Dear Mr. Camui

Chapter 7

I opened the door and held it for Dad. He walked out. "Thanks." I walked out after him and closed the door. I walked to the car after Dad unlocked it. I got in the front seat and sat down. I put my seatbelt on, then closed the door. Dad grabbed his keys and opened his door. He got in and closed the door. Dad began to put his seatbelt on. Dad put the keys in the car and started it. "Ready to go?" "Yup." I replied. Dad began to back out. "You know where this place is?" "Yup. It's a really beautiful Christian church." Dad turned and began to drive. "Stained glass windows and all that jazz?" "Yup." Dad replied. He sighed. "You can turn on the radio if you want, May." I turned on the radio. The news was on. "Ugh, turn it off and put a CD in, May." I turned the radio off and looked for a CD. "Gipsy Kings or Ritchie Valens? Or do you wanna listen to our album Chatroom, or our album Vogue? Or, we can listen to Archive." "Archive. It has your cover of Eleanor Rigby on it anyways." I took the CD out and put it in the CD player. Our cover of Istanbul began to play. "I never realized how good your band is, May." "I know. Nobody realizes." I replied. Dad made a turn. He kept driving. "I still can't believe Hiromi picked the name. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. What kind of name is that?" "Well, Dad, it's an actual thing. It floats in the Pacific Ocean." "I realize that, May, but, why did you let Hiromi, out of all band members, pick the name?" "Dad, you know as well I as do that Ollie sucks at naming things, LaTanya couldn't think of anything, and I, May Rain, already agreed with Hiromi on the name." "Typical." Dad made another turn, into the parking lot. There was only one other car there. A white Cadillac. Fancy. I thought.

I stared at the car. I could tell who was in it. There was a woman, about 20 or 22, fixing her makeup. She had tan skin, her hair was light brown, in a Lucy Camui hairstyle, and was wearing a white dress. "May, what are you looking at?" "Cadillac." I replied. "Never mind that. Let's go." Dad unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door. He grabbed his keys. I still stared at the woman, wondering who she was. I opened my door and unbuckled the seatbelt. I got out and stretched. I closed the door and followed Dad. He opened the door to the church and held it for me. "Thanks." The woman closed her car door and scurried behind me. "Thank you, sir." She said with a Southern accent. "You're welcome. You look familiar to me?" She giggled. "How so?" "Wait a minute, you're the singer Jenny Rose!" "Well, reckon I am!" "What are you doing all the way out here in Tokyo? I thought you were from Louisiana!" "I am, but I'm here visiting a little girl with leukemia. Her parents emailed, asking me to spend time with her, since she's my number 1 fan! I've come here to pray for her. She's going through another round of treatment today." "Oh." Dad and the lady walked in. I closed the door behind us. The lady walked up to the altar, and kneeled before it. Dad and I went into a pew near the front. The lady, Jenny, began to mumble a prayer. Dad kneeled and motioned me to do the same. I kneeled. "We're going to pray for not only your mother, but you and I." "Got it." Dad clasped his hands and began to mumble. I clasped my hands and began to mumble, "Please, God, tell me Mom's alright up in Heaven with you. She's done so much for us, it's time for you to take good care of her. Thank you, God. Amen." I looked up, hands still clasped, to see Jenny, levitating, and her form dissolving into golden light. "God is a woman." I mumbled. "You say something, May?" Dad asked. "Nothing. Nothing at all." I unclasped my hands and stood up. Dad stood up and stretched. "Where's Jenny?" "She left." I lied. "Oh. Ok. Ready to go?" "Yeah." I yawned. "Tired?" "Very." I replied. "Ok then. Let's go." Dad backed up and let me out. I walked out and headed to the door. "Awkward silence." Dad said quietly.

I opened the door and held it for Dad. "Thanks." He remarked cheerfully. I smiled. I closed the door behind me. I looked for the white Cadillac. It wasn't there. "Told you she left." I retorted. "Yeah, yeah." Dad replied, unlocking the car. We walked to the car. Dad opened his door and got in. He closed it behind him. I opened my door and got in. I closed my door. I buckled my seatbelt. Dad did the same and started the car. I sighed. "What's up?" "Nothing." I replied. Our cover of Don't Worry Kyoko began to play after Istanbul faded out. Dad began to hum the words. Dad began to drive. I took out my phone to see a message from Abeoji. It read: 'My ankle brace came in. So don't be surprised if I'm not using the crutches.' I replied, 'Ok.' I put my phone back in sleep mode. I leaned against the door and closed my eyes. I began to fall asleep. I was now fast asleep. I began to dream. A flash of orange light showed. I jolted a little. Fire. Not again. Anything but that. The orange light got brighter, and I could hear it crackle. I screamed and opened my eyes. "May! We're home! Are you ok?" I put my hand on my chest. My heart was pounding. "I'm fine. I just a had a scare, that's all." "What did you dream about?" "Fire. Bright, crackling, orange fire." "Ah. I see." I sighed. "Don't let Gackt see you like that. He'll think something bad happened to you." "Too late." I replied. My heart still pounded. "Do you need some deep breaths?" "Yeah." I took a deep breath in through my nose. I held it for 5 seconds, then exhaled. "Take your time." Dad said. I unbuckled my seatbelt. I slumped down in the seat and took another deep breath. In. Hold. Exhale. I thought, while I inhaled. "Do you need to release all the sounds that are trapped in your mind right now?" "Yes." "I'll close the door." Dad closed his door. I began to scream. I stopped and took a breath. Dad opened the door. "You good?" "Yes." I opened my door, took a step, then closed it behind me.