snoring away contentedly. His snores sometimes woke Nakata up, but each time he quickly dropped back into a comfortable sleep. Insomnia was one phenomenon Nakata had never experienced.
A little before eight the young driver sat up and gave a big yawn. 'Hey, Gramps, ya hungry?' he asked. He was busy shaving with an electric razor, using the rearview mirror.
'Now that you mention it, yes, Nakata does feel a little hungry.'
'Well, let's go grab some breakfast.'
From the time they left Fujigawa to their arrival in Kobe, Nakata had spent most of the time sleeping. The young driver barely said a word the whole time, just drove on, listening to a late-night radio show. Occasionally he'd sing along to a song, none of which Nakata had ever heard before. He wondered if they were even in Japanese, since he could barely understand any of the lyrics, just the occasional word. From his bag he took out the chocolate and rice balls he'd gotten from the two young office girls in Shinjuku, and shared them.
The driver had chain-smoked, saying it helped keep him awake, so Nakata's clothes were reeking of smoke by the time they arrived in Kobe.
Bag and umbrella in hand, Nakata clambered down from the truck.
'You better leave that stuff in the truck,' the driver said. 'We're not going far, and we'll come right back after we eat.'
'Yes, you're quite right, but Nakata feels better having them.'
The young man frowned. 'Whatever. It's not like I'm lugging them around. It's up to you.'
'Much obliged.'
'My name's Hoshino, by the way. Spelled the same as the former manager of the Chunichi Dragons. We're not related, though.'
'Mr. Hoshino, is it? Very glad to meet you. My name is Nakata.'
'Come on-I knew that already,' Hoshino said.
He knew the neighborhood and strode off down the street, Nakata almost having to trot to keep up. They wound up in a small diner down a back street, seated among other truck drivers and stevedores from the docks. Not a single necktie in sight. All of them were intently shoveling in their breakfasts like they were filling up a gas tank. The place was filled with the clatter of dishes, the waitress yelling out orders, the morning NHK news on the TV buzzing in the corner.
Hoshino pointed to the menu taped to the wall. 'Just order whatever you want, Gramps. The food's cheap here, and pretty good.'
'All right,' Nakata said, and did as he was told, staring at the menu until he remembered he couldn't read. 'I'm sorry, Mr. Hoshino, but I'm not very bright and can't read.'
'Is that right?' Hoshino said, amazed. 'Can't read? That's pretty rare these days. But that's okay. I'm having the grilled fish and omelette-why don't you get the same?'
'That sounds good. Grilled fish and omelettes are some of Nakata's favorites.'
'Glad to hear it.'
'I enjoy eel a lot, too.'
'Yeah? I like eel myself. But eel's not something you have in the morning, is it.'
'That's right. And Nakata had eel last night, when Mr. Hagita bought some for me.'
'Glad to hear it,' Hoshino said again. 'Two orders of the grilled fish set plus omelettes!' he yelled out to the waitress. 'And super-size one of the rices, okay?'
'Two grilled fish sets, plus omelettes! One rice super-size!' the waitress called loudly to the cooks.
'Isn't it kind of a pain, not being able to read?' Hoshino asked.
'Yes, sometimes I have trouble because I can't read. As long as I stay in Nakano Ward in Tokyo it's not so bad, but if I go somewhere else, like now, it's very hard for me.'
'I guess so. Kobe's pretty far from Nakano.'
'Nakata doesn't know north and south. All I know is left and right. So I get lost, and can't buy tickets, either.'
'Incredible you were able to get this far.'
'Many people were kind enough to help me. You're one of them, Mr. Hoshino. I don't know how to thank you.'
'That must be tough, though, not being able to read. My grandad was pretty senile, but he could still read well enough.'
'I'm especially dumb.'
'Is everybody in your family like that?'
'No, they aren't. My older brother is a depart mint head at a place called Itoh-chew, and my younger brother works at an office called Em-i-tee-i.'
'Wow,' Hoshino said. 'Pretty elite bunch. So you're the only one who's a bit off, huh?'
'Yes, Nakata's the only one who had an accident and isn't bright. That's why I'm always being told not to go out too much and cause any trouble for my brothers, nieces, and nephews.'
'Yeah, I guess most people would find it kind of awkward to have someone like you show up.'
'I don't understand difficult things, but I know that as long as I stay in Nakano Ward I don't get lost. The Governor helped me out, and I got along well with cats. Once a month I got my hair cut and every once in a while I'd eat eel. But after Johnnie Walker, Nakata couldn't stay in Nakano anymore.'
'Johnnie Walker?'
'That's right. He has boots and a tall black hat, and a vest and walking stick. He collects cats to get their souls.'
'You don't say…,' Hoshino said. 'I don't have much patience with long stories. So anyway, something happened and you left Nakano, right?'
'That's right. I left Nakano.'
'So where are you headed?'
'Nakata doesn't know yet. But after we got here I knew I had to go across a bridge. A big bridge near here.'
'Ah, so you're going to Shikoku.'
'I'm very sorry, Mr. Hoshino, but I don't know geography very well. If you go over the bridge are you in Shikoku?'
'Yeah. If you're talking about a big bridge around here, that's the one to Shikoku. There're three of them, actually. One goes from Kobe to Awaji Island, then on to Tokushima. Another goes from below Kurashiki over to Sakaide. And one connects Onomichi and Imabari. One bridge would've been plenty, but politicians stuck their noses into it and they wound up with three. Typical pork-barrel projects.' Hoshino poured out some water onto the resin tabletop and drew an abbreviated map of Japan with his finger, indicating the three bridges connecting Honshu and Shikoku.
'Are these bridges really big?' Nakata asked.
'They're huge.'
'Is that right? Anyway, Nakata's going to cross over one of them. Probably whichever one is closest. I'll figure out what to do after that later on.'
'So what you're saying is you don't have any friends or anybody where you're headed?'
'No, Nakata doesn't know anybody there.'
'You're just going to cross the bridge to Shikoku and then go somewhere else.'
'That's right.'
'And you don't know where that somewhere is.'
'I have no idea. But I think I'll know it when I get there.'
'Jeez,' Hoshino said. He brushed back his hair, gave his ponytail a tug, and put on his Chunichi Dragons cap.
Their food was served, and they started eating.
'Pretty good omelette, huh?' Hoshino asked.
'Yes, it's very good. It tastes different from the omelettes I always eat in Nakano.'
'That's 'cause it's Kansai style. Not at all like those tasteless flat things that pass as omelettes in Tokyo.'
The two of them then silently enjoyed their meal, the omelettes, salt-grilled mackerel, miso soup with
