Mom’s face softened with a smile. “Are you going to tell me?”
“No. I don’t want to jinx it. Say a prayer for me at the shrine on your way into town.”
“Okay. Go back to bed until it’s time to go. Akiko-chan usually comes home for lunch.” Mom handed a hot water bottle to me, and I shuffled off to find the cat and hopefully doze until my time of reckoning came.
Chapter Seven
I dozed, in and out of sleep, until noon when I forced myself to dress and cross the street to Akiko’s house. Her car sat in the driveway, and the lights were on in the house, so I approached the front door, confident she was at home. Before my hand even hit the door, though, rough and loud dog barking erupted from inside. I jumped away from the threshold and called out Akiko’s name. A dog? She didn’t have a dog.
The door opened a crack, and Akiko peeked her head out. “Mei-chan?”
I raised my hand at her. “Hi. I’m sorry to cause a ruckus. I didn’t know you had a dog.”
“Kirin-chan!” She scolded her dog, a brown and white Shiba Inu she picked up in her arms. “Stop. This is a friend of mine!”
Kirin-chan didn’t seem to care and tried to launch out of Akiko’s arms at me. I jumped, stumbling over my own feet.
“Maybe I should come back some other time?” I backed away another meter, my feet crunching on the gravel of the driveway.
“No. I’ll put her in her crate. Hold on.” She closed the door, silence stretching away from me punctuated by lesser dog barks. It was a bad idea to come here. Akiko had become a complete stranger to me.
I turned to go but she opened the door. “Okay, she’s secured. Mei-chan, I’m surprised to see you here!” Akiko bid me to come in, waving her arm at me, and smiling. I couldn’t leave after all that fuss, so I stepped inside and took off my shoes.
She leaned in and awkwardly hugged me, looking into my face and frowning. “You don’t look so good,” she said to me as I took off my coat. “Oh my god, Mei-chan. Are you sick? You’ve lost so much weight! Your face is so skinny and your clothes are hanging off of you!”
She hung my coat next to hers, grabbed her nurse’s bag, and ushered me into her main living room. A huge bowl of ramen with pork and vegetables sat on the kotatsu, the TV was on, and a space heater blasted heat into the room. This place was everything I had dreamed of the last few days, and my body sucked in the warmth greedily.
“When did you get a dog?” I asked, avoiding her other questions.
“Two weeks ago. I’ve been worried that Tama’s yakuza friends will come back and try to kill me in my sleep, so I got the dog, hoping I’d have some advanced warning. I sleep with a knife now, and I’ve been taking self-defense classes after work.”
“I should do that.” I licked my lips to moisten them. They were cracked no matter how much lip balm I applied. Funny that Yasahiro didn’t mind. “I barely sleep because I’m worried about the same thing. Do you mind if I sit at your kotatsu? I’m freezing.”
Her eyes glistened with tears. “You don’t need to ask for permission. Please sit. Did you eat lunch? Can I get you anything?”
My mouth watered, considering eating anything she might make for me. I would visit Sawayaka in two hours to acquire more food from Yasahiro, but my head was light, my brain foggy and slow. I swallowed and tried to be strong, but I couldn’t even open my mouth to refuse.
“You haven’t been eating, have you?” Akiko grabbed my hand, shoved up my sleeves, and looked at my arms. “You’ve never been this skinny in your life. What’s going on?”
“If you have food, I’d love to have some.” My voice cracked and my eyes watered, but I was determined not to cry. “We ran out of food and money about a week, maybe ten days, ago, and I had been living on a low-calorie diet before that to try and stretch out our resources. I’ve been taking leftovers from Yasa-kun’s restaurant to fill in the gaps.”
Akiko’s fingers were like fire on my skin. “Your body feels cold to me. Let me get my thermometer.”
“No. Please don’t fuss over me.” I tried to work my mouth but I was suddenly parched. “Can I have a glass of water? That’s all I really need.”
She ignored me, pulled out a digital thermometer, and took my temperature on my forehead and behind my ear without even asking for permission. “My thermometer is very sensitive,” she said, glancing at the read-out when it beeped. “Thirty-five point five degrees. That’s low, Mei-chan. A half degree lower, and I’d bring you in for hypothermia.”
“It’s really cold at home. We haven’t turned on the heat in three days.”
“Good god, why not? It’s below zero most nights.”
“No money for heat. No money for gas or food. Which is why I’m here.” I sank into a seat at the kotatsu, my body shivering as warmth flowed up my arms and legs. “I need to ask a favor, and I’m horrible at asking for favors so please forgive me if I’m rude or abrupt. I need work. Mom has a job but she won’t be paid for at least another week, so I need to bring in some income or I’m going to starve to death in the cold.” I groaned, rolling my eyes at myself. “Sorry. I’m sure that’s an overstatement and completely dramatic.”
Akiko stood up from the table, rubbed her face and looked up at the ceiling for so long I believed she had frozen like that. She hastened to the kitchen and poured a glass of water from a pitcher in the fridge. She then put water on to boil and brought a package of something back to the kotatsu with the water.
“Drink. Did you know that when you’re cold, you urinate more? Your body cuts off circulation to your outer extremities and lessens blood by increasing urination. So when you become warm again, your body is thirsty and trying to increase blood to make up for the loss. This is why people lose fingers and toes in the cold.”
I gulped down the glass of water, and she unwrapped a block of cheese, cutting off slices, and handing them to me with crackers. “And when you’re cold, your body burns off fat first to stay warm. You have no fat left on you to burn. Eat that. Cheese and dairy have a lot of fat, and you need it.”
“Once a nurse, always a nurse,” I croaked out with a dry laugh.
“This is nothing to laugh about.” Her stern face made mine fall. “Why…” She sighed. “Why didn’t you come to me weeks ago?”
I shrugged my shoulders and chewed the cheese. She slammed her hand down on the table, and I jumped. I startled pretty easily now.
“I’ve been sitting here in the warmth every day, eating, watching TV, and you’ve been suffering right across the street.” Her angry voice climbed so high, Kirin barked in the other room. “Kirin, hush!”
“Don’t yell at me, please,” I whispered. “I’ve had a rough few days. I lost weight in the hospital and I was never able to put it back on. It just got worse and worse as the weeks went on. There’s nothing I could do and coming here wouldn’t have solved anything.”
“Look, I know you’re mad at me because of what happened with Tama. I’m so sorry. So, so sorry.” She grabbed my hand and began to cry, her anger crumbling to sadness so quickly, I was shocked into silence for a moment.
“I need to ask you something…” My voice croaked.
“What? Anything. Please,” Akiko begged me, her face wet with tears.
“Why didn’t you tell the police about Tama-chan? If you knew… If you suspected he was poisoning your father, you should have said something.”
Her face blanched. “I was so afraid. I was afraid of Tama. He was so vindictive. He kept saying it was me who killed Dad.” She raked her curled fingers through her hair. “And I could see the police believed him. They believed him over me! And then I was afraid I would be sent to jail because I hadn’t turned in Tama when I suspected him… If only I hadn’t been a coward and said something, none of that would have happened. I look across the street and see the burnt barn, and I cry.”
“You and me both. It had all our winter stores in it. Everything we were going to sell to stay warm and fed this winter.”
“I
nsurance covered it, though, right?”
I shook my head. “This is why I haven’t come over. I’ve been avoiding you to save you from the town gossip. You see, the insurance company won’t pay us because the police had to report barn as arson, not an accident. If only it had been my space heater that fell over and did damage, I wouldn’t be in this mess. With arson, there needs to be an investigation. We won’t be paid for a few more months at least. The police and the insurance company have agreed to keep the cause of the fire quiet, otherwise the investigation would be in the papers naming you and Tama, your family, at fault. That would end you. Mom and I don’t want that.”
Akiko’s face paled, and she covered her mouth with her hand. “No. How dare you make that decision for me?”
I drove my index finger into the table. “It’s not your decision to make. It’s ours. You’ve lost your father and brother. If this came out, you would lose your job, your house, everything. Mom and I will get by.”
“Not if you starve to death!”
“Look, everyone but us and Yasa-kun thinks the barn fire was an accident, and Tama turned himself in for the murder of your dad. Just let it be.”
I ate another piece of cheese in silence, thinking over my course of action. Arguing about this with Akiko would get me nowhere. I had to steer this back to our original conversation.
“I just need to find some work. I was wondering if you could help me out? I was listening to these older ladies at Kusturo Matsu the other day. They were complaining about how they can’t travel places or run errands anymore without assistance.” I cleared my throat and drank more water, girding myself for the favor. “I thought maybe you could ask some of your nursing patients if they need help around their houses. I would run errands, pick up prescriptions, go grocery shopping, and then once I can afford gas, I’d be happy to drive them places.”
Akiko stared at me, so I rushed on. “I would charge 900 yen per hour with a minimum of one hour, plus expenses. I couldn’t front money to buy groceries or anything. They would have to give me money for those in advance, but I would give them their change and a receipt. I promise to be honest and not overcharge. If I could just make enough money for a meal a day, I would be able to make it through to January.”
Akiko dropped her head into her hands and ran her fingers through her hair, grabbing at her scalp. I ate more cheese. I felt like my stomach would never be full.
“Does Yasahiro know about this? You two are still dating, right?”
“We are,” I said, halting, instantly afraid of her. What if she ran out right now and told him everything? “He knows we’re low on food and that’s it. He doesn’t see me without clothes on.” I swallowed, admitting that we hadn’t slept together yet. “Nothing else is his business. I’ve lost weight too slowly for him to notice because he sees me almost every day. I’ve gotten lucky with that.”
“You’re crazy,” she said, breathing out.
“I am not. No one needs to know how bad things are. In a few months, we’ll be on our feet again and there’ll be nothing to worry about. I just need something part time to get us through.”
“Shhh…” she said, squashing a swear word. “Mei-chan, most of the people I take care of are living off pensions. They have enough money to eat and heat their homes, and that’s it.”
“Well, they’re doing better than me.”
She thought about that for a second and nodded. “You’re right. I’ll see what I can do. Stay for lunch and then come with me on my rounds. I’ll introduce you to a few people and explain the situation. You should come with me tomorrow too.” She stood up and plucked a tissue from the box next to the kotatsu to dry her eyes. “Stay and have lunch with me. I’ll make you ramen, too.”
She left me at the kotatsu and I breathed out a steady breath, silently praying and thanking the gods I got through that without losing myself. Now I had a chance to make things work.
I followed Akiko to the houses of two old women and one old man before I started to feel secure again. One woman wanted me to come by every Tuesday and Thursday morning for an hour to help her visit her physical therapist, and an older man needed me to pick up his prescriptions and escort him to the eye doctor every Friday morning. I left each of them my phone number and texted them so that my number and information was in their address books.
“This is a lot easier than I thought it would be,” Akiko said as we drove to her last appointment of the day. The sun had already set since it was after 17:00. This was another thing I hated about winter, all the darkness. Once the sun set, the slight warmth of the day evaporated and then we were left with nothing but cold, frosty air.
We circle the block Yasahiro lived on. “Did you know that’s Yasa-kun’s place right there?” I pointed to his apartment, dark but for a few odd lights on in the window. He was working, and I was sure Sawayaka was crawling with people hoping to be seated for dinner. I texted him earlier to let him know I wouldn’t come by, and he was sad he wouldn’t see me. I smiled as I remembered his sweet text. I was a lucky girl, living with a string of bad luck.
“Have you been inside yet? I hear it’s stunning.”
I glanced sideways at her and she laughed.
“I’m serious. He owns the whole building. He was originally going to put his restaurant on the ground floor, but some analysts told him that the main street area would be better for business. It was in the paper.” She pulled around to Etsuko’s block and stopped the car in front of her apartment building. My neck began to sweat. “So anyway, I heard he hired some famous Tokyo architect to design the inside. It has a bedroom, a huge kitchen, and a spa bathroom.” She raised her eyebrows at me. “I’m sure you’ll be knocked over by it when you finally see it.”
“Probably has central heat and air too,” I whispered, thinking about him being in that apartment every day, warm and toasty, eating home cooked meals and drinking fancy French wine while I was freezing and starving at home. I knew that if I told him what I was dealing with, he’d let me stay with him, but then what about Mom? I couldn’t leave her in the house alone with no heat. And forcing him to take me in when our relationship was so new did not sound like a good idea. Anyway, I promised Mom I wouldn’t say anything, so I wouldn’t.
I swallowed in a dry throat while gazing up at Etsuko’s building. “Is this where we’re going?”
“Yep. She’s my last stop for the day. You’ll like Murata-san. She’s a peach, and I believe she’ll take you up on your offer of work too. Her oldest son lives in the United States and her youngest lives in Singapore, so she doesn’t have any family to come take care of her. I heard she has a relationship with the young woman who lives across the hall from her, but that’s about it.”
“A young woman named Etsuko? Do you remember her? She was in school with us, two years behind.”
“I thought she looked familiar the last time I met her! Well, good, I’m glad you know her.” Akiko tried to exit the car, but I grabbed her arm.
“Wait. Listen. I knew Etsuko. Her family is the one that owns Izakaya Jūshi, a few blocks from here.”
“Yeah, I know it.” Akiko’s eyebrows drew inward.
“She died two nights ago. Killed in her apartment. She was a new friend of mine.” My voice wavered as I remembered her body on the floor.
“Oh my god,” Akiko gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
“I was there, with Yasahiro. We went to the izakaya on a date, and Etsuko’s brother asked us to check on her since we were leaving already. We found her dead in her apartment, and the door was busted.” I looked down at my hands clenched together. “I haven’t told anyone about it because Goro is investigating. I’m sure the news will leak in a day or two, though. Her boyfriend is the prime suspect. And I really liked him.”
I inhaled slowly and exhaled everything from my lungs.
“Mei-chan, you’ve been through so much lately. I had no idea.”
I shook my head, keeping my eyes closed. “Not as much as Etsuko.”
“Can you come in with me?” Akiko squeezed my arm, and I opened my eyes.
“Yeah. Yeah, I can. I just wanted to let you know before we step foot in the building.”
Inside, the door to Etsuko’s apartment was boarded up with caution tape crisscrossed over the frame, and as I suspected, we knocked on the apartment right across the hall.
A little old lady, hunched over and walking with a cane, opened the door and smiled at us both.
“Kano-san, come in, come in. Who did you bring with you today?” She beckoned us in, and we entered into a disheveled apartment, old magazines were piled against every surface, Imari dishware was stacked on every table, and the TV was blasting at a thousand decibels. Akiko blinked a few times and reached for the TV remote to turn it down.
“This is my good friend, Mei Yamagawa. I think you know her mother, Tsukiko Yamagawa.”
Murata’s eyes, clouded over as they were, widened in recognition. “I knew your mother when she was just a little girl. My husband and I owned a little tea and cake shop, and she and her friends would come in every Friday to treat themselves after a long week of classes.” She grabbed my hand and patted it, looking up into my eyes. “You’re a skinny thing. I thought your mother was a famous chef now. Don’t you eat?”
Akiko hushed her, while I laughed. I liked this woman. She had the directness of someone who didn’t give a damn about polite society anymore. She must have been in her late eighties if she knew my mom when she was younger.
“I love to eat, actually. I’m dating a chef and he loves to feed me,” I said, glancing at Akiko who was unloading all her nurse stuff onto the table. I assumed these things were stethoscopes and blood pressure monitors, but I was horrible at remembering technical names of things, especially in medicine. “But it’s winter, and food can be hard to come by.”
“Murata-san, come sit down. Let’s check your vitals and we’ll talk.” Akiko didn’t get up to help Murata make it to the couch. She watched the old lady cross the room and sit down on her own. “Your mobility looks good. Are you making it out to walk?”
The Daydreamer Detective Braves the Winter Page 6