The Red Kimono: A Novel

37. Sachi

He took a deep breath, lifted his head, and looked around the cell, searching for a way to escape the ranting going on inside. There were those books again. Nagging him without saying a word. Only this time they looked different. What were those dark stripes against them? He turned to look at the cell door bars and the light that shined from down the hall. Shadows. Jail bar shadows. Ain’t never gonna be nothing. And Mr. Blake’s books. On the other side of those shadows. Make something of yourself. He closed his eyes, and the voices in his head quieted. Something happened inside him. The battle was over. He wasn’t sure if he’d given in or given up. Didn’t matter. He’d finally figured it out. Mr. Blake had planted a seed—get educated . Make something of yourself. And it had been growing inside like a weed. For sure, Terrence had been spending plenty of energy trying to kill it. He grinned and shook his head. Then there was what Peachie said, the ugly shit he threw at Terrence to put him down. All the while, that shit was just the fertilizer Blake’s seedling needed to make it grow even faster, until tonight, it was too big to ignore anymore. Those books waiting behind those striped shadows? They were the way out. CHAPTER 37 Sachi SEPTEMBER 25, 1942 Sachi had to find Sam before Mama and Nobu found her. “Sam!” She called over and over as she searched the crowd of people that milled around like wind-up dolls. “Sam, where are you?” The Red Kimono 139 She caught a glimpse of Mama talking to Nobu and hid behind a man reading a newspaper. Her mouth went dry and a chill ran down the back of her neck. Her heart pounded like it wanted to escape from her body and stay at Santa Anita. Where was he? He knew they were leaving today. “There you are.” Sam. Her heart fluttered at the sound of his voice. She was surprised by the lump in her throat when she turned to see him smiling at her. She would miss the way he laughed at her silly jokes. “Sam,” she said, biting her lip. “I was afraid I wouldn’t find you before we have to leave.” “But I found you.” His hand reached for hers. “Come with me.” She didn’t think her heart could beat harder than when she thought Mama and Nobu would catch her and take her away, but now it did. Sam had never tried to hold her hand before. “Let’s go to our hiding place,” he said. “But . . .” She didn’t want to say it. “I heard them call our number. It’s time to get on the bus.” “Just for one minute.” They might never see each other again. The bus—the world that conspired to keep them apart—could wait one minute. He took her to the shade behind the mess hall. The shade where every day for four months they’d hidden from the world and talked about everything. The place where she’d shared secrets with Sam, every secret except what Mama thought about his father being a butcher. It was here that she learned his favorite food—cheeseburgers. Where she told him about the worst day of her life—when she found out Papa was dead. Where she watched him as he talked, and wondered what he would look like when he grew up. Where she blushed when he called her a “silly girl” for being afraid of a beetle that had scurried over her foot. So many memories she would never forget. “This place won’t be the same without you, Sachi.” She stared at the ground so he wouldn’t see her cry. “I wish you were going to Arkansas,” she whispered. “I’ll write to you. I promise.” “And I’ll write back. Every day.” He leaned over and searched her face. “Are you crying?” 140 JAN MORRILL She spun away and wiped her eyes. “No.” “Don’t try to deny it, silly girl. I see where your tears fell in the dirt.” With a pouty frown, she hid the smile his “silly girl” prompted and gave him a gentle shove. “So what. I’m sad, okay? Aren’t you sad?” Putting his hands in his pockets, he smiled...