“Hey, Em! Over here,” Wayne hollered.
“And we’re just in the nick of time, by the looks of it,” Billy piped up. They grabbed all her bags—“Gee, Em, did you have all this with you when you left?”—and hauled them to Billy’s parents’ SUV.
“How did you guys know when I was coming in,” she asked incredulously.
“It’s just one of those “friend” things, ya know. We just sensed your need, and leapt into action,” Wayne asserted in his best mock-heroic tone. Billy snorted.
“We figured you had to be coming in today or tomorrow, cuz school starts on Monday,” Danny asserted. “Wayne wanted to stake out the terminal for the last few days.”
“Yeah, he just wouldn’t listen to reason,” Billy laughed. “Thank God his mom’s car’s in the shop, or we would have been practically living here!” Emily laughed along with him. She loved her friends, and felt it tickle its way down her spine in the warm reflection on the fact that they loved her.
“I’m starving, guys. Can we stop and get something to eat on the way?”
“Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Wayne roared. “The telepathy between friends. I’m ravenous!” Everybody laughed. Danny hedged a little.
“I’m tapped out, guys,” he said sheepishly.
“This one’s on me, everyone” Emily trumpeted.
“See what I mean,” Wayne roared again—he was in a mood. “It’s that ol’ psychic connection among friends!” He was broke, too.
“I know a diner on the way that’s probably open late,” Billy piped up.
“Step on it, my man,” Wayne commanded imperiously. “My stomach growls hideously.” They all laughed as Billy stomped on the gas pedal.
They sat in a large semi-circular booth in the back of the diner. It was one of those places where the seats were covered in lime green vinyl with hammered nickel upholstery nails. All the tables and counters were edged in ribbed art-deco chrome. There was a drain in the center of the checkerboard tile floor. Emily wondered if they hosed the place out in the middle of the night. They picked out various forms of breakfast from the menu, with Wayne getting about twice what anyone else ordered. Emily got a fruit plate and a bagel with cream cheese. They all clamored to know every detail of her trip. She had kept a pretty tight lid on her plans beforehand, trying not to commit herself to stories that might have to change later. But she decided this was probably as good a moment as any to open up to her friends.
“I went to Japan,” she said, figuring she should keep New Zealand to herself, in case Michael planned on staying on there a little longer. “I spent the break with relatives.” That part was true, though not exactly consonant with the way in which the first remark was true.
“Japan,” Danny exclaimed. “I thought your family was from China.” Wayne and Billy obviously shared his perplexity, judging from their faces. Emily laughed. She didn’t know exactly how it happened each time, but for some reason people always seemed to assume that about her. She was tall for a Japanese, she supposed. But she also didn’t usually give people much to go on to avoid that mistake.
“I’m sorry guys. There’s a lot I have to tell you, stuff I’ve been keeping from you. But I’m sick of it.” She paused to take a breath. The guys were all expectation.
“Here goes. My dad is dead.” She had to stop right there. Her friends gasped, as if there were no more air in the room. Emily fought back tears. It still hurt to say it, even in front of friends. It just made it real again with all the same vivid, hideous pain. She took another long breath, sighed it out and went on.
“He was killed in a crossfire at the estate.” She tried to speak quickly, to get through it faster. The boys’ faces seemed frozen. “His boss was targeted by covert operatives in the intelligence community. They invaded the estate one night in October and he was killed trying to keep me safe.” This last was too much even for her. The image of the scene broke over her once again and she wept openly.
“Oh my God, Emily,” Wayne cried out, voicing what they all felt. “I’m so sorry.” He wanted to say so much more, but the words just didn’t come to him. They sat in silence for a long moment, as if they were observing a moment of silence for Emily’s father, though they all thought only of her.
“There’s more, guys,” she said in a tremulous voice. “My name is not really Emily. That’s just an informal family name, Emily Kane. My legal name has always been Michiko.” The boys were now utterly perplexed. “Don’t worry. You can still call me Em.” She smiled at them, and they laughed nervously, no doubt relieved to find that she was open to humor.
“Michiko,” they each said, almost simultaneously, trying out the feel of it in their mouths. “That’s kind of cool sounding,” Danny said.
“It means ‘the way’ or wisdom or a whole lot of other stuff. I like to think of it as the way,” she added, trying to normalize the name for them.
“So, do you, like, speak Japanese,” Billy asked, with an odd look on his face.
“Yeah, I do,” she admitted, feeling a little guilty that so much of her personality had been concealed from them. “But don’t worry guys. It’s still the same me. I’m still the Emily you know from the dojo and school. You know, the one who kicks your asses on a regular basis.”
They all laughed, quite relieved that she wanted to bring them close to her. She was sharing a deep, dark secret with them, trusting them. They were each a little embarrassed to think they had no secrets on this scale.
“There’s one more thing, it’s kinda bad, and I’m most sorry about keeping this part from you all. Those men who invaded the estate, killed my dad, he was afraid they were looking for me. I’ve been hiding from them, sort of, for the last few months. But I’m sick of it. I’m not hiding anymore,” she said with a ferocity that scared them all a little bit.
“What do they want from you,” Danny asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
Emily paused for a moment, pondering what it would be safe to tell them, what would be safe for them. There was no easy answer, so she just decided to push on with it.
“There’s no good reason,” she spat out contemptuously. “My Dad said they think I carry some special gene, something engineered in a lab, like, a secret code.” She paused, took a breath, and continued. “There is no special gene, but they’ve fooled themselves into thinking there is, and they’ll stop at nothing to find it.”
“Holy crap, Em,” said Wayne. “This is all pretty wild, cloak and dagger stuff. You’re not just goofing on us, are you?”
“I wish I was, believe me. These assholes have destroyed my family. I’m not gonna let them take anything else from me. I’m especially not gonna let them cheat me out of my friends. I love you guys.”
The boys were shocked by this last statement. They were thrilled to hear how she felt about them. But they each knew there was a danger, obscure no doubt and perhaps illimitable, hidden in all of this for them. But it’s in the nature of a boy’s soul that the threat of danger, when it looms over the girl he loves, only sharpens his determination to stick by her. He can’t bring his mind to focus on the danger. Only the girl is real for him.
Emily had some sense of all this and was not a little worried about it.
“Here’s the important part. These are dangerous people. If you ever see a suspicious person around the dojo, or around school, or anywhere near me, you have to keep clear. You know me, I can handle myself. But I can’t risk your safety.”
“You mean someone like that woman at the dojo before Christmas,” Danny asked.
“Yes, exactly like her! Steer clear of her and anyone like her. Also, suspicious Chinese guys. Don’t approach anyone like that. You have to promise me you’ll keep away from anyone who looks wrong.” Emily was deadly earnest, and they all sensed it. “Guys, I mean it. You have to promise me!”
They all reluctantly grunted and nodded their heads in some sort of vague assent. That would have to do, Emily supposed. She didn’t think she could get anythin
g more explicit out of them. She desperately hoped they would take her warning to heart. She was truly frightened for their safety.
There was a long silence as they all stared at Emily. Was there no end of the surprises this girl concealed? Each one of them vowed in his heart to watch over her. They had no idea how, but each one entertained the fantasy that he would be able to protect her at the decisive moment whenever it arrived.
Emily spread her glances over all of them, looking each one in the eye, this time not with a demanding glare, but with affection. Finally, she wiped the last tears from her eyes, tears of joy for the love of her friends.
“Let’s go, guys,” she said. “It’s getting late.” They all nodded and went out to the SUV as Emily settled the bill with the waitress. On the way home, she told them about her second encounter with the guys from the pizza place.
“A video of it is on the web. You can probably find it if you search for “ass kicking gas station” or something like that.” Wayne had already found it on his phone before Emily had a chance to ask them not to tell anyone it was her.
“Whoa, Em. It’s those same guys,” Wayne chortled. “You really kicked that guy’s ass!” Danny grabbed the phone and replayed it, hooting through the whole thing. Billy had to pull over so he could see it, too.
“Did that girl pull a gun on you, Em,” Billy asked, beginning to appreciate how awful that moment must have been. “What did you say to her?”
“I asked her if she wanted me to mess up her pretty face. You can see it had a powerful effect on her.”
“That guy you threw into the building, he’s not moving. Is he dead,” Billy asked nervously.
“No, but his arm’s probably still in a sling. But that’s my point. The whole thing was gross. There’s nothing to brag about in it. I really wish they hadn’t insisted on a fight. And Wendy was there. She saw it all. Be careful what you say around her. I think she’s still a little freaked about it.”
“What’s the deal with her anyway, Em,” Danny asked. “Isn’t she one of the Goths?”
“Yeah, I guess so. But she’s pretty cool, you know. You should give her a chance.”
“Yeah, like I saw her wearing non-black clothes before the break,” Billy observed.
“Next it’ll be non-black nails, eyes. Who knows what else,” Wayne mocked and Billy and Danny laughed along, until Emily brought them up short.
“Like I said, she’s just a poser like the rest of us. Let’s cut her some slack, okay guys?” They murmured another vague assent. They were surprised to hear how much this meant to her. It was just another surprising side of their mysterious friend.
When she finally got back home, Emily was exhausted. She left the luggage by the door and lay down in bed. She was asleep almost instantly. The next morning, she unpacked everything and put it all away. It was a good thing the apartment had a large closet, because the clothes her mother had bought her filled it up. Six months earlier she couldn’t have imagined it, though her mother would get immense satisfaction if she knew, but Emily found it quite comforting to see all her new clothes hanging in her closet. It was like a bit of ancient maternal magic her mother was working on her from afar.
She spent the rest of the day getting ready for school, buying groceries, household sundries, cooking for the week, laying out clothes, all the domestic tasks she had foreseen a few months earlier. She also sorted through the changes that would have to be made in her various papers in keeping with her new resolve. This would include changing the name on her truck and dirt bike, of course, maybe even selling them and getting new ones. Most important of all, she would speak to the secretary in the front office at school and get her to change the name on her school records. She would also need to reintroduce herself to all her teachers as Michiko. That by itself would probably suffice for the rest of the school to hear of it. Undoubtedly some wit would be broken over her as a result, but that didn’t really concern her. It was important to bring her real name out in public, to live openly as who she really is, as the person who her parents wanted her to be.
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Chapter 19: Miss M Comes Out
The school secretary was a white haired older woman, probably in her sixties, though to Emily’s eye she might as well have been a hundred. Mrs. Telford had been working in the front office for the last three decades. The records for thousands of students had passed through her hands in that time. She remembered some from many years ago, but her memory was not what it once was, and she couldn’t exactly recall who this pretty girl in front of her now in fact was.
“Emily Kane, Ma’am.”
“That’s right, honey, I remember,” she said trying to hide what didn’t need to be hidden. “And you want what now?”
“It’s my name, Ma’am. We need to change it in my records, to put my legal name on the records.”
“Has your name changed,” she asked, a little puzzled.
“No, not really,” Emily began, spinning a tale about her name she hoped would be the last lie she would have to concoct. “Emily Kane is just a family nickname. It’s what my cousins used to call me. But my legal name has always been Michiko Tenno.”
“But what does it say on the birth certificate we have on file?”
These records were carried over by the school district from when she was first enrolled in elementary school. Emily didn’t really know what was in the file. This was a sticky point she hadn’t anticipated last night. Had her parents devised some sort of birth certificate for Emily Kane? If so, it would be hard to explain how she had another one now, with a different name. Emily’s mind raced through the possibilities as Mrs. Telford shuffled over to the filing cabinets against the back wall. A moment later she came back with a thick folder in her hand.
“Well I’ll be,” she exclaimed. “There’s no copy of a birth certificate in here. How on earth did that slip by unnoticed?” Emily breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
“I don’t really know, but I guess that’s why the name on my records has been incorrect for all these years. Kane is my father’s family name, so it’s always seemed natural to hear it. But when I started doing college applications, I realized there was a problem.” That story seemed plausible to Emily, though she wasn’t sure Mrs. Telford would buy it.
But the old lady looked at the photo attached to the file, and this was obviously the same girl sitting in front her today. She had no reason to doubt what she was saying, even if it was a bit unusual. She’d seen stranger things in her time.
“Do you have your birth certificate with you, dear?”
“Yes, and my passport, too.” Emily handed her the documents. Mrs. Telford was impressed. This was more documentation than she was used to seeing. She made a photocopy of the birth certificate and handed everything back to Emily.
“I’ll change the name on your records in the computer and put a note in the paper files with your new information.”
“Can’t we change the name on the paper records, too,” Emily asked.
“Well, I don’t know. I’ll print out your high school records with your new name and put them in the file, of course. But the older records, the ones from elementary school, aren’t in my computer. We’ll have to leave those as they are.”
Emily thought that might be good enough. She toyed with the idea of switching out the files herself at some later date. Mrs. Telford was unlikely to remember this conversation, especially since she barely remembered who Emily Kane was in the first place. If the files for Emily Kane simply disappeared sometime after graduation, no one would be the wiser. It was a tempting notion, but she wasn’t absolutely convinced it would be necessary.
“Thank you very much, Ma’am,” Emily said politely. She smiled as she got up to go.
“You’re very welcome, dear. I’m glad we got that straightened out, Miss… Tenno.”
“Oh, you can still call me Kane, if you like. It’s my dad’s name after all,” Emily said graciously, as she stepped out the door into the main
corridor of the school.
She had a few minutes before her lunch period so she headed to her locker to get her bento box and change out books. She walked by Mr. Jameson’s room, her World History teacher, on the off chance that he was available. She could see him through the window working at his desk, so she went right in.
“Ah, Miss Kane, what can I do for you?”
“Well, that’s just it,” Emily began. “My name, it isn’t really Kane.” That was blunt enough, she thought. Jameson looked puzzled.
“If that’s not your name, what is it?”
“You’ll probably get a note from the office about it soon. Kane is my name, sort of. It’s my dad’s name. It’s what people in my family usually call me. But it’s not my formal, legal name. That’s Tenno, Michiko Tenno.”
“You know, it’s the strangest thing,” he said, a little embarrassed, “but all this time I’ve been assuming you were Chinese. But I suppose you must be of Japanese descent, judging from your name.” Emily smiled.
“I get that a lot. My mom’s from Japan.”
“I see. Well, should I call you Miss Tenno now?”
“That’s up to you. Either name is fine with me.”
Emily felt very pleased with herself. She knew Jameson would pass the word around the faculty, and from there it would make its way around the students. But she especially enjoyed showing indifference to her names. Of course, the difference between the names meant the world to her. But it would still please her to answer to either one.
At lunch, Wendy sat with her. She looked enviously at Emily’s lunch. Her mom had made her some sort of sandwich and a bit of cole slaw. But Emily had an exotic meal prepared for her: pickled vegetables with tofu on rice with what looked like teriyaki sauce. It hardly seemed fair to Wendy.
Girl Fights Back (Go No Sen) (Emily Kane Adventures) Page 17