Vol 3 Chapter 2.2 (1/2)
[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 3 Ch 2 (b)
This is a continuation of PART A.
The elderly woman gave a small cry.
”Heavens, a crow!”
A crow with glossy black wings had alighted on the ground at Karan's feet.
”How disturbing,” the woman said uneasily. ”Were there ever any crows in the Forest Park?” She furrowed her brow.
”This is a natural environment after all. There are crows, though probably not many of them,” Karan replied. The crow took flight again. She thought it would fly away, but instead, it flapped its wings busily and alighted again, onto a man's shoulder.
It was Karan who gave a cry of surprise this time. She had not noticed at all that there was somebody standing this close by. During her conversation with the elderly woman, there had been other pa.s.serby: an elderly man with his dog; a girl stooping to pick up a coloured leaf; a group of what looked to be students ― but no one with a crow on their shoulder. When had he gotten so close? How long had he been there? It was a little unnerving.
The man was tall and wiry, and clad in a light-brown jacket, with trousers of the same colour. He had a full head of hair, but with streaks of grey that stood out. His moustache was also flecked with grey. Apart from the fact that he had a crow perched on his shoulder, he seemed like an ordinary middle-aged man. And he was a complete stranger.
But the man extended both his hands toward Karan with a smile on his face. He even called her name as he spoke.
”Karan, I missed you.”
”Huh?”
Before she could give a decent answer, the man grabbed Karan by the arm, and drew her toward him. Karan's small stature nestled easily into the man's long arms as they encircled her. He was holding her so tight, she couldn't breathe.
”Forgive me,” he pleaded. ”It's all my fault. I'll never do anything that'll make you feel bad again. I promise. You'll be the only one I love for the rest of my life.”
”Sorry, what―?” Karan stammered in alarm. ”What are you doing?”
”I didn't realize how much I loved you until you were gone. Please, I'm begging you. Say you'll start over with me again, Karan.”
Why, he's gone mad.
Her first thought was that he was out of his mind. But if someone was insane, they wouldn't be able to roam on city premises. Just as the thought crossed her mind, she noticed the man's heartbeat. They were so close to each other that she could feel his heart beating on her own chest. It was beating with a steady rhythm. The man was neither insane, nor nervous with excitement. He was very much coolly and calmly rattling off these clichéd lines.
”I don't believe this. I've had enough!” Karan thrust her arms in front of her, and pushed the man away. ”I've had enough of your sweet-talking. I'm leaving you. I never want to see you again.”
”Karan, I love you. I'm really, seriously, in love with you.” The crow on the man's shoulder cawed shrilly, as if to mock them. The man cleared his throat awkwardly, and bowed his head to the elderly lady, who was staring at them with her mouth gaping open.
”I'm very sorry for having to show you such an ugly scene.”
”Oh― ah, you don't need to―” the woman said falteringly. ”So, er, you two are―?”
”We're lovers,” the man answered. ”I was a fool, and I caused her a lot of pain. I just wanted to apologize to her, and start over again.”
”I see. Well, that's...”
”We've got some important things to discuss, so if you'll excuse us―”
The man grabbed Karan's arm, and she was half-dragged away from the scene. The crow cawed loudly again. They took a back route behind the Park Office ― s.h.i.+on's former workplace ― and exited through the back of the park, the man uttering not a single word the whole way. Karan also remained silent as she was pulled along by the arm.
There was a white car parked at the curb. It was a rather old model, seldom seen on city streets anymore. The man opened the door, and spoke quite without any hesitation.
”Get in.”
”No, thank you.”
”Get in,” the man repeated. ”I have something I want to talk to you about.” With a great swoosh of its wings, the crow swooped noisily from the man's shoulder to the back seat of the car. Then, it looked at Karan and jerked its head, as if to invite her to follow.
”He looks like a smart bird,” Karan observed.
”He's a little too smart for his own good.” The man's long-suffering tone was telling of how much trouble the bird must have caused him. The crow opened its beak widely and made a cackling sound. It sounded like it was laughing. Karan, found herself laughing a little, too. Only after she finished laughing did she realize how she had gone these past few days without laughing, or even smiling at all.
Karan continued holding the crow's gaze as she slid into the pa.s.senger seat. The electric-gasoline hybrid car glided forward soundlessly. When they merged onto the highway, the man pressed the switch on auto-drive and took his hands off the steering wheel.
”Did you know? A new bylaw is being put into place, and we won't be able to use gasoline starting as early as next year. Which means I won't be able to drive this car anymore either.”
”I've heard that fossil fuels have nearly been depleted, except for coal,” said Karan. ”I guess we wouldn't have any other choice but to switch to another energy source.”
”Who did you hear that from?”
”Who―? Well, it's been announced in the city's energy policy―”
”Exactly. An announcement by the authorities. The mayor's speech on his administrative policy, word-for-word.” The man twitched his moustache in a cynical smile. ”No one questions it. Everyone accepts what the city announces as it is, and agrees to it without a thought. G.o.d, everyone in this d.a.m.n city is so obedient and naive. Doubting their superiors is the last thing on their minds. They probably can't even imagine doing that, or want to. Having suspicions takes energy. It's easier just to sit back and say, yes yes, I agree, to everything.”
Karan threw a sidelong glance at the man's face.
Then are you saying that you have suspicions? Instead of nodding obediently, are you saying you're stopping to question it?
She resisted the urge to ask him. It wasn't wise to say such reckless things to someone she barely knew. She had to be cautious, like a cowering herbivore.
Karan drew herself up, and tried to change the direction of the conversation.
”May I ask you a question?”
”Fire away.”
”Who are you, and how do you know my name? What made you go so far as to stage that half-baked act to pull me out here?”
”Half-baked is a little harsh, no?” said the man wryly. ”I thought I pulled it off quite well. You played along nicely, too. That's Best Actress Award material.”
”Why, thank you,” Karan said pleasantly. ”The role of romantic heroine isn't one I get to play often at this age.”
”Well, I don't see why not. You're young and beautiful enough, quite, quite. You could play any heroine you wanted, Karan.”
”Where did you learn my name?”
”From my niece.”
”Niece?”
”Says she's a fan of yours,” said the man. ”Or I should probably say, a fan of your m.u.f.fins.”
A small, round face floated up in Karan's mind ― the girl who always came to the store with coins clenched in her fist.
”Ma'am, you won't close this bakery, would you?” ― The girl who had shown sincere concern for Karan. She, along with the words and gazes of encouragement from others, had supported her in her dark days after s.h.i.+on had been taken into custody by the Security Bureau.
”Lili.”
”That's the one,” the man affirmed. ”Lovable Lili. She's my younger sister's daughter. Says she likes your cheese m.u.f.fins a hundred times more than ol' Uncle here. She told me last time I saw her.”
”Oh, dear.”
”I was ticked off, so I was going to put in my own two-cents about these m.u.f.fins of yours, and took a bite out of one to taste...” The man's mouth made a chewing motion. He poked the tip of his tongue out, and licked his lips.
”They were good, weren't they?”
”They were. I hate to admit it, but they were delicious. Guess it can't be helped that Lili would like them more than some old uncle who only pops by once in a while.”
”Well,” said Karan, ”at least now I know that you're Lili's uncle, and that you learned my name from that adorable niece of yours.”
”Thanks for understanding. Did you think I was someone suspicious, by any chance?”
”I still do. What was that act back there? Did you want to pull me away from that respectable madam that badly?”
”You bet. She was dangerous.”
”Dangerous?”
The car turned slowly. It was going into Lost Town. It seemed safe to believe that this man intended to take her home.
The old car went back along the same path she had taken this morning, deep in thought. She had taken a day off from the bakery today. Was Lili disappointed?
”You were a hair away from voicing your dissatisfaction toward the city. Am I right?”
I don't think this city is a utopia.
Indeed, she had been about to voice those words. But she had been interrupted at that very moment by the sound of the crow's beating wings.
”That was dangerous?”
”There's a possibility it might've been. What would you have done if that lady decided you were trouble?”
”Trouble? What do you mean?”
”What I'm saying is, she would've gone to the authorities and told them that the women sitting on the park bench has a dissatisfaction with the city.”
”You mean she would secretly turn me in?”
”Finding it hard to believe?”
”Of course,” Karan blurted. ”That's nonsense. That madam was concerned about me. She spoke to me out of kindness.”
”Exactly, because you looked so depressed. In this utopia, in No. 6, everyone has to be happy. Even seriously ill or injured people have almost all of their pain removed by leading-edge medical technology. People who are troubled, or who contemplate, or who lose themselves in thought ― those kinds of people don't exist. They aren't allowed to exist.”
”That's not―” Karan protested. ”I mean, there are always people on the bench who seem to be lost in thought.”
The man shook his head, and tapped a corner of the small monitor on the dashboard that was displaying road information. Small digits expressing the time popped up on the screen.
”Do you remember how long you were sitting on that bench for?”
Karan gazed at the numbers, and shook her head. She had forgotten completely about the time. She had sat on that bench, contemplating, wrestling with her thoughts, and unable to find an answer. She had lost the will to stand up and keep walking.
”Your time limit is thirty minutes,” the man muttered.
”Huh?”
”Citizens are allowed to s.p.a.ce out for thirty minutes, at the most. If they're thinking deeply or losing themselves in thought for longer than that, the flags come up and someone'll jump in to check.”
”So you're saying ― that madam approached me to investigate, because I was brooding for such a long time?”
”I couldn't say,” the man answered. ”All I know is that there was a possibility. Maybe she was just a little old woman who thought she was being kind and generous ― the kind that won't mind doing something nice, as long as it's not too much trouble for them.”
”What a horrible way to put it.”
”It's the truth. This city is teeming with those kind of self-proclaimed good Samaritans. There are so many of them, it gets pretty hard to distinguish the ones that are actually good. Still, if that madam was one of those, it wouldn't be a problem. But what if she was a snitch? That would've been a close call for you, wouldn't it?”
Karan didn't answer him. She didn't want to be suspicious of the elderly madam. She wanted to believe that the woman had been a kind soul who had spoken to her, a stranger, out of genuine concern.
She had had such gentle eyes, smiling behind her spectacles―
Karan drew a sharp breath.
”Those gla.s.ses...”