Brave Story

by Miyuki Miyabe

  Rikako lowered her eyes and looked at Wataru. “I’m sorry,” she said. She still hadn’t blinked once. He saw her teeth. Saber-teeth. “I hear you’re not feeling well. Did you go see a doctor?”

  His mom quickly stepped in front of him, putting Wataru behind her back. Wataru swayed, dizzy. He put a hand on the wall to hold himself up.

  “Don’t talk to my son. And don’t act like you care. Just whose fault do you think it is that he’s not feeling well?”

  Rikako didn’t blink. It was weird. How could someone keep their eyes open for so long?

  “Of course I’m responsible—in part. But, Kuniko, I’m not the only one doing this to him. It’s all three of us. And right now, you’re the one pushing him into the middle of this. Not me.”

  Wataru saw a shiver run down his mom’s back. The hem of her apron rippled as though blown by a gentle breeze.

  “Me—I’m pushing him?”

  Rikako Tanaka drew back her jaw, like a thug getting ready for a brawl, and stared his mother down. “Aren’t you? Using him to get to Akira. Don’t you see how cowardly that is?”

  “I’m using Wataru?” His mother growled, her voice breaking. He had never heard her talk like this before.

  “You use Wataru as a shield, because you know it’s your trump card. Oh, Akira can be as certain as he likes, but how can he win against that? That’s why he said he would come, you know. You used Wataru to force him to. Why, if I hadn’t stepped in…”

  His mom reached behind her and, grabbing Wataru by the shoulder, thrust him out in front of her. “Look at him. Look at his face. See the scratches? His arms, his legs—he’s covered with them. He moans in his sleep and thrashes around. And this, he does in his sleep! It’s so sad, so…”

  His mother swallowed, just like a child trying to be brave, and reined in the tremble in her voice. “That’s why I called my husband. He said he would see Wataru and talk to him. Make him feel better. Wataru’s our child. When a wife and husband separate they may become strangers, but the bonds of parenthood are different. I can’t help Wataru all by myself. Wataru needs his father.”

  Rikako looked over Wataru from head to toe. Then, with a flash of brilliant white teeth, she asked, “Wataru? Did you do that to yourself? Really?”

  Wataru couldn’t answer. His tongue was tied with fear—fear of saying the wrong thing, fear at what he had done.

  “What do you want from him?” his mother interjected.

  “I want you to be quiet. I’m asking Wataru a question,” Rikako replied, never taking her eyes off the boy. “Did you really hurt yourself? Or did someone else hit you? You don’t have to protect anyone, you know. You can tell me the truth.”

  “Someone else?” his mother said, stepping forward. “Are you suggesting that I hit my son?”

  Rikako said nothing.

  “How could you even suggest such a thing?”

  Rikako thrust out her chin and looked up. “I’m his mother, I’m his mother, is that all you can say? I’m a mother too, you know.”

  She has children? Wataru shrank, looking up from Rikako’s slender legs. I wonder what kind of mother she is.

  “I know. A daughter with your first husband, was it?” his mother said breathlessly, her face as white as a sheet of paper. “And you just thrust her upon Akira, didn’t you?”

  Rikako sneered. “There was no thrusting upon anyone. Akira was quite happy to become Mayuko’s father. He said he always wanted a daughter.”

  “He can hear you!” his mother shouted in outrage, clapping her hands over Wataru’s ears.

  “It’s over, Kuniko, you know it as well as I do. No amount of plotting and crying will win Akira’s favor. He sees through all your ploys. So, go ahead, tell your lies. You’re only digging a deeper hole for yourself.”

  Rikako continued, relentless, taking a half step closer to Wataru’s mother. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten for one day the lie you told—the lie that destroyed my and Akira’s dream. We were practically engaged when you came butting in and made up that story about being pregnant. We were in love, and your lie tore us apart.”

  “Stop it. Stop it!” Wataru’s mother cried, clapping her hands over her own ears this time.

  “No,” Rikako said, stepping into the apartment’s hallway, her shoes still on. Pushing Wataru aside she came up so close to his mother that their faces were almost touching. “Akira and I lived separate lives, we had to. But nothing could make us forget each other. When we met again two years ago, when we realized that we were still in love, that our feelings hadn’t changed, we made a decision. We’ll never be able to get back the time you stole from us, but we can live the rest of our lives the way we want. Together.”

  Wataru’s mother swayed and fell into a crouch on the floor. Rikako loomed over her, as if picking the spot where she would drive the final stake.

  “You can’t fool us anymore. If you are going to abuse Wataru just to get at Akira, then we’ll take him from you, even if we have to go to court.”

  Wataru’s mother was moaning, clutching her head in her hands. Wataru stood with his back to the wall, wishing desperately to become a piece of wallpaper, to disappear for all eternity.

  He was scared. He had never seen someone hate another person so openly. Animosity seemed to come rolling off Rikako’s body in tidal waves, smashing into his mother, driving her to the floor.

  Rikako stepped back into the entrance hall and opened the door. As she made her way to leave, she stopped and looked back over her shoulder. “Oh yes, one more thing,” she said breathlessly, a boxer just out of a close fistfight. “Mayuko isn’t our only child, you know.”

  Wataru’s mother hands stopped moving, fingers tangled in her hair. Wataru had no idea what she was talking about, but the woman’s latest revelation seemed to have a profound effect on his mother. “We’re expecting next spring,” Rikako continued, lightly touching her hand to her belly. She exhaled. “Too bad you’ll never see how happy Akira is.” And then she began to walk out through the open door.

  That instant something large and black rushed before Wataru’s eyes with all the energy of a tsunami wave. He didn’t realize it was his mother until he saw her collide with Rikako. The two women tumbled into the open-air hallway.

  Wataru’s mother swung her fists at Rikako’s face and upper body. The other woman desperately tried to defend herself. Grunting and snarling, their screams echoed down the hall.

  Before Wataru could run out, there came a shout of surprise from the neighboring apartment unit and the sound of running feet approaching. He heard voices. “Ma’am, Ma’am, what’s the matter? Please, stop! Oh no, someone call the police!”

  Wataru whirled around and fled into his own room. I can’t run away. This is no time to hide. I have to stand up to her, to all of them. I have to be on my mother’s side, I have to protect her… His brain was screaming at him to do something, but his body wouldn’t listen.

  Slamming the door behind him, he dove under his bed. But he couldn’t escape the commotion in the hallway. A woman sobbing. The old lady from next door shouting something.

  Wataru covered his ears. He began reciting every spell he knew from Saga II—the damaging, offensive spells—one after the other. He knew nothing would happen. He did it so he wouldn’t have to think, wouldn’t have to feel.

  “Wataru, you can come out now.” Uncle Lou lay with his body pressed flat against the floor, looking in at him. “It’s all over.”

  Wataru was curled in a ball under his bed. He had no idea how much time had passed. It could’ve been an hour. It could’ve been half a day.

  His uncle’s eyes looked red and tired, like he’d been crying. Wataru wondered whether Uncle Lou was sad about what had happened, or whether he was sad to see him under the bed.

  “Where’s Mom?” Wataru asked in a small voice.

  “Asleep. Sedatives. She’s out like a light.”

  So she was home. That was good.

  “Did the cops come?”r />
  “The cops? Of course not.”

  “The lady who lives next door was saying to call the police. I thought I heard sirens…”

  Uncle Lou sighed as he lay pressed uncomfortably to the floor. “That was an ambulance. They had to take that Rikako lady to the hospital.”

  “Was she hurt?”

  “Just some scratches on her face was all I could see. But she made a big deal out of it.”

  “Do you know about her?”

  “What about her?”

  “She’s pregnant.”

  Uncle Lou blinked. With one of his eyes pressed to the floor, it came across as a wink. The effect was bizarrely comical.

  “When did you get here? Did Mom call you?”

  “No. I was supposed to come here today. Your mom knew…she hadn’t told you?”

  “Nope.”

  “Huh. I came to pick you up. I figured there’s no need to wait for August, you could come to Chiba now. A bit of sea air would do you good. I heard the shouts when I got in the elevator on the ground floor.”

  “Umm…what time is it?”

  “It’s night already. Past nine thirty.”

  Wataru lay under the bed awhile, staring silently at the dust bunnies. How does dust gather in places like this, Wataru wondered. His mom vacuumed every day. Yet it still builds up, when no one’s looking. Even if they don’t see it, it’s there, making the room dirty.

  “Are they going to take Mom away?”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “She hit that lady.”

  “I don’t think they’re going to arrest her for that.”

  “But what if her baby died? It would be Mom’s fault, wouldn’t it? And there’s no way she would be quiet about it. She’s going to go to the police and tell them to put Mom away, I know it.”

  Uncle Lou inched closer. It looked like he was trying to hide under the bed along with Wataru.

  “I’m sure the kid’s fine.” His muttered voice didn’t sound terribly confident.

  “Mom would never hit me. She’s not abusing me.”

  His uncle lifted a curious eyebrow.

  “That’s what she said—that lady. She said that I got my scratches from Mom hitting me. She said if my mom was abusing me they’d take me away from her. Please don’t let them do that.”

  Uncle Lou rubbed his face with his hands. “She said that? Now I’m starting to wish I took a swing at her too.”

  “She said Mom lied, and she wouldn’t be fooled again—but my mom would never do that! She wouldn’t lie to anyone. That woman’s the liar.”

  “Wataru…how about coming out from under there now? I don’t like seeing you scrunched up in such a tiny place. Come out, for me? You and I can go to Chiba. We’ll go down to the sea every day. We’ll swim, catch fish, build a campfire, and eat ’em. I’m a terrible surfer, but I’ve got some good friends—we could learn together. And I’ll teach you how to fish like a pro. Once you’re good enough, why, we can travel all over Japan to hit all the great spots. I’ll save up some money and get a cruiser so we can do some trolling. Then, I’ll make you captain. We’ll go wherever we want to go…”

  Uncle Lou was talking like a machine gun, tears trickling down his cheeks.

  He’s crying. Things must really be bad.

  “Yeah,” Wataru said quietly. “Let’s go to Chiba. But let’s take Mom with us. You wouldn’t want to leave her here alone, would you?”

  “Of course not,” Uncle Lou said, wiping his nose. “We’ll take your mother. I’ll teach her how to fish too.”

  Just as the late-night news programs were beginning, Grandma arrived from Chiba. She was breathing heavily, and hefting two giant supermarket bags.

  Wataru had crawled out from under the bed, taken a bath, and was busily packing his clothes. Grandma said she would make dinner and went straight to the kitchen. Moments later she called Wataru, complaining that she had no idea where anything was. He showed her what he could, and she sent him back to his room. As soon as he was gone, she began talking furiously to Uncle Lou, but they were too quiet for him to hear what they were saying. His mom was asleep the whole time, and never came out of her room.

  The three of them sat around the table and ate. Grandma always used way too many spices, she had no idea what Wataru liked, and she cooked the rice too long so it was all mushy. It was terrible. Still, Wataru ate quietly, wary of the fearsome glares he got whenever he put down his chopsticks.

  “Satoru—about Kuniko. I don’t think it’s a good idea to take her to Chiba,” Grandma said just as they were finishing up. “Oh, you should come, Wataru, it’d be good for you. But your mother still has lots of things she needs to do here. Isn’t that right? We just can’t take her.”

  Wataru looked at Grandma and found himself speechless.

  Grandma, the tank.

  “But Ma, I don’t feel right leaving her here by herself,” Uncle Lou protested.

  “She could go to Odawara,” Grandma snapped.

  “But we can’t separate her and Wataru, not with things the way they are.”

  “Oh? I think this will be good for the boy. That Kuniko is running him ragged.”

  The debate was on. Just from hearing them talk, it was clear to Wataru that this was merely one of a long string of similar debates that had taken place between the adults in his life over the past few weeks. They had told him nothing, so he knew nothing.

  “I think it’s pretty clear the two of them are split for good,” Grandma was saying. “Things can’t go back the way they were before now.”

  “Ma, please, not in front of Wataru,” Uncle Lou said, looking severe.

  “What’s the problem?” she fired back. “You can’t hide things from Wataru forever.”

  “But…”

  “We can talk about it until we’re blue in the face—Akira won’t change his tune. He’ll still want a divorce. You ask me, there’s no redoing this, not now. Things get this bad, it’s best for everyone to just end it quickly. Kuniko isn’t so old that she can’t start again, you know.”

  “Like it was that easy.”

  “No one’s saying it’s easy. Why, I never dreamed I’d reached such a ripe old age, only to receive this as my reward. I wanted to spend my golden years in a little peace.”

  Wataru was staring wide-eyed at his grandmother.

  “What, you don’t want to deal with it, so you’ll just stand by and let Akira do as he pleases?” Uncle Lou roared. “Well, I won’t stand for it. He calls himself a man? I’m ashamed to have him as a brother.”

  “Selfish…yes, he’s quite selfish,” Grandma admitted, grabbing a napkin and wringing it in her hands. “But Akira isn’t the only one at fault here, hmm? You heard what she said. I remember her too. Of course, I didn’t care for her much back then, but she was dating Akira for quite some time. They were in love, those two. I had already gotten used to the idea that she would be his bride. But then along comes this Kuniko and six months later they’re married. A hare caught by a fox, that’s what it was.”

  “Quiet, Ma,” Uncle Lou said with a glance at Wataru. “That’s all ancient history now.”

  “It’s not history if it’s going on right now. Kuniko conned Akira, no two ways about it. I knew there was something fishy about how she suddenly got pregnant, and then, once he’d agreed to marry her, she had a miscarriage. I never did believe that one.”

  “Ma!” Uncle Lou shouted. “Wataru doesn’t need to hear this!”

  “It’s okay,” Wataru heard himself say. “I already know that story.”

  Grandma wiped away a tear with her napkin. “Akira is a fool, that much is certain. A big, dumb fool. But no matter how foolish he may be, he’s still my son. When a man his age wants something so much, why not give him a little happiness? If Kuniko says she won’t give him up, then I’ll just have to beg her. I’ll go down on my knees if that will satisfy her, I’ll do anything.”

  Grandma began to weep openly.

  “What about Wata
ru?” Uncle Lou said, his voice barely a whisper.

  “We’ll take him in,” Grandma said decisively. “He is the only heir to the Mitani name. And it’ll make things easier for Kuniko to remarry, won’t it?”

  Wataru felt dizzy. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to sit in his chair. He felt like he was going to fall on the ground.

  Just then, the bedroom door opened, and his mom walked out, drifting like a ghost.

  “Go home, please,” she said, staring straight at Grandma.

  Wataru’s mother looked like she had shrunk to half her weight in only half a day. But her voice was firm. “This is my home, and Wataru is my son. Go home.”

  “Kuniko?” Grandma said, standing up. “This is no time for you to be coming in here and telling us what…”

  “I won’t let Wataru go,” she said firmly. “I’ll raise him—and I won’t divorce Akira, either. We are a family. You have no right to impose your decision on us.”

  Grandma thrust her crumpled napkin down on the table. “Who’s imposing? You know what’s happening here? You’re reaping what you’ve sown, Kuniko. You brought this on yourself. Akira said you tricked him. He knows!”

  Wataru’s mother faced Grandma without fear. For all her fiery resolve, the older woman took a step back. The air swirling around Wataru’s mother seemed to have dropped twenty degrees.

  “I have been a wife, and a mother, for twenty years. If I had really tricked him into anything, how could it have lasted so long? It would’ve fallen apart years ago. That’s not what this is about. Akira’s dredged up this old story to justify his infidelity. That’s all it is: an empty justification. You know as well as I do how he works. He has to have a reason for everything, even if it’s the wrong one.”

  Grandma scowled. “That’s my son you’re talking about. No wonder he’s run off to another woman, with you saying things like that!”

  Wataru’s mother stared her mother-in-law down. “Go home. Leave this house. Now.”

  Grandma moved to step toward Wataru’s mother, but Uncle Lou stopped her. “Ma. Kuniko. Stop this. There’s been enough fighting today.”