A Place to Belong by Cynthia Kadohata & Julia Kuo

A Place to Belong by Cynthia Kadohata & Julia Kuo

Author:Cynthia Kadohata & Julia Kuo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books


CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

When Jiichan and Baachan came home, they ate quietly at the kotatsu with Hanako while Mama stayed in the bedroom. There was a pall in the house because Akira had hardly moved all day, except to wobble his head and groan softly. Mama had mashed up rice to feed him, but when Hanako had gone in to check, he hadn’t eaten anything at all.

The soup that night was nearly the same as the first time: rice, carrots, carrot tops, and grasshopper. Everyone ate like they were starving. For some reason, as she ate, Hanako felt electrified by the grasshopper. It was like she needed to eat it very badly. She chewed the way she would chew something that actually tasted good. In short, she was very, very hungry, and maybe anything tasted good when you were that hungry.

Then there was no more, just a big bowl’s worth left for Papa in case he came home tonight. After helping to clean up, Hanako decided to put on Mama’s coat—hers was still damp—and wait outside for him so they could have a talk when and if he arrived. She wanted to ask him if Akira would be all right, and maybe some other questions. She stood near the steps, trying to see. It was dark out—it must have been seven or eight. The world was completely quiet except for the ringing of the Fūrin—the Japanese glass wind bell—that hung in a tree. The front door slowly opened, and Baachan came out with a blanket. “It cold?”

“Hai, arigatō gozaimasu.” Hanako wrapped herself up in the blanket.

Baachan lingered and looked into the darkness. “Your father good man, neh? He miracle baby. I have when forty-two.”

“Yes, he told us. He talks about you all the time.”

“Oh? He say nice thing?” She laughed shyly. “I hope so.”

“He says you were so pretty and petite.”

“No, never pretty. What is . . . ?”

“Petite. That’s when you’re small and slender.”

“Oh, he call me skinny? I have talk to him about that!” But Baachan laughed and laughed, like she was having the best time she’d ever had. Her laughter washed over Hanako. Her parents loved her a lot, she knew that, but here with Baachan was something different. Her grandmother had just met her, yet adored her. She hadn’t done anything to deserve it; it was just there, in the air around them, like something shimmering. It made her feel like some kind of amazing person. It made her feel like being here in this bombed-out, impoverished nation was the best experience she would ever have in her life and like her hungry stomach was just an adventure.

“No, not skinny!” Hanako replied. “Slender is like . . . well, it’s different from skinny. It’s good.”

Baachan’s head dipped as if she was embarrassed by the compliment.

“And he said you never yelled at him once, but you did scold when he misbehaved.”

“Sometime he bad like any child. But I don’t yell at miracle baby. That bad luck.”

“Do you have photographs?” asked Hanako.



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