Chapter 7
School had been cancelled because of the emergency general meeting that our principal called for all the teachers and parents of the 'student vandals' so I could finally redeem hours of my beauty sleep.
I woke up at 5 pm (no surprise there) and found a note on the fridge while I wanted to make myself breakfast. Okay wait, it was dinner, come to think of it.
Submitting my proposal today. You'd better get a head start on yours because you're paying the next food bill.
My eyebrows shot up in surprise, translating Ru's message. I pulled open the door of the fridge – great, new stock. He actually went grocery shopping.
How could Tadashi be right?
x
"Coming!" I yelled and tore my eyes away from the TV.
Yes, I was being a regular couch potato with ice-cream as my dinner and TV as my companion. The doorbell can be such a party pooper.
It rang a few more times as I was walking across the living room. I muttered, "Man, can't you wait?" as I peeped through the door viewer.
"Mom?" I swung open the door in shock.
Mom twiddled her fingers at me and chided, "What took you so long?" Then she walked in without even being invited.
I groaned loudly and shut the door.
"I like your place! Daddy is spoiling you, I bet," she threw herself on the couch.
I walked over and asked gingerly, "Do you happen to be, uh, alcoholised?"
Mom shot me a look. "If you haven't noticed already, I'm speaking English, thank you!" she snapped. "And why aren't you in school?"
"It's cancelled, there was a protest yesterday," I sighed heavily, pushing my mom upright and resuming my place on the couch. I grabbed my box of Milk Supreme (I know, totally weird name for chocolate ice-cream) and spooned a chunk into my mouth.
Mom grabbed the ice-cream off my hand and I glared at her.
She shrugged and said, "Ice-cream makes you fat. Now gimme the spoon."
When I didn't comply she snatched it away.
"I give up," I mumbled, knowing that I couldn't do anything else. She was much stronger than I was, physically – she was the one who went to the gym four times a week and ate protein supplements. Plus she has killer boobs, remember?
"Mom, if you knew I would be in school… How come you still came knocking?" I realized, turning over to her.
She paused her guzzling of Milk Supreme and swallowed. "I wanted to give it a try," she grinned. "If you weren't home I could go over to my bloke's."
"Your boyfriend?" I exclaimed in horror.
Mom nodded proudly, without the slightest trace of shame.
"Ewww!" I couldn't help myself.
She hit my head with the spoon. "Did you say the same thing to your dad when he got that sex bomb?"
"She's not a sex bomb, Mom," I rolled my eyes.
"Oh so now you're defending her?"
"I'm not!" I was shocked at how incredulous my mom could be. "Okay, forget it."
Mom was quiet as she shoved ice-cream into her mouth. I looked at her outfit. Tight-fitting pink t-shirt screaming "I graduated with a degree in Shopping", denim mini, bling bling on her wrists, and makeup.
"You going on a date?" I giggled.
Mom shot me another look. "Why do you ask?"
"You're dressed like an overage teenager."
That earned me another hit on the head with the spoon. "I am dressed perfectly normal, if I may say so."
"Even I don't dress like that."
"You dress drab, I can't say much," Mom laughed in my face. I rolled my eyes again but had to silently confess that she was right. I never wore skirts because of the lack of convenience and my uniform out of school was a T-shirt and jeans or capris.
"Hey why don't we have a makeover?" Mom suggested brightly, drawing my attention away from the soap showing on TV.
"Nah, I don't have any makeup for you to play with," I muttered.
Mom got really excited and bounced in her seat. "WE CAN GO SHOPPING!"
"No money," I lied.
"Haha. You are supposed to be one hell of a wicked manga artist but you don't have money?"
"I'm in a partnership with the publishing house!" I defended. "I don't get all the money."
"But you do have some money, right?" Mom insisted smugly.
I just kept my eyes glued to the TV, not wanting to confess anything. "I don't want to go shopping," I yawned, stretching.
Mom lay her head on my shoulder and whined, "Please?"
"No."
Mom then hit me hard on my arm.
"No," I gritted my teeth, keeping my eyes on the TV.
Mom sighed and slumped back on the couch. Then she got up slowly as if she was remembering something. "Eddy…"
"Why did you call me that?" I grumbled. Nobody had called me that for years; Matsu was the one who started it.
"Where's your dad?" she whispered.
I rolled my eyes, "He's in Takamatsu, of course."
"Getting it down with his girlfriend? In some godforsaken little town?" Mom shrieked.
"Uh, no? He lives there now. Didn't he tell you?"
Mom's stare hardened. "Are you trying to tell me that you're living alone? That's why I don't hear the clack clack clack of the computer that usually goes on the whole day in that crummy little room he usually cordons off?"
"Mom, I told you the last time we met in the airport that I was living with Rukawa."
"I was drunk, I can't remember everything! And who's Rukawa?"
"My flatmate."
"Strange name for a girl."
"Guy. My flatmate's a guy."
"WHAAAAT?"
x
This was it. The big confession.
"You!" Mom pointed a finger at me before withdrawing it and muttering, "Good gracious, I need a manicure."
"Mom, if you want to threaten me you could at least do it properly."
"I don't need you to tell me what to do!" Mom started to get into her conception of disciplinary action but I held up my hands.
"Look, you got to let me explain!" I defended. Mom let down her guard and I shot, "This poor boy has two siblings and his dad is missing. I took him in because his mom couldn't cope with the expenses, and that's the whole story. We haven't had sex, we aren't even in love with each other and he's a decent chap."
Mom snorted, "Yeah, at this age all guys are decent to you."
"Mom, just trust me. I've been living with him for over a year now."
"WHAAAAAT!"
"Whoa, chill. Mom, you aren't exactly an exemplary model of conduct, so why are you reacting so bad?" I countered cautiously.
Mom widened her eyes and said, "Because men are not to be trusted, and you're my daughter."
"Okay, Mom. You got to get this straight. My flatmate and I are not in a relationship! We're just friends," I stressed. "Get it? We share the same room but not the same bed. We share food but not saliva, well except for the occasional toothbrush mishap. We share detergent, not body fluids."
Mom seemed to calm down at this and for good measure, I added, "You can meet him later. He'll be back in two hours."
Mom sighed. She looked at her nails and said, "You know Eddy, you're growing up so fast. You're how old now? Sixteen?"
"Seventeen. Eighteen in March."
"And you've finished your finals?"
"Two months ago."
Tears suddenly sprang into Mom's eyes and I panicked. "What's wrong, Mom? You all right?"
Mom wiped her eyes and replied, "I realize that you're my daughter but I don't know you at all."
I gave a soft laugh, not unkindly. "Mom, I've always been able to take care of myself. And there was Dad…" I trailed off before shrugging. "Don't blame yourself. I know what kind of person you are and I can accept it."
Mom gave me a forlorn look. "You are so different from what I was at your age. I was pregnant at your age."
"Aw, Mom."
"And your dad was my Mother-Tongue home tutor, imagine that."
"Yes, I know."
"I feel so stupid," Mom closed her eyes and lay back on the couch.
I kept quiet, not knowing what to say, and the best I could do was to reach over and give her a hug. She sobbed into my shoulder for the longest time, whispering 'sorry' over and over again.
I just told her, "It's okay."
x
There was a click in the door and Ru stepped in. He took off his shoes and wore his house slippers. Mom hadn't seen his face yet, and she was staring at him in interest. I was nervous, for some reason. My mom could be weird when she wanted to.
"Mazzy!" Mom gasped, when a startled Ru met her gaze.
He bowed and mumbled a soft, "Good evening."
Mom shot to her feet and peered closely at him. "What's your name?"
Ru looked at me quizzically and I frowned slightly before gesturing with my head for him to reply my mom.
"…Rukawa Kaede."
"Are you," Mom stepped around him, looking at him closely from head to toe, "in any way related to a certain Kawasaki Matsu?"
Ru gave me a pointed look. I shrugged and mouthed, "She's not drunk."
Ru's eyelids drooped as if to tell me, "Then what?"
"Boy!" Mom commanded, startling the both of us kids. "Reply me!"
"No, I'm not related to Kawasaki Matsu," Ru stepped back a little. Mom stopped circling him.
"Really?" she gasped, disbelieving.
"Yes."
"Uh, Mom, what's wrong with you?"
Mom shrugged, looked at Ru much more closely, before remembering something. "Um, do you happen to know a certain, ah, what's her name… Ah forget it. I can't remember."
I was burning with curiosity, though, at Mom's peaked interest in Ru's ancestry. "Mom, come on. Try to think."
"Um.." Mom squinted, trying to call up a name. "Chizuru? Was that it? You related to someone with that name?"
Ru stared hard at Mom before setting his mouth in an expressionless line.
"That's my mother's name."
x
Mom paced around the room, shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe this," she beamed, "You must be Mazzy's kid!"
I signaled for Mom to shut up when Ru started to sulk.
You see, Ru has never met his dad. His dad was a sea merchant, having received not much education, and his mother received money from wherever the ship docked. His father disappeared when he was ten in, according to his mom, a marine accident.
"Mom, you're upsetting him," I warned.
Mom stopped prattling and glanced at him.
In response, Ru stuck his hands in his pockets and went into the room, shutting the door.
x
"Oh, I didn't know," Mom grinned sheepishly, back into her teenybopper mode.
"Go apologize!" I pushed her towards the bedroom.
Mom stared at me. "You really do care for him, don't you?"
I raised my eyebrows. "If you're implying anything, it better be along the lines of 'my-daughter-is-such-a-compassionate-human-being.'"
Mom snickered and knocked on the door of the room before turning the doorknob. I followed her in, leaning against the doorjamb.
"Um, Rukawa-kun?" Mom enunciated in that English accent of hers. "Would you please listen to something that I want to say?"
Ru looked up from his reference manga expectantly before standing up to face my mother. It was a form of respect - that boy always had a thing about elders, even with people like my mom.
Mom smiled, "Well. Let's sit down, shall we? Eddy, could I have a chair? Thank you."
I went to the studio and hurriedly got a chair for my mother. As I was wheeling it back I wondered what Mom was going to tell Ru, besides apologizing. She seemed to be holding something in.
x
"Rukawa-kun, I am sorry if I upset you just now. It's just that…" Mom trailed off, before resuming, "…You look so much like a very old friend. A very good friend."
"Who?" I asked out of curiosity, even though I knew it wasn't any of my business.
"Well, as you may know I grew up in London and studied at an international school. I had a home back in Tokyo, of course, and the Kawasaki family lived just next door. They had a son my brother's age, and we called him Mazzy. We would spend every summer together - my brother, Mazzy and I," Mom smiled fondly at the memory.
Mom directed to Ru, "I visited Japan as usual for the summer when I was eighteen. My brother didn't go because he was in Italy. That summer, Mazzy revealed to me that he had a girlfriend, Chizuru. I was so happy for him – he introduced her to me and told me how wonderful she was and how happy he was with her. So we went to a restaurant to celebrate their eleven month anniversary."
I yawned. "Mom, your story is getting very long."
"Oh hang on, I'm just hitting the climax! Okay Rukawa-kun, so here's what happened," Mom scowled at me. I made a face behind her back.
"On our way up to the second floor of the restaurant, where our table was at, a man came crashing down the stairs, rushing to some place and he pushed me by accident. I rolled down the stairs and, as you expect, started bleeding. Yup, I was pregnant, I didn't know it, and Mazzy and his girlfriend saved me by calling the ambulance and staying by me all the way, holding my hands and telling me everything would be fine."
"Whoa, was that baby me?" I cried.
Mom shook her head sadly. "I had a miscarriage. Your dad was so worried for me that he proposed."
I laughed but stopped as it hit me – "You never told me you had a miscarriage!"
"Ah well," Mom shrugged. "So anyway, I had to leave for London shortly after. I received a get-well card from Mazzy and Chizuru when I was recuperating back at home, but when I tried to invite them for my wedding a year later I found out the Kawasakis weren't living there anymore. I've lost touch with them since. And of course, Chizuru as well. So when Matsu was born, I named him after Mazzy, just to remember him – a dear friend that I had lost contact with."
There was a moment's pause before Mom continued, "I'm sorry if I upset you just now, Rukawa-kun. It's just that… You look so much, so much like him. I would give anything to meet him again. And Chizuru, of course."
Ru nodded in understanding.
Mom suddenly chuckled, "I wonder if your mom is the Chizuru that I'm talking about! You know, coincidences happen, like you and Eddy sharing the same name."
"Oh please, Mom, it would be too much of a coincidence," I laughed, brushing it off.
"If coincidence didn't exist, why would there be a word for it?" Ru suddenly spoke, stunning me into silence.
"I didn't say coincidence doesn't exist," I retorted lamely.
Ru gave a brief tilt of his head before shrugging.
x
I gave Mom a hug from the back to avoid her breasts and reminded her to be careful not to get mugged on her way to her boyfriend's place. Mom giggled and said I was crazy.
Watching Mom put on her shoes made me remember how Matsu would rush to put on his shoes whenever we were leaving the home for some excursion…
"So, Mom. Matsu was named after your best friend. Why wasn't I named after your best friend's girlfriend?" I joked.
Mom replied seriously, "Because Mazzy and I made a pact."
"What pact?" I raised my eyebrows, not believing Mom would be involved in such old-fashioned pact-making stuff.
"To name our first child Kaede."
