by C. S. Elston
The best part of the encounter was that Yoshito had given them a lead and let them keep the pictures he had shown them. As it turned out, Yoshito may have been the only person from Sota’s past to speak to him after he disappeared. He said he had never told anyone else about their conversation because Sota had made him promise not to.
Yoshito told them that Sota had called several months after his disappearance and told him that he was in Kyoto. He wanted his friend to know that he was safe. He told him that he had searched everywhere for Mei, even after the authorities had given up. But, that he ultimately had to give up, too. Since then, he had disappeared on purpose and he wasn’t coming back until he knew he could be a better man.
Yoshito said that his friend sounded full of grief, possibly even guilty of something, but that he never said what it was that had troubled him so much. However, Yoshito knew that Mei’s disappearance had been the epicenter of the whole explosion and understandably so. Yoshito said he was certain that there was more to it than anyone but Sota knew about. He had even feared that Sota killed Mei. He hoped, if this was the case, that it had been an accident. But, he had worried that he would never know. So, he was greatly relieved when Rio told him that Mei was still alive, well, and living in America.
On their way back to the van, the focus of their discussion was on what to do with all the new information that Luke and Rio had learned. It had gotten late in the day and it was clear that their next step was to drive back to CYOI and spend the night before going to look for the bench and then moving on to Kyoto in the morning. Luke explained that Kyoto was almost directly west of CYOI and, if they were to drive straight there, it would be less than a two-hour car ride. However, if they went to the bench first, it would be a couple of hours to get there and then a little over an hour to go to Kyoto from the bench.
Rio listened and nodded. She appreciated Luke’s support and enthusiasm. But, she couldn’t help feeling a little flabbergasted by everything. Her emotions felt like they were in the middle of a spin cycle.
Before today, she didn’t understand the devastation that her mother’s disappearance had left behind. It was a decision her mother had made on Rio’s behalf. Probably even more so than for herself. She had been trying to protect herself and her unborn daughter from Sota. But, it seemed as if her father had later changed. Or, at least, he wanted to. This was all, of course, according to his best friend, Yoshito. However, he may not have even realized that he needed to change if Mei hadn’t made the decision that she had made. There was no way to know. What Rio was now sure of, was that her mother’s decision had a destructive ripple effect on a lot of people. And, Rio could only hope that the ripple effect hadn’t left her father so disturbed by what he had done that he had taken his own life.
Rio was suffering from a bit of confusion. She was unsure whether she should be mad at her mother. But, how could she be? What she did was brave. Or, was it selfish? Many of her thoughts contradicted each other. She stayed mostly quiet as she tried to reconcile what she knew before leaving Hilo with what she had learned since arriving in Japan.
Ultimately, with what had happened to Mei and the life that Rio had enjoyed because of the resulting decision her mother made to change her name to Toki and flee Japan, Rio concluded that she couldn’t be mad. She was sorry that the decision left behind a trail of wreckage but, it was still a brave decision and Rio was thankful that her mother had made it. Rio had just been confronted, for the first time, with both sides of the story.
Side one came a few months earlier with her mother. And, today, with Ichiko, Emi and finally Yoshito giving her the other side of it all. So, of course her emotions were all over the place. But, when all was said and done, she loved and appreciated her mother and the bravery she had displayed when she learned that Rio had begun to grow inside of her. That mattered more than everything else. It had to.
As they climbed into the van and started to drive back to CYOI, her mind magnified the enormity of her family events by adding to it the events that were happening with her personally. Briefly, her eyes welled up with tears as she became overwhelmed. But, suddenly, as if he knew exactly what to say to shift her thoughts in a different direction, Luke cut through the thickness of imprisoning thoughts and pulled her back to safety.
“Well,” he thought out loud, “I think you’ll have a hard time denying the likelihood of a divine plan on your life now.”
“What?” she asked as she looked at him, bewildered. “What do you mean?”
“Think about it,” Luke insisted. “You might be able to argue that finding Ichiko was a wonderful coincidence but, you can’t honestly tell me the same about Yoshito. I mean, your father’s best friend just happens to be working in the garden behind his house when we walk by from getting straight up rejected by your father’s family? Come on, Rio. You have to see the hand of divine providence in that.”
“Well,” Rio started as she pondered the event in a way she hadn’t yet, “it makes sense that he was there because he lives there. We were only a block away from the house Sota grew up in. So, obviously, Yoshito still lives where he grew up.”
“True,” Luke agreed before launching into his argument, “but he just happened to be outside when we walked by. Plus, he still had pictures of himself and Sota that he had saved all these years but was willing to give to us. And, it just happens to turn out that he was also probably the last person around here to speak to Sota.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing.”
“It’s flat out awesome.”
“I agree.”
“About that hand of divine providence?”
“I won’t disagree with that,” Rio said as they shared an affectionate look.
“I’ll take it. That’s progress.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The Word Is Spreading
The ride back to CYOI was the quietest one Luke and Rio had experienced together. Rio was clearly deep in thought and Luke knew she’d had an emotionally eventful day. So, he decided not to press. Instead, he introduced her to a new music artist and just let the music cover the road noise and fill the space any quiet moments left.
The new artist was a man named Rich Mullins. In the small amount of conversation, the two had during the car ride, Luke told Rio that Rich Mullins had written some of his favorite Christian songs of the last two decades and that he found the man to be equally as inspirational as his music. He explained that Mullins had moved to a Navajo reservation in New Mexico a couple of years earlier to teach music to children. He kept the amount of the average American salary from the profits of his tours and album sales in any given year and the rest went to charity.
Rio found the story inspirational too. In fact, she listened to the words of his songs and they meant more to her because of what she had learned about the man who wrote them. Still, her mind drifted in and out of paying attention. Of course, she continued to think about the events of the day. But, additionally, she began to wonder if what was happening to her, with the newfound ability to control water, had ever happened to anyone else. She decided that, if it had, she would have heard about it and, therefore, it likely hadn’t. It was a lonely conclusion to draw.
Somehow, as she drifted back in and heard Rich Mullins singing, she felt comforted. She particularly liked a song called “Brother’s Keeper.” The song was about caring for people, rather than judging them, regardless of their weaknesses or their strengths. She peeked at Luke as he quietly sang along with the song and, suddenly, she didn’t feel lonely anymore.
Luke had quickly become a very good friend to Rio. And, she couldn’t help but wonder if there was something there beyond a friendship. He was certainly attractive in the physical sense. That was one of the first things she had noticed about him when they met in the airport. But, he was even more attractive to her now because of who he was and how he had treated her. A lot of that, from what he had told her, came from his deep-seated Christian beliefs. His devotion to those beliefs was attra
ctive, too. And, although she wouldn’t admit it to Luke, his devotion to his Christian beliefs made Christianity more attractive to her as well.
Both Rio and Luke were tired by the time they got back to CYOI. They had stopped for another quick bite to eat, which helped, but it wasn’t enough to completely rejuvenate them. For Rio, it was primarily an emotional exhaustion. For Luke, it was more physical and mental. The hypnotic effect of the road, after a full day of driving, exaggerated the tired feeling even more and it was a pretty quick goodnight once they got back.
The only thing that slowed it down a little bit was that Luke asked Rio to stop by his room so he could give her a key to get into the pool so she could take a swim in the morning before they left for the bench and Kyoto. While she was there, he also offered to loan her a couple of books to read. Based on Luke’s recommendations, she chose Science Speaks by Peter Stoner and Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell.
After giving Luke a hug and another warm thanks, Rio took the books back to her room and set them on the bed. She wondered if she should call her mother but didn’t feel like rehashing all that she had learned that day. Plus, she knew her mother wasn’t expecting another call so soon. Instead, she gathered some pajamas and toiletries and walked down the hall to the bathroom where she took a shower. The water was refreshing and invigorating. Almost instantly, Rio felt revitalized and briefly considered staying in the shower all night. But, she knew that was a silly thought and decided she’d keep it to about twenty minutes and then get out and prepare for bed.
That twenty minutes quickly turned into thirty, however, as she found herself wanting to experiment with her gift the way she had in the shower that morning. It was quite possibly the only place she could be certain that no one was watching. This time, she played with the whole water-sphere technique that she had discovered when drying out the clothes and seats in the van. She took the water coming out of the shower head and turned it into another translucent softball, then smashed it against the wall. Suddenly, she started doing the same thing over and over, rapid fire, until she had smashed almost a hundred balls of water on three different walls in less than a minute and a half. A grin crept over her face as she realized that she felt a little like a warrior. It was fun and empowering. She had gone from emotionally exhausted to feeling totally fired up. But, with the shower complete, it was time to turn her attention to a calmer exercise. Rio was looking forward to reading the books that she had borrowed from Luke.
Having decided to check in with Isaac before hitting the sack, Luke walked over to the main building to find out if Isaac was still in his office. Sure enough, Isaac immediately greeted him.
“There he is.”
“Yeah,” Luke started, “I thought I’d better check in with you and let you know I decided not to fly home.”
“I wondered if that might be the case.”
“You did?”
“I did. What’s the latest with Rio?”
Luke’s eyes widened and he exhaled. “That’s a long story. Fascinating but long.”
“Have a seat,” Isaac offered with a hand gesture.
Luke sat but didn’t speak. Much like Rio had decided about her mother’s story earlier in the day, Luke felt that Rio’s story wasn’t his own and, therefore, it wasn’t his to tell. Just because Rio had told him everything didn’t mean he should pass the information along.
“You know,” Isaac said as he caught on to the reason for Luke’s hesitation, “you don’t have to tell me anything. I won’t ask you to betray her trust.”
“Thank you,” Luke said, sincerely. “I can tell you this much. She’s American and she’s here looking for her father who she’s never met.”
“So, pretty much what I already knew.”
“That, and the fact that I feel led to help her.”
“Kind of already knew that, too. But, when you say led, do you mean by God or, by the fact that she’s an attractive young lady?”
“The honest answer is both. She’s not just attractive to the eye though, Isaac. She’s a really cool person, too.”
Isaac smiled. His young friend was clearly smitten. But, it was time to raise the real issue he wanted to ask Luke about.
“This afternoon, I heard from a guy whose son went to one of our camps a while back. He tells me you were with, what he called a young female miracle worker, and that she saved him from drowning in Ise Bay earlier in the morning.”
Isaac paused. He could see that he had Luke’s full attention and that essentially answered his next question.
“Curious,” Isaac started, “wouldn’t you agree?”
“Curious,” Luke stated with very little commitment.
“You know what he’s talking about?”
Luke stared at Isaac for what felt like minutes before finally responding, “Matthew, chapter sixteen, verse twenty.”
From memory, Isaac quoted the verse that Luke was referencing, “Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.”
Luke continued to stare blankly at Isaac but his mouth remained closed.
“You know,” Isaac started, “there’s only one messiah . . . ”
“Yes,” Luke interrupted as Isaac cracked a knowing grin. “Of course, I know that. That’s not the point I’m looking for you to draw from that verse.”
Isaac nodded his head as he stated, “I get it. Enough said.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Old Testament
Once again, Rio spent the entire night without sleeping. Instead, she read both books that she had borrowed from Luke and her mind was now whirling with profound information. Instead of focusing on that, however, she wanted to clear her mind and she was going to do that by going for a swim.
She let herself into the indoor watersports building and, after just two wrong turns, found her way to the women’s locker room that Luke had pointed out on her tour when they first arrived at CYOI. She changed into her bathing suit and stuffed everything but her towel into a locker before heading out toward the pool.
As she stepped into the pool area, she noticed a few things that had not struck her on the initial walk-through she had quickly made with Luke. There were similarities to her training center back home but she also took note of a few differences. The diving platforms were lower, the pool had eight lanes instead of ten and, of course, there were no banners with team names, mascots or a list of the team’s accomplishments hanging on the walls. Rio also quickly noticed that she was not alone. There was a woman swimming laps in lane eight. On the opposite end of the pool from Rio, was a young girl Rio assumed was the woman’s daughter. She was jumping into the water and then immediately climbing back out to do it again. Rio decided that she looked to be about eight years old, comfortable in the water, but far more interested in jumping in and out of the pool than swimming.
After quietly setting her towel down on a bench just in front of the wall, Rio stepped up to the starting platform on lane one. She stretched a little, climbed up onto the platform, reached forward and grabbed the edge of it with both hands. She squatted twice and then launched herself forward, diving in to swim the length of the pool. The water felt soothing and peaceful as Rio glided beneath the surface. She kicked her feet in a synchronized rhythm until it was time to breach and begin a breast stroke. The process was as natural as breathing for Rio. She was completely at home in the water. It had always comforted, galvanized and pacified her. Today was no exception.
As Rio dipped below the surface again, somersaulted her body and kicked off the pool wall, she heard a sound that caught her attention. The constant sound of a light motor from the water filtration system was no surprise to her. However, this sounded like something had strained that motor or possibly clogged the suction of the water the motor was designed to take in.
Just as she had previously, Rio kicked her feet in a synchronized rhythm until it was time to breach and restart her breast stroke. Every time her head turned and her ear went back into th
e water, she heard the noise again. But, it wasn’t until she was nearly back at the end of the pool from which she had started that she heard a loud scream. Rio stopped and turned to find the woman she had noticed earlier rushing toward the wall of her lane on the opposite end of the pool and going under the water. Rio immediately ducked underwater herself and focused her vision until she could see what was going on clearly, as if it were happening directly in front of her.
The little girl was standing on the bottom of the pool with her back to the wall. She was flailing her arms and trying to move her head but she was obviously stuck. Somehow, she had managed to get her long black hair caught in an induction inlet and the suction power was pulling at the back of her head. The mother was trying to free her but wasn’t having any success. It was at that moment that Rio realized if she didn’t do something, the little girl was going to drown. Rio and the woman breached the surface at the same time and the woman instantaneously began screaming for help.
Rio quickly responded, “Go get a pair of scissors!”
“You,” the woman shouted back. “I’m not leaving my baby!”
Rio briefly thought about the fact that she was the closer one to the locker room, which was the most likely place to find scissors but she had to be there to make sure the girl didn’t drown and she didn’t have the time to explain. Nor did she think that the hysterical mother was likely to have a rational conversation during such a crisis.
So, instead of trying to argue, Rio stopped kicking her feet and moving her hands. As she slowly sunk, she turned her palms upward and the water began to pull to the sides in front of her. Soon, Rio wasn’t in water at all. Her feet were touching the ground and the water had begun to form two walls, one on each side of Rio’s body, about four feet apart. The walls of water went straight up in the air and slowly extended diagonally across the pool toward the woman and her little girl.
When the break in the water reached them, the girl gasped for air and wiped her face. She and her mom both looked at Rio through the pathway in front of them and then up past the lane dividers, running from one wall of water into the next, at the miraculous sight of the water being held back for them. The little girl’s fear dissolved and was replaced with peace. She smiled at Rio while her mother continued to stare, completely stunned by the whole event. Finally, she looked at her daughter and remembered Rio’s suggestion that scissors would be needed to free her daughter from the motor’s grasp.