‘And you’re not angry about before?’
‘When you walked out on us?’ He shook his head. ‘Nah. It happens.’
‘It wasn’t that I was scared,’ Namie said. ‘I was never really that interested from the start, but I felt like I had to accept the invitation —’
Ryo was waving his chopsticks at her. ‘Look, I really don’t care.’
Namie’s mouth snapped shut and she stared at the boy. He ignored her and began to eat. His meal looked like some variation on fried pork cutlets with rice.
‘Maybe I will have a beer,’ Namie said.
He jerked his head to indicate the remaining can was hers. Sitting down across from him, she opened it and drank a gulp.
‘You live here?’ she asked.
Ryo ate in silence.
‘You don’t live with your parents?’ she asked again.
‘What is this, an interrogation?’ He snorted.
‘Why do you do what you do? Is it the money?’
‘Is there anything else?’
‘You don’t have sex?’
‘I do when I need to. If you hadn’t gone home today, I would have done it with you.’
‘Bet you’re glad you didn’t have to, then.’
‘I wasn’t glad to lose the money.’
‘Look at you, a big businessman. This is all just a game to you, isn’t it? You’re like a little boy.’
‘What did you say?’ Ryo glared at her. ‘Say that again.’
Namie swallowed. She hadn’t expected the look she was seeing in his eyes, and she felt embarrassed to have flinched.
‘I said you’re a little boy. What do you think these ladies are, your toys? No wonder you don’t have sex with them. I bet you can’t even get them off before you blow your wad.’
Ryo took another sip of beer. No sooner had he set down the can than he was out of his chair, rushing her with feral speed.
‘Wait! What are you —’ she managed to shout before he had her off the chair and on her back in the living room. She hit the tatami mats hard enough to knock the wind out of her and leave her gasping for breath.
She tried to sit up and he was on her again. He’d already undone the zipper on his jeans.
‘You want this? C’mon! Use whatever lips you want, baby, I ain’t picky!’ He gripped her face in his hands and thrust his penis towards it. ‘What’s the matter? I’m gonna blow my wad fast, right? Show me what you got!’
His penis was growing erect, twitching. She saw a vein in clear relief running down its side before she managed to get her hands on his thighs and push, struggling to turn her head away.
‘What’s the matter?’ he growled. ‘My little-boy cock scare you?’
Namie closed her eyes and groaned. ‘Stop – please, I’m sorry.’
Several seconds later, she was released to fall back on the floor. Ryo was walking back towards the dining room table, zipping his fly as he sat down and went back to eating. It was as if nothing had happened. Only the way he jabbed at his food with his chopsticks gave any hint of his irritation.
Namie steadied her breath and smoothed back her hair. Her heart was still racing. Her eyes flickered to the television in the next room. The same two words still hung on the screen:
GAME OVER
‘Why?’ she asked. ‘There are so many other jobs you could do. Why this?’
‘I’m just selling something people want. What’s wrong with that?’
‘Just selling something… right.’ She stood and walked towards the door, shaking her head. ‘I guess I’m too old to understand.’
She was past the table and at the door putting on her shoes when he called out to her. ‘Hey, lady.’
She looked around, one foot still raised in the air.
‘Interested in a job opportunity?’
‘What kind of opportunity?’
‘Nothing crazy,’ he said. ‘I got something needs selling.’
It was Tuesday of the second week in July and summer vacation was so close Tomohiko could taste it in the air.
He went up to get his graded English exam when his name was called and immediately wished he hadn’t. He’d been ready for a disappointment, but this was worse than he’d imagined. Every subject this term was the same. He didn’t have to look hard for the reason: he hadn’t studied for exams one bit. This was unusual for him. He might have a little bit of a bad streak, and there was the shoplifting every now and then, but for the most part Tomohiko took school seriously.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried. He’d sat down at his desk to take a stab at learning the bare minimum he thought he’d need to pass his exams. But his mind was so thoroughly elsewhere that no matter how hard he attempted to focus on his studying, his thoughts dragged him away.
Which all led to the test result he held in his hand.
Better not let Mom see this one. He sighed and crammed the paper into his bag.
After classes Tomohiko headed to the café in the lounge at the New Japan Air Hotel in Shinsaibashi. It was a sunny, spacious place, where you could look out through large windows at the hotel’s central courtyard.
As always, Yuko Hanaoka was there, reading a book at a corner table. She had on a white hat that hung low over thick-rimmed sunglasses.
‘Why are you hiding your face? What’s up?’ Tomohiko said, sitting across from her.
The waitress came over before she had a chance to respond. Tomohiko was about to wave her away, when Yuko whispered, ‘No, order something. I want to talk here.’
Tomohiko raised an eyebrow at the tension in her voice and ordered an iced coffee.
Yuko reached out for her Campari soda, already two-thirds gone, and drained the rest. She sighed. ‘How long till school’s out?’
‘End of the week.’
‘You working over summer vacation?’
‘You mean… my regular job?’
She smiled a little. ‘Of course. What else would I be asking about?’
‘I don’t plan to, no. Lot of hours, not a lot of money. Why bother?’
She pulled a pack of Mild Sevens out of her white handbag. Lifting the cigarette to her lips, she paused, a flash of irritation crossing her face.
Tomohiko’s iced coffee came. He drank half of it down in one gulp. He was terrifically thirsty.
‘Why aren’t we going to the room like always?’ he asked in a low voice.
Yuko lit her cigarette and blew out a long stream of smoke. Then she stubbed it out in the glass ashtray even though there was hardly a centimetre of ash at the end.
‘There’s a problem.’ She glanced around the café then stared right at him. ‘I think the old man found out.’
‘What old man?’
‘My husband, you idiot.’ She shrugged as though she were trying to make light of it and failing.
‘You mean he found out about us?’
‘Not everything. But it’s only a matter of time before he does.’
‘Whoa…’ Tomohiko felt the blood rush to his face.
‘It’s my fault,’ Yuko said. ‘I should have been more careful.’
‘How’d he find out?’
‘A friend of my husband’s saw me talking with a young man. Having a little too much fun. You get the picture.’
Tomohiko looked around, suddenly conscious of the other people in the café.
Yuko chuckled. ‘According to him, he suspected before his friend said anything. I was acting different, he says. He’s right, you know. I do feel like I’ve changed in a lot of ways since I started seeing you. Maybe that’s why I forgot to be careful.’ She scratched her head through her hat.
‘So, what, did he interrogate you or something?’
‘He wanted to know who it was, of course. He wanted a name.’
‘You told him?’
‘Of course not. I’m not that stupid.’
‘I wasn’t saying that!’ Tomohiko drank the rest of his iced coffee. Still thirsty, he gulped down his glass of water.