"Do you think I'm still punishing my father? Maybe I am, but he wasn't the only one who abandoned my mother. I did too. You can't blame that on youth. I was wild and selfish. I might not..." Her voice trailed off, and she squeezed her eyelids tighter.
"Might not what?"
"Be able to forgive myself, if I were happy, if I had someone. Little bit crazy, right?"
"Yeah, and not just a little."
The left corner of her mouth dipped in a Yuri smile. "Thanks."
There was a lot of deep-seated darkness rumbling through Yuri's psyche. I already knew she had been hurt in more ways than she told me.
Whatever it was, I'd hoped I could overcome it. "It's wrong to think that way. You already know that it's wrong, but you haven't accepted it." I covered her hand in mine. "You'll let me know if you do?"
"I most surely shall. But just now, I can't pick up and change. Maybe someday we'll cross paths, or I'll track you down and knock on your door."
"I don't have a whole lot of time left, Yuri."
"Neither do newborns. They just don't know it yet."
"Tell me you'll try."
She nodded.
Do you know, Yuri, what you gave me the strength to sacrifice? A ticket to South Padre dunes, the wind, the sea, the gulls at dawn. In a clash of principles, I told Abe to take his job and shove it. When I did, I saw you. If I hadn't, I might have followed orders like a good soldier.
I kissed her hair and told myself that someday the knock would come, even though I knew better. I'd doubled down in life and love and lost.
That should be a lesson for a wise man, but as for me, would I do it again?
And after that, again, from now till evermore.
The next day, I boarded a plane, not so much to go home, but to leave this place, to rid myself of East Asia, and most especially Japan.
About the Author
Sam Waite has worked in financial journalism for most of his career, including stocks editor at Bloomberg's Tokyo bureau and financial and economics editor at Nikkei. He also worked as a communications specialist at McKinsey & Co. in Japan. His training in martial arts and Asian studies led to his move to Japan, where he has lived for the past 30 years. His first exposure to Asia was in March 1967, Vietnam, courtesy of the U.S. Marine Corps. After that tour was done, he was granted a request for a year's duty at USMC airbase Iwakuni, Japan.
He is the author of the Mick Sanchez mystery Dollar Down, which involves a multinational attack on the U.S. currency and is set in Paris. His website is sambwaite.com.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
About the Author