The Monster on the Road Is Me by JP Romney

Author:JP Romney
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780374316556
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

20

As I was lying in a hospital bed, waiting for my parents to take the train to Kōchi City, I expected Haru to walk into my room at any minute.

You’re a mess, kid, he’d say. Guess that’s what you get for stealing ice cream bars. How’s that for karma? Do something bad and somebody runs you over with a car. Immediately. Through a window.

“I wasn’t stealing,” I’d say.

I told you to take it without paying. Which is pretty much the definition of stealing. That’s how karma works, kid.

“I think there’s a little more to it than that,” I’d say.

Haru would shrug and pull out a cigarette.

* * *

“Koda?” my mother said, shuffling through the door. “Oh, my poor baby boy.”

“The van missed me. I’m okay,” I said, trying to sit up. The nurse in my room reached out and pushed me back down.

“Relax, dear,” my mother said.

“I can’t,” I said, kicking my legs. “She’s hurting me.”

“I’m barely touching him,” the nurse said.

“Our boy is not strong in the conventional sense,” my father repeated.

“He has a wonderful spirit,” my mother shot back.

“I didn’t steal the ice cream bar,” I blurted out. “Where’s Haru? He’ll tell you. This has nothing to do with karma.”

My mother drew close to my ear. “Haru’s fine, Koda. They told us he’s just fine.”

I stopped kicking my legs. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, dear.”

“But I saw his feet.”

“Haru is going to be fine. He has a broken leg and some bruises, but they’re fixing him up now.”

“Is he here? Is he in the hospital?” I asked.

“Yes. He’ll be here for a few days. You can see him when he’s ready.”

“When will that be?”

“We’re not sure, dear.”

“Okā-san?”

“Yes, my boy?”

“Am I naked?”

“You have a hospital gown on. Well, you did before you started kicking around like that.”

“Mom?”

“Yes?”

“Is the nurse looking at me?”

“Umm.”

“I think I can go now,” the nurse said. “If you need anything, press the button near his head.” She straightened her skirt, bowed, and left the room.

Mother covered me up with a hospital blanket.

“All of this was for an ice cream bar?” my father asked.

“Haru said I could have one. I got distracted because I was trying to choose between vanilla and strawberry. I like the strawberry, but you could win another vanilla bar by finding a Hello Kitty under the wrapper.”

“Hello Kitty?” My father buried his face in his hands and whispered, “Gods above.”

“Hello Kitty Dancing Ice Cream Party happens to be a delicious vanilla dessert bar!” I shouted. “I won’t apologize for that.”

“Quiet, both of you,” my mother snapped. “Ice cream has nothing to do with this.”

* * *

She was right. The Kusaka Town Newsletter wrote about the accident and published it the next week. The driver, a forty-three-year-old businessman, survived the crash. He said he didn’t know what happened. He was driving down the road and then came to, upside-down in the van. Several witnesses reported seeing a massive fireball erupt beneath the vehicle, but the petrol tank was untouched and whole.

“There was no reason for it,” one policeman said.

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