Falling into the Dragon's Mouth

by Holly Thompson

out on bicycles

  and we are definitely

  the only ones

  out on the road

  by the beach

  where the wind

  slams us

  full force

  wobbling

  our bikes

  we pedal down

  the coast road sidewalk

  but I hadn’t counted on

  rain lashing us

  so hard it hurts

  at the crossing light

  we fight against gusts

  walking our bikes across the road

  to the landing of concrete stairs

  that lead down to the beach

  and there, high above sand

  and waves that we can barely see

  we hold our handlebars

  in the punching

  howling wind

  below us, surf

  pounds the beach

  so hard it’s like being

  inside thunder

  salt spray

  tropical wind

  and rain

  slap us

  and just

  standing there

  or trying to

  we’re nearly

  drowning

  Cora shouts, but I can’t hear

  so we turn our bikes around

  on that beach stair landing

  and there

  by the crossing light

  in an oversized

  clear plastic raincoat

  is a kid

  he’s wearing flip flops

  and his raincoat

  flaps and snaps wildly

  and under the raincoat

  he’s wearing shorts

  a sweatshirt

  and I think

  binoculars

  he presses the crossing button

  and when the light changes

  the wind

  thrusts us all

  fast across the road

  we don’t ride

  just push our bikes

  to escape that beach

  the gusting salt

  rain and sand

  and when we turn inland

  to the main street

  between buildings

  I shout to Cora

  you okay?

  she nods

  but she’s frowning

  and her eyes say

  this is so NOT

  a good adventure

  the boy steps around us

  shouts above the wind this way!

  and beyond a noodle shop

  he leads us off the road

  to a streetcar crossing

  that doesn’t have a gate

  we’re so wet and nearly drowned

  that we follow, watching

  and listening for trains

  as I carry my bike

  and the kid carries Cora’s bike

  over the streetcar rails

  he motions for us to

  lean them against a wall

  then beckons for us to follow

  through a tile-roofed gate

  and suddenly we are in a garden

  and the big gate door

  is latching behind us

  Chapter 21

  HOT TEA

  before us is an old house

  palms bending in the wind

  and a tall stone lantern

  beside a pebble path

  the kid leads us up the path

  past a huge pottery urn

  catching plopping rain

  and into a stone-floored entryway

  we are so soaking wet

  even inside our rain suits

  that not even Cora

  hesitates to step inside

  the kid leaves us there

  dripping puddles

  onto the floor

  returns with towels

  and tells us to take off our shoes

  and rain suits

  so we towel off

  then he motions for us

  to step up into the house

  which we almost do

  but I stop

  because I realize

  now that he’s out of his raincoat

  the kid is actually older than me

  maybe much older

  and I don’t think

  anyone else is here

  in this quiet house

  but Cora steps up

  follows him into the kitchen

  where he turns on a burner

  starts heating water

  and spoons tea

  into a teapot

  do you go to the middle school?

  I ask from the doorway

  he tilts his head

  points to a chair

  for me to sit in

  says no, nothing more

  high school? I ask

  no

  well what school DO you go to?

  Cora asks

  I don’t he says

  but if I did I’d be

  third year middle school

  the kid mutters about

  searching for rice crackers

  why don’t you go to school? Cora asks

  he shrugs and says

  I study at home …

  do you like hōjicha?

  any tea’s fine I say

  so, do you? Cora asks the kid

  what? make hōjicha? he says

  no, study! do you study at home?

  he thinks a minute then says

  mostly no

  and we all laugh

  he moves aside his wet binoculars

  and pours the tea into cups

  as Cora and I sit down at the table

  I’m Cora Cora says

  pronouncing it the Japanese way

  so it sounds like “cola”

  and this is my brother Jason

  but most people call him J

  the kid nods, that’s all

  till Cora sticks her head out

  like a bird, expectant

  and finally he gets the hint

  and says

  I’m Daiki

  Nakano Daiki

  like he’s out of practice

  saying his own name

  we sit without talking awhile

  just sipping hot tea, then he says

  I watched you going to the beach

  I wanted to make sure you didn’t

  go down the stairs to the water

  people do that sometimes

  check out the waves and try surfing

  even in weather like this

  people drown, you know

  I say

  we were just looking

  he nods

  not believing

  like he knows everything

  like I could have been one of those people

  going too close to the waves

  and Cora is looking at him

  like he’s her big hero

  really I say

  we were just looking

  but Daiki continues

  last year after I quit school

  I started watching the water

  when the weather’s rough

  one time

  like today

  before a typhoon

  I watched a surfer go out

  but he got tossed all over

  and disappeared

  so I called emergency

  by the time firefighters

  arrived with rescue stuff

  he’d been under too long

  and they couldn’t revive him

  he died? Cora says, and Daiki nods

  didn’t you call 119? Cora asks

  of course he says

  and they couldn’t help him? Cora whispers

  and this Daiki guy says coldly

  no, they can’t do everything, you know

  and I’m thinking it’s time to leave

  but Cora goes cold right back at him

  changes the topic, and says

  I think you should return to scho
ol

  Daiki snorts

  not that school

  and he jerks his head

  and by the direction and his eyes

  I know he’s talking about

  the local middle school

  the one I’ll go to

  if we can’t afford

  international school

  why? I say

  see this? he says

  and shows me a scar

  on his forehead

  near his hairline

  that’s from when they tried

  to shove me into the toilet

  head first

  so what happened? I ask

  what do you mean? he says

  were those kids punished?

  they made them apologize Daiki says

  made them clean bathrooms

  so then it got better? I say

  no he says

  it got worse

  after tea

  before Cora and I leave

  Daiki and I

  trade cell phone numbers

  so, maybe see you again?

  Daiki says

  and Cora and I both say

  yeah, see you again

  Chapter 22

  TYPHOON DAY

  the next day there is no school

  because the typhoon moves toward us

  faster than expected, and there are

  flood warnings

  landslide warnings

  and the wind is blowing

  garden furniture

  branches

  shutters

  signs

  and I guess the principal

  figures it’s a good idea

  not to have any accidents

  at least not from natural causes

  Mom’s and Dad’s

  classes are canceled

  aikido’s canceled

  so we are all home

  with rain shutters closed

  and even though it’s

  midday in October

  it’s like a hot summer night

  inside our house

  the bell cricket

  drives us crazy

  singing rin rin rin

  from the kitchen table

  where we set the cage to keep it

  from drowning on the balcony

  and throughout the day

  we find inside the house

  escaping the rain

  one lizard

  one huge spider

  one gecko

  and two big cockroaches

  that I chase and—thwap!

  Mom puts on a Tora-san DVD

  from a collection Dad got for her birthday

  and first it’s just her watching

  then Cora and her

  then Cora, me, and her

  then Cora, me, Dad, and her

  all the Tora-san films are similar—

  this weird guy Tora-san

  sells trinkets and stuff

  in different parts of Japan

  and wants a girlfriend

  but doesn’t get one

  Mom says Tora-san

  is good for her Japanese

  and even though the films

  are kind of old and dumb

  whenever she puts one on

  I can’t help but watch

  in this episode

  Tora-san takes his first flight

  all the way to Okinawa

  to see his girlfriend who’s sick

  he helps her get well

  but doesn’t stay

  and at the end of the movie

  all of us decide we, too

  want to take a flight

  to the southern islands

  and Cora asks

  if that’s possible

  or if we could take a train

  all the way to Kyūshū

  then take a ferry

  to that tropical island

  where they sing

  and eat outside

  and where the beach sand

  is perfect and clean

  Mom’s happy face turns serious again

  maybe—IF I get a full-time position she says

  and Dad says

  well, probably not a train

  but maybe we could drive

  then he pulls out his phone

  and looks up drive time

  from Tōkyō to Kagoshima

  and says it would take us

  eighteen hours each way

  and the gas and tolls

  would cost a fortune

  and I know right away

  this trip won’t happen

  not with their schedules

  and the cost of our visits

  to the States each summer

  and everyone knows

  we can’t afford the trip anyway

  but no one says why—that

  we’re saving money for me

  to change schools

  we still don’t have the money

  for international school, do we I say

  and Mom says to be patient

  that we’ll have it soon

  that since she’s teaching

  the Wednesday classes

  on top of her other classes

  all different days of the week

  we’ll have the tuition

  for the fall

  fall? I say

  but elementary school graduation

  is in March!

  they look at each other and Dad says

  that actually, because Japanese school

  ends in March and starts in April

  yet the international school year

  ends in June and starts in late August

  that means from April until the start

  of the international school year

  I might be homeschooled or something

  or something? I say

  you mean, like

  go to the local middle school?

  no way!

  why can’t I just start

  international school in April?

  Jason Mom says all soft and quiet

  like I’m being unreasonable

  besides tuition you have to pay

  a big registration fee

  and given the cost

  we think that rather than start

  at the end of their school year

  it makes more sense to start

  at the start of their school year

  with all the other new students

  and suddenly I think of Daiki—

  how he doesn’t go to school

  and I ask

  how old do you have to be to quit school?

  my parents look at me funny

  then Cora opens her big mouth and says

  yeah! that boy we met yesterday

  at the beach

  he doesn’t go to school

  that’s illegal isn’t it!

  the beach?

  Mom and Dad both say

  and Cora clamps

  both her hands

  over her mouth

  too late

  Chapter 23

  WHITE DEER

  that night we’re

  lying in our beds

  and I’m not talking to Cora

  but she’s yakking and yakking

  at me

  I already had to listen to

  a lecture about water

  a lecture about my responsibilities

  a lecture about strangers

  a lecture about thinking about Cora

  and I’m tired of thinking about Cora

  so I don’t answer

  she’s jabbering on and on

  and I’m not listening and

  shove my head under my pillow

  but she climbs the ladder to my bunk

  she lifts the pillow

  money! she says

  I’m talking about money

  so listen

  she tells me her business plan

  for us to take pictures


  of the beach and Mount Fuji

  of temples and shrines

  with her stuffed squirrel

  named Gray in each photo

  get it? she says

  it’s like Gray

  is a tourist

  visiting Japan

  taking a trip around Kamakura

  and this whole area

  I lift the pillow

  all the way off my head

  and stare at her

  and what exactly will we

  do with these pictures of Gray?

  sell them!

  make postcards!

  make folders!

  I groan

  how? and why?

  and WHO would want pictures

  of a stuffed squirrel? I say

  I don’t know!

  YOU think of that—

  I thought up the product

  YOU do the marketing

  right I tell her

  and finally

  she climbs down the ladder

  and leaves me alone

  the typhoon wakes us both

  in the middle of the night

  with wind that screams and

  gusts that hit with such force

  they make the house shudder

  in between gusts

  there’s a steady roar

  which I finally realize

  is the ocean

  way down the hill

  as loud as if it’s

  outside our door

  Cora comes up to my bunk

  and in the typhoon night

  things rattle, crash

  smash, slam

  and groan

  finally we take our pillows

  into Mom and Dad’s room

  and wriggle into their futons

  then we all give up sleeping

  go down to the living room

  and watch TV news of the storm

  until the power cuts off

  then we’re in the dark

  pointing our flashlights

  setting up the camping lantern

  opening the sofa bed

  that we bought when we moved here

  for visitors from the States

  who never seem to visit

  and we squish in together

  and in the lantern light

  we listen to Dad tell a story

  a story he learned

  in Massachusetts

  when he was a boy

  Dad’s story

  which he says may

  or may not be true

  is about a white deer

  considered sacred to Mohicans

  a deer that came in the early morning

  and at dusk to drink from a lake

  and a French fur trader

  who wanted very badly

  the skin of that white deer

  but the tribal leaders wouldn’t

  give it up and guarded the deer

  and its fawn which was

  also white

  until one night

  one member of the tribe betrayed them

  took the white deer to the Frenchman