Laura's Victory by Veda Boyd Jones

Author:Veda Boyd Jones [JONES, VEDA BOYD]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-62836-212-1
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2006-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

Miyoko’s Story

Laura was ignored by Yvonne the entire day. When it was time to go home, Yvonne didn’t walk out of Miss Burch’s classroom with Eddie.

“Where’s Yvonne?” Laura asked.

“She said she had something to do after school,” Eddie said and nodded back at the room.

Laura stuck her head in his classroom and saw Yvonne standing by her desk as if waiting for something. “Coming?”

“No. Traitor!”

Laura recoiled as if she’d been hit. How could Yvonne call her a traitor? She couldn’t help it that President Roosevelt had let the Japs out of the relocation centers. Well, if that’s the way Yvonne wanted it, fine.

Laura marched back to where Eddie had been joined by Miyoko. “Let’s go. Where’s Kenny?”

“He went with Jack Heaton,” Eddie said.

“Oh,” Laura said. So Eddie was also being treated badly because of Miyoko. “Well, let’s get home.”

“Your friends are not kind,” Miyoko said once they were on the sidewalk.

“They don’t understand,” Eddie said. “We’ve been at war against the Japs a long time.”

“I am not a Jap. I am an American.” Miyoko said it with quiet authority that made her seem old. “I was born in California. My father is Nisei, born in California. My grandfather was Issei, born in Japan, but that was a long time ago. Long before the war.”

“But you look Japanese,” Laura said.

“That is my heritage, but Japan is not my country.” Miyoko said it with such sincerity that Laura believed her.

“It will be hard to convince the kids at school about that,” Eddie said.

“I know,” Miyoko said. “They call me a Jap, but I am not the enemy. They need to know me, not just the way I look.”

They had arrived at the hotel, but Laura held back from climbing the stairs. It would be hard to talk frankly with Mama and Mrs. Wakamutsu around, and Laura wanted to know more about Miyoko. The girl fascinated her in an odd way.

“We want to know you, but it’s hard to look past your yellow skin and slanted eyes,” Laura said honestly.

“Then I feel sorry for you,” Miyoko said. “You are blind.”

First she’d been called a traitor by Yvonne, and now Miyoko had called her blind. They were both wrong.

Laura stomped up the stairs. She rushed to the apartment that looked even worse than yesterday. Boxes were opened and half unpacked. Laura glanced at the table where her great-greatgrandmother’s wooden clock had set. It was gone, and in its place stood a gnarled miniature tree, maybe a foot tall, in a flat green planter. It looked like it belonged in an enchanted forest with its thick trunk and spreading branches.

“Where’s the clock?” Laura asked no one in particular, although Kiyoshi, Gary, and Ginny were in the living room. They’d obviously just returned from school, too.

“I don’t know,” Ginny said. “What is this beautiful tree?”

“Bonsai,” Kiyoshi said. “It is Miyoko’s. Her father inherited it from his grandfather, who inherited it from his father and his father before him. It is very old.”

“Then it is Miyoko’s father’s tree,” Laura said.

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