Vintage Rob

Chapter 17 - Makiko's Turn

Rob ate his spaghetti and described the second conversation with Yukiko to Rachel.

"I only heard what you said, but your restraint was incredible," she gushed. "So sexy, in a wife-beater kind of way."

"How dare you?" He crossed his arms. "I'm a nonviolent Neanderthal." She placed the dirty plates in the sink. After running faucet water over them, she returned to the table and held out her empty wine glass. He topped it off with red wine. "I have to be cool. Even your second graders, I bet, understand Yukiko's got me by the balls. I don't know if she and Makiko are close, I don't know if Makiko lives there... All I know is Yukiko's phone number, a last name, a business number..." He counted down fingers. "Makiko's school, the existence of a younger sister... But I have no access. Until I know Makiko's take on things, I have to win over Yukiko. Makiko might not even know I'm in Japan."

Rachel sipped her wine. She put the glass back on the table and sat back as if she had nothing to add.

So he went on. "I hate celebrity culture and all that, but I may be in the news after next week because of the Gears CD. My Pulitzer may not mean much to Makiko, but can she ignore a rock and roll and hiphop fusion, or whatever they call it?"

"Stick to humble pie for now."

He laughed. "Okay."

A cherry tomato remained in the salad bowl. When she tilted it toward him, he popped it into his mouth. She put the salad dressing back in the refrigerator while he chewed.

One more thing before he asked about her life. "Can you get Yukiko's address from the school?" he said.

"Yes."

"Will you?"

"You're a friend, and I don't think you're dangerous, but I really have to think about that one." Her eyes and mouth bunched up around her nose like the air stank. "First, it could get me fired, and deservedly so. Second, solidarity. Maybe Yukiko should be more forgiving, but I'm not going to judge her."

"Fuck men?"

"Fuck men."

Rob slid his butt onto the edge of his chair. "I can't go to her house. It would only antagonize her."

"Agreed."

"I can't appear to be trying to outmaneuver her. And I definitely can't appear to be a threat to her relationship with Makiko."

"Maybe that's what worries her. It's hard to believe she's just being vindictive."

Rob laughed. "You don't know her."

"I don't know her memories of you either."

He went to the sink and picked up a sponge. "True." He squeezed green dish detergent into its center. "I'll be a punching bag. A few more heart to hearts, and hopefully Yukiko will get everything off her chest and then let me see Makiko."

***

On the way back to his hotel room, Rob decided to call Yukiko again. After a refreshing bath, he dragged a comfy chair across the beige wall-to-wall carpet to the telephone. The book of haiku poems that came with the room contained quiet images of nature, such as close ups of bamboo and water. To maximize his chances of staying calm, he found a soothing image of cherry blossoms in the book and propped it by the phone. He turned down the sound on the television and turned off the lights. Only the television's glow and the light streaming in from the bathroom breached the darkness.

Satisfied, he tightened the belt on his yukata and plopped down into the chair. While Yukiko's phone rang, he prepared his mind to be humble, to beg, to plead.

"Moshi, moshi." Really, he had hoped for Makiko. Yukiko repeated herself. "Moshi, moshi."

At the sound of her voice, he lost faith in his premise. Begging would not work. "I come in peace," he said slowly.

"Three times in one day!"

"Let's be friends."

"Stop calling, or I'll change the number."

"Don't do that, Mrs. Lombardi. Then I'll have to drop by your house or your husband's office." His thought-out protocols, abandoned at the first resistance. "Yukiko, I won't take Makiko away from you. I just want to meet her. You've never regretted anything? Ever?"

"Of course I do. That's obvious."

"If you're not blocking me, help me. Have you told her I'm in town?"

"She knows, and I have to go."

"Is she there? This is getting us nowhere."

Yukiko laughed, exaggerated and fake-sounding. "This is getting you nowhere."

He stared at the pink cherry blossoms on the page in the haiku book. "I have to leave in a few days, but I'm coming back." The Gears would tour Japan later this year, and Rob was welcome to join them. "Actually, this is important to me, Yukiko. I'm not going to another war zone, and Gene's investments have made me financially secure, so guess what? I'll move to Tokyo. I can and will." He ran out of breath and the line was still connected, so his monologue must have gotten her attention.

And he really could move to Tokyo. That was not a joke, and why the hell not?

After a long pause, Yukiko spoke in a very restrained voice. "I see." He heard noise but had no idea what it meant. It was not crying. Banging? Finally, she spoke again. "You're in luck. Makiko just came in."

"She lives there?"

Yukiko did not answer. Rob heard nothing, not even background noises.

"Hello." A female voice, not Yukiko's, a different voice, Makiko's - he remembered.

"Makiko? I love you and want to see you," he said.

"I don't want to see you. Please leave us alone."

A click replaced her soft voice.

So, is any tension building up? Or do we need werewolves?

You can read (or reread) this from Makiko's point of view in chapter 4 of QUIET.

I love you even if you don't star the chapter. Unless you've crossed me in some way.