Tokyo Twins Chapter 17 - Things unthinkable and carpe diem.

by Tommy Schmitz


Mieko and Henry O'Brien,

hoods returned

to their heads,

continued in kneeling positions

after the broadcast.



"Well done." she said.

Whoever she was,

known only by the name of 'A'

her partner, 'B', would call her.

Mieko and Henry O'Brien

had yet to see her face.



Mieko and Henry had been taken

by a small band of gun toting thieves,

or so they thought,

fifteen days before

driving alone

along the border of Jammu and Kashmir.





"I found this in your belongings." she said

and walked behind Henry and Mieko.




She looked to her partner

and handed him a photograph.

" 'B', remove their hoods please."

"And you two, do not turn around."




'B' removed the hoods.

They are yours I presume?" 'A' said.



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Henry and Mieko had difficulty adjusting their eyes.

Then at once broke into sobbing.

"They must be, what, six months old here. Hmm?" 'A' said.

No response.

"And by the date on the photo? Hmm." 'A' continued.

"Now fourteen."

The sobbing continued.

"Almost as old as mine would have..." and 'A' stopped herself,

and pursed her lips and stood still.

"Do you know how many children like this," she continued,

"have been killed savagely,

and willfully,

without remorse,

without remembrance,

without the barest awareness of the crimes

by the citizens - virtually every single one of them -

of the wealthy and perpetrating nations of these crimes?

Namely your country, Henry O'Brien,

for the last sixty years.

And for sixty years prior,

yours, Mieko Mori O'Brien.

The Japanese wanted to colonize India!

Imagine that --

just as they had

the rest of Asia.

But now what, Mrs. O'Brien?

You hide behind behind their flag.

And why.

This.

She pulls a fifty dollar bill from her pocket

then a yen note of five thousand.

and tosses them from behind

and over the heads and faces of Mieko and Henry

and the bills fluttered to their knees.




"That's why we're here," said Henry.

'A' shook her head,

got up and walked around the room.

"Heroes, huh?"

"No." said Henry.

"Quiet." 'A' said and continued,

"Tell me what is here?!" her arms were waving now,

"in this part of the world"

Couple of warring people?

Hindus. Muslims."

The two kneeling

were silent now of their sobbing

and breathing heavily

and remaining quiet, too, of words.




"Guess what isn't here?" 'A' continued.

"Inanimate finite resources.

To claim, to hoard, to waste

and most importantly of all,

to convert

into another form

of an inanimate finite resource."





And she throws

another few bills of currency

over their heads and faces.

"And why?

to make the world safe for freedom and democracy?

No!

to make things better

for the few

who say

they alone have earned it.




"That's why we are here." Mieko said.

"We are here to help." said Henry.

"I don't think so." 'A' rebutted, "you think people

who have fought a thousand years

are going to stop fighting

because you show up

with your handshakes,

your calling cards

and your smiles?




How can you help?

How can you even begin

to solve a problem

you can't even put into words.




"You have no idea why you are here,

Mieko and Henry O'Brien."

She had her hands on her hips now,

and stood straight.

"And neither do you know why I am here."




"May I ask a question, 'A'-san?"

'A' paused a few moments and gathered herself.

"Yes." she responded.

"Well, I am sorry, I have two questions." said Mieko.

"Go ahead."

"May we sit please to take the weight off our knees?" said Mieko.

'A' stood silent and folded her fingers together

like an awning of grief

on top of her head and exhaled. "'B'. Help them to sit."

'A' tilted her head back and was staring at the ceiling now.

"What is your second question?" she continued staring at the ceiling.

"Would you be so kind to tell us your story, 'A'-san?"

There was a knock on the door.

and 'B' looked at 'A'

who gave him a nod.

"It's our food, 'A'."

"Bring it in please." said 'A'.




An old man wearing

a torn and filthy cloak

and a head-covering

entered the room.

"Why isn't the child delivering our food?" 'A' said sharply.

"How did you get passed our guards?"

The old man walked to a table.

and rested the large board he carried

and removed slowly

dishes of curry and bread

and glasses of tea

and set forth two bowls

and filled them

with steaming curry

and placed the bread on top

and turned and handed them to 'A' and 'B'.

"Her mother sent her on an errand.

I am a friend and neighbor."

He then prepared two more bowls

and walked toward Henry and Mieko O'Brien,

and knelt and set the bowls before them

and Mieko, using Japanese out of habit

for thanking one who brings you food

said, "gouchisou-sama deshita."

["I thank God within you, who feed me.]

And the old man

pulled his head covering away from his face a bit,

and bowed slightly

and smiled

and Mieko's eyes grew suddenly big

and the old man mumbled

in a whisper in her language,

"o somatsu-sama deshita."

[I thank God within you, who thank me.]


*******



Katie and Susan O'Brien

after hearing the broadcast

continued sitting on the bench

they suddenly found empty

on the commuter platform

headed toward Shinjuku

and paid no attention to the trains

coming and going every few minutes,

and paid no attention to the old man

who sat quietly beside them

with his eyes closed

and with a half smile upon his face.




"Katie-Susan-chan! Katie-Susan-chan!"

They did, however, turn their heads

when they heard Oba-chan's voice

and suddenly became aware

it was Satchitananda sitting beside them.



The girls stood and hugged their grandmother

and she put a hand

on her youngest brother's shoulder.

"I am sorry." she said.

"I am sorry." he said.

"Girls, I'm so happy I found you,

let's go home, I'll telephone your school."

The girls looked at Oba-chan and Satchitananda

and shook their heads together.

"We're going to school." the one said.

"We'll be okay." said the other.

"We'll see you after practice tonight." the one said.

"We'll be okay." said the other.



Another train packed with commuters

was approaching.

The girls hugged their grandmother again,

and waved goodbye to Satchitananda,

and after taking several steps toward

the train door now opening,

the girls at once ran back

and grabbed the hands of Satchitananda.

"Can we go down to the river tonight?" the one said.

"And do that thing with the moon and the stars?" said the other.

Kenji stood and softly smiled.

And Oba-chan nodded her head in approval.