I'm free, I think. I shut my eyes and think hard and deep about how free I am, but I can't really understand what it means. All I know is I'm totally alone. All alone in an unfamiliar place, like some solitary explorer who's lost his compass and his map. Is this what it means to be free? I don't know, and I give up thinking about it.
I take a long, hot bath and carefully brush my teeth in front of the sink. I flop down in bed and read, and when I get tired of that I watch the news on TV. Compared to everything I've gone through that day, though, the news seems stale and boring. I switch off the TV and get under the covers. It's ten p. m., but I can't get to sleep. A new day in a brand-new place. And my fifteenth birthday, besides-most of which I spent in that charming, offbeat library. I met a few new people. Sakura. Oshima. Miss Saeki. Nobody threatening, thank God. A good omen?
I think about my home back in Nogata, in Tokyo, and my father. How did he feel when he found I'd suddenly disappeared? Relieved, maybe? Confused? Or maybe nothing at all. I'm betting he hasn't even noticed I'm gone.
I suddenly remember my father's cell phone and take it out of my backpack. I switch it on and dial my home number. It starts ringing, 450 miles away, as clearly as if I were calling the room next door. Startled by this, I hang up after two rings. My heart won't stop pounding. The phone still works, which means my father hasn't canceled the contract. Maybe he hasn't noticed the phone's missing from his desk. I shove the phone back in the pocket of my backpack, turn off the light, and close my eyes. I don't dream. Come to think of it, I haven't had any dreams in a long time.
Chapter 6
Hello there,' the old man called out.
The large, elderly black tomcat raised its head a fraction and wearily returned the greeting in a low voice.
'A very nice spell of weather we're having.'
'Um,' the cat said.
'Not a cloud in the sky.'
'… for the time being.'
'Is the weather going to take a turn for the worse, then?'
'It feels like it'll cloud up toward evening.' The black cat slowly stretched out a leg, then narrowed its eyes and gave the old man another good long look.
With a big grin on his face, the man stared right back. The cat hesitated for a time, then plunged ahead and spoke. 'Hmm… so you're able to speak.'
'That's right,' the old man said bashfully. To show his respect, he took off his threadbare cotton hiking hat. 'Not that I can speak to every cat I meet, but if things go well I can. Like right now.'
'Interesting,' the cat said simply.
'Do you mind if I sit down here for a while? Nakata's a little tired from walking.'
The black cat languidly rose to its feet, whiskers atwitch, and yawned so tremendously its jaw looked almost unhinged. 'I don't mind. Or perhaps I should say it's not up to me. You can sit anywhere you like. Nobody's going to bother you for that.'
'Thank you kindly,' the man said, lowering himself down beside the cat. 'Boy oh boy, I've been walking since six this morning.'
'Um… I take it, then, that you're Mr. Nakata?'
'That's right. Nakata's the name. And you would be?'
'I forget my name,' the cat said. 'I had one, I know I did, but somewhere along the line I didn't need it anymore. So it's slipped my mind.'
'I know. It's easy to forget things you don't need anymore. Nakata's exactly the same way,' the man said, scratching his head. 'So what you're saying, Mr. Cat, is that you don't belong to some family somewhere?'
'A long time ago I did. But not anymore. Some families in the neighborhood give me food to eat now and then, but none of them own me.'
Nakata nodded and was silent for a time, then said, 'Would you mind very much, then, if I called you Otsuka?'
'Otsuka?' the cat said, looking at him in surprise. 'What are you talking about? Why do I have to be Otsuka?'
'No special reason. The name just came to me. Nakata just picked one out of a hat. It makes things a lot easier for me if you have a name. That way somebody like me, who isn't very bright, can organize things better. For instance, I can say, On this day of this month I spoke with the black cat Otsuka in a vacant lot in the 2-chome neighborhood. It helps me remember.'
'Interesting,' the cat said. 'Not that I totally follow you. Cats can get by without names. We go by smell, shape, things of this nature. As long as we know these things, there're no worries for us.'
'Nakata understands completely. But you know, Mr. Otsuka, people don't work that way. We need dates and names to remember all kinds of things.'
The cat gave a snort. 'Sounds like a pain to me.'
'You're absolutely right. There's so much we have to remember, it is a pain. Nakata has to remember the name of the Governor, bus numbers. Still, you don't mind if I call you Otsuka? Maybe it's a little unpleasant for you?'
'Well, now that you mention it, I suppose it isn't all that pleasant… Not that it's particularly unpleasant, you understand. So I guess I don't really mind. You want to call me Otsuka, be my guest. I'll admit, though, that it doesn't sound right when you call me that.'
'Nakata's very happy to hear you say that. Thank you so much, Mr. Otsuka.'
'I must say that for a human you have an odd way of talking,' Otsuka commented.
'Yes, everybody tells me that. But this is the only way Nakata can speak. I try to talk normally but this is what happens. Nakata's not very bright, you see. I wasn't always this way, but when I was little I was in an accident and I've been dumb ever since. Nakata can't write. Or read a book or a newspaper.'
'Not to boast or anything, but I can't write either,' the cat said, licking the pads of his right paw. 'I'd say my mind is average, though, so I've never found it inconvenient.'
'In the cat world that's to be expected,' Nakata said. 'But in the human world if you can't read or write you're considered dumb. Nakata's father-he passed away a long time ago-was a famous professor in a university. His specialty was something called theery of fine ants. I have two younger brothers, and they're both very bright. One of them works at a company, and he's a depart mint chief. My other brother works at a place called the minis tree of trade and indus tree. They both live in huge houses and eat eel. Nakata's the only one who isn't bright.'
'But you're able to talk with cats.'
'That's correct,' Nakata said.
'Then you're not so dumb after all.'
'Yes. No… I mean, Nakata doesn't really know about that, but ever since I was little people said You're dumb, you're dumb, so I suppose I must be. I can't read the names of stations so I can't buy a ticket and take a train. If I show my handycap pass, though, they let me ride the city bus.'
'Interesting…,' Otsuka said without much interest.
'If you can't read or write you can't find a job.'
'Then how do you make a living?'
'I get a sub city.'
'Sub city?'
'The Governor gives me money. I live in a little room in an apartment in Nogata called the Shoeiso. And I eat three meals a day.'
'Sounds like a pretty good life. To me, at least.'
'You're right. It is a pretty good life. Nakata can keep out of the wind and rain, and I have everything I need. And sometimes, like now, people ask me to help them find cats. They give me a present when I do. But I've got to keep this a secret from the Governor, so don't tell anybody. They might cut down my sub city if they find out I have
