Chapter 2- Closure
"What?" was the only word Kari could manage.
"I know it's sudden," Mrs. Kamiya said, "I hate springing this on you two like this. I wanted to wait and break it to you gently, I guess I actually thought we could work this out…" she broke off into more sobbing. "I'm sorry Tai," she continued, "since we already paid this years tuition for you at the university, I figured that you could stay with one of your friends until you can arrange for a dormitory. Of course…I'm sure your father wouldn't mind if you stayed here. I hate to do this to you, especially when you start classes on Monday…"
"What about me?" Kari interrupted, "I start classes on Monday too! It's my junior year of high school, and all of my friends are here! You can't make me move to America!"
Before Mrs. Kamiya could respond, Kari stormed over to her room and slammed the door.
Her mother gave her some time to calm down before knocking softly. Kari called quietly that she could come in, so she pushed the door open slowly. Her daughter sat curled up on her bed, staring off into space through bloodshot eyes.
"Oh Kari," she whispered, "I'm so sorry." She sat down on the bed and pulled her daughter close. "I know I shouldn't ask so much from you. I'm just having a hard time dealing with all of this…and now that your father's in Kyoto, we can't even discuss this like civilized people!"
Kari choked back her tears as she tightened her grip on her mother, watching her alternate between depression and anger. "I'm sorry too, mom," she whispered, "I was being selfish earlier. I want to help you get through this."
"I know, sweetie," she replied, cupping Kari's chin in her hand, but the only we'll all make it through is if we stick together. That's why I need you with me, and Grandma Kate."
Kari woke up the next morning, Sunday morning, thinking, this is the last day of summer vacation. She sat up and the sight of all of her things strewn across her room brought back memories of the night before. She then had to restate herself, thinking, this is the last day of my life in Japan.
These unpleasant thoughts seemed to weigh her down and she spent the day slowly packing all of her things into brown, cardboard boxes and reflecting on all of her favorite memories from the last sixteen years of her life.
She had just stepped out of the shower around four o'clock, when T.K. called to make sure their plans were still on for that night. She must have sounded as down as she felt because he could tell before she even said anything.
"What's wrong Kari? Have you changed your mind about going out with me?" he asked, very concerned.
"No, T.K., it's not that," she said, deciding that she didn't want to tell him about her eight o'clock a.m. departure over the phone. "Look, I don't know what you had planned for tonight…but do you think we could just hang out instead?"
"Sure, whatever you want to do is fine with me," is what he said, though Kari could tell that he was a little hurt.
"Okay, how about you meet me in the park in an hour? I need to talk to you about something."
"Yeah, that's fine," he said, even more concerned than before, "but what do you want to talk to me about?"
"Umm…" she hesitated, "I want to tell you in person." She laughed nervously, trying to make the situation a little more comfortable. "So I'll see you then?"
"Alright. See you in an hour."
"Bye." He hung up the phone almost as soon as the word was out of her mouth. She couldn't blame him for being upset, grief was practically radiating off of her. She would have reacted the same way if their roles had been reversed.
Suddenly she felt like crying, the way that she cancelled their date, he probably thought that she wanted to break off their friendship, or something along that line. She couldn't even imagine his reaction to what she was going to tell him.
Pulling herself together, she managed to find her favorite pink tank top and matching pleated, short, white skirt from the stacks of boxed clothing. She spent the next half an hour primping herself with her beauty products that she had yet to pack. At first, she tried to pretend that she was just getting ready for her first date with T.K., and that from now on they would officially be a couple, and everything would be as it should be.
Four thirty came and Kari abandoned her fantasy, preparing herself to share the heartbreaking news with the best friend she had ever had. She left her apartment then, and headed to the park, even though she was incredibly early.
The park was only a few blocks away from Kari's apartment building, so it did not take her long to get there. It occurred to her, as she approached the children's playground, that she had only told T.K. to meet her at the park, and that it was a very large park. Desolately, she worked her way past the relatively new jungle gyms and plastic mazes to the older playground, where she had spent much time as a child. The only structures there were a pair of squeaky swings, a rusty slide, and a dilapidated set of monkey bars.
She smiled to herself as she drew nearer to the familiar place, recognizing the blonde-haired boy sitting thoughtfully in one of the swings, shuffling his feet in the woodchips. She stopped a few feet in front of where he was, before he noticed her presence, just taking in the sight of him. He looked gorgeous in a pair of blue jeans and a light green button up shirt.
It only took a second for him to sense her eyes on him and as stood up as he greeted her. He walked towards her and she felt like crying for the countless time that day. Taking her in his arms, he leaned in to kiss her.
"You look beautiful," he whispered, and right as he closed the distance between their faces, she turned her head and he ended up kissing her cheek.
Her eyes filled up with tears at the surprise and hurt in his eyes as he stepped back from her. "What is it? Did I do something wrong?" he asked.
Everything that she had planned on telling him left her mind, and the only thing she could manage to whisper was, "I'm leaving."
"What do you mean? Where are you going?"
She looked him in the eyes, silently begging him to be patient with her. "My parents are getting a divorce."
His eyes widened with both disbelief and understanding, after all, his parents had gone through almost the same thing.
"My mother and I are moving to America to live with my grandmother," she continued.
"But you can't leave now," he stated the obvious, moving over to sit back down on the swing. "You're in school here, you grew up here, this is where your friends are, where your brother is…" She had moved to sit down on the other swing, but he grabbed her waist and pulled her down onto his lap. "…where I am," he finished.
She placed her arms around his neck, not bothering to hold back her tears any longer. "I know," she said, as he kissed her neck softly, "but my mom needs me right now, you, of all people, should understand that."
"I do," he replied, "but I still don't want you to go."
This time when he tried to kiss her, she didn't turn away, but responded with as much passion as he was displaying. They were interrupted, however, when they heard a snapping sound above them, and the chains of the swing broke, dropping them on the ground.
T.K. hit the sand hard on his backside, Kari sprawled on top of him. They both laughed, though they didn't make any attempt to get back up. Kari rolled off him, and they moved over so that they could sit in the sand and lean against one of the swing set's support poles.
"It's not like we'll lose contact or anything. I mean, we can still instant message each other, or send e-mails, and, if all else fails, there' s still old-fashioned 'snail mail,'" Kari said after a while.
"Yeah," he replied, "and America's not that bad. Maybe you'll see Mimi, or Willis."
She laughed, "Yeah, except that New York and San Francisco are on opposite sides of the North American continent."
"Oh, never mind then."
A comfortable silence fell over them, and she leaned her head on his shoulder, treasuring every last second that she had with him. Some time later, T.K. broke it by asking, "So, if you and your mom are going to San Francisco, and Tai's in college, what's going on with your dad?"
He knew that something had happened between Kari and her father from the fact that she hadn't mentioned him. She confirmed this theory when she tensed beside him. He though that she wasn't going to answer him when she said, "I don't know. I haven't seen my dad since Friday. He's in Kyoto with his girlfriend."
T.K. sensed where this conversation was going, and stood up, pulling Kari with him. "We'll have plenty of time to talk about this in our e-mails after you leave. Right now, I just want to be with you. If this is our last day together, then let's have some fun."
Kari brushed the sand off her skirt, and took his hand, ready to follow him anywhere.
Anywhere turned out to be a fully guided tour around their city, visiting all of the places that reminded them of things from the past, or of people that they had known. When it started to get dark, they went back to his apartment, where he helped her write letters to Yolei, Davis, and everyone else, saying goodbye, since she didn't have enough time or energy to visit them all and explain everything. After that, they curled up on his couch and watched random television shows until Kari's mom called and demanded that she come home.
"What time does your flight leave tomorrow?" he asked, as he walked her home.
"Eight o'clock," she stated, remembering that school started at seven thirty. They reached her apartment building, and this time he accompanied her all the way to her doorstep. They were the only ones around, so Kari threw her arms around him and kissed him deeply on the mouth. He returned her kiss, pushing her back against the wall, his hands cupping the sides of her face.
"So, is this goodbye, then?" she asked when they finally broke apart.
"Only for a little while," was his response. "It's not like you'll ever really be that far away."
