Chapter 7

Unlike her first day at school, Freya's second day ended peaceably and she made a new friend.

It was during lunch and Freya was curious about what the girl sitting next to her was eating and why she was using little pointed sticks to eat with instead of a fork or a spoon.

So she asked the girl with the yellow-brown skin and black hair and almond shaped eyes, "Excuse me, may Ah ask whit 'at is yer eatin' an' what're those wee sticks called?"

The girl looked at her in surprise.

Freya, at six foot three inches tall simply loomed over her, but her open expression and guileless, bright blue eyes bore no malice so she answered, "'t'sa bento box, my mom made it for me."

Picking up a small squid shaped sausage and popping it into her mouth she grinned and replied, "An' these're chopsticks!"

"Chopsticks? Bento box? Ah ne'er heard ay these afore." replied Freya.

The girl's face registered surprise and she blurted out, "You've never seen chopsticks before? You've never had Asian food before?"

Freya shook her head in a 'no' and said, "Ah grew up in th' forest, we dinnae hae these sort ay things."

Putting down her chopsticks, the girl stuck out her hand and said pleasantly, "My name's Lorna, Lorna Yamada. Pleased to meet you!"

Freya grinned and took Lorna's much smaller hand in her own and replied, "Me name's Freya, Freya Sigurdsdottir. Pleasure tae meet yer too!"

Lorna grinned at her and said, "You talk kinda funny, where're you from?"

"Ah cam from Canada, frae th' forest Ah grew up in." replied Freya.

Lorna shrugged and said, "Funny, I could'a sworn you sounded Scottish."

Freya smiled and said, "We did'nae speak English when we cam athwart th' briny. We learnt it frae fur trappers an' traders. Uir own way ay talkin' soonds loch thes."

Freya rattled off a few phrases, then grinned at Lorna who grinned back and replied, "I like your funny version of English better!"

During recess, Freya got drafted into a basketball game with some older kids because of her height, she quickly picked up the idea of the game and soon, was dribbling the ball and shooting baskets with the best of them.

Roger Tate pulled up in his car and parked to wait for the dismissal bell to ring and the coming outflowing of children to be dispersed amongst the waiting parents.

The bell disrupted his musings about his new life as a responsible person and soon, like the other adults, he was watching the crowd for a sign of his towering charge.

He did not wait for long as her red-gold hair appeared well above the smaller children and made its way to the school gates.

Freya was chattering happily to someone in the crowd and as she drew nearer, Roger could see it was an Asian girl dressed in the combination of scuffed up sneakers, faded jeans, a small top and a long sleeve plaid shirt, that so many kids in the Portland area seemed to prefer.

The two girls came up to his car and Freya said cheerfully, "Roger, 'tis Lorna Yamada. Ah met 'er today at lunch."

Roger smiled at her and said, "Pleased to meet you Lorna."

Freya grinned and added, "She showed me hoo tae use chopsticks!"

Roger laughed and said apologetically, "I've got sooo much to show her and no time to do it in!"

Lorna grinned and said cheerfully, "My folks have a ramen shop downtown, bring her down and we'll take real good care of her!"

Roger Laughed and replied, "Don't let her fool you, she can eat with the best of them!"

A non-descript older Honda sedan pulled up and tooted its horn.

Lorna hollered over her shoulder, "Be right with you mom!"

Roger glanced at Freya and said, "Go ahead and introduce yourself, your friend's mom will appreciate the gesture."

She nodded at him and went over to the Honda to speak to the woman sitting inside it.

They spoke briefly and Freya shook hands with her while she handed a card to Freya.

Lorna got in the car and buckled in while her mom eased into traffic and sped off.

The drive home was routine and they drove along listening to the radio.

Arriving back home, Roger looked in the reefer while Freya changed out of her school clothes.

Seeing nothing that interested him, Roger looked at the card Lorna's mom had given Freya. Roger bellowed, "Freya! Get dressed, we're going out!"

An equally robust "Aye!" boomed from Freya's bedroom and a moment later she emerged wearing the Portland, Oregon standard attire of faded jeans, scuffed up sneakers, a smallish knit top and a loose plaid shirt worn over the smallish top.

Piling into his car, they set off for downtown, their destination: "Yamada Ramen Shop". Finding parking was a little trickier than finding the shop and soon, a smiling Mrs. Yamada was greeting them while Lorna grinned at them over her mom's shoulder.

Once seated, Roger perused the menu while Freya looked around at the decor and the other patrons.

Roger ordered a pork bone ramen and a side of gyoza, while after much thought, and a bit of prodding from Lorna; Freya ordered a beef curry over rice and a shrimp curry ramen.

Freya dug into her order with gusto, the tastes and textures were all new to her and she briefly fumbled with the chopsticks while Roger made it look easy.

Mrs. Yamada stopped by and asked how she was enjoying her order, Freya beamed and said happily, "'tis a wonder! Ah ne'er ate th' loch afore!"

Lorna, who had joined her, chuckled and said merrily, "She loves it!"

Mrs. Yamada smiled and replied, "I'm glad you like it so much." then she asked, "What grade are you in at school?"

Freya replied, "Fourth grade, ma'am!"

She looked a bit puzzled and said, "I would've thought you were in a much higher grade with your size and all. You're in the same grade as Lorna? Were you held back a year?" She blushed and said hastily, " I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry!"

Freya looked puzzled and replied, "Nae ma'am, Ah be only ten summers auld, an' 'at's whaur they put me."

"Only ten? But, you're so tall!"

Lorna chimed in with, "She's the tallest person at school, taller than any of the teachers even."

Mrs. Yamada's normally placid expression turned to one of astonishment and she said, "Really? She's taller than even Mr. Johnson?"

"Yep! And she beat up Peter Turner and his friends, all three of them at once!"

"Whaat?!" cried Mrs. Yamada, catching herself she quickly composed herself and became the perfect hostess once more.

The other patrons hearing her outburst, briefly glanced over at them and seeing nothing of interest, resumed their eating and socializing.

In a softer voice Mrs. Yamada asked, "What do you mean 'she beat them up'? When did this happen?"

Lorna grinned and replied, "It was yesterday at recess, Peter and his friends started picking on her and I guess they went too far and she pounded them. I'm kinda sorry I missed it! The cops were called and the boys got expelled, it was pretty wild!"

Mrs. Yamada looked at Freya and asked her, "Why did they pick on you?"

"Ah cannae say ma'am, they waur pesterin' me friends an' Ah asked 'em tae stop. They thooght Ah was a boy wi' long hair an' Ah tauld 'em Ah was a lass, sae they tried tae put 'ands oan me an' Ah gave 'em a wee bit ay a thumpin'." She paused and said scornfully "Loch bairns they was, all a'cryin' an' a bawlin' after only a couple ay hits. T'warn't nae fight in 'em a'tall!"

Mrs. Yamada blinked a couple of times until Lorna said gleefully, "She kicked their asses, mom!" as she deftly collected the now empty dishes and quickly scurried them off to the back room for washing.

Mrs. Yamada looked at her daughter's rapidly retreating backside and muttered, "So rambunctious, not like a proper Japanese girl at all!"

Roger grinned at her and while handing over his credit card, he said, "Were any of us ever 'properly behaved' while growing up?"

Mrs. Yamada rang up the total, handed the slip to Roger, smiled slightly and nodded before saying in a sotto voice, "She doesn't know it yet, but I'm sending her to her aunt Meiko's in Japan this summer. She'll teach her a few things about proper behavior!"

Roger grinned and replied in a sotto voice, "Good luck with that!" Mrs. Yamada merely smiled as she accepted the credit card slip Roger had signed.