by Carrie Asai
He gestured into the hotel. “There’s a wedding chapel here. I was supposed to marry someone else, but she canceled on me. Just walked out! But I put down the deposit…and it’s so depressing to have to ask for it back….” His eyes searched over me. He was wearing a tuxedo, fully prepared to marry. “You’re so beautiful,” he said desperately. I looked down at myself. I was wearing a filthy T-shirt and low-rider jeans, I’d been sitting on a bus, I’d slept in them, and I’d spilled half of my pink drink down the front of my shirt. I wore no makeup, and I was sure my hair looked like it had been caught in a hurricane. “Uh-huh,” I said, and started to walk away.
“No!” the guy continued. “They do a Japanese service and everything…. I mean, if you are Japanese and don’t speak English…. Please…I just need to get married…. I don’t even mind about your eye…. I’d never hurt you….”
I turned back to him, flinching at the reference to my eye. I’d definitely have to put makeup on it. “I’m sorry,” I said. “But I’m already engaged.” His shoulders drooped, but then I saw his attention turn to another woman who had walked in, also looking quite lost. I giggled to myself and then frowned.
I went up to the desk and shrugged and tried to laugh. “I’m looking for the Palms casino,” I said in a low voice.
“He’s not gonna follow you,” the woman murmured. “He’s in here every day, askin’ women to marry him.”
“Can’t you just ask him to leave?” I asked.
The woman shrugged. “Are you kidding me? He’s a whale.”
“A whale?” I asked.
“Major gambler,” she whispered. “We’re talking millions.” She looked around, then straightened up. “You want the Palms? Pass the Bellagio, turn, walk a little farther. It’s off on a side street, but you’ll see it as you approach.” She wrote down the address on a slip of paper.
“Thanks,” I said. I slunk out of the hotel. The whale was trying to convince another Japanese girl sitting on one of the couches that she was the love of his life.
I walked down the street to the Palms. I’d watched some of The Real World Las Vegas when it was on, so I recognized the sign. I went cautiously through the glass doors and found my way to the bar. If there was anyone who knew where Katie was, it would probably be the bartender. I could sit at the bar, relax, have a proper drink, and hopefully talk to someone about where Katie might be.
Quiet experience? Um, no. I pushed through the doors of the Ghost Bar and could hardly get inside. The place was jam-packed with people. Everyone was dancing. I shoved my way to the bar and sat down.
I was getting nervous. It was early yet, but would I find Katie?
I finally snagged the bartender and ordered a drink. Then I said, “I’m looking for Katie Riley.”
“What?” he asked.
“I’M LOOKING FOR KATIE RILEY!” I screamed. Behind me, someone apparently had taken off her top. The bartender put his hands over his head and screamed. I sat back down on the stool.
A cocktail waitress pushed by. I asked her the same question. She looked annoyed that I’d stopped her.
“Don’t know any Katie Riley, sorry,” she said, and hurried on. The couple next to me started to do body shots.
I gritted my teeth. Why had I expected to find Katie in this town of a million partyers?
I stared wistfully at the television. They were playing reruns of The Real World Las Vegas. How cheesy, I thought. So dumb to show the TV show set in your own hotel in your hotel’s bar. The guy next to me—the one who’d been doing body shots with some girl who was now not at the bar—poked me with his elbow.
“This one’s a classic,” he said. “This is the one where the two chicks hook up and then they bring the guy into it. You seen it?”
“Uh, no,” I said. I stared at the TV. Maybe I had seen this one. The scene cut to a commercial for some bar in some hotel. There was a shot of a couple dancing and people drinking big fizzy yellow drinks. Cheesy, I thought. But then I saw something in the background. I sat up straight.
There was Katie. On TV. In the background. Tending bar.
Tending bar!
My mouth dropped open. I squinted. I couldn’t believe it. It really was Katie! It was definitely her! She was even wearing the hair clips that I’d given her for her birthday! My heart started to pound. The words Rum Jungle flashed across the scene. I grabbed the bartender. “Is Rum Jungle in Vegas?” I screamed, pointing at the screen.
The bartender squinted and shrugged. Then another shot flickered in front of the screen. Some outside scene. “Oh, that’s over at Mandalay Bay,” he said.
I dug through my purse and threw down much more money than needed.
“Thanks,” I yelled, and quickly elbowed my way out of the bar.
Back on the Strip, I stopped a guy dressed as Elvis.
“Mandalay Bay,” I muttered, out of breath. “Which way?” He pointed, and I dashed off. I swear I got there in like a minute flat. I ran into the hotel lobby and asked directions to the bar.
The woman looked a little confused. “Which bar?” she said. “We have several….”
For the life of me I couldn’t remember the name. “I don’t know,” I said, frustrated, waving my arms around. “Clubby…dark, sorta. Lots of trendy people…? Maybe…Rain Forest or something?”
“Oh, you mean Rum Jungle.” She smiled and pointed me on my way.
I dashed inside. The room smelled like coconuts. The music was pretty cool—some crazy African beat. It was wall-to-wall with dancers.
But Katie wasn’t behind the bar.
I mean, this was definitely the bar in the commercial. No doubt about it. It looked exactly the same. But there were two guys and one girl quickly stirring and shaking and pouring. No Katie.
I checked my watch again: 1 A.M. This place was going to close soon for sure. I sat down and tried to think. But then I looked up and saw a girl in a high ponytail and familiar-looking clips come out from some back room. She had a bag slung over her shoulder and looked ready to leave.
“Katie!” I screamed. The girl looked up. It was her.
She looked absolutely stunned when she saw me. “Heaven?” she said. She looked me up and down. “Oh my God!” she cried. I couldn’t tell if it was a good “oh my God” or a worried one. I smiled shakily. “How did you find me?” she asked.
“By watching Real World,” I said, and giggled. “You were on a commercial!”
Katie shook her head a little—I’d definitely bowled her over. Finally she gave me a huge hug.
“Oh my God,” she repeated. Maybe I was crazy, but a look of worry crossed over her face. “I thought…,” she started, but then just shook her head. “Wow,” she said.
I couldn’t quite believe it, either. I didn’t even know what to say. I realized tears were streaming down my cheeks. “I—I had to get out of L.A.,” I said. “This was the only place I could think of.” The words were spilling from my mouth too fast for me to realize what I was saying.
“I heard about your father,” Katie said. “He’s in a coma?”
“Yes,” I said. “He’s still in a coma, as far as I know. The doctors say he might recover soon…. I don’t know. I mean, maybe. I don’t know much.”
“It’s really you,” Katie said, hugging me. But by this point I was wiping my eyes, trying to pull myself together. I broke away from her and smiled.
“You look the same,” I said. “How have you been doing?”
“Oh, okay,” she said quickly. “But…Heaven, I heard about your wedding. Sort of through the grapevine. And then…I tried to call your house in Japan…a bunch of times…but no one answered, not even Harumi. I left all kinds of messages, but no one called me back.”
That’s because they didn’t have anything to tell you, I thought. I quickly explained what had happened—Ohiko, Teddy, Hiro, the attacks, kidnappings, the fire, everything. As I explained, Katie’s face became more and more worried—more and more freaked out.
Finally, when I
finished, she said, “I’ve been so worried about you, Heaven. For good reason! But you seem so strong! And buff!” She looked me up and down.
“Hiro and I were doing some…uh…jujitsu and stuff,” I said. I didn’t know if I wanted to get into all of the samurai deal. “Self-defense,” I explained. “It’s actually helped a lot. To clear my mind.”
“You’re so brave,” Katie said. The club-goers swirled around us.
Katie and I sat down in the back room and I continued to talk for another hour. Katie was such a good listener—it was a relief to finally tell someone all this stuff!
I admitted my feelings for Hiro. And how crushed I’d been to find out that he was interested in someone else. I explained how he’d just dumped me off at the bus station but also how strangely he’d been acting.
“What do you think he meant by, ‘My feelings for you are very strong…. You don’t understand’?” I asked.
“Maybe he secretly likes you,” Katie said. I shook my head. Fat chance. “Look, you have to come back to my house and get some sleep,” she continued. “I can’t believe you were on a bus half the night. And…that you lost all your stuff! Of course”—she smiled—“we can fix that.” I smiled back. Katie and I had always been the same size. But then a concerned look floated over her face, sort of the same one I’d seen when we’d first hugged. “Are you sure it’s safe here? What if they come looking for you?”
“Well, the only person who knew I was coming here was Hiro,” I said. “No one followed us to the bus station, and I don’t think Hiro will be telling anyone where I’ve gone.” I cleared my throat and said the next part in a low voice, more to myself. “I don’t think Hiro will be thinking about me much at all.”
Katie pulled me up. “In that case, you can stay with me as long as you want. I mean, you should totally get a job here. How fun would that be? And we can go out together!” Her eyes sparkled. “Without having to worry about sneaking around.”
“Totally,” I said.
“Come on, let’s get you home,” Katie said. “I’m sure you’re exhausted.”
“You know, I’m actually not,” I said. “I’m pretty wide awake, to tell you the truth. You wanna do something?”
Katie looked at me strangely. “Are you sure?” she asked.
“Seriously,” I said. “Let’s go clubbing or something. Show me around!” I spread my arms out wide.
Katie looked at me, astounded. “Heaven,” she said incredulously, “it’s really late…and you seem awfully relaxed for someone who’s been through…so much.”
I shrugged. I couldn’t exactly explain to Katie that the less I dwelled on things, the better. Plus no one was watching me right now. Not my father. Not Mieko. Not Teddy. Not Hiro. I didn’t have to answer to anyone, to explain myself. “I want to move around,” I told Katie. “I want to dance!”
“Well, all right,” Katie said slowly. “If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do!”
Blown in like a tumbleweed. “Hi, Katie! I found you by watching The Real World!”
I mean, don’t get me wrong. It’s great to see Heaven. I never thought I’d see her again. But…I’m worried. For her…and for me.
I knew things she didn’t.
And I wasn’t allowed to tell her.
It was why I spoke out against her wedding and separated myself from the Kogo family.
One evening, only a few days after Heaven’s engagement was announced, I was sneaking in from a date I’d had with Yatsumi. We’d gone to see another American movie—Blue Crush. I was coming in through the back, and I saw Konishi try to open the door with blood all over his shirt and hands. It was disgusting; it shone a violent red in the back porch light. I wondered why no one was letting him in. He struggled with his key.
“Kogo-san,” I said. “What is wrong?”
He froze in his tracks. He gave me a look that was so terrifying, I turned and ran in the other direction. What is going on? I thought. What did I just see?
I managed to get inside a few hours later. My whole body shook the entire night.
The next day Mieko came to see me. She spoke very quietly. “You have seen things,” she said. She stared at me. I didn’t know what to say. So I just nodded.
She continued. “But they are not what they seem. You must forget them. And you must never tell Heaven. If you do, you must leave immediately. Is that understood?”
It was the only time Mieko had ever sounded even vaguely aggressive. I nodded silently.
“You must not see Yatsumi anymore,” she continued, her eyes steely. “Do not ask questions.”
“What?” I asked.
“You will never understand,” she said. And then she left.
A few weeks later, after the first Teddy-Heaven engagement party, I went to a café in Harajuku with Heaven and one of the bodyguards. They were both in the bathroom or something; I was the only one at the table. My friend Kenji, who sometimes worked at the Kogos’ with Yatsumi, sat down and stared at me. I looked at him and my heart started beating faster. The look on his face told me I had something to worry about.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Yatsumi is dead,” he said softly. “Don’t ask me how I know, but I know. He is.”
“What?” I said.
“You know who they are, right? The Kogos? You know what it’s all about?” I nodded dumbly. I did. I did know. “Yatsumi tried to be involved…. Perhaps he got too close. I don’t know.”
Kenji darted away as Heaven and the bodyguard came back to sit down. “Why are you shaking?” Heaven asked. I told her I was cold.
The next day I spoke out against her wedding. And the Kogos asked me to leave. If they’d had to ask again, I doubt they would’ve asked nicely.
I was afraid for Heaven. I knew something was going to happen. Something that wasn’t good. When I read about the attacks at Heaven’s wedding, my heart dropped. I prayed that she was okay. I wished I could’ve done something to help her.
But now she’s here. What do I do? What if they come looking for her?
I can’t get Konishi Kogo’s face and the blood all over his body out of my head.
Katie
4
Katie opened up her cell phone and then stopped. “Heaven, are you sure you want to go out? If you’re being attacked by random people…don’t you feel like you’ll be in a lot of danger?”
“No, I want to hit the clubs for a little bit,” I said. “C’mon, Katie! Don’t tell me you usually go home most nights after working!”
Katie shrugged. “Well, it’s true, a lot of times I don’t….” She trailed off. “Listen, at least put on some kind of disguise—like a wig or something. Can you do that?”
“Katie, I don’t know anyone here,” I said. “Honest. And no one saw me get on the bus.” I saw Katie’s face grow worried and held up my hand. “Okay. How about I just get a funky hat and some sunglasses? That’s all I’ll need.” I pulled her arm. “Let’s go look! I saw some late night crazy accessories places still open up the street.”
“Okay…,” Katie answered, hanging back. But quickly she was walking next to me. “I just can’t believe you’re here,” she said. “This is just so unbelievable.”
“Well, believe it, baby!” I said. “I’m here!”
We found the accessories place I was talking about—it had lots of I Love Vegas T-shirts and silly glasses and lots of strange Elvis stuff. I picked up a newsboy sort of hat, the kind J.Lo always wears. “How does this look?” I asked Katie.
“Good,” she answered. She put on a really glitzy, ridiculous top hat. Some of the sparkles fell off on her sleeve. The lighting in the place was terrible—black lights, almost. You couldn’t even really see what you looked like. And techno music boomed from some invisible speakers. I grabbed some wraparound yellow-tinted sunglasses from the rack and put them on.
“Here we go,” I said. “Perfect for clubbing.”
“Let me figure out what place is good tonight,” Katie s
aid, opening her phone again. She quickly dialed a number and started talking to someone on the other end. “It’s Katie!” she said in a high-pitched voice, smiling. “Yeah…yeah…what? Cool! That sounds perfect. Yeah, I’ve got a friend from out of town. So where is it? Free drinks? Cool.” She looked up at me. “You can get us comped…? Yeah, there’s me and then my friend Heaven.” She looked up again, smiled, and flashed me a thumbs-up sign.
An amazing feeling washed over me. You’re the woman, I told myself. Look what you’ve just done. You’ve found Katie. You don’t need anyone else. Indeed. I’d gotten on a bus and come to a new city without knowing anyone. And I’d found my oldest friend, after meeting a hooker and a lot of other weird characters in the process.
“So where’s the party?” I asked Katie.
“It’s at Baby’s, but we’d better get done up before we go out,” Katie said. She held up her purse and shook it. “I’ve got a ton of makeup in here. Same stuff as always!”
Katie and I used to give each other makeovers with her huge collection of makeup. She would dump it all out on my carpet and I’d marvel over the different wands and brushes and eye shadows and lipsticks. It was just like a regular sleepover, except Katie was good. I was a little surprised that she hadn’t gone into makeup artistry when she’d gone back to the States. I could see her being a stylist on a music video shoot. Going on tour with Beyoncé or something.
We walked into Caesars Palace in search of a bathroom. Katie took me by the hand, winding through the glitzy corridors to find “the bigger bathroom with the better mirrors.”
“How do you know the inside of this place so well?”
“I’ve been to a bunch of parties here,” Katie said.
I thought about this. Katie and I had been separated only a little while, and she already knew Vegas like the back of her hand. She must have partied every night.
We reached the luxurious bathroom and Katie sat down on one of the sofas that were positioned in front of a large mirror. “Oh my God, I didn’t even notice your eye!” she said, putting a hand up to her mouth.
“It’s no big deal,” I said.