Within These Lines by Stephanie Morrill

Author:Stephanie Morrill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blink
Published: 2019-01-28T05:00:00+00:00

Ned Campbell has a round face, like a boy’s, and he pats at his temples every few minutes with a handkerchief even though to me it feels nice and cool in here with the fan.

“See, now, we had some of your people consult us on what kind of food to buy so they could make meals y’all would eat. Are you saying the food still isn’t satisfactory?”

“There’s very little protein,” Ted says, gently but firmly. “And very little variety. Some blocks have cooks who were in the food industry before coming to Manzanar, and they’re able to do more than most. But, sir, in block nine, the cook used to be a gardener. In block two, the cook who just quit was a janitor, and the one who took his place was a tailor. They’re each being asked to cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three hundred people.”

Mr. Campbell dabs at his red face again. “We’re all doing our best, Ted. I commend those men for stepping up to the challenge of feeding their blocks.”

The two men look at each other.

Ted speaks slowly. “I do too, sir. But that doesn’t change the lack of satisfactory food.”

“The refrigeration isn’t very stable either.” My stomach churns just thinking about that week all of us on block four had been running to and from the bathroom.

Ted nods at me and looks back to Mr. Campbell, who’s regarding me with a bit of skepticism. “Taichi’s right,” Ted says. “The administration needs to pay for more reliable refrigerators, or they’re going to be spending more money than they’d like on food.”

Mr. Campbell leans onto his desk with his elbows. “I’ll see if I can get a bit more money in the budget for protein. But I can’t promise anything. Is there anything else?”

“Yes.” Ted straightens his shoulders. “Yesterday, Taichi and I were standing just outside the mess hall in block four when we were nearly run over by the garbage truck. I had to throw poor Taichi against the wall just to avoid it.” Ted glances at me before continuing. “I’ve told you about the Black Dragons. It’s mostly youth, particularly younger Kibei—”

“Those are the alien residents?”

“No, sir. Issei are the first generation, and Kibei are the citizens born here, but educated in Japan. Anyway, the garbage truck is driven by a group of young Kibei, one in particular, who Taichi has had words with before. Taichi said that he was threatened by them. Now they have flags hanging from the garbage truck that say Manzanar Black Dragons.”

Mr. Campbell frowns and considers this. Then, “Where did they get the flags?”

Ted takes in a breath, and I can tell he didn’t anticipate this being the first question. “I’m not sure, sir. I imagine they made them.”

Mr. Campbell continues to frown. “Well, the administration can’t handle every little detail. That’s why there’s the Manzanar police force, to help with disagreements among your own kind.”

“Sir, right now it’s a small percentage of the Manzanar population that’s stirring up Anti-American sentiment.

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