Sho was a promise breaker…and that wasn't ok!
It really wasn't! He had promised that they would be ballerinas today, he had promised that night before he put her to bed, and then when she woke up he was gone! At first she had just thought that he was exploring, or playing hide and seek with her, or maybe just with himself…but he hadn't been. It had taken him a long time to come back home and in that time Mukai had not only looked through the whole house but parts of the building, too. Mama, Shibata, and Uncle Matsuo had helped…Minegishi had been there too but they had mostly said mean things and made faces. They were mean like that, but that was ok, that was just the way that they were.
Sho wasn't supposed to be like that.
"Mukai, come here and let your brother sleep." Said Mama as she tugged on her hand. Mukai slapped Mama's hand away. She knew that slapping was mean but she didn't care. Sho was NOT allowed to treat her like this!
"Mukai, no, we don't hit. You know that." Said Mama. She grabbed Mukai's hand and didn't let go that time, no matter how much Mukai tried to get free.
"I know, I don't care! Let go!" said Mukai as she tried to get free. Mama didn't let her go, no, she just picked her up and carried her away…she hated it when Mama did that. Why did grownups always have to pick you up and carry you? Mukai had brains in her head and feet in her shoes, ballet slippers, they could take her wherever she choose…choosed…chosen. She could walk wherever she pleased! She wasn't a baby, she didn't need to be carried anymore!
But, of course, Mama wasn't listening. Mama never listened.
"Mukai, no, you know that you can't hit me, now stop it." Said Mama as she opened the door to Mukai's room. Really it was Mukai's and Mama's and Shibata's room, but if Mukai lived in the room then it was hers. She missed sharing a room with Sho and Shigeko. They carried her but not nearly as often and never when she told them to put her down. They were the good kind of grownups, not like Mamas. Mamas were so bossy.
Sho had said a bunch of times that Shigeko was bossy…but he didn't know what bossy was.
"You're being bossy!" said Mukai as Mama put her down on the bed.
"No, I'm not. I can't let you go around hitting people, you know that. It isn't nice. If you go around hitting people then they won't want to be your friends, and I know that you don't want that." Said Mama. Mukai picked a pillow up from the bed and threw it at Mama. She didn't know what she was talking about. Friends could hit each other. Shigeko had even said that she would love her no matter what, and hitting counted as 'what'. She knew because she had hit Shigeko in the face for…she couldn't remember. Trying to do something to her hair. It had been a very important, she remembered, and she'd had to do it…and Shigeko had said that she would love her no matter what.
That was how love worked.
"I want friends! I want friends and everyone is my friend. You my friend, Mama, and Sho my friend, and Shigeko my friend, and Seri my friend, and Shibata my friend, and Mine my friend, and Hatori my friend, and Shibata my friend…he my friend again. I have lots of friends. Friends hit friends." Said Mukai
"And do you think you will if you keep on hitting people?" asked Mama
"I hit Shigeko and we still friends. Friends and sisters and family…but not brothers because we're not boys." Said Mukai. She tugged on her ballerina dress so Mama could see that she was a girl. She didn't want to be a boy, it didn't look like fun. They didn't get to play with fun dolls or wear pretty clothes or put on makeup. She didn't know what Sho did all day if he didn't know how to have fun…he could have stayed home and been ballerinas with her, that could have been fun…
It would have been a lot of fun….if only Sho knew how to keep his promises!
"You shouldn't hit your sister, either, and she shouldn't have let you hit her." said Mama
"We're both girls!" said Mukai
"That doesn't make it ok, Mukai, you shouldn't fight unless you have to. Only hit someone who's trying to hit you first, or someone you have a good reason for hitting. Alright? My parents taught me that, grandma and grandpa did, when I was your age…I just don't know how to teach you…" said Mama, reaching up and touching her hair. Mukai pushed Mama's hand away.
"No teaching and now hair braiding, it not time for that now. Ok?" asked Mukai, pulling her hair out of Mama's hands. She didn't need her braids done again. She didn't care if she had made them messy. Shigeko wasn't here to braid her hair and she was the best at it. Mama pulled too hard, Sho never made them even, and Shibata's hands were too big to even hold her hair without pulling it out. Fukuda hadn't even tried, but that was ok, he didn't even have any hair so of course he would have been bad at braiding hers. Boys never knew about these things, that was why they were boys.
"You're right, I'm not going to braid your hair, but I am going to teach you…please, Mukai, don't hit anyone anymore. Don't do it or I'll put you in time out, and you don't want that, do you?" asked Mama
"No way! I don't need a time out!" said Mukai. She eyed the time out chair in the corner. It was an evil chair and when she got home she was going to have Ryou disappear it somewhere far, far away. Somewhere like the ocean or the moon or on top of a mountain. Somewhere that nobody could ever find it again.
"Then how about we make a deal, ok? You stop hitting people and I won't put you in time out? Deal?" asked Mama, holding out her hand.
"Deal." Said Mukai, shaking Mama's hand. Deals were important, they were kind of like promises. When you said that you made a deal your promised not to do something so someone else would do something for her, like the deal she had where if she ate all the vegetables Sho threw onto her plate at dinner he would let her watch Train to Busan as much as she wanted…hopefully Mama was better at keeping her promises than Sho was.
"Good, now how about we play in here until your brother gets up? He's had a long night….I guess." said Mama
"How long is the night?" asked Mukai
"I don't know, about half a day…it's a long time, and I don't think he slept at all." Said Mama, looking at the clock. Mukai looked at it too. She didn't know what it said. She didn't know how to tell time, especially not on clocks with hands, and there weren't any windows in this house to tell her even if it was night outside or day. Sometimes she got up at night and thought that it was daytime…but someone always stopped her.
Even if she didn't want to be stopped.
Last night it had been Shibata. She had gotten up to go pee and then couldn't go back to sleep so she looked for Sho, he was the only one in the house who would play with her late at night. Ryou was back at the other house, and so was Seri but he wasn't as much fun. Sho was the most fun of all but when she had gone to check on him he'd been gone, playing hide and seek with himself again. Only Fukuda had been there and he was no fun at all.
Even less fun than Mama was.
"Sho didn't sleep at all, Mama, not one bit." Said Mukai
"Did you see him leave?" asked Mama. Mukai shook her head.
"Checked on Sho when I went to pee but he wasn't there. Just Fukuda. He was snoring like this." Said Mukai. She made loud snoring sounds so Mama knew what she meant. When Fukuda snored it sounded like someone was trying to kill him by holding a pillow in front of his face. It was kind of funny. Mama didn't think so, though, she wasn't smiling for real. She was making her tight smile, like she was afraid that her face was going to break off or something.
"So he was gone when you got up? Do you know what time that was?" asked Mama
"I can't tell time." Said Mukai. Mama hit herself over the top of the head.
"Hey! No hitting! We had a deal!" said Mukai. Mama laughed.
"You're right, you're right, I made a mistake." Said Mama
"That's right, you did, no go and think about what you've done!" said Mukai, pointing to the time out chair in the corner. Mama needed to sit there all day until she realized that she'd been bad, but then she could come out and they could be friends again. Not before, though, never before.
"Are you sure about that? I don't think I fit." Said Mama, putting her hands on her cheeks and sighing. Mukai moved her hands away. She didn't get to look sad right now!
"No, you're not sad, you're sorry. Now you have to go and be sorry. First you and then Sho and…and then…and then Fukuda too." Said Mukai
"Oh? And what did Fukuda do?" asked Mama. What did Fukuda do…did Mama have worms in her brains? She knew exactly what Fukuda did!
"He snores too loud, and he drinks all the milk, and he takes too long in the bathtub, and he used my toothpaste. That's my special toothpaste because I'm special and…and it's pink, too, and pink is just for girls. That's the rules, like the law." Said Mukai, crossing her arms and shaking her head. She'd been a detective Mukai that morning and smelled all the toothbrushes. Her toothbrush was the only one that was supposed to smell like bubblegum. Mama and Shibata's smelled like mint and Sho's smelled like a cinnamon cookie, like Fukuda's was supposed to. Fukuda's hadn't smelled like a cinnamon cookie, though, it had smelled like bubblegum…and that was just wrong.
He was going to pay, but not with money because she didn't know how to go to the store on her own.
"Oh? Only girls can like pink? Who told you that? Your sister?" asked Mama
"Nobody told me, I just know. I'm smart, Mama, I'm really smart. Caterpillars said so and so did you and Shigeko and Sho and Shibata and Ryou and Hatori and Seri, but not Mine, but Mine is a meanie." Said Mukai. She laughed at the rhyme she made. Rhymes were smart, right? Smart people knew how to make them and she was a smart person so she knew.
"You are really smart, that's true, but pink can be for anyone." Said Mama. Mukai shook her head and pointed at the time out chair again.
"Mama, you're wrong, now go to time out and think about what you've done. We discuss it later." Said Mukai
"Or, and I have an idea, I can go and find Shibata and then we can play…whatever it is you and Sho were planning on playing." Said Mama
"Me and Sho are going to be ballerinas today…but not you, you're being punished, and not Shibata because he's too big and the dress won't fit on him…he should be in time out, too, for being so big…and Sho should be in time out for sleeping…and Fukuda should be in time out for being Fukuda. Caterpillars should be in time out, too, for being gone…and Mine should live in time out since they're mean." Said Mukai
"Does anyone else need to be in time out?" asked Mama with a laugh…even though this was serious business that they were talking about!
"No, just those people! No go! I come back for you when you're done." Said Mukai. Mama sighed, rolled her eyes, and went to sit in the time out chair. Mukai made sure to move the toys away from her, that way she wouldn't get distracted. She stood behind Mama and watched her be in time out.
This was boring.
"Mama, you stay here and think. I'm going now…this is boring." Said Mukai. Mama tried to get up but Mukai pushed her back down. This was too boring. Mukai didn't want to be a bored ballerina or a sad ballerina…she wanted to be the regular kind of ballerina…and she wanted to be the regular kind of ballerina with Sho…
So that was what she was going to do.
"I'm not going to wake Sho!" said Mukai. She knew that telling lies was bad, and that was how your nose grew, but she didn't care. Mama would have stopped her if she knew the truth and she didn't want to be stopped. She had a mission and she was going to win it, like in a videogame, like how she and Seri used to play…she missed Seri…she missed everyone…
She hoped that she went home soon.
Mama had said that this was going to be a short visit. Short didn't mean as many days as had passed. This had been more days than she could have kept track of…she needed to go home. Shigeko needed her, who was going to tell her that Tangled was better than Frozen? And Seri needed her, who was going to guard him when he got scared? Ryou needed her too, who else was going to have fun with him when he got bored? Hatori didn't need her, though, he always locked her out of his room…and Caterpillars and him were best friends so he was probably off with Caterpillars…she missed Caterpillars a lot.
He was also called Touichirou!
"Touichirou, answer your damn phone and stop screening me…" said heard Fukuda's voice through his door…maybe Caterpillars was there too! Maybe he was just there and just…just hiding his colors or…or something. She didn't give him the chance to escape, she just ran to Fukuda's door and threw it opened.
No Caterpillars inside!
"Mukai!" said Fukuda as he nearly dropped his phone. He caught it before Mukai could get to it. He'd just been talking on the phone…she looked around the room. Just beds and clothes and Sho's drawing books and stuff. No Caterpillars…he'd been gone for so long…sometimes it felt like he was never coming back.
"No Caterpillars." Said Mukai sadly
"You…oh. You heard me trying to get ahold of your Dad." Said Fukuda
"Caterpillars is Dad. He's two things." Said Mukai, holding up two fingers.
"He's a lot of things…" muttered Fukuda
"He's Caterpillars and Touichirou and Suzuki and Dad and tall and old and smells like eggs and ketchup." Said Mukai. Fukuda laughed at her…he had no reason to laugh. What was it with grownups and laughing all the time when nothing funny had happened?
"That he does, Mukai, that he does." Laughed Fukuda
"What are you laughing about? Nothing funny happened. You're being weird." Said Mukai
"No I wasn't, you're just adorable. You're just a funny, adorable, ballerina. Aren't you?" asked Fukuda
"I'm a ballerina all by myself…I'm a lonely ballerina. Sho was supposed to be ballerinas too but he's asleep…like he's gone. Like Caterpillars is gone." Said Mukai
"Sho's still sleeping out there, huh?" asked Fukuda
"Yes, but not like you. No snoring." Said Mukai
"That sounds like him…hey, how about we make a deal? If you come over here and say something for me then I'll get Sho up for you. How's that sound?" asked Fukuda
"And then you sit in the time out chair with Mama?" asked Mukai
"Uh…sure, whatever. Just come over here." Said Fukuda, patting the side of the bed. It took Mukai a couple of tries to climb up but that was just because this bed was really high. She wasn't little….and she certainly hadn't needed Fukuda's help. If she hadn't made that deal with Mama she would have slapped him across the face, or at least slapped the phone out of his hands. She had made the deal, though, so all she was sit there next to him and get his phone shoved in her face.
Her phone was better, it had a pink case.
"Ok, now I need you to repeat after me, ok? Ok? Like in Simon says?" asked Fukuda as he shoved his phone in her face. Plain black case…stickers even. She would have to fix it for him…later, though, he pulled it away from her when she reached for it.
"Come on now, please? Like Simon says?" asked Fukuda. Mukai sighed.
"Ok, ok, like Simon Says. I'm good at that game. I'm good at all games…but not Seri's games." Said Mukai. Of course she knew how to play Simon Says…though she would have rather played something else, like ballerinas…but that would come soon. When Sho woke up…when she did her part of this deal…and Mama did her part of the deal, too.
She had to get Mama out of that chair. She had learned her lesson by now.
"Well, I know that you're going to be good at this. Ok, I need you to say 'please call me back, I miss you.' in those exact words. Can you do that?" asked Fukuda
"Please call me back, I miss you. I can say that. I know how to talk. I'm not a baby." Said Mukai, sticking out her tongue. She may not have known as many words as everyone but that didn't mean that she was just a little baby. She was three and a half, that was really old, nearly four years old even.
"I know that you're not…ok. Just, hold on for one second." Said Fukuda as he touched some stuff on his phone. She waited for what felt like a lot of seconds, but it could have been one. She didn't know how to tell time yet. That wasn't her job, it was his, his and all the other grownups. Her job was just to do her part of the deal.
And she did it right.
"Call me back, I miss you! Right now, please and thank you!" said Mukai when Fukuda told her to. She had to wait for his phone to stop ringing. The Siri inside told her to leave a message so that was what she did…it had been the most boring game of hide and seek ever! Wait, no, they had been playing Simon Says…well Fukuda had been bad at that, too.
Maybe because he was a grown up…they were bad at most things.
"Ok, now you go and get Sho." said Mukai, pointing to the door. Fukuda, thankfully, did what he was told. He climbed off of the bed and walked right out the door. She followed him, though, just to make sure he went to the right place. On the way to the living room she passed Mama…who had gotten up out of the chair on her own without being told to…
Mukai could deal with one thing at a time.
First she was going to be ballerinas with Sho and then…and then she would make Mama pay. Not now, though, later. After Sho got up and wasn't grumpy. Fukuda got Sho up even though Mama told him that it was a bad idea…maybe he should have listened to her…or maybe she should have listened to Mama. Sho said a lot of bad words when he got woken up…but that was normal for him. He said bad words all the time. He said bad words when it was time to get up, he said bad words when it was time to go to sleep, and he even said bad words when he got in trouble for saying bad words. Mukai hadn't done anything wrong when she'd made the deal with Fukuda…she really hadn't!
She hadn't.
Sho was her brother and he was supposed to play with her…and that was what they were going to do. He had promised her, after all, that they would play together. She didn't know what would have made someone break a promise but she did know that she wasn't going to let him just…just lie to her like that. He was her brother, and her friend, and her Sho and…and when someone was all of those things that meant that they had to keep their promises.
Sho was a lot of things, none of them broke promises, and they were all going to be ballerinas with her…right now!