The Purple Heart (11 page)

“We need string, Minami,”
said Mrs. Ito, interrupting Minami’s thoughts.

It was the excuse Minami
needed. It was one of the tasks that she had continually forgotten to do.

“String. Of course! You
know Mom, I have to go to the bathroom anyway, along the way I’ll check the
mess hall to see if there is any string available,” offered Minami.

“Minami, you can do that
tomorrow morning. I was just reminding…” responded Mrs. Ito before Minami cut
her off.

“It’s okay really. I’ll be
back soon,” said Minami.

Before Mrs. Ito could stop
her daughter or even worry that she was going to be out alone at night, Minami
had already disappeared behind the blanket partition. Mrs. Ito just stared
after at her with an expression of bewilderment.

Minami exited the barrack
and took in the night air. She was already late by twenty minutes and she hoped
that Hiroshi waited for her. She first checked around the corner to her right.
There were still people walking about, families and couples, but no Hiroshi.
She bit her lip, thinking that maybe he had already left when she heard a faint
whistle behind her. She spun around and saw Hiroshi peering from around the
other corner. He waved over to her in a friendly gesture and she briskly walked
over.

“Hi, thanks for waiting,”
said Minami.

“No problem. I would have
waited all night if I had to,” Hiroshi replied.

Minami smiled. That was a
really nice thing for him to say she thought.

“Well, shall we be on our
way?” asked Hiroshi.

“Sure,” said Minami with a
smile.

Hiroshi and Minami walked
along the path going away from her barrack and into the camp itself. They
passed three additional blocks and then turned left to walk the length of the
barracks in that block. Minami believed she was in block number twelve, but she
couldn’t be sure. They arrived at the mess hall with its dim lights and turned
right when Hiroshi stopped a few feet away from the corner.

Minami was puzzled, “It’s a
mess hall.”

“Well it is and it isn’t,”
said Hiroshi. “Be patient, give me a second.”

Hiroshi motioned to Minami
to step back, which she did. Hiroshi crouched down and looked from side to side
as if he were about to create some mischief. He reached underneath the building,
which was built, like all the other buildings, on cement footings. He felt his
way around and pulled out a wooden ladder. He positioned it at an angle against
the mess hall and made sure it was steady. He then brushed his hands against
one another and with an upward motion toward the ladder he said, “Ladies
first.”

Minami just looked at him
in disbelief. “I’m not climbing up there.”

“Oh come on, haven’t you
ever climbed trees when you were a kid?”

Minami just gave Hiroshi a
blank stare.

“Okay, maybe not, but I
guarantee you won’t regret it.”

“This is silly. You can’t
expect me to climb up there–you don’t know if it’s sturdy.”

Hiroshi then walked
underneath the ladder, jumped up, and grasped one of the rungs with both of his
hands. He looked at Minami and swayed back and forth and said, “Oh but it is.
I’ve been volunteering my time with some carpentry duties, and this mess hall
has a newly fixed roof because of me.”

Minami looked skeptical.
“I’m supposed to find that reassuring coming from a farmer?”

“Hey, what can I say? I’m
also very handy.”

“This is ridiculous. We’re
going to get caught. I’m going to head back,” said Minami as she turned around.

Hiroshi let himself down
and raced in front of her, blocking her and simply looked down at her. She
looked up into his calm eyes.

“You know, we may be here
for a while. We should sometimes make the best of the worst and though it’s not
the greatest view, things do look quite different from the roof.”

Minami wanted to believe
him, she really did. He seemed so sincere about his little rooftop view that
she finally let out a sigh, and gave in. “Okay, show me the view.”

“Great,” Hiroshi said with
a smile. He took hold of her hand and brought her to the ladder.

“Why don’t I go up first so
that you can watch me and then I’ll pull you up when you get to the top?” asked
Hiroshi.

Minami nodded as she
watched Hiroshi firmly grab the sides of the ladder and climbed it
effortlessly, like a cat, nimble and silent. He found his footing on the roof,
crouched down and then beckoned for Minami with his hand. Minami wasn’t sure
about her own climbing skills but grabbed the ladder and climbed up the ladder
one rung at a time. Her own fear of heights wasn’t helping the matter any, but
she stayed focused. When she reached the top, she looked up at Hiroshi, who
whispered encouraging words to her during her ascent. She reached out for him
with one hand when Hiroshi stepped toward her and placed his hands underneath
her arms. She instinctively placed her own hands around the back of his neck and
before she knew it, he hoisted her over the ladder and twirled her onto the
roof to his left as she let out a faint gasp. She found her footing and less
than a foot separated the two.

Hiroshi looked down and
gave her a reassuring smile as he slowly led her toward the peak of the roof.
Minami had noticed that he had already laid out a blanket on the roof and he
motioned her to sit. She crouched down and rested on the blanket as he sat down
next to her. They were about three quarters up on the gentle slope of the roof.

It was a warm night with a
hint of wind swirling about, which seemed almost alive. The moon was out in its
full glory as wisps of dark clouds floated by every now and then. There were
also plenty of stars that glistened like jewels in the night sky. Minami
started to survey her new vantage point and for as far as the eye could see,
there were only rooftops. The ones closest to her were quite discernible but
going further out, the rooftops just blurred together into one sea of dark
tarpaper. She could make out in the distance the perimeter of the prison camp
that was etched out in the desert sand with the guard towers spaced out in even
intervals. The sounds were muted as if the sounds from below somehow didn’t
make it past the roofline. The sounds were more natural, as if the mountains in
the distance were whispering to her along with the light-crackling chorus of
the desert sand.

“It’s different, right?”
asked Hiroshi.

Minami turned to face him.
She liked how the moonlight highlighted his features. The moonlight cascaded
down his jaw line and there was a dark, translucent glow to his eyes. They were
almost a navy color stirred in with some swirls of black. He had his left leg
folded flat on the roof and the other leg was propped up so that he could rest
his right elbow on it. He rested his chin on his right fist, and the casual way
that he looked at Minami made her feel at ease. For a moment, it was just her
and Hiroshi. There wasn’t anyone else. It was their own place and time. She
felt like she could tell him anything without a worry in the world and she
wanted him to listen to her.

“Yes, it’s different.
You’re right,” replied Minami with a smile. For a moment, a chill sent cold
shivers down her body.

Hiroshi responded
immediately and began taking off his jacket revealing his T-shirt underneath.

“I’m okay, really,”
protested Minami but she really wanted the jacket; it was getting a bit chilly
for her.

Hiroshi dismissed her
protests and draped the jacket over her shoulders. Minami pulled the collars
toward one another and immediately felt warmer. Hiroshi continued to pat down
the jacket and when he was satisfied, sat closer to her and placed his arm
around her. Minami looked up at him, leaned in against him and placed her cheek
on his shoulder.

“I one time forgot my tools
on this roof and came back here on that night to get them. When I reached the
top, I couldn’t help noticing the view and I knew that I had to bring you up
here as well. It’s really quiet here at this time of night, since almost
everyone should be getting ready for bed,” said Hiroshi.

Minami turned her head
upwards and smiled at Hiroshi, who simply stared off into the night sky. His
eyes were so focused as if they were piercing the shroud of the night sky
itself. He silently scanned it until he looked down and there was something so
inviting in his eyes. “Hey, let me show you something,” he said with a smile.

“What?” Minami said in an
almost girlish tone as she grinned.

He raised his right arm and
pointed upward and toward a grouping of stars. Slowly he pointed out a cluster
of about five stars, which Minami followed with curiosity. “That’s my dog.”

“No it’s not, they’re just
stars.”

“Well it’s actually Canis
Major, one of Orion’s two dogs. If you follow my finger, you can make out his
head and tail.”

Minami followed his finger
with deliberate curiosity and to her surprise, could make out the outline of a
dog that seemed to be running away from them as if on a hunt.

“How do you know that?”
asked Minami curiously.

Hiroshi turned to meet her
eyes that seemed so relaxed that night. “Well, being a son of a farmer, he
showed me the constellations when I was younger and it’s just something I took
up. I had to go to the library to learn the Greek names. My Dad just called
them the big and little dog.”

Minami giggled and then
nudged Hiroshi with her shoulder, “Show me the little dog!”

Hiroshi laughed and he
looked up and pointed out the smaller grouping of stars that made up Canis
Minor, Orion’s other faithful canine companion. Hiroshi then went on to
illuminate other starry creatures lurking in the night and Minami enjoyed his
starry oration. Just listening to Hiroshi’s voice put Minami at ease and time
became as timeless as the stars themselves. Hiroshi finished his oration and a
silence fell between the two. Minami had moved in closer to Hiroshi, feeling
his warmth. For a few moments, they both simply peered into the night sky.

“Can I ask you something
Hiroshi?” Minami asked underneath her breath.

“Anything,” said Hiroshi.

Another silence passed and
Minami asked, “Are you ashamed of being Japanese?”

Hiroshi looked down at
Minami, her chin nuzzled into his chest, “Not at all.”

“But if we weren’t Japanese
we wouldn’t be here. If we didn’t look so different and sometimes act so different,
we wouldn’t be blamed for what happened at Pearl Harbor.”

“We’re not to blame for
what happened at Pearl Harbor, Minami. The Japanese from Japan are to blame,
not us.”

“Then why are we here? Why
are we being kept here, all the Japanese in one place? If we didn’t look so
Japanese, it wouldn’t have been so easy for them to find us and place us all
here like cattle,” said Minami.

“Hey, we are Japanese, but
we’re Japanese Americans,” replied Hiroshi.

“But aren’t the laws
supposed to protect Americans? Can we really be Japanese Americans if we are
not given the same rights as white people?”

“We’re here because we’re
at war, and in war, men don’t think correctly. Hell, any man that decides on
war can’t be in his right mind. Nothing comes of war but misery and sadness. In
war, fear somehow becomes an invisible advisor and that’s why we’re here. It’s
the white man’s fear of people who look different from them that makes them
make dumb decisions. Look at what the white men did to the Indians who were
here first. We’re here because of dumb white men who don’t know how to trust
but rather feel the need to conquer and control everything instead.”

Minami wasn’t sure if
everything Hiroshi said eased any of her concerns. “If you had a choice,
wouldn’t you rather be white so that you didn’t have to come here?”

“No,” said Hiroshi with a
stern tone. “Not at all, Minami, I’m proud to be Japanese and though I have a
lot of anger right now, but I think I can still say I’m proud to be an
American. They may have imprisoned a whole lot of us here but America is now
fighting a war that needs to be fought. Some of the things that I’ve heard of
about what that Hitler guy is doing over there in Europe are really bad and he
needs to be stopped. I just don’t agree with how we Japanese Americans are
being treated but I think this will all be temporary and in the end, the right
thing will be done.”

“You sound so sure,
Hiroshi,” said Minami with some doubt.

“Hey, look up at me,” asked
Hiroshi to which Minami did. “What do you see?”

Minami wasn’t sure what he
was asking but attempted an answer. “Well, I see a guy who’s a little bit older
than me. He helps me with water every single morning. And he likes to bring out
the stars in the night.”

Hiroshi smiled but offered,
“But you also see a Japanese man right?”

“Hmmm… yes, I’m sure I see
that,” said Minami playfully.

“No, I mean would you still
like me if I weren’t Japanese?” asked Hiroshi.

“I guess not,” replied
Minami. What he said was the truth. She did find him to be a very attractive
Japanese man. There was a sense of comfort in finding someone who looked like
herself and who could understand her background.