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CHAPTER 28 CAPONE'S CAPONE'S NEPHEW NEPHEW The rumor proved to be true. The troops were moving out of the town. They were going to the Tokyo and Yokohama area. The comings and goings of soldiers became frequent, and we were kept busy all the time. The Shibata camp was folded up, and the troops hitherto staying in the city of Shibata came to join the Muramatsu camp. They were several hundred men belonging to the 3rd battalion. They came in two trains and while they thronged at the Muramatsu station waiting for transportation, I noticed they were more rough and noisy than the soldiers staying at Muramatsu. They came into the station office, molested the girls, and some of them did not even hesitate to relieve themselves without taking the trouble of going to the restroom. “Noisy soldiers.” We frowned upon them. “They all belong to the same regiment. I wonder why it is that the soldiers at the Muramatsu camp are much better-behaved than the soldiers from Shibata.” “Probably people of Shibata are to blame for that. Shibata is a big commercial town and the people are rough-tempered. Perhaps they did not treat the soldiers as nicely as we have done. People of Muramatsu are really nice and quiet-mannered, and it must have pacified the veterans also.” Among the Shibata soldiers was a boy of apparent Italian origin—black hair and big black eyes. He was one of the soldiers from whom the girls ran away. “I am Capone’s nephew,” he said. “Are you really?” When I asked dubiously, his companions assured me that he was. I studied his features carefully. His thick nose and sensual lips together with the dauntless look in his black eyes truly carried the image of his notorious uncle. “Still love me?” He would put his arm around a girl’s neck suddenly. I was one of the victims before I knew who he was. “I have never loved you.” I snapped back and was always on my guard whenever he appeared. Other girls were very scared of him. When they saw him, they all hid themselves in safer corners. Even the ticket examiner on duty asked her male co-worker to take her place when he was around. One day he appeared with a big adhesive tape on his nose. He said he had a row with his friends. It gave a comic note to his otherwise sinister look. 134 ...

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