The Dusk Parlor by S.A. Stovall

Author:S.A. Stovall [Stovall, S.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-63533-397-8
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2017-05-03T04:00:00+00:00

“YOU DO not say I’m sorry, you say I apologize for the inconvenience, sir.”

“I apologize for the inconvenience, sir,” I repeat in formal Japanese.

“Your knowledge of working Japanese is woefully incomplete.”

I exhale before speaking, attempting to calm myself before I form a retort. “I learned from my mother.”

“And I assume she came from the rural countryside?”

I glare. Kaito finishes his long sentence on the whiteboard and notices my wrath. “I apologize,” he says. “I do not mean to insult your mother. I am making an observation.”

“She was born in Sasayama. Up north.”

Sasayama is a country town. I know it—Kaito knows it—but I hate admitting it. My Japanese is “tainted” by the accent my mother taught me. I had never thought much about it until now….

“And your father?” Kaito asks.

“He… didn’t know much.”

“He is American?”

“He was American.”

“I see.”

Kaito erases the whiteboard in silence. I take in a few breaths and stare at the tile floor. There’s a lot about Japanese speech I’m not aware of—perhaps I can’t work this job after all. The realization sets in hard, like a rock hitting the bottom of a lake, and I wonder if all those people who looked at me oddly for being hāfu are right. Maybe I can’t fit in.

“I see why you and Ren are close,” Kaito says, shaking me from my haunting thoughts.

I glance up. “What do you mean?”

“His parents died at a young age, and he had difficulties learning the finer art of Japanese speech.” Kaito shoves the whiteboard back into the pantry and smooths out his suit. “But if I can teach Ren, I can teach anyone. You have no need to fret.”

“You taught Ren formal Japanese?”

“That is correct.”

“And… you don’t mind teaching me?”

“You need it,” he states. “It would be a travesty to allow you to stay the way you are.”

Could he be any more patronizing?

I let it go, however, if only because he’s helping me learn. I know my mother will be proud, and anything that gets her in a good mood is all right in my book.

Another part of me wants to thank Kaito for saving me from myself. I can’t believe how quick I am to jump to my frustrations at being half-Japanese…. Of course I can learn an advanced form of speaking. Of course I can do this. Why would I doubt?

“Hey, Kaito, I just want to say thanks for all this and—”

“Thank you very much, Hanamura,” he says in a correcting tone, cutting me off before I’ve even said my piece. “Now that you know some proper phrases, you should use them.”

I narrow my eyes into a hard glower. He’s making this difficult. “I’m trying to say something to you one-on-one. I appreciate that you’ve taken to—”

“Hanamura, I am appreciative of your efforts. Is that so hard? Use. Proper. Phrases.”

“Listen. This isn’t a lesson. You’re startin’ to piss me off. Just let me say something and—”

“If you intend to speak, you should speak with the class you hold yourself as,” Kaito interjects again. He leans against the cold steel counter.

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