I Will Love You Forever Pt. 2 Ch. 17

"That isn't a bad thing," Kenji said kissing the top of her head. "In a few years they will be in college and our practice will be thriving. They will marry and give us grandchildren to spoil and we will be able to travel and make love uninterrupted."

"There is that, but Kenji-he's so little," Patricia said admitting that she really was worried.

"He isn't that little," Kenji chuckled, "but he will be fine, you'll see. Sit down and let me make you a cup of tea and breakfast for us."

Patricia kissed his chest, hugged him and sat down realizing that she had hit the jackpot in men. A few minutes later, she was sipping on a cup of hot tea while Kenji made scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. When it was ready, he went called for the children.

**

Ralph dressed in the new shirt and slacks that had been bought for his first day of school. The book bag filled with paper, pencils and crayons sat on his bed waiting to be picked up. His heart hammered as he thought about going to school for the first time. Kenji and Patricia had already warned him that people might stare at him and call him names.

"They may call you 'Jap' or 'Gook'" Kenji told him, "but ignore them. They speak out of ignorance and misinformation."

"Baby, the other name that they may call you is because of me," Patricia said. "They may call you nigger because you are half black. Just turn a deaf ear and don't listen to them."

It wasn't so much the name calling that worried him; it was the fact that he wanted Kenji and Patricia to be proud of him.

"I want to go too," Marie said from the doorway.

"You will," Ralph assured her with a smile. "We'd better go eat."

On the way out, Ralph grabbed his book bag and hefted it over his shoulder.

After breakfast, Kenji, Patricia and Marie walked Ralph to school and kissed him goodbye. Neither of them missed the stares that they were getting from the other parents.

"Damn gook! He probably doesn't speak a word of English."

Kenji stopped, turned around and looked at the group of people that was staring at them.

"Good morning," he said with a slight bow. "I am Kenjiro Takeda and this is my wife Patricia and our daughter Marie. Our son Ralph is now a student here. Since our children are attending the same school, it is my hope that we can be at the very least civil to each other."

No one in the group responded, but continued to stare at them.

"Please have a pleasant day," Kenji said and led Patricia away ignoring the murmurings of the group.

Patricia wanted to turn back and pull Ralph out of school, but Kenji wouldn't let her.

"We cannot keep him hidden from the ugly parts of life," Kenji said.

"I know but if this is what the adults are like, what are the kids going to be like? Why don't we take him out of school? I can homeschool him for a year-"

"Kirei, no. That is of no benefit to him or us. What if the attitudes don't change? Will we keep him out of school for another year? If problems arise we will deal with them."

Reluctantly, Patricia agreed although she still wanted to take Ralph out of school. When they got home, Kenji kissed Marie and Patricia goodbye before leaving for his first day of orientation. Patricia wrapped her arms around him and fought back tears; it was going to be a long day.

"Come on pumpkin," she said to Marie, "let's make some sugar cookies for papa and Ralph."

**

Ralph sat in the seat assigned to him which was located in the back row. He frowned, but didn't say anything. Before long, the classroom was buzzing with the chatter of first graders excited about the first day of school. At first, no one seemed to notice him which was fine with him, but then one of the boys saw him sitting in the back row.

"Hey! Look!" he called out drawing attention to himself. "We got a gook in class!"

Ralph didn't reply, but kept looking forward.

"He's in a row all by himself! Do you know what that means gook? It means that you're stupid," the boy said.

"Alright everyone to their seats!" a male voice called out.

A few minutes later, the room was silent as the students waited for further instructions. The teacher, Mr. Albert Martin looked over the group. His gaze moved over the class and only hesitated when he saw Ralph. Inwardly he frowned and his heart pounded, but he kept his outer face neutral. As soon as school was over for the day, he was going to see what he could do about getting Ralph out of his class.

"Please stand for the 'Pledge of Allegiance'" he said with his eyes on Ralph.

He was surprised to see Ralph stand and then place his hand over his heart along with the other students. Afterwards when everyone was seated, he took roll call. His hands shook with anger as he held the paper containing the student's names. He didn't know who placed the half-breed in the back row, but that was exactly where he would have put him. He deliberately called Ralph's name last even though there were last names that started with letters after 'T'.

"Ralph Ta... Ta..."

He pretended to stutter over the name. He knew exactly how to say it. It was a name that he would never forget for as long as he lived.

"Takeda," Ralph said softly.

"Yes, of course," Martin said and then deliberately mispronounced it again.

Ralph noticed, but didn't correct the teacher. Instinctively he knew that it would be the wrong thing to do. He ignored the tittering of the other students and knew right then that he wasn't going to fit in.

"What kind of name is Ralph for a gook?" Someone whispered.

"That's not a Korean name," someone else, a boy replied.

"That's because our new student isn't Korean, are you?" Mr. Martin asked. "Our new student is Japanese and negro. An interesting combination I think. Maybe he goes by the name of Ralph so that he'll fit in better."

Ralph was tempted to look down, but instead; he stood up and looked the teacher in the face.

"My name is Nikorasu Ralph Takeda. My father's name is Kenjiro and my mother's name is Patricia. Ralph is the name of my uncle. You may call me Niko."

Martin's face turned as red as his hair at what he perceived to be impertinence. Part of him felt guilty, but the other part of him was enraged.

"Get in the corner! Now!" Martin yelled startling the other students.

Niko gave a polite bow, looked at the teacher and went to a corner. He hadn't meant to be impertinent. The idea to change his name came to him when his pride about his heritage was questioned. His heart sank when he realized that he would have to tell his parents that he had been disciplined on the first day of school.

He didn't know how long he had been in the corner before he was given permission to sit down. All he knew was that his feet hurt from his new shoes and he had to go to the bathroom. Reluctantly he raised his hand and was ignored.

"Please excuse me-"

"In the corner!"

"But-"

"In the corner before I take out the paddle!" Mr. Martin yelled.

Even the students who had teased him earlier looked at Niko with sympathy. Finally it was lunch time. Niko impatiently waited for his chance to use the bathroom. He washed his hands and joined the other students on the playground. He found a corner where he could eat in peace and took out his lunch.

"Hello," a soft voice said. "Can I sit with you?"

Niko looked up to see a girl who was by all accounts chubby. She wore thick glasses and her mousy brown hair was in a ponytail. He recognized her as being in his class.

"Of course," he said politely.

The girl looked mildly surprised, but then sat down next to him.

"My name is Florence, but my mom and dad call me Florrie."

"I am Niko."

"I know- they tease anyone who's new," Florrie said as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"Do... do they tease you?" Niko asked.

"Sometimes- but it's not too bad."

By the end of lunch, Niko had a friend. Somehow knowing that made the rest of the day easier. He took great pains not to do anything to draw attention to himself. The day couldn't end fast enough as far as he was concerned and as soon as they were dismissed, he took off. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Patricia and Marie waiting for him.

Not caring what anyone thought, Niko threw himself into Patricia's arms and hugged her.

"Ralph?" Patricia asked concerned, "What happened?"

"I... I had to stand in the corner," Ralph stammered.

"On your first day? Why?"

Niko quickly told her the story about how the teacher had mispronounced his name.

"I only asked that he call me Niko," he explained, "and he got angry."

"Is your teacher still here?" Patricia asked.

"I... I don't know," Niko replied recognizing the stubborn and angry expression on Patricia's face.

"Let's go find out," Patricia said taking Niko's hand.

She found the school office and walked in. She stopped short when she heard raised voices coming out of the principal's office.

"I want that fucking kid out of my classroom!"

That was all that she needed to hear. She took Niko's hand and led him from the office. She and Kenji would come back without him. She also decided that Niko wasn't going back to school unless he was removed from the class.

As soon as Kenji got home, he took one look at Patricia and knew that something had happened.

"Kirei, what happened?" he asked after he hugged and kissed her and the children.

"I'll let Ralph-I mean Niko explain while I make dinner," Patricia said.

**

"And all you did was to ask him to call you Niko?" Kenji asked several minutes later.

"Yes papa."

"Ralph, why did you request to change your name?"

"I... I didn't want them to think that I was ashamed of who I was."

Niko's answer reminded him of Patricia when the dean told her to use her maiden name of Middleton. Kenji looked at Niko with pride, but knew that he like Patricia; had to learn when to concede and when to fight. Today, he was in the right.

"Niko, did anything else happen?"

When Niko hesitated, Kenji knew that something had.

"Tell me," Kenji urged.

Niko told Kenji about the second time he had to stand in the corner. Niko took a step backwards when he felt Kenji's anger.

"Thank you for telling me," Kenji said softly. "Go help your mama in the kitchen, I will be there shortly."

After he was alone, Kenji sat where he was for several minutes thinking. Finally, he got up and went to the kitchen.

"Niko, you will stay home tomorrow. Your mother and I will go talk to Mr. Martin and the principal."

"But papa, I want to go to school," Niko said.

"You will, just not tomorrow," Kenji said in a tone that told Niko not to argue.

***

Mr. Martin was at the blackboard writing the vocabulary words for the day when Kenji, Patricia and the principal walked in.

"Mr. Martin, this Mr. and Mrs. Takeda; their son Niko is in your class."

"Yes," Martin said pleasantly. "What can I do for you?"

Martin struggled to contain the trembling in his hands as he looked at Kenji. He fought the urge to cower when Kenji took a step toward him. He could actually feel his hair being pulled from his head and almost covered his head with his arms. He took a deep breath and reminded himself of where he was.

"Mr. and Mrs. Takeda have some concerns about what happened yesterday," the principal said.

"If you're talking about your child standing in the corner, I must tell you that it was deserved."

"Asking to be called by a preferred name warrants punishment?" Kenji calmly asked. "What about asking to use the restroom? Did that warrant punishment?"

Patricia looked around the classroom noting that Niko's seat was in the last row.

"Excuse me, but Takeda begins with a 'T', why is our son sitting in the back of the room? According to the class roster, there are several names that start with letters after 'T'."

"An oversight I'm sure-"

"Mr. Martin," Kenji said, "Did you happen to be a prisoner in a Japanese prisoner of war camp?"

"That has nothing to do with it," Martin replied in a shaky voice.

"I beg to differ," Kenji replied politely. "It has everything to do with it. My wife heard you requesting to have Niko taken out of your class. I happen to agree that it would be in his best interest if that change occurred. But my question to you is this, what will you do when other students of Japanese descent are in your class? I am sorry for what happened to you and I understand your anger, but my son and other children of Japanese descent had nothing to do with it."

In the end, Niko was transferred to another class but only after Kenji and Patricia met with the teacher. The teacher, Miss. Nixon assured them that Niko would be treated as any other child in her class was treated and that racism of any kind wasn't going to be tolerated. After talking to her for more than thirty minutes, Kenji and Patricia decided that they liked the teacher. They got the class assignment for the day and walked back home.

"How did you know that he was a prisoner of war?" Patricia asked as they walked home.

"I saw it in his response to me," Kenji replied. "It explains his reaction to Niko although it doesn't make it right."

"No, but I guess I can understand his reaction. We'd better get moving or you're going to be late," Patricia said quickening her step.

Niko met them at the door with an anxious expression on his face.

"All is well," Kenji told him. "You will go back to school tomorrow, but you will have a different teacher. We have met with her and we think that she will treat you fairly. Your mother has your assignment for today."

Niko breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

"I also want to tell you that Mr. Martin has had a very bad experience with our people. That is why he reacted to you as he did. That does not excuse his behavior and he is being disciplined for it, but Niko; there are more people like him in the world. As you grow older, you will learn that there are times when you must stand down and there are times to stand firm. Yesterday you were in the right. We are proud of you."

Niko beamed at the compliment loving the look of pride that he saw in Patricia's eyes, but what he wanted was for her to be so proud of him that she cried as she did for his father.

"Kirei, I must go or I will be late," Kenji said as he kissed her. "I will see you tonight- I love you."

Kenji kissed the children goodbye, picked up his lunch and left for the day.

****

Saul sat in the library unable to concentrate. It had been weeks since his meeting with Nick and the others. He didn't know what he thought would happen or how fast it would happen, but it felt as if nothing was being done. As the weeks passed, he fought the urge to call to see where things stood. He decided to give it one more week before calling.

His mind went from Nick to Harry. He was now convinced that Harry was into something that wasn't necessarily good. Whenever he asked Harry about it, he became secretive and changed the subject. He didn't press too much because if Harry told him, then he would be expected to tell him about going to prison and the meeting with Nick.

Finally he gave up on writing the essay that was his latest assignment from Reggie. According to Reggie, he was almost ready to take his first college class. Saul took the news with a mixture of excitement and anxiety.

"You'll do fine," Reggie, Joshua and Cora assured him.

Joshua and Cora had been thrilled when he told them that he wanted to go into the ministry. Cora actually cried as she hugged him. It wasn't long after that announcement that a visitor started coming to dinner on a weekly basis.

"I remember you," Saul said when he and Noah were officially introduced. "I helped with your luggage at Christmas."

"You have a good memory," Noah replied.

After that, Saul spent a little of each evening talking with Noah. He was as impressed with him as he was with Reggie, Joshua and Jacob. One night after dinner, he and Noah were talking.

"Tell me," Noah said between drags on his cigarette, "what do you plan to do with your life? Surely you aren't planning to be a baggage boy for the rest of your life."

"No sir," Saul replied. "I plan to go into the ministry. I was pretty far behind as far as school goes, but Reggie has been helping me get caught up."

"Why did you choose the ministry? Why not politics or something else?" Noah asked.

"I never considered politics as a career," Saul replied. "But then, I never considered the ministry either. To be honest, I never thought that I would get to leave South Carolina let alone be making a decision about a career. May I ask you a question?"

"I suppose that's fair since you've answered all of mine," Noah replied.

"The girl that was with you at Christmas; what's her name?"

Noah gave Saul a sharp glance. His instincts had been right.

"Why are you asking?"

"Well," Saul said blushing, "I see her at church when I go that is, but she seems so... standoffish."

"You don't seem like the type of man that would let something like that stop you," Noah said with a small smile. He was remembering how Saul had defended a co-worker.

"No sir, but I don't want to offend her or anyone else by talking to her."

"Why would they be offended?" Noah asked even though he knew the answer, but he wanted to see what Saul would say.

"May I speak frankly?" Saul asked.

Noah nodded and waited.

"I don't know how she and the others at church would feel about a white man approaching her. I mean, it took a while before folk stopped giving me funny looks."

"I'll ask the same question that I just asked," Noah said, "are you the type of man that's going to let something like that stop you?"

"No sir," Saul said after a moment's deliberation. "I'm not- you aren't going to tell me her name are you?"

"No son, I'm not," Noah replied as he stood up to leave. "I would encourage you to keep up with your studies-you never know what's going to happen."

Saul watched Noah walk away with the feeling that he had somehow just been tested. He had the same feeling when they met at the train station. But he had to admit that Noah was right. He wasn't the kind of man that would let what other people thought stand in his way. He went over his work schedule in his head. The next Sunday that he would have off would be in two weeks. He decided that if he did nothing else, he was going to introduce himself to the attractive black woman.

***

Isadora couldn't believe that she was entering her second year of college. It had been a busy summer with her two classes and working through the syllabus for her sophomore year. She and Maeve saw each other when time allowed and when Maeve wasn't going out with Ernie. Initially, Maeve was worried that Isadora would be upset, but soon found out that she worried for nothing.

"Maeve, I'm happy for you and Ernie's a nice guy."

Maeve let out a sigh of relief. She didn't know what she would have done if her best friend had a problem with her boyfriend.

"Isadora, isn't there someone that's caught your eye?"

"No and I don't want to catch anyone's eye. I've got to concentrate on school."

"You can still do that and have a little fun," Maeve said.

"Maeve, I don't want to talk about it," Isadora said firmly. "I'm happy for you and Ernie, but I'm not looking nor am I interested."

"Isadora, we've been friends for over a year now. I think of you like a sister. I know that I could come to you with anything and you wouldn't turn me away. In fact, you would do everything possible to help me. I hope that you know that the same goes for me. I'm here for you."

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind," Isadora said as she organized her desk.

"You aren't going to tell me are you?" Maeve asked.

"There's nothing to tell," Isadora replied feeling guilty for lying. "I have goals that I want to meet. Is there something wrong with that?"