Vintage Rob

Chapter 16 - Rob's Turn

Rob slammed the receiver into the cradle and looked for something to smash but everything nearby mattered too much, even the blue rectangle with Yukiko's number.

Let Makiko speak for herself! He strode over to the window and pressed his forehead against the glass. Outside, far below, tiny humans dallied in artificial landscapes and walkways between steel and glass buildings.

After staring out the window, he copied Yukiko's number into his worn address book and flipped to Rachel's number, a woman he had met years before when she was married to a print journalist and worked at an international school in Jordan. Because of her somber and manipulative husband, he had expected to dislike her, but they hit it off. He was meeting Rachel in a few hours. Since her phone number shared Yukiko's 03 prefix, he wanted to ask her about that. Besides, after the phone call he just had with Yukiko, he craved immediate commiseration and maybe even a dob of compassion.

"If she lives in Setagaya, it's possible Makiko goes to my school," Rachel said. "I found a Makiko with a Yukiko parent in a recent yearbook. I'll show you when you get here. This Makiko even has an Italian name - Lombardi."

"Oh? Yukiko mentioned a husband, but I assumed he was Japanese."

After talking to Rachel, Rob put on his coat, but the phone rang before he left the hotel room. Fumiko, the friend of the Buddhist priest's niece, yakked excitedly that Yukiko's number matched a household headed by an Italian named Lombardi. She also cross-matched the number and discovered that it belonged to the owner of a business importing luxury goods from Italy. Unfortunately, the name Makiko Lombardi did not appear in any phonebooks.

Rob wrote down Mr. Lombardi's business number. If Yukiko remained uncooperative, her husband might be more sympathetic or more malleable.

***

A few hours later, Rob surveyed an international school from its front gate, Makiko's possible school. The white school building in the center of the property rose up and back like a piece of layered wedding cake jumbled on a plate. A steep driveway disappeared on a lower part of the school building's roof, and a narrow footpath skirted the building on the right. A few bicycles leaned against a wall there. According to a sign, a building abutting the outside wall on the left was a nunnery.

The school was a fifteen-minute walk from the train station, and Rachel's apartment was another ten minutes down the road. While Rob reexamined the directions to Rachel's apartment, an old nun in a gray habit, a Westerner with a bird-like face, exited the nunnery and walked briskly toward him.

Though a senior citizen, her skinny legs moved quickly, as if the gate was the only thing that prevented her from grabbing Rob's ear and twisting it. "The school is closed for winter break," she said. "May I help you?"

"Hello, Sister. My daughter is a student here. I was just thinking about it as I walked by."

The nun's face softened.

"Her name is Makiko. She's in the high school."

The nun tilted her head. "I know a Makiko or two..." Matching a name to a face was a puzzle the old nun relished. "One... I know her father well."

"Mr. Lombardi?"

Her smile disappeared. Her sharp eyes scrutinized him.

"Mr. Lombardi is Makiko's stepfather. I'm her father."

She raised her eyebrows. "Yes, I remember now."

English did not seem to be her first language. He suspected she was from somewhere in Europe. "I'm here on business, Sister. I'm a photographer." He passed his hand through the gate.