Chapter62 November1984
“While Al was drinking his orange juice, Trina,” Takano-san calmly continued with his story, “I was distantly looking at the Manila Bay, at the off shore of which several freighters were anchored extremely peacefully. ..Wondering, ‘What the heck are those people, I mean, Toukai’s vice president and Kodama-san? ..Those Japanese?’ Seemingly, Trina, they had no regret on their illegal operation in Zapote, no pricks of conscience for Ruben’s injuries they had caused, no guilty feeling for their intention to have Al -a Filipino- assaulted.
“Al returned to his story: Castillo prayed that his boss Martinez might not force on him the role of finding a gang of scoundrels or something in some skid row in Manila: Castillo knew very well that he lacked such capability as to negotiate with scoundrels or something on such a matter, or lacked such wild boldness as to have them attack somebody: Besides, he even hated such a forceful reaction to Al’s move, to begin with:
“Fortunately to Castillo, this time, Martinez himself worked very aggressively: The manager of the warehouse made several phone calls to various places to get the information he needed, and eventually went out to see the scoundrels or something all by himself: As if he were trying to compensate his own prior critical failure at the warehouse:
“While things were moving that way, Castillo still hoped that Martinez’s attempt should falter or that the attack on Al should never be materialized: He prayed that Navarro Metals might not go into such a dirty action, conveniently taking advantage of the suggestion made by the Toukai, and Kodama-san whom the Japanese metal recycling company in effect had introduced to Navarro:
“Despite Castillo’s prayer, Al was assaulted: ..Martinez ordered Castillo to closely watch if Al had received the warehouse’s message correctly.
“Castillo didn’t move, however: He ignored Martinez’s order: And that’s the background reason why Al called me up, even one day after he had told me we’d better not move soon, to tell that nobody seemed to have been tailing or watching him any longer:
“To Castillo’s eye, all the people who were involved in this incident looked deviant: Self-protection, evasion of responsibility, selfishness, self-importance..: He was weary of such development of the incident: He was exhausted. ..It was such Castillo that Al visited without notice in advance.”
-----
“Al told me, ‘Castillo, who had described himself as if he were the only man of conscience, except for Mr. Chavez of the Navarro Trading, accepted that money after all. Well, Hiroshi, I knew, that money was to be spent that way from the beginning, and I pulled out information worthy of the money, or even better than that. So I have no complaint about that. But, Hiroshi… Ruben became a prey of their.., what should I call it? Mean greed? Ambition? Corrupt minds? Whatever…’ Al went on, ‘Some people may want to extort reparation or whatever like that from you even by intentionally throwing their children into the ponds at somebody’s backyard? What the hell kind of human being can make such an outrageous comment?’
“I was unable to respond to Al, Trina. ..Being caught once again by the thought what if I and Yoshida had rejected the Toukai’s request three years earlier, or what if we hadn’t given our help to them. Well, Trina, to be honest, I’ve entertained once or twice a thought that I might be allowed to take the matter this way: We might’ve been unable anyway to avoid Ruben’s burn, or such ugly development of the incident, from happening, because it was completely against Meiwa’s corporate custom to ignore or to handle very coldly the people who came to you with a letter of instruction or recommendation written by a person within the company: Besides, it also was impossible to predict how the Toukai would want to materialize its plan. However, Trina, I’ve already come to know that the Meiwa, and Kodama-san, had gotten involved in this matter to such deep an extent. And I’m a man who once worked for the company...”
“Takano-san,” I said, almost whispering, perhaps, “I don’t think you need to compensate anything for what the man named Kodama-san has done.”
Except for a slight smile at an edge of his lips, he reacted nothing to my words.
-----
A while later, Takano-san resumed. “Al told me, ‘Well, Hiroshi, I still believe that the Navarro Metals had to make up for Ruben’s burn. Even if the company’s operation turns out to have been all legal, it still is obvious that the company has failed to pay enough attention to prevent the accident. Let alone, if its operation turns out illegal, my nephew should maintain his right to demand the company to pay for his medical fees. Plus, since Ruben might have to live all his life very limitedly with the aftereffect of the burn, I think, he has to demand reparation from the company for that, too. But, Hiroshi, I’m not an extortionist, much less a person who wants to take advantage of his nephew’s injuries to make some personal monetary gain. As a matter of fact, all I wanted at the beginning was to know what the hell had caused Ruben such a severe burn. ..Or to ask the warehouse to eliminate the cause of the burn to prevent recurrence of such an accident if indeed my nephew had gotten burnt in its premises. It was beyond my imagination that my request to see someone at the warehouse was denied by some panicky person. ..Now that I’ve learned from Castillo all what has actually happened, Hiroshi, I have to think they are totally different kinds of people from 'us'. They are people who live in a different world from 'ours'. That’s why they can express such outrageous opinions, ..can have me attacked.’
“Trina, being very uncomfortable, I had to wonder if the word 'us' Al had used included me. ..Because I knew that I was a person who had lived in 'their' world until not so long before, or who still lived in it.”
-----
I may have had to respond to Takano-san right way, like, ‘The world you live in is totally different from theirs, of course.’ Responding so, I may have had to make one more effort to ease his sense of guilt.
But I did not say anything. ..I could not, because I was unexpectedly caught up in my own suspicion: ‘Can I simply accept all the story Al told Takano-san as the absolute truth?’
-----
Well, apparently, Al had completed his buy-off plan just as he had agreed with Takano-san, and had obtained information he had needed, or even more. Seemingly, Al had had no evil intention to defraud Takano-san of his money, just like Eva had had no plan, perhaps, to cheat the Japanese button manufacture -Mr. Kobayashi. ..The chilly fear that had come to my mind a while before may already have turned out to have been totally unfounded.
I may have had to be relieved that the money Takano-san had handed to Al had brought no heartbreaking consequences to him thus far.
Nonetheless...
I was caught in a new restlessness.
In Al’s story, or the story Al had been told by Castillo, there were business people who could be divided into three distinct types, too conveniently perhaps, as if the story were a screenplay or something: ..Villains, forced-half-villains and a good man.
Villains were Toukai’s vice president and Kodama-san of Meiwa’s Makati office who had in-effect chosen the use of force to stop Al’s persistent action. Forced-half-villains were Mr. Navarro and his follower Martinez who had dared to accept Toukai’s unethical way of business operation although they had hated it initially. And a good man was Castillo who had had no choice but to obey Navarro Metals’ order despite his will and conscience.
Contrast was very evident. ..And the person conveyed the story with such a structure to Takano-san had been Alberto, a man of justice.
-----
I pondered:
If it was Castillo who had distorted the truth, it could be explained, he might have intended to redirect Alberto’s anger to the Toukai Metal Recycling and the Meiwa Trading -Japanese companies- from the Navarro Metals and the Navarro Trading -Philippine companies: ..If Alberto accepted Castillo’s story as it had been told, the farm foreman might understand what a difficult situation the Navarro group had been in, and might not report to the authorities of the accident Ruben had encountered, as well as of the illegal operation in the warehouse, considering the magnitude of the damage those Philippine companies might possibly go through after his report: Alberto might try to directly talk with those two Japanese companies, instead, no matter what his objectives were: And if the thing turned that way, Castillo, who had craftily avoided possible harms from striking the Navarro group, had to be described as a very experienced, cunning Makati businessman who had accepted the buy-off money and still was able to be a very loyal employee of the group: ..Which was way different from what Alberto had felt about the man -an owner of a small hardware store in Zapote:
-----
I was once again confused in my perception of the man named Alberto.
Takano-san was not suspicious at all of what he had been told by Alberto. ..Just as he had believed all he had heard from the two Filipinos -Gabriel Guzman and Mariano Nolasco- about the shell button business between a Japanese entrepreneur –Kobayashi- and a well-motivated Filipina -Eva Nolasco.
Well, I was not necessarily very suspicious yet that Eva’s shell purchasing system might have been a trap to defraud Mr. Kobayashi of his money as the Japanese himself had allegedly believed. I was not convinced, either, that Alberto must have created a very convenient story for him to slyly use Takano-san in his own favor.
Nevertheless, a few questions stubbornly remained in my mind: ‘Were those Japanese who had appeared in Takano-san’s two stories -Mr. Kobayashi, Toukai’s vice president and Meiwa’s Mr. Kodama- really as malicious as they had been portrayed?’ ‘Was the shell purchasing system Eva had reportedly prepared for Mr. Kobayashi indeed well enough set, or worthy of additional investment by the Japanese shell button manufacturer? ..To anybody’s unbiased eye? ..Just as Gabriel and Mariano believed it was?’ ‘Was it really Mr. Kodama who said virtually that someone might throw his or her child into an acid-contaminated pond to obtain reparation for the child’s suffering? ..Not Mr. Navarro himself?’ ‘Did Alberto actually hand all the buy-off money to Castillo?’
I had no answers to any of such questions. There was no way for me to find correct answers.
All I knew, instead, was that Takano-san had never had, would never have, such questions.
-----
Takano-san said. “Trina, Al’s story was close to its end. So, I asked him what e was going to do from then on. He answered me like this: ‘Before anything else, I want them to apologize to my nephew Ruben from the bottom of their collective heart. ..By all means. I believe that Ruben must not remain to be a silent prey of their business ambition and greed. And as for myself, since they called me an extortionist, I no longer can live in peace without correcting them. With Ruben, I’m going to teach them how the real integrity of human beings looks like. ..In some form or other.’
“In Al’s mind, Trina, this matter seemed to be where neither money nor any use of force could solve, opposite to Kodama-san’s belief. The issue had shifted to such things as how to recover the integrity of Ruben and Al, and how to make them clear the disgrace Al had been forced to suffer unfoundedly. ..Shifted to how to maintain his, and Ruben’s, honor.”
-----
After all, I did not ask Takano-san if all the story Alberto had told him, or what Castillo -the warehouse’s assistant manager- had allegedly told Alberto, could really be trusted. ..Much less, ‘Are you absolutely sure that it’s indeed his own and Ruben’s honor Alberto wants to reclaim? ..Instead of money?’
I was sure that Takano-san was not mentally ready to answer such questions. I had no doubt in my mind that such questions would badly confuse him and eventually destroy something he had been counting on to survive his current hard life into fragments.
They were the questions I should never ask him.
-----
I was aware very well that I could no longer keep Takano-san from doing whatever he wanted to. But I dared to ask him anyway, “So, what are you going to do next for yourself, Takano-san?”
“Realistically speaking, Trina,” He answered, “I don’t think there may still be many things I have to get involved in, now that Al has already obtained all necessary information for him. However, I may be of some help for Al if he gets to believe he needs to directly talk with the Meiwa or the Toukai, or both. I may be able to help Al when he tries to make them apologize to Ruben and himself.
“Well, to tell you the truth, Trina,” Takano-san smiled slightly, “Al later confessed me..: He actually attempted and failed to enter the building in which Meiwa’s Makati office was, in that very morning he came to my hotel room with Felix, before he showed up at my doorway. He went to Makati with Felix, thinking it would be a good experience for him to see, prior to his meeting with me, how their office looked like. But, according to Al himself, he couldn’t advance even a step when he finally arrived at the front of the building because his knees completely gave way. He complained, ‘You know why, Hiroshi? In their world, I found, everything was totally different from my world -Zapote corn fields, from what they wore to the way they wore those clothes to how they talked. Well, everything, anyway.’ Then, Al added jokingly, ‘All the people there, including security guards at the building’s entrance, gave me very wary eyes as if I were a kalabaw (water buffalo) that had just wandered out to the street in that modern big city directly from a rural paddy field.’
“So, I said to Al, ‘Look, Al. Didn’t you think it would be quite natural for those people to throw wary eyes to you whose face was badly swollen, almost a half of which was covered with thick gauze?’ ‘Hum,’ said Al, ‘you’re right, Hiroshi! That may’ve been why.’ And then, he burst out into big laughter.
“Well, Trina, that was when I thought Al might still need my help.” Takano-san once again looked up at the blue sly above the skyscrapers around the park. “That is, a help from the person who momentarily had looked to be one of Toukai’s executives to Al’s eye.”<
Takano-san’s mind was totally set. He was going to do anything with Al if it was what the Zapote corn field foreman wanted him to do. And that was the way Takano-san wanted to compensate Ruben and Al for their great sufferings, in place of them.
-----
For some reason or other, on my mind at that particular moment were the figures of both Takano-san and Melba I had seen in the park in front of Malate Church a few weeks before, as well as of myself who had been calmly watching their backs. ..Dark clouds had been moving toward inland endlessly. ..Breeze had gently been blowing my hair.
I thought..: Takano-san, too, had to live his own shikataganai (so destined) fate just as Melba had had to: ..Just as I had to: He was about to disappear from me to somewhere, having lived his life as faithfully to himself as he had been able to, just as Melba had abruptly gone out of my sight after living her life as sincerely and earnestly as she had been able to: And, perhaps, that was our shikataganai encounter all of us had to calmly accept.
-----
“Hey, Takano-san!” I said, making my voice sound as merrily as I could. “Let’s take some walk, now.”
“That’s a very good idea, Trina,” A broad smile was on his face, “since I have a huge thirst for some liquid now.”
“I’m sure you have, Takano-san. You’ve talked quite a long time without quenching it.”
“Plus, I’ve smoked too many cigarettes.”
Sure enough, there were more than a dozen butts on the ground near Takano-san’s feet. ..Abruptly, he bent down and began to pick them up, one by one, and then placed them on the folded newspaper on the bench, mumbling, “In California, I once quit smoking, but after the divorce...”
Moments later, I threw my exaggerated astonishment to Takano-san coming back to the bench from a nearby trash box into which he had dumped those butts. “What a good boy you are, Takano-san!”
He shrugged his shoulders slightly, smiling too innocently, to the extent I almost could not keep my eye on his face.
I told him. “But, Takano-san, you could’ve left those cigarette butts right here,” I pointed the ground where they had been, “on the surface of the ground of this country, just as every Filipino smoker does.”
“Well, if I were a Filipino...” He murmured, almost to himself.
“All right.” I said. “And, tiyák na (of course), that’s why you’re so good a man, Takano-san!”
“I’m not sure.” He tilted his head.
“Yes, you are!” I smiled a wide, genuine smile, perhaps. “So, let’s walk now.”
I quickly grabbed Takano-san’s arm, and held it tightly with my both arms.
He was not surprised.
We started walking. And on Makati Avenue, I noticed some of the passers-by gave us their curious looks, possibly wondering what kind of relationship we had.
I did not care.
I knew clearly that it was my last time to walk with Takano-san arm in arm. And I believed that he, too, knew it was his last time to walk with me in such a way.
I told him. “Well, Takano-san, I’ll treat you -an exhausted talker- to a glass of mango juice.”
“Wow, really? I’ll appreciate it big time, Trina.” There was no cloud in his voice any longer.
“But that’ll be only the beginning of our date today. We still have a few hours to spend together until Sakura’s opening, don’t we? So, let me see... It shall be you who treats me to a dinner, in return. Okay?”
Takano-san nodded deeply.
“Well, I feel like having Chinese food today, Takano-san. So, how about Jade Garden in the Commercial Center?”
“No problem. ..No matter what restaurant you like, Trina.”
“Are you aware this, Takano-san?” My voice sounded even brighter than I had hoped it to do. “The restaurant is widely believed to be the most expensive one among all Chinese restaurants in Makati, that is, in the Philippines, probably.”
“Didn’t hear, Trina?” Takano-san laughed. “I said no matter what restaurant you like, right? I’m fully ready for any check.”
“That’s very assuring, Takano-san. Then, let’s begin with two glasses of mango juice, before all.”
I tightened my grab of Takano-san’s arm even more.
-----
At that moment, I understood much better than any other times before why Melba had made merry with Dr. Okuno’s group to that extent on the very night she had made up her mind to enter the world where not too many pleasant days would be awaiting for her.
