Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

by Jamie Ford

  The Japanese couple walked off, out the alley and down the street, looking as though they were being dragged toward the train station. Henry looked up and down the alley one last time, thinking about Keiko and her family. About how they'd left the American Garden restaurant to try to make their own arrangements.

  Henry went back inside and sprawled on his bed as his mother came in. He pawed through a stack of comic books, then saw the cover of Marvel Mystery Comics Number 30, the last issue he'd bought. The cover featured the Human Torch battling a Japanese submarine. The war is everywhere, Henry thought, shoving the comics under his bed as his mother set a plate of butter-almond cookies on his nightstand.

  "Do you need to talk, Henry? If so, then please talk to me." She spoke in Cantonese, her eyes not masking her concern for him.

  He looked at the open window. The blackout curtains hung stiff and heavy, barely moving in the breeze. He couldn't understand the chatter of the people on the street below. It drifted in and out like his longing to understand what was going on around him.

  "Why won't he talk to me?" Henry asked his mother in Cantonese, still looking out the window.

  "Who talk? Your father?"

  After a long pause, Henry looked at her and nodded.

  "He talks to you every day. What do you mean, why won't he talk?"

  "He talks, but he doesn't listen to me."

  Henry sat there as she patted him on the arm, on his belly, searching for the words to make her son understand.

  "I don't know how to tell you so it makes sense. You were born here. You're American. Where your father comes from, it was nothing but war. War with Japan. They invaded northern China, killing many, many people. Not soldiers but women and children, the old and the sick. Your father, he grew up this way. He saw this happen to his own family. " She pulled a knit handkerchief out from her sleeve and dabbed her eyes, even though she wasn't crying. Maybe she couldn't cry anymore, Henry thought. It was just habit now.

  "Your father came here, as an orphan, but he never forgot who he was, where he came from. Never forgot about his home. "

  "This is his home now," Henry protested.

  His mother got up and looked out the window before closing it. "This is where he lives, but it will never be his home. Look at what is happening to Japantown. Your father is afraid that might happen to us someday. That's why--as much as he loves his China--he wants this to be your home. For you to be accepted here."

  "There are other families ..."

  "I know. There are some families. Chinese families. American families. Families that right now, even as we are speaking, are hiding Japanese. Taking their belongings.

  Very dangerous. You, me, all of us risk going to jail if we help them. I know you have a friend. The one who calls on the telephone. The girl from the Rainier school? She is Japanese?"

  Henry didn't see her as Japanese anymore. "She's just my friend," he said in English. And I miss her.

  "Hah?" his mother said, not understanding.

  Henry switched back to Cantonese, thinking of what to say, how much to say. He looked his mother in the eye. "She's my best friend."

  His mother looked at the ceiling, letting out a heavy sigh. The kind of sigh you give when you just accept that something bad has happened. When a relative dies, and you say, "At least he lived a long life." Or when your house burns to the ground and you think, "At least we have our health." It was a sigh of resigned disappointment. A consolation prize, of coming in second and having nothing to show for it. Of coming up empty, having wasted your time, because in the end, what you do, and who you are, doesn't matter one lousy bit. Nothing does.

  For the rest of the weekend Henry's father wouldn't speak of what was going on in Japantown. Henry tried arguing, but his father cut him off every time he attempted to speak to him in Chinese. His mother had softened a bit, if only to ease his unhappiness.

  She had argued with Henry's father, a rare occurrence, about Keiko--about Henry's friend-- but now it was time to move on, and she too found little value in Henry discussing it further. Being told in Cantonese that he'd understand it all when he was older only infuriated him. And all Henry could do was grumble about it in English, to no one.

  He even tried calling Keiko before his parents woke up Sunday morning, but there was no answer. The operator thought the phone had been disconnected. School on Monday did nothing to lessen his anxiety. Keiko was absent there as well. Everyone in Nihonmachi had become occupied with packing--or selling what they couldn't carry.

  So on Tuesday morning, instead of walking to school, Henry ran toward Union Station, which had become the central assembly area for the residents of Nihonmachi.

  Running down South Jackson, he saw lines of Pullman cars stretched out on the tracks leading toward the train depot. Greyhound buses too, creaking and groaning, filled to capacity with soldiers, who looked out of place stepping off with rifles slung over their shoulders.

  They're taking them away, Henry thought. They're taking all of them away. There must be five thousand Japanese. How can they take them all? Where will they go?

  A few blocks from the station itself, crowds filled the street. There was a mix of crying toddlers, shuffling suitcases, and soldiers checking the paperwork of local citizens--most of whom were dressed in their Sunday best, the one or two suitcases they were allowed packed to the point of bursting. Each person wore a plain white tag, the kind you'd see on a piece of furniture, dangling from a coat button.

  Public Proclamation 1 instructed all Japanese citizens, foreign-born and even second-generation Americans, like Keiko, to gather at the train station by nine in the morning. They would be leaving in waves, by neighborhood, until they were all removed.

  Henry had no idea where they'd be going. The Japanese from Bainbridge Island had been sent to Manzanar--someplace in California, near the Nevada border. But one camp couldn't possibly handle the crowd that had been herded to the train station.

  Scanning the area for Keiko, Henry tried to ignore the mobs of angry whites who stood behind barricades, shouting at the families walking by. The entire span of the sky bridge leading to the ferry terminal was packed as well, no one moving, everyone lingering over the railing, staring down at the cordoned-off military zone. It seemed that eyes were everywhere. Men and women alike perched in open office windows high above the street, whistling.

  Henry hadn't spoken to Keiko since they left the restaurant. He'd called again from a pay phone on the way over, but the phone just rang and rang until an operator cut in asking if there was a problem. He hung up. If he was to find them, this was the place.

  But had they left already? He had to find her. He hated the thought of going back to school without her and was surprised at how much he missed her already.

  There were a few Chinese people, mainly rail workers, here and there. No one Henry recognized. He picked them out of the crowd by the buttons they wore, identical to his. Once the army and military police had arrived, the small print shop that was making them had run out. This is what gold feels like, Henry thought, touching the button he wore. Small and precious.

  Standing on a red, white, and blue mailbox, he frantically scanned the crowd, which crept slowly in the direction of the train station. Henry watched another large army truck rumble mercilessly through and stop, but instead of soldiers, the canvas-covered flatbed was filled with elderly Japanese. Some appeared to be almost crippled by the way they walked. Soldiers helped them down, putting some in wheelchairs, their hair unkempt and messy. A Japanese doctor was in tow. Henry realized what was happening. They had cleared the hospital. The sick and infirm were being evacuated as well. Many looked bewildered, obviously not knowing what was happening to them, or why.

  Henry watched a white man holding hands with a Japanese woman. He couldn't help but wonder what must be happening to those families where a Caucasian had taken a Japanese bride. Mixed marriages were illegal. Then again, maybe they'd be spared the hardship of internment after all. But he t
hought otherwise when he saw the suitcase in the woman's hand and the baby stroller.

  Watching the crowd mill by, he heard the nine o'clock whistle go off miles away at Boeing Field. He'd been searching the crowd for-- what?--forty minutes now. Henry knew time was slipping away, and he was beginning to panic. "Keiko!" he shouted from atop the mailbox. He felt people's stares on him as they passed by. They must think I'm mad. Maybe I am. Maybe it's okay to be mad. "Keiko! Keiko Okabe!" he shouted until a soldier looked at him as though he were disturbing the peaceful reverie of the morning.

  Then he saw something. A familiar sight.

  Yes, there it is! Mr. Okabe's Cary Grant hat looked regal even as he crossed the street carrying his only remaining belongings. Henry recognized his dignified posture, but his charming demeanor had been replaced with a detached stare. He walked slowly, holding his wife's hand. She in turn was holding Keiko's. Keiko's little brother walked in front, playing with a wooden airplane, spinning the propeller, unaware that today was unlike any other day.

  Henry waved his arms and shouted. It didn't matter, they didn't notice. They might not have noticed if it were raining or the buildings around them were on fire. Like most of the Japanese families heading toward the train station, they had their heads down, eyes ahead, or stayed busy keeping track of one another.

  One person did notice Henry, though.

  It was Chaz. Even from where Henry stood, he recognized the bully's ruddy, pimpled face. Chaz stood behind the barricade laughing, waving at Henry, smiling before going back to screaming at the children and crying mothers walking by.

  Henry spied the button Chaz wore and dropped down off the mailbox, pressing through the crowd, zeroing in on Chaz's flattop haircut, following the sound of his cackling laugh. He's going to kill me, Henry thought. He's bigger, faster. But I don't care anymore. Henry's spine had fused with anger.

  Chaz sneered as Henry slipped beneath the barricade directly in front of him.

  "Knew I'd find you here, Henry ol' buddy. How's your daddy doing?"

  "What are you doing here?" Henry asked.

  "Just enjoying the sights like everyone else. Thought I'd take a stroll down here and see who's not leaving. But it looks like everybody is going bye-bye. Guess I'm going to be busy looking after their things while they're gone." Chaz stuck out his lower lip, pretending to pout.

  Henry had heard about the looting that had begun the night before in some neighborhoods. Families hadn't even left, and people strolled right in and took lamps, furniture, anything that wasn't nailed down. If it was, they had claw hammers to fix that too.

  "Since the army closed off Nip-ville, there's not much to see. Just thought I'd come down here and say sayonara. ^You were just a bonus find." As he said it, Chaz grabbed a handful of Henry's collar.

  Henry struggled against his grip. Chaz was a whole foot taller, looming over him.

  Henry scanned the crowd for a friendly face, but no one noticed. No one cared. Who am I in all this? What do I matter?

  Then his eyes found the button on Chaz's shirt. The one he had stolen from Henry.

  A trophy, pinned to his jacket like a merit badge of cruelty. More gold.

  Henry curled his fists so tightly his fingernails cut tiny half crescents into the tender flesh of his palms. He punched Chaz as hard as he could, feeling the impact all the way into his shoulder. He was aiming for his nose but caught cheekbone instead. Before Henry could land another blow, the ground slammed into his back. His head hit the concrete, and all he saw were meaty fists raining down.

  Defending himself the best he could, Henry reached up to grab Chaz and felt a sharp pain in his hand. Despite the blows to the side of Henry's head, a piercing in his hand was the only pain he felt. The only pain that mattered.

  As Henry rolled away from the punches, covering up, Chaz seemed to float up and off of him. The crowd had parted. No one appeared to care that a white kid was beating the snot out of a little Chinese boy. No one but Sheldon--who'd seen him and pulled the larger boy off him.

  Chaz shrugged the black man away. "Get your dirty hands off of me!" He brushed the dust off his shirt, looking embarrassed and humiliated-- a tomcat dunked in an icy bath. He eyed the crowd around him for a friendly face, but the few spectators who noticed rolled their eyes at the noisy troll that he'd become. "I forgot you were friends with this rice nigger," Chaz grunted, almost in tears. Skulking away, he added, "See you tomorrow, Henry. Next time you'll get worse."

  "You all right, kid?" Sheldon asked.

  Henry rolled to his side and sat up, wiping a small spot of blood from his nose with his sleeve. His eye felt puffy and would surely be purple tomorrow. He licked his teeth with his tongue, taking inventory. Nothing broken. Nothing missing.

  He opened his hand and looked down at the button, the pin sticking in partway.

  Henry smiled and said in his best English, "Never felt better."

  Henry sprinted through the crowd, unnoticed in the chaos--searching for Keiko's family, worried that his scuffle with Chaz may have blown his one chance to see her. He knew the direction they were headed, but inside the station, there would be any number of trains to board. He thought of the people from the Kau Kau restaurant. The ones who were caring for the belongings of that Japanese couple. He'd heard his mother mention others. Chinese families who took people in, hiding them-- there had to be a chance.

  With each step, he plotted how he would convince his parents. Would they take Keiko in? Their first thought was to protect themselves, then others in their own community. He'd have to make them understand, somehow. How could they not? Father was closed-minded, but knowing soldiers were herding thousands of people to an unknown destination, an unknown fate--this would change everything. How could they sit back and do nothing when this many people were being taken away-- when they could be next?

  Henry ran past a mountain of luggage. Trunks, bags, and suitcases stacked almost as high as the roofs of the silvery buses that rolled by. Families were arguing about how much or how little they were allowed to bring. The excess found its way to the top of the ever-growing heap. Next to the mound was a truckload of confiscated radios. Giant Philco consoles and small Zenith portables with bent wave-magnet antennas were piled up in the back like discarded shoes. Across the street sat Union Station, a courtly looking mass of red brick, its thick iron awning held aloft by massive stretches of black chain anchored to the building. Above it sat an enormous clock face. Nine-fifteen. Time was slipping away.

  From the steep marble steps of the station, Henry looked out over the swirling sea of people, clusters of families and loved ones trying desperately to stay together. The occasional lost child cried alone as soldiers marched by. The rest were packed like cattle; group by group they were being checked onto four large passenger trains--bound for where? Crystal City Texas? Winnemucca, Nevada? So many rumors. The last one had them bound for an old Indian reservation.

  Henry spotted the hat again. One of many, to be sure, but the walk, the gait, it looked like her father. Sprinting down the stairs to the ground floor, he half-expected a soldier to stop him, but too much was going on. Get them onboard. Make them leave.

  Now. That was all that mattered to those in uniform.

  Henry shuffled around the grown-ups, some standing, others sitting on their luggage looking frightened and confused. A priest said a rosary with a young Japanese woman. Other couples took photos of each other, smiling as best they could, before exchanging hugs and polite handshakes.

  There he was.

  "Mr. Okabe!" Bruised and out of breath, Henry felt the side of his head start to hurt.

  The defeated old gentleman who turned around had a wide mustache. Henry's disappointment was punctuated by the ringing of a porter's bell. For the first time all morning, Henry stopped searching the crowds and crumpled to his knees, staring at the dirty, tiled floor. She's gone, isn't she?

  "Henry?"

  He turned, and there they were. Keiko and her family. Her little broth
er making airplane noises with his lips. They smiled, each wearing an identical hangtag that read

  "Family #10281." They seemed delighted to see a face that wasn't going to the unknown place they were.

  Henry scrambled to his feet. "I thought you'd left." He looked at Keiko, her family, not wanting them to go.

  "I brought this. Wear it, and they'll let you walk out of here," he said and put the button he'd retrieved from Chaz into Keiko's hand, pleading to Mr. Okabe, "She can stay with us, or my aunt. I'll find a place where she can stay. I'll get more. I'll go back and get more for all of you. You can have mine. Take it and I'll go back and get more."

  Henry's heart raced as he fumbled, trying to take his own button off Mr. Okabe looked at his wife, then touched Henry's shoulder. Henry saw the