Unending Nora

Chapter 1

Julie Shigekuni 3 Chapter 1 A heat wave set that summer in motion. For twenty-two days record-breaking temperatures created a broad stripe that connected Los Angeles to Chicago, and while they knew the weather was not directly to blame, years later the heat wave of ’95 still triggered everyone’s misgivings about Nora. Don’t want to risk losing the bougainvillea, Reverend Nakatani would say shaking his head, looking for early warning signs in the heart-shaped leaves while hovering over the bush with the garden hose.This had become his after-dinner activity, which he returned to every summer since the heat wave, as soon as the weather began heating up. Remember how the grass turned brown overnight? Can’t get it back once that happens. Aiko left the watering to her husband. Not wanting to be faulted for an act of God, she stuck to what she knew best, remembering fondly a time when she could yank the crabgrass up by the roots. Now her arthritis prevented her from making a tight fist, but thankfully there was no need to make Christmas roast beef anymore. Her daughters, and even her daughter-in-laws, could cook. And since all four of her children lived nearby with their families, she had taken the old carving fork outside where it worked just fine—maybe better than ever—on the weeds. Even with her ears tucked under the brim of a straw gardening hat, Aiko knew what her husband was talking about. It was impossible to keep anything alive under so much sun. How many triple-digit days did they have in a row? Unending Nora 4 What could Nora possibly have been doing out there in that heat? It began in July, mid-summer. Oblivious to the heat that had taken over a hundred lives, Nora had been walking since early afternoon, overcome by all there was to see and just how nice everyone seemed to be. A newcomer to Pacoima, she had no information to tell her that people in this neighborhood were not generally on such friendly terms with each other. What she saw was the bond the sticky heat created between neighbors and how easily conversation came to strangers. A radio perched on the top shelf of the 7/11 announced the Civic Center temperature at an even one hundred, which in the Valley translated to at least a hundred and five. “How you doin’ in all this heat?” the store clerk asked when she set the bottled water on the counter to pay. Hearing heat and seeing the old man’s large white teeth, Nora touched her chin to her shoulder to catch the perspiration beading down the sides of her face before reaching into her shorts pocket for change. Easier to focus on the teeth than to meet the man’s eyes where she expected to find impatience or perhaps even ridicule as her hand slowly made its way down to the coins. She chastised herself for not stopping at the back of the store to retrieve the money before approaching the cash register. Seconds spread out as the water sloshed then settled inside its clear plastic, waiting to be drunk as her fingers seized upon the first coin, then two more nestled in a tight corner where they had migrated as she walked, and the pain she had been anticipating unfurled then roared like a waking beast. “Too damn hot for words,” the store clerk said, either oblivious to her discomfort, or politely trying to ignore it, and realizing that she had not responded the first time she’d been spoken to, Nora’s attention returned outward. “I’m just fine, thank you,” she said, glancing up at the teeth and marveling at their wonderful evenness before looking back down, this time at a wet spot that shone up from the countertop. Had it dripped from her chin? Julie Shigekuni 5 As she pushed her body against the glass door and made her way back to the sidewalk, the store clerk’s eyes on her back made Nora self-conscious of the effort each step required. The black asphalt had begun to melt. It stuck to the soles of her shoes and smelled like charred meat, and when she looked down she could see salt stains flowering beneath each of her arms. Was this the reason the old man stared? Or...