by Vincent Yee
When they walked back to the barrack later that night, the temperature had dropped considerably and they crossed their arms to keep warm. They entered their unit and prepared for bed. After changing into some warm sleeping clothes, Yoshi crawled into bed with his mother who held him close. The three sisters shared the other two beds that had been pushed together. Miho took the side nearest the partition and Yuka was in the middle. The blanket could barely cover the three of them so they had also taken whatever coats they had to cover themselves. Minami took the extra precaution to put on a thick pair of socks, turned off the light in their unit and hopped into bed. Everyone wished everyone good night, as odd as that may have been.
The moonlight cast a soft gray light into the room through the windows, and for a moment, the room was at peace. There was still some rumbling from the other families in the barrack, but for the most part, many people just wanted to sleep. Minami slid underneath the one blanket and coats. She gently nudged her back up against Yuka, who brushed up against her sister. It had been forever since she cuddled up with them and took a nap together. There was a sense of security, a sense of closeness that she hadn’t felt in such a long time and maybe, in unknown and seemingly dire times as these, the feeling of family closeness is the comfort that someone just needs in order to survive.
She was sure Miho had also cuddled up next to Yuka, providing Yuka with all the warmth she needed for the night. There was definitely some advantage to being the youngest sister, thought Minami with some amusement. A smile crept over her face as she gazed out through the window. She could partially make out a watchtower, but it was the translucent light that stroked the night. It wasn’t a pitch-black night but rather, it was a shimmering mixture of black oil softened by the luminescent white swirls emanating from the moon. It wasn’t the bleakest of nights and perhaps there was hope in the situation yet. With that thought, Minami’s eyes closed as she quickly fell asleep.
The next morning, Yoshi awoke first, which in turn woke up his mother. It was still relatively early and with nowhere to go, there was no need to wake up early. Yoshi jumped onto his sisters’ bed. They squealed as he rolled on top of them. The three girls were tightly cuddled underneath the warmth of the blanket and the coats. Miho sat up, grabbed Yoshi by the waist, and tossed him on top of Yuka, who squealed as Miho tickled Yoshi as he laughed playfully. Minami leaned up and rubbed her eyes. She saw her mother at the foot of the bed, looking at them with amusement. It had been a long time since she had seen her kids play like that. Minami herself was already a young woman, but she probably still looked like she was still in high school at times.
There was still a chill in the air as the sun had started its daily rise to heat up the desert surroundings. Minami planted her feet down and straightened up to release some tautness in her back. Yoshi was able to escape from Miho’s ticklish grasp as he raced to the foot of the bed to be picked up by his mother. Everyone had awakened, and there was only one thought: bathroom.
Minami could only imagine what the bathrooms were like, from what she saw of the workmanship on the barracks. Some other families stirred, but many were still asleep. The Itos quietly tiptoed down the barrack. As Minami had predicted, the family in the first unit had their beds covered in sand that resembled sand dunes. They gently opened the door and stepped outside. The entire compound looked more like a ghost town at such an early hour. There were a few people milling aimlessly about. In the morning light, Minami could see her environment more clearly. It seemed the prison camp was plucked down in the middle of some desert with mountains in the distance. But Minami would never be able to reach those mountains; the fence topped off with barbed wire would certainly prevent that.
Minami’s mother stopped a couple of soldiers and inquired about the bathrooms and was steered in the right direction. Each block had an assigned bathroom, she was told. When they reached the bathroom, one was for men and the other for women. Minami’s mother said she would take care of Yoshi, and that she would meet them back at the women’s bathroom. Minami and her sisters ventured into the bathroom with some trepidation. As their eyes focused in the dim light, they saw that in the center were twelve toilets, six toilets back to back. Along the walls were wide troughs with cold and hot water spigots running atop. Toward the back, was the shower area, which was merely a large tiled room with shower spigots running along the top. But the stunned look on their faces came from the realization that there was no privacy. There were no partitions whatsoever between the toilets. Minami didn’t know about white people, but Japanese people were very particular about their modesty. There were a couple of women already on the toilets who looked up with embarrassment and quickly turned away to finish what they were already doing. Minami looked at her sisters, who were equally stunned. Even though they were family and had no problem sharing a bed together, sharing a private experience such as using the toilet definitely flew in the face of all family traditions. Their mother walked in behind them. “Oya!” she exclaimed. The Japanese word for “oh my” slipped out before she could even ask how her daughters were doing.
The family again sat together in the corner of the mess hall for breakfast. The family ate silently and picked at their breakfast, which was toast and some canned fruit that oozed a sugary glaze. After breakfast, they headed back to their barrack and finally found it after a couple of wrong turns. They arrived just in time, as the wind had picked up and had started to blow sand into their faces. As they walked in, the stubborn grains of sand, enemies that numbered in the millions, covered the floorboards. The other families were already at work starting to cover up the gaps in the floorboards and walls.
They gathered together in the middle of their unit as their mother doled out responsibilities. Her first directive was to seal up the remaining gaps. The second was to clean up their space and start organizing their belongings. Thirdly, she wanted to find more blankets and something to cover the windows. With the orders given, the family went to work.
Miho went out to look for more construction material and anything that could adhere or fasten. Yuka and Yoshi went about cleaning up the floor and using nothing more than their hands, managed to brush the sand through the gaps in the floorboards. Minami went with her mother to locate additional blankets. They had roamed the entire compound when they found a short line of people outside the supply building, which was doling out more blankets, along with some standard military mess kits, water pails, and a few other comforts of home. At the mess hall, they were able to scavenge some flattened cardboard boxes and empty tin cans. They found a half-filled bottle of glue and an unused paintbrush that was left on one side of a barrack along with other building materials. Discreetly and quickly, they took another roll of tarpaper and scurried off before anyone could see their haul.
Upon their return, Miho immediately took the glue to adhere the tarpaper to the wall. Yuka took the brush to use as a little broom. Minami’s mother, along with Yoshi, went ahead to organize their personal belongings. Minami went ahead to divide up the blankets, placing one on each bed. She then started covering up the windows. The sheets of paper from her notebook fit perfectly in the panes of glass. Though the sun’s rays could still shine through them, at least it would prevent any peering eyes from seeing in.
Lunch was only a brief respite in the day. It consisted of bread, more rice, and canned sausage. Eating was losing its appeal altogether. Work on the unit continued through the day as the sun began to scorch the prison camp. The barracks simply baked from the heat but the baked stench from the bathroom was unbearable. Many people had to rush outside because they couldn’t endure the odor of roasting excrement. For some, the smell was so intolerable, they vomited their lunch onto the ground around the entrance, creating an even more forbidding welcome.
By early evening, their living space was as neatly laid out as they could make it. The blankets were draped nicely over the beds, with white pillows on top. There was no sand on the floor, and all the visible gaps in the floorboards
and walls were covered up. The windows were covered in blue-lined white paper, and the window jambs were covered with additional tarpaper. Though the space was definitely more hospitable, Minami couldn’t help but think that it was still all a façade to hide the truth: They were still prisoners.
Minami’s family gathered together in the mess hall for another unappetizing meal and reluctantly ate their rice drenched in applesauce, along with overcooked carrots and more SPAM. Minami wondered whether or not this was another form of torture, depriving the Japanese of food that they were used to. Minami played with her food. Although she didn’t have an appetite, she still ate. After dinner, Minami’s family walked back to their barrack. Not all the lights along the barracks were working, and those that did conjured darkly draped shadows along the route home. Yoshi was excited as he raced off a few feet ahead of the family with Yuka and Miho playing with him from behind. Minami walked with her mother. They were almost at their barrack when Minami broke the silence.
“Do you think everything will be okay?” asked Minami.
“Mmm…we’ll do our best,” replied her mother.
There was another pause until Minami finally asked the lingering question.
“Do you think Dad will find us?”
Her mother didn’t answer immediately and her pace slowed a bit until she simply said, “He will find us.”
Minami took some solace in her mother’s words and continued to walk beside her. They turned the corner to their barrack when Yoshi leapt from the steps, startling Minami.
She quickly grabbed Yoshi around his waist and tickled him despite his childish squeals before releasing him. Yoshi raced up the steps and his mother walked in after him, urging him onward with pats on his behind. Minami slowly walked up the steps, then turned around to look out. She was facing the back of the barrack directly in front of her. A few of the overhead lights flickered. Her eyes panned to the left where she could barely make out the chain-linked fence some one hundred feet away and the few guard towers along it. She was about to head inside when she noticed a reddish burning light that suddenly appeared and then disappeared somewhere between her and the fence. She thought she saw movement and squinted to see if she could make it out. There was nothing, just the shadows playing tricks with her eyes she told herself.
Minami heard her mother call her name, and she stepped back into the barracks. As she turned, a pair of eyes in the shadows took in her slender frame, which was accentuated by the light bulb that lit up the doorway. The dark pair of eyes watched her until she disappeared into the barrack and the door closed behind her. He slowly let out a breath of smoke and brought the cigarette from behind his right leg to his mouth for another drag. The cigarette end lit up in a reddish swirl before he brought it back down to the side of his leg. He let out another stream of smoke and flicked the cigarette away. Then he extinguished the cigarette with his boot and walked into the shadows.
E I G H T
The warm glow of the morning sun woke up Minami as her eyes fluttered opened. Everyone else was still asleep except her mother, who was rummaging through the suitcases. She quietly changed, which she did apprehensively since she felt she still lacked any semblance of privacy. After pulling on a long sleeved shirt, she glanced down at her sleeping sisters.
Minami ran the tips of her fingers along her face and felt a layer of grime. She felt a bit of disgust at feeling unclean and what she really wanted was to rinse her face and bathe in a hot bath. But there was no running water in the barrack. She then walked over to her mother.
“Is there anything that I can help you with?” whispered Minami.
“We’ll have to do more cleaning. There’s still more sand. I’ll let everyone else sleep in a little longer before we wash up for breakfast.”
When her mother mentioned about washing up, Minami thought it would be nice to get some water and bring it back. “I’ll go get some water for us, Mom. We can use it to wash up or whenever we need it for anything.”
Her mother looked up and said, “Good idea. I think I saw a water pump behind one of the barracks. Take that pail with you and make sure you rinse it out first.”
Minami nodded and scanned the corner of the room where they had stored miscellaneous items until her eyes came upon the water pail. She picked up the pail by its handle, put on her coat and made her way to the partition. It was a tawdry site, as bundles of strangers were forced to sleep together in a barrack they never wanted to come to. Some of the units had their blankets up as partitions, others had not bothered yet as they probably needed the blankets more for warmth than privacy. Minami quietly made her way down the center of the barrack, trying to not betray anyone’s privacy by keeping her head down and her eyes focused ahead. She reached the door and slowly pulled it open as it creaked loudly. She slipped out into the morning sun.
The air was brisk, but the sky was clear. She turned right and walked along the length of the barrack. At the end, she looked left and saw what seemed like endless rows of barracks. She walked past each row and looked for the water pump that her mother had mentioned. She had passed about five rows of barracks until she finally spotted a grayish metal pipe coming out of the ground and set against one of the barracks. There was a spout at one end and a handle at the other. It was the water pump.
Minami placed the pail underneath the spout. The spout and handle were parallel to the barrack. She grabbed the handle and tried to pull the handle upward and it didn’t move. With both hands around the handle, it still didn’t budge. She relaxed for a moment and tried to yank the handle upward. That only shook the pipe coming out of the ground but the handle held fast. With determination, she used all of her might to grudgingly move the handle upward and then with equal determination, pushed the handle downward. But there was no water.
She brought her hands to her knees and hunched over to catch her breath. She was dismayed at how hard it was to work the handle. Maybe the handle was stiff because it was never used before or the intense heat of the desert fused the metal parts together. Any excuse would satisfy her as long as she didn’t have to admit that she was actually in worse shape than she thought.
Her eyes looked up at the handle and from that hunched position she had an idea. She placed her shoulder underneath the handle and in an upward motion, the handle moved and then using her entire body weight, she pushed the handle downward. The pump grumbled from beneath the ground and she repeated the entire awkward motion as the pipe started to shake until finally, brown colored water spurted out. Minami froze at the sight of the brown water. It was disgusting.
After a quick rest, she tried again as more brown water spurted out. Each spurt was clearer than the last. The pail was finally full of misty brown water. Minami breathed heavily while she leaned over. She looked at the pail, as the surface of the brown water reflected the blurred vision of her silhouette and the rippling outline of the sun overhead. She was fixated as it reflected the blurred future of her situation. She was in quiet thought when it was disturbed by a shadow that cast itself over the surface of the water.
Minami turned her head upward and saw someone standing above her. She couldn’t make him out as the sun was behind him, shadowing his figure, but it was certainly a man. She quickly raised herself up and stood before him. He was several inches taller than she was and had a strong frame. His jeans were a bit scruffy and ended in a pair of brown boots, but his white T-shirt was spotless. He had a squared off face with a slight chin. His black hair was thick and brushed back but it was his eyes that caught Minami’s attention. His firm brown eyes were piercing but there was something calm about them. Minami couldn’t explain it but she was caught off guard by his sudden presence and felt almost embarrassed. He just looked down at her pail until he broke the silence.
“Can I help you with that?” he asked.
Minami quickly looked down and turned her head in the direction of the water pump. She quickly and self-consciously brought her hand to her face, as if to cover the oily grime
that was there. She was at a loss for words and only managed to say, “The water is brown.”
“I can see that,” he responded.
Of course it’s brown, she thought. Why did she have to say something so obvious? Minami just looked up into his face and said, “I think it’s hopeless.”
At that moment, his face turned from a stern expression and into a friendly one where he managed a mild grin. Minami unexpectedly found herself at ease at that moment as she smiled.
“Well if you’ll step aside, I’ll give it a try,” he said as placed his own pail down.
Minami stepped aside as he grabbed the handle with his right hand.
“The handle is really stiff, you should really use both of your…” but Minami stopped in mid-sentence as the muscles in his right arm tensed up and moved the handle smoothly in an upward arced fashion. He then brought the handle down again in an even faster motion and the spurt of water was stronger that time. He repeated the motion again and his muscles just tensed up even more. Minami was captivated, which surprised her. He repeated the entire motion about five times until the last spurt of water was clear. He reached down with his other equally muscular arm, emptied Minami’s pail, and placed it back under the spout. He repeated the motion with the handle letting out another spurt of water, which he used to rinse the pail and finally placed it back under the spout as he began to pump out the water.
“This is probably a new well,” he said. “So the handle is probably a bit stiff, and no one really took the time to pump out the sediment that probably collected at the bottom,” he explained with his back to Minami. Minami could only utter a few “uh-huhs” as she watched him work. His white T-shirt was a bit tight and she could plainly see the muscles of his back working in unison to free the water from the pump. “And once you get the handle working and the sediment cleared, you don’t need to use that funny upward and downward motion of your body to pump out the water.”