It was getting towards the end of summer break. One Saturday morning, 15 year old Vanessa was deeply asleep when her little sister, 7 year old Lily, jumped on her.
“Guess what, Vannie!” she said enthusiastically.
“Ouch! What on earth, Lily, you could’ve hurt me there!” she replied, still groggy.
She sat up and rubbed her eyes.
“Sorry. Anyways, GUESS WHAT HAPPENED!” said Lily again.
“What now?”
“We have new neighbors moving in! And mom said we should go and help them.”
“What?!”
“Yeah! Me, you and Micky. Hurry up. Said we should eat quickly and go help!”
“This is a disaster.” murmured Vanessa.
“Eh?”
“What am I going to say? ‘Good morning, I’m Vanessa, can I help you move? I live next door’ and just stare?”
Lily giggled.
“Surely not, Vannie! It’ll be fine, you’ll see!”
“Easy for you to say, you social butterfly.”
Lily laughed again. Their mother, Melissa White, called for them. Vanessa dressed quickly and ran downstairs, followed by Lily. They met their brother, 16 year old Michael, who had just come downstairs too.
“You’re all late. Out the door, each of you.” said Melissa.
“What? We don’t get to eat?” asked Michael incredulously.
“Since you're late, you don't get to eat right now. But I’ll bring sandwiches out later for everyone. Go, go, go! You’re gonna make them do the work all by themselves.”
She literally shoved them out the door. As they walked to the neighbors, Lily spoke up.
“Hey, Micky, do you think there’ll be a child my age?”
Michael shrugged.
“Maybe. I dunno.”
They reached the house. It was a big white building, facing theirs, and there was a moving van in front of it. They approached and saw a girl, probably about Lily’s age, taking something from the van. When she saw them, she dashed into the house like a frightened rabbit. Soon, a beautiful woman came out.
“Hi. My name is Michael, and these are my sisters, Vanessa and Lily. We live next door and we thought we’d help.” said Micheal before the woman could even speak.
“Oh, I see. How much would you want at the end of the day?” she asked.
The children looked at each other, puzzled.
“5 dollars each? 2? How much do you want?” she asked again.
“Nothing. We just want to help.” piped up Lily.
“Oh, okay. I’m sorry. I thought you were doing chores in exchange for something.” apologized the woman. “What are your names already?”
“Lily!” said Lily.
“I’m Michael, and this is Vanessa.” replied Michael.
“Sorry for earlier. My daughter is very shy.” said the woman. “By the way, I’m Mrs Natsumi. Nice to meet you.”
She held out her hand and they shook it one by one.
“As for helping… well, you can take things from the moving guy and bring it to the living room. We’ll take it from there. Can you do that?”
“Gladly!” said Lily with a big smile.
She went to the van gestured and said something to the moving man, who smiled and handed her a chair. She took the chair and went inside the house. Vanessa and Michael followed, and started to help move things into the house, occasionally meeting the girl who always disappeared when she saw them.
One time, Lily slipped, and dropped some glass plates. The sound was loud, and drew both Michael and Vanessa out.
“Lily! What happened?” asked a concerned Michael.
“I slipped on some grass, and now I’ve broken some plates.” said Lily, tearful.
Vanessa helped Lily up. She had scraped her knee.
“Come on, let’s get your knee cleaned.” said Vanessa, but she stepped on a piece of glass and let out a cry.
Mrs Natsumi came out, having heard the cry. Lily started crying, fearing an outburst over the broken plates.
“Oh, goodness, what happened here? Are you okay? Is anyone hurt?” asked Mrs Natsumi.
“I’m afraid we’ve broken some plates.” said Michael, expecting Mrs Natsumi to get angry.
“Did anyone get hurt?” asked Mrs Natsumi. Then she saw Lily crying.
“Oh, Lily, are you alright? Where did you get hurt?”
As she drew closer, Lily wailed, and Vanessa tried to comfort her.
“It’s alright. She’s not going to do anything.” she whispered.
“Let me see that knee.” said Mrs Natsumi.
Lily calmed down and Mrs Natsumi looked at the knee carefully, then looked up.
“It’s just grazed. Come on in. I’ll clean that up.”
She picked Lily up in a princess carry and headed towards the house. Michael and Vanessa followed, with Vanessa hoping Mrs Natsumi wouldn’t notice her limp. When they got into the living room, Mrs Natsumi put Lily down on a chair and called for her daughter.
“Melinda! Bring the medicine box, please. Hurry up.”
Soon, the girl came, holding a white medicine box with a plus sign on it. As she handed it to her mother, the latter held her hand firmly.
“Mellie, these are Michael, Vanessa and Lily.” she said, pointing at each. “Say hello.”
Melinda murmured an imperceptible hello and dashed away, her face as red as a tomato. Mrs Natsumi chuckled and opened the medicine box. She used some alcohol to clean Lily’s wound and put a cartoon bandage on it.
“There. All done.” She turned to Vanessa. “Come, Vanessa. Let me see your leg. You’ve been limping.”
Vanessa turned bright red. She opened her mouth.
“Um…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll not eat you.” said Mrs Natsumi with a smile.
Vanessa limped closer. Mrs Natsumi signaled Lily to get up, and she did, leaving the space for Vanessa. Vanessa sat down, and kicked off her slippers1. One of the slippers had a piece of glass embedded in it, and had pierced the slipper and the sole of Vanessa’s foot.
The bell rang. Mrs Natsumi got up.
“I’ll be right back.”
She went to open the door. They heard their mother’s cheerful voice introduce herself and welcome Mrs Natsumi in the neighborhood. Mrs Natsumi let her in, not mentioning the incident. She led her to the living room, where Melissa saw her three children, one sitting on a chair, and two others standing, one with a bandage on her knee.
“Oh my God, what on earth happened to you?” she asked, worried.
The children explained the situation. Melissa offered to pay for the plates, but Mrs Natsumi declined.
“The most important thing is that they’re safe, Mrs White. I don’t need any replacement.”
Mrs Natsumi cleaned the wound on Vanessa’s foot, bandaged it and told her to be careful the next time. The moving man, wondering why no one came to get the things from the van, came into the living room with a heavy table.
“Oh, put down the table!” said Mrs Natsumi. “We were just going to take a break. Would you care to join us?”
The moving man accepted, and they ate the sandwiches Melissa had brought together. After the break, Melissa joined the work and by evening, all the things were in the house. Most of them were in their place, but others still sat in the living room, waiting to be put in their right place.
“Will you come over to our house for dinner?” asked Melissa after the moving man left.
“I would love to, Mrs White, but I promised Melinda that I’ll take her to a restaurant today. Maybe next time.” replied Mrs Natsumi.
“Alright. And please call me Melissa.”
“Of course. You can call me Grace.” Mrs Natsumi –Grace– paused. “By the way, would you like to show me around the neighborhood and some schools where I can take my children?”
“Absolutely. Sunday morning?”
“I’m afraid I won’t be free then. I go to church, you see. Although since we haven’t yet found a church, tomorrow morning will be for arranging things around here.”
“Ah, okay. Afternoon then?”
“I’m alright with that.”
Melissa got ready to leave with the children.
“We’ll see you later then.”
“Yes, have a good evening!”
At dinner, as Melissa translated a document, the children discussed what had happened that day.
“Mrs Natsumi was so kind!” said Lily with food in her mouth.
“Yeah, she was.” replied Michael.
“Do you think Mrs Natsumi has more children?”asked Vanessa.
“Why?” asked Lily.
“Well, she asked mom if she could show her a school where she could take her children. Am I the only one who heard that?”
“True. But it could be a slip of the tongue.” said Michael.
“What is a slip of the tongue?” asked Lily.
“It’s when you say something that you weren’t intending to to say. Like you want to say ‘I’m going to school’ and you say ‘I’m…uh… gong to school’.” explained Michael.
“Oh! I see. But what does gong mean?” replied Lily.
Michael sighed.
“It’s a sort of metal plate that you bang. It makes a loud sound, just like when Milo’s bowl falls on the ground.”
There was silence for a while, broken only by the sound of spoons on plates.
“Say, do you think Mrs Natsumi has a husband?” asked Vanessa.
“Why?” replied Lily.
“Well, if she has more children who are not around yet, she could have a husband too.”
“Stop poking your noses into people’s affairs. Lily, go feed Milo.” said Melissa, who had been half-listening.
Okey-dokey!" Lily chirped. She picked up her plate and carried it into the kitchen. A second later, the loud, metallic clatter of Milo’s bowl echoing against the linoleum filled the house.
Michael sighed.
“What a clumsy girl.” he mumbled.
“Micky, go clean your room. It’s a mess.”said Melissa.
“Mom! Stop calling me Micky. I’m not a child anymore.” replied Michael.
“You’re still a child to me. You were born only yesterday.” She turned to Vanessa. “And you, Vannie, load the dishwasher.”
Vanessa got up without complaining. Still sulking, Michael went upstairs to clean his room. Melissa sighed went on translating her text.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpseX8BTG3u
The next day, the Whites rang Grace Natsumi’s doorbell. A handsome boy of about 15 years opened the door. He had a sleepy face with Asian features and tousled hair. When he saw them, he instantly snapped to attention, his gaze fixed on Vanessa. Vanessa’s ears turned pink.
“Mom! Visitors!” he called, finally looking away with a blush.
Grace came, wearing work clothes. She welcomed them in and sat them in a sofa in the living room.
“I’ll be right back.” she said as she went upstairs.
The boxes from the day before had disappeared, and the living room was free, carefully arranged and decorated. A piano sat invitingly in a corner of the room.
“Seems there are other children after all.” whispered Lily to her siblings.
“Shh!” said both siblings at the same time.
Grace soon came back, casually dressed and followed by an Asian-looking man. Behind them were two boys and Melinda.
“Meet my husband, James Natsumi. This is Melinda, 7years old, whom you’ve already met, and my twins: James Jnr and John, both 15, naturally.” introduced Grace.
“I’m Melissa White and these are my three children: Michael, Vanessa and Lily. Nice to meet you sir.” introduced Melissa, pointing to each child in turn, then shook James Natsumi’s hand.
One boy’s eyes met Vanessa’s. He elbowed his brother who in turn looked at Vanessa. The second instantly turned red and punched the first in the arm.
“Thanks for helping yesterday, it was a great help for my wife.” said James Snr. “And please, call me James.” he added.
“Is he Chinese?” whispered Lily to Vanessa.
“SHH!” whispered back Michael.
James Natsumi Snr laughed.
“No, I’m only half Japanese.” he replied.
Lily smiled enthusiastically.
“Do you speak Japanese? And eat sushi? And ramen too? Do the Japanese all watch anime? Do you always bow when you meet someone?” came the barrage of questions.
“Lily!” said Melissa. “Sorry, she’s very inquisitive. Shall we get going?”
“Of course. But first, are we going to ride in a car or…?” asked James Snr.
“No, our neighborhood is not so big. The school is just around the corner. We can just walk, and besides, it’ll be good exercise.”
“Alright. Let’s go.”
Each one filed out the door, and James Snr locked the door behind them. The twins found themselves sandwiched between Michael and Vanessa. She smiled awkwardly. Michael tried to save his sister.
“So… what’s the difference between you guys? I mean, you look exactly alike.”
One laughed. He looked at the other, who was still red and quiet. Vanessa moved to join Michael on the other side.
“Yeah, even Okaa-san and Tou-san—sorry, mom and dad sometimes confuse us. Only Mellie can always correctly know the difference even from our backs. Anyways, I’m John, and I have a tiny mole on the right side of my mouth. Jamie doesn’t. But it’s hard to see, so…” he shrugged.
Michael smiled awkwardly. Then Lily popped out of nowhere.
“So you do speak Japanese! How do you say ‘I love my parents’?” she asked.
“Watashi wa ryoushin o aishitemasu.” replied John, smiling.
“Cool! Will you teach me?”
“Gladly.”
Michael rolled his eyes. Vanessa laughed quietly.
“Please don’t. She’ll be bombarding us with Japanese at home.” Michael said, exasperated.
John laughed. James Jr chuckled.
“So, where’s your father? He’s traveled?” asked John with some curiosity.
“Don’t talk to me about my father.” mumbled Michael, anger in his voice.
“What? I’m not sure I caught that.”
James Jnr coughed. Melinda tugged at her brother’s hand. She shook her head furiously. Luckily, Melissa spoke up, saving the situation.
“What are you doing tagging at the back? We’re almost at the school.” she called.
They hurried to catch up with their parents. They had reached Lily’s school.
“That’s my school!” said Lily.
“And in which grade are you, Lily?” asked John.
“I’m in grade 3.” she replied.
“Oh, Mellie too. I’m sure you’ll be best friends.” said Grace.
“I teach at this school, but not Lily’s section. I teach English in middle school.” said Melissa.
James Snr and Grace nodded approvingly. They walked around the building, exploring the football, basketball and volleyball field.
“What about high school?” asked Grace.
“Michael goes to the F. D. Roosevelt High School, and Vanessa goes to the Marie Curie School for Talented Students. They’re not really far from each other, but it’s a little far from here, so they take the bus. I had no idea you had two boys, so I hadn’t planned a trip to the schools… but we can go if it doesn’t inconvenience you. The schools will be open since reopening day is tomorrow.” replied Melissa.
“Absolutely, let’s go. How far is it?” asked James Snr.
“About fifteen minutes by car. By foot, I have no idea, but I don’t feel like trying.”
“Alright… are we going to follow you or we’ll all be in the same car?”
“You could follow me.”
They walked back to the Natsumi home.
“Alright, hold on, I’ll get a car.”
Melissa hurried to the house next door to hers. It was the elderly Mrs Jefferson’s home.
“Where’s she going?” thought James Snr aloud.
“She’s going to borrow Mrs Jefferson’s car.” replied Lily.
“John, could you call her back?” said James Snr.
John ran after Melissa. He reached just as Mrs Jefferson came out. He panted, catching his breath.
“Why, hello Melissa. Who’s this young man with you?” asked Mrs Jefferson.
“That’s John. He’s moved in with his family next door, and I wanted to borrow your car to show them the children’s school.”
“It won’t be necessary. We’ll fit in our car. Tou –I mean, Dad– said I should tell you it’s not a problem.” said John.
“Is that so? Thanks Mrs Jefferson, but I guess I don’t have to disturb you anymore.” said Melissa.
“No problem. Be free to ask anytime. And John, you and your family are welcome anytime. I don’t do much in a day, anyway.” answered Mrs Jefferson.
“Alright. Have a good day!” said Melissa.
“You too!” replied Mrs Jefferson.
She walked back to the Natsumi home, where a car had been brought out. There were extra seats in the back where John and James Jnr settled, with Melinda sitting on James Jnr’s lap. Melissa, Michael and Vanessa were in the middle seats with Lily sitting on Michael’s lap, and James Snr and Grace in the front seats. They took off.
“By the way, Grace, how do you differentiate between the older James and the younger?” asked Melissa somewhere in the middle of their little trip.
“Yeah, it was tough at first when little James started to respond to his name, so I named little James Jamie and James the older stayed James. On paper they’re the same, but in reality, they have different names.” replied Grace.
“Mom, I’m not little James anymore.” said Jamie quietly.
“Yeah, we’re 15 now, Mom.” added John.
“Okay, okay. Fine. But it seems like you were born just this morning. It was a Sunday too…” she sighed. “Children grow up so fast. One minute, they’re in your arms, and they’re in high school the next.”
James nodded in accord. The conversation went on, punctuated with directions from Melissa. Then they got to the Marie Curie School for Talented Students. They got out of the car and entered one of the school’s buildings. Melissa led them to the secretariat, where they were directed to the headmistress’ office. The elderly headmistress welcomed them warmly.
“Welcome to the Marie Curie School for Talented Students. How may I help you this afternoon?”
“We wanted to enroll our sons in this establishment. I understand that Monday is reopening day, but we just moved in, so we weren’t able to enroll them earlier.” replied James.
“I see. Normally, enrollment ends on the last working day before reopening, but we often have exceptions, so enrollment won’t be a problem. All we require you to do is to fill these forms…” she held out some forms, “and bring their last report cards. If their results meet our standard, then we can schedule a day for them to write the entrance exam. I suppose you have their report cards?”
“I’ll go get them.” said Grace, getting up and leaving the office.
“Good. How many of them are being enrolled?”
“Only two.” replied James.
“Could you fill out these forms for me?”
John and Jamie got to work filling the forms as Mellie looked on. The headmistress described the school and their activities.
“And as of now, the charming young lady behind you is our best student.” she said.
James, and Grace, who had just come back, nodded approvingly. John and Jamie suddenly looked up at Vanessa. Lily beamed like she was the one being complemented. All heads– except Lily’s– were turned towards Vanessa who blushed furiously.
“We’re just taught really well.” she said.
“And as modest as always.” commented the headmistress.
“We’re done.” said John, handing over the forms.
“And the report cards?” inquired the headmistress.
“Right here.” said Grace, giving her the cards.
She looked at the first card for a while. Then she smiled and looked at the next.
“These are good. They can take the test tomorrow.” she finally said.
“Great. Let’s get going. It’s getting late.” said James.
They all left the school building. As they climbed back into the car, Melissa asked a very pertinent question.
“So what happens if the cops stop us for overloading the car?”
“When we explain the case, they usually let us off the hook.” replied Grace.
“Oh, I see. You do this often then?”
“Well, sometimes family members join us, and other times, we help some people from church to get home.”
“Oh, okay.” said Melissa, turning quiet at the mention of church.
There was silence for the rest of the journey back home. In front of the Natsumi house, the Whites left for their home. Lily, as usual, started a conversation even before they had reached their door.
“I can’t wait to get to school tomorrow. It’s been such a long break.” she said.
“Yeah. But someone would probably have to deal with new people in her class.” said Michael, hinting at the twins’ integration into Vanessa’s school. “I don’t regret refusing to go there, but that means I won’t be there to help you, Vannie.”
Melissa had just opened the door. They all entered.
“Lily, go get your dress ready for tomorrow. Vannie, don’t forget to iron your uniform. Micky, go prepare your outfit for tomorrow. I don’t want you to be late tomorrow morning.” said Melissa.
Each child murmured a ‘Yes, mom’ and went upstairs to do what they had to do.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLRMCM9Wyd
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