There is a song of Johnny Cash's about A BOY CALLED SUE, is there not?
So a girl called Brad will be okay?" Tomi said as she laughed and stuck out her tongue at Rick.
"You should not argue with a pregnant woman about what sex her child is going to be. We get very emotional."
"You don't seem to be very emotional to me." He said when he put his arm across her shoulders and Tomi stepped closer to him. "You're more of a smart ass with a great sense of humor."
"Thank you, Rick." She slipped her arm around Rick's waist and pulled herself against him.
"For what?"
"For making me laugh. I have not laughed very much for many months until yesterday. And now today. Thank you." She reached a hand up to his cheek and tenderly caressed his cheek.
They walked in silence for several minutes with Tomi setting the pace. She stopped, turned to him and looked him in the eyes. Her stomach was pressing against him.
"What? You all right?"
"Hai. I am very much all right. Do you feel as I do? To be together without feeling the need to talk. To always be making conversation? I just feel good when you are with me."
"Your right. It is nice. But I also want to not just know, but to feel you near me. Touching, holding hands." Rick said quietly and a bit unsure of himself.
Tomi tugged his hand gently and started walking again. "Yes. I need to feel your warmth also." She said swinging her hand up that was holding tightly onto his hand.
"Here. I think this is the best restaurant on Kokusai Dori. In Naha. Maybe even on all of Okinawa. They have private tatami rooms. Can we eat here? In a tatami room?"
"As you please, Tomako-chan." Rick answered and felt her squeeze his hand and keep a tight hold on it when the entered the quiet, softly lit restaurant.
"I know these people and have been here many times, but I have never come in here with a man."
"Do you want to do this? We can go somewhere else."
"No. I want to show you how nice it is and how nice the Okinawan people are."
"Did you mean with an American?"
"No, I meant a man. As opposite a woman." She said softly and starting to laugh.
"What are you laughing at?"
"I am a very pregnant woman, with a huge belly full of baby and I'm worried what people will think about me if they see me with a man they do not know?
Can you see me as a seductive woman trying to catch a man or going with many men?"
Rick smiled then laughed quietly. "Don't put yourself down or belittle yourself, Tomi. Even with a huge stomach full of baby, you are a very beautiful woman who is very sexy and seductive."
Rick helped Tomi get comfortable with extra pillows before sitting down on the opposite side of the low lacquerware table.
"You okay? Have enough pillows?"
"Domo arigato Rick. I am quite fine and comfortable.
I wish to order our food. I want you to try some of the dishes that you won't get except here or in a tea house. We will share. If that is all right with you."
"I am in your hands. Feed me lots of good stuff."
"What do you mean, 'you are in my hands'? I am a small pregnant lady. I don't think that I can pick you up and make you eat."
"See! That is what I meant. You are such a smart ass." Rick retorted.
And Tomi covered her mouth to stifle her smile and a quiet laugh.
"I cannot drink saki. But you should try it. One little bottle only though.
I cannot help you home if you get stinking drunk on saki."
"That's a very small bottle. Looks like a flower vase."
"It is very . . . potent? Is that the correct word?"
"Yes.
Oh yes. Very good. I am sure my endurance would not last more than a little of this."
They were resting their hands on the narrow table while they talked quietly looking into each other's eyes.
I would like to hold her hand.
Don't get pushy, Idiot. You're her friend, not the next lover in her life.
Don't screw this up. Go slow and watch and ask what she wants.
As if reading his mind, Tomi slid her hand across the table towards Rick, palm up and with her soft smile invited him to take it.
Gently he engulfed her small hand in his.
"I have been very lonely sometimes. Sometimes my son and I have a conversation and I am no longer so lonely." Smiling sadly for an instant before her soft feminine smile spread across her face
"The problem is that he will not answer me except for our mental talk. And that only happens once in a while.
It is not the same as having a real, grownup person who you know cares about you and will tell you when life is really good. Or even when you are going down the wrong path A strong and sincere friend is who I think I mean.
I think that you are that friend to me, Rick. Are you?"
"I know what you are saying Tomako-chan. I want to be that friend. I may make some mistakes, but I will try my best and be there for you whenever you need me to be."
"Domo arigato gozaimasu, Rick. I believe what you say and I can ask no more of you.
Now, let's eat and have a quiet happy dinner."
"Do you realize that we've have been eating for two and one half hours?
I believe that it is time to quit and you my sukoshi tomodachi, are starting to look tired. So I should get you home so you can rest.
Are you going to work tomorrow?" Rick asked Tomi as he helped her get to her feet.
"Are you flying tomorrow?"
"Not until Wednesday. Tomorrow is my last day off for two weeks."
"If you would like, I want to be with you tomorrow. If you can and want to. I won't work.”
"If it means you will take the day off, I am at your mercy." Rick declared with a broad smile.
As they stepped out onto the sidewalk and Rick looked for a taxi, Tomi held tightly onto his hand.
"I promise to be merciful. I will even buy you sushi and yakamesa. And will let you lay on my deck and drink beer in the warm Okinawan sun."
While Rick helped her into the small back seat of a sukoshi cab he thought of the possible meanings of what Tomi had just said.
"You want to tell Papa-san where you want him to go?"
"Hai.
Tomari Port, Dozo.
My apartment is next to the port. It is a very nice place to live. You'll see. I am sure that you will like it."
"Tomi?"
She reached for him and laid a small index finger across his lips. It is okay. I know what you are thinking. We can talk about it when we get to my home. Neh?"
"You climb up those stairs everyday?" Rick asked and looking at the small woman and her baby stomach standing next to him at the bottom of the flights of stairs leading up. The only entrance door was at the very top on the fourth floor.
"The fourth floor?"
"Hai. It is mine. All mine. And yes. Everyday and some days two or three times. Though since I have blossomed in front I try not to climb them more than once a day."
He slipped off his loafers at the door before stepping into the room. He followed Tomi's lead and placed them in a small, slim cabinet to the right of the doorway.
It was a small apartment. Part Okinawan, part Western. The view through the wooden framed glass slider leading to a tiny balcony was the first thing that caught Rick's eye. On the left Tomari Bay stretched out fully towards the East China Sea. When he walked up to the sliding door he saw Tomari Port's boat building facilities and fishing pier with several fishing boats tied up to it.
"I love it, Tomi. It's great."
Like an American studio apartment there was a small, tiny, kitchen on the far wall with a window the same size as the small white porcelain sink under it. A short counter ran from the outside wall to about the middle of the room. To the left as you came in the front door a closed door which Rick assumed was an Okin
awan style bathroom, took up that corner of the apartment. The main room from the small tiled area in front of the entry door to the slider and back to the kitchen was covered with tatami mats. In front of the slider leading to the deck, was a Western style full size bed covered with Japanese futons. A large double door cabinet stood against the far wall under a wide window with what appeared to be family photographs sitting on it. Next to the cabinet was a custom built entertainment center with a television on it. On the front wall of the room was a taller but single door wooden cabinet and on the other side of the bed was a low lacquer finished table like an American coffee table but finished with a deep brown Okinawan style lacquer finish. Three large, colorful silk covered pillows were scattered on the floor near it.
"Sit down please, Rick-san." She said as she moved one of the pillows and placed it where he would be able to look out through the slider after he sat down. "Would you like ocha? I have no beer, but I can go to the store to get some."
"Ocha will be fine. Thanks, I don't think that I need any beer."
"It is a sukoshi crowded now. Before . . . Tomi paused, looked away from Rick, but in several seconds she picked up where she had left off. "The bed used to be against the wall there." She pointed to the wall next to the front door. "I asked Ojisan, my uncle, to move it for me after it became harder for me to move around. I love to go to sleep and wake up looking out on the water."
Rick watched as she turned back to him and she reached for his hand, squeezed it in both hers standing still and looking out at the blue-green waters of the East China Sea.
"Okay?" Rick asked her softly.
Tomi turned to him and with a soft shy smile, nodded and spoke very quietly. "Sometimes my heart skips a beat or two and I just have to remind myself where I am and that I have a very good life with a very little baby to take care of."
She reached for him and slowly pressed herself against him as Rick wrapped his arms around her.
"You should get off your feet and rest."
Tomi started to protest. "I will make tea. What kind of hostess would I be if I didn't?"
"A very tired one. On the bed.
I'll make the tea, I'm not a complete idiot in the kitchen. I can make tea and pour it into cups."
"Domo arigato, Rick." Tomi spoke from the bed as she settled herself on top of the soft futons.
"Are you warm enough?" He asked her before he went into the kitchen area.
You beast. But jeez she has great legs. He thought as Tomi's skirt slid above her knees when she made herself comfortable on the bed. Be nice. No carnal thoughts now.
He carried a small tray with a tea pot full of ocha and two small delicately flowered tea cups that he had found in a kitchen cabinet, and placed it on the table next to the bed.
"Here we are, Tomi. Ready for some hot ocha?" He turned to her and saw that she was curled up into as much of a fetal position as she could get. Her bare knees where tucked up against her stomach and it was obvious that she was sound asleep.
Okay, I think that you need to do that. Rick looked around for some kind of light weight blanket to cover her. Opening the cabinet with double doors he found futons and some kind of kimonos. Laying on top of the futons was a small blue soft lamb's wool blanket. This should be enough to cover her. She's really conked out. I have a feeling that I didn't get the whole truth of her day before I met her at Shuri Gate. I'll bet she went to the coffee house first.
"Lady, you are so appealing and are definitely doing things to my head." Rick spoke softly to himself as he watched her sleeping and as she made small motions with her hands and spoke soundless words in her sleep.
Rick sat on a cushion at the table comfortable and at ease with life. He slowly drank the pot of ocha and watched a huge red and orange sun slip into the East China Sea.
Whenever Tomi moved he would straighten up and smile softly to himself when he assured himself that she was all right and still sleeping.
As the night deepened, he quietly got up and turned on a small light in the kitchen which he did not think would wake her up.
Rick thought about making another pot of ocha but decided that he didn't want to take the chance of waking Tomi before she was ready to wake on her own. Besides he found the view of Tomari Port and the outlying sea friendly and enjoyable with a fishing boat or ocean going ship slipping into view every few minutes.
Leaning against the bed, he sensed rather than heard her move. He turned and looked into her soft brown eyes just barely a foot away.
"Konbanwa, Rick. Gomen, but I think that I slept a long time, neh?"
"Yes, I think that you were tireder than you knew. Maybe we did too much today?
Tomi patted the bed beside her. "Dozo. Here."
She realized that Rick had covered her and picked up a corner of the blanket smiling as she rubbed it against her face. "This is the baby's. It is so soft. Thank you for covering me.
My friends, the Winters, gave it to me with some other things from the BX before they went back to the states. They are my friends and were Brad's boss and friends."
"They went back to the States?"
"Yes. He's a navy officer and retired in August. You saw them the last time they were at the coffee house to see me. They came in when you were leaving."
"You remember me being there that day?"
"Oh yes. I wanted you to meet them, but you left too quickly."
"That was the last time you saw them?"
"No, just at the coffee house. They came here to my apartment on the day before they flew away and brought me the gifts."
"They sound like very nice people."
"They also wanted me to go with them. Or go the the States later so baby Brad could go to school there.
Dozo, Rick."
"For what?"
"For taking care of me and being so nice to me.
I need to get up before I burst. And I'll make us some more ocha if you would like and fix us a snack. You must be hungry."
"That would be good if you are up to it. But I think I saw a sushi bar at the port entrance. I could get us sushi if it's still open."
"You did see one and you would do that?"
"Of course. I have an ulterior motive. I'm beginning to really like sushi, and I'm pretty hungry."
"You're laughing at me."
"No, I'm not." Tomi answered trying to keep her mouth from smiling. "How can you say that? I just want you to learn to use hachi."
"You can keep your laughter from your mouth and voice, but you can never hide your laughter from your eyes. You have the most expressive and beautiful eyes that I have ever seen.
I'm embarrassing you aren't I?"
"Yes, you are. But a woman, even a quiet Okinawan woman likes to hear nice things about some part of her especially when she is fat and has an ugly baby belly." Tomi continued to look down at her small dish of soy sauce and wasabi and the piece of sushi she was holding with her chopsticks.
"Darling, You are not fat, nor is your beautiful baby belly ugly in any sense. You are so very beautiful."
Though he had no control of what had passed through his lips, Rick thought he had said too much when he saw the tears run down each of her cheeks.
"God. I'm sorry Tomi. I said too much. I had no right to say those things."
Tomi dabbed the tears from her cheeks and eyes. Delicately touched a tissue to her nose before speaking. "It is as I told you, sometimes my heart skips a beat or two. What you just said, I am sure you meant every word of it, but you made my heart skip many beats. I do not want you to expect too much from me. What you say tells me what may be going on in your head and it scares me sometimes. I do not want you to be hurt." Tomi stopped talking before taking a deep breath and meeting Rick's eyes.
"For some reason we have become attached to each other, but it scares me that maybe you are thinking more like a lover than I am. I do want you as a tomodachi Rick. I need you as a tomod
achi."
"Tomi , we have not known each other very long and I agree that we have some kind of attachment that I think is not usual. I am not thinking beyond where we are at this very moment. I am affectionate to people that I like and have an attachment to. You are at the top of that list. I like to use endearing terms, like dear, and darling to these people. I will compliment you because you deserve to be complimented and I always speak what I feel, from the heart. I believe you are a beautiful woman and I want you to know what I think. And I will give you a kiss to show you affection and my feelings for you. I don't mean that I don't want to sleep with you, but I'm here for you in any form or limits you want and set.
Do you understand what I am trying to say?"
Tomi smiled, relaxed as she reached for his hand and drew him towards her. "Hai. I wakaru what you are saying." She smiled at Rick's look of confusion. "I understand."
"You must be tired. I think that I should go back to the base and let you get some rest."
"Will I see you tomorrow?" Tomi asked as she started to stand.
Rick came around the table and helped her to rise to her feet. They stood holding hands
"I would like to. I thought that we had already said that you were going to take the day off and spend the day with me?"
"Hai, we did. I wanted to be sure that you still wanted to. That you had not changed your mind. That I have not scared you off.
That is the correct expression, neh?"
"Hai, it is and no, you have not scared me off."
"Do you have another girlfriend here, Rick? Most GIs do."
"I dated a girl who lives in Nishihara, but I'm not sure that we can have any kind of relationship. If you really want to know we can talk about her tomorrow. She is not a worry to our friendship. I am sure of that."
“All right. I would like to know tomorrow." Tomi turned her face up to him. "I want you to kiss me."
Tomi looked in his eyes as they slowly separated still holding each other. "Dozo. I did like that.
You will come here in the morning and we can talk and maybe go sightseeing a sukoshi after we eat lunch?"
"Okay. But I don't want you to get tired."
She smiled in appreciation of his thoughtfulness. "I don't think you will allow that. If I do start to get tired, we can take a nap. Honto?
Now go. It is almost midnight and all the taxies will turn into pumpkins, neh?"