Miki stood on the side of the road and watched her for five minutes, as if she were expecting the child to reanimate. She was hypnotized by the girl’s corpse. A truck drove past her. The driver saw Miki, but he couldn’t see the girl in the ditch. Like most people after work, he was focused on going home to relax. The rest of the world didn’t concern him.
A sense of accomplishment pulled Miki’s lips up into a slight smile. She put her mask on and strolled away. She walked for thirty minutes. She didn’t hear any sirens or see any concerned residents. She arrived at a small house in the countryside and rang the doorbell.
From inside the home, a woman yelled, “Hai!”
Although it translated to ‘yes,’ it was also used as a greeting.
The door swung open. Miki didn’t hear it unlock. An old woman, Seiko, stood in the entryway. Her smile wavered upon recognizing her visitor, then it broadened and tears came to her eyes.
“Miki-chan,” she said.
“Okaasan,” Miki responded with a bow.
‘Mom.’
“Ara doshitano. Areirai…”
‘My goodness. It’s been… so long since I’ve seen you. Since the…’
Seiko stopped before she could mention the incident. It had been a year and a half since she rushed to the hospital after Adam attacked her daughter.
She said, “Nakade hanasou.”
‘Come in. Let’s talk.’
Miki said, “Gomen. Nagakuwa irenai. Onegaiga aruno.”
‘Sorry, but I can’t stay long. I only came to ask for a favor.’
Concern brewing in her eyes, Seiko stuttered, “Da–Daijōbu?”
‘A–Are you okay?’
“Daijōbu,” Miki responded with a smile. “California ni iku tameni okanega hitsuyo. Visa ya iemo mitsukatta kara.”
‘I’m fine. I need money to go to California. I already applied for my visa and I already found a place to stay.’
“California?” Seiko repeated. “Doshite?”
‘California? Why?’
Miki looked over her shoulder and thought about Mei. She considered saying something like: ‘I killed a girl, so I have to run away.’ But she didn’t want to get into any trouble. It wasn’t the complete truth anyway. She wasn’t heading to California to evade the police.
She turned towards her mother and said, “Benkyono tameni.”
‘I’m going to study.’
Seiko loved Miki with all of her heart. She wished she could have held her hand and led her through life while protecting her from the world’s evil. But she saw something in her eyes and noticed something in her voice—ulterior motives. She felt like she wasn’t speaking to her beloved daughter.
She said, “Nakede hanasou.”
‘Come inside, we’ll talk about it.’
Miki smiled and nodded at her mother. She took off her shoes in the entryway, then she joined her mother at a short-legged table for a cup of tea and a chat.
A typhoon ravaged Chiba, Japan that night, buying Miki some time to escape the countryside. Hidden by the heavy rain, Mei’s body was found the following morning. The murder was headline news, disturbing parents and children across the country. But without any witnesses or surveillance footage, the police quickly hit a dead end in their investigation.
Parents started warning their children about strangers while the kids told stories of a murderous ghost. Urban legends were born from tragedy.
PART II
9
ANNIVERSARY
Adam stared absently at his reflection. He didn’t recognize the man in the mirror—too kempt, too free, too human.
“You listening?” a male voice asked.
Adam turned his head to follow the noise. His cell phone lay on a shelf in front of a closet storage bin to the right of the mirror. He recognized Dallas’ voice. His attention had wandered away from their conversation.
Dallas asked, “Adam, you there? Hello? What are you—”
“I’m here,” Adam interrupted. “Sorry, I just had to… I thought Amber was calling, so I was just checking if everything was all right with her.”
“How’s she doing?”
“So far, no complaints. To be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting her to take parenthood in stride. I mean, it’s not like I was expecting her to be a bad mother, but I was thinking there would be, you know, more mood swings and exhaustion and frustration. She’s with Riley all day and she’s as lively as ever. Meanwhile, I’m anxious every day.”
Dallas chuckled, then he asked, “What do you have to be anxious about? Riley is a princess, man.”
“Exactly. She’s too precious to me. I’m afraid of everything. She’ll lose her balance and hit her head on something, she’ll try to swallow something and choke, she’ll… Ah, God, Dallas, I don’t even want to talk about it. I want to go check on her right now and I’m sure I’ll find her with Amber, both of ‘em smiling. I just can’t shake this anxiety, this fear.”
He looked at the door to his right. He stood in his walk-in closet, but he could hear the silverware clanking and childish giggling from the first floor of the house. Riley was his daughter, born in October of 2018. Postpartum anxiety was common in parents. Every loving parent wanted their children to grow up healthy, and every loving parent was worried about losing their children.
Adam’s anxiety came from somewhere else, though. It came from his belief in karma. Although he tried to bury it and he didn’t think about it some days, he couldn’t erase the memories of his violent actions. He harmed Miki, so he believed retribution was coming his way—a beast slowly shambling towards him with murderous determination.
Interrupting his thoughts, Dallas said, “Well, buddy, if you ever need us to take Riley off your hands so you two lovebirds can take a break, you know she’s welcome to stay with us. We love that girl.” He laughed, then he said, “But I have to warn you: Marissa might not want to give her back. Ever since Riley was born, she’s been asking when we’re going to have a baby of our own.”
“You’re not getting any younger,” Adam said, smirking as he adjusted the cuffs of his button-up shirt.
“Don’t go and encourage her. I can’t give in until the money’s straight.”
“It’s been straight, buddy. Business is booming.”
“I just need it to be better. If I’m having a baby, I need to make sure she’s rich.”
“You’re going to have to settle down, stop traveling, stop drinking, stop gambl—”
“All right, all right, all right, enough of that,” Dallas said quickly. They laughed. Dallas said, “Speaking of business and traveling, I’m getting ready to head out to Japan next week for our little anniversary trip. I know you skipped last year’s and I know it’s late, but I have to ask you again. Doug is a buzzkill so I don’t want to spend a week with him. Will you come with me? With us?”
A tie wrapped around his fingers, Adam stood motionless for what felt like an hour. Dallas didn’t know about the incident between Adam and Miki. Although he had demanded an explanation for his sudden departure prior to booking Adam’s flight, he never asked him for a reason. He pretended Adam’s affair never happened. He certainly wasn’t going to bring it up now that Adam was a father.