My Modern Kaidan

Chapter 6

I tell my dad about the noisy pipe the next morning and he says he'll take a look at it. I come home to find him in the garden, a bandanna tied around his forehead and the sleeves of his T-shirt rolled up as though he's been working elbow deep in the water. He looks kind of like a fifties greaser in a dorky dad kind of way.

My mom sits by with her legs extended out in a lounge chair, flipping through a magazine the wrong way and sipping lemonade through a straw.

"Your dad's being my own personal handyman," she says loosely.

I roll my eyes. Gross. That lemonade probably has vodka in it.

"Any luck?" I ask.

"We'll find out," my dad says, tucking his glasses into the collar of his shirt to wipe the moisture from his face. "But first, chotto mite." He directs my attention up to a new light he's installed above the fountain.

"I told him a light above water is not a good idea," my mom says.

"It's perfectly safe," my dad says. "And, you are leaving out the best part."

"Yeah, mom," I say, playing along. "Now we can see the fountain in the dark. That was a huge problem the other night."

"We can see it in the dark," my dad says. "And, in color!"

My dad has run the cord for the light up along the wall, where he plugs it into the outside outlet a few feet away and a dim blue light seeps out onto the wall above the fountain.

"Wooooow," my mom muses sarcastically from her chair.

There's a knock at the door, reverberating through our still sparsely unpacked house. "I'll get it," I say.

She's turned the other way so doesn't catch my initial reaction before I replace it with what probably looks like an awkward, forced smile. "Miyako-san," I say. What the hell? "Hi."

Miyako turns to face me. "Amaya-chan," she says sweetly. "You forgot your biology book under your chair. I wanted you to have it since we have a big quiz on Monday."

"Oh," I say. "Thanks."

She hands me the book and her eyes dart around me and into the house.

"Do you want to come in?" I ask.

"Oh," she says, lowering her eyes.

Before she can respond, my mom calls out. "Amaya, who is it?" She comes up behind me and spotting Miyako's uniform, she goes, "Oh, a friend from school?"

"Mom, this is Miyako," I say and Miyako tips at the waist cordially.

"How nice, did you invite her in?"

"Yes, Mom."

My dad's footstep echo behind us as he comes in from the garden.

"Ego-sama!" Miyako cries, bowing more deeply.

"Onegaishimasu," he tells her, his hand rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. She raises upright, gripping her bag to her chest. She unzips it, producing a well worn copy of my dad's manga Oyuki. She grasps a pen in her hand, the Keroppi at the top quivering in her fingers.

"You must have come the other day," my dad says, obliging her as he scrawls across the inside of Miyako's copy. He places a finger on a tear that's started to make it's way down the cover before handing it back to her. "Time for a new copy, ne?"

This is just great, I think. My dad's more popular at school than I am.

"You've got a fan, Hideo," my mom says before looking at me. "Amaya, would your friend like to stay for dinner?"

"Huh? Oh," I turn to Miyako. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

She smiles, nodding shyly.

It's weird to have a fourth person at our table. Instead of staring back into the kitchen, Miyako is in my direct line of vision, her cape of black hair pouring down her shoulders as she eats, every once in a while sneaking glances at my dad, who's lost his greaser shtick and is back to looking like plain old dad, his glasses sliding down his nose while he eats.

A part of me wishes Mikey could see me now, but a part of me just wishes he were here to break up the awkwardness I feel due to the fact that Miyako and I aren't really friends.

"Miyako-san," my dad says. "What other manga do you read?"

"Mm," she says, setting her bowl down. "A bit of everything. I like Yamamoto."

"Ah," my dad says. "Yamamoto can be very dark."

"I like dark," she says.

My dad grins slightly. "I'll have to write darker," he says. "If that's what's popular right now."

Dinner takes forever to end, and finally Miyako excuses herself, while my mom volunteers to drive her home.

I sit out in the living room watching TV until I'm ready to go to bed. With the house quiet, I head towards my room, stopping to listen for the sound of the fountain.

My dad must be a handyman after all, I think. The only sounds are the chirping of crickets and the gentle trickle of water. As I pass his office, I can hear his pencil scrawling furiously.

On a scale of 1-10, how awkward was your last unexpected house guest?  Voting? お願いします!