When she returned after several days, Alexa smiled tentatively at him and suggested they go for a walk after dinner. It was still light when they got to a spot that Jake thought she would like. There was a small pond, and they could sit on a flat rock that looked down on the clear water, where fish about the size of minnows flitted in apparent joy in their search for food. The place was almost totally hidden by sheer cliffs, and, without being ordered, Sergeant Hawkins had discreetly placed guards around the tops. Jake knew this and was glad that they were out of sight.
Carefully and completely, Alexa told him everything that had happened to her and to Melissa. She spoke of the backbreaking work in the fields, of watching Father Monroe being tortured, and of her finally agreeing to speak treason for the Japanese. She told him in detail of her night of sex and drugs with Omori and Han, and then of Kami’s rape and suicide. “Somehow I will get over it. I’m not certain how, just yet, but I will,” she concluded.
When she was finished, he held her hand tightly. “You didn’t have to tell me this. Omori used you and raped you, and then you got away from him. You did what you had to, and I’m glad, really glad, because that means you’re here. You’re with me and you’re safe. And I’m glad you tried to save Kami. You’re not responsible for her death, Goto and Omori are.”
She smiled tentatively. “I did have to tell you. If I didn’t, you’d always wonder just what happened, and I think it would eat at you. Now you know, and you can judge for yourself whether I did the right things or not.”
“There was nothing else you could have done, Alexa. Everything was out of your control. You were his pawn. If you hadn’t done what he wanted, you’d be dead or wishing you were. Life is too precious; I’m glad you didn’t give it up.”
“I know. Did you know the women you sent with me while I was out thinking were also assaulted by the Japs?”
“No,” he said. “Frankly, I never gave it a thought.”
“We talked about it. One of them was raped only once, the other by a dozen soldiers. We told each other everything, and then we cried. It helped to realize I haven’t been alone. In fact, I may have been fortunate. I wonder if there will be any women in Hawaii who weren’t attacked by the time this all ends. If it ever ends,” she added. “The Japs use sex as a weapon, a tool, to achieve their ends. And we’re supposed to respect them?”
Alexa took a deep breath and looked up at the darkening sky. Some of the larger stars were already visible. “Just think. In six months, I’ve gone from a docile, wealthy, college graduate navy wife to a widow who’s been assaulted by a Jap officer, who’s betrayed her country, and who’s now a refugee in a guerrilla camp. What’s the saying? That which doesn’t kill me, strengthens me? I guess I must be getting terribly strong.”
She allowed him to put his arm around her shoulders, although he made no effort to draw her closer. He understood and sympathized far better than she realized. Someday, he thought, he’d tell her of the terrible and sometimes drunken assaults some men had made on him when he was a boy, in particular those weekends he’d spent in county jails for minor offenses. Growing strong enough to resist them had been a marvelous revelation.
She shuddered. “I’ll never be as strong as you are. My life was always so sheltered. Damn the Japs. Damn Omori and Goto.”
“Goto’s here on the island, Alexa. We’d heard about Kami’s death, although I didn’t connect it to you. Goto’s been banished until it blows over and is stationed in Hilo.”
“Are you going to kill him?”
The ease with which she asked the question surprised him. If her ordeal hadn’t strengthened her, it had apparently hardened her. “If the opportunity presents itself. I’m not going to risk what we have here for personal revenge.”
“And what do you have here, Jake?”
He explained about the secret base the engineers were building. “Our first priority is to stay alive and undiscovered by the Japs in Hilo, or by their planes. I’m glad they don’t seem to have too many planes to look for us. Whether we can build an airstrip and keep it quiet or not is another point, but we’re doing our best.”
“I’ve enlisted in your army, haven’t I?”
“Yep.”
“Good. I want to do what I can to help. Will you get me a gun and teach me to shoot?”
He decided not to tell her that the military used rifles and not guns. “I will. Gladly.”
“Good,” she said and tucked her head under his chin. “Now just hold me very strongly. I need strength, Jake. I don’t have all that much myself, although I’m working on it.”
Jake did as he was told and reveled in the feel of her body next to his and the fact that she had so much implicit faith in him. She smelled clean and good, and her breath was hot on his chest.
Jake counted his blessings. Alexa was here and safe, and considered him a part of her future. Despite the pain she’d endured, he liked that. Whatever wounds she still felt, he would help her heal them.
Then a pragmatic thought intruded. By helping Alexa escape, Toyoza Kaga had totally and completely decided whether he was Japanese or American.
After a while, Jake grinned into the night. Alexa was sound asleep and snoring slightly. Maybe the healing had begun.
Colonel Omori nodded as Toyoza Kaga entered his office and took a seat. “The people still hate us, don’t they, Kaga?”
“It will take time, Colonel. Wounds do not heal overnight. It would have been far better for Goto to have been tried, either here or in Japan. Then people would know that justice was being done and not deferred.”
Omori shook his head angrily. “Impossible.”
Kaga knew it would have been difficult to prove a crime, even under normal circumstances. Kami had committed suicide, and could not testify against Goto for the rape. And it was highly unlikely that the enlisted men who had also raped the child would ever come forward. In Kaga’s opinion, they were headed toward Japan if they were not there already.
“Then you will just have to live with the circumstances until the emotions fade.”
Omori accepted that. He had expected as much. “And your son, is he doing well?”
Kaga’s only son, Akira, had been brought by ship to Oahu. Kaga had been told that Akira’s return was a gift from the Japanese government for his presumed loyalty. His son had lost a leg in the fighting in China and was no longer of any use to the Japanese army. Kaga’s heart ached at the pain his son was feeling, but, as usual, he masked his emotions. “He is improving, thank you,” he replied.
Akira had volunteered for the Japanese army while he was a student in Tokyo, a fact that made his father loyal in the eyes of Omori. He had become an officer and been assigned to duty in China. What Omori didn’t know was that Akira had quickly become disillusioned, even horrified, by what was occurring there. On returning home, Akira had filled his father’s ears with tales of the Japanese army’s butchery. In particular, he told of the incident called the Rape of Nanking, in which tens of thousands of civilians had been raped, tortured, and murdered.
Now Kaga knew there was no honor in Japan’s enterprise or in its intentions for the people of Asia. Both Toyoza and his son had begun to meet with a small circle of friends who shared this view. A number of them were young and of military age, and several had even served in the Hawaiian National Guard. This fact had begun to give both men interesting thoughts.
Kaga feigned a proud smile. “My son has served his emperor well. Even so, I am glad he is home.”
“As am I. Perhaps your son will speak to the people of Oahu of his experiences. It might help our cause.”
My, my, Kaga thought. The man will actually help us recruit followers. Akira could meet openly with the people of Oahu and selectively with others without attracting attention.