Summertime of the Dead Read online

  ‘I know, but she was upset. I think it’s OK if they’re upset. Isn’t that right, Yukio?’

  ‘Maybe,’ I said, but I didn’t think it was. But I knew that Hiroshi would never offend Natsuko, or anyone else for that matter, so I suppose it wasn’t too bad. Besides, I couldn’t have been happier. I was with Miko and the sun was shining and we had the whole of the summer holidays ahead of us!

  We headed across the wide common, passing the courting couple and the families picnicking on the grass. And everywhere we went there was music. We passed Brazilians beating drums, a guy playing a guitar and a girl blasting away on a trombone. And as we neared the exit we saw some of the Harajuku Girls. They were the costume-play crowd who dressed up as Gothic Lolita. They had strange clothes, mad make-up and wacky hairstyles, but they were fun to look at. And so were the rockabillies who dressed in black and danced as cool as they could.

  We came out of the park and headed down the beautiful Omotesando Boulevard, where the tall trees act like a canopy to keep off the sun. Grandmother said that artists and painters lived here at one time. But today it’s lined with designer stores as far as you can see. It’s all Armani and Gucci, and girls shopping for the latest fashion, or just parading up and down in it. The whole street’s like a catwalk.

  We lost Hiroshi in the crowd, and turning we saw him with a salesgirl outside Omotesando Hills, a designer building built to hold high fashion. Hiroshi likes girls and he’s not shy about talking to them. He talks to shop assistants, and the girls at school, and their mothers if they come to collect them. He even talks to the cleaning women. And whenever we lose sight of him he’s always talking to some girl or another. I talk to girls as well, besides Miko, but it doesn’t come so naturally.

  When he’d finished we walked all the way down to the Prada Building, which is a glass structure with sticky-out windows. It looks like an apartment block wrapped in bubble wrap.

  ‘Let’s look inside,’ said Hiroshi. ‘We’ve never been inside.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Miko, intimidated by the posh look of the place.

  ‘We can look inside if we want. Can’t we, Yukio?’

  ‘Sure,’ I said. And so that’s what we did.

  It smelled nice inside and it looked nice, and the clothes were nice as well. I looked at the shoes while Miko went to where the bags were. I don’t know what it is with Tokyo girls and Prada bags, but they go wild for them. But Miko doesn’t, not usually, but then she looked at one bag like she was in love.

  ‘You’ll turn into a Harajuku Girl if you’re not careful,’ said Hiroshi, and wandered off to talk to the saleswomen.

  Miko smiled at the bag, but she cringed when she saw the price. A smartly dressed salesman appeared, and seeing she couldn’t afford it he very politely took it away. She looked embarrassed and so I pretended not to have noticed.

  ‘What shall we do now?’ I asked.

  ‘Let’s have a picnic at the Imperial Palace,’ she said.

  ‘Yes,’ said Hiroshi. ‘And we’ll pay because it’s Yukio’s birthday.’

  I didn’t like the twins spending their money on me because they didn’t have much. Their grandad was too old to work and so they had to get by on his pension. My mother’s always sending me cheques and Grandmother gives me more than I need. But I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to hurt their feelings.

  We bought packed lunches from the Anniversary Café and then we took the subway to Tokyo station. When we came up to street level we cut through the skyscrapers and headed down to the Imperial Palace.

  We like to hang out there because it’s free to get into and it looks like a castle. It has huge walls and wide moats, and ramparts with towers above them. And we like the bridge, which we call Spectacles Bridge, because of the arches that look like eyes. As a small boy I’d often imagine armies battling on that bridge, but I don’t think it had ever seen action.

  We passed through the powerful East Gate and wandered around until we found a bench where we could have our picnic. Then we ate and drank while looking at the gardens, and the short trees, and the perfectly groomed lawns. Not far in the distance was another wall, with tall trees at the top, and beyond that was the Imperial Palace and the emperor. Hiroshi drank some Coke from the bottle and then he turned to us. ‘You think Emperor Akihito’s at home?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said.

  ‘Sing for him, Miko, and he might come out.’

  ‘I can’t.’

  ‘Come on, Miko, it’s my birthday. You have to sing.’

  She looked around to make sure that no one was watching and then she sang a song called ‘Summertime’. Her voice rebounded off the stone walls, twirled around the towers and echoed under the bridge. She had such a soothing voice that it made me lie back. But what was more amazing was that she didn’t seem to make much effort. There wasn’t the slightest strain on her face, even for the high notes, and yet her voice carried so far. I was sure that if the emperor was home he could hear Miko. I imagined him having tea on his balcony and wondering where the singing was coming from. I felt proud then that she was my friend. And for the first time I thought about asking her to be my girlfriend.

  We stayed there until the sun started to set and then we took the subway back to Yoyogi Park. The Harajuku Girls had gone by then and so had the Rockabillies. But there were still plenty of joggers and cyclists and people walking dogs. And it was nicer now because it was cool and the grounds were bathed in a pink tint. We went to our usual spot, on the common, and Hiroshi pulled the orange frisbee from his rucksack. It was the first present I ever bought the twins and we still got a real kick out of throwing it. It’s strange how the little things can make you happy. And it had been such a great day I found myself wishing we could throw it in the park for the rest of our lives. But then the wind picked up and the sun set and the sky turned as red as blood. I’d never seen it so red. And there was something frightening about it. I had the strangest feeling that something bad was going to happen to us. The frisbee flew past me.

  ‘You’re not concentrating, Yukio,’ said Hiroshi.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ asked Miko.

  As soon as I saw her face the bad feeling faded away. ‘Nothing. I was just …’ But I couldn’t explain what had come over me. I threw her the frisbee and she laughed as she ran to catch it.

  ‘It’s just a red sky,’ I said. ‘There’s nothing to be scared of. Nothing at all.’

  2

  I ran up the subway steps and down Omotesando Boulevard. It was already eight and I had to pick up the twins by nine. Their grandad had taken them to Tokyo’s Disneyland for the day, but tonight I was taking them to a nightclub, a real club as well. I’m not kidding. I’d seen the advertisement in Shibuya and bought the tickets. One of the clubs – Paradise, it was called – was opening its doors to kids aged fourteen to seventeen. It closed at midnight and there was no alcohol, of course, but I knew that Hiroshi would love it.

  But now I was late! I’d been at kendo practice all morning and in the afternoon I decided to go for a run. Then I’d taken a nap. Now I was running for real because I’d overslept. What’s more I had to go to the Meiji Shrine to have a prayer said for my father. He died four years ago today, or close to, and I knew that Grandmother would ask me if I had done it. I didn’t mind doing it. In fact I wanted to. But I had to get home and get ready to go out.

  I ran down to the Prada Building to buy the bag. I didn’t care how much it cost. I wanted Miko to have it, and I wanted to be the one to buy it for her. And so I ran all the way to the store, and moving straight to the bags I looked for the one that she’d liked. But I couldn’t remember which one it was. And I didn’t want to buy the wrong bag. The smartly dressed salesman came towards me. He was tall and about twenty and he had stylish hair like a footballer. He picked up a bag and smiling he handed it to me. Straight away I knew it was the one.

  I paid for the bag and left as quick as I’d come. The Prada people bowed to me as I was lea
ving. And following me outside they bowed some more. But I was already running up Omotesando Boulevard, weaving my way in and out of the many shoppers. But it wasn’t long before I had to stop and walk with the crowd. I swear, Tokyo’s the worst city in the world when you’re in a rush. I was on the verge of getting pavement rage, but then I got a break and I made the most of it. I ran past Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton and Versace, and crossing the road at Harajuku station I headed towards the Meiji Shrine.

  I passed under the huge Shinto gate, which was shaped like soccer posts and built from tree trunks, and ran down the wide gravel path. The path was lined with tall trees that blocked out the noise of the city and all of a sudden it was like being in a forest. I kept going until I saw the Meiji Shrine, which was dedicated to Emperor Meiji and his wife, Shoken. They used to come here when they wanted to get away from things, and so when they died a shrine was built in their honour.

  I came to a sink and washed my mouth and hands. It’s important to wash before entering a shrine because cleanliness shows respect for the gods. I went to the shrine shop and bought a wooden plaque from one of the maidens, whose name was Tomoko. She was as cold as the nun was warm and I’d never so much as seen her smile. All the maidens were straight-faced, if you ask me, but she was more so because she was the head priest’s daughter.

  I wrote a prayer on the plaque and hung it around the divine tree, which was just outside the main courtyard. The plaques would be collected that night and the prayers would be read out at the morning ceremony. I didn’t need to have the prayer said here, but this was where my father’s birth was registered, and so it fitted in with tradition. And we’re kind of traditional in Japan.

  Before I left I faced the building where our old emperor was enshrined and bowed before running back down the path. I ran around the corner and sprinted into Yoyogi Park. Then I turned around and ran back. I’d left the bag at the shrine shop! I ran as fast as I could and headed through the gate. As I did one of the security guards tried to stop me. ‘We’re closed,’ he shouted. But I ignored him and carried on running. There’s no way Miko wasn’t getting her bag on her birthday.

  When I got back to the shop three of the maidens were looking at it.

  ‘Here he is,’ said Tomoko. It was the first time I’d seen her smile. I didn’t think she knew how. ‘Who’s it for?’ she asked, handing me the bag.

  ‘My girlfriend,’ I said. I don’t know why I lied. But it wasn’t such a big lie. And maybe it wasn’t a lie at all.

  ‘She’s a lucky girl,’ said Tomoko. ‘Getting a bag like that.’ Then the three of them started to giggle. What they were giggling at I don’t know. Girls giggle for no reason.

  I took the bag and ran all the way to the house, where I showered and changed. And then I ran downstairs with my damp shirt sticking to my back. Then I ran up them again because I’d forgotten the bag. And then I jogged over to the twins’ place just five doors down. They live in a one-bedroomed apartment and it’s pretty small at that. Their grandad sleeps in the living room on a bedroll and rolls it up in the morning. But they’ve got the place as nice as it can be and it’s pretty cosy at night.

  I ran up the steps and knocked on the door. And there they were, looking as smart as I’d ever seen them. Hiroshi was wearing black pants and a white shirt, like me. But Miko was wearing the black dress that she’d made herself, and boy did she look good. What’s more she was wearing make-up. I’d never seen her in make-up before. It made her look older, and prettier.

  ‘Happy birthday, Hiroshi. Happy birthday, Miko,’ I said, and I handed her the bag. But she never smiled like I thought she would. For a second I thought she was going to cry. Suddenly she threw her arms around me.

  Hiroshi rolled his eyes. ‘You two are going to be kissing next.’

  We laughed then and she let go. Then their grandad shuffled to the door. ‘Are you all ready?’

  ‘We’re all ready,’ said Hiroshi.

  Their grandad, who was older than my grandmother, looked kind of concerned. ‘Well, look after them, Yukio. And have them back by midnight.’

  ‘I will,’ I said.

  ‘Come on then. Let’s go!’ said Hiroshi.

  I bowed to their grandfather and we trotted down the steps.

  ‘I can’t believe I’m going to a real nightclub!’ said Hiroshi. ‘Miko showed me how to dance. I’m going to dance all night!’

  We laughed, but we were quiet as we made our way down to Shibuya. I was a little nervous. I suppose I was worried because I wanted the twins to have a good time. And it must have rubbed off on them. Hiroshi looked like he was trying to think of something to say, and Miko looked a little awkward in her high-heeled shoes.

  ‘Shall we get a taxi?’ I asked.

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ she said, and put her arm through mine.

  I was happy then and all the nervousness went.

  There weren’t many people on the streets on our way to Shibuya, but as we neared the centre they started to fill up. First there were tens of people and then hundreds and then, when we reached the Shibuya Crossing, there were thousands of people swarming back and forth. The sun had set by then but it was still hot and Shibuya was ablaze with lights. The streets buzzed with music and excited talk, and shouts from the touts as they enticed people to various restaurants. Happy businessmen came from the bars while groups of people came from the karaoke clubs, filling up the already crowded streets.

  I held on to Miko’s hand, and following Hiroshi we weaved our way through the crowds. We turned up a backstreet and headed towards the club. As soon as we did we saw a long line of kids waiting outside. They were our age or older and they were all talking excitedly or swaying to the music that was coming from inside.

  Hiroshi stood on his tiptoes. ‘Are they letting us in yet, Yukio? Can you see?’

  ‘Not yet,’ I said. ‘But soon.’

  And then the line started to move and we headed for the door.

  It seemed to take forever to get there but we were soon inside. We passed a doorman, and handing a woman the tickets we scurried downstairs. The place smelled of stale beer and smoke, and the carpet was sticky to walk on, but boy was it buzzing! The music was blasting, the spotlights were beaming, and then the dance floor lit up like a rainbow. Everyone scurried to get a seat, but we grabbed a booth by the bar. More kids poured down the stairs and within no time the place was packed. But when the girls took to the dance floor the club began to rock.

  ‘This is great!’ shouted Hiroshi.

  I got three Cokes from the hard-faced barmaid, and by the time I got back Hiroshi was on the dance floor. I’d never seen him happier. He was dancing with two girls at once and he was dancing well. And then I felt obliged to ask Miko.

  ‘Do you want to dance?’

  ‘Do you?’

  ‘I don’t know how,’ I said.

  ‘Come on. I’ll show you.’ And taking my hand she led me on to the dance floor. Miko danced an easy dance and I tried to do what she did. But I ended up looking like a robot that needed oil. I saw some girls laughing at me. I felt embarrassed at first, but then Miko laughed and I didn’t care. She was having a good time and that’s all that mattered.

  We danced to half a dozen tunes and then we took a seat, but Hiroshi didn’t. He kept on going, and when there were no girls to dance with he danced by himself.

  Miko cradled her bag. ‘It’s the best present anyone’s ever bought me.’ She looked right in my eyes. ‘I just love it!’

  I felt kind of shy and I had to look away. And that’s when I saw them.

  It was the Tanaka girls, Riko and her psychotic sister, Louise. They paraded in with their entourage and their yakuza bodyguards. The yakuza are the Japanese mafia, and the girls were princesses in a criminal empire, known nieces to gangster godfather Uncle Benni. Why they called him Uncle Benni I don’t know. But there was a big stink in the paper, not so long back, when he was photographed at a banquet with the Mitsubishi board of directors.

 
The girls were his brother’s kids, but the brother was in prison. And from what I heard he was never getting out. And so Uncle Benni looked after them, or he tried to. They were as wild as they come and they were famous in Tokyo because they were the only teenage girls to have committed yubitsume. You see, when a yakuza fails in their duty they’re expected to take a sharp knife, cut off a section of their pinky finger and hand the amputated part to the person they’ve offended. Not even Uncle Benni could protect them from that ritual. Louise had lost a section of one pinky, but Riko had lost a bit of them both.

  But now there’s an operation you can have. They amputate your little toe and sow it on to your pinky, so no one would ever know you were yakuza. But the girls didn’t care. They had steel claws made and put them over their missing digits. They were yakuza to the bone and they always would be. They even had tattoos. Tattoos are taboo in Japan. Even yakuza men keep them covered up. But the girls had them all over their arms and backs, and Louise, who was younger, had serpents curling up around her neck. She looked scary, but she was nowhere near as scary as Riko. Riko was blind in one eye because of a beating she received from her gangland boyfriend. But then her boyfriend had to answer to her stepmother, Matsu. And she wasn’t an eye-for-an-eye sort of person. Whatever you’d done to her she’d do double to you.

  You see, there used to be two rival yakuza clans who were always at odds. The Tanaka, led by Uncle Benni, and the Yamamoto, led by Tomi Yamamoto, who now rules Osaka and everything south of it. But when Uncle Benni met Tomi’s sister, Matsu, it was love at first sight. They were married and an alliance was formed with Uncle Benni at the head. Matsu couldn’t have kids and so she doted on the girls. And when she found out what had happened she went ballistic. She scoured Tokyo, with a crew, until she found Riko’s boyfriend, and then she put things right. He ratted her out, of course, and she was given ten years. When the judge asked her if she had anything to say about the awful thing she’d done, she quoted a samurai saying: ‘If you’re going to stab, stab to the eyes.’