Koibumi by Hildred Billings

Author:Hildred Billings [Billings, Hildred]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Lesbian Erotic Romance
Publisher: Barachou Press
Published: 2013-05-29T22:00:00+00:00

In what she considered a most cunning move, Reina went to her family’s gravesite early the first day of obon to avoid the crowds.

Regardless of her plan, women and children bedecked in colorful yukata flooded the streets as she stepped out of the train station and recounted the way to the local cemetery. Although obon was sometimes celebrated in July in Tokyo, Reina’s family – and her company, by chance – honored it in August, when a majority of the nation held their family reunions and ancestral honoring. While Aiko returned to her natal home to feast and chat, Reina went to see the only parent she deemed fit to talk to.

The cemetery was empty save for some flowers left behind the day before. Mid-morning was the most auspicious time to arrive, for the early-to-rise aunties had already come and the younger families would wait until the last minute to fulfill their duties to the ancestors. Reina ducked into the shadow of a cherry tree as she searched out the Yamada memorial.

The obelisk stood in the center of the cemetery, amidst Tanakas, Suzukis, and a large clan by the name of Ban. Or so Reina assumed the kanji read. Likewise, she could read few of the kanji littering the interment list on the Yamada site. But she knew the most important one: her father’s, etched in there since she was a young teenager.

Obon was the only time Reina came to visit her father since moving in with Aiko. When she lived with her mother, she used to come every other month to rant about the injustices of the world. The need for that abated when she had Aiko to turn to. Reina sat at the base of the obelisk and pulled out a compact duster she carried in her back pocket next to her wallet. While humming a childhood tune, she dusted off the leaves and weather stains from the granite enshrouding the ashes of her ancestors.

She imagined her father kneeling next to her, still dressed in his brown suit and yellow tie he always wore to work as a professor. When he died he had barely been forty – Reina’s current age. She stopped dusting long enough to ponder the fact she was outliving her father.

I wonder if he would be proud of me. Her father was a man of modest accomplishment, but he lived for what he did and always tried to inspire confidence in his daughter. He was the one who taught Reina to respect herself, and to know that her body was hers alone to do with as she pleased. He’s the only man I’ve trusted without a shred of doubt. A car ended his life before he could teach her to dream.

Reina finished dusting the gravesite and burned some incense nearby. By now the sun assaulted the back of her neck and made sweat drip down the front of her T-shirt. She continued to sit and stare at the obelisk as if it would begin speaking to her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.