The room was so dark that we couldn’t see inside. However, any occupants could probably see us. After a few seconds, a scream came from the darkness. Never in my life had I heard such a heartrending scream, nor have I heard one since. The voice ripped through me and pinned me to the spot. Neither the ward chief nor the lieutenant could move, either.
We heard footsteps on the floorboards, and then felt the vibration of the air. For an instant, I thought that some wild beast had been lying in wait and would come springing out with its sharp fangs and claws. I saw the lieutenant reaching for his holster. Then we heard a loud thud and saw someone tumble down into the yard on top of a broken shutter. What rose up outside the window was a girl, looking nothing at all like the beast I had imagined. Her long, black hair was disheveled, and her face was distorted as if by a drastic change in air pressure. Even so, her striking eyes and eyebrows, and shapely nose and lips, revealed her beauty at a glance. However, that impression vanished when another scream issued from her throat. Staring straight at the lieutenant and me, the girl screamed again and again, all the while scratching at her neck, breasts, and shoulders. With her kimono open, and her breasts exposed, she ripped into her flesh with her fingernails. Blood began oozing from the deep scratch marks across her chest. Then her obi came untied, and her kimono fell to the ground. Still staring and screaming, she began scratching between her legs and inflicting wounds to her genitals. Then she turned and ran out the gate.
The mother, who up until then was standing behind us, yelled and pushed us aside. Then she jumped through the window into the yard, picked up the kimono, and ran after her daughter. The lieutenant and I stood transfixed, frozen until the voices of the girl and her mother faded into the distance. The trees in the small yard created shade and a cool breeze. If it weren’t for the fallen shutter, I’d never have believed that a girl had just gone crazy there. Her screams, however, reverberated in my ears—or rather, through my entire body.
In silence, the lieutenant climbed down into the yard, looked around, and headed toward the gate. As I hurried to catch up, I sensed someone behind me and turned around. I don’t know where they’d been hiding, but the girl’s younger sister and brothers were peeking out from the back room. A clear vision of how I was reflected in those innocent eyes flashed into my mind. To escape that knowledge, I ran off to join the lieutenant.
The villagers at the banyan tree were in an uproar. After seeing the naked girl and her mother run past, they probably assumed that we had committed some sort of outrage. When they saw Lieutenant Williams striding toward them, they stopped talking, and a heavy tension descended over the area. If our escorts hadn’t brandished their rifles, we might’ve been attacked. Well, maybe not. Still, the icy stares turned on us were terrifying.
Walking just behind the lieutenant, I held my head high to hide my discomposure. On the way, he turned to me and said in a commanding tone, “Never tell anyone what you just saw.”
I instinctively answered, “Yes, sir!” The lieutenant quickened his pace and headed to the banyan tree. The ward chief chased after us.
The lieutenant told the villagers to disperse and to stay in their homes until new instructions were issued via the ward chief. I translated this, and the villagers headed off in silence. After making sure the order had been obeyed, we boarded the jeeps and returned to base with the ward chief.
When we arrived, we immediately started questioning him. His testimony changed completely. Just as the young woman had said, he now stated that a girl had been raped by four soldiers, and that several other women had met the same fate. He went on to say that the women in the village were terrified, but that the men couldn’t do anything since the soldiers had guns. He ended by saying that Seiji had probably attacked the soldiers to get revenge. In contrast to before, he was quite talkative. The lieutenant, looking so infuriated that I thought he might punch the guy, asked why the ward chief had remained silent all this time. Terrified, the guy merely apologized.
Once the lieutenant got a general sense of the situation, he leaned back in his chair, folded his arms, and stared at the wall while stroking his chin and lips with his fingers. His anger at being forced to deal with such an awful situation was obvious. The ward chief wasn’t the only one feeling nervous. I thought the lieutenant’s anger would explode at any moment. When the lieutenant finally slapped the table, the ward chief pressed his knees together and sat up straight.
“The village can continue as before,” said the lieutenant. “I’ll increase the number of patrols so that something like this doesn’t happen again. The young man who wounded our soldier will be released as soon as he recovers. I’d like your help in maintaining order so that gossip about this incident doesn’t spread any further.”
When I finished translating all this, the ward chief stood up and answered, “I understand. I’ll take care of it without fail.” Then he bowed deeply.
The lieutenant stood up with a pained look and ordered me to accompany the ward chief back to the village and to check up on the situation. Then he left the room.
In the jeep on the way to
