built and seemed very gentle. His face
looked peaceful as he quietly stared out the window. Aiko suddenly felt a sense
of nervousness creep over her as she steadied her walk up the aisle, placing
her hand on each seat that she passed. He was only two rows away and oblivious
to her approach. What would she say? How would she broach the topic with him?

Aiko reached the row and
looked down at the man she firmly believed was Joey’s grandfather. She took in
a deep breath and was about to address him when the woman next to him
interrupted.

“Stewardess? Can you get me
a pillow?”

She was a large white woman
wearing a frumpy gray floral dress. She had large, fatty arms whose sagging
cellulite wiggled every time she moved them. Thick plastic rimmed glasses
magnified her Gotter-like eyes. She was wearing a pair of slippers and her
calves were thick–what some in the Asian American community called “daikon
legs.” Aiko was surprised that she could even fit in the seat. Joey’s
grandfather turned and gave Aiko a curious look.

“Excuse me?” asked Aiko as
she directed her attention to the woman.

“Can you get me a pillow?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t work
here,” said Aiko.

“Oh, I’m sorry, dear. You
just looked so pretty and proper I thought you were a stewardess.”

Aiko looked around quickly
and saw that the other flight attendants had on a dark navy blue outfit with
pinstripes. Aiko realized with embarrassment that she probably looked like a
flight attendant herself with her dark navy suit.

“I’m sure someone will be
here to help you shortly,” said Aiko politely who then looked at Joey’s
grandfather. There was such a kind expression on his face as he simply watched
Aiko.

“Excuse me sir,” Aiko said
with a hint of nervousness.

He answered back in a
friendly voice, “Yes?”

“Are you Mr. Tanaka?”

The man looked back and
replied, “Yes, I am.”

Aiko felt her heart flutter
for a moment and then said, “Mr. Tanaka, I’m Aiko.” Mr. Tanaka’s expression
didn’t change.

“I’m your grandson’s school
teacher,” she continued

Mr. Tanaka looked confused.
“Is Joey in trouble?”

Aiko laughed softly. The
situation must have been strange and awkward to him, too. Aiko felt a sense of
embarrassment.

“Can you get a stewardess
for me, miss?” said the woman next to Mr. Tanaka.

Aiko was somewhat annoyed
as the woman was ruining this moment. Then another idea popped into her head.
She held up the boarding pass stub in her right hand and stared down at the
woman.

“I have a deal for you. I
just purchased this business class ticket. I know they will probably have all
the pillows you will ever need and every one of your whims will be taken care
of. I’ll be willing to trade my seat for your seat.”

The woman simply looked up
at Aiko with wide eyes. Suddenly, she unbuckled her belt, gathered her straw
knit bag and got up from the seat. She pulled out her boarding pass stub and
swapped it with Aiko’s and looked at Aiko, “No need to tell me twice, I know a
deal when I see one. Business class, here I come!”

Aiko chuckled to herself as
she saw the woman shuffling down the aisle, hips bumping into every single
seat. Aiko settled into the seat and was taken aback by the residual warmth
left by the woman. She buckled her seatbelt and pulled on it so it would fit
her slender frame, and then turned to Mr. Tanaka. He looked bewildered.

“Is Joey okay?” he asked
again.

Aiko immediately responded
back reassuringly, “Oh yes, Joey is fine. He’s a wonderful student. You should
be really proud of him.”

Mr. Tanaka let out a smile
of relief. He looked back at Aiko curiously. “Well if Joey is okay, why is his
teacher on this plane and not in class?”

Aiko looked at him just as
the plane started to taxi toward the runway. The moment had finally arrived and
she chose her words carefully. Aiko brushed her hair aside and took out the
copy of Joey’s drawing. She spread it out over the armrest between herself and
Mr. Tanaka. She looked back at Mr. Tanaka’s soulful eyes and pointed to the
scene with him and her grandfather.

Mr. Tanaka looked down and an
expression of recognition was reflected back in his face. “That’s Joey’s
drawing,” he said. “I don’t understand.”

Aiko responded, “This scene
here where you are kneeling over this soldier… is that you?”

Mr. Tanaka nodded his head
and said, “Yes, that was me when I was in the war.”

“And the other man, his
name wouldn’t by any chance be…” Aiko found she needed to pause for a moment to
collect her thoughts and said, “Hiroshi Satoh?”

Mr. Tanaka looked up at her
and his eyes had changed. There was a sense of profoundness to them. He
straightened up a bit in his seat and said with pride, “Yes, that’s Sergeant
Hiroshi Satoh.”

It hit Aiko harder that she
had expected. She was now face to face with the man who may have been with her
grandfather during his last moments. Her grandmother had never mentioned that
her grandfather was a sergeant in the army. Aiko then quelled her swelling
emotions from taking over as she responded respectfully, “Mr. Tanaka, I’m Aiko
Satoh. Hiroshi Satoh’s granddaughter.”

The plane’s wheels suddenly
rumbled throughout the plane until it soared off into the air. An overwhelming
sense of shock hit Mr. Tanaka. He looked down at the picture once more, then
back into Aiko’s eyes. He gently reached out for her slender hand. He saw a
familiarity in her as she smiled.

“You have your
grandfather’s eyes,” said Mr. Tanaka with a smile. His expression turned to one
of gratitude and somber reflection as he uttered the words, “Your grandfather
saved my life.”

Aiko and Mr. Tanaka got
over their awkward moment and the unplanned introduction. Mr. Tanaka was a
gentle old man who looked at Aiko as if she were his own granddaughter. He
admired her beauty and obvious determination and knew that her grandfather
would have been so proud of her.

They had lowered the tray
tables in front of them and as best they could, they spread out Joey’s drawing.
She watched him hunch over the drawing as his eyes wandered. He told her that
Joey had asked him for a story for class, and this was the story he decided to
tell Joey that night. He wasn’t sure why he chose that particular story, since
he rarely talked about his time during the war, but he felt he needed to. When
Joey had brought him the drawing to see, it brought tears to his eyes. He was
so surprised by Joey’s artistic talent and how it captured every important
moment from his story.

The flight attendant asked
if either of them wanted a drink. Aiko respectfully deferred to Mr. Tanaka, who
asked simply for hot water. Though she hated the tea served on airlines, she asked
for it anyways. The flight attendant passed a cup of hot water to Mr. Tanaka’s
awaiting hands and Aiko folded back the drawing allowing the scene with her
grandfather to peep through. She took her cup of hot water and the tea packet.
She was about to open it up when she saw Mr. Tanaka reach into his coat pocket
and produced a tea packet of his own.

Mr. Tanaka looked at her
with amusement and said, “That American tea will kill you.”

Aiko laughed and looked
back at Mr. Tanaka, who smiled back at her. He extended the tea packet to Aiko
and asked, “Would you like one? It’s green tea.”