House of the Red Fish by Graham Salisbury

Author:Graham Salisbury [Salisbury, Graham]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-53098-1
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2006-08-21T04:00:00+00:00

I felt my jaw drop, just slightly, not enough for Keet to see but enough for me to know I’d just been hit on the head with a hammer.

I stood, slowly, brushing the dirt off my knees.

Keet glanced off to my left, and I looked that way. Little Bruiser was tied up short in the shadow of a tree. I turned back. “What are you doing in our house?”

Keet swaggered down the steps. “Whose house?”

I said nothing.

Keet humphed. “I thought so.”

Mama must have gone somewhere with Kimi, I thought, the house dark through the screen door.

Keet came closer, now four, maybe even five inches taller than me. My eyes were level with the two fake army dog tags he wore around his neck.

“Where’s your white shadow?” he said.

I didn’t answer.

“How about your mommy? I need to talk to her. She’s not in your house … oops, I mean, she’s not in my house.”

I turned to the side and spat into the dirt. I could get one clean shot at his nose before he killed me. It would be worth it.

Nakaji must always be a good name, Tomi. Only Papa’s words held me back. But it wasn’t easy, especially remembering the rock that slammed into Rico’s head, and Grampa hurrying away, scared and rattled. What kind of sick dogs would throw rocks at an old man, anyway?

Keet reached out and placed the tips of the thumb and fingers of his right hand on my chest. He shoved me, and I stepped back, but I never took my eyes off him.

“Your room is a sad place,” he said. “It’s as pathetic as your life.”

“You had no right to go in our house,” I said.

“Oh, I have a right, fish boy.” He grinned. “We own you.”

He shoved me again.

“Do that again and you’ll wish you hadn’t,” I said.

“Ooo,” Keet said. Then laughed. “You know what I found kind of touching in your room? I mean, besides the fact that you sleep in there with that insane grandpappy of yours?”

I waited.

Keet winked. “You saved all the pieces of those stupid fish. Cute.”

Papa, this is too hard.

I headed around him and started up the steps.

“When mama-san gets home you tell her she’s needed up at the house. We got company coming, and our house—and this dump, too—got to get dressed up, know what I mean? We don’t want any Jap symbols of any kind around this place, including stupid fish kites, you hear me? You tell your mama to come on up to the big house just as soon as she shows up.”

I pushed past him, heading up the steps.

“Oh,” Keet added. “We need her for something else, too.”

I let the door slap behind me.

“I need her to make my bed!” he shouted, then laughed.

The house was empty. Silent.

I was burning up, ready to go after that dog no matter what Mama or Papa would say about it. I was glad Mama wasn’t home.

But I would have to tell her.

And she would have to go over to the Wilsons’.

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