The Purple Heart (26 page)

 “What’s going on?” Hiroshi
asked in defeat.

The mothers looked at each
other, and then Mrs. Ito spoke to Hiroshi: “Before you take my daughter to be
your wife, we have to take her for just a little bit.”

“What do you mean?” asked
Hiroshi.

Hiroshi’s mother then
spoke, “Be good, Hiroshi, just a little longer.”

Hiroshi then looked at
Minami, who was looking up at him with her pretty smile.

“You know what’s going on,
don’t you?” he asked of her.

Minami gently nodded her
head up and down, “Our mothers insisted on it, but I wanted to take part in it,
too.”

“Take part in what?”

Hiroshi’s mother then
playfully slapped Hiroshi’s hand breaking the clasp between Hiroshi and Minami,
“You’ll find out soon enough, if you will just let us get started.”

The mothers quickly pulled
Minami through the barrack by grabbing both of her arms and the door to the
barrack closed, swallowing them up.

“You’ll have to wait,” said
his new father-in-law, Mr. Ito.

Hiroshi settled back onto
his two feet, let out a sigh and blurted out, “Ugh! I didn’t think this was
going to be so difficult!”

Both of the fathers looked
at one another and chuckled. “Son, it’s only the beginning,” said Hiroshi’s
father. Mr. Ito nodded in agreement and together they let out another laugh, as
if they were ridiculing him for his naïveté. Miho, Yuka, and Yoshi also were
smiling.

Hiroshi attempted to get a
hint of what was going on when his new sisters-in-law laughed and giggled. He
then looked at Yoshi who grinned and shot both of his hands into the air and
yelled out childishly, “Home run!”

Hiroshi hadn’t heard that
in a while and oddly enough, it made him smile. Mr. Ito then walked over, put
his arm around his new son-in-law, and brought him toward Hiroshi’s father.
“Don’t worry, it won’t hurt one bit,” Mr. Ito said nonchalantly. Hiroshi looked
up with incredulous eyes. His father then laughed and he looked at his worried
son as he patted him on the back, “Don’t worry son, he’s only kidding. It’s
really nothing at all.”

“Then what are they doing
in there?” asked Hiroshi.

Mr. Ito then said, “Well,
you know how independent my daughter is sometimes?” Hiroshi nodded. “Well, just
follow her instruction while you’re in there, and you’ll be fine.”

Hiroshi leaned back and
away from the two fathers and gave them a look of skepticism. The door opened,
but it was only a few of his neighbors, who offered their congratulations as
they stepped down and walked away. The men continued to jab at one another as
Minami’s siblings watched. Then the door to the barrack opened once more and
both of the mothers stepped down as they closed the barrack door behind them.
Hiroshi looked up and in his mother’s arms was some unfamiliar clothing.

The mothers looked up at
Hiroshi, and his mother spoke. “Before you go in, you’ll have to change into
these.”

Then Minami’s mother spoke,
“After you’ve changed, you will find Minami at the end of the barrack. Just
follow her wishes and you’ll be fine.”

He felt somewhat baffled,
but he knew he had no choice in the matter, especially if his own wife was in
on it. He then nodded in frustration and accepted his fate.

“Okay,” he said resignedly,
“What do I do again?” asked Hiroshi helplessly.

He was told to simply
change into the clothing. Once changed, he was to go inside and look for
Minami. He mustn’t call out to her, but once he found her, he should follow her
every instruction.

Hiroshi listened to the
entire, scant set of instructions and responded with an expression of
bewilderment. But he knew his parents were not going to provide anything more.
He extended his arms and his mother handed him the silken garments. They
floated in his arms like air. Hiroshi then exhaled and turned toward the steps
to the barrack. As he stepped up onto the last step, he turned to his parents,
who had started to walk away.

“You’re going?” asked
Hiroshi.

His mother looked up,
turned to everyone else, and then back to Hiroshi. “We can’t help you. This is
all up to you now,” she called back to him. She looked at her worried son, and
her motherly instincts returned. “Don’t worry, you’ll do fine.”

Hiroshi nodded and turned
toward the door when his fathers’ voices caught his attention, “Drink the tea,”
they said.

Hiroshi watched as both of
the mothers suddenly grabbed their husbands’ arms and tugged them away, with
Minami’s siblings following and giggling. Then they disappeared around the
barrack.

He whispered dubiously to
himself, “Drink the tea?”

He entered the barrack with
a sense of dread. It was dark as the lights were turned off, but the afternoon
sunlight struggled through the covered windows, illuminating the barrack in a
warm glow. There was a sense of emptiness that echoed throughout the barrack.
Hiroshi quickly followed his mother’s instructions and changed. He stripped and
pulled up the silky pants, which felt amazingly smooth against his skin and
pulled the drawstring taut. He slipped on the black robe, which was slightly
thicker but it draped his entire torso. There was nothing to tie the robe about
the waist, so when he stood up to admire the robe, it opened, exposing his
broad chest and firm stomach. He flexed his arm outward to admire the clothing
when he took notice of the white embroidery on the left chest area of the robe.
It was the Japanese character for his family surname, “Satoh.”

He had not heard a single
sound coming from the back and even started to question whether or not Minami
was even back there. He decided not to waste any more time. The sooner he found
out what was going on, the sooner the whole thing would be over. He gathered up
his clothes and walked carefully, barefoot, toward the back of the barrack.
Nothing seemed out of place. The blanket partitions were as they were when he
left earlier that morning. His eyes then caught a glint from a wavering candle
flame that appeared from between the hanging blankets.

He eased back the blanket
partition into his parents’ side of the barrack and didn’t see Minami. He
placed his clothes onto their bed and turned around to face the partition where
he was sure Minami was concealed. He inhaled softly and slowly stepped into his
side of the barrack.

The entire side of his
barrack was rearranged. The entire floor seemed to have been swept clean. To
the right of the window that was in front of him, the steel frame to his cot
had been removed, leaving only the mattress on the floor with the blanket
folded back at an angle. To the left of the window was a low table whose legs
must have been recently cut, since such tables were not common in the camp. To
the left of the table was a kettle where water boiled softly as wisps of steam
rose up from it. Next to it was a small lantern with a flickering flame. On the
far side of the table, away from Hiroshi, was a small array of items. There was
what looked like a brush, a small bamboo stick, a round bamboo container, a
white cloth, and a tea bowl. To the left of the window hung a scroll with three
Japanese characters arranged vertically. Hiroshi did not recognize the
characters, but immediately recognized that his room had been turned into a
tearoom.

His eyes then settled on
the most beautiful thing in the room, his wife. Minami was quietly looking up
at him in his white silk pants and black silk robe that was open to reveal his
torso. Minami found she had to swallow a moment of arousal. He was so tall and
lean as he stepped carefully into the room. She had a slight grin on her face
as she watched Hiroshi take in the entirely transformed room. He must be shocked,
thought Minami. Her mother, along with Mrs. Satoh, spent days helping her
master the intricate ritual steps of the tea ceremony. She was confident that
she could still charm the socks off the simple Japanese American farm boy when
she realized Hiroshi was already barefoot.

Hiroshi smiled. He suddenly
felt propelled into another world, one that was uniquely Japanese. He admired
the beauty of his wife as she knelt in front of him from across the table. She
held her hands gently in her lap. She looked so striking with her hair up,
which enhanced her angelic face and neckline. But what he found absolutely and
surprisingly alluring was that she was wearing a shiny blue kimono covered with
a delicate black brush-like design. The kimono was wrapped tautly about her
body and held in place by a wide silk sash. Her presence exuded an unexplained
tranquility.

Hiroshi’s demeanor suddenly
changed. He felt somewhat awkward at not knowing his exact role. He was a bit
nervous about how to act, but he found a deep inner call of tradition and
respect. He straightened up and not knowing any better, bowed in the direction
of the scroll and then bowed toward Minami. He focused his eyes on Minami. She
was absolutely silent and then she nodded gently with her eyes to the seating
mat in front of the table. Hiroshi settled himself down into a kneeling
position as his eyes focused on her once again.

Minami smiled, waited a
moment and then her body blossomed into a beautiful choreography of graceful
moves and actions. She lifted up the white cloth from the table and displayed
it to Hiroshi before delicately folding it intricately and placing it in her
left hand. Then her eyes turned away from Hiroshi as she focused on cleaning
the bamboo tea scoop. The cloth was placed aside as she opened the round bamboo
container, revealing the green tea powder. With the bamboo scoop held
delicately in her slender fingers, she placed a small portion of the tea powder
into the tea bowl. She gently tapped the rim with the bamboo scoop and carefully
placed both items aside. Gracefully, she pulled back the wide sleeve of her
right arm with her left hand and reached for the bamboo ladle. She carefully
scooped out some water and poured it tenderly into the tea bowl. The ladle was
returned with the gathering end balanced on the rim of the kettle and was
slowly eased down as it came to rest on the rim. She looked up at a totally
enthralled Hiroshi and smiled. She picked up the brush and mixed the contents
of the tea bowl. Then she picked up the bowl, placed it in front of him and
looked up at Hiroshi while placing her hands back into her lap.

Hiroshi found the entire
event humbling. But even more so, he found an unexpected connection to his own
Japanese heritage. It was almost as if the voices and memories of the ancestors
before him had entered his mind to provide reassurance to him. Hiroshi placed
his hands around the warm tea bowl and lifted it to his face as he eyed a
smiling Minami. He carefully took a drink from the tea bowl, then another, and
for the remnants, he gulped them down and set the bowl back down on the table.

Hiroshi looked up to see a
sparkling smile on Minami’s face as she gazed at him. He wasn’t sure what to do
next. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to return the tea offering to her, wipe
his mouth or ask for more tea. Luckily for Hiroshi, it was Minami who initiated
the next move as her expression turned to one of humbled appreciation. Minami
gracefully removed the ornate chopsticks from her hair and shook her hair
letting the length of it tumble down to her shoulders. She brushed away a few
strands along her face and looked sensually at Hiroshi.

Hiroshi felt an immediate
yearning for her as his heart skipped a beat, perhaps even two, when the
beautiful woman before him just simply seduced him. He found her to be
absolutely resonating of seductive grace and he was tantalized by her every
movement and thought how unsuspectingly easy it was for a man to be ensnared by
a woman’s feminine charm.

Minami placed the
fingertips of both of her hands onto the table and raised herself over it.
Hiroshi immediately reciprocated as he leaned in and the moment was sealed with
a sensual kiss between the newly wedded couple.

Her lips were supple and
warm as Hiroshi kissed them. He found that the very being of his existence
wanted Minami as they continued to kiss over the table. Minami gently searched
out with her tongue and tasted Hiroshi’s lips as his own tongue met hers.
Minami almost giggled until the sensation of his tongue started to consume her.
Then Hiroshi did the unexpected and placed his left hand gently on the back of
her neck, locking her lips to his. Minami slipped her arms around his neck as
he started to rise from the table. Minami did the same until they were both
standing up over the table.

Hiroshi placed his right
hand onto her left elbow, supporting it gently as he stepped over the table.
Minami was not prepared; she took a step backward and before she knew it,
Hiroshi had crossed over the table onto her side. He pushed Minami slowly backwards
as she teetered back. He pressed her up against the scroll with a dull thud and
started to kiss her with a growing passion that he had never felt before.
Minami broke away from his kiss and whispered, “Not on the scroll–Father
wouldn’t be happy.”

Hiroshi buried himself into
the side of Minami’s neck and in a muffled voice said, “Sorry.” Hiroshi then
pulled her away and moved her along the wall to the other side of the window
and in a muffled voice he asked, “Better?” as he pressed his body into her.

Minami turned her head back
to Hiroshi with her eyes closed and whispered, “Forget the damn scroll.”