When You Were Here
“She peers at me over her big, round black sunglasses that I swear are half the size of her face. “Ready, Freddy?”
“Guess I’d better be.”
We descend into the subway again. I know this station so well by now—passing through the turnstiles and hopping onto the train is like rote, like muscle memory. We board, and as the train slaloms through the tunnels of underground Tokyo, I know I have reached the last mile. Takahashi is the last stop, and whatever I learn from him will be the last thing there ...is to learn about my mom. Something about the visit feels ritualistic, like a rite of passage, maybe the way graduation should have felt.
“What do you think I should be ready for?”
“Whatever you might learn.”
“Cryptic today, Kana?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I just know you’ve put a lot of stock in this visit with Takahashi.”
“What do you think he’ll say, O Wise One?”
“I think you already know.”
“Do I?”
She nods, and her brown eyes remind me of my dog’s.MoreLess
“Guess I’d better be.”
We descend into the subway again. I know this station so well by now—passing through the turnstiles and hopping onto the train is like rote, like muscle memory. We board, and as the train slaloms through the tunnels of underground Tokyo, I know I have reached the last mile. Takahashi is the last stop, and whatever I learn from him will be the last thing there ...is to learn about my mom. Something about the visit feels ritualistic, like a rite of passage, maybe the way graduation should have felt.
“What do you think I should be ready for?”
“Whatever you might learn.”
“Cryptic today, Kana?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I just know you’ve put a lot of stock in this visit with Takahashi.”
“What do you think he’ll say, O Wise One?”
“I think you already know.”
“Do I?”
She nods, and her brown eyes remind me of my dog’s.MoreLess
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