Chapter 38
Saturday. Spring was finally in sight. The snow was melting, and the sun shines through the windows. Taki opens her bedroom window to the mildly chilly air outside. “Agh! That’s it!” Taki cries decidedly. Naoyuki gets up and follows after her as she suddenly bounds out of the room, down the hall, past the living room and into the garage.
“Taki, what is it?” Naoyuki asks anxiously.
“I’m sick and tired of being cooped up in the house,” Taki replies.
Naoyuki glances around, his eyes slowly adjusting to the dim lighting in the garage. It was choc-full of junk – old trinkets, boxes, tools, and whatnot. Startled by the opening garage door, Naoyuki jumps and turns toward Taki as she pushes between the sea of junk and her mother’s car to get to a couple of bikes. “Wanna ride?” Taki asks energetically. Taki pulls her bike out and walks it down to the sidewalk with Naoyuki in tow. “You can take any one that fits you,” she tells him. “My mom and dad don’t care.”
Naoyuki blushes. “I don’t know how to ride,” he admits.
“No way!” Taki cries. “You’re pulling my leg!” Naoyuki shakes his head. Taki dumps her bike in the grass and goes back to the garage, returning an instant later with a smaller bike. “I’ll teach you,” she offers. “C’mon, jump on, Naoyuki!” She kicks out the stand and steadies the bike for him.
Reluctantly, Naoyuki throws a leg over the bike and climbs up onto the seat. The bike teeters a little under his weight. Naoyuki whimpers nervously. “Taki...!”
“It’s okay,” Taki assures him, “I’m right here holding it steady.”
Naoyuki cautiously puts his feet down on the pedals and grips the handlebars as if his life depended on it. “Okay...”
Taki kicks up the kick stand. “Start pedaling.”
Naoyuki presses his right foot down on the pedal and starts the bike rolling. It teeters to the right, and Naoyuki abandons ship, letting the bike fall on the sidewalk. Taki laughs. “I was right behind you; you weren’t gonna fall.” She smiles and puts her arm around Naoyuki’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s try it again.” She lifts the bike back up and kicks the stand down. Extending her hand to Naoyuki, she beckons again. “Come on.”
Naoyuki climbs up onto the bike and grips the handlebars, aiming the front wheel straight ahead. He feels Taki kick the kick stand up; she then walks back behind the bike. “Ready?” she asks. “Start pedaling.” Naoyuki pushes his left foot down on the pedal, and the bike starts rolling slowly and unsteadily forward. “That’s it,” Taki coaches him, “Keep it going!” Naoyuki starts pedaling a little faster, nervous as the bike teeters back and forth with only Taki keeping it from toppling over. Naoyuki grips the handlebars tighter, listens to Taki’s feet clop faster on the cement sidewalk. “You’re doing good,” she coaches him. “Ready for me to let go?” Naoyuki feels her steadying hands leave the bike. It wavers to the right. Naoyuki jerks left on the handlebars; the bike wavers the other way. He hears Taki’s footsteps stop.
“No!” Naoyuki cries. The bike leans precariously to the right as he tries to steady it. He stops pedaling and jumps ship again.
“What happened?” Taki asks. “You were doing good!”
“You let go,” Naoyuki cries.
“I have to let go sometime,” she tells him, “or you aren’t really learning to ride it.”
“I wasn’t ready!”
Taki smiles acquiescently and pats him on the head. “All right,” she says. “I’m sorry.” He’s as insecure about riding the bike as he is about other things, she realizes. I guess I can’t just let him loose on his first couple tries. She stands the bike back up again and kicks out the stand. “How ‘bout another try?” she asks.
Naoyuki grips her arm as he climbs onto the bike once more. “Don’t let go,” he pleads as he takes his hands off of her to grab the handlebars. He briefly glances anxiously over his shoulder at Taki and puts his feet to the pedals.
Taki reaches from behind Naoyuki and places her hands over his on the handlebars, then kicks up the stand. “Okay, start pedaling,” she coaches him, keeping pace as he starts the bike rolling. “I’m right here,” she reassures Naoyuki as the bike teeters and she adjusts the handlebars accordingly. “Keep your balance,” Taki continues to coach him. “Okay, go a little faster.” Naoyuki picks up the pace just a tad. “You’re doing really good!” Naoyuki pedals a little faster. “Feeling more comfortable? Let me know when you’re ready for me to let go – and don’t stop pedaling when I do!”
They reach a street, and Naoyuki throws on the breaks. Taki maneuvers the bike 180 degrees back toward her house. Naoyuki starts pedaling again, Taki still at his side with her hands over his on the handlebars. Once he has the bike rolling, she removes her hands from the handlebars. Naoyuki yelps. “It’s okay, I’m still right behind you, see?” Taki holds the bike upright from the rear as Naoyuki continues to pedal, Taki keeping pace. “Ready for me to let go?” Taki asks. Naoyuki shakes his head. He rides on, getting a little more steady. Taki lets go, but keeps in pace with Naoyuki. “You’re doing good! Ready for me to stop?”
“Okay...”
“Keep pedaling like you are!” Taki calls after him as she eases to a stop.
“Taki...!”
“It’s okay, you’re doing it – !”
Naoyuki hits a bump between the cement slabs and goes down in the grass with a yelp.
“Are you okay?” Taki calls as she runs to his side. “A little bruised-up?” she asks. “Not bad for your first time on a bike.” She ruffles his dark hair and smiles at him. “Everybody falls at least once, you know,” she says. “I fell a lot before I was riding on my own.”
“I don’t wanna go again,” Naoyuki mumbles. “Not right now.”
“Okay,” Taki says. “Walk your bike up to the driveway for me.”
Taki walks off, and Naoyuki picks up the bike and walks it up the driveway, then kicks down the stand. He turns around when Taki pulls up to the driveway on her bike. “Come here!” she calls. Naoyuki hesitantly approaches the bike. “Climb on behind me and hang on tight,” Taki tells him. “We’ll go for a ride.”
Naoyuki nervously climbs up on the back of the bike and puts his arms around Taki. Frightened as she pulls off, he buries his face in the back of her shirt and squints his eyes shut, tightening his arms around her waist. The cool breeze sweeps past them as Taki speeds up on the bike. The bike rides smoothly over the sidewalk at just the right speed. Slowly, Naoyuki allows his eyes to open and watches the scenery pan by. A sudden calm sets in. Naoyuki’s mouth turns up in a smile – a grin as he leans against Taki and hugs onto her.
“Bet you’ve never done this before,” Taki says.
“Nope.”
Taki smiles. “Like it?”
“Yup.”
Taki laughs.
All too soon, they are heading back toward Taki’s house. When they pull up in the driveway, a car is parked in front of their house. “Huh. Wonder who that is?” Taki muses.
Naoyuki climbs down off the bike and looks at the car. He recognizes it instantly. “That’s Mr. Ikeda’s car,” he says.
As Taki dismounts, she surmises, “So that’s what he talked to my dad about. But what’s he doing here? Something about your school work?”
“He’s probably here to see me,” Naoyuki tells her.
“Oh, that’s right. He’s your doctor or something.” Taki puts her bike away and comes back for the one Naoyuki was riding. “Well, we shouldn’t keep Mr. Ikeda waiting. You go on inside, and I’ll be right behind you.”
Naoyuki navigates through the garage and goes back inside the house. Upon closing the door, he hears Mr. Soejima call, “Taki, is that you?” He watches Mr. Soejima approach the inside door. “Ah, there you are, Naoyuki. Where have you and the Sport been? You really should say something before you just leave the house.”
The garage door closes. Taki walks through the door behind Naoyuki and shuts it. “Hi, Dad,” Taki says. “We just went for a little bike ride.” She glances around the living room. “We saw Mr. Ikeda’s car parked outside...”
“You should’ve asked before you went off on your ride, Sport,” Mr. Soejima chides his daughter. He heaves a sigh. “Anyway, there’s no need to be overly formal,” he says. “Mr. Ikeda’s sitting down to some tea, and your mom and I are entertaining him. So you two can just run along.”
Taki shoots a questioning glance at her father, then at Naoyuki, who glances back at her just as confusedly. Taki shrugs and takes Naoyuki back to her room. “You know, you were doing pretty good on the bike,” she says. “I bet the next time you try, you’ll have it down.” She smiles. “I’m teaching Kenta how to ride, too. But he mostly rides on the buggy.”
“Buggy?” Naoyuki asks, puzzled.
“We have a little cart that attaches to the bikes,” Taki explains. “It’s usually for, like, three-year-olds, but Kenta still fits in it – after all, it’s safer for little kids than riding double.” Taki plops down on her bed and sighs. “I still wanna be outside,” she groans.
Naoyuki spots a little plush ball on the floor near Taki’s dresser and reaches for it. While Taki is lying unsuspectingly on the bed, he tosses it at her. “Hey!” Taki cries, sitting up in a flash. “No fair sneak-attacking!” She tosses the plush ball back at Naoyuki, who laughs and throws it back. The ball is soon streaking back and forth across the room as Taki and Naoyuki take turns dodging it, laughing and screaming all the while.
In the meantime, the adults can hear their laughter and playful shouting from the kitchen. “Wonder what those two are up to?” Mr. Soejima muses with a grin. “My, my, it’s gotten lively!” He takes a sip of his coffee.
Ikeda smiles. “It sounds like they’re getting along really well,” he comments.
“Those two are nearly inseparable,” Mr. Soejima says jovially. “The little guy’s really started to brighten up in the past couple days – I see him smile a lot more.”
“Naoyuki even helps out in the kitchen sometimes,” Mrs. Soejima adds. “He’s such a little sweetheart.” Her smile fades. “What does trouble me, though, is that when his mother came over to get him a few days ago, he refused her – he said something about his father hitting both him and his mother.”
Ikeda casts his eyes down. “Hmm...That is troubling.”
“I’m worried about what will happen to him when we have to hand him over,” Mrs. Soejima says.
“Taki worries about that, too,” Mr. Soejima says. He looks over at Ikeda. “What do you think? Should we call child services on this?”
“I think that would be a bad idea,” Ikeda answers. “There aren’t many people who can interact with Naoyuki the way your daughter can. He doesn’t open up to most people. If we were to hand him over to child services, he wouldn’t cope well with that.”
“But we surely can’t put him back in such a dangerous household?” Mrs. Soejima asks.
“What would you say to taking Naoyuki in as a foster child?” Ikeda proposes.
“How does that work?” Mr. Soejima inquires.
“Right now, it’s just something to think about,” Ikeda says. “Do some research, look into your options.” Ikeda gets up and places his empty tea cup on the counter. “If it’s all right, I’d like to go peek in on the kids.”
Mr. Soejima nods and leads him to Taki’s bedroom, which was still brimming with the sounds of play. Mr. Soejima cracks the door open to see Taki grabbing Naoyuki and tickling him while he squirms and cries, “Stop it!” between bouts of wild laughter. “Taki!”
It was the first time Ikeda had seen Naoyuki playing, without a care, like a child his age should. So this is what he’s like around Soejima? This is what he could be like if his family situation was better? Just a few days here, and he’s like a different person... It’s truly sad that he can’t be this way with his own mother and father...But on the other hand, it looks like this really is the safest place for Naoyuki right now. If the Soejimas can register as his foster parents, this would be good. Ikeda smiles and quietly closes the door.
