I Will Love You Forever Pt. 2 Ch. 20

"Yes, you have my word," Hiroshi said.

"Good. It has been a long time since you have been to our home. Are you available on Saturday?"

The invitation came as a welcome surprise. It was always Patricia who called to make the invitation.

"We would enjoy that," Hiroshi replied.

After he hung up, Kenji called Patricia back and told her what happened.

"They will be coming to lunch on Saturday."

"Great! You know, why don't we just make it a family affair? I'll call your mom and everyone else."

Kenji hung up and went to his room to rest. It was past six and obvious that he wouldn't find out about the surgical position until later in the week.

*****

Mai went from day to day doing what her father expected of her-obey. The only time she really relaxed was when she was at the hospital. But even that was limited. It seemed that for a while everywhere she looked she saw either Shotaro or Kenji. Each time she saw them, she had to swallow her anger. Shotaro like Kenji avoided her when he could, but if he was in the same room with her; he spoke to her. He didn't know that she had seen him with the black woman- there was no point in telling him. It would change nothing.

Sometimes when she saw Kenji, she wondered what gave him the courage to do as he wished. She also wondered the same thing about Shotaro. What was it about the women that they loved that could draw them away from tradition? Then she realized that she had the answer. It was love. It had nothing to do with rebelling or trying to be disrespectful-they loved these women enough to forsake friends and family. The idea of loving someone that much boggled her mind, but there it was and there was no disputing it.

She realized that Vera was right about something. Even if she had managed to pull Kenji away from his wife and children, he would and could never love her. He would be thinking of his wife as they made love and would more than likely call out her name. Understanding that she should have had from the beginning began to settle in. It changed how she felt about Kenji only slightly. As much as she wanted him and thought she loved him; she now hated him too. Her feelings for Shotaro had gone from dislike to hatred. That he hadn't spoken up sooner rankled her. That he dared to bring his woman with him infuriated her. He was going to sleep with her after being with that woman! Their children would have had inferiors for siblings.

She no longer spoke to Ani about anything unless she absolutely had to and that included the pregnancy- it didn't matter. Ani was now a part of the enemy camp. Her only friend was Vera who unbeknownst to her was watching her watching Kenji while she pretended to read. Mai didn't notice Vera tense when she was about to stand up and approach Kenji. Nor did she see Vera relax when Kenji realizing what was happening left the patio. Mai settled back in her seat debating as to what she should do.

Making an excuse that she needed the bathroom, Mai followed Kenji to the phones and listened to him talking to his family. As always, she could tell when he was talking to Patricia. The timbre of his voice changed becoming deeper and more intimate- she could almost feel the love that he had for her. She could even imagine what it sounded like as he murmured words of love into Patricia's ear- it would be deeper yet, but gentle and intense at the same time. Jealousy and anger rose making her feel hot. She jumped when Kenji unexpectedly turned around to see her watching him. The expression on his face was impassive, but she could tell that he was irritated at the intrusion on his privacy. When Vera caught up to her and led her away, she went without comment.

"What do you think you're doing?" Vera asked. "You know that your father is having you watched."

"I don't care anymore," Mai said. "What more can he do to me?"

*****

Ani watched and listened as her father spoke in rapid Japanese on the phone. He had been behaving mysteriously and was in a relatively good mood considering all that was happening with Mai. The change had begun the week before and when she asked him about it, he put her off telling her not to worry about anything. She had believed him, but now she was concerned. Mai was drawing even further into herself and Ani was beginning to wonder about her mental state.

"Prepare for a guest," he said when he hung up. "He will be here by the weekend."

"Yes father," Ani said dutifully. As much as she wanted to know who the visitor was, she didn't ask. It wasn't her place to question anything that her father did. As she began to make dinner preparations, she thought about Mai. She missed her sometimes impulsive sister, but didn't know how to fix the rift between them. Even the subject of the baby hadn't helped. Jiro understood, but totally agreed with her father. Mai had disgraced all of them. In his opinion, Shotaro wasn't any better; but he wasn't their problem. When she suggested that she talk to her father about Mai, Jiro forbade it.

"Stay out of it," he admonished firmly without offering an explanation. But Ani already knew the reason. Her father was loaning Jiro the money to start his own business. He didn't want anything to interfere with that happening.

Ani set the table wondering who the mysterious guest was and how her father knew him. Upon further thought, she decided that it was probably a business partner from Boston. It suddenly occurred to her that her father hadn't said when the visitor was leaving. That was unusual. In the past he had always given them some indication of how long the guest would be staying so she knew how to plan their meals. A feeling of dread fell over her as she thought she understood what was happening. A part of her-the sister part of her wanted to call the hospital to tell Mai to run as fast and as far away as she could. The other part of her, the obedient wife and daughter couldn't make herself take that step. She argued that her first loyalty was to her husband and besides; she had tried to help Mai by warning her. It wasn't her fault that Mai had refused to listen.

Dinner was ready by the time Mai and her father got home from the hospital. Jiro would be late because he was meeting with some investors. Ani was tempted to take the opportunity to speak with her father, but decided against it. What if he said something to Jiro? Conflicted, she stood firm in her decision not to say anything. Mai would have to make her way alone.

Mai walked in and past Ani without speaking to her. Their father noticed, but made no comment. He didn't care so long as Mai did as she was told when the time came. He also knew that Ani was conflicted. She loved Mai, but he also knew that she wouldn't interfere-Jiro had seen to that. Dinner was a long, silent affair with Mai excusing herself after the dishes were done. Ani watched her only sister walk away and felt another pang of guilt. She followed Mai to her room and tried to talk to her again.

"Mai-please..."

Mai stopped walking but didn't turn around.

"Please talk to me..."

"Why?" Mai rudely interrupted as she turned around. "So that you can report back to him?"

Ani took a step back. The anger that she saw in Mai's brown eyes frightened her. But it was more than that- mixed in with the anger was hatred. Mai hated her.

"Mai, listen to me," Ani begged. "I haven't told him anything! I have nothing to tell! I only told him about Kenjiro because he asked a direct question and I won't lie for you."

"Of course not, you're the dutiful daughter," Mai said snidely.

"You aren't being fair," Ani said.

"Aren't I?" Mai snapped. "Is it fair that I am not free to be with someone of my choosing? Is it fair that we are traded off like cattle for the Kabata name? Is it fair that Shotaro is allowed to have his black bitch on the side and nothing happens to him? Is any of this fair?"

"I tried to warn you," Ani said raising her voice. "I tried to tell you that no good would come of your infatuation with Kenjiro Takeda but did you listen? I told you to try to meet Shotaro halfway. I told you this when father first announced that you were going to marry him. Again-did you listen to me? And now you stand there and tell me that I was supposed to lie for you. You walk around here acting as if I am the enemy when I'm not. You are your own enemy! All you had to do was marry Shotaro and all would have been well, but you chose a different path. The question that you must ask yourself is this- was it worth it?"

"I didn't want to marry Shotaro!" Mai yelled. "I don't and didn't love him and I will tell you this- the woman that he is in love with is here with him! He was going to marry me and keep her as his mistress! Had we had children, our line would have been tainted. The woman is half Negro and if I had gone back to Boston nothing would have been different. Tell me, if this were Jiro we were talking about, would you feel differently?"

Ani couldn't reply. Shotaro was going to continue his affair with the black woman even after he and Mai married? She saw Mai's point, but that didn't erase her obligation to her family. She still maintained that Mai hadn't made a real effort to win Shotaro over. If she had, he wouldn't have found someone else.

"If you will excuse me, I have things to do," Mai said as she turned away.

"Do as you always do," Ani called after her. "Things don't go your way so you go to your room and sulk. You make no effort to seek a solution. Instead you look for the easiest way out. This time his name was Kenjiro Takeda. Do you not realize that Shotaro could have been your way out? Apparently he is as enthused about tradition as you are."

Mai froze as she began understand what Ani was saying.

"If you had taken the time to get to know him, you and he could have approached father together. Father would have respected that even if he didn't agree with it. A compromise of some kind could have been reached between him and Shotaro's family. But when you started pining over Kenjiro Takeda-a married man; you lost that opportunity."

Mai turned around to face Ani.

"Just because I follow tradition doesn't mean that I am blind and stupid," Ani said hotly. "I have spent the past weeks agonizing over the change in our relationship. I can only tell you that I am not the enemy; I never was. Goodnight Mai."

Mai watched Ani walk away wondering how much of what Ani said was true. Had she really brought all of this on herself? She thought about the first time that she met Shotaro. Her immediate impression of him was that he was attractive, but weak looking. He wasn't tall like Kenji was, but he had a nice smile when he smiled and was wiry as opposed to thin. She remembered watching him as he talked with her father and decided that she didn't like him. He didn't fit her idea of what her husband should look like. When they officially met, he smiled at her politely; but she didn't return the smile. By the end of the meeting, he was acting as coolly toward her as she had been toward him. Ani noticed and later that evening pulled her aside.

"What are you doing? Why did you act that way?"

"I don't like him," Mai replied.

Ani stared at her in disbelief. She liked Shotaro even though he was a bit standoffish.

"You didn't give him a chance," Ani replied. "You barely spoke him and he was trying..."

"I don't like him," Mai repeated.

Ani threw her hands up and walked away. Mai had already made up her mind and there was no changing it. The next meeting didn't go any better than the first. Once again Shotaro tried to be cordial but Mai remained aloof. After the second meeting her father took her aside.

"The next time you meet-you will show some interest..."

"But..."

"Do not interrupt me. You will make an effort to get acquainted with Shotaro. You will marry him. It is not up for discussion or debate."

She tried. But did she really? Mai asked herself as she went to her room. She had other opportunities after that second meeting. After that they only saw each other occasionally as Shotaro was in college at the time. Each meeting was no better than the first and Mai now understood that she had set the tone for their relationship. Ani had been right then- how much was she right about now?

In that moment, Mai both envied and hated Ani. She wished that she could do what was expected of her without question, but that wasn't who she was. She went into her room and sat on the floor to think. There was no point in thinking about the past. As Ani said, that was a lost opportunity. Mai knew that her father was up to something. Like Ani; she sensed the change in his mood. Mai realized in retrospect that had she played her cards differently, she might have been able to find something out from Ani. It was another lost opportunity. She was, she realized as Ani had told her so many times too impulsive. She never looked ahead to the consequences of her actions and in the past things had somehow worked out. Her gut was telling her that this time would be different. She thought about going to Ani and apologizing for her behavior, but Ani would see right through it. All she could do now was to finish her residency and then disappear.

****

Vera looked at the phone. She was concerned about Mai's mental state. She didn't think that she was a danger to others, but she could be a danger to herself. She knew that Mai considered her to be her one true friend and if she found out that she was the one spying on her...

The way Vera saw it was that she few options. She could continue as she was and hope for the best or she could tell Mai what was happening. If she did the latter, she would be kicked out of the nice apartment and she wasn't sure that she could go back to sleeping in shifts. There was also the matter of her job. It had been filled within hours after she resigned. She had no choice but to continue as she was. She could however, not tell Mai's father everything.

The phone rang before she could pick it up to make her call. She knew who it was. He was the only one who called her. She hadn't even told her family that she had moved. If she did, they would assume that she had money that she really didn't have and would begin to make demands on her. They were already counting down the days until she was finished with her residency. She pushed her concern about Mai aside and answered the phone.

"What do you have to tell me?"

Immediately, Vera began talking about the events of the day. When she was finished, there was a soft click. Her caller had hung up.

****

Kenji packed his bags and got ready to leave. He still hadn't received word about the surgical residency position. He really wasn't concerned about it; he was just ready to go home to Patricia and the children. He was also concerned about his father. The more he thought about it; the less he liked what he had heard. While there were no blatant signs that anything was amiss, he knew that there were plenty of diseases where the symptoms could manifest as fatigue. Some of the cancers came to mind as well as a few other things. In retrospect, he wished that he had insisted that his father come to the hospital but there was nothing that could be done about it now. When he saw him at the picnic, he would press the issue.

On his way out, he saw Mai being dropped off. He couldn't help but notice how miserable she looked. He felt for her, but there was nothing he could do for her. She would interpret his concern as something more. He hoped that the woman that he assumed was her friend could help her. He hurried on his way eager to be home. On his way, he stopped by Abby's house and picked some fresh flowers for Patricia. They had flowers in their back yard, but Abby had some that they didn't have. Abby saw him pull up and went outside.

"Is everything alright?" she asked as she dried her hands on a dishtowel.

"Everything is fine," Kenji replied. "I came to pick some of those flowers that Patricia likes."

"Come on in- I have some starter plants for her," Abby said leading the way. "So no word yet?"

"No, but I expect to hear something soon," Kenji replied eager to be gone now that he had what he came for. "Will you be at the picnic on Saturday?"

"I wouldn't miss it! Patricia asked me to make the potato salad."

Kenji thought that Abby was acting a little nervous, but didn't comment on it. She seemed well enough and he knew that if she had a problem, she would have said something. They chatted for a few more minutes before Kenji left for home. As he drove home, he thought about some of the other married residents who wished that they weren't going home. They dawdled and found other things to do and on occasion called their wives telling them that they had to stay another night. He didn't understand it, so one day he asked one of the residents about it.

"Not all of us are as fortunate as you are," he explained. "I can't speak for the others, but when I go home, all I hear is the countdown to when we can buy a house or buy a car. Home isn't a place of relaxation for me so every so often; I lie and say that I have to stay."

Kenji couldn't imagine deliberately staying away from his family. He counted down the hours until he could see them again.

"Some of us were wondering about you," the resident whose name was Alan said. "We noticed that as soon as it's time to leave; you haul ass. Is home really that great?"

Kenji thought a minute before answering. "My wife and children are the reason that I am here and home-home is a respite for me."

"Your wife doesn't have a calendar that she uses to cross the days off with?"

"She does," Kenji chuckled, "but it has other uses as well."

"So she does keep track," Alan commented.

"Yes, but only so she can start planning the celebrations," Kenji replied correcting the resident's assumption. "My wife is a planner- she has to be with the children and her classes."

"She goes to school?" Alan asked surprised. He and Kenji knew each other, but had never really talked outside of the clinical setting.

"She is in the pre-med program," Kenji said proudly. "It is our hope that when the time comes; she will be accepted into the medical school here."

"Damn," Alan said impressed. "Claudia would never do anything like that. She's too busy learning how to be a doctor's wife as if that's different than being the wife of a the man who's a butcher. You're a lucky man. So how did you get so lucky?"

"I was taken away from Patricia- I was interred at Manzanar," Kenji explained. "We were apart when she discovered that she was pregnant with our first child. It was a very difficult time for both of us. I think-no, I am certain that our separation has much to do with my wanting to be home as much as possible. Of course, I love her and our children and even if we hadn't been separated; I would still rush home to them."

The two men became friends after that and often shared meals together.

Kenji pulled into the garage, left his bag in the car but took the plant in. From the garage, he could hear the radio playing and imagined Patricia singing with it as she made dinner. It was one of his guilty pleasures that he missed. His stomach growled at the smell of the meatloaf that he had requested that she make and he couldn't wait to hold her. But he had to watch her even if it was for a few seconds as she sang and danced her way around the kitchen. He went to the door and slowly opened it hoping that she was within sight. Initially, she wasn't but a few seconds later; she was in full view her hips swaying to the beat of the music. Her soft alto voice reached his ears soothing him. He was home. He watched for another minute before making a sound alerting her to his presence. Suddenly, the door to the garage was thrown open and Patricia was in his arms. As he kissed her and held her close, he began to sway to the music. It was the first time he had danced with her and he wondered why he hadn't done it sooner. He pulled her closer and nuzzled his nose in her hair and inhaled. He began to harden and was about to whisper a promise into her ear when Niko and Marie's excited voices interrupted him.