Hawaii - James Michener [415]
In this particular camp, there were no women, no facilities for recreation, no doctor, and no church. There was lots of rice, for Wild Whip insisted that his men be fed well, and in each camp--for this was merely one of seven on Hanakai Plantation--one man was appointed fisherman, bringing to the table whatever he caught on the fruitful reefs of Kauai. It was Whip Hoxworth's full intention that any laborer whom he imported should work for him five or ten years, save his money, and return to Japan. There was thus no need for women or churches, and little need for doctors, since he hired only the ablest-bodied.
At Hanakai the Hoxworth laborers rose at four in the morning, ate a hot breakfast, hiked to the fields so as to be there at six and worked till six at night, hiking back to the Ishii Camp on their own time. For this they were paid sixty-seven cents a day, but they did get their food and a sagging bed. During harvest, of course, they worked nineteen hours a day for no extra money.
On the first workday Kamejiro Sakagawa marched home at dusk, feeling great strength in his bones, and looked about for some place in which to bathe, for like all Japanese he was fanatic in his attention to cleanliness, and he was dismayed to find that no provisions had been made. Water could be pumped from the well, but who could bathe properly in cold water? On this first night he had to make do, protestingly, and he listened to his mates growling as they recalled the sweet hot baths of Hiroshima, and that night he went to see Ishii-san and said, "I think I will build a hot bath for the camp."
"There's no lumber," Ishii-san said. It was his job to protect the interests of Mr. Hoxworth and he did so.
"I saw some old boards at the edge of the sugar field," Kamejiro replied.
"You can have them, but there are no nails," Ishii-san warned.
"I saw some nails where the irrigation ditch was mended."
"Were they rusted?"
"Yes."
"You can have them."
On his second full day ashore in Hawaii, Kamejiro began building his hot bath. It was most tedious work, for he could not find lumber that fitted nor could he get hold of a piece of galvanized iron for the bottom, where the fire was to be built. At last he grabbed Ishii-san, who was skittish about the whole affair, and made the interpreter speak to Mr. Hoxworth--Hoxwurtu, the Japanese men called him --and the tall boss growled, "What do you want galvanized iron for?"
"To take a bath," Kamejiro said.
"Use cold water. I do," Hoxworth snapped.
"I don't!" Kamejiro snapped back, and Hoxworth turned in his saddle to study the runty little man with the long arms that hung out from his body.
"Don't speak to me that way," Hoxworth said ominously, pointing his riding crop at him.
"We have to be clean," Kamejiro insisted, not drawing away from the crop.
"You have to work," Hoxworth said slowly.
"But after work we want to be clean," Kamejiro said forcefully.
"Are you looking for a fight?" Hoxworth cried, dropping from his horse and throwing the reins to an attendant. Ishii-san, the interpreter, began to sweat and mumbled his words, replying on behalf of Kamejiro, "Oh, no, sir! This man is a fine workman!"
"Shut up!" Hoxworth snapped, pushing his little assistant aside. Striding up to Kamejiro he started to grab him by the shoulders, but as he did so he saw the enormous musculature of the stubborn workman, and he saw also that Kamejiro had no intention of allowing even the boss to touch him, and the two men stood in the cane field staring at each other. The other Japanese were terrified lest trouble start, but Kamejiro, to his surprise, was unconcerned, for he was studying the big American and thinking: "If he comes one step closer I will ram my head into his soft belly."
In mutual respect the tension dissolved, and Wild Whip asked