Summertime of the Dead

by Gregory Hughes

  I kept the sword at my side and walking out into the street I saw half a dozen yakuza going into the entrance. Then I heard a high-pitched scream. The men rushed inside. I turned to the car park just as the gate came down.

  ‘I can see you!’

  I looked up to see Riko on the rooftop and started to run.

  ‘He’s getting away!’

  I looked back as I ran, but the street was empty.

  ‘Get him! Someone get him!’

  Riko’s scream faded the further I got, but it never stopped.

  I sprinted back to the bike. Jamming the sword under the seat I kick-started the engine. I stayed in the backstreets until I was well away from Akasaka and then I moved on to the dual carriageway. I tried to stay calm, but I kept thinking they were coming after me. But I couldn’t believe I’d killed Louise. And I couldn’t believe I’d made it out of there. Within ten minutes I was cutting through Shibuya and passing the park.

  I only felt safe once I’d crossed the tracks and riding up the hill I turned into my street. But suddenly I had to swerve! Someone was in the road. I looked back and saw the Lump! She was wearing her pyjamas and she was carrying that severed head by its hair. I must have forgotten to lock the door. I got off the bike and went back to get her. She looked up at the twins’ apartment and climbing halfway up she sat on the steps.

  She looked so peaceful I didn’t want to startle her. And so I gently took her by the hand and brought her down the steps. She stopped when we got to the bottom and looked up at the apartment.

  ‘Twins,’ she said in a sleepy voice. ‘Beautiful twins.’

  All the adrenalin and anger left me then. I felt so bad for her. The twins were probably the only friends she’d ever had. ‘Yes, beautiful twins,’ I said. And very slowly I walked her back to the house.

  8

  There was screaming in my nightmare and then I woke to more screaming. I went out on the balcony with my heart banging and looked down to see the Lump tormenting Yoshe’s baby boy. He’d only just learned how to walk, and he was chasing the Lump around the plants on the patio and around the small pond that’s shaped like a fish. But she was staying just out of reach and he didn’t like it, and so she stopped and gave him a swing. He was happy then and he laughed and the Lump laughed with him.

  ‘Breakfast’s ready,’ shouted Yoshe.

  I went downstairs and picking up the paper I went into the kitchen. Yoshe put her baby boy in a high chair and the Lump took a seat. I already knew what the headlines would be before I saw them, and I was right. ‘Benni Tanaka’s Niece Slain by Assassin’, was on the front page. And when I looked inside the headline read: ‘Psycho Killer Slays Four’. I scanned the article to find out why they called me that. Apparently ‘Psycho Killer’ was the song playing on the stereo when the victims were murdered. I don’t remember what was playing, but it wasn’t important and so I read on. It said that Kako, who was Louise Tanaka’s cousin, was killed the previous night. And it said, ‘While reports are unconfirmed, it’s likely that the victims were killed by the same sword.’ One cop said it could be the work of a vigilante. It was also rumoured that Uncle Benni had a hit squad on standby.

  So it had begun. Killing Kako was nothing because he was a nobody. I bet Uncle Benni never even batted an eyelid over him. But killing his niece was a whole different ball game. You see, the yakuza are the largest criminal organization in the world. There are fifteen hundred gangs in Japan, with close to ninety thousand members, and that’s not counting the creeps who work for them. It has a hierarchy like that of an army or a corporation. They have trainees who work for years to become soldiers. Some rise to become officers and executives, who are also known as lieutenants. Ranking alongside the executives are the clan’s advisers. Then comes the head of a clan, the oyabun, or family boss. He employs lawyers, accountants and administrators to help him run his section of the operation. And the yakuza’s tentacles are everywhere. They work from street level to corporate boardrooms. They even have politicians on the payroll. Some of their business is legitimate, but mostly they deal in drugs, gambling and girls. And everyone answers to the big boss Uncle Benni. That meant that he had an army at his disposal. And by now every one of them would know that Louise Tanaka was dead. The news would have spread as far south as Nagasaki and as far north as Sapporo. It would spread to other criminal organizations in China and Korea. Condolences would be sent. Offers of loyalty renewed. Her father in prison would have been informed. Word would have been sent to Tomi Yamamoto in Osaka. He would have sent a message to his sister, and their stepmother, Matsu, who was doing time in a mental hospital. Yakuza gang leaders would have been woken up in the middle of the night. There would be meetings, phone calls and conversations. Uncle Benni’s enforcers would be kicking down doors and the cops would be dragging people out of bed. Fear and paranoia would spread throughout the organization. And they’d all be asking the same question: who killed Louise Tanaka? I had all this on my mind and I still had to listen to the Lump slurp her noodles! ‘Does she have to do that?’

  ‘What?’ asked Yoshe. ‘Eat?’ She put some tea in front of me. ‘Would you like breakfast?’

  ‘No, I’m going for a run,’ I said. But I couldn’t take my eyes off the paper. The Lump slurped her noodles again and I gave her a look to make her stop, but she didn’t.

  ‘She was sleepwalking last night! And the night before!’

  The Lump stopped in mid-slurp, strings of noodles running from her mouth to the bowl.

  Yoshe looked a little worried. ‘She can’t help it. And she’ll be OK once she settles in.’

  The noodles shot up into the Lump’s mouth and she sat there looking smug. She wasn’t scared of me any more. I didn’t like that. And when Yoshe’s baby boy started slurping his noodles I liked it even less.

  I went upstairs to get changed and then I left the house in my running gear.

  But then Yoshe came out of the garden. ‘Aren’t you forgetting someone?’

  ‘I’m going for a run!’

  ‘We’ve thought about that.’

  She held open the steel door and the Lump rode out on my old bike. She was wearing my old black skateboard helmet. She looked like a little fat traffic cop.

  ‘Well, come on then, if you’re coming!’ I said.

  ‘Watch out for her on the road,’ shouted Yoshe.

  I watched out for her on the road and on the train tracks. But once we were in the park I ran up the ramp and left the Lump struggling to pedal upwards. I bet she didn’t even have the good sense to lower the gears.

  I ran around the inner road of the park while thinking about last night. But when the road curved I saw the Lump coming after me, and she was gaining. I ran faster, but the Lump wasn’t easy to lose. She had a serious frown on her face and her small legs were spinning like a clockwork toy. I came off the road and ran on the common. She tried to follow, but she couldn’t ride as fast on the grass and I left her behind. I ran right across the common and through the trees and then I got back on the road that ran around the inside of the park. But then I saw the Lump riding towards me. She must have remembered that the road was a circle and ridden back the way she’d come. She was really starting to annoy me!

  I sat on a bench beneath the shade of a tree and got my breath back. The Lump rode up, and putting the bike on its stand she took a seat. She looked more than a little uncomfortable; she must have known I’d tried to lose her. Then she noticed the dirty look I was giving her and she started to whistle. But she couldn’t and so she checked her cell instead. She never stops checking that damn cell! ‘Who ever calls you on that? Go on, tell me!’

  She tried to speak but the words wouldn’t come. It happens that way sometimes, especially when she’s under pressure. I suppose that’s why she only says a few words at a time. But I have to admit I felt bad then. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ I said. ‘Forget about it.’

  But the Lump took a deep breath and tried again. ‘Mum and Dad and sister, Hatsu,’ she said
.

  She looked away so I couldn’t see her face, but I knew she was lying. No one ever calls her. She stayed here for a whole month last May and she checked that cell ten times a day. But she never got so much as a text message. I’m not surprised. Her mother’s selfish, her father’s a phoney and that sister of hers is spoilt rotten. They couldn’t care less about her. And they certainly didn’t care enough to call her. They never even bought her the cell – she won it in a school raffle. She put the cell in her rucksack and pulling out that shrunken head she smoothed back its black hair.

  ‘What is that?’

  The Lump held up the head and looked at it lovingly. ‘Om,’ she said.

  ‘Om?’

  ‘Best friend Om!’ said the Lump. Then something caught her eye. ‘Ants!’ she shouted. She jumped off the bench and squatted on the ground. That was another thing about the Lump. She has this thing for ants. They kind of amaze her.

  ‘Thirty-two,’ said the Lump.

  It drove me insane when she did that. You’d never know if she was right or not and so you’d end up trying to count them. One time she told me there were twenty-four. And it really looked like there were twenty-four. But you couldn’t tell because they kept moving around.

  Another ant came out of a hole. ‘Thirty-three,’ said the Lump. And then she tiptoed out of them to make sure she didn’t stand on any.

  ‘Come on,’ I said, and walked back to the house. I had a lot on my mind and the Lump was confusing things.

  ‘Cherry blossoms,’ said the Lump.

  ‘The season’s over.’

  ‘Cherry blossoms,’ she said and pointed. And there, among the trees, was one small cherry tree just beginning to blossom. I couldn’t understand it. They only blossomed for ten days a year and the season had ended a month ago. When I looked at the Lump she was looking kind of pleased with herself.

  ‘Come on,’ I said, and walked away.

  By the time we got back to the house Yoshe had gone. The Lump pushed the bike into the garden and I went to my room to think about my next move. I was still determined to kill Riko. But I knew the yakuza would be on guard now and so there was nothing I could do. Not for the moment anyway. And so I went out on the balcony to see what the Lump was up to. She was inspecting things in the garden. She gazed at the lotus blossoms in the pond and the plants on the patio. She even stared at a rusty old watering can for a time. Then a big blue butterfly fluttered into the garden. The Lump got on to it straight away and followed it around, wide-eyed, like she was blown away by its beauty. But then it fluttered upwards and flew over the wall. She waited to see if it would come back, but it didn’t, and so she sat on the bench and checked her cell.

  I felt kind of sorry for her then, she looked so alone. But I don’t think she felt sorry for herself. She looked happy to sit and wait for the next big thing to happen, and then it did. One of Grandmother’s cats came out. The Lump tried to befriend it, but it was the fat ginger cat that was friends with no one. It just climbed on top of the shed and went to sleep in the sun, which is all it ever did. And so the Lump returned to the bench.

  I felt a little stressed over last night’s killings, and as I had nothing better to do I decided to get a shinai from the shed and do some katas. If I couldn’t battle I might as well train. I went downstairs, and cutting through the kitchen I went out into the garden. As soon as the Lump saw me she jumped up like we were going somewhere. But I just ignored her, and taking a shinai from the shed I did some stretching. I didn’t need to warm up because it was so hot, but I did some stretches just in case. Then I did the power exercises. I squatted on my legs and jumping forward I struck with the shinai. It was a hard exercise but it built my thigh muscles and taught me balance. Balance is important in kendo, because if you lose your balance you’ve lost control. I did the strikes and the katas from the different stances and then I started to move fast, jumping forward and thrusting at an imaginary opponent.

  The Lump looked amazed. Her eyes were wide and her head was twitching from side to side. ‘Me!’ she said.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Me!’ said the Lump.

  She was so annoying. ‘There’s another one in the shed.’

  The Lump scurried into the shed and came out with a shinai. She screamed as loud as she could and started slashing the air like a little barbarian.

  ‘Stop that!’ She stopped and looked up at me. ‘Stand behind me.’ The Lump stood behind me and to the left. ‘Now watch.’ I held the shinai in the chudan stance and screaming I struck straight ahead, stamping my foot as I did so. ‘Now you.’

  As she raised her shinai the Lump looked deadly serious. Then with a loud scream she struck straight ahead and froze in the stance. It was a solid strike. She even stamped her foot at the right time. I walked around her and looked for a fault in her stance but I couldn’t find one. She even stayed stone-faced and looked straight ahead.

  ‘OK, watch this.’ I moved across the patio doing all the strikes, blocks and blows you could do from the chudan stance. Then turning quickly I came back, striking and thrusting as I came. I stopped when I reached the plants and turned to her. ‘Now you.’

  The Lump was buzzing. Even her palm tree looked electrified. Crying out she struck and thrust her way to the wall. She did every single move the same as me. Then she spun around and crying out she came back. She was frighteningly good! She even flicked the shinai with her wrists rather than striking with a heavy blow. And I never even told her to do that. She came to a stop and looked up at me.

  ‘You’ve done kendo before!’

  ‘No,’ said the Lump.

  I glared at her but she never looked away. I think she was telling the truth.

  ‘Go and put that helmet on.’

  The Lump bolted in the shed and came out wearing the helmet.

  ‘If I hit you on the helmet I score a point. If you hit me anywhere you score a point. Understand?’

  The Lump nodded.

  I bowed to the Lump and she bowed back. Then she cried out and charged. I wasn’t expecting such a ferocious attack. She hacked and stabbed with all her might. Then she whacked me on the ankle. I nearly fell in the pond.

  ‘Stop! You can’t hit someone’s feet!’

  ‘Why?’ asked the Lump.

  ‘Because I said. Now step back.’

  She’d got lucky because I’d never fought someone so small. But I was away from the pond now, and I had space. We eyed each other up and circled the patio. I struck her on the helmet. I did it again. And then again. The Lump was livid but she couldn’t do anything about it. I hadn’t taught her how to block. But then she hit my big toe. And I was in my bare feet too!

  ‘I said not on the feet. You did that on purpose.’

  But the Lump ignored me. Then crying out she attacked. But I blocked her blows with ease.

  Her eyes went shifty and she moved around me in a sneaky way. She was looking for an opening, I could tell. I’d met her type before. But then she kicked something at my feet. I looked down to see what it was. Suddenly she thrust the shinai into my face. The rubber end struck the tip of my nose, bringing tears to my eyes. Then she whacked me on the head. I stumbled over the flowerpots and fell into the plants.

  ‘What the hell are you doing?’

  ‘Accident,’ said the Lump.

  ‘You liar! I try to teach you something and this is how you behave!’ I got to my feet. ‘You little fat lump! No wonder you’ve got no friends!’

  Her head went down like she felt bad. But I’d had enough of her. I threw the shinai on the patio and went upstairs to my room. Then I went out on the balcony. I was expecting to see her sulking on the bench, but she wasn’t. She was practising with the shinai and she looked like she was having fun. She’d only pretended to feel bad! I ran into the bathroom and grabbing the plastic bucket I filled it with water. Then I went out on the balcony and called her. ‘Come here, you. And take that stupid helmet off.’ She took it off and came running over. Then she looked up at m
e like a real dummy. Before she had a chance to move I dumped the bucket and drenched her. Then I laughed out loud. ‘That’ll teach you!’

  The Lump looked livid. She grabbed the shinai and ran in the house. When I heard her coming up the stairs I locked my door and lay on my bedroll laughing. I heard her bang into it. ‘It’s locked, you dummy!’ I laughed some more and she kicked the door and walked away. It felt good to laugh. I hadn’t laughed since the twins … but then I felt tired. I didn’t sleep well last night because of the killings. And when I did sleep the nightmares came. I kept dreaming I was trapped in the car park and I couldn’t get out. Either that or I was having a conversation with Louise’s corpse. But when my eyes closed the sunshine and the warmth sent me to sleep. It was such a beautiful sleep too. I could feel myself falling deeper and deeper and then …

  ‘Argh!!!’ I couldn’t breathe! The shock and the cold were too much! I saw the plastic bucket hit the floor and feet running. As I got up I stood on ice cubes. She’d put ice cubes in it!

  ‘You’re dead!’ I ran to her room and tried to get in, but she’d locked the door. ‘Let me in!’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Are you laughing?’

  ‘No.’

  But she was laughing – I could hear her! ‘I’ll get even with you! You see if I don’t!’ I slapped the door and went back to my room. There were ice cubes everywhere, and the futon and the bedroll were soaked. I hung them on the balcony and then I stood there, puzzled. I’d locked the door. I know I had. She couldn’t have got in, not unless she had a key. I went back to her room. ‘Open up, you!’