Unending Nora

Chapter 27

Julie Shigekuni 239 Chapter 27 To celebrate Mark’s passing the state Bar exam, Melissa planned a date: the movie they’d been wanting to see, followed by a late dinner. Unfortunately, however, the movie was no longer showing , and they arrived at the restaurant out of sorts, neither of them particularly hungry, for lack of an alternate plan. “So this is the end, and the beginning,” Melissa said, fidgeting with the menu, pondering how Mark could stop clerking now and move up the ladder. “Yes, things are never as they seem,” Mark said under his breath. “Should I have the curry, or the miso ramen?” “Definitely the curry,” Melissa said. “It’s a relief, isn’t it, to achieve your goal after so many years?” “I’m just glad not to have to cart law books everywhere I go,” Mark sighed. “I guess now I’ll have to find some other form of exercise.” “Right,” Melissa laughed, knowing that Mark, her skinny fiancée, had never given much thought to the condition of his body. “This is a well deserved victory. I knew you’d pass.” “Really?” Mark said. “I had no idea I’d pass.” “Oh, come on,” Melissa chided him. “You knew after you took it, didn’t you? You said you thought you’d done well.” “You never know,” Mark said. “It’s all a guessing game.” Waiting for their meal to arrive, Melissa stared across the table at Mark. Between them there had always been something pressing Unending Nora 240 to discuss, and no time to talk at length. The effect was so many things gone unsaid, so much that she didn’t have words for, or time to tell. Now the prospect of a leisurely evening frightened her. “You say you never know, but I think you do,” Melissa said, attempting to sound more playful than she felt. “Tell me something you know, something I don’t know about you.” “What?” Mark said, his eyes widening. “You know,” Melissa said, “like a game. I’ve known you for all these years, but I bet there’s lots you’ve never told me. Tell me something you know that I don’t know.” “Okay,” Mark said, clasping his hands together and staring directly into her eyes before speaking. “Do you remember when I first came to Valley Baptist?” “Yes,” Melissa said, “of course. You came with your parents.” “Right,” Mark smiled. “But do you know why I came?” “No.” Melissa felt her upper lip twitch. “Your parents made you? That’s how I first showed up.” “My parents didn’t have any interest in attending church,” Mark said flatly. “I asked them to go and they took me believing I wanted to find religion. They had no idea I’d chosen that church because I wanted to find a Japanese girlfriend.” “What?” Melissa said, eyes wide. “No way.” “Way,” Mark said, clearly pleased with his surprise. “You were thirteen!” Melissa said, unbelieving. “Exactly,” Mark said. “My Uncle Bill had just married my Aunt Ruby, and I had a crush on her. She made great sushi and let me touch her family’s ancestral sword, which hung over the television, and she showed me her collection of kokeshi dolls. Plus she always smelled good.” “My god.” Melissa scanned the room for her dinner, fairly certain that Mark was having her on. “Your turn,” Mark said. “Tell me something I don’t know about you.” “Okay,” Melissa said tentatively, no longer sure she wanted to play. It was easy to think of what he did know. Like how she Julie Shigekuni 241 could have rescued Nora if he hadn’t stopped her, the conversation they’d had in this very restaurant ten months earlier. How dismissive he had been when she knew something terrible was going on. It could make her angry all over again to think about it. But maybe, Melissa reasoned, not wanting to be angry, love was born out of the need to forget. She remembered standing with Elinore at the baboon exhibit, how painfully little there’d been between them to talk about. Entranced by the garish baboons, she’d felt embarrassed, unwilling even to acknowledge her connection to her half-sister. Then Elinore had turned the stroller into the simulated darkness of a cave exhibit. “‘Night Crawlers,’” she’d read the sign to Naoko. “This one’s got to be...