My presence must have been an
entirely natural... My presence must have been an
entirely natural event
Just once, though, the man in white spun around and asked me, "How
long will you be staying?"
"Two nights," I said"I'll be leaving on Wednesday
"It's nice here this time of year, isn't it? But come again in winterIt's
really nice when everything's white
"Naoko may be out of here by the time it snows," said Reiko to the
man
"True, but still, the winter's really nice," he repeated with a sombre
expressionI felt increasingly unsure as to whether or not he was a
doctor
"What do you people talk about?" I asked Reiko, who seemed to not
quite follow me
"What do we talk about? Just ordinary thingsWhat happened that
day, or books we've read, or tomorrow's weather, you knowDon't tell
me you're wondering if people jump to their feet and shout stuff like:
"It'll rain tomorrow if a polar bear eats the stars tonight!"'
"No,
hermes tas no, of course not," I said"I was just wondering what all these
quiet conversations were about
"It's a quiet place, so people talk quietly," said NaokoShe made a
neat pile of fish bones at the edge of her plate and dabbed at her
mouth with a handkerchief"There's no need to raise your voice here
You don't have to convince anybody of anything, and you don't have
to attract anyone's attention
"I guess not," I said, but as I ate my meal in those quiet surroundings,
I was surprised to find myself missing the hum of peopleI wanted to
129
hear laughter and people shouting for no reason and saying overblown
thingsThat was just the kind of noise I had become weary of in
recent months, but sitting here eating fish in this unnaturally quiet
room, I couldn't relaxThe dining hall had all the atmosphere of a
specialized -machine-tool trade fairPeople with a strong interest in
chanel classic flap a
specialist field came together in a specific place and exchanged
information understood only by themselves
Back in the room after supper, Naoko and Reiko announced that they
would be going to the Area C communal bath and that if I didn't mind
having just a shower, I could use the one in their bathroomI would do
that, I said, and after they were gone I undressed, showered, and
washed my hairI found a Bill Evans album in the bookcase and was
listening to it while drying my hair when I realized that it was the
record I had played in Naoko's room on the night of her birthday, the
night she cried and I took her in my armsThat had been only six
months ago, but it felt like something from a much remoter past
Maybe it felt that way because I had thought about it so often - too
often, to the point where it had distorted my sense of time
The moon was so bright, I turned the
logo dolce & gabbana lights off and stretched out on
the sofa to listen to Bill Evans' pianoStreaming in through the
window, the moonlight cast long shadows and splashed the walls with
a touch of diluted Indian inkI took a thin metal flask from my
rucksack, let my mouth fill with the brandy it contained, allowed the
warmth to move slowly down my throat to my stomach, and from
there felt it spreading to every extremityAfter a final sip, I closed the
flask and returned it to my rucksackNow the moonlight seemed to be
swaying with the music
Twenty minutes later, Naoko and Reiko came back from the bath
"Oh! It was so dark here, we thought you had packed your bags and
gone back to Tokyo!" exclaimed Reiko"I hadn't seen such a bright moon for yearsI wanted
to look at it with the lights off
130
"It's lovely, though," said Naoko"Reiko, do we still have those
candles from the last power
sac chloe cut?"
"Probably, in a kitchen drawer
Naoko brought a large, white candle from the kitchenI lit it, dripped
a little wax into a plate, and stood it upReiko used the flame to light a
cigaretteAs the three of us sat facing the candle amid these hushed
surroundings, it began to seem as if we were the only ones left on
some far edge of the worldThe still shadows of the moonlight and the
swaying shadows of the candlelight met and melded on the white
walls of the flatNaoko and I sat next to each other on the sofa, and
Reiko settled into the rocking chair facing us
"How about some wine?" Reiko asked me
"You're allowed to drink?" I asked with some surprise
"Well, not really," said Reiko, scratching an earlobe with a hint of
embarrassment"But they pretty much let it goIf it's just wine or beer
and you don't drink too muchI've got a friend on the staff who buys
me a little now and
dior china the