Non-Stop Till Tokyo (10 page)

“Just take all the money, do what you have to. I’ll make sure there’s enough. But fast, Yoshi, please. We can’t let them get to her again.”

“But why are they doing this?” he almost screamed. “What did she ever do to them?”

“It’s what they think I did. They think I have some bag. Something that Kelly stole from them, I guess. I don’t know. My damn phone died on me while they were talking.” And, oh God, if the voice thought I’d just hung up on him… “Yoshi, please, just get Noriko moved
right now
.”

“Okay,” he said, his voice wobbly. “Okay. Panic fund. And you stay out of sight. Take care of yourself.”

“Yeah. Obviously. Call me back as soon as you’ve done it.”

He rang off and I felt my legs wobble. Chanko’s big hand closed round my arm, grasping and supporting.

“Sit down. Come on, get your butt on the bench before you hit the floor. That was our friends back home, threatening your roommate?”

“They know where she is, the hospital ward. They said they’d visit her with—with knives if I didn’t give them the bag. They said—”

“What bag?”

“I don’t bloody know what bag. How would I know? It wasn’t me, remember?”

“What exactly did they say?” His tone was entirely unemotional, slightly bored, and it pulled me together faster than any amount of soothing could have achieved.

“They said I had to give them back the bag,” I said tightly.

“Back, as in return it? Right. And he said
kaban
? So it could be a shopping bag, a briefcase, a rucksack maybe…”

I was supposed to be the language expert round here. I mentally kicked myself. “Yes. He didn’t specify.”

“Uh-huh. Who did you call?”

“My friend Yoshi. He’s the one who knows Taka.”

“Do I know him?”

“I don’t know, do I? Longish hair, glasses, computer genius, twenty-six.”

“Don’t recall him. Your boyfriend?”

“No.”

“Right. Only, ordering him around, telling him to spend his money… Hell, sounded like a boyfriend to me.”

“It’s my money, actually,” I said, as evenly as possible. “Come on, we should go. I need to charge this phone.”

He didn’t move. He was scowling, but this time it was with the effort of thought. “This bag,” he said ruminatively. “Say they think you rolled the old man and took his bag…”

“I’m sure they do.”

“So the girl, Kelly, didn’t have it with her when they picked her up, then.” His thick brows drew even closer together. “They say anything about what was in it?”

“No. It was probably the bagful of cash Kelly was going to sell her virtue for.”

He shook his head. “I don’t see the family doing all this for a bag of money. They
got
money. Unless it was millions…don’t see it.”

“What else are they doing it for, then?”

“They got to get revenge for the old man, that’s important. And they got to put on a big display to keep face, but— Hell, I don’t know. Point is, the
Kantō gangs keep their heads down. This ain’t Kansai. The big Tokyo associations
—they don’t mess with the police, they don’t openly break the law like that. They play low.”

“They broke into our flat,” I said. “They raped Noriko. Is that playing low?”

“That’s what I’m saying, Butterfly. They don’t know it was you did the old guy, they even got another suspect, but they hit your friend anyway. Was she a hostess?”

“No. Never. OL from high school.”

“Decent young woman, home invasion. That’ll be all over the papers, police are gonna need a result. It comes out it was yakuza,
the rest of the Kantō families will be pissed. She gets attacked again, in hospital—
front-page news. So why the hell would they do it?”

He was right, at that. “Because they want to scare me?” I offered, for lack of anything better.

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah. But it’s got to be more than that.”

I scowled at my feet. “Like?”

“Like, it’s an extreme-prejudice job, taking out all your friends and family. Which seems pretty odd if they’re not sure it was you who did it. Or…”

“Or they really, really want this bag back?”

“And they’ll bully the hell out of you and Kelly till one of you coughs it up. It’s a theory. Be interesting to know what was in it. Because I don’t think this is over a few
man
yen.”

I felt my lips wobble.
Man
is the Japanese counting unit for ten thousand, and Noriko’s personal brand of flaky Jinglish was peppered with it. “Ee, Kerry, boots is nine
man
yen, bery bery high!” Chanko’s deep, dark musical rumble of a voice had nothing at all in common with Nori-chan’s high-pitched, heavily accented squeal, but the picture was in my head all the same, and I dropped my face into my hands.

I felt him shift his weight slightly beside me. The bench creaked.

“Damn flimsy things,” he muttered. “You think your boyfriend can get protection for your roommate?”

“Yoshi? I suppose so. I don’t know how it works. I suppose he’ll go to bloody Taka, seeing as he seems to be in the protection business now.”

“What’s wrong with Taka?”

“He’s a lunatic.”

“Bit off-centre, maybe.”

“He’s a headcase and a pain in the arse,” I snapped, and then remembered this guy was his friend. “No, I’m being mean. He’s okay. A nice guy. It’s just that he gets Yoshi in trouble sometimes, and that upsets me a bit. You know how it is.”

“Sure do,” he said, in the flattest voice I’d ever heard.

I bit at my knuckle. My dead phone lay on the bench beside me, accusing. I knew I should go and charge it, so they could call and threaten and bully me some more. I really didn’t want to.

I wanted to run away and never answer the phone again and leave it all far, far behind.

“Do you think we should tell the police Noriko’s been threatened?” I asked abruptly.

“Anyone talked to them about any of it?”

“No. We’ve got no proof of anything and they haven’t reported the old guy as murdered, and we thought…” I tailed off.

“Yeah.” It sounded as though he understood it all and agreed. I wondered if gaijin ex-sumo slipped through the cracks in society as easily as hostesses.

“I saw a goon talking to a policeman. In Nagano,” I offered. “Waiting at the bus station. I thought they were waiting for me.”

“Probably were.”

I’d hoped he wasn’t going to say that.

“But Noriko,” I said. “She’s not involved. We could still report threats.”

“Could. They gonna believe the yakuza are after an OL?”

“We could say it was some crazy who read about her in the papers,” I suggested.

“Could.” He didn’t sound that impressed. “You know, that guy was probably pulling your chain just now, putting on the pressure.”

“I can’t take the chance.”

“Yeah.”

My new phone shrilled a tinny version of “La Bamba” into the peaceful air of the garden, and I answered it hastily.

“Done it,” said Yoshi. “Taka’s sending two men to watch her now, and we’re setting up a move to a private hospice with security. It’ll be pretty expensive, Kechan.”

“The money doesn’t matter.”

“No, but…I’ve emptied the account. I have some savings—”

“Might it be best if you kept that for emergencies? I mean, if this gets worse, or if—you know, if anything happens to me.”

“Kechan…”

“We need money available at a minute’s notice, Yoshi, and you’re the guy on the spot. I’ll fill up the panic fund again, and you make sure you can get hold of your cash for later, okay? That way, whatever happens, we’re all three covered. No?”

“Yeah,” said Yoshi. “Okay. Thanks. I’m sorry.”

“How’s Noriko?”

“Not good. They’ve operated but there’s bleeding on her brain. She’s still unconscious. They don’t know what will happen. Maybe she’ll wake up, but…” He sounded exhausted and miserable and hopeless, and I suddenly thought, maybe I should have let him spend his money, even if he wouldn’t make the rent.

“Yoshi, listen, I have to say thank you for all you’ve done. You’ve been wonderful. You really have. I don’t know what we’d have done without you.”

“I’ve done nothing,” he said savagely. “Nothing. Nori-chan’s in hospital and you’re being chased by yakuza and I haven’t done anything!”

“Honey, you saved my life,” I told him as forcefully as I could. “You got Taka to send help, remember? And it came right when I needed it. They nearly got me.”

“
What?
”

“Seriously. You were right about my phone—I didn’t turn off the ring, and they called it, and they chased me, and just when I thought they had me, Taka’s friend appeared, and he beat the crap out of them. It was marvellous. Well, it was really scary, but so impressive.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. He’s great. I feel so much safer now. I’m going to be fine, and it’s thanks to you. And please thank Taka for me too,” I made myself add.

“I know you’re still angry with him…”

“I was wrong about that,” I lied. “I should have listened to you. I really wouldn’t have made it this far without you.”

“And Taka’s friend. He said he sent the big Hawaiian guy, is that right?” Yoshi was clearly trying to be his normal perky self. It wasn’t entirely convincing, but it was something. “I met him once. He’s kind of gorgeous, isn’t he?”

“Um…it’s a bit different.”

“Oh, Kechan. You’re always down on men.”

“Takes one to know one.” I was rewarded with a choke of laughter. “I have to go. Be safe, and thank you. You’re such a good friend.”

“Watch out for yourself.”

I hung up, taking a deep breath and feeling a little tension evaporate. Yoshi had definitely sounded better at the end of the call. If I could just make him believe that he was instrumental in saving my hide, it would be something for him to hold on to, something he’d got right.

Even if I had to be nice about that nutcase Taka.

I turned to the nutcase’s friend. He was staring down at me with that cold, blank expression.

“Yoshi’s got Noriko safe,” I said, wondering what was wrong now. “He’s—”

“I heard.”

“Right. Well, I need to find somewhere to charge my phone, because I’m sure they’ll be ringing back.” I bit my lip. “The man who rang me didn’t mention those guys in the alley. Do you think they hadn’t called in yet?”

“Maybe.”

“Yeah. It was a great idea, taking those SIM cards. I suppose they’re, you know, not likely to start moving any time soon. Did I say thank you for doing that?”

He exhaled heavily.

“Well, thank you.” I was beginning to feel distinctly nervous now. “So, you’re the expert. Where—”

“Jesus. Shut up, will you?”

“What?”

“Shut up,” he said viciously, and there was a hardness in his face that made my stomach sink. “You think we’re all stupid?”

“I don’t—”

“Shut it. You may be used to twisting men around your little finger, but you can damn well forget it with me. Got it? No more nicey-smiley crap. No making friends and agreeing with everything I say and telling people how wonderful I am when I’m right next to you, like I’d forget that two hours ago you were bawling me out. I’m not one of your paying boyfriends, understand? Jesus, look at yourself.” He was staring at me, and his expression was dark and disgusted. “You grovel to the yakuza, you sell that other girl down the river, you play your boyfriend like a fish, you agree to any fucking thing I say if you think it’ll get you ahead. And you say you’re not a hooker. Like hell you aren’t.”

I stared at him, those dark eyes, the hard mouth, and I turned and ran away.

There was nothing else I could do. My face was burning, and hot tears were pressing on my eyes as I shoved my way through a gaggle of
ob
āsan
. I felt nauseated.

That bastard. Goddammit, how dared he? He was completely wrong about me. Wrong about the money. Wrong about me trying to flatter him. I’d only been trying to make Yoshi feel better…

Alright, so I’d been playing it up a bit, but did that matter? Was it that bad to try and make people feel good? To try to be friends?

What I did was completely different from sleeping with clients. I just…

They paid me to be their friend, and I was, till the money ran out. Like I’d been Ito-san’s friend on the bus, till her usefulness ended.

“What am I supposed to do, then?” I said out loud. I wasn’t a gigantic thug, I couldn’t hit people or scare them. I didn’t have a family or protection or a gun. I had likeability. I made people like me, and if I couldn’t make them like me any more, then I had nothing.

The path took me through a copse of trees that had been artfully deformed to look authentically twisted with age. I was half-blinded with tears, and the damn garden was huge, and I didn’t know where the hell I would go anyway.

Just because I tried to be nice. What right did he have to say such horrible things? I’d only been trying to be friendly…