Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky

by Sandra Dallas

  “Your flag pin!” Roy said. Hiro had won the red, white, and blue flag pin in the paper drive at school.

  “It’s my favorite thing. It will keep you safe,” Hiro said.

  For a moment, Tomi thought Roy would cry, but he didn’t. Instead, he attached the pin to his shirt and said, “Thanks, soldier.” He saluted Hiro. Hiro saluted back, then grinned and said, “Whatcha know, Joe?”

  Pop didn’t say anything against the army then or even about the flag. He just stared as Roy climbed aboard the bus with the other enlistees.

  The bus started up, then pulled out of the gate. A guard shut the gate, and people went back to the barracks, but not the Itanos. They stayed until the bus disappeared, stayed until the dust settled back onto the dirt road.

  Tomi lagged behind her family as they walked back to their apartment. She kicked at the dirt with the toe of her shoe. The wind came up. It seemed the wind always blew at Tallgrass. Tomi rubbed her eye to get out a piece of grit that had blown into it. She wished she were back in California, walking through the strawberry fields, the early-morning light shining on the green leaves, the mud squishing up through her bare toes. At Tallgrass, the light was harsh and made her squint.

  Ruth was outside her barracks waiting when Tomi walked by. “You want to play?”

  “Play what?” Tomi asked.

  Ruth shrugged. There wasn’t much to do at Tallgrass. They could play hopscotch or jacks, but Tomi was tired of those games. “I wish we had a swimming pool,” Ruth said.

  “Yeah, why would the government build us a pool? We’re just Japanese internees. Who cares about us?” Tomi asked.

  “You’ve been in a bad mood ever since your dad came here,” Ruth said.

  “Wouldn’t you be if your father had been treated the way mine was?”

  Ruth shrugged. “The war’s going to be over before long. You should look ahead.”

  “At what?”

  “You’re no fun, Tomi. Maybe I’ll play with somebody else.”

  “Go ahead,” Tomi told her.

  Ruth turned to go, then stopped. “I know why you’re upset. It’s about your brother joining the army, isn’t it? I’m sorry, but I bet he turns out to be a real hero.” When Tomi didn’t respond, Ruth added, “I’ll miss the dances. Nobody’s as good as Roy and the Royals.”

  At that, Tomi smiled a little. “Come on, let’s get a pass and go into Ellis. Roy gave me a dime. I’ll treat you to an ice-cream cone.”

  The drugstore was crowded when the two girls walked in, and they had to wait in line. As Tomi was making up her mind whether to order chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla ice cream, Dennis came up to her.

  “I was afraid I’d have to go all the way out to Tallgrass to give you this money,” Dennis said, digging into his pocket and taking out two dollar bills and several coins along with a handful of ticket stubs with names written on them. “I sold all the raffle tickets you gave me. The word’s out that the ladies at Tallgrass are real good sewers. Everybody wants a chance to win the quilt.” He turned to another boy. “They’re selling tickets on a quilt to raise money for the war effort.”

  “Which side is it going to?” the boy asked and snickered.

  “Hey, that’s not nice,” Dennis told him, glancing at Tomi. In the past, Tomi would have put the boy in his place, but now she didn’t care. When Tomi failed to reply, Dennis asked the boy, “Haven’t you heard of the 442nd infantry? They’re the bravest soldiers out there, and a lot of them came out of Tallgrass.”

  “Can’t you take a joke?” the boy asked. He turned to Tomi. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “Who cares?” Tomi replied.

  Dennis said, “I bet I can sell more tickets if you have them. I ran out.”

  Tomi shook her head. “I’m not selling tickets anymore. Why should I try to raise money for the war effort when the government treats us like we’re the enemy?” She took the money and the ticket stubs from Dennis and put them into her pocket. “I’ll give all this to Mom, but I’m not bringing you any more tickets.”

  1944 | CHAPTER TWENTY

  RUTH PICKS the WINNERS

  FOURTH of July was a big day at Tallgrass. In fact, it wasn’t much different from the celebrations in Ellis or back in California. Children decorated bike and wagons wheels with red, white, and blue crepe paper in the spokes. Grown-ups waved American flags or attached them to their hats. They wore red, white, and blue shirts and dresses. A few women put on their blue-and-white kimonos, because the Fourth of July was a special occasion.

  A marching band made up of musicians at Tallgrass had been practicing patriotic songs for weeks. The boy who had ranked highest in the high school graduating class carried the American flag. The highest-ranking girl held the Colorado flag.

  The parade began at noon. The two flag bearers led it. Next came the band playing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Men who were lined up along the street took off their hats when they heard the national anthem. People put their hands over their hearts as the flag passed. Behind the band was a truck of Japanese boys who were leaving for the army the next day. Children pulled the wagons they had decorated, some with small kids riding in them. Then came the camp’s Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and to everyone’s surprise, there were scouts from Ellis marching with them. Among them was Dennis as well as Betty Joyce. She was the girl from the hardware store whose father had been so mean when Tomi sold raffle tickets.

  Farmers pulled wagons displaying the vegetables they had grown at Tallgrass. One man had set up a Japanese garden in a cart. Everyone clapped as the floats went by, but they clapped hardest for two Tallgrass soldiers who had been wounded and then discharged. They were riding in a car, and boys ran beside them and saluted.

  Everyone agreed it was the finest parade they had ever seen. When it was over, they crowded around the tables for lunch. Then a master of ceremonies called for attention. He was standing on a wooden stage made for the event. It had stairs on both sides of it. He announced the winners of the best float and of the flower-arranging contest. Then came the drawing for the Tallgrass Sky quilt.

  Mom and Mrs. Hayashi had hung the quilt from a pole at the back of the stage. It was even more beautiful than Tomi had expected. There were long strips of blue with a tiny piece of red hidden among them. The silver thread shone in the sun like diamonds. Tomi had never seen anything like it. Still, she wished the women had not made a red, white, and blue quilt. It was too American.

  Mom stood on the platform beside the quilt, because she was in charge of the raffle. The master of ceremonies introduced her and asked her to tell about the quilt. Tomi hadn’t wanted to come to the Fourth of July celebration at all, but Mom had insisted the whole family attend. She said they would dishonor Roy if they stayed away. So Tomi stood beside Pop, who scowled. He didn’t like Mom standing up there talking to all those people.

  Mom didn’t pay any attention to him, however. She came forward and told how the women had learned to quilt in a class at Tallgrass. They had never quilted before, she said, but they learned quickly. She gave the names of the women who made the quilt, and people clapped. “Now it’s time to draw the name of the winner,” she said, and looked around until she spotted Tomi. “I think we should ask the girl who sold the most raffle tickets to draw.”

  Tomi shrank back as Mom beckoned to her. She didn’t want anything to do with the quilt now.

  “Come on, Tomi,” Mom said, but Tomi stepped behind Pop. Then Pop looked at Mom and shook his head no. “I guess she’s shy,” Mom said, looking around. She spotted Ruth and said, “Ruth Hayashi, will you draw the winner?”

  Ruth was shy, too, but still, she stepped onto the stage. Mom picked up a big glass jar of ticket stubs and swirled them around with her hand. “Now, Ruth, you pick the winner,” she said.

  Ruth reached into the jar and pulled out a ticket, holding it at arm’s length. Then she grinned at the crowd and said, “Sorry, I picked my own name.” She dropped the stub back in the bowl. The crowd la
ughed, but Tomi didn’t. She wished Ruth, too, had refused to pick the ticket. But Ruth’s father hadn’t been sent away to a prison camp. She didn’t feel the way Tomi did.

  “Okay, this one,” Ruth said, choosing another ticket and handing it to Mom.

  Mom took the ticket and squinted at it. Then she said, “The winner of the Tallgrass Sky quilt is Rose Iwasaki.”

  A woman in the crowd gasped and put her hands over her face. People began to move away, but Mom called, “Wait a minute. We have a surprise. We raised so much money that we are giving away another quilt. It is the first quilt we made.”

  Tomi felt jealous when Mom and Ruth grinned at each other.

  “Okay,” Ruth said. She held her hand over the jar for a long time. Then she snatched up a ticket and gave it to Mom.

  Mom read it and frowned. “Oh, American names are so hard to read,” she said.

  Everyone laughed, except for Pop and Tomi. In fact, Pop looked annoyed that Mom was having such a good time entertaining people. Tomi thought that later Pop might tell Mom that Japanese women were supposed to be shy and quiet, the way Mom used to be. Since she’d arrived at Tallgrass, she’d become outgoing and enjoyed entertaining people.

  “The winner is Mary Stroud,” Mom said.

  “She has the farm across the road,” a woman behind Tomi whispered. “Her husband was the first one to give jobs to boys from the camp. I’m glad she won.”

  People moved away from the platform and went back to the tables for dessert. After that, the townspeople began to leave. As Tomi passed one of the Girl Scouts, the girl said, “You Japs sure know how to throw a party.”

  “We what?” Tomi asked.

  “You Japs.” The girl thought that over. “Sorry. I guess you say Japanese.”

  Tomi didn’t reply. Instead, she stuck out her tongue at the girl.

  1944 | CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  WHAT’S WRONG with TOMI?

  “I’M disappointed with Tomi,” Mrs. Glessner told Mom and Pop not long after school started in the fall. Tomi was in the ninth grade; Mrs. Glessner was her teacher again. She had come to the Itanos’ apartment one afternoon to talk about Tomi’s behavior.

  Pop frowned as he glanced at Tomi. She was sitting on the bed, staring at the floor. “Is she a bad girl at school?” Pop asked.

  “No, nothing like that. Tomi has always been polite. She is a nice girl.”

  “Then what is the matter?” Mom asked. She had fixed tea, and now she handed one of the special cups to Mrs. Glessner, who took it with both hands.

  Mrs. Glessner took a sip. “Such good tea,” she said.

  “That’s because my wife uses real tea, loose tea, not American tea bags,” Pop told her. “And no sugar and milk in it, like you Americans.”

  “Sam,” Mom said, putting her hand on his arm.

  Pop shook it off. “I will say what I want in my own apartment,” he told her.

  “I understand, Mr. Itano,” Mrs. Glessner said. “Relocation has been hard on you. It has been hard on everyone. And I know it is hard on Tomi.” She glanced at Tomi, who still didn’t look up.

  “I thought she had adjusted to Tallgrass,” Mrs. Glessner continued. “She was doing so well with her schoolwork. She was my best student.”

  “And now?” Mom asked.

  Mrs. Glessner took another sip of tea. “Now, she doesn’t turn in her homework. She doesn’t participate in class discussion. Tomi doesn’t care about school anymore. I think something is wrong.”

  Mom glanced at Tomi, then shrugged.

  “Maybe she is worried about her brother in the army,” Mrs. Glessner suggested.

  “What’s wrong is she is locked up in this camp,” Pop said, anger in his voice. “Wouldn’t you be upset if you were treated like a criminal? What would you do if someone took away your home and made your family live in one room? Look at this ugly building and those dirt streets. This isn’t home. This is a jail. And you expect Tomi to be happy? And work hard at school? For what?” Pop slammed down his cup so hard that it shattered.

  “Oh!” Mom said. The cups had been a wedding present and were her most precious possession.

  Pop looked down at the broken pieces but didn’t say anything. Instead, he reached for his cane and left the room. They could hear his cane tapping as he walked down the hall and went outside.

  “I’m so sorry,” Mrs. Glessner said, picking up the broken pieces of porcelain. “Such a lovely cup. Can it be mended?”

  “Do not concern yourself,” Mom replied. “I am more worried about whether Tomi can be mended.”

  “I’m not broken,” Tomi spoke up for the first time. “Pop’s right. Why should I care about school? All I’m ever going to be is an internee.”

  “The war will be over, and then you’ll have lots of opportunities,” Mrs. Glessner told her.

  “Sure,” Tomi said. “Even if we leave the camp, what will happen to us? People will hate us. They’ll still call us Japs. We won’t ever be able to return to California.”

  “You don’t know that, Tomi,” Mom said.

  “Do you think Mr. Lawrence will let us go back to our farm?” Tomi asked.

  “He promised we could,” Mom said.

  “He hasn’t even written you a letter. Martha hasn’t written me either. I bet she threw away Janice.” Janice was the Japanese doll Tomi had left with Martha for safekeeping.

  “They don’t know where we are. How could they write?” Mom asked.

  “They don’t care. Nobody cares about us. Why should I care about us either?”

  Mrs. Glessner set her cup carefully on the table and stood up. “I am sorry you feel that way, Tomi. You are a bright and clever girl. I have been told it is the Japanese way to look ahead with hope, not to look back with anger. But perhaps I am wrong.”

  “No,” Mom replied. “You are not wrong.”

  After Mrs. Glessner left, Tomi said she was going outside.

  “No, you will stay and talk to me,” Mom said.

  Tomi sighed and curled up on the cot with her back to Mom.

  “You will sit up and look at me. I miss my happy little girl who was so helpful,” Mom said.

  Tomi sat up and stared at Mom, a stern look on her face. “You’re going to tell me I have to do better in school. Well, I don’t care about school, and that’s that.”

  “You are so angry now. Is it because of Pop?”

  Tomi shrugged. Mom already knew the answer.

  “He has changed a great deal, and I worry about him. I wish you would help him. Instead, you support his anger. You make it worse,” Mom said.

  Tomi shrugged and didn’t answer.

  Mom stared at Tomi for a long time. “Now you may go,” she said in a sad voice. “Go play with Ruth.”

  “Ruth doesn’t like to play with me much anymore,” Tomi said.

  “You are not much fun to be around. Do you blame her?” Mom asked.

  Two weeks later, when Pop was out, Mom took a letter from under a pillow and gave it to Tomi. “This came for you. I hid it because it’s addressed to you, and I didn’t want anyone else to open it,” she said. Pop believed he had the right to open any mail that was sent to a member of the Itano family. Tomi had never received a letter. “I think it’s from Roy,” Mom added. Roy wrote every week, but the letters were always addressed to the family.

  Tomi snatched the letter and tore it open. “It is from Roy!” she said. “He wrote a letter just to me. Should I read it out loud?”

  Mom smiled. “If you want to.”

  Tomi sat down on a chair and held the letter in front of her.

  Dear Tomi, she began. She liked the idea that Roy had written just to her, and she read the beginning again, Dear Tomi.

  She continued.

  This letter is just between you and me, because I need your help. We all need your help.

  Tomi looked up at Mom and frowned, then returned to the letter.

  I am worried about Pop and what he is doing to our family. Since you are the fa
vorite child, I think you are the only one who can help him.

  “I’m the favorite?” Tomi asked.

  Mom shrugged. “There is no favorite. But if there were …” She smiled.

  What I’m asking you to do will not be easy.

  Tomi stopped and began to read to herself.

  “Well, what does he say?” Mom asked.

  “It’s my letter.”

  Mom nodded.

  Tomi read silently.

  I worry about you, too. You never let anything get you down before. You were the one who kept our spirits up. You helped everybody adjust to Tallgrass. Remember Carl’s Christmas tree and how it made all the difference for Helen? That was your idea. But after Pop came home, he made you unhappy. You changed, and that made the rest of us unhappy.

  Tomi stopped and took a breath.

  I think you are the only one who can help Pop. I don’t know how, but you have to think of a way or our family will never be the same.

  I know you are angry at America. I am, too, sometimes. But it is our country, and we have to do what is best for it and for our family. That’s why I joined the army. I had to fight for America. I thought Pop would be proud of me for doing that, but it didn’t work.

  One day the war will be over, and Pop will have to find work. What will happen to him with his attitude? Who would give him a job? Would Mr. Lawrence hire someone so angry? What would happen to Mom and you and Hiro?

  I think you know it is the Japanese way not to look back with anger but to look ahead with hope. Mom has tried to help Pop. Hiro is too young. I upset Pop. So you see, Tomi, it is up to you.

  Your brother

  Roy

  Tomi stared at the letter for a long time. Then she looked up at Mom. “That last part about anger and hope … you told him to write to me, didn’t you?”

  Mom nodded. “Sometimes I write to him on my own. You won’t tell Pop, will you? I am so worried about him.”