“I need a cigarette. Can we go for a walk?”
Miho tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I ought to read these last few pages.”
Sakura smirked. “The boys are outside playing baseball.”
For a moment, Miho hesitated. Then she slipped a marker into her book. “I can finish later.”
Kara laughed. “I thought you were only interested in American boys.”
Miho glanced away, perhaps even blushing a bit. “That depends on what you mean by ‘interested.’ My curiosity is like a-” She said a word that Kara didn’t understand.
“What?”
Sakura kicked off her pajama pants and slid into a pleated skirt much shorter than the one she wore with her school uniform. She looked up. “A scientist who studies people.”
“A sociologist?” Kara said in English.
Miho repeated the Japanese word and Kara stored it away.
“It’s like watching animals in their natural habitat,” Miho explained.
Kara smiled. “Then by all means, let’s go watch the animals.”
Sakura untucked her T-shirt, searched around for her cigarettes and lighter, and then went to the door.
“Miho, you’re not coming?” Kara asked.
“She’s coming,” Sakura said. “She’s just more proper than I am.”
Kara smiled. At home, she and her girlfriends changed in front of one another all the time. It hadn’t occurred to her to wonder, but now she realized that things might be different in Japan. Probably were. Or maybe Miho was just shy.
They waited for her in the hall, but a minute later Miho appeared in a cute blue dress from the downtown shop she’d taken them into the day before. She and Sakura put on light jackets, and they all went downstairs and out the back door.
On a secondary field behind the dorm, a group of boys had put together a baseball game. They were wisely batting away from the building, toward the tree line at the distant edge of the school property, but Kara still thought they were risking knocking out some windows. One foul ball spun backward off a bat could easily end the game with the shattering of glass. But she wasn’t about to volunteer her opinion.
“Baseball club?” she asked.
Sakura nodded. “They’re not good enough to be on a team.”
But for Kara, it was nice just to see the game played. She had never been much of a baseball fan, despite the two World Series the Red Sox had won in recent years. Earlier in the week, Hachiro had been very disappointed when she didn’t show as much enthusiasm for her hometown team as he did. He seemed to know everything about American baseball, so she wasn’t surprised to see him playing the outfield.
Most of the boys wore caps with the school insignia, which she assumed was some sort of official baseball club thing. Hachiro wore a Red Sox cap. It surprised her. Sakura’s hairstyle was one thing, but she didn’t dare wear her pins or patches on the outside of her uniform or show her art to other students. As much as they might talk about their talents to Kara, her friends were no different from most Japanese students. They were taught that it was bad manners to stand out, except through academic achievement, and even that was frowned upon by some. But Hachiro grinned broadly out there on the field, proud of his Red Sox cap. It reminded her how much she liked his smile.
The guy up at bat hit one straight at the third baseman’s head. The kid playing third barely had time to raise his glove but somehow managed to catch the ball. The batter was out and Kara cheered.
Miho and Sakura looked at her.
“You picked sides already?”
Kara shrugged. “Hachiro’s team is on the field. I have to cheer for them.”
The two girls shared a knowing look and mischievous smiles.
“So you like Hachiro?” Miho asked.
Kara arched an eyebrow. “Nothing like that. He’s very nice.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s very nice,” Sakura said, teasing her.
A moment later, a shudder went through Kara and she sensed someone standing beside her, a shadow blocking the sun. She turned to find that the soccer club girls had come to watch the game.
Ume gave her a dismissive look. “The bonsai likes baseball. What a surprise. A bunch of foolish boys trying to be something they’re not. No wonder it appeals to you.”
Kara took a deep breath, feeling herself blush. Back home, she knew girls who got into hostile confrontations all the time-they seemed hardwired for that kind of thing-but she’d managed to avoid fights or even grudges. Worse yet, she knew Japanese custom demanded she ignore or deflect Ume’s animosity somehow. Just because this girl didn’t care about how she was expected to behave, that didn’t mean that Kara had to stoop to her level.
But the other soccer girls were whispering to one another and doing that little smiling-behind-their-hands thing that annoyed the crap out of Kara. They were so happy with themselves, behaving like perfect little Japanese girls during school but full of quiet, malicious nastiness.
“If you’re not interested in boys, I certainly won’t judge you,” Kara said. “It leaves more for the rest of us. And you have plenty of pretty girls to choose from.”
The arrogant smile slipped from Ume’s face. “I’m sure you’ve had your share of boys.”
Kara felt her right hand clench into a fist. The implication- that she was some kind of slut-could not have been clearer.
“I ignore your taunts in school for my father’s sake,” she said, “but we’re not in school now.”
Miho slid her arm through Kara’s and leaned over to whisper, “Don’t let her make you do something you’ll regret.”
Kara glanced at Miho. Just beyond her, Sakura stood staring at Ume, jaw tight with anger or hatred, or both. She looked more furious than Kara felt. When Miho started to escort Kara away, she thought Sakura might not follow, that there might be some kind of fight after all. But Miho called to her to come along, and Sakura took a deep breath and joined them. In the midst of that tension, Ume did not so much as glance at Sakura. The queen bitch behaved like Sakura wasn’t even there.
Some of Ume’s friends called out, “Good-bye, bonsai” as they walked away, but Kara didn’t turn around.
“Not worth it,” Miho said softly as the three of them walked around toward the dorm. “Someday fate will punish her. She’ll regret the way she treats people.”
“You think?” Kara replied. “In my experience, girls like that just keep getting away with it.”
Sakura gave a soft laugh. “Not forever.”
“So she was trying to bait me?” Kara asked. “You think she wanted me to do something?”
“Of course. Your father may not blame you, but Ume’s parents are wealthy. Her father is a diplomat, very influential. Who do you think would be blamed if you fought with her?”
Kara considered that, and what it would do to her father’s position at the school. No matter how unpleasant Ume got, Kara would have to ignore her. She couldn’t risk getting her father in trouble.
“I can’t dishonor him.”
“Exactly,” Miho said. “In Japan, you must be careful of such things.”
Sakura gave another humorless laugh. “I don’t care if I shame my parents. I could hurt her for you.”
“That’s not helping,” Miho scolded her.
Now Sakura’s grin did have some humor in it. “I know.”
“It’s hard not to react to her. I was raised to speak my mind and stand up for myself,” Kara said.
Miho sighed. “I would love to visit America someday.”
“We’ll go together,” Kara promised.
“Not until I have a cigarette, please,” Sakura said.
With her nicotine addiction leading the way, they went around the dorm, across the field that separated it from the main school building, and down the path between the eastern wall and the woods. Kara looked for the recessed doorway where she knew Sakura went to smoke. In anticipation, Sakura took out her cigarettes, tapped one into her hand, and put it between her lips. She produced her lighter and flicked its flame alive.
A scream tore across the school grounds and Sakura’s hand froze. Kara and Miho exchanged a look and a second scream filled the late afternoon sky.
“It came from that direction,” Miho said, pointing toward the front of the school.
