—So even though I said it’s Seiji’s house, actually it’s his brother’s. And see that area over there? Off to the side and overgrown with weeds? That’s where Sayoko used to live.
The weed-filled yard, partially surrounded with tall Garcinia trees, had what looked like two orange trees, each about as tall as a human being.
—Sayoko was always confined to the house, so Seiji never met her again, even after he returned. Even if he had, he wouldn’t have been able to see her. But that was probably for the best. Sayoko’s younger brother inherited the family home. He’s held on to the land up to now and planted a couple of citrus tankan trees in the yard, but he lives in Naha and hasn’t looked after them, so I don’t know if they’ll ever bear fruit. Though it’s just as well they don’t.
Hisako could understand the desire to hold on to land even after leaving the island. Her uncle’s house, where she had lived as an evacuee, was now vacant, owned by her cousin living in Naha. There were many offers to buy the property, but her cousin never considered selling.
The three stared at the abandoned premises in silence for a while, and when Fumi started speaking again, it was in a more subdued tone of voice.
—In your letter, you wrote about a woman that came running toward you, right? And that she was screaming, and that blood was dripping down her legs. You know that was Sayoko, right?
Hisako had assumed that that was the case, so she nodded. Fumi looked into Hisako’s eyes and nodded in return. Then she looked back at the abandoned property again.
—Even now, when you walk on the gravel here, your shoes get covered with white powder. But back then, the whole area was covered with limestone, so your feet got really white. Do you remember being here with me when Sayoko came running? She bolted out of her house and came running through this lot. Her bare feet were white, her breasts were exposed, and she was screaming. I was right next to you. She was waving her arms as if fighting with some invisible force. Her eyes were wide open and bloodshot. She muttered something and then ran off toward the woods. We saw Sayoko’s mother run after her, and then I suddenly felt scared, and you looked like you were going to cry. Even after you left the island, I sometimes saw Sayoko running past the banyan tree like that. Sometimes laughing, sometimes crying. The adults said that after she was raped, Sayoko spent all her time locked up in the house, refusing to eat, never sleeping—until she went crazy. She was locked up in the back room, but sometimes she broke out of the house and sent the family into an uproar. I felt sad to see that because I gradually understood. You only saw the beginning, but things got much, much worse. Sometimes she came out completely naked, and the men would laugh and jeer and whistle. That made Sayoko’s parents angry, but the teenage boys only thought that was funny and whistled more. I can still hear their catcalls. Sayoko’s mother would chase after Sayoko with clothes in her hands, but she couldn’t catch her, so the teenage boys would pretend to help, and then fondle Sayoko when they caught her. Then she’d start screaming and punching and kicking. It was so painful to watch! Those teenagers were no different than the Americans. And when an uproar started, Seiji would come running out of his house with a stick. He’d start screaming and cursing at those teenage boys and try to hit them. But he was blind, so of course he never could. They’d always trick him, take his stick away, and knock him down. After a while, there were rumors that Sayoko was pregnant, and that one of the men in the village was the father. One time, she had run off and hadn’t returned until the next morning, so people figured that someone had taken advantage of her. After that, Sayoko disappeared for a while, and the rumors were that she was placed in a hospital in the south. I was just a kid, so I only overheard my parents talking, but it was painful for me to hear. Why did someone like Sayoko have to suffer like that? It broke my heart. And just like that, Sayoko disappeared from the island. Her family left, too. Do you remember our classmate Tamiko? She was Sayoko’s younger sister, and we went to the new elementary school together. I still can remember her telling the class that she was transferring to another school. I haven’t seen her since. I can’t believe sixty years have passed since then....
There was no wind, but the grass and the two citrus trees standing in the sunlight seemed to be swaying, perhaps due to the tears in Hisako’s eyes.
—Sayoko came out of her house, which used to be over there, ran through this open space here, and then headed down that road.
Fumi pointed to a road, now paved and lined with houses. The road used to lead to the woods, but Hisako had no idea where it led now. For a split
