by Jan Morrill
“Them Andrews Sisters best watch out,” Auntie Bess said.
Sachi smiled so big her cheeks hurt. She swung her hips and twirled her finger in the air. As she spun around, Jubie shuffled up next to her and pretended to blow a bugle.
As Jubie Lee danced next to Sachi, she watched the silk of the red kimono drift like a cloud around her friend. Red. So light it floated. Just like her heart.
Before she knew it, Jubie ended her song with giggles and Mrs. Franklin and Auntie Bess cheered from the sofa.
Jubie hugged her. “You a jitterbug girl.”
Auntie Bess pulled Jubie and Sachi together into the biggest, tightest hug Sachi had ever known. “Oh, my sugars. I so proud of you.” She smiled through tears that fell on her round cheeks. “If’n I didn’t know better, I’d say Jubie got her some Japanese blood and Sachi got her some Negro blood pumping in them baby girl veins.”
Every bit of worry Sachi had about borrowing Mama’s kimono had been squeezed right out. All that remained was joy. She didn’t care if she got in trouble, didn’t care how loud Mama yelled at her.
They skipped back to the bedroom to change. Jubie took the kimono off and handed it to Sachi. “We sure was good, wasn’t we, Sach?”
“Better than good.”
Jubie stared at her, quiet for a minute.
“What is it?” Sachi asked. It wasn’t like Jubie to be quiet.
Jubie smiled, kind of sly. “You ever heard of being blood sisters?”
“Blood sisters?”
“Yeah. You know what Auntie Bess said about me having Japanese blood and you having Negro blood?”
“Yeah.”
“What if we really did mix our blood? I give you some my Negro blood, and you give me some of your Japanese?”
“What in the world are you talking about?”
Jubie pulled a pin from Sachi’s skirt. “I’ll prick my finger, then you prick yours. Then, we’ll press our fingers together, let my blood into your body, and your blood into mine. ’Fore you know it, we’ll be sisters.”
Sachi had never heard of such a thing. In fact, it sounded a little creepy. Still, Jubie was closer to being a sister than anyone she’d ever known. She’d always wanted a sister. “Well, I’ve never heard of that. But it sounds like a neat idea. Kind of.”
“You scared? We don’t gotta do it if you don’t wanna.”
“Of course I’m not scared.”
“Ready, then? I’ll go first.” Jubie poked her forefinger with the pin.
Sachi watched a dark red dot emerge.
“Your turn,” Jubie said, giving Sachi the pin.
Sachi tried to steady her hand so she wouldn’t look nervous. She wasn’t afraid of mixing their blood so much as she was afraid of the prick of the pin.
“Want me to do it?” Jubie offered. “You can close your eyes.”
“I guess so.” She passed the pin to Jubie and squeezed her eyes shut until she felt a piercing pain at the tip of her finger. Her eyes flashed open as the sharp sensation shot halfway up her arm. She watched the tiny drop of blood appear and felt queasy again.
Jubie held up her finger. “Ready to be sisters?”
Sachi took a couple of deep breaths. “I’m ready.”
Jubie’s warm hand was soothing as she guided Sachi’s finger to press against hers. “Now I have your blood and you have mine.” She squeezed tighter. “And no matter what, we’ll be sisters forever.”
Goose bumps tickled through Sachi, and she wondered if it was Jubie’s blood pumping through her.
I have a sister.
Mrs. Franklin knocked on the bedroom door. “Sachi, will you be staying for dinner?”
Dinner?
Was it that late already? “No, ma’am.” She let go of Jubie’s finger. “I’d better get home. Mama will be wondering where I am.” She folded Mama’s kimono and placed it in her satchel.
Jubie smiled. “Sure was fun today, wasn’t it?”
“It was perfect.”
“And now we’re sisters. That’s even better than being valentines, ain’t it?”
Sachi nodded. “A million times better.”
It was still raining when she walked out of Jubie’s house. But she skipped through it, humming “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” remembering how Jubie—her sister—danced with her. Water soaked through her clothes and left them wet and cold against her skin.
The thought of Mama’s anger over the kimono returned and worsened her chill. Raindrops left polka dot splashes in the puddles she tried to jump. Sometimes she missed, and icy water splashed onto her legs that only an hour before were warmed by the jitterbug. She hoped Mama wouldn’t be too upset and quickened her pace. Where would she say she’d been all afternoon? Maybe passing out valentines with Keiko? Or studying her Japanese lessons in the classroom with Mrs. Yamamura? Mama definitely wouldn’t believe that one.
As she approached the entrance gate to the camp, she remembered the valentine from Private Collins. What would she say to him? She squinted her eyes to focus through the foggy rain. As she drew closer, she felt relieved. A shift change. Private Collins had been replaced by Private Gould, who was all business. Nothing to worry about. She signed in and walked through the gate, holding her satchel over her head.
“Stay dry,” he called.
She couldn’t help wondering what Private Collins was doing now that he was off. What had he thought when she tore his valentine’s card in half earlier in the day? Maybe it was a mean thing to do, but she’d been so angry when she saw him with Yuki.
Her wet clothes were cold and heavy on her skin, and she ran to get out of the rain. By the time she reached her apartment, her shoes squished with every slow, heavy step up to the door. Her mind swirled with answers to all the questions Mama might ask.
Then, Jubie’s words whispered in her ear. No matter what, we’ll be sisters forever.
She stared at her hand on the cold door knob and took a deep breath. She should have asked before borrowing Mama’s kimono and was sorry she hadn’t.
But she wasn’t sorry she’d let Jubie wear it. That red kimono had been magic. How else could a colored girl and a Japanese girl end up as sisters?
Her heaviness began to lighten. She lifted her hand from the knob and stared at the finger Jubie had pricked, wondering if the smudge of blood that remained was hers or Jubie’s. She smiled.
It didn’t really matter.
She returned her hand to the knob, turned it, and opened the door.
Inside, it was not at all what she had expected. Mama and Nobu sat across from each other at the table. She closed the door softly behind her, but neither noticed that she had returned. The room was too quiet, filled with so much tension it felt smaller and darker than usual.
“You cannot do this, Nobu.” Mama had a strange calm in her voice.
Sachi recognized the mask Mama wore to hide her anger. What did Nobu do to make her so mad? Usually Sachi was the focus of anything that irritated her mother.
Her brother didn’t answer, only stared at his hands, folded in front of him.
She couldn’t stand the quiet any longer. She would rather Mama be upset with her for getting home so late. She had to know what was going on. “Is everything okay?” she asked.
Mama and Nobu seemed surprised to see her standing there.
“Sorry I’m late, Mama.” Maybe her apology would change the subject.
“Be quiet!” Mama scolded. “Can you not see that your brother and I are discussing something important? This does not involve you.”
“Mama, stop,” Nobu said, rising from his chair and walking over to Sachi. He moved a strand of wet hair off her face. “Better get out of those wet clothes. You can change in my room. Mama and I should be finished soon.”
When she opened her drawer to get her pajamas, she found the valentine’s cards she’d made for Mama and Nobu. She glanced back at the table, where they were staring at each other again. Should she give the cards to them? Would it make Mama even ang
rier? Or, might it lighten the mood? She didn’t care. It was Valentine’s Day. She had to do it—the cards wouldn’t mean as much tomorrow.
She grabbed her pajamas and hid the cards beneath them. “I made these for you,” she whispered. “Happy Valentine’s Day.” Her stomach aflutter, she was too uncertain, too anxious to wait for their response. She hurried into Nobu’s room and pulled the curtain shut.
She heard one envelope tear open.
“Thanks, Sach. It’s really nice,” Nobu said.
Mama spoke next. “Nobu, I am waiting. How can you think of answering ‘no’ to both questions?”
What questions were they talking about? And why was Mama so upset about it? One thing was for sure. Her mother had more important things on her mind than a silly card. No sense waiting for her to open it. She tossed her satchel onto the bed, and threw herself next to it.
What was she supposed to do while Mama and Nobu discussed whatever it was they were discussing?
She opened the satchel. The kimono! How would she get it back into the box without Mama seeing? As she shoved it deeper inside, she felt the valentine Private Collins had given her. She took out one half, and felt for the other.
She pulled each half out of its torn half-envelope, and held them together like puzzle pieces. Her heart raced as she read the words inscribed in the red heart on the front of the card.
To my special Valentine …
Chapter 54
Nobu
March 15, 1943
The silence had been long and lonely since the day Nobu received notice that he would be transferred back to California. All those who had answered “no” to Question 27 and Question 28 were being sent to a maximum-security segregation camp called Tule Lake. He had known there would be consequences for the way he had answered, but he had no idea he would be sent away, separated from his family.
He studied Mama from across the room, trying to determine her mood before approaching to sit next to her. Her rigid posture and expressionless face definitely read anger. But her attempt to wipe tears from her cheeks before they were discovered was futile. She couldn’t mask her sadness.
Sachi sat on the edge of her bed, staring at her feet as she swung them back and forth. No mistaking her mood. Only sadness there.
The previous night, he had tossed and turned with alternating waves of guilt and determination; guilt that he wouldn’t be at Rohwer to take care of Mama and Sachi, determination that he could not have answered the questions any other way.
When he’d received his transfer orders, Sachi had begun to sob and asked, “Can’t you change your answers so you can stay with us?”
Her question broke his heart. “I’m sorry, Sach. They won’t let me change them.” But he also bit his lip. I wouldn’t change my answers even if I could.
Sachi would understand one day. But Mama was a different story. He had no idea what to say to her, how to respond to her anger and grief. Her shame.
It didn’t matter anymore. The silence was killing him. He had to say something.
“Mama, talk to me,” he said, maneuvering toward where she sat.
Her gaze remained fixed on the blank wall across the room.
He pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. “What are you thinking?”
At last, she spoke, though she still stared at the wall. “How could you have answered as a disloyal?”
Disloyal. The word was a flashpoint. A trigger for a barrage of angry words. He stood up and pounded the table.
Sachi stopped swinging her legs and gasped.
Mama’s eyes widened with surprise.
“I am not disloyal!” he yelled. “It is America that has been disloyal!”
Seeing Mama’s eyes fill with tears, he sat again and took a deep breath.
Calm down. Is this how you want to spend your last hours with Mama and Sachi?
His voice softened. “Don’t you see, Mama? How else could I answer? If I’d answered ‘yes,’ they might have sent me off to war. I’m sorry. I refuse to fight for a country that could do this to us.”
Her eyes grew cold. “But they’re sending you away anyway, are they not? You could have lied. At least you would not be called a disloyal. And you would not have brought dishonor to this family.”
Lie? To keep from bringing dishonor to our family?
Mama’s words hit like an unexpected blow. His throat clutched as his mind filled so swiftly with a mix of emotions that he couldn’t gather his thoughts to respond. Anger. Hurt. Isolation. Regret. Pride. All fought for space in his head. Anything he said would be hurtful. He was silent as he rose from the chair.
Mama looked up. “Where are you going?”
“To pack,” he replied and walked to his room.
His tiny space. Only a corner separated by a curtain. What would the camp at Tule Lake be like? He didn’t care if it was larger, but more privacy would be nice. Maybe a window. Of course, it could be a jail cell for all he knew, the way they talked about the No-No Boys being disloyal.
A green canvas duffle bag lay open on his bed, its gape awaiting the stack of books, crumpled clothes, and pair of shoes that surrounded it. But Nobu didn’t feel like packing. Instead, he found his journal and shoved everything else off the bed.
March 15, 1943
Part of me is happy to be getting away from here. I need some breathing space. This apartment is too small for the three of us, especially when Mama is angry. She’s angry a lot these days. I guess I don’t blame her. I think her anger comes from fear. Fear of what lies ahead for me, and fear of what lies ahead for her after I’m gone. First Taro left for Hawaii, then Papa was killed, and now I am leaving for Tule Lake. She will be left on her own to take care of Sachi.
I’m scared, too, but I can’t show it, especially in front of Mama and Sachi. I have no idea what waits for me. As long as we comply with their rules, behave as people who accept this life they cast upon us, we are left to live our miserable lives behind barbed wire. But now that some of us have issued our protests by answering “no” to Questions 27 and 28, look how we are treated—shipped off to maximum security as disloyal. They’re even talking about sending us back to Japan! I’ve never even been to Japan. Hell, I barely speak Japanese.
Scared? Yeah, I’m scared.
It’s been weird between Kazu and me. He told me he couldn’t answer “no,” even though a part of him wanted to. Said he couldn’t do that to his mother. I don’t understand him, and I can tell by the look in his eyes, he doesn’t understand me. How could he swear allegiance to a country that took his father away? No matter. Kazu will stay, maybe be sent off to war. I will go to Tule Lake, disgraced in my mother’s eyes.
“Nobu?” Sachi’s face appeared around his curtain, her eyes puffy and red.
He set his journal aside. “Come here,” he said, extending his hand.
She sat next to him and buried her face on his shoulder.
“What is it, Sach?”
Her response came in sniffles and gurgles. She attempted to hide her tears, but he felt their wet warmth soak his shirt.
He nudged her again. “You want to talk about it?”
Finally, she whispered, “Please don’t leave me here alone. Can’t I come with you?”
The question startled him. Come with him? He hadn’t thought of that. Would she be better off staying with Mama, or coming with him? It was a difficult question to answer. Too many unknowns about the camp in Tule Lake.
“Nobu? Did you hear me? Can I come with you?”
He took a deep breath, hoping the answer would come by the time he exhaled. “I would love for you to come with me …”
She perked up and smiled. “Really?”
“No, wait Sach. I was saying I’d love for you to come, but you can’t.”
She buried her head in his shoulder again.
“I have no idea what the new camp will be like. And Mama needs you here. Besides, you and Jubie have become such good friends, you don’t want to leave her, do yo
u?”
She straightened and looked at him, aghast. “Jubie?”
Stifling a laugh, he replied, “Yes, I know about you and Jubie. You’re not very good at hiding things.”
“Does Mama know?”
“I don’t think so. I didn’t tell her, anyway.”
“Because if Mama ever found out and said I couldn’t play with her again, I think I’d run away.”
“Be careful then,” he said.
There wasn’t much more to say in the few minutes they had. Or, maybe there was too much to say. After a short silence, Nobu spoke. “I guess I’d better finish packing.”
She started crying again and hugged him. “I’m going to miss you so much. What am I going to do when you’re gone? Mama is so quiet, and when we do talk, it’s like she’s angry with me.”
He tugged at her ponytail. “Be patient with her. She’s been through a lot, and she bears the burden of what is to become of all of us when we leave camp.” He tickled her ribs. “Okay. Let me have a few minutes to finish packing, then you can walk me to the gate.”
She slumped and pouted, lingering at the edge of his bed.
He knew what would cheer her. “Hey, you know what?”
“What?” she replied, eyes brightening.
“There’s one good thing about me leaving.”
She deflated and rolled her eyes. “What?”
“You can have my room—a room of your own!”
She perked up. “Oh, boy—” she exclaimed, then slumped again. “But I’d still sleep with Mama if it meant having you here.”
“I know, Sach. But try to look at the bright side. You’ve wanted your own room since we left Berkeley. Now come on.” He gave her a shove. “I need to finish packing.”
“Okay, okay,” she mumbled and shuffled out of his room.
A few more lines to add in the day’s entry, then he’d have to hurry.
I didn’t realize it before now, but it’s Sachi I’ll miss most of all. Yeah, the squirt gets on my nerves, but it won’t be the same not seeing that spark of mischief in her eyes. I see her growing up a little every day, forming a mind of her own. How will she have changed when I see her again? And who knows when that will be? I need from her what I will not have at Tule Lake, her resilience—an antidote to my callous shell that thickens every day.