Hiroshima Bugi: Atomu 57

4. Ronin of the Peace Park

| 39 | RONIN OF THE PEACE PARK | 4 Ronin of the Peace Park Atomu 57 on my calendar of fake peace. This is my promissory time, eight fifteen, my gate of giveaway souls, and my rites of passage in the ruins of the Atomic Bomb Dome. Remember the abundant reign of the emperor in the era of nuclear peace. The ghost parade is my tricky empire of Rashomon Gate. I poured gasoline on the Pond of Peace at the Peace Memorial Museum . Thin, elusive ribbons caught the morning light and spread across the water in magical hues. The phantom plumes reached out from the Cenotaph and almost touched the Flame of Peace. I counted the seconds and threw a lighted match into the water at eight fifteen of the hour, the start of the ghost parade. The fire burst, tumbled, and roared over the pond. That moment was a tribute to natural reason and perfect memories. The fire wavered, curved higher, bounced downwind, and never once licked back at my hand. The flames that seared the fake peace that morning last forever. Shadows, faint traces of a ghost parade, were burned on the concrete containment walls around the pond. The mighty ravens croaked at a great distance. A fire engine arrived a few minutes later, and then the police searched the area. I waited near the ruins, on the stone stairs to the river, and cast fresh cucumbers into the dark water to tease and appease the nanazu tricksters. The police questioned the roamers who were camped on the other side of the river. I shouted my hafu nickname and waved at the police. They stared back at me and then bowed slightly. The roamers were amused and waved wildly. I became a sandhill crane, and bounced with my wings trimmed close to the side, and danced down the stones to the riverside. My forehead turned reddish, and my dance turns were erotic and crazy. Oshima was touched by my dance, but he warned me to be cautious , more discrete around the police. They shame by turns of sympathy, he told me, and they have too much authority. You have none, ainoko of the ruins, and the roamers watched you light the sacred pond this morning. Little Boy souvenirs. | RONIN OF THE PEACE PARK | 40 | Not a wise story. Roamers are storiers. Yes, and twicers. Who would listen? The police. Not by stories. Always by story. What stories? The leper story. Empire evidence. No, fear by story. So many, many versions. Several roamers on the other side of the river leaned out and pointed in our direction. I shouted my hafu nickname once more and danced at the riverside. The police radioed for assistance and then hurried across the Aioi Bridge. The ravens soared over the river, circled the police, and then perched on the skeleton beams in the ruins. The police discovered the ghostly shadows on the wall around the Pond of Peace. They sighed for shame, public shame, and then copied each shadow into a notebook. There was no other evidence of a fire or trace of the cause. The stories of the fire were elusive. Suddenly, several police cars were on the scene. They asked our names, our residences, and continued, respectfully, with the usual manner of an interrogation. Oshima refused to speak because of his memories of betrayal. The last time he dared to trust the police he was removed from his world, his family, and with no medical or legal consideration sentenced to a leprosarium for sixty years. The police might have shouted to threaten his silence, but instead avoided him when they discovered his blunt fingers and the sores on his face. They shunned the leper, secured their white gloves, and surrounded me. I resisted by shouting my nicknames, and refused to speak Japanese. You namae. No, no. No namae. Yes, name. You namae. Atomu Ainoko. | 41 | RONIN OF THE PEACE PARK | You adana. Mifune. No adana. Ronin Browne. No adana. Take my soul. Oshima was ordered to leave the area and never return. He boldly refused to move, and sat in silence on the stone stairs to the river. Tosuto, the mongrel, and three ravens waited nearby. I was detained at last in the back of a police car. Kitsutsuki, that surly veteran with a wooden leg, and several other roamers rushed over the bridge and tried to intervene, but the police...