Part 5 (1/2)

'It was two weeks ago. Exactly. Plus a couple of hours.'

She was pleased. 'You remember me?'

I didn't quite recognise my own laugh. 'Sure I do.'

'I was with my revolting cousin and her friends. They treat me like an imbecile because I'm half-Chinese. My mother was j.a.panese, you see. Dad's Hong Kong Chinese. My home's in Hong Kong.' Nothing apologetic about the way she spoke. I'm not pure j.a.panese and if you don't like that you can stick it. I'm not pure j.a.panese and if you don't like that you can stick it.

I thought of Tony Williams's drumming in 'In a Silent Way'. No, I didn't think think of it. I felt it, somewhere inside. of it. I felt it, somewhere inside.

'Hey, that's nothing! I'm half-Filipino. The music was ”Left Alone” by Mal Waldron. Would you like to hear it again?'

'Would you mind?'

''Course I wouldn't mind... Mal Waldron's one of my G.o.ds. I kneel down to him every time I go to the temple. What's Hong Kong like, compared to Tokyo?'

'Foreigners say it's dirty, noisy and poky, but really, there's nowhere like it. Not anywhere. And when Kowloon gets too much you can escape to the islands. On Lantau Island there's a big buddha sitting on a hill...'

For a moment I had an odd sensation of being in a story that someone was writing, but soon that sensation too was being swallowed up.

The cherry blossoms had come and almost gone. New green leaves, still silky and floppy, were drying on the trees lining the back street. Living and light as mandolins and zithers. The commuters streamed by. Not a coat in sight. Some had come out without their jackets. No denying it, spring was old news.

The phone rang. Koji, calling from the college canteen. 'So. Who is she?'

'Who?'

'Stop it! You know perfectly well who! The girl at Mrs Nakamori's last night who sat there swooning on your every note! Let me see... Her name began with ”Tomo” and ended with ”yo”. What was she called I wonder? Oh yes, that's right. Tomoyo.'

'Oh, her her...'

'Don't give me that! I saw you two making eyes at each other.'

'You imagined it.'

'You were were making eyes at each other! The whole bar saw. A sea-cuc.u.mber would have noticed. Her father definitely did. Taro noticed. He came up to me afterwards and asked me who she was. I'd hoped that he could tell me. He said to grill you. And what Taro wants he gets, so I'm grilling you.' making eyes at each other! The whole bar saw. A sea-cuc.u.mber would have noticed. Her father definitely did. Taro noticed. He came up to me afterwards and asked me who she was. I'd hoped that he could tell me. He said to grill you. And what Taro wants he gets, so I'm grilling you.'

'There's not much to tell. She came into the shop four weeks ago. Then she came in again last week. We got talking, just about music, and we went out on a date or two last week. That's all.'

'A date or seven you mean.'

'Well, you know how it goes.'

'Not that I want to be nosey or anything, it's just that I didn't get the chance to interrogate her last night. But, er, so have you, y'know, snipped her ribbons and unwrapped her packaging yet?'

'The girl's a lady!'

'Ah, yes, but every lady is a woman.'

'No. We haven't.'

'You always were a slow worker, Satoru. Why not?'

'Because...' I remember her body wrapped inside my duffle-coat as we walked along, sharing the same umbrella. I remember spending the whole movie holding her hand. I remember her eyes scrunched up in laughter as we watched a street performer who stood motionless on a pedestal until you left a coin in his urn, when he changed his expression and pose until the next coin was dropped in. I remember her trying not to laugh at my bowling alley disasters. I remember lying on the blanket in Ueno Park as the cherry blossom fell onto our faces. I remember her in this room, in this chair, listening to my favourite music as she did her homework. I remember her face as she concentrated, and that strand of hair that fell down, almost touching her notebook. I remember kissing the nape of her neck in elevators between floors, and springing apart when the doors suddenly opened. I remember her telling me about her goldfish, and her mother, and life in Hong Kong. I remember her asleep on my shoulder on the night bus. I remember looking at her across the table. I remember her telling me about the ancient Jomon people who buried their kings in mounds, on the Tokyo plain. I remember her face at Mrs Nakamori's when Koji and I did 'Round Midnight' better than we've ever played it before. I remember... 'I dunno, Koji. Maybe we didn't do it because we could have done it.' Was that true? It would have been easy, just to slip into a love hotel. My body certainly wanted to. But... but what? 'I really can't say. Not because I'm being coy. I don't know.'

Koji made the sage noise that he always does on the rare occasions when he doesn't understand something. 'So, when do I get to see her again?'

I swallowed. 'Never, probably. She's going back to international school in Hong Kong. She only comes to Tokyo every couple of years with her father to visit relatives for a few weeks. We have to be realistic.'

Koji sounded more depressed about it than I did. 'That's terrible! When's she going back this time?'

I looked at my watch. 'In about thirty minutes.'

'Satoru! Stop her!'

'I really think... I mean, I think that-'

'Don't think think! Do something!'

'What do you suggest? Kidnap her? She's got her life to get on with. She's going to study archaeology at university in Hong Kong. We met, we enjoyed each other's company, very much, and now we've parted. It happens all the time. We can write. Anyway, it's not like we've fallen longingly in love with each other, or anything like that-'

'Beep beep beep.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Oh, I'm sorry, that was my bulls.h.i.+t alarm going off.'

I dug out some old big band Duke Ellington. It reminds me of wind-up gramophones, silly moustaches and Hollywood musicals from before the war. It usually cheers me up. 'Take the ”A” Train', rattling along on goofy optimism.

I looked gloomily into the murky lake at the bottom of my teacup, and I thought about Tomoyo for the fiftieth time that day.

The phone rang. I knew it was going to be Tomoyo. It was Tomoyo. I could hear aeroplanes and boarding announcements in the background.

'h.e.l.lo,' she said.

'h.e.l.lo.'

'I'm phoning from the airport.'

'I can hear aeroplanes taking off in the background.'

'Sorry I couldn't say ”goodbye” properly last night. I wanted to kiss you.'

'So did I, but with everyone there, and everything...'

'Thanks for inviting me and Dad to Mrs Nakamori's last night. My dad says thanks too. I haven't seen him nattering away like he did with your Mama-san and Taro for ages ages.'

'I haven't seen them nattering away like that for ages, either. What were they talking about?'

'Business, I guess. You know Dad has a small stake in a night club. We both loved the show.'