And I Hate You So - Chapter 3
"'...A lawyer friend told me that often, criminals are behaving without shame. Once, a man who was accused of robbing an elderly, defended his actions by saying, 'He'll be robbed anyway, why not by me?' If you were in the jury, would you accept him for his honesty?'" Kathleen paused, and looked up from the newspaper to Matt, sitting opposite to her at the table of the restaurant where they were having lunch, listening half-heartedly while playing with his fork, waiting for his meal.
A waiter soon showed up, delivering a steak. Kathleen read on. "'Some people are worse. Brutal actions are performed, and they not necessarily need to be physical. They openly taunt on the radio, and use their discompassion for humor, despite others' misfortune. That man's name is Yamato Ishida.'"
Matt, who was cutting up his steak, suddenly slipped, his fork scraping loudly on the plate, eliciting a dreadful squeak. Pretending that nothing had happened and that he didn't care, he called the waiter over to distract himself. Who did she think she was? Writing things like that on newspapers. It wasn't fair, comparing him to criminals!
The column was not yet at its end. "'What qualifies him to be a DJ? It's noise pollution. Bending logic to justify his actions.'" Kathleen stopped once again when the waiter came over.
"I ordered medium, but look, there's no blood at all." Said Matt carelessly. He wasn't even thinking properly.
"Sorry, I'll get you another." The waiter left, carrying the steak with him.
"Are you listening to this?" Kathleen asked.
"Every word, and I'm getting hungrier."
"She's naming you in her column," she pointed out. "Our boss is her loyal fan."
"Oh, our boss is an idiot. You'll be able to replace him any time now." He kept skipping the topic.
"Others read her too. So do I. How did you offend her?" Kathleen questioned the blond in front of her. "Oh, but you offend people everyday." She added with a sigh.
"What's her name?" Matt asked. He'll have to deal with it sooner or later.
"Mimi Tachikawa."
"Let me see it." Matt ordered. Kathleen handed him the newspaper. A few seconds, and he suddenly exclaimed. "Mimi talks about, 'The Menstrual Cycle'!" His voice was startling loud, and people began staring.
Kathleen shooshes him with embarrassment. He didn't stop, and continued in his exclamation. "No wonder she's like this. She must have had her periods lately. She..." he was interrupted by the waiter, delivering his steak. He had forgotten all about it. Taking his knife and fork, he tried to cut it open, but this time, it bled, literally. Blood was coming out of the steak, making him quite nauseous, especially after talking about menstrual cycles... Suddenly, he wasn't so hungry anymore. Even so, he managed a smile to the waiter.
"Good. It bleeds."
"A man beat her. All she could do was cry. Women shouldn't do that. It's the 21st Century already!" The woman on the phone said. Matt sat back in the studio chair, listening to her. He knew exactly where to go from here. He knew how to bend words to his use.
It is, after all, what he was best at. 'It's payback time' he thought.
He leant towards the microphone and started arguing his case. "But women do lose control sometimes..."
Mimi fumed. Why did Greg pick her up after work anyway? If he didn't she wouldn't be stuck in the enormous traffic jam, listening to the annoying voice of Matt on the radio. Unfortunately, her article didn't seem to affect his mood at all.
She reached over to the small black knob that would effectively shut him up, at least in this car, but Greg stopped her. "Just listen. Then you can come up with a payback with good strategies and beat him down."
He did have a point, so Mimi folded her arms and looked out the window. 'I'll beat him, no matter what', she thought.
Matt's voice blasted through the speakers. "An American woman killed a man. She blamed it on someone else, and got set free. Can you believe that? So...a local woman writer had a similar strategy. Writing her columns when she's got her periods, dissing someone when they've done nothing wrong. A cheap gimmick to get attention.
"She seems to have her periods daily. What can you do? As a man, I have never suffered from this. I pity those women who have periods daily. Besides telling them to see the doctor, I can only play them this song: 'The Lady is a Tramp'."
As the music started playing, Mimi sat there, her anger almost bursting out of control. How can he even say those things on the radio, with hundreds of people listening? Greg, beside her, could net even help stifle a giggle. "Men...are...stupid." Mimi muttered.
"Go on, have some." Kari insisted, handing an already drunken Mimi some more beer. They were at the Moonshine for a well-deserved night out, and also to meet up with Kari's brother, Tai who had just come back from his honeymoon with his new wife, Sora Takenouchi.
"No, I have to write tonight." Mimi said, waving the beer away.
"Forget about it! Come on, wash your face and have another drink." Kari pulled Mimi off the chair and dragged her into the bathroom.
At that moment, three people walked into the bar. An auburn haired girl, who was linking arms with a guy who had quite large hair, and a disgruntled blond, trailing behind. They were Sora, Tai and Matt.
"Where's Kari?" Tai asked as he and the other two sat down on the spare table where Kari and Mimi just left.
"She was supposed to meet me here."
To be continued...