But something is wrong, very wrong…
Miss Akiyama comes back to her seat at the counter. She nudges me and she whispers, ‘Did you see that man? That man is a doctor from the Ministry of Health and Welfare. I just heard him tell Mr Yoshida that the Ministry of Health and Welfare have discovered an outbreak of dysentery in Shiinamachi. The Ministry of Health and Welfare have traced the outbreak to that well in front of Mr Aida’s house. You know Mr Aida?’
I look up from my pile of deposits. I nod my head.
‘That doctor from the Ministry of Health and Welfare just told Mr Yoshida that one of Mr Aida’s tenants has been diagnosed with dysentery. That doctor said that this tenant came into the bank today and he made a deposit…’
‘What was his name?’ I ask her.
Miss Akiyama is shaking her head, flicking through her pile of deposits on the counter. ‘I didn’t catch it but if it’s that well, this will be why Mr Ushiyama’s been so sick. This will mean we could all be infected. This could mean …’
I look back down at my pile of deposits, all checked and all finished. I start to flick through them, looking for the Aida address.
‘The doctor will have to inoculate everyone against dysentery,’ whispers Miss Akiyama. ‘And he’ll have to disinfect everything that may have been infected. All the rooms, all the money. No one will be allowed to leave until he’s finished …’
I stare at the deposits and I nod again. Now I know I won’t be able to leave soon. Now I know something is very wrong. Now I know I won’t be able to go back to my home, not back to my quilt, not back to my dreams, for now I know those dreams are all gone.
Mr Takeuchi comes over to the counter. Mr Takeuchi sighs and he says, ‘We all have to assemble at Mr Yoshida’s desk. We all have to take some medicine …’
‘I told you, I told you,’ whispers Miss Akiyama as we get up from our seats at the counter and go over to Mr Yoshida’s desk at the back of the bank.
Miss Akuzawa has brought all our teacups on a tray to Mr Yoshida’s desk. The doctor from the Health and Welfare Ministry is opening a small bottle. This doctor is in his forties.
And now I look him in his face.
It is round, very round.
Like an egg. And I know, I know I will never forget this face.
Now I look at the bottle in his hand. I read FIRST DRUG written in English on its label.
‘Is everybody here?’ asks the doctor.
Mr Yoshida quickly looks at each of us, counting our heads. Even Mr Takizawa’s two children are here. Mr Yoshida nods.
‘Good,’ says the doctor and picks up a pipette. The doctor drips some clear liquid into each of our cups. The doctor tells us to each pick up our own teacup. I reach for my teacup.
I lift it up to my mouth but I stop.
The doctor has his hand raised in warning. The doctor says, ‘This serum is very strong and if it touches your teeth or gums it can cause great damage. So please listen and watch carefully as I demonstrate how to swallow the serum safely.’
Now the doctor takes out a syringe. The doctor dips the syringe into the liquid. The doctor draws up a measure of the liquid into the syringe. The doctor opens his mouth. The doctor places his tongue over his bottom front teeth and tucks it under his lower lip. The doctor drips the liquid onto his tongue. The doctor tilts back his head and lets the medicine roll back into his throat.
Now the doctor looks at his wristwatch, his right hand raised, poised in the air. Suddenly, the doctor’s hand falls and he says, ‘Because this medicine may damage your gums and your teeth, you must all be sure to swallow it quickly. Exactly one minute after you have taken the first medicine, I will administer a second medicine …’
I look down at Mr Yoshida’s desk again. I see another bottle, a bottle marked SECOND DRUG in English letters.
‘After you have taken the second medicine, you will be able to drink water and rinse out your mouths.’
We all nod. I nod.
‘Now lift up your cups,’ says the doctor.
I pick up my teacup.
‘Now drip the liquid onto your tongues.’
I put my teacup to my lips and I drink the liquid. It is horrible. It tastes so bitter, so very, very bitter.
‘Tilt back your heads.’
I tilt back my head.
‘Now swallow.’
I swallow.
‘I will administer the second drug in precisely sixty seconds, so please put your teacups back on the table.’
I put my teacup back down on Mr Yoshida’s desk. I look up at the doctor. The doctor is staring at his wristwatch. I can still taste the liquid in my mouth.
‘It tastes a bit like gin,’ laughs Mr Yoshida.
‘I don’t think I’ve swallowed any,’ says Mr Tanaka. ‘Perhaps I should have another measure. Just to be sure …
‘Just to be safe.’
But the doctor shakes his head, still staring at his wristwatch.
‘It tastes disgusting,’ says Miss Akiyama. ‘May I please gargle with some water?’
But again the doctor shakes his head, still staring at his wristwatch.
‘But it’s so very vile,’ says Miss Akiyama again.
Now the doctor begins to pour the second drug into each of our teacups. Then the doctor looks up at us all. And the doctor says, ‘Please pick up your teacups again.’
I pick up my teacup again.
Now the doctor checks his wristwatch again. Now the doctor gestures for us each to drink.
And now I put my teacup to my lips again and now I drink the second liquid and now I can taste the second liquid in my mouth, in my throat, and it is horrible too, and now I need to drink some water, some water, some water, and now I can hear people complaining and people coughing, and now I hear the doctor saying –
‘You can rinse out your mouths now …’
— and now I see everyone rushing for the sink, for the tap, for the water, and now I am rushing for the sink, for the tap, for the water, and now I see people falling to the floor, and now I see Miss Akiyama lying on the floor, and now I am trying to reach her but I need the sink, the tap, the water, and now I am thinking I’ll get to the sink, to the tap, to the water, then I’ll come back to Miss Akiyama, people coughing, people retching, people vomiting, and now I can feel people pushing past me, people clambering over me to get to the sink, to the tap, to the water and now I am drinking and drinking and drinking, but now the light is fading and fading and fading, now the light is leaving us, leaving us here, here in the Occupied City, and now I feel a grey-ness coming and into the grey-ness,
I am falling, I am falling, I am falling,
I am falling, I am falling,
I am falling,
into the grey-ness, I am falling,
falling and falling away,
away from the light,
from the Occupied City, towards a grey place,
a place that is no place. But then the light
grips me, it holds me tight, tight,
tight, it pulls me back
Down the bank’s corridors, into the bank’s genkan. Help me! Through the doors, into the street. On my hands and on my knees, I crawl through the Occupied City. Into the light, into the sleet. Help me, I say. She is drunk, she is mad. In the mud and in the sleet, on my hands and on my knees, in the Occupied City. Help me …
‘Please help me!’
IN THE OCCUPIED CITY, I hear boots in the mud, I hear sirens in the sky. But I am falling again. In the Occupied City, people are asking me my name. I am still falling. In the Occupied City, I do not know my name. For I am falling. In the Occupied City, I am moving. I am falling. In the Occupied City, I am in a white room. But I am still falling. In the Occupied City, people keep asking me my name. In the Occupied City, I do not know my name. For I am falling. In the Occupied City, people are asking me what happened. I am still falling. In the Occupied City, I do not know what happened.