Chapter 25
Sorry I took so long – I was trying to get MS Word back up so I could do something about these blasted typos. Please enjoy!
Disclaimer – I do not own anything at all from the original "Memoirs of a Geisha" book or movie. Nothing.
The first day of performances, we danced to a packed house. Our recital had so many influential names behind it, it immediately became a high-class affair. As proud as I was that I was associated with one of these men, it still stung that my mortal enemy should be the mistress of the most powerful of them all. I was going to enjoy our little visit, indeed.
I had previously cleared some time for later that morning to run and do my mischief, even though I'd have to miss an engagement. Not that it mattered - the host had become an even bigger fan of my apprentices than me, and sending them both would more than make up for my absence. I grabbed the maids' robe and retraced the path I took two nights ago to Mameha's front door. But instead of hiding at the bottom of the stairs like a criminal, I walked boldly up to the front door and knocked. My heart raced as I did it, though; even though I'd met him on a few occasions and heard tale after tale of his infamous behavior, I'd never held a conversation with him or even sat too close to him. A beautiful woman like me should have entertained him dozens of times, and Heaven knows I was asked, but I always managed to avoid having to spend the evening getting harassed by the pompous fool. It would be my first time meeting him as a geisha, and not the plaything of a colleague.
I noticed that the maid who opened the door was an older model than the foolish girl who preceded her. I thought she'd let me in, but she instead stood right in my way.
"Excuse me, ma'am," she said, bowing in apology, "but the madam is indisposed at the moment. If you could please come back later..."
"Your mistress will want to see me, I'm sure," I cut in defiantly. "That is, if she doesn't want half of Gion to know about 'Taka-san' by nightfall, that is. And you may tell I said so." The maid looked less than happy, but was wise enough to recognize a threat when she heard one and went to go tell Mameha. It only took a minute for her to come back and escort me into the apartment. The loveliness of the place irked me more than anything, a feeling that was quickly soothed by the sight of Mameha and the Baron, together at the table. The Baron had his back to me, jovially talking and eating from a plate of sashimi that I recognized as coming from an extremely exclusive restaurant. Mameha sat opposite to him, her lips pressed together in rage as she tried not to glare at me outright.
As he turned to see who it was, I flashed them both my most luminous smile. Dropping in at such a time was almost certainly rude and would've been taken badly, if it hadn't been for one thing - the Baron was an incorrigible lecher. Even in front of his own mistress, a beautiful woman was more than welcome to stop by.
"Well, well. Today must be my lucky day: saved from a bad deal in the stock market; saw a wonderful performance; and now two of the most beautiful women in Gion have decided to grace my presence. It's good day, all right!"
"Why, Baron Matsunaga, when is it not a good day to be you?" I said by way of greeting. He let out a chuckle at this as I seated myself right beside Mameha. "I hate to so rudely interrupt, but it seems as if a terrible mistake has been made. I found this kimono on my dresser at recitals. I didn't recognize the name on the note card, until I realized that it must be yours, Mameha-san! Our areas look so much alike, the poor deliveryman must have gotten them mixed up!" The moment she realized what was going on, Mameha's eyes grew twice their size and the skin under her make-up went pale. Really, she couldn't have been more shocked and terrified than if I'd placed a loaded revolver on the table and suggested that we all play a game of Russian roulette.
"Surprising, isn't it?" I chuckled. "And really, I must compliment you, Baron," I said, inclining my head towards him, "for choosing such a lovely robe. Your taste in kimono is as wonderful as they say. I'm envious!"
"Well, thank you, Hatsumomo-san," he preened, happy to be complimented, though obviously confused. "And I must admit that I'm envious of your danna, the lucky bastard. Now why don't we crack open that paper and take a look at that robe?" I hadn't anticipated this. Now, I was starting to get nervous right along with Mameha, who had begun to sweat. He was just reaching for the twine holding the paper shut, when a phone in the back of the apartment rang; a few seconds later, another maid popped in announced that it for him. "Why, who the devil could that be?" he growled. He was obviously unhappy to be interrupted, but it got him away from the robe and bought me time to think.
As soon as he left the room, Mameha hissed at me, "What do you think you're doing, Hatsumomo?"
"Whatever could you mean?" I whispered back. "I'm here to return your lost kimono, as I said."
"I don't know what you think you can accomplish by doing this, but it won't work. I want you out of this apartment."
"Me leave? Why, I thought you'd be thrilled to have me here - Heaven knows I'm the prettiest thing to pass through here since you moved in."
"Get out, now! And I'm taking what's mine," she insisted, reaching for the robe, but I grabbed it away.
"I told you, you can have it back when you run me out of Gion. In the meantime, I want to know who this 'Taka-san' character is."
"Are you actually stupid enough to believe that I'd tell you such a thing? If I can help it, you'll never find out!"
"I expected as much," I sighed with mock disappointment. "I just wanted to give you a chance to come clean before things got messy for you." Seeing her angrily perplexed face, I decided to elaborate. "If you won't tell me who he is, then I'll have to track him down myself."
"You'll never succeed, Hatsumomo. And you better not even try," she warned, her tone in a very indelicate low growl. I was about to respond, when the Baron re-entered the room.
"Blasted clerks, can't do anything right without me... Now, about that robe; let's see you put it on Mameha-san, and model it for us. Hurry up, before I give the privilege away to your lovely companion there!" During our little exchange, I'd been able to think of a way to keep him away from that robe at the moment.
"Now Baron, don't be so impatient!" I said. "Everything in it's proper time. While I'm sure it would look lovely on Mameha-san now, imagine how much more beautiful it will be in the spring."
"Spring?" the Baron questioned, brows furrowing in confusion. "I don't remember buying any spring kimono. What is he talking about?"
Now things were going the way I wanted. I hoped Mameha's fear and nervousness would cause her to falter, say the wrong thing, maybe even confess. Instead, this is what she said:
"I'm sorry, but you did purchase this robe for me, Baron. As I recall, it was when we attended President Fukida's branch opening last week. The shopkeeper must have just sent it to us today." She was calm now, and spoke without a problem. She was still a bit pale, but her voice and demeanor betrayed nothing. Whether he really bought it or not mattered little - more than likely, he probably went his usual route and drank himself silly at the celebration. Under such conditions, he could have purchased an elephant and never remembered.
"Did I? Well, that's one slow shopkeeper, now isn't it? That reminds me, I have to talk to Fukida-san about..." Here he broke off into a long-winded story about something or other. While I was mildly disappointed that I didn't get to watch Mameha be found out then and there, I still achieved my objective with no cost to myself. Mameha was good and rattled, and would be more so after she opened my little gift.
As I waited out the Baron's droning voice, I glanced at the package with a smile as it was quietly taken away by the maid. You already know that it wasn't really the kimono she wanted so badly. It was a little trick of mine, just for fun, but every word of the accompanying note was genuinely felt: I'll ruin you.
That night, I prepared for the evening with extra care. Over the past month, Koichi-san and I were meeting less and less, and he was becoming very curt with me. I knew our secret could only be short-lived, but I had hoped that it would last longer than it did. It might have gone on longer, be we both knew why it didn't - his wife.
You already know that he was the proprietor of a noodle restaurant, but what most outsiders don't know is that he didn't actually own it. It wasn't even his idea; the restaurant belonged to his wife's family and passed it to him when she inherited it. He managed it well, but if her suspicions about his activities proved true - which, of course, they were - nothing would stop her from divorcing him and possibly even causing trouble for me. Should that situation occur, life for the both of us would end.
To take my mind off of my relationship troubles, I decided to refocus my efforts on destroying Chiyo. My plan took an unexpected kink when, instead of kicking her out, Mother sentenced her to fifty days' confinement, keeping her from running off to her sister. I'd intended for her to go so I could catch her myself and tell Mother, finally killing all possible chances of her becoming anything but a useless castaway. Now it seemed I'd have to do a bit interfering.
At a time when I knew everyone but Yoko was asleep, I momentarily excused myself from a party and made my way to the front. A receptionist sat behind a desk in a tiny room close to the kitchen talking with a young maid. I waited until she'd finished before stepping forward.
"I'd like to send a message to the Nitta okiya," I told her.
"What's the message?" she sighed, flipping through a list of all the other teahouses and okiya until she found the right one.
"Tell them that Hatsumomo has lost a bet and must play a song on the shamisen. She refuses to play on anything but the one at her okiya and wants it delivered. Oh, and tell them to not bother calling a porter; just send the maid at the door."
"Anything else?" she asked as the earpiece began to ring.
"Yes," I dropped my voice and crept closer. "Tell the woman who answers not to worry about Shikan-san stopping by tonight - she can go on home when she's finished with her duties." I waited while the lady delivered my message and tipped her afterwards with a small amount of cash I kept in my furisode.
It was almost a half hour before I saw the results of my handiwork. At a different party, I sat listening to guests joke when I noticed movement beyond the fence enclosing the Mizuki's back garden. I thought it was maybe a drunk at first, until they stepped into the light of a nearby streetlamp and I noticed that they were wearing a dark blue robe like a maid - it could only be Chiyo. I smiled, pleased that she should take my bait. She sat there, evidentially waiting for the rain to stop so she could run off to Miyagawa-cho. It would take her some time to make it back from there, but hopefully not before I could run home and alert Mother to her absence.
She left nearly an hour later, but I had to stick around until the party ended to hurry home. The okiya was as silent as a temple when I got there, just as I hoped to find it. I planned to search the whole okiya before waking Mother, but I only made it to the maids' room. The moment I opened the cracked door, I nearly screamed; there in the dark, sat a man wearing his overcoat and fedora. When he stood, his face entered a shallow beam of light coming into the window from the street - it was Koichi-san.
"Koichi-san! What are you doing here?" I hissed. It was certainly a shock to me that he was there; I had received no word and we hadn't laid eyes on each other in weeks.
"I had a free moment," he responded calmly, "and decided to stop by."
"What about your wife?"
"Out of town." I was caught by surprise and really should've said no, but I was a desperate woman. I won't say I was in love - I was much too sensible for that - but he was the one ray of personal pleasure I'd had in my life. It was also literally the first human relationship I'd ever had that didn't revolve around money. It was a bad idea for him to stay, but I gave in anyway.
I knew Chiyo was due back soon, so I kept a sharp watch for any sounds or movement and kept as quiet as possible. Sure enough, right in the middle of our fun, I heard a sound coming from the door, which was still partially open. I immediately jerked my head up to look, and came face-to-face with the little brat herself. Caught spying, she flinched back into the hallway and I put my head back down - I would deal with her later. Unfortunately, Koichi-san was still lucid enough to notice.
"What is it?" he demanded. "Is someone there?"
"It's nothing, Koichi-san. Let's continue..."
"Someone's there." He began to rise, but I pulled him back down.
"No, it's no one at all. I thought I heard something, but it's no one." This seemed to convince him and he continued, but he was much more reserved in his ministrations. After we had finished, we straightened up silently as I prepared for the fallout that was to come. The moment we rolled open the door, his eyes went straight to Chiyo.
"That girl's in the front hall. She wasn't there when I came in."
"Don't pay her any attention. She was a bad girl tonight and left the okiya when she wasn't supposed to, that's all. I'll deal with her later."
"So there was someone spying on us," he said angrily, turning to glare at me. "Why did you lie to me?"
"Koichi-san, you're in such a bad mood tonight!" I admonished, trying to change the subject.
"You aren't the least surprised to see her! You knew she was there all along." He was so angry, he stormed away from me and went straight to the entranceway to leave. I could only follow him and, before I knew it, I heard myself starting to beg.
"Koichi-san, please calm down! I don't know what's gotten into you tonight. Why don't you come again tomorrow-"
"I don't want to see you tomorrow," he cut in flatly.
"Please, I hate it when you make me wait so long," I pleaded, starting to panic. "I'll meet you anywhere you say, even if it's on the bottom of the river."
"I don't have anywhere to meet you; you know my wife watches over too much."
"Then come back here again. We still have the maids room and-"
"Yes, if you like sneaking around and being spied on!" Finally, he just sighed and looked away from me. "Just let me go, Hatsumomo. I want to go back home."
"Please, don't be angry, Koichi-san. I don't know why you're like this! Just please tell me you'll be back..."
"One of these days, I won't come back; I've always told you that." With that, he simply walked away - away from the okiya, away from the whole situation, away from me - and shut the door behind him. Without a backwards look or any other sign of sadness or remorse. At that exact moment, I knew - it was over. I'd been left behind like a cursed object or a mangy animal, gladly gotten rid of. Before I could stop it, I felt the telltale pinprick of tears forming and quickly wiped them away. I hadn't cried since that slap-fight with Mameha so many years ago. Now I was abandoned and shamed. And it was all Chiyo's fault.
After taking a moment to compose myself, I quietly stepped back into the okiya and faced the little bitch.
"Well, little Chiyo, you went to find that ugly sister of yours, didn't you?"
"Please, Hatsumomo-san-"
"And then you came back here just to spy on me!" I screamed at her. I was completely enraged at this point. My words were so loud, one of the older maids rose up to see what the commotion was. "Go back to sleep, you stupid hag!"
"Hatsumomo-san, please..." she whimpered pathetically. "I'll do whatever you want me to. I just don't want to get in trouble with Mother."
"Of course you'll obey me. That isn't even up for discussion! And you're already in trouble with Mother."
"I had to leave to deliver your shamisen..."
"That was more than an hour ago! Do you think I'm stupid? You went to find your sister and you made plans to run away with her. And then you came back to spy!"
"Please forgive me; I didn't know it was you!" she lied. "I thought it was..." Apparently all out of excuses, she stopped. I considered slapping her for daring to try to lie to me, but I suddenly had a better idea. It wouldn't do for me to get in trouble for abusing her over an incident I couldn't prove. If I couldn't hit her over a true incident that I had no evidence of, I'd be more than happy to fabricate a story that I could prove.
I immediately ran upstairs and flipped the light to my room. My jewelry box was still out from when I got dressed that afternoon, so I grabbed the first thing I saw - an emerald brooch for decorating the front of an obi - and threw it in the closet. I kept my personal money stash in a rosewood box meant for holding make-up under the vanity. I grabbed a random fistful of money from there and stormed back downstairs, making sure to replace everything as I'd found it first.
"You want run away, do you?" I asked when I got back to the hall. "I think that's a fine idea. The sooner you're out of this okiya, the better. Some people think I'm heartless, but that's not true. I think it's touching to imagine you and your fat cow of a sister trying to scrape by, all alone in the world. Hopefully, you'll stay that way! Now, stand up." She nervously complied, but shrank away when I tried to shove the cash in her robe. "Look, I brought this from my room," I said, showing it to her. "You don't need to thank me, just take it. You'll repay me getting out of Kyoto so I'll never have to look at your ugly face again."
I suppose my words my words must have had their intended effect, because she didn't try to escape again as I shoved the money into the folds of her robe and retied the sash to make it stay. Then, I spun her back around and smiled at her. The move was so sudden and unexpected that she froze on the spot, unsure of what to do. I used the opportunity slowly reach over and pat her on the head, work my fingers into her hair, and snatch her to the floor as hard as I could. I let out the full force of my anger at her, screaming and cursing as loudly as I could, and hitting her as hard as I dared.
I jerked her around all the way along the hallway and up the stairs, right to Mother's bedroom door. I banged on it and shouted for her to come out, still making sure to attack Chiyo in the meantime. In a few seconds, Mother ripped the door open and glared at us, furious.
"What?" she shouted, nostrils flared like a bull. "What is the matter with the two of you?"
"My jewelry!" I screamed right back, and resumed beating her. "This stupid, stupid girl!" By this point, we'd woken everyone from Auntie to the maids, who were all huddled in the hallway to see the spectacle. Chiyo curled into a ball and begged for help, while Mother grabbed my arms and pulled me away.
"Oh, Mother, I was on my way back to the okiya this evening when I thought I saw Chiyo at the end of the alley, talking to some man. I didn't think anything of it, because I thought it couldn't have been her; she isn't supposed to out of the okiya at all! But when I got to my room, I found my jewelry box out and in complete disarray. I rushed back out just to see Chiyo hand something over to the man. When she saw me, se tried to run away, but I caught her!" I growled, trying to lunge at Chiyo again. Mother stayed silent, her eyes never leaving the accused girl's face. "The man got away, but I think Chiyo sold my jewelry to raise money. She's planning on running away, Mother, that's what I think - and after we've been so kind to her!"
"All right, Hatsumomo, that's quite enough," Mother said. "You and Auntie go to your room and find what's missing." I led the way, huffing angrily the whole way. So far, my ruse was working - Chiyo was almost certainly thrown out now. Finding the jewelry box open like I'd said, we both dumped out the contents and went over it piece-by-piece. Everything was accounted for, except the obi brooch, secretly lying in my closet. Triumphant, I rushed back out into the hall and declared the brooch the missing item.
"She sold my emerald brooch to that horrible man! It was my jewelry! Who does she think she is, to steal from me?"
"Search the girl," Mother finally said. Knowing just where to look, I jammed my hand in her robe and grabbed the wad of cash from beneath the sash. Mother grabbed it and counted the amount, not nearly worth the true cost of the object. "You're a fool to sell an emerald for so little, particularly since you'll be paying a good deal more to replace it."
She calmly tucked the cash into her robe, and I thought that was the end of it. We'd all go back to bed and in the morning, Mother would tell Chiyo to leave. But instead of ordering everyone to go back to their rooms, Mother turned towards me and said, "You had a boyfriend in the okiya tonight."
Instantly, my blood froze. Everything in my body turned cold, but I was determined to play it off and escape.
"Whatever gave you such a wild idea, Mother?" I asked as innocently as I could. She stared me down a bit, mulling things over.
"Hold her arms," she told Auntie. Auntie was all too quick to comply, happy to see me get in trouble for once. I didn't even try to fight; I had no idea how she found out, but I knew I was just as caught as Chiyo was. There was no way I'd be kicked out since this was still kept private, of course, but it looked as if she wasn't the only one who'd have to pay dearly that night.
Then it dawned on me; Chiyo. She was left alone with Mother the whole time Auntie and I was going through my things - the little brat must've ratted me out to try to save herself. I shot the little bitch a cold look as Mother pushed the folds of my kimono apart and exposed my legs. When she felt the moisture between my legs, she drew her hand back, examined it to be sure, and slapped me.
"Lock the windows in her room," she told a nearby maid. "Auntie, I want you to escort her there and lock the door behind her. She isn't to leave for any reason." Finally, she looked me straight in the eyes. "In the morning, you and I are going to have a little chat."
Oooh… Stay tuned!