The Fourth Law

Chapter 3, Part 2

six years prior

"I'm back," Lily spoke out of habit. There was never anyone at their tiny flat in the city of Hamamatsu, halfway between Tokyo and Osaka. Her mom was always at the Corning factory, and her dad... well...

"Bark, bark!" Her little wauzer-dog, Tippy, came running. At least someone was happy to see her!

"Tippy! Yes, yes, stop biting... let's go outside so you can pee."

Taking Tippy outside on his leash, Lily thought about the confusion of the past few months. My three months in Okinawa turned into six, then, instead of going home to the US, we ended up here. She vaguely understood that something bad had happened back there, but she just couldn't quite bring herself to care. From friends she'd had from her past job, mom was able to get on at the Corning Glass factory, and her dad... well, she was never very sure what her dad was doing.

She'd even been able to resume school in the spring, just two months ago. That had worried her: an ethnic Chinese girl who's an American citizen, and with glasses, too; she had fretted that she'd be ignored or bullied, but after a slightly rough start, things there had settled down as well.

The little white dog seemed pleased to have successfully re-marked his local territory, so she took him back inside. Compared to their big house back in Ohio, this two-bedroom apartment sure wasn't much, but her parents had tried to explain the money situation to her.

With a glance at the clock, she knew her folks would be home in about an hour. As her homework was light, she thought to go ahead and get things ready for dinner. Each time she would get near the fridge Tippy would wag furiously, spoiled little dog that he was.

"Now, now," Lily said, "We'll see if there's anything left after dinner. Okay, Tippy-whip?" A yawn with a small whine was his only response.

Still setting some vegetables out, she heard the front door open. The dog started yapping happily. Her father was home.

"Daddy! Welcome back," she called.

Clive Barrett waved to Lily as he hung his jacket up on a peg by the door. He tossed the file folder he was carrying onto the kitchen table and sank into a chair.

"Hear from your sister today?" he asked.

"Nope. Oh, that's right: that makes today three days now, doesn't it?"

He nodded grimly. "I tried calling from the office today; no answer."

Lily stood still for a moment. "I... I'm sure she's all right...." She trailed off.

When she and her parents traveled to Japan almost nine months ago, her elder sister, Callie, was going to spend the summer with her friend Lauren and her family, the Cummings. They lived a few miles north of town on a small farm. That turned out to be a blessing when the US economy started collapsing and cities became permanent battlefields for food and shelter. They managed to send emails and messages to each other, but it seemed that both the electric and telecom grids were failing. Even so, it'd been rare for such a breakdown in any communication like this.

As Lily turned to clean the rice cooker, she heard her father mutter, "I've got to go back."

She cringed a bit. The fights between him and her mother over this had been so bad that the apartment manager threatened to call the police; now it seemed it would happen again. He stood abruptly.

"I'll be upstairs. Please let me know when dinner is ready." He tried to keep his voice level, but Lily knew he was worried about Callie. That made Lily worried, too. Everything was going to be okay, right? Her mom and dad somehow always made things turn out fine, right? Looking down, she realized that prepping the vegetables would have to wait until her hands stopped shaking.