22 October 1994 - Newton, Massachusetts

“KEIKO?”

“Hello, Jeffrey,” Keiko Takahashi whispered before kissing him again.

“What are you doing here?”

“I believe I am kissing you, Jeffrey.”

Jeff shook his head. “I mean, where did you come from?”

Keiko looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “You do not remember that I am from Spokane, Jeffrey? Is your memory failing you?”

He blinked. “You’re teasing me!” he exclaimed, his eyes narrowing.

She smiled. “A little. I am a student at Boston College studying for my Masters in English Composition now.”

“Wait, you already have a Masters, Keiko.”

“In teaching, yes, but not yet in English. I wish to have more knowledge in my academic field.”

“You look wonderful, Keiko. Is it... ? Is it time now?”

“It is our time? I believe that it is, Jeffrey. That is the reason I chose Boston when deciding on where to obtain my Masters. I wish to see if you and I truly have a future together; I believe that we do but life often gets in the way of one’s plans as Ken’s death showed us.”

Jeff stopped short.

“Jeffrey, you do not have to be worried about bringing up Ken’s name around me; you should know this already. Yes, he was my brother and, yes, he was killed in the Gulf War. Both of those are facts we must accept; we cannot acknowledge one without the other. The three years since his death has allowed my family to gain some perspective on this. We celebrate him rather than mourn him.”

Jeff hugged her. “You are right, Keiko; I’d better get used to saying that, huh?” He hugged her again. “I can’t believe you’re here! How is it you showed up here today? Did someone let you know we would be here?”

“No, I have been hearing of this restaurant since I arrived at BC. I was studying today and missed lunch; I thought it would be a good opportunity to come here and not battle the peak-time crowds. It was a pleasant walk today.”

“I am glad you missed lunch, then. How are your parents?”

“They are well, thank you. And thank you for the flowers following my graduation, Jeffrey.”

“I couldn’t let the event pass unnoticed, Keiko. I think about you frequently, especially since the beginning of this year.”

“And I you.”

At that point Heather hustled up to them. “Jeff, is this her? Is this Keiko?” she asked, excited.

“Yes,” Keiko answered, “I am Keiko Takahashi. You are Heather Donnelly, are you not?”

Heather wrapped Keiko in a hug of her own. “It is so good to finally meet you!”

“And it is good to finally meet you, Miss Donnelly,” Keiko laughed at Heather’s exuberance.

“Oh no! No, no, no! ‘Heather.’ I’m ‘Heather, ‘ please. May I call you ‘Keiko?’”

“Yes, of course.” Keiko glanced over at the rest of the group that was present for Heather’s luncheon. “I have interrupted a private event. I apologize.”

“You’ll be adding to it, Keiko. Come on over!” Heather insisted. She hooked one of Keiko’s arms and began leading her to the table. Keiko looked back at Jeff, a question on her face. Jeff shrugged his shoulders and laughed.

“Everyone! This is Keiko Takahashi!” Heather announced once back at the table. Kara, who’d visited Jeff at Fort Bragg and met her brother Ken, gasped; she sprang from her seat. By the time Kara hugged Keiko there was a small knot of others waiting for their turn. Jeff watched with a smile.

“Where did she come from?” Heather asked while her mother and grandmother introduced themselves to Keiko.

“Apparently she’s a Masters candidate at BC.” Now it was his parents’ turn to greet Keiko as he watched.

“I thought she already got one?”

“‘Oh, yes, it’s vurry nice... ‘“ Jeff quoted; Heather smacked him on the arm. “She did get one, Heather, in May. She has a BA in English Composition and a Masters in teaching from UVA. She said she’s working on a Masters in English Composition now.”

“And she’s been there since Labor Day, roughly, but hasn’t contacted you until now?”

“Seems that way.” Jeff shrugged. “I don’t know, Heather. She and I have a whole lot of talking to do before I can give you a complete report.” Heather stuck her tongue out at him.

When Keiko was finished meeting everyone Kara and Marisa brought her back to where they were seated. Jeff’s father handed him another beer while Tom Cavanaugh patted him on the shoulder. Jeff pulled an empty chair over from a nearby table and sat next to Keiko. Her hand found its way into his while they talked to Kara, Marisa and Stu. It felt natural, right; they smiled at each other.

The luncheon ended forty-five minutes later. He and Keiko hadn’t let go of each other’s hand that entire time; they did have to let go of one another to say goodbye to everyone. His mother extracted a promise of a visit to Enfield for Thanksgiving. After saying their goodbyes they walked hand-in-hand to Jeff’s truck.

“I don’t know why, but I expected you to be driving the same vehicle that you were when you visited us in 1991, Jeffrey,” Keiko said as they approached his truck.

“I would be if someone hadn’t set it on fire last year.”

Keiko raised an eyebrow. “‘On fire, ‘ Jeffrey? What sort of women have you been associating with?”

“Wait, I didn’t say anything about a woman! I said ‘someone!’” he protested as he opened Keiko’s door for her.

“A lucky guess,” she said while she stepped into the truck. Jeff closed her door, shaking his head as he walked to the driver’s side. Great, he thought. I’m already losing arguments to her... Jeff walked around to the driver’s side and climbed in.

Keiko directed him to her apartment building. Jeff parked along Commonwealth Avenue and was led inside by her. The building, built sometime in the latter half of the Nineteenth Century, was constructed of heavy stone which darkened to a deep chocolate brown over the years. Originally built as a Gilded Age single-family home, it had been divided into three large apartments, one on each floor.

Each of the bedrooms in the apartments bore deadbolts to better keep out roommates sharing those apartments, roommates who didn’t always know each other before moving in. Keiko led Jeff to the third floor, passing through the common room in that apartment on the way to her room. The others sharing that space stared in disbelief when they passed; she’d been buried in her books since she moved in. She pulled Jeff in and locked the door behind them.

Keiko bore into Jeff when she kissed him again. He was very aware of every curve on her body while she pressed into him; his hands roamed over her back. The difference between his six-foot-two frame and her five-foot-six was a slight hindrance but they suffered through it. They released each other some minutes later. Both were breathless.

A look around her room told Jeff that she had the bedroom facing Commonwealth Ave. The large room held her twin bed, a desk, a dresser and a loveseat. Rather than the riot of just-out-of-high-school decorations he remembered from his barracks room, Keiko’s choice of furnishings tended more to the minimalist, reflecting the aesthetic young woman’s style. Keiko pulled his attention back to her and to the loveseat.

“‘Welcome to my parlor, said the spider to the fly, ‘“ Keiko quoted when they sat.

“Is this the East Coast version of the Hotel California? I’m never leaving?” he responded with a smile.

“No,” she said, lowering her eyes. “We are not at that point in our relationship, Jeffrey. We still have so much to learn about each other; your visit to Spokane three years ago barely scratched the surface.”

“Very true. Things went well for you at UVA?”

“Yes. I graduated summa cum laude and with the two degrees I pursued. Before graduation in May I knew I wanted a Masters in English as well. A search told me both BC and BU offered the degree I was looking for, but that BC had an actual campus. I knew I wanted to come to Boston, to try and find you, to see if my childish hunch about us was true.”

“‘Childish hunch?’ You didn’t really feel something when you visited Bragg?” Jeff asked in confusion.

“No, I definitely did, Jeffrey, do not worry. No, my concern was that you had moved on without me. That you had found someone else during our time apart.”

Jeff blew out a breath. “I very nearly did, Keiko. I found that I couldn’t lie to her, or myself, about my feelings.”

“‘Lie?’”

“It was Allison, Keiko. I think I mentioned her in ‘91; I know you said that Ken talked about her during your time at the beach in ‘89. She’s been my friend since our sophomore year in high school. We spent the last half of senior year together as boyfriend and girlfriend; we lived together for the two months after my visit to you and before she left for the University of Texas in August of 1991. We were close that summer, though we didn’t get that close. Not for lack of trying, but neither of us felt comfortable taking that step.”

“Honestly, I could easily have fallen for her; in a way I suppose I did. Like you, she’s brilliant and beautiful. Physically, she’s a little different than you - five-nine, golden blonde hair, bright blue eyes - and emotionally her strength didn’t emerge until late in her undergrad years at MIT, but ... I love her, Keiko. There’s no other way to say it: I love her. She’s more than a former girlfriend, more than the other sister Heather now is or even the actual sister Kara is, in many ways.”

“Jeffrey, you know that I asked you not to stop living while we were apart, neither at Fort Bragg in 1989 nor at my parents’ in 1991. This was the ... risk ... I took. You did not bring anyone to Heather’s graduation party; is there no one in your life, then?”

“Not romantically, no. There’s been no one who I’ve gotten close to since Allison. I do live with two women though, Keiko.”

Keiko’s eyebrows rose. “A ‘Three’s Company’ situation?” she asked.

“Sort of.” Jeff explained his relationship with Charlie and Emilie and theirs to each other.

“Then they will not be upset if we begin to date?”

“Not at all. I don’t know what your class schedule is like, Keiko, but my schedule will be ... difficult to manage ... until at least next fall.” He explained how paramedic school fit into his life and how he’d adapted his work schedule to accommodate it. He would have very little free time for close to a year.

“You are just getting started with paramedic school. I am just now adapting to the pace of life here in Boston; this is why I have not tried contacting you. I was a bit off-balance after classes started. We will make things work. That is, if you want to?”

“I most certainly do, Keiko.”

Jeff told Sean about Keiko’s appearance at Heather’s graduation party when they next worked together the following Tuesday night. Sean, of course, wanted to return the favor to Jeff by inviting Keiko and him to dinner at his place as soon as possible. Jeff demurred until he and Keiko had established a true relationship.

One invitation that Jeff accepted for the both of them was to his parents’ house for Thanksgiving. Though Jeff and Sean worked Thursday nights together every week, that particular Thursday they both were given the day off, allowing each of them to spend time with their respective families.

Jeff drove to Keiko’s place the day before Thanksgiving, early in the afternoon, while she was in class; they’d exchanged keys only two weeks into their relationship, already that comfortable with each other. Traffic out of the city that night would be ridiculous and best avoided by not leaving for Enfield until early Thanksgiving morning. He stayed in her room and studied while waiting for her to return.

Jeff was buried deep in his pharmacology notes when she returned that afternoon. They walked to a nearby Italian restaurant for dinner, watching through the large window while the masses attempted to leave Metro Boston. They shared a quiet meal together before walking back to her building hand-in-hand through the snow flurries that started during dinner. They studied again after their return, so they’d be ahead while at his family’s house.

They readied themselves for bed around nine that evening since they would leave by five the next morning. One of Keiko’s roommates was a local from Dartmouth, so she headed home that night. The other two women were from the Midwest and would stay in Boston.

“You’d have thought I was getting ready to ravish all three of you from the looks they just gave me!” Jeff whispered after Keiko closed the door to her room.

“And that that t-shirt stretched across your chest? You do not think that had something to do with it?” He looked down; his PT shirt with “ARMY” emblazoned across it was close to six years old and a little small now. “No, Jeffrey, you are all mine,” she whispered back.

“Getting kinda possessive after only a month aren’t you, Keiko?”

“I have waited five years for my chance, Jeffrey,” she reminded him while they embraced. He pinched her butt, causing her to jump. He kissed her on the nose before turning to his sleeping bag and bedroll, intending to open them.

“You are not sleeping on the floor, Jeffrey!”

“I’m not going to fit on that loveseat, Keiko.”

“Very true. You will fit in my bed, however.”

“Uh, Keiko, are we ready for that? Plus, it’s a twin, remember?”

“So, we will need to get close to each other.” He looked hesitant. She stepped back up to him and held him again. “And no, I do not believe we are ready for that. I want to feel your arms around me all night, Jeffrey, nothing more. I wish to be close to you.” He nodded in acceptance.

She shooed him over to the bed and under the covers while she moved to the light switch. He heard her cross the carpet; then she slipped under the covers with him. She pulled his arms around her and snuggled into him.

“Keiko, I apologize ... my body ... being this close to you,” he whispered into her ear.

“Jeffrey, you are a man; it is expected. I will not hold any involuntary reactions against you. Now, relax. Try to get some sleep; our alarm will go off at 4:30.”

As with exchanging keys, how rapidly they’d reached this point surprised him. Her gentle breathing soon stilled him to sleep.

“Did you have a good weekend with your family?” Sean asked him the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Ambulance Twenty-two was defending the Malden and Medford areas against sickness and injury that night.

“Yeah, it was great. She loved Enfield and the towns out there, though she said the ‘hills’ were too low; I think growing up among the mountains spoiled her. Mom, Dad, Kara and Stu like her already, and Matty’s already calling her ‘Aunt Keiko.’ Thanks, kid. No pressure.”

“When did you come back?”

“Early Sunday,” Jeff replied. “I’m glad we left Enfield when we did; traffic was already getting heavy in Sturbridge where the Turnpike meets 84, even at nine in the morning.”

“You think you guys are up to having dinner at my place this Sunday?”

“Yeah! That’d be great, Sean, thanks! Can we bring anything?”

“I’ll let you know by Saturday at the latest. I need to figure out what I’m going to serve first.”

“Don’t go too crazy on our account.”

“Hey, you finding Keiko again is a reason to celebrate! As is Beth’s moving in with me.”

“What? Hey, that’s great! Did you ask her to move in this weekend?”

“Yeah. Her lease is coming to an end, and I’m pretty sure about her, Jeff. I can’t believe how happy I am when she’s around. Dad and Colleen are ready to adopt her and get rid of me!”

“And what about the other resident of your house? What does this mean for her?”

“Not a thing as far as we’re all concerned. Aiko asked me when I was going to ask Beth to move in just before I asked Aiko if she would mind. Beth’s over there quite a bit when she’s not working and they’ve been getting to know each other. There won’t be any problems.”

“Do you think that dojo you found near school will work for you, Keiko?”

“It will suffice for now.”

“You’re not happy with it, then.”

“Not entirely, no, but it is the only one close enough to BC to be convenient.”

“What don’t you like about it?”

“The dojo itself is fine. It is the owner I am not sure about. He seems like he does not know what to do with a ‘girl’ who is a second-dan black belt.”

“And holding you up as a role model for his younger female students hasn’t crossed his mind?”

“We shall see. Am I going to be able to get you out on the mat sometime?”

“Not until I’m into my clinical rotations next year at least, Keiko. The Monday-through-Friday, nine-to-five thing’s a bit of a pain in the tookus to work around. It would be nice to add the karate to my workout routine. And thank you for driving up here tonight, by the way.”

“Of course, Jeffrey. It is certainly more preferable to only seeing you on Sundays. I’ve enjoyed getting to know Charlie and Emilie; our trip to Salem tomorrow while you are at work should be fun. What time will we be going to Sean’s house on Sunday?”

Keiko and Jeff walked up the path to Sean’s front door just before six that Sunday evening. Jeff held Keiko’s hand while he pressed the doorbell’s button. The front door opened to reveal Aiko Hayashi. She smiled at the man she considered her savior from a miserable existence at the Malden House. Aiko bowed to Jeff; he and Keiko bowed back.

“Good evening, Jeff,” Aiko said in English, not knowing if the young woman with him spoke Japanese even though she looked Japanese. She invited the young couple into the house.

“Good evening, Aiko. You are looking well,” Jeff responded in Japanese once in the foyer. “Aiko, allow me to introduce my girlfriend, Keiko Takahashi. Keiko, this is Aiko Hayashi, a friend to Sean and I.”

“Welcome, Keiko. You speak Japanese then?”

“Yes, Hayashi-sama. My brother taught Jeffrey the language when they served together in the Army; we grew up speaking it since our parents were born in Japan.”

“As were mine; my brothers and I are Nisei as well, though I hope you did not have to endure the childhood my family lived through.”

“You were interred,” Keiko stated, guessing at Aiko’s age and her experiences.

“Yes. Enough gloomy talk, however; Beth and Sean are in the kitchen.” Aiko led the way through the house. Beth and Sean were putting the finishing touches on the side dishes that would accompany the steak.

“Hi, Jeff!” Beth chirped when the trio entered the kitchen. She rinsed her hands and gave him a hug and a peck on the cheek. Jeff introduced the couple to Keiko while handing over a bottle of Malbec they’d brought. Beth Hargraves presented the perfect counterpoint to Keiko’s reserved nature: bright, bubbly, and blonde, she brought smiles to Sean’s face and her gaiety was infectious. She soon had Keiko as animated as Jeff had ever seen her. The three women adjourned to the living room while the men stepped out onto the deck to grill the steaks.

“You’ve adapted well to New England, Sean! Still grilling on your deck at the beginning of December! I’m impressed.”

“Believe it or not, I was going to pan fry them in cast iron and finish them in the oven but Beth told me to suck it up!”

Jeff laughed, watching the steaks sizzle on the gas grill. “She’s no shrinking violet. I’ve seen her get right in someone’s face in the ER and tell them to cut the shit! Sometimes that non-PC intervention is the best approach; she seems to know when to use it and when not to.”

“Yeah, between her and Aiko I’m answering ‘yes, ma’am!’ to just about everything now!”

“‘Happy wife, happy life!’ How have things been going here since Beth moved in?”

“Honestly, Jeff, I couldn’t be happier. Beth always seems happy, and her family didn’t bat an eye when she told them she was moving in with me. Having Aiko here is just like when my Mammy was around; she’s come alive again since we got her out of that prison her family dropped her in.”

“Any noise from that bunch since she got out of there?”

“Nothing from her daughter or son-in-law, thankfully; I think they stopped caring about her before they put her in the Malden House, honestly. She’s back in touch with her grandson now that she’s out of there. She sent him a letter not long after she got here, letting him know where she was. She included a picture Colleen took of her meditating in the back yard. The leaves were at peak color back in October when she took it. Timothy, her grandson, said that it put him at ease that she was in a place where she was happy. She didn’t tell him about any of her problems she’d had before coming here, though; Aiko said she’d fill him in the next time she speaks to him.”

“Yeah, with him being stationed near the DMZ I’m sure he’s under enough stress. When’s he due to rotate out of Korea?”

“June. Alright, these babies are done. Let’s bring them inside and rejoin the ladies while these steaks rest.”

Three hours later Jeff held Keiko’s hand while he drove them back to Malden and the condo. Keiko would return to Newton tomorrow morning after the worst of the traffic eased; her first class was not until two on Monday afternoons.

“You seemed like you had a good time tonight, Keiko.”

“I did, Jeffrey. Beth is a wonderful person and a perfect match for Sean. Aiko ... Aiko is like the grandmother Ken and I always wished for.”

“Ken mentioned briefly that your parents’ families didn’t approve of their relationship, but didn’t go into detail; I didn’t press him, either. I gather that disapproval is why they ended up in Spokane?”

“Yes. Mother and Father fell in love in the late 1950s; they were in their late teens and living with their families outside of Shobara, Japan, which is about ninety minutes northeast of Hiroshima. Mother’s father learned of their relationship and immediately forbade her from seeing my father. They bided their time; they finished their version of high school and started working while they saved their money.”

“They dated in secret during those years, until 1962 when they announced their relationship to both families. My grandparents grew up in pre-war Japan and held to many old traditions, one of which was that bride and groom had to be of equal social standing. Father was a warehouse worker and my Mother’s father did not see him as a suitable husband for the daughter of a doctor.”

“Post-war Japan was still trying to find its balance between Western and traditional values, especially among the older generations. My parents got into terrible arguments with their parents because of their situation. My grandparents couldn’t stomach the dissent and stopped talking to them. Mother and Father gambled everything and left for America, never to return to Japan or to talk to their families ever again. They passed through Seattle and found a home across the state in Spokane.”

“Father secured work in a warehouse and quickly rose to manager. Mother worked as a secretary until she became pregnant with Ken; she never worked outside the home after that. Father rose quickly through his company, eventually becoming Vice President of Shipping for a large trucking subsidiary.”

“Ken and I always felt a sense of disconnect being without grandparents or cousins while growing up; family connections were important in Japan, so our parents felt the loss as well. Aiko had those connections, despite being displaced and interred during World War II; her abandonment by her only child and that child’s husband is as much of a family betrayal as my parents leaving their family behind. In a sense, our separate experiences complete the other’s.”

“Jeffrey, she called me ‘granddaughter’ tonight,” she told him with watery eyes. Jeff squeezed her hand.

“Your parents are coming east for Christmas. Do you think you’ll introduce Aiko to them?”

“I believe I will.” Keiko looked thoughtful for a moment. “Jeffrey, I have just realized that you have never asked me why I talk like I do.”

“Because it’s not that important to me, other than it’s part of what makes you ‘Keiko’ to me. Do you feel that it’s important to tell me why?”

“I do, Jeffrey, yes,” she said. He squeezed her hand in encouragement. “Mother had only worked outside the home for a few years before she became pregnant with Ken. While she’d learned English in Japan, she was still learning the local colloquialisms when she left her job. Her contact with native English speakers was limited once she was a housewife. As a result of all that, her speech pattern was unusual.”

“Ken adapted easier than I did. Father’s work at the trucking firm gave him more regular and varied exposure to English and Ken picked up his speech pattern, not Mother’s. While they spoke a combination of English and Japanese to Ken and I, I was slower to make the connection between them. When I started pre-school my speech pattern set me apart. I was reluctant to speak because of the teasing I received. When I did start speaking English, it was in the precise manner which I still speak.”

“Keiko, I wouldn’t care if you spoke in Pig Latin. I’m head-over-heels in love with you.”