Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [67]
Standing, Wataru picked up his bag and ran. The priest of Mihashi Shrine looked after him, a worried expression on his face. Wataru never saw it. He never looked back.
When he got home, Kuniko was there waiting for him. As soon as he walked through the front door she began to cry. This was real. It wasn’t a dream. He wouldn’t wake up. It wouldn’t go away. He saw his mother’s tears, and everything was painfully clear. Wataru would never cry again. He turned to stone—a little stone in the shape of a boy.
Chapter 9
Enter the Tank
On Sunday, Grandma came up from Chiba.
She didn’t ring the doorbell, but instead kicked loudly at the door with her foot.
“Wataru!” she shouted. “I’m so sorry! It must have been a horrible shock for you when your father did what he did. But I’m here now, so everything is going to be all right. Don’t you worry about a thing. Is Kuniko here?” she asked, the words coming in a rush as she let herself in and took off her shoes. When Wataru’s mother stuck her head in from the living room, she received another shout. “Kuniko!”
“What in the world is going on? My heart nearly stopped when I heard the news. Where is my fool of a son? I’ll find him and pick him up by the neck and drag him back kicking and screaming if I have to. Tell me where he’s gone.”
“Mrs. Mitani…” Kuniko breathed, her shoulders slumping, looking more moved than happy. “Thanks for coming.”
Kuniko stepped forward and took the bags from her mother-in-law. Wataru noticed that his grandmother’s face was bright red, and blue veins were standing out by her temples. She was in full-tilt anger mode.
“Here I was thinking that Akira had finally decided to settle down and become a decent person for a change, and there he goes again. Only now do I realize how remiss I was in raising my sons. One a vagrant over forty and still not married, and the other an incorrigible womanizer!”
“Um…Mrs. Mitani,” Kuniko said, with a look at Wataru. Wataru was standing with his eyes opened wide, looking at his grandmother.
“Of course, it’s not the kind of talk for a child’s ears to be hearing,” his grandma said in a loud voice, “but, Kuniko, you have to understand…”
“Thanks, Mrs. Mitani.” Kuniko turned to Wataru. “Wataru, why don’t you go get breakfast at McDonald’s. You could invite Katsumi, if you like.”
Wataru headed out the door, a crisp ¥1,000 bill in his hand. His head was spinning. It felt like a tornado had come through their house, leaving it in shambles, and while they were standing there, just starting to wonder how they were going to pick up the pieces, a tank had come crashing through their door.
Wataru went down the stairs outside their apartment, and saw his uncle running up from the parking lot. Wataru called to him from the landing and his uncle stopped and waved—panting to catch his breath. “I came with your grandmother, but she got out of the car while I was looking for a space to park. I had to run to catch up with her!”
Wataru sat down with Satoru on a bench in front of the apartment complex. His uncle was dripping with sweat. He looked pale.
“After you went to school yesterday, I went home. When I told your grandmother what had happened, she demanded to leave for Tokyo immediately. We had to find someone at the last minute to watch the shop, and we left this morning before the sun came up.”
“You look exhausted, Uncle Lou.”
“You think? You don’t look so well yourself, Wataru.”
Uncle Lou wiped his face with a handkerchief, and finally relaxed. “You okay?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t blame you. Doesn’t make any sense. I would be surprised if you told me you were okay.”
“Say,” Wataru said looking up. “Grandma called Dad a womanizer. What does that mean?”
Uncle Lou looked like he had swallowed something bitter. “There she goes, blabbing about things she shouldn’t be talking about.”
“Is Dad with another woman?”
Satoru scrunched his handkerchief