South of the Border, West of the Sun Page 0,11

for it.

Around four, just as she was getting dressed to leave, the doorbell rang. At first I just ignored it. I had no idea who it was; if I didn’t answer it whoever it was would surely give up and go away. But the doorbell rang on, insistent. Damn, I thought

“Are your parents back?” Izumi asked, blanching. She was out of bed, hurriedly gathering up her clothes.

“Don’t worry. They can’t be home this early. And they have a key, so they wouldn’t ring the doorbell.”

“My shoes!” she said.

“Shoes?”

“My shoes are just inside the entrance.”

I threw on my clothes, rushed downstairs, and tossed her shoes inside the entry closet. When I opened the door, my aunt was standing there. My mother’s younger sister, who lived about an hour’s train ride away and visited every once in a while.

“What in the world were you doing? I’ve been ringing the bell forever,” she said.

“I was listening to music with headphones, so I didn’t hear you,” I replied. “My parents are out—they went to a memorial service. They won’t be back till late tonight I guess you know that, though.”

“They told me. I was running an errand in the neighborhood and I knew you were home studying, so I thought I’d cook dinner for you. I’ve already shopped.”

“I can make dinner myself. I’m not a child, you know,” I said.

“But I’ve bought everything. And you’re busy, right? I’ll just make dinner while you study.”

Oh God, I thought I wanted to curl up and die. Now how was Izumi going to get home? In my house you had to pass through the living room in order to get to the front door, then pass by the kitchen window to get to the gate. Of course, I could introduce Izumi as a friend who came over to see me, but I was supposed to be studying hard for an exam. If it came out that I had a girl over, there’d be hell to pay. I couldn’t very well ask my aunt to keep it a secret from my parents. My aunt wasn’t a bad person, but keeping secrets was definitely not one of her strong points.

While my aunt was in the kitchen getting her purchases out of the bags, I took Izumi’s shoes upstairs. She was completely dressed. I explained the situation to her.

She turned pale. “What in the world am I supposed to do? What if I can’t get out of here? You know I have to be home every night by dinnertime. If I don’t, I’ll be in big trouble.”

“Don’t worry. It’ll be okay. We’ll figure something out,” I said, trying to calm her down. But actually I was just as clueless about the next step.

“And I can’t find one of my garter belt clasps. I’ve looked everywhere.”

“Your garter belt clasp?” I asked.

“A little metal thing, about this big.”

I scoured the room, from the floor to the top of my bed. But I couldn’t find it

“Sorry. Couldn’t you skip wearing your stockings just this once?” I asked.

I went into the kitchen, where my aunt was chopping vegetables. We need some salad oil, she said, and asked me to go out to buy some. I couldn’t refuse, so I rode my bike over to a nearby store. It was already growing dark outside. At this rate Izumi might be stuck in my house forever. I had to do something before my parents got home.

“I think our only chance is for you to slip out while my aunt’s in the bathroom,” I told Izumi.

“You really think it’ll work?”

“Let’s give it a shot. We can’t sit around like this, twiddling our thumbs.”

I’d wait downstairs till my aunt went to the bathroom, then clap my hands loudly twice. Izumi would come downstairs, put on her shoes, and leave. If she’d made her escape okay, she would call me from a nearby pay phone.

My aunt sang happily as she sliced vegetables, made miso soup, and fried up some eggs. But no matter how much time passed, she didn’t take a bathroom break. For all I knew, she might be listed in the Guinness Book, under World’s Biggest Bladder. I was about to give up, when she took off her apron and left the kitchen. As soon as I saw she was in the bathroom, I raced to the living room and clapped twice, hard. Izumi tiptoed downstairs, shoes in hand, quickly slipped them on, and as quietly as she could snuck out the front door. I went to