The Purple Heart Read online

  Finally, she came to the end. She was disappointed to not find any pictures of her grandfather. She folded the back of the leather album onto the last page and then turned the entire album over as the Japanese character for family stood out from the album. “Family,” she thought. How can it be a true family album if not everyone was in it?

  As she pondered her thoughts, the muffled ring of her cell phone could be heard from the hall, where she left her purse. Aiko walked briskly down the hall, pulled out her cell phone and saw that it was Cat.

  “Hi Cat? What? I can’t hear you. Hold on, let me move over to the window.” Aiko walked to the bay window in her living room. “Can you hear me now?” asked Aiko.

  “Much better,” replied Cat. “Are you ready yet? You know I want to pick you up at six o’clock sharp.”

  “Ready? It’s only…” Aiko looked at her watch and realized, to her surprise, that it was already half past five. “Oh my God, it’s five-thirty! I totally lost track of time.”

  “See, it’s a good thing I called. Look, why don’t you get ready and I’ll come get you.”

  “Sounds good Cat, I’ll see you soon. Bye,” said Aiko as she made her way into the bedroom, as she untucked her white blouse.

  Cat came down the street in her black sports car, which was clean on the outside but notoriously messy on the inside. Fashion magazines were strewn about the back seat along with empty Pellegrino bottles on the floor. She came to a screeching halt in front of Aiko’s apartment and honked the horn. While she waited, she pulled down the vanity mirror to check her lipstick and made sure there wasn’t any on her front teeth. A man who was passing by on the sidewalk looked at Cat curiously and she took notice. Cat bent her head down a bit and looked at him through the partially open passenger window. “What? You got a problem with a girl checking her makeup?” she said. The man looked away and hurried off. Under her breath, she said smugly, “I thought so,” as she went back to the vanity mirror to fluff her hair.

  That’s when she heard the front door of Aiko’s building open. With her usual smile, Aiko came down the short flight of steps in a pair of slim fitting jeans with a pink cashmere sweater and black high heels. Instead of her black swing coat, she wore a black waist-length jacket that showed off her figure. She bounded over to Cat’s car, opened the passenger door and hopped into the front seat.

  “Hey, hon. Don’t you look sweet tonight?” said Cat, as she flipped the visor back into its position.

  “And you look scandalously delicious as ever,” said Aiko, noticing that Cat had changed into a pair of leather pants, a lacy red top that showed just enough cleavage, finished off with a pair of tall high heels.

  “Why thank you, hon. I’m hoping a particular someone will notice as well,” replied Cat.

  Cat put her car into gear and started down the street as she turned up the music to liven up the ride. Aiko pushed herself back into the soft leather seat. She turned to her friend and saw that she was humming to the music, and every now and then, her head would cock ever so amusingly to the left and right, in sync with the music’s beat. That was Cat, always living for the moment and searching for bliss, no matter how elusive it was. She was definitely the sexy, feisty, free spirit. Cat had definitely earned her nickname.

  They promptly arrived at Cat’s favorite Italian restaurant. Aiko and Cat exited the car and the keys were tossed to the valet, who smiled at Cat. Cat knew everyone and acted like she owned the place. The doorman opened the restaurant door for the two young women.

  Vic, the maitre d’, who was in his usual tuxedo, saw Cat walking in. It was unmistakable; her bold strides spoke of a nonchalant, sexy, confidence topped off with a sliver of arrogance. Vic loved it, and greeted her with open arms. He then greeted Aiko in similar fashion and told them that their table would be ready momentarily and steered them toward the bar.

  Aiko and Cat settled in on a couple of leather bar stools and Cat quickly excused herself to visit the ladies’ room. Aiko smiled and turned her attention to the bar and grabbed the cocktail menu. As her eyes glanced over each delicious concoction, a man’s voice came from behind.

  “Ni hao,” said the man. Aiko rolled her eyes in annoyance. She knew all too well this cheesy attempt at a pick-up line. She decided to ignore him, but the voice got a bit closer and louder as the man said once more, “Ni hao.” Aiko looked up from the cocktail menu and seeing that Cat was nowhere in sight, she took a deep breath and turned toward the man.

  The man smiled back at Aiko as a wisp of his dirty blondish hair fell off to one side. He was well dressed with his navy sports coat, khaki dress pants and a white button-down collar Oxford dress shirt. He had already presumptuously placed his left hand on the back of Aiko’s chair and was already leaning in a bit toward Aiko. His blue eyes creepily stared at Aiko as his grin belied his sincerity.

  Aiko did not smile at him and quickly glanced at the hand on the back of her chair. She then looked up and simply said, “I don’t speak Chinese and I’m not interested.”

  The rebuff did not deter the man as he then said, “An yung ha sae yo.”

  Aiko stared at him in disbelief and then simply blurted out, “First off, I speak English, since you didn’t notice when I first told you that I wasn’t interested. Secondly, just because I’m an Asian American woman doesn’t mean I will be easily wooed by you just because you are speaking to me in Chinese, then Korean, or any other Asian language. So for the last time, please go away.”

  Other patrons at the bar along with the bartender couldn’t help looking in Aiko’s direction as the situation unfolded before them. The man looked at Aiko and seemingly unfazed, sought to ease Aiko’s agitation and continued, “Hey, I was just trying to be friendly. I thought you Asian women liked it when us Americans speak Asian. Why don’t you let me buy you…”

  Before the man could finish, a familiar man’s voice came from behind and simply and sternly said, “The lady asked you to leave and she’s not interested.”

  The annoying man smiled at Aiko and gestured at her to give him a moment as he straightened up. He then spun around to confront the man who came to Aiko’s rescue and stammered, “Yeah? You and what army?”

  The annoying man found himself staring at Tom’s broad chest as Tom stood several inches taller than he did. He stared at the black silk-screened image of an eagle atop a globe emblazoned across his grayish T-shirt. Tom responded, “U.S. Marine Corps actually,” as he stared down at the man.

  The dirty blond, obviously flustered, took a step back, cleared his throat a couple of times as he straightened out his sports coat. Without looking at Aiko, he sheepishly turned and walked away. Aiko, who couldn’t help herself, waved at him and said, “Sayonara!”

  Both Aiko and Tom looked at each other and gave out a laugh, and it was clear that Aiko was glad to see Tom. He leaned in as Aiko gave him a warm hug from her seat and she gave a few pats for good measure on the back of his camel-colored sports coat. Tom stepped back to Aiko’s side and with a smile she said, “Thanks for the backup.”

  “No problem. Just making sure no one messes with my buddy’s girl,” Tom said with a smile.

  Aiko then gave Tom a quick up-and-down look as she noticed his black boots, blue jeans, camel colored sports coat, and body-hugging gray crewneck T-shirt with the Marine logo across the chest, and asked teasingly, “So, is this your version of business casual?”

  Tom smirked, “I’m a Marine, not some fashionista,” said Tom followed by a laugh that Aiko also shared in.

  “Well, if it’s fashion advice that you’re in need of, I might know of someone…” said Aiko. She stopped mid-sentence when she noticed Cat coming back to the bar. “And speak of the devil, it’s Cat!”

  Cat came back with a teasing smile on her face and winked at Aiko as she reached out to Tom and gave him a warm hug. Tom was defenseless to resist, and almost lifted her off her feet as she giggled. Once she found her two feet back on the ground, she motioned to the bartender a few feet away, who
came over with a nod of his head. Aiko turned back to the bar to pick up the cocktail menu when Cat grabbed her hand.

  “Hon, it’s Friday night, we’re going to do a shot to start the night off right!” exclaimed Cat. She turned toward the bar, placed her right elbow onto the edge of the bar and stretched a bit onto her tiptoes to elongate her figure and slender legs, and ordered three shots. She then turned back toward Aiko with a smile and asked, “Do you think he caught all of that?”

  Aiko smiled and gave a quick nod as they both suddenly heard Tom clear his throat. The two women giggled and turned back toward Tom, who was looking at and fumbling with his locked smart phone.

  “And besides, it’s your birthday soon and since you’re going to be away, Tom and I are treating you to dinner.”

  “No!” protested Aiko as her beaming smile showed her feigned protest as she leaned in to hug Cat just as the bartender finished pouring the last shot, something that was clear and potent. As the women embraced, Tom snuck in behind Cat toward the bar, barely brushing up against her and presented the bartender with his credit card.

  Cat had noticed that Tom was behind her, leaned back a bit and deliberately brushed up against Tom’s thigh and simply said, “Very smooth muscles. And you’re a gentleman too.”

  Tom smiled and then caught Aiko looking in his direction approvingly and carefully handed each her shot glass. Cat took a step a back so that she could see both Aiko and Tom and then, with pomp, raised her shot glass toward Aiko, “Happy early birthday! May all your wishes come true!”

  “Thank you guys,” responded Aiko with good cheer as they clinked their shot glasses in unison and threw their heads back to swallow the potent liquor that Cat had ordered. Aiko squinted and coughed as she brought her forearm to her mouth and asked with a gasping laugh, “On my lord, what was that?”

  Cat looked at Tom and saw that the shot did not affect him as he stood seemingly at attention. She then gleefully said to Aiko, “That was Grey Goose, the best vodka ever!” She then proceeded to give Aiko another warm hug when Vic called over to let them know that their table was ready.

  At dinner, the three enjoyed a delightful modern Italian dinner, paired with wine and the conversations always ended up with laughter and there were side orders of flirtations between Cat and Tom that Aiko couldn’t help notice. Cat had recently met Tom, and it was immediate that Tom was interested but it took a little time before Cat warmed up to him. Though it turned out to be Aiko’s night, she was tickled by the amorous chemistry between the two. That night was hopefully the start of something that Aiko wholeheartedly encouraged. While that was going on, Aiko couldn’t help glancing at the empty seat next to her and thinking about her boyfriend, who would usually be there before his unexpected trip took him away.

  “Earth to Aiko. Earth to Aiko,” Cat said with a smile.

  “Huh? Oh, sorry, my mind wandered off…” Aiko took in a deep breath as she could feel the wooziness of the one too many drinks that she had been encouraged to take.

  “Well maybe I, I meant we,” said Cat as she looked at Tom. “Maybe we can help with that as I spy their famous tiramisu headed our way.”

  As if on cue, Tom handed his phone to Aiko, who looked perplexed. Tom positioned the phone within view of Aiko, enticing her to look down and when she did, she smiled uncontrollably as she saw her boyfriend’s name, Jonathan. She quickly snatched the phone away from Tom’s hands, brushed her silky hair away and brought the phone to her ear.

  “Hey,” said Aiko in the sweetest of tones. Cat watched Aiko and was happy seeing the smile on her friend’s face. Aiko unexpectedly became one of her best friends in D.C. She was the only one who didn’t judge her and could put up with her sometimes brash and straightforward manner, and she appreciated that. Cat turned her attention back to Tom, who already had an inviting forkful of the tiramisu ready for her to devour. She looked at Tom, took notice of his short military crew cut and everything that was so wrong with his sense of fashion but for whatever reason she couldn’t deny his appeal. He was starting to melt her heart with those stern but adorable eyes of his. She leaned in and devoured the forkful of decadent tiramisu.

  After seeing the two off, Tom went his separate way. Along the ride home, Cat was definitely happy, tapping the steering wheel and tossing her head slightly from side to side to the beat of the music once more. Tom was her mental dessert.

  As Aiko started to succumb to the effects of the night’s shots and glasses of wine, her thoughts started to return to her grandfather. It was only about 1 A.M. and with Cat’s driving, she knew she’d be home in time to call her father. It wouldn’t be too late with the three-hour time difference.

  Before long, Cat’s car purred to a stop in front of Aiko’s place. The two women shared another quick laugh and exchanged hugs before Aiko opened the car door and stepped out into the night air, which had a sense of anticipation to it. Aiko made her way up the steps to the front door, jiggled the lock with her keys until it gave way, and stepped through as Cat drove away.

  Aiko walked up the steps, which creaked even more loudly at that time of night. She opened the door to her apartment, gently shut the door, and deadbolted it. What must her landlord think? A young woman like her coming home at such an hour could only conjure misconceptions, she thought.

  It was 1:35 A.M. when Aiko settled herself back into her favorite spot and took out her cell phone from her purse. She took a few good deep breaths to clear her head of the buzz and blinked a few times to focus. She leaned back against the sofa and willed herself to relax as she pondered the next few moments.

  She was nervous about talking with her father. As an only child, he had grown up to be independent. He had a tendency to be quite stubborn at times and was quick to lose his temper if pushed. She wasn’t sure if her father had an element of resentment toward the father he never knew and whether or not bringing up the topic would bring that out.

  The face of the cell phone stared back at her and finally, with deliberation, she swiped down to “Home” among her contacts, clicked on it and slid the phone in between her ear and hair. She listened intently with some trepidation as the phone started to ring. After the second ring, the phone picked up with a familiar voice.

  “Aiko, you’re calling so late. Is everything okay?” asked her father in his low voice.

  “Hi to you too Dad,” said Aiko deliberately. “How’s Mom doing?”

  “She’s good.”

  “And you? Are you exercising like the doctor asked you to?”

  “That’s between me and the doctor. No need to worry yourself.”

  “Dad.”

  “Yes?”

  “Dad. I just need to ask you a question.”

  “Sure, go ahead but make it quick. I’m about to go to sleep.”

  Aiko paused for a little bit and then plainly said, “It’s about Grandpa.”

  For a moment, she didn’t know if her father would respond. Her question was quite abrupt. There was a silence that she dreaded with each seemingly long second that passed. But her father did respond.

  “Aiko, it’s late. Why do you want to bring up your grandfather now? I’ve told you everything you needed to know about him,” he said calmly.

  With a renewed sense of purpose, Aiko started from the beginning and told her father about Joey’s drawing. She told him how she thought the drawing was just going to be of a child’s grandfather who fought in World War II as part of the 442nd. Then she told him about the stunning discovery of her grandfather’s nickname, “Home Run,” though innocently misspelled, written underneath one of the men drawn by Joey. His grandfather may have actually known her grandfather.

  Her father listened with incredulity, and after Aiko finished, he paused and simply said, “There isn’t anything more you need to know. It’s just a big coincidence. There was probably a lot of young Japanese American men at that time that had nicknames. ‘Home Run’ was probably a common one.”

  “How can you be so sure, Dad?”<
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  “I don’t want to talk about this now.”

  Perhaps it was the effect of the drinks from dinner, but this time she had the audacity to challenge her father. “Dad, maybe you’re not the best person to ask. Maybe I should call Grandma?”

  There was a silence on the phone. She knew she had gotten to her father and the next move was his.

  “Don’t bother your grandmother about this,” he said with a strident tone.

  “I will because I cannot get the answers from you!” Aiko replied in an almost defiant tone. She knew she couldn’t turn back. She needed to know.

  Aiko abruptly interjected “Well?”

  Her father spoke.

  “Your grandfather was a deserter.”

  T H R E E

  There was an unnerving silence between daughter and father. The family secret was out. Aiko’s buzz suddenly vanished. She was simply stunned by her father’s words. Her father said it in such a matter of fact manner. This was the reason why her grandfather was rarely spoken of within the family and why there weren’t any pictures.

  “Satisfied?” Aiko’s father said under his breath.

  Aiko hesitated. She wasn’t sure how to respond and simply said, “I don’t know.”

  “What do you mean you don’t know? I just told you the very thing that I’ve been trying to hide from you since you were born! It’s our family dishonor, Aiko! It’s a burden that I’ve been keeping to myself all these years ever since I found that letter from the U.S. Army and now that you know, you have to carry it as well!”

  Aiko could tell in her father’s voice that he was angry and agitated, but his last words wavered with emotion. She forced something from him that he had carried with him all of his life and he wasn’t happy that he allowed her to goad him into unsheathing the family dishonor. It was now her burden as well. She wasn’t sure if she regretted her action to press her father for the truth. Finding out her grandfather was a wartime deserter was not what she was expecting.

  “Aiko,” said her father in his normal but tired voice.