The housekeeper and the professor - By Yoko Ogawa Page 0,42

a relief. He hadn't suffocated or been electrocuted but was sitting next to the Professor at the table, his school backpack at his feet.

The bad feeling was coming from the Professor's sister-in-law, who was sitting across from them. Next to her was a middle-aged woman I had never seen before—my replacement, I assumed. There was something indescribably unpleasant about seeing these intruders in a space occupied, in my memory, by just the three of us, the Professor, Root, and me.

As my feeling of relief faded, I began to realize how odd it was for Root to be here. The widow sat at the table, in the same sort of elegant dress she had worn during my interview. She held her cane firmly in her left hand. Root seemed completely cowed and refused to even look up at me. The Professor had assumed his "thinking" pose, staring intently off into the distance, acknowledging no one.

"I'm sorry to call you away from work," said the widow. "Please, have a seat." She pointed to a chair. I was so out of breath after running from the station that I forgot to give a proper answer. "Please, sit down," she said again. "And you, get our guest some tea, please." The other woman—I had no idea whether or not she was an Akebono employee—got up and went to the stove. The widow's tone was polite, but I could see that she was upset by the way her tongue darted over her lips, and the way her fingers drummed on the table. Unable to think of something to say, I did as I was told and sat down. We were silent for a moment.

"You people ... ," she began at last, tapping a fingernail on the table again. "What is it you want?" I took a breath before answering.

"Has my son done something wrong?"

Root was staring down at his lap, where he held his Tigers cap, nervously crumpling it in his hands.

"I'll ask the questions, if you don't mind. The first thing I'd like to know is why your boy needs to come to my brother-in-law's house." The polish on her perfect nails was flaking off as she tapped on the table.

"I didn't mean to—" Root started, still not looking up.

"The child of a housekeeper who has left our employ," the widow interrupted him. Though she had said "child" more than once, she made no attempt to look at Root—or at the Professor—as though neither of them was in the room.

"I don't think it's a question of 'need,' " I said, still unsure what she was getting at. "I think he just wanted to pay the Professor a visit."

"I borrowed The Lou Gehrig Story from the library, and I wanted to read it with him," Root said, looking up at last.

"Why would a ten-year-old child pay a visit to a sixty-year-old man?" She ignored Root's explanation.

"I'm sorry my son came here without my permission, and I am very sorry if he bothered you. I apologize for failing to supervise him properly."

"That's not the point. I want to know why a housekeeper who has been let go would send her son to see my brother-in-law. What is it you want from him?"

"Want? I'm afraid there's some misunderstanding. He's just a little boy who wanted to visit a friend. He found an interesting book and he wanted to read it with the Professor. Isn't that enough of a reason?"

"I'm sure it is. I'm not implying that the boy had any ulterior motive. I'm asking what you wanted in sending him here."

"I don't want anything, except for my son to be happy."

"Then why do you involve my brother-in-law? You took him out at night, you stayed later than was called for. I don't remember asking you to do any of that."

The housekeeper brought over the tea. She set it in front of us without a word or so much as a clink of the cups and went straight back to the bedroom. It was obvious she would not be taking my side on this.

"I realize that I was out of line, but I can assure you I had no ulterior motive. It was all very innocent."

"Is it about money?"

"Money?!" The word was so unexpected that I nearly shouted it back at her. "How can you say such a thing?"

"I can think of no other reason why you'd indulge my brother-in- law like this."

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"You were fired. You have no business being here!"

"Excuse me," the new housekeeper interrupted,