Ge-ge-ge no nyobou 9/25

[mbarker]

a.k.a. and the beat goes on

Kinuyo stood in the entryway of the house. Aiko and Yoshiko were in the doorway, with Shigeru and Fumie just inside. Fumie said, "Yamada said her brother would come by and check on you. But..." Kinuyo said, "I'll be fine here. Fumie, take care of yourself, okay? Understand?" Fumie said, "Yes." Shigeru said, "We should go." Kinuyo said, "Fumie? Tell your mother I'm thinking of her?" Fumie said, "Yes."

Later, upstairs at the household shrine, Kinuyo lit a stick of incense from the candle and stuck it in the bowl of sand. She looked at the picture and said, "Shuhei? Could you make friends with Genbee, okay? I know he doesn't know much about the plays and movies that you love, but..." She sighed, remembering them talking at Shigeru's wedding. Shuhei talked about actors, and Genbee thought he was talking about baseball players. Then she said, "Well, you're probably getting lonely, aren't you?" She lifted her hands, and smiled a little. "Anyway, I'll be along pretty soon."

For Genbee's funeral, there was a wall of decorations. In the middle was a large picture of Genbee, draped in black ribbons. Above to each side was a wooden stand, with symbolic stacks of what would have been money wrapped in paper, once. There were several lanterns on stands. A small stand held a platter with apples. In front of the picture was a mug, filled with sake. Another small stand on the other side held bananas. And in front were two large real candles, flames burning clear. The plain wood of the stands and holders was cut in fine scrollwork.

Outside, red spider lily filled the woods and fields.

Inside, the family sat at two long, low tables. The women wore black dresses, while the men were dressed in black suits and black ties. Shigeru was in the middle of a table, eating. Tetsu, Fumie's older brother, looked down the table and said, "Murai? Thank you for coming when you're so busy." Another man said, "Yes, how many panels would you have drawn?" Shigeru said, "Oh, it's not like before." Akiko's husband said, "He's being modest. That party recently? There were so many people, and things you've done. I was really impressed." He picked up a bottle of beer and held it out toward Shigeru. "Here, let me fill your glass." Shigeru put his hand over the glass. "No, I'm not very good with alcohol." Tetsu chuckled. "Yes, you do have a problem with it." Teruko, Fumie's aunt, looked across the tables and said, "A big problem!" Shigeru shrugged, and everyone chuckled.

In the kitchen, Kumiko, Tetsu's wife and Fumie's sister-in-law, was fillling bowls. Fumie was watching sake bottles in a hot water bath. Izumi, the youngest sister, was carrying platters. They were all wearing white aprons over their black dresses. Kumiko set a bowl on a platter with three other bowls, and said, "Here, Izumi, take this." Izumi picked it up and carried it out.

Fumie lifted a sake bottle, then turned it and set it back down in the hot water. Izumi brought back a tray full of dishes and sake bottles. Izumi said, "Fumie? Mother says you should come sit with her?" Fumie said, "I'll come soon." Izumi looked around the kitchen and sniffed. "Nostalgic, isn't it?" Fumie and Kumiko looked at her. "What?" She smiled. "The kitchen smell. It's home." Fumie turned around and said," There's a lot of years here." Then she looked at the floor and gestured with her hands. "There used to be a cooking hearth here, wasn't there?" She remembered the kitchen, with Toshi, her grandmother, cooking rice on the hearth, and her mother washing dishes. Then she smiled. "There are a lot of good memories in this kitchen."

At the tables, Fumie set a bottle of hot sake down near Yukie, the older daughter who wanted to go to Morocco. Yukie smiled and said, "Even when Genbee couldn't get out of bed, he still ran things, didn't he?" Izumi nodded. "Yes, he was stuck in bed, but he'd think of things." Akiko's husband said, "Like what?" Miyako smiled. "Well, if we were doing something else, he'd blow a trumpet. It was a little toy trumpet left over from when Takashi was a boy." Tetsu said, "It's good that Genbee and Takashi are together now. Still, it's sad that Takashi died so early." Quiet settled on the tables.

Miyako glanced around and said, "Well, when Genbee was feeling well, he'd play Go by himself." Fumie said, "He used to have lots of visitors that he played with." Yukie chuckled. "And lots of food, lots of drink. They kept Toshi and mother busy." Miyako said, "Well..." Tetsu said, "Whenever I tried to play with him, he'd tell me how bad I was." Miyako looked at Shigeru and said, "How about when you played with him, Shigeru?" Shigeru said, "I told myself how bad I was." Miyako said, "But he said that the next time he visited, he wanted to play again."

Kumiko said, "He really enjoyed watching TV, too. When Devil Boy came out, he was so excited."

Teruko, Fumie's aunt, looked across the table and said, "Murai? I'm sorry." She bowed. Shigeru looked at her and said, "Uh?" Teruko said, "I just wanted to finally admit it. I was against Fumie's marriage. A manga artist didn't sound reliable. And then getting married in five days." She shook her head.

Aiko and Yoshiko chorused, "Five days?"

Shigeru smiled at Teruko and said, "At that time, I had a deadline." Teruko said, "Well, Genbee was right." Yukie looked along the table at Akiko, Kumiko, and Izumi. She said, "Really, Genbee did very well for all of us. I think we've all been happy."

As the sun was setting, a young boy, followed by a young girl and a smaller boy, asked one of the seated men, "Is that the man who draws Kitaro manga?" He gestured at Shigeru. The man said, "Yes."

The boy scurried across the floor and stood beside Shigeru. The girl and smaller boy were on Shigeru's other side. The boy said, "Would you draw Kitaro?" The girl said, "And the eyeball father?" Yukie looked across the table and said, "Wait, wait. Don't badger him." Shigeru shook his head. "No, it's okay." Then he looked at Fumie and said, "Can you get my sketchbook?" Fumie said, "Okay."

Soon, Shigeru was drawing in the sketchbook. He draw large eyes, buck teeth, and whiskers. The boy said, "That's nezumi otoko, the rat man!"

Fumie leaned over to Miyako, her mother, and said, "At this kind of time, is it okay to be drawing and laughing?" Miyako smiled. "It's no problem. Look, Genbee's happy." She looked over at the picture on the shrine. Then she looked around the room. "Genbee is satisfied. He was poor, and didn't have such a special life, but he left behind such a good family."

Adults and children were gathered around Shigeru, looking at the sketches.

Miyako said, "Did you know? If you die when red spider lily is booming, your ancestors will carry you to heaven. At least, that's the legend." Then she smiled. "It's nice to think of Genbee, Toshi, Takashi, and all our ancestors being together and happy."

At the table, Shigeru drew a white sheet with a long curling tail. It had hands raised. He sketched in eyes, winking at them. The boy said, "That's Ittan momen, the roll of cotton." Shigeru said, "Yes." Then he pointed across the room at Fumie. "That's her over there." They all turned and looked at her, then chuckled. Fumie said, "There he goes again." Then she looked at Genbee's picture and said, "Genbee? Everyone is living with laughter."

The next morning, Aiko and Yoshiko stepped into the living room. Miyako and Kumiko were at the table. Aiko said, "Have you seen our parents?" Miyako nodded. "Yes, they went out for a walk." Yoshiko said, "A walk? That's unusual." Kumiko said, "They took the sketchbook with them."

Miyako said, "You came a long way. Dan dan." Aiko and Yoshiko shook their heads. Then they sat at the table and leaned forward. Yoshiko said, "Did Mom and Dad really get married just five days after the wedding interview?" Miyako smiled. "Oh, yes. In fact, it was so fast, even I was surprised."

Sitting on old stone steps, Shigeru was drawing in his sketchbook a torii, the Japanese arch with two standing columns and a beam across them, at the base of the steps with the surrounding woods and red spider lilies. Fumie sat beside him, peeking over his shoulder at the drawing. She said, "You really are good at drawing, aren't you?" Shigeru said, "Of course."

Fumie looked at the scene and said, "Shigeru? Are you happy with me?" He glanced sideways at her and said, "What do you mean?" Fumie said, "Well, if you married someone else, what would you have done?" Shigeru said, "Hum... well, everywhere I look, I see you." He glanced at her again. "A very easy-going face." Fumie said, with a smile, "What? Easy-going?"

Shigeru put his pencil in his pocket. Then he reached over and squeezed her shoulder. He said, "It's good with you." Fumie looked at him and said, "Oh, Shigeru."

Shigeru said, "We should go." He stood up and walked down the steps. Fumie followed him.

They walked through the torii, the spirit gate. Then they saw a large, twisted tree trunk, shady trees, and sunshine in beams behind them. As they followed the mossy path, there were eerie sounds of unseen birds and breezes blowing through the trees. Glancing up, the trees seemed to twist above them against the sky. Fumie shivered as the sunshine seemed to vanish. She looked up to see if a cloud had covered the sun, and the tree branches seemed to cover the sky.

There was a loud clop, clop, clop behind them.

Fumie licked her lips, and said, "There's something here." Shigeru said, "Yes. Don't look back." He reached over and took her hand. Then he led her to the edge of the path, standing in the leaves just in front of several ojizosan, small Buddhist statues that decorate pathways throughout Japan. He said, "Betobeto-san, please go ahead and pass by us." Fumie joined the chant.

The clop, clop, clop seemed to grow louder, then quieted, as if whatever had made the sounds had passed them.

Shigeru said, "I think it's gone, now." Fumie remembered long ago, a young boy with a sketchbook who had held her hand as a large, transparent figure walked by. She said, "It was him, wasn't it?"

The sun started to shine again, as if a cloud had moved past. Shigeru looked at Fumie and said, "Why did you know the betobeto chant?" Fumie said, "A long time ago, someone taught me. He said there are things we can't see, but they are here." Shigeru nodded. "Huh. Things we can't see, but they are here."

They walked on, coming to a large tree decorated in Shinto fashion with a braided rope around it. Paper ornaments hung from the rope. Around the bottom, red spider lily bloomed.

A voice behind them called, "Hey!" Fumie and Shigeru turned. Shigeru said, "Oh, you." Across the way, Nurikabe, the wall, blinked his large eyes as Ittan Momen, a white sheet with eyes and arms flew around him. In front of the wall stood the cat girl, old man, rat man, Kitaro, and the sand-throwing hag. Shigeru said, "You're all here." Fumie smiled and said, "Always, together." Nearby stood Devil Boy and Mephistopheles. And on the other side were a kappa, tanuki, and a boy.

Shigeru looked at Fumie and said, "Let's go." As they turned and started to walk, he said, "There's so much yet to come." Fumie said, "Yes." They walked on, into the woods along the path, passing by the big twisted tree with its decorations and the red spider lilies blooming everywhere.

The End