by Imari Jade
“No. They have teeth. I’ll be back.”
Ichiro bounced both babies on his knees. His knees hurt, probably from all that dancing the last three months. “You guys are getting heavy and daddy is getting old.”
Shaundra returned with two bottles of milk, took Ryoto from him and handed Raiden a bottle.
Raiden put the bottle to his mouth and began sucking.
“He can feed himself?”
“Yeah,” Shaundra said as she gave Ryoto his bottle.
Ryoto did the same thing.
“I’m never leaving again,” Ichiro said. “I miss out on too much.”
“You might want to re-think that after you see them destroy a room,” Shaundra said. She chuckled. “They even frighten Dae-Hyun sometimes.”
It took about an hour to get the boys back to sleep. He and Shaundra left the nursery and went back to the bedroom. They showered and changed the linens on the bed.
Ichiro was exhausted by the time he and Shaundra settled down for the night. The next morning, they were gathered at the farmhouse to rehearse for Mr. Niigata’s funeral.
Chapter Nineteen
Cristal screamed so loud she nearly scared everyone in the den.
Satoshi looked toward the door and saw Shaundra. Ichiro was with her, but he only had eyes for her.
Cristal hurried over to Shaundra and hugged her. “Kioshi and I are having a baby.”
“Yeah, don’t you remember calling me in California and we had a long discussion about it?” Shaundra said.
Cristal flashed her ring under Shaundra’s nose after releasing her. “We’re getting married too.”
“Congratulations,” Shaundra said. “I told you it would be all right.” She looked over toward Kioshi. “Good work, Daddy.”
Kioshi smirked. “Thanks for talking her off the ledge.”
Takumijo stood and walked over to Shaundra and hugged her. “Welcome back,” he said. “I am sorry for calling you a whore.” He freed her and walked away.
“Thank you.” She looked toward Cristal for an explanation.
Cristal just shrugged.
Mr. Niigata had asked Takumijo to apologize several months ago. Satoshi guessed Takumijo’s demons had visited him in his sleep.
Ichiro led Shaundra into the den.
Shaundra stopped near Izanagi who was leaning against a wall. “Hey, future husband. How have you been?”
Izanagi brightened a bit. He’d been moping around like everyone else since he’d heard of Goro’s death. “I’ve been okay, Miss Shaundra. You’re looking as lovely as ever.”
“Thanks.”
Yori waved to her and showed her his ring.
“Congratulations. I can’t wait to meet her.” She sat down next to Satoshi with Ichiro at her left. “Have you guys heard anything yet?”
“The funeral is tomorrow,” Yori said. “Keiichi is allowing us to perform and they’re expecting a lot of people to show up to pay their respects.”
“Are you still going to sing?” Cristal asked Shaundra.
“Yeah. I might be a bit rusty, but Goro wanted me to do it.” She paused. “Where are the services being held?”
“His body is going to lie in state at the Kyocera Dome,” Yori answered. “They are going to partition off a part of it so we can use it. The service starts at ten. We’re waiting for the drivers to show up so we can go there to rehearse while his body is being prepared.”
“How have you been?” Satoshi asked her.
“I’ve been better,” Shaundra said. “All I wanted to do was come home to Osaka. I just had a feeling that all wasn’t right.”
“Have you seen Tricia?”
“No. I’m going to call her later,” Shaundra said.
“I told Daichi, so I’m sure Tricia knows about Mr. Niigata,” Ichiro said. “He’s preparing the restaurant for the repast.”
“Has anyone spoken to Akari?” Shaundra asked.
Yori and Takumijo raised their hands.
“She’s handling this as well as expected,” Yori said. “She’s a strong woman. She’ll get through this.”
Kenshin entered the room. “I decided to take one of the buses so all of us can fit.” He gazed over at Shaundra. “Welcome back, Mrs. Yoshida.”
“Thanks, Kenshin,” Shaundra said. “Let’s go, folks. We have a lot to do and a short time to get it done.”
Everyone left the house and boarded the bus.
Damien met them at the dome with his new group Kazumi. There were scheduled to perform too. Once the introductions were over, everyone went inside. Harper was inside waiting. He was talking with some guy Satoshi didn’t recognize. The first thing he did when he saw Shaundra was walk over to her and hug her.
“Welcome back,” he said.
Satoshi didn’t miss the kiss he placed against Shaundra’s head. All these years the damn fool man was still in love with her.
“I have the program. The printer got them ready in time.” Harper chuckled weakly. “Apparently, Goro prepared his own program.”
Izanagi and Hiroyuki began passing the program out to everyone so they knew how the services were going to go. Keiichi was bringing in a Japanese and English speaking choir to perform too. Cristal’s father was going to do the eulogy, while Harper would handle the reading of the cards and acknowledgments. Satoshi continued looking over the program. Aomori, along with Kenshin was scheduled to perform an old Isley Brother’s song, ‘The Highways of My Life.’ Satoshi smiled. Goro certainly loved all kinds of music. Shaundra would be performing, Beyonce, ‘I Was Here,’ accompanied by the choir. He gawked. He had Cristal and Shaundra down for Fleetwood Mac’s, ‘Landslide.’ Goro’s old and stern friends would surely get a kick out of that. The new female group, Kazumi, would be performing Aretha Franklin’s, ‘Bridge over Troubled Waters,’ and last, but not least, Distraction would be singing, Tohoshinki’s, ‘Begin,’ which was the song Shaundra and Ichiro used when they got married.
Saburo passed out sheet music. “We have a couple of hours to get this right, people.”
The choir came into the room with the musicians. They went up near the stage and quickly got into their places.
“Come on, Aomori,” Harper said. “You’re up first.”
Satoshi folded his program and put it in his pocket. Takumijo looked like he was back to his old self again, but Satoshi knew that wouldn’t last for long. They had gone over the songs many times by five p.m.
Harper ended the rehearsal because the morgue was about to bring Goro’s body and he didn’t want any of them to be around and get in the way trying to see their boss. The attire for the next day would be semi-formal black for the men and equally subdued clothing for the women. Cristal complained that she had nothing to wear because all of her clothing was shrinking. Shaundra volunteered to go shopping with her once they were dropped off.
****
“What do you mean Tricia is not at Daichi’s home?” Shaundra asked Ichiro once she had dropped Cristal off at home.
“She moved out,” Ichiro answered.
“Where?”
“With Kevin Kehoe,” Ichiro answered.
“Oh,” Shaundra said angrily. “Why?”
Ichiro shrugged nervously. “I was gone just like you.”
“I wonder if this has something to do with her getting arrested,” Shaundra said.
“She got arrested?” Ichiro asked. “When?”
“A couple of days after we left Osaka. She got into a fight with Barbara Peters over Damien at some night club and Harper had to bail them out.”
“Oh, lordy,” Ichiro said. “I think you better call her cell phone.”
They were seated in the kitchen and Ichiro was cooking dinner. The twins were in their play pen playing with toys.
Shaundra used the house phone to call her. She put on the speaker phone so Ichiro could hear.
Tricia answered the phone. “Hello?”
“Hello? Where the hell are you?”
“Hey, Mama.”
“Don’t ‘hey, mama’ me. Why did you move out of the Yoshida house? Did something happen?”
“No,” Tricia said. “They are the kindest people in the world.”
“And this is how you repay them? Why are you with Kevin?”
“It’s a long story. Damien and I broke up.”
“Oh,” Shaundra said. “Did you get into an argument around Hana and Estuke and got so embarrassed you felt you had to move out?”
“No, not exactly. I think we need to see you so we can talk in person.”
“I think so too,” Shaundra said. “You two come to dinner. Daddy is making gumbo.”
“Daddy is only two years older than me,” Tricia reminded her.
“I heard that,” Ichiro said.
“Sorry, Daddy,” Tricia said.
“Bring Harper’s youngest over so we can talk.”
“We’re on our way,” Tricia said, disconnecting the call.
“The heifer hung up without saying goodbye,” Shaundra said. “You see, this is why I didn’t want to go. I knew something would happen.”
“To be fair, you left her in New York for two years and nothing happened,” Ichiro said.
Shaundra scowled at him. “You’re lucky you look good in an apron.”
Tricia and Kevin showed up about an hour later. Shaundra knew something was up by the way Kevin refused to look her in the eye.
All four of them were seated in the living room. Luckily, the twins decided to take a nap.
“Okay, what happened?” Shaundra asked. “Starting from the fight.”
“Barbara picked a fight with me in the ladies room at a club and I beat her ass,” Tricia said.
Shaundra looked at Ichiro. He looked horrified.
“Damien and Harper took Barbara’s side.”
“And naturally Kevin took yours,” Shaundra said.
Kevin moved around nervously in his seat. “Yes. Tricia wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“Her mother would,” Ichiro mumbled.
Shaundra scowled at him again.
“Well, things started going to hell after that. Damien never called me and when he did he wanted me to apologize to Barbara.”
“What was Harper doing while all this was going on?” Shaundra asked.
“Drinking,” Kevin answered. “He does that a lot when he’s nervous.”
“Lord, ya’ll are turning the man into an alcoholic,” Shaundra said.
“After that, Kevin and I started hanging out together and I was working at the restaurant. And we sort of fell in love.”
“Sort of?” Shaundra asked. Her blood pressure spiked a bit and then it eased down. “So you fell in love and decided to shack up?”
Tricia shook her head and held out her hand. “We got married.”
Ichiro started laughing. “I thought you were about to get strangled, Kevin.”
Shaundra jumped out of her seat and dragged Tricia out of hers, hugging her. “You married Kevin. I’m so damn glad you finally saw the light.”
“Excuse me,” Tricia said once her mother stopped dancing her around. “You wanted me to marry Kevin?”’
“Yes. I noticed how close you two had gotten when we came to New York for your graduation. And the poor boy’s always been in love with you—since you were kids.”
Kevin cleared his throat. “Excuse me. How do you know that?”
“Because I’m a romance writer, son. We get paid for studying the reactions of others. You had those big brown puppy dog eyes every time you were around Tricia.”
Tricia and Shaundra retreated to their seats.
“Does Damien know?”
Tricia shook her head. “Only the Yoshidas. But it doesn’t matter anyway. He’s dating Barbara.”
“Ah, about that,” Shaundra said. “Maybe you two shouldn’t say anything until after the funeral. You know, just in case Damien should freak out.”
“He wouldn’t do that, would he?” Tricia asked.
“Let’s see. You’re the splitting image of me when I was your age. Would men fight over you?”
“Hell yes,” Ichiro said. “I think Izanagi is counting the days until I die.”
Shaundra and Tricia laughed.
Kevin just looked concerned.
“We’re going to throw a reception for you guys as soon as the smoke clears. And we have more good news. Cristal and Kioshi are expecting and are getting married too.”
“And Yori married a woman he met in Spain and only knew for a couple of weeks,” Ichiro added.
“So many changes,” Shaundra said. “Are you two coming to the services tomorrow?”
“Yes,” Kevin answered. “It’s going to be at the Kyocera Dome at 10 o’clock. Try to come early. It’s going to be big sending home service.”
“You mean like they do it down south?” Tricia asked.
“Exactly,” Shaundra said.
“Mama and I are singing,” Ichiro said.
“Can I call you daddy?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah,” Ichiro said. “Especially since I know Harper is going to hate it.”
After Tricia and Kevin went home, Shaundra and Ichiro got ready to attend Goro’s wake. Dae-Hyun decided to stay home with the twins because it was just going to be too much trouble getting them ready and subjecting them to so many strangers. Shaundra was thankful for this since she was nervous enough already.
Goro was laid out in a casket clothed in a black kimono and sandals. Six coins were also placed in with him to pay his way across the River of Three Crossings.
All of the funeral guests showed up wearing black. Many of the guests carried a set of prayer beads, and most of them brought condolence money in little black and silver envelopes. A Buddhist priest performed the ceremony and chanted a text from a sutra.
The members of the family got a chance to offer incense three times to the incense urn in front of Goro’s body. The wake ended after the priest completed the sutra. Each departing guest received a monetary gift. Akari, Keechi and Masahiko Niigata stayed the night to keep vigil over Goro.
****
This was the first Japanese funeral Tricia had ever attended. Incense was offered and a priest performed the ceremony. She was thankful that she had listened to her mother and came early. The area in the dome assigned to the family was packed with hundreds of people coming to pay their last respects to Goro Niigata. Tricia didn’t know Goro, but her mother often spoke of him. Goro was given a new Buddhist name to prevent the return of the deceased if his name was called. Tricia thought that was strange, but interesting.
The other service started as soon as the priest finished. Keiichi Niigata and his younger brother Masahiko took the stage and paid homage to their father. Cristal’s father read the eulogy and then Harper appeared to MC the rest of the funeral. Tricia saw Damien when he entered with Barbara, Akemi and Amaya. She was so glad that they sat far enough away not to bother her.
Aomori was on stage first. Satoshi wasn’t playing the piano this time. That job went to another musician. Another guy she didn’t know joined them on stage for ‘The Highways of My Life.’ Tricia knew that song. Her mother loved her some Isley Brothers. Poor Takumijo barely made it through the song.
“Your mother is going to perform next,” Kevin whispered to her. “I didn’t know she could sing.”
“Yeah, she’s full of surprises.”
Her mother appeared next in a black dress with an appropriate length and no cleavage showing. She loved her mother dearly and she was resigned to the fact that she would never act her age. She was accompanied by a choir as she sang Beyonce’s, ‘I Was Here.’ The performance brought everyone to their feet, including Kevin. Keiichi Niigata stood and bowed to her respectfully.
“You never told me your mother could sing,” Kevin said.
“Believe it or not she was brought up in a church.”
And if he thought that was strange, her mother and Cristal Gentry performed Fleetwood Mac’s, ‘Landslide.’ Motherhood agreed with Cristal. She glo
wed.
“There’s a funny story to go with that song,” Tricia said to Kevin. “It happened when the twins were christened. Apparently, the two of them got drunk and they were found sitting outside in a car in cold ass weather singing it.”
“Your mother drinks?”
“Only sociably,” Tricia said. “That’s why it’s so funny.”
“Who is Kazumi?” Kevin asked, pointing to the program
“Some chicks your brother is handling,” Tricia answered.
“Oh, never mind.”
Three young Japanese women appeared on stage and introduced themselves. The music began to play and one of them began singing the first chorus to Aretha Franklin’s, ‘Bridge over Troubled Water,’ in Japanese. Satoshi accompanied them on the piano.
Some of the older people in the audience loved them.
Tricia decided to wait to hear them sing something else before she passed judgment.
Harper announced the next act. “Ladies and gentlemen, Distraction.”
Tricia moved up in her seat. Kevin grabbed her hand. “We’re at a funeral.”
“I’m not dead,” she replied. “Oh, they look so cute in their little black suits.”
“You can stalk them later after we leave the cemetery,” Kevin said to her.
Tricia sat back in her seat. “Party pooper.”
They performed Tohoshinki’s, ‘Begin.’ Kioshi sang the hell out of the lead. Too bad she was a married woman now because she would be all over them. She thought it would be a good idea if they recorded it.
The services ended and the guests and family put flowers into the casket and then the morticians sealed the casket. Goro’s body would be taken to the crematorium where he would be cremated. His ashes would be buried in a grave and there would be a memorial service. That would take place in a day or so.
They left the dome and headed to Ichiro’s restaurant where Hana, Estuke and Daichi waited wearing black to serve the guests. Damien had the nerve to show up with Barbara.
“There will be no fighting in the restaurant,” Ichiro said to her.
“I work here, remember?” Tricia said. “And besides, I’m a married woman now.”
“Damien doesn’t know that.”
“You’re getting as messy as my mother,” Tricia said. She kissed him on the cheek and went to see if she could be of any help serving.