Mama died when I was only 8. She was 23 years old. She'd died, the doctor said, of a wasting disease that had been slowly eating her from the inside for months. That was the first time I'd ever seen my father cry. That night he gathered us all together and told us a story.
There was a man who lived in the country. He was a simple farmer, and could barely scrape by a living for himself and his wife and old mother. One day, his wife said she was expecting a baby. The man was very worried. He knew that he would not be able to provide for the child and give him the things that he would need in life—"
"Then," said Ryu, who at 17 believed himself to be to old for stories. "Why'd he get her pregnant in the first place?" Father gave him a "This isn't the time for joking" look. Ryu was silent. Father continued.
He was scared of course, for the child sake. 8 months passed. He knew it would not be long until the baby was born. So he went into town and begged the town's usurer for money.
"How would a simple peasant farmer be able to repay the debt?" he asked with a laugh.
"I will be able to pay you back in a year. I just need this money for my child."
So the usurer agreed, "But," he said, "if you are not able to repay the debt within a year, I will have you and your family killed killed." The farmer agreed to these harsh conditions. But when he got home with all the money he realized the foolish thing he had done. He knew he could not repay the man in a year. He could try selling all his possessions. But nothing he owned would fetch a large price, not nearly enough to repay his debt at any rate. He knew that in a year's time he would think of something.
That week his wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. The farmer was so happy. He spent the money on all of the babies essential needs, and he grew very well. Soon, the child's first birthday was just around the corner, and the man found himself facing the same predicament he had a year earlier. So he resorted to stealing it. But eventually, he was caught. The man, a magistrate who he had been taking gold from that day , was furious, and threatened to kill the man then and there. He begged for forgiveness and explained his situation. The magistrate considered for a moment.
"I am a kindhearted man, so, if you do something for me, I will not kill you. Not only that, I will be your "benefactor" and supply your son with an education and money enough to feed him. and you will become rich."
"What must I do?" he asked.
"Kill my enemy."
He told him of a great powerful sorcerer that threatened his land. If the farmer killed him, then all would be forgiven.
So he did as he was told. He went to the sorcerer's home, and gave him offerings and gifts he had gotten from the magistrate. He was invited into his home, and they had a feast. He was introduced to the his wife, a beautiful and charming witch-woman, and was treated like royalty. He considered staying, but knew that he would be hunted down and killed.
That night as the sorcerer slept, the farmer stabbed him in the heart. His wife awoke then, and as she looked down at the scene before her, the farmer pulling a knife out of her husbands bleeding chest, she broke down sobbing hysterically. She looked at man.
"You," she said, "You did this. You will suffer for it."
He tried explain, but she did not listen. "I curse you, she said, "you and you family will die."
He fell to his knees. "Please!" he cried, " I repaid all my debts. I had nothing but good intentions."
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions," she said disgustedly, and with a flick of her wrist the man fell down dead.
And that day, each of his kin all died simultaneously for what the man had done all except for that little child. For some unknown reason, he survived, and lived long enough to have more children, before he himself died too.
Father stopped. We waited for him to continue, but he did not.
"Is that it?" Ryu asked in a hoarse whisper. Father nodded. "Why…why did you tell us that?" Ryu asked. Father looked away.
"Because the man's name was Hiroshi. Hiroshi Yamada."
We exchanged horrified looks.
"But that's our name." I said.
"Yes, it is. This was not some fairy tale. It really happened. This is a curse we bear. None of us will live very long. We will all eventually die before we really begin to live." A shocked silence over took the room.
"Be quiet!" Ryu finally shouted. We all looked surprised. "That's bull shit! It can't be. Things like that don't happen!"
"Yes they do," said our dad quietly. "You do not believe me? Then answer me these. Why is it that we have no cousins our aunts our uncles to speak of. They have all died. Why is it you never met your Grandparents? They where gone before you where even born, when I was still a child. No one has lived to the age of 40."
"What about Mom?" Ryu asked still shouting. "She isn't a Yamada! How come she's…" he trailed off, not wanting to say it.
"If you marry into this family you share the curse. Even if you divorce out of it you are cursed."
Ryu was shaking with anger. "Did you even tell her?"
"Yes."
"Then how come she married you?"
"Because she, like you, did not believe."
"It isn't true!"
Father was silent. "You know," he said, "You mother was going to have a baby two years ago."
We where stunned. "How can that be?" I asked, "Her belly didn't get big or anything? What happened?"
"Two months into the pregnancy, the baby died," he responded automatically, "Apparently it wasn't developing right, and they had to remove it, or it would have hurt Mama. That's the youngest anyone in our family has died."
I could see tears in Ryu's eyes. "SHUT UP!" he shouted and ran away. I was crying, too, by know. Father held me but said nothing to comfort me. What was there to say. Everything will be alright Sayoko, it's only imminent death.
"I always knew."
We looked up at Misaki who was sitting with her knees pressed against her chest. "I always knew something was strange. That we had no family, and that everyone was dying. But I thought…I thought it was just a coincidence. But when Mom died, that's when I truly knew." I just cried harder into Father's chest. Who knew if this would be the last day I would see him.
Two years went by, and I started to think that Ryu was right, perhaps it was a silly legend. But then we got the call from the police. Father had died in a car accident, a hit and run driver ran him off the road and into a ditch. Ryu still did not believe. Misaki believed it strongly, but I did not know what to think. I simply tried to forget.
