Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Strays part 2 Karma “I’m sorry, sir. We don’t open for a few more days.” “But I know the owner, Jinnai Makoto. Just get her. She’ll vouch for me.” The girl went to the back as I stood outside the door. I glanced behind my shoulder and saw the maples lining 25th street all starting to bud beautiful bright green leaves. I looked back in the window and saw Makoto peek her head out of the kitchen. Her face instantly lit up and she started weaving through tables as she ran towards the front and opened the door. “Justin-kun! Konnichiwa!” she said excitedly as she bowed slightly and shook my hand. I knew it was typical in Japanese culture, but this little gesture wasn’t going to cut it on U.S. soil and between two good friends. “Oh, heck with that!” I yelled, and I bent down and gave her a huge bear hug. She squeaked in surprise like a little school girl at first, but then laughed lightly and patted my back. “Come in. Please come in.” She ushered me inside and called to the girl standing at the back. “Chiyo-san! O-cha, kudasai! Hayaku!” The girl immediatly dashed into the kitchen. I hadn’t heard Makoto bark orders like that in almost three years. But this time I wasn’t on the recieving end. “This place sure looks different than when I left it,” I said as I observed the new interior. At the front there was a small reception desk and a couple benches for a waiting area. The dining area screamed Japanese. The tables were very low and instead of chairs there were cushions for the guests to sit on. On the walls were breath-taking murals of the mountains and country-side of rural Japan. “What do you think,” Makoto asked. “It’s beautiful,” I said. “It’s like I’m back in Tokyo.” Makoto and I sat down at one of the superbly crafted hardwood tables. I crossed my legs indian style at first, but then a look of ‘oops’ flashed in my eyes and I started to change my position. Makoto chuckled and said, “It’s OK. I’ll let it go this time.” I relaxed and went back to crossing my legs, which was more comfortable for me anyway. Makoto always used to bust on me hard back in the day for not sitting properly. The girl from before came up holding a tray with a teapot and three cups. She set it on the table, sat down between us, and poured some tea into my cup. “There you are, sir.” I lightly bowed. “Arigato, gozaimasu.” Then she filled Makoto’s and finally her own. “Ah, gomenasai,” Makoto uttered. “Justin-kun, this is Hashiro Chiyo, my assistant manager. Chiyo-san, this is my best friend, Justin.” Best friend? Wow! I had no idea Makoto regarded me so highly. I extended my hand, which, again, I knew wasn’t Japanese custom, but it was like a reflex to me. “Hajimemashite, Chiyo-san. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She shook my hand. “The pleasure’s all mine,” she said. She looked like your typical young Japanese girl. She had long black hair, brown eyes, and a rather plain yet very pretty face. “So you’re Justin. I’ve heard a lot about you.” “Really? Good or bad?” I asked. “Wait, coming from Makoto, probably bad..... and they’re probably lies.” She and Makoto laughed. “Actually, good,” Chiyo said. “Did you really buy this place for her as a Christmas present?” Ah. The urban legends had taken root. “That’s right. I did,” I proudly admitted. “Wow!” she said, “that’s incredible! My boyfriend only got me sweater and a CD.” We all burst out laughing. “So, what are you doing in my neck of the woods, Justin-kun?” Makoto asked. “Oh, I just came by to see how the place is looking,” I said. “And I was just coming back from picking up Aisha’s engagement ring.” Intrigue swept across the girls’ faces. “Ooh, let us see,” Makoto begged. I pulled the ring box out of my pocket and opened it up. Inside, surrounded by red velvet, was a golden ring studded with three 14 karat diamonds. The two gazed almost greedily at the precious treasure. “Sugoi,” Makoto gasped. “Suteki desu ne?” I asked. Makoto answered almost lost in the ring’s allure. “Hai. Dai suteki. Oh, Justin-kun, she’ll love it!” After we had visited for a little while, I said my good-byes and was on my way. As I started walking back to my car, I heard a small noise from the alley behind me. I looked around and noticed a white cat peeking its head around the corner. “Hey there, sweetie. What’re you doing down here?” I said. It slowly started to approach me, limping a little and meowing loudly. “Here. You hungry?” I asked. Makoto had given me a small sushi platter that she insisted I take home. I took out a piece of snapper, crouched down, and held it out. The cat looked at me curiously with its emerald eyes and cautiously sniffed my leftovers. It gave it a few licks and then wolfed it down, almost biting my finger. “Wow. You must be famished, huh?” I pulled out another piece and set it on the ground. As the cat ate I slowly brought my hand down and gently started to pet the creature. Already I could hear it purring. Its coat was soft and felt very clean. A little unusual for a stray. I looked to see if there was a collar. Nope, nothing. But I noticed that its back right paw was stained with blood. “Aww. Poor thing,” I thought. Just then I remembered that the animal shelter was on my way back from there. I decided I would be a good citizen and take the cat in. But as my hands reached around the cat’s sides, it jumped back and hissed at me. I got down low and spoke very calmly to it as if I were talking to Kida. “Calm down. It’s OK. I just wanna help you.” The cat flicked its ears as if it were trying to translate my words. “That looks like it hurts. I know some people who can fix it. Trust me. I just want to help.” I offered my hand, showing that I didn’t mean any harm. “It’ll be OK, I promise.” The cat slowly approached me again and started rubbing its head against my fingers. “So, you trust me?” I asked. It looked up at me and gave a soft “meow.” I’m not sure, but I think I saw it nod as well. The cat had consumed the last of the sushi as we arrived at the animal shelter. I reached in the back and grabbed a towel that I keep there for emergencies and swaddled the cat as I lifted it out. As I walked to the door, something must’ve spooked it because it started to try and wrestle its way out. I scratched its ears to calm it down, then I lifted it up and reassured it, “Don’t worry. Everything’s gonna be fine.” I entered and walked up to a lady behind the front desk. “Excuse me,” I said, “I found this stray near 1st street. It has a wounded foot.” A nearby doctor came around to have a look. “Let me see,” the doctor said. I let down a corner of the towel to show the injury. The doctor carefully examined the blood stained paw. “What’s your name?” he asked as he started writing on his clipboard. “Artukei,” I said, “A-R-T-U-K-E-I.” “Address?” “145 Kennedy St SW.” “Phone?” “555-2613.” The doctor gently lifted the cat from my arms. “We’ll take her to the back and give her a full examination,” he said. The cat tried desperately to get free. Once again, I did my best to pacify it. “Don’t worry,” I said. “Everything’s gonna be OK. I promise you. These people are going to take good care of you. You trust me, remember?” Almost as if it understood me, it calmed down and looked at me with its big green eyes. “You seem to have a real gift there,” the doctor said. “Eh, I have a daughter,” I shrugged. The doctor gave me a confused look. “Don’t let my boyish looks fool you,” I said. “Well, the injury doesn’t look like anything serious,” he said. “She should be back on her feet in a day or two.” As the doctor walked towards the back, the cat never took its eyes off of me. “OK, that’s kinda eerie.” With the pride of knowing that I had done the right thing, I returned home. I stepped through the door and I hadn’t gone further than “I’m ho...” before Kida had fastened herself to my leg. “Hello sweetie,” I said as I patted her head. “Hello daddy,” said the figure coming down the stairs. I looked up. “Washu! Class out for the day?” I asked. Washu is Kida’s private tutor. She comes over three times a week a gives Kida brief lessons in science and math, of course. Aisha was right behind her. “Come here, Kida-chan,” Washu said. “I still have to give you your assignment.” Kida let go of me and rushed over to her teacher. I pulled Aisha aside. “How’d it go today?” I asked. “Great,” she said. “Today’s lesson was on animal classification.” “Oh. How is she?” “Excellent. She’s smart as a whip. You should’ve been here, Justin. You would’ve been so proud.” “I already am,” I said as I beamed with joy over my daughter. Washu was just finishing. “Remember to be a good girl and study hard.” Kida bowed slightly. “Yes, Professor Washu.” Then Washu patted her student’s head and opened a portal back to her lab. “Take care everyone!” she said. “You too!” I called back. “Say ‘hi’ to DJ for us!” Aisha said. “I will!” And with that, she vanished. Kida looked up at me. “Daddy, can I play video-games now?” “Only if I can play too,” I said. “But only for an hour. Then you hit the books.” She ran into the living room. Gumdrop poked his head out from the top of the stairs and sniffed the air for a sec. “I smell immanent digital bliss!” he said. Then he scampered down the stairs and into the living room yelling, “I call dibs on Bowser!” After the peanut gallery had left, Aisha gently grabbed my arm. “Did you get it?” she asked as she lightly hopped up and down like a six year old. I reached in my pocket. “‘Did I get it,’ she asks,” I joked as I pulled the ring box out. Greedily, she snatched it from my grasp and quickly opened it. She gasped and her eyes shined. “It’s the one I wanted. Oh, Justin, it’s perfect!” She immediately put it on. “I would’ve gotten here sooner,” I said, “but I wanted to stop by Makoto’s. Also, the weirdest thing happened.” Aisha’s ears twitched. “Nya? What?” “It’s strange,” I said. “On the way home I found this stray. It had an injured paw so I took it to the animal shelter.” “A stray? Cat? Dog? Pokémon?” “Oh, it was a cat.” As soon as I said this, Aisha went all chibi-eyed on me and she sounded like Kida. “Aww. I little kitty?” She gave me a big hug and started purring. “Purr. My big hero.” “I wonder if she would’ve reacted differently if I said it was a dog.” I thought. But then Aisha became a little confused. “Wait. What’s so weird about that?” “Well, the cat acted very strange,” I said. “Whenever I spoke to it, it.... it looked at me as if it could understand me. As if it were human or something.” “Hmm. Well, what’s going to happen to it now?” “The doctor said they’d take care of it and give it a full examination.” “What’ll they do after it’s well?” “Eh.... if it’s healthy enough they’ll probably put it up for adoption. It didn’t have a collar, but.... most likely it already belongs to somebody.” “Well that’s good,” she said. Then she continued nuzzling me. “Purr. You saved that little kitty’s life.” I scoffed at her sweet remark. “Pssh! It’s nothing.” Apparently, Aisha didn’t think so. She tilted her head up and licked my cheek. I raised an eyebrow and we both exchanged looks of mischief. Slowly she moved in to kiss me. “Daddy!” Kida’s voice hollered from the other room. I let out a painful sigh and whispered, “Hold those lips.” I called out, “Alright! Coming!” as I went to vanquish evil with my little girl.

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