After that, Togashi changed. Or maybe it was just that the real person he had always been finally came to the surface. The days he didn’t go out gambling he spent lying about at home. When Yasuko complained, he became violent. He started drinking more, too, until it seemed as though he was always bleary-eyed drunk and looking for a fight.
Yasuko had no choice but to go back to work. But all the money she made, Togashi took from her by force. When she tried hiding it, he started turning up at the club on payday and taking the money before she could stash it away.
Misato learned to be terrified of her stepfather. She didn’t like being left alone with him at home. At times she even came to the club where Yasuko worked just to avoid him.
Yasuko asked Togashi for a divorce, but he wouldn’t hear of it. When she pressed harder, he started hitting her. Finally after months of anguish she turned to a lawyer recommended by one of her customers. The lawyer was able to get a reluctant Togashi to sign the divorce papers. Evidently, her husband realized that he had no chance of winning in court and that unless he agreed to go quietly, he might even end up having to pay alimony.
Yet divorce alone did not solve the problem. In the months that followed, Togashi had made a habit of dropping in on Yasuko and her daughter. His affairs were all settled, he told her; he was devoting himself to his work. Wouldn’t she consider mending things between them? When Yasuko tried to avoid him, he started approaching Misato, sometimes even waiting outside her school.
When he came to Yasuko literally on his knees, she couldn’t help but feel pity, even though she knew the whole thing was a performance. Perhaps a little bit of the affection she had once felt for him remained. She gave him a little money.
It was a mistake. Once Togashi got a taste, he started coming more frequently—always with the same groveling demeanor, yet growing increasingly shameless in his requests.
Eventually Yasuko switched clubs and moved to a new apartment. Even though she hated to do it, she also changed Misato’s school. And Togashi stopped appearing. Then a year ago she moved again and took the job at Benten-tei. She had wholly believed she had rid herself of that walking catastrophe for good.
She couldn’t let the Yonazawas hear about her ex-husband and his reappearance. She didn’t want to worry them. Misato couldn’t know about it either. She had to make sure, on her own, that he never came back to see her again. Yasuko glanced at the clock on the wall and gritted her teeth.
Just before six thirty, she left the shop and made her way to the restaurant. She found Togashi sitting near the window, smoking. There was a coffee cup on the table in front of him. Yasuko sat down, ordering hot cocoa from the waitress. She usually went for the soft drinks because of the free refills, but today she didn’t intend to stay that long.
“Why?” she asked with a glare.
Togashi’s mouth softened. “You’re sure in a hurry.”
“I’ve got a lot to do, so if you really have a good reason for coming here, out with it.”
“Yasuko—” Togashi reached out for her hand where it lay on the table. She drew it back quickly. His lip curled. “You’re in a bad mood.”
“Why shouldn’t I be? You better have a good reason for stalking me like this.”
“So antagonistic! I know I might not look it, but I’m serious about this.”
“Serious about what?”
The waitress brought her cocoa. Yasuko picked it up and took a scalding sip. She wanted to drink it as fast as she could and get out of there.
“You’re living by yourself, right?” Togashi asked, staring at her from under lowered brows.
“So? What business is it of yours?”
“Hard for a woman living by herself to raise a kid. She’s just going to cost more and more, you know. What do they pay you at that lunch shop, anyway? You can’t guarantee her future on that. Look, I want you to reconsider. Reconsider us. I’ve changed. I’m not like I was before.”
“What’s changed? You working?”
“I will. I’ve already found a job.”
“But you’re not working yet, are you.”
“I said I got a job. I’m supposed to start next month. It’s a new company, but once things get rolling, hey, you and your daughter could live the easy life.”
“Thanks, but no thanks. If you’re making all that money, I’m sure you won’t have any problem finding someone else to share it with. Just, please, leave us be.”
“Yasuko, I need you.”
Togashi reached out again, trying to touch her hand where she held the cup. “Don’t touch me!” She recoiled from his grasp; a little bit of the cocoa spilled as she moved, dripping on Togashi’s fingers. “Ow!” He jerked back his hand. When next he looked at her there was malice in his eyes.
Yasuko glared back. “You can’t just come here and give me the same old lines, not after what’s happened. How do you expect me to believe you? Like I said before, I haven’t the slightest desire ever to be with you again, not the slightest. So just give it up. Okay?”
Yasuko stood. Togashi watched her in silence. Ignoring his gaze, she put the money for her cocoa down on the table and headed for the door.
As soon as she was outside the restaurant, she retrieved her bicycle from its parking spot and began to pedal away. She pictured Togashi running after her, sniveling, and it made her pedal faster. She went straight down Kiyosubashi Road, turning left after Kiyosu Bridge.
She had said everything there was to say, but she was sure she hadn’t seen the last of him. He would show up at the shop again before long. He would stalk her, become a nuisance, maybe even make a scene. He might even show up at Misato’s school. He would wait for Yasuko to give in, figuring that when she did, she would give him money.
Back at her apartment, Yasuko began making dinner. Dinner wasn’t much more than warmed-up leftovers she had brought back from the shop, but even so, tonight cooking seemed like a difficult chore; every few moments her hands fell still as some horrible thought occurred to her, some scene played out in her mind.
Misato would be home soon. She was in the badminton club at school and usually spent time after practice talking with the other girls. She usually made it back around seven o’clock.
The doorbell rang. Yasuko frowned and went to the door. It wouldn’t be Misato. She had her own key.
“Yes?” Yasuko called without opening the door. “Who is it?”
There was a brief pause, and then, “It’s me.”
Yasuko didn’t answer. Her vision dimmed. A terrible feeling crept up inside her. Togashi had already found their apartment. He had probably followed her from Benten-tei one night.
Togashi began knocking on the door. “Oi!”
She shook her head and undid the lock, leaving the door chain fastened.
The door opened about four inches, revealing Togashi’s face right on the other side. He grinned. His teeth were yellow.
“Why are you here? Go away.”
“I wasn’t finished talking. Boy, short-tempered as always, aren’t you?”
“I told you, we’re done. Finished. Never again.”
“You can at least listen to what I have to say. Just let me in.”
“I won’t. Go away.”
“Hey, if you won’t let me in I’ll just wait here. Misato should be getting home anytime now. If I can’t talk to you, I’ll just have to talk to her.”
“She’s got nothing to do with this.”
“So let me in.”
“I’ll call the police.”
“Go ahead. What’s wrong with a man coming to visit his ex-wife? The police will take my side. You could at least let him in, ma’am, they’d say.”
Yasuko bit her lip. She hated to admit it, but he was probably right. She had called the police before, and they had never done the slightest thing to help her. That, and she didn’t want to make a scene. Most tenants had a guarantor backing up their rent, but she had moved in here without one. One troubling rumor and she could be kick
ed out onto the street.
“Okay. But you have to leave right away.”
“Sure, of course,” Togashi said, a light of victory in his eyes.
Yasuko undid the chain and opened the door. Togashi stepped in, taking off his shoes as he glanced around the room. It was a small apartment, just a kitchen and two other rooms. The room closest to the door was done in the Japanese style and was wide enough for six tatami mats on the floor, with a doorway on the right side leading into the kitchen. There was an even smaller Japanese-style room toward the back, and beyond that, a sliding door opened onto a small balcony.
“Little small, little old, but not a bad place,” Togashi commented as he sat down, tucking his legs underneath the low, heated kotatsu table in the middle of the room. “Hey, your kotatsu’s off,” he grumbled, fumbling around for the cord and switching it on.
“I know why you’re here.” Yasuko stood, looking down at him. “You can say whatever you like, but in the end, it’s all about money.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Togashi frowned, pulling a pack of Seven Stars from his jacket pocket. He lit one with a disposable lighter and started looking around more deliberately, noticing the lack of an ashtray for the first time. Getting up, he fished an empty can out of the trash and set it on the table. Sitting back down, he flicked his ashes into it.
“It means you’re only here to get money out of me. I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Well, if that’s how you want it to be, then I’m fine with that.”
“You won’t get a single yen out of me.”
He snorted. “That so?”
“Leave. And don’t come back.”
Just then, the door to the apartment flew open and Misato came in, still dressed in her school uniform. She stopped for moment when she saw the extra pair of shoes in the doorway. Then she saw who was there and a look of abject fear came over her face. The badminton racket dropped from her hand and clattered on the floor.
“Hello, Misato. It’s been a while. You’ve grown,” Togashi said, his voice casual as could be.
Misato glanced at her mother, slipped out of her sneakers, and walked in without saying a word. She made a beeline for the room in the back and closed the sliding door behind her tightly.
Togashi waited a moment before speaking again. “I don’t know what you think this is all about, but all I want to do is make things good between us again. I don’t see what’s wrong in asking that.”
“Like I said, I’m not interested. Surely you didn’t think I would really say yes? You’re just using that as an excuse to bother me.”
That had to have hit the mark. But Togashi didn’t respond. Picking up the remote, he turned on the television. It was a cartoon show.
Yasuko sighed and went into the kitchen. She reached into the drawer by the sink and pulled out her wallet. Opening it, she took out two ten-thousand yen bills.
“Take it and leave,” she said, putting the money on top of the kotatsu.
“What’s this? I thought you weren’t giving me any money.”
“This is it. No more.”
“Well, I don’t need it.”
“You won’t leave until you get something. I’m sure you want more, but things aren’t easy for us either.”
Togashi looked at the bills, then up at Yasuko’s face. “Fine, I’ll leave. And I really didn’t come here for money. This was your idea.”
Togashi took the bills and shoved them into his pocket. Then he pushed the rest of his cigarette butt inside the can and slid out from under the kotatsu. Rising, he turned, not toward the front door, but toward the back room. Moving quickly, he threw open the sliding door. Yasuko could hear Misato’s yelp from the other side.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Yasuko shouted at his back.
“I can say hello to my stepdaughter, can’t I?”
“She’s no daughter or anything else of yours anymore.”
“Give me a break. Fine. See you later, Misato,” Togashi said, still peering into the room. The way he was standing blocked Misato from Yasuko’s view, so she couldn’t see how her daughter was reacting.
Finally, he turned back toward the front door. “She’ll make a fine woman someday. I’m looking forward to it.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“It’s not nonsense. She’ll be making good money in three years. Anybody would hire her.”
“I want you to leave now.”
“I’m going, I’m going. For today, at least.”
“Don’t you dare come back.”
“Oh? Don’t think I can promise that.”
“You’d better not—”
“Listen, Yasuko,” Togashi said without turning around. “You’ll never get rid of me. You know why? Because you’ll give in before I will, every time.” He chuckled quietly, and then leaned over to put on his shoes.
Yasuko, stunned into silence, heard something behind her. She turned to see Misato, still in her uniform, rushing past her. Holding something above her head, Misato came up behind Togashi. Yasuko, frozen in place, couldn’t move to stop her, or even to cry out. She could only watch, horrified, as Misato brought the object down, striking Togashi on the back of his head. All she heard was a dull thud, and then she saw Togashi collapse on the floor.
TWO
Then something fell from Misato’s hand. It was a copper flower vase—a thank-you gift the Yonazawas had handed out to customers when Benten-tei opened for business.
“Misato!” Yasuko screamed, finally finding her voice. She went over to her daughter.
Misato’s face was blank. She had become a statue; for one long moment she stood unmoving. Then her eyes jerked open wide. She was looking past Yasuko—over her shoulder.
Yasuko whirled around to see Togashi staggering to his feet. He was grimacing, one hand pressed to the back of his head.
“Son of a…” Togashi grunted, his face red with hate. His eyes were fixed on Misato. He stumbled again, then took a lunging step toward her.
Yasuko kept herself between them. “No, stop!”
“Out of my way!” Togashi grabbed her arm and roughly shoved her aside. Yasuko reeled, hitting the wall hard and falling to her knees.
Misato turned to run, but Togashi grabbed her by the shoulders and brought all his weight to bear, pushing the girl down to the floor. Then he leapt astride her, grabbing her long hair and striking the side of her face with his right hand. “I’m gonna kill you, you little bitch!” he roared.
He is going to kill her, Yasuko thought. He really is going to kill her—
Still on her knees, Yasuko looked around frantically. The electrical cord snaking out from beneath the kotatsu caught her eye. She reached over, grabbed it, and yanked it out of the wall socket. The other end was still attached to a corner of the kotatsu top. She stood, making a loop out of the cord in her hand.
She stepped behind Togashi where he sat atop her daughter, hitting her repeatedly, howling in blind anger. She slipped the loop over his head and pulled with all her strength.
Togashi gave a strangled yelp and fell over on his back. Realizing what was happening, he tried to work his fingers under the cord, but Yasuko kept pulling. This man was a curse on her and her daughter. She had to get him off her daughter. She had to be rid of him. If she let go now she might never get another chance.
But Yasuko had only a fraction of her ex-husband’s physical strength. The cord slipped in her hands as they struggled. Meanwhile, Misato had scrambled out from beneath the man when he toppled over. Now she joined in the fight, clawing at Togashi’s fingers, pulling them away from the cord around his neck. She straddled his chest, pinning him to the floor.
“Quick, mom! Quick!” Misato shouted.
There was no time for hesitation. Yasuko screwed her eyes shut and pulled as hard as she could. Her heart pounded in her chest. She could hear the blood surge inside her as she drew the garrote tighter and tighter.
She could no
t have said how long she stood like that, straining blindly, desperately. Finally, a faint voice calling “Mom, Mom,” began to penetrate her mental fog and brought her back to her senses.
Slowly Yasuko opened her eyes, the cord still tightly gripped in her hands.
Togashi was right in front of her face. His open eyes were blank, the color of slate, glaring out into nothingness. His face was a sullen blue, suffused with blood. The cord had left a dark line across his neck.
Togashi wasn’t moving. A line of drool hung from his lips. His nose ran. Yasuko yelped and dropped the cord from her hands. Togashi’s head hit the tatami with a thud. He still showed no sign of life. Misato gingerly slid off him and onto the floor. The skirt of her school uniform was a wrinkled mess. She leaned back against the wall. For a moment mother and daughter sat in silence, their eyes glued to the unmoving man. The buzzing of the fluorescent light in the kitchen sounded loud in Yasuko’s ears.
“What do we do?” Yasuko said, her voice barely a whimper. Her mind was blank. “I killed him.”
“Mom…”
Yasuko looked up at her daughter. Misato’s face was white, but her eyes were red, and dried tear tracks ran down her cheeks. She must’ve been crying, though Yasuko couldn’t imagine when she’d had the time.
She looked again at Togashi. She was torn, half wanting him to spring back to life and half wanting him to stay dead. Not that it mattered what she wanted. From the looks of him, he wasn’t coming back.
“He did this. It was his fault.” Misato drew up her legs, hugging her knees to her chest. She buried her face between them and began to whimper.
“What do we do—?” Yasuko began. Then the doorbell rang, and her whole body jerked with surprise.
Misato looked up, her cheeks glistening. Their eyes met, asking each other, Who could it be?
Then there was a knock on the door, and a man’s voice. “Ms. Hanaoka?”
It was a voice she’d heard before, though she couldn’t for the life of her place it. Yasuko was fixed to the spot, paralyzed. She and Misato simply stared at each other.
Knock, knock.
“Ms. Hanaoka. Ms. Hanaoka?”