Rising Sunsets

CHAPTER 20

Everything was starting to turn around. Career-wise, my life had improved, considering the television projects I had worked on and the amount of fun I was having teaching the children and housewives. I was very lucky in that respect because so many of my friends from college were either waiting tables or doing other menial jobs, whereas I was on an adventure halfway across the world, just as I had imagined.

Mom was also doing very well. She constantly sent me written updates on how she was doing and how she occupied her time. My father was haggling with some of the issues of the settlement, but Mom had her freedom, which was all she cared about. She now had the flexibility to volunteer at a local theater group, and from time to time, they put on mini concerts so my mother could perform. In addition, she was entertaining at home regularly and had friends over whom she had not seen in years. Because my father was hardly one for being tactful or pleasant around people, friendships with other couples had ended during their marriage. Now Mom had the opportunity to resurrect those friendships, which she was happy to do.

I also received care packages from Mom, in which she included fashion magazines for Mika, the young girl who liked Audrey Hepburn. Mika, excited and amazed at the magazines, especially Vogue, started cutting out the pictures of dresses she liked and decorated the outside of her notebook with them.

“Someday,” she kept telling me, “I will wear dresses like these.”

What made my life even more perfect was the fact that I could share my news and experiences with someone. Yoshie made me see how wonderful it all was. The feeling she gave me was equal to the effect of a potent drug that makes you immune to anything harmful or uncomfortable.  Her existence formed a force field around me that protected me, fed me confidence, and gave me courage. Even though Yamaguchi-san was still a problem, that problem seemed minute because Yoshie helped me deal with it. Undaunted, I interacted with Yamaguchi-san at work, no longer fearful or troubled by his responses or demeanor. This caused him grief, which in turn helped my confidence grow.

Yoshie enhanced my appreciation for life as well. Every day was beautiful when I thought of her, and I could not stop smiling. The sun was brighter, the sky looked bluer, and the smell of flowers was more intoxicating. The time we spent together was what I longed for each day. And as an accompaniment to what was happening in my personal life, I heard un bel di being performed as I would enter the chu gakko. Omoto-sensei’s voice always carried from the upstairs piano room down to the entrance of the chu gakko, and I would stop, breathe, and listen to her sing.

Yoshie and I continued to meet in secret at my apartment after work on certain days. She would tell her parents that she was working late on projects for the Asian Games and would be home at a decent hour. Our time together was short, but we enjoyed every second of it.  We only saw each other during the week because she had to help out at her parents’ home on the weekends, but then Monday would come and our cycle would begin again.  How I loved the beginning of the week.

Taiko took up my time as well, on the nights that I did not see Yoshie. The Taiko leader and I would work together, with me practicing on the makeshift drum. My mistakes were frequent, and even though the instructor was patient with me, he was stern, insisting that I try harder. I watched the group rehearse on the stage while I practiced my strokes backstage. I didn’t get the opportunity to practice or play with them on an actual drum, because there were no extras, but I learned the melodies to the songs. One thing I did practice constantly was the stance. The players stood next to the drums, their legs bent, their backs straight, poised with discipline. The pressure on my thighs took getting used to and was extremely painful. It was as if someone had taken my lower leg, dislocated it at the knee, and pulled on my thigh muscles still attached to my lower leg. As I practiced standing and playing on the pretend drum, the Taiko leader would critique and forcefully move my back into position if I strayed from my stance.