Set My Heart on Fire: A Novel by Izumi Suzuki

Author:Izumi Suzuki [Suzuki, Izumi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Biographical, Coming of Age, World Literature, Japan
ISBN: 9798228322806
Google: QW38EAAAQBAJ
Amazon: B0DJRP4NHG
Publisher: Verso Books
Published: 2024-11-11T23:00:00+00:00

‘They’ve still not finished the first performance.’

I said I was calling from Tokyo. The staff member on the other end was friendly.

‘Is it alright if I call back?’

‘Sure. There’s a break around nine o’clock.’

‘Are they playing twice every night?’

‘Three times on Sunday.’

What a tough gig. He used to be a megastar. Now his band’s stuck in dance clubs. I said my thanks and hung up the phone.

I lay face down on the bed.

My left elbow and leg hurt. Bruises. Must’ve crashed into some furniture yesterday or the day before. I was drugged up to the eyeballs both days.

I’d run out of a certain pill so my nerves were shot. I had to go to Harajuku if I wanted to buy sleeping meds. That shop on the Meiji highroad would sell me anything.

I endured the dull pain for a while. I also had a headache, of course. My head ached all the time. I read in a magazine that people who get headaches tend to be selfish.

I was able to put up with it because I knew I was going to take some painkillers soon. Better than sleeping pills, I reasoned, indulging myself.

I stood up and pretended to be confused. Even though no one was watching. Decided to put on a record. The Doors, dark and sincere, too literary. I went for T. Rex.

I weaved back to the bed. Back to my previous posture. Before long (as expected) my arm stretched out and my hand picked up the long, slender cardboard box on my bedside table. The regular dose was two pills. Out of habit, I popped out four into my palm and washed them down my throat with some coffee dregs.

Ten minutes passed.

Electric sounds filled the room. This was a glam rock band I liked because they weren’t about getting hyped up. They suited these sluggish, heavy moods.

The pain wouldn’t go away. My headache felt even worse. I picked up the box and took two more pills. Whatever. The A-side finished. Two more.

That was it. Clean out of drugs that might soothe my nerves.

I checked the clock and got up. Put on a suit with nothing underneath. It being November, I planned to wear thigh-high boots.

I ran outside with my bag. A taxi stopped straight away. Traced the old sewage line to Tomigaya. On the left I saw the entrance to a Chinese restaurant called ‘Other People’. What a name. Ranks high on my list of favourites. After the Clinic of Hope, the obstetrician’s in Harajuku.

I carried on with these messy thoughts to trick myself. Huddled up in the dark backseat, I couldn’t stop anticipating the drugs. The painkillers had already kicked in, but even so.

I stopped the taxi on the corner by the big Central Apartment shopping centre in Harajuku. I went into a pharmacy decked out with flashy displays of cosmetics. A blank-faced woman dressed in white appeared.

‘Some Rislon and Optalidon.’ My voice wavered a little. Without a word, she put two boxes in a paper bag.

‘And one more of Optalidon.

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.