Bamboo and Lace (4 page)

“I'm sorry to be such a pest.”

“Look at me.”

Lily obeyed.

“We're going to talk now, and you're going to start…Look at me, Lily,” he put in gently, waiting until she complied. “You're going to start practicing not lowering your eyes. Understood?”

Lily nodded, automatically dropping her eyes, remembering, and then swiftly looking back up at her brother.

“How was the flight?” he asked as if he hadn't noticed.

“It was fine. The layover in Tokyo was long. I couldn't get comfortable, and I was getting tired.” Lily glanced down at her plate in embarrassment. “I dropped the book I was reading twice when I nodded off in the middle of a page.”

“So what did you do?”

Lily remembered to look at him before saying, “I took a little walk and that helped.” Lily took another bite from her sandwich and then a drink of tea. She noticed the ice cubes for the first time and fished one out to have a look.

“Why are they half circles?”

“Because the ice maker in the freezer makes them that way.”

As he knew she would, she dropped the sandwich and crossed the room to explore the freezer. She had her head buried inside that appliance when the phone in the kitchen rang, nearly scaring her out of her wits. Jeff reached for it, his eyes brimming with merriment as Lily's hand came to her pounding heart.

“Hello,” Lily heard Jeff say. She listened to his side of the conversation. “Yep, no problem. Thanks for praying. Sunday? Sure. What time? Okay, we'll see you then. 'Bye.”

Jeff was still laughing at Lily when he hung up, and she shook her head at him.

“Don't tease me, Jefferson. I couldn't believe how loud that was.”

“I'm going deaf in my old age.”

Lily only chuckled.

“Are you going to eat any more?”

“Not right now. Is that all right?”

“No, it's not. Come and eat every bite,” he said with mild sarcasm even as he cleared the table. “How about a run? Are you up to it?”

“I would love it.”

“Okay, but before we go, I have some things to show you.”

Telling herself she could explore the thin plastic her brother had wrapped around her sandwich later, Lily followed Jeff back into her bedroom and watched while he opened the closet door. He then opened two drawers in the dresser and stood back.

“I shopped for you so you would have plenty to wear.”

Lily's mouth opened.

“You bought me clothing? I mean, more than these shorts and T-shirt?” she asked, referring to the things he had given her to sleep in.

“Here,” Jeff motioned her close. “How did I do on sizes and such?”

Lily came forward slowly. She was overwhelmed. Her father had given her a little American currency, and she had decided to buy one outfit, but the cost of flying to Honolulu had been significant. She never expected this.

“Oh, Jefferson,” was all Lily could say for a time.

Jeff didn't say anything, but anyone who knew him would have seen that he was pleased by his sister's response.

“This is so pretty,” she said of a navy and teal dress she found hanging in the closet, realizing with a start there was a skirt and blouse next to it.

“Look down too,” Jeff suggested.

Lily shook her head in amazement when she saw the shoes. Three pair! Sandals, running shoes, and low-heeled navy pumps. Lily once again exclaimed, “Oh, Jefferson,” and spent another few moments admiring his selections. They finally left the Kona Loni Apartments to run to the beach and back. It was only a mile away, easy for both of them, but Jeff knew that Lily would still be feeling the effects of flying.

“So, how is Father?” Jeff asked when they ended up walking the beach so Lily could look her fill.

“He sends his love,” she said quietly.

“I appreciate that, but it doesn't answer my question.”

Lily was glad she didn't have to look at him. She could feel her brother glancing at her from time to time, but she kept her eyes on the beach in front of them. Not a hard thing to do, considering the beauty of it all.

“I think he had a hard time with my leaving.” Lily found that it felt good to admit this out loud. “As you know, he's been more moody in the last few years, and it was even worse once he gave me permission to visit you. I think he feels things that he doesn't know how to share.”

“What do you think he was feeling?”

“Maybe that he was losing me like he lost you and mom.”

Jeff could only nod, but it was without guilt. His mother had died when he was 16. Long before he had become a teenager, he had told his parents of his desire to go to college in the United States. They had never had trouble with the idea, but once his mother died, his father assumed he would cancel his plans. When he finished his schooling in the village and still left at 18, his father had been devastated. Jeff knew this was the reason his father had educated Lily himself once she turned 18, sending for any and all textbooks he could lay his hands on and teaching her at home.

Jeff knew his sister had vast knowledge in both world history and physics. He was certain she could pass any exam given in her area of expertise in any college or university in the English-speaking world. Her letters to him had often sent him back to his own books or friends to respond intelligently to questions she asked. Along with the intense Bible training she had been given, she was one of the most educated persons Jeff had ever known.

Even though he knew how difficult his leaving had been for his father, Jeff had no regrets. A whole new world had been opened up to him at the university in southern California, and that education had led to the job in the research department of Lang Chemical, a position he loved. It had taken a few years, but in time his father had come to see that his son had made the right decision. Jeff had continued to grow as a person and in his faith. He and his father were actually closer through the mail than they had been when he was growing up.

“So will his mood ruin your time here?” Jeff suddenly asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, will his lack of full approval make you feel you shouldn't have come?”

“No, and I don't mean to mislead you, Jeff. I know he was glad for me. He hugged me right in the airport, but it was still hard. And he's not a young man. He still works as hard as he did when he was in his fifties and sixties. There are many men in the church now, and so many are changing and growing, but Father still does a lot of traveling to the needy in outlying places. The hungry— those who are thirsting after righteousness—energize him as they always have, but the unrepentant take their toll. I can see it in him a little more every year.”

“And what about Father's own areas of unrepentance? Is he still hard to talk to? Does he still think you're Kashienese?”

Lily laughed a little, but she knew Jeff was serious. She was too. At times like this, she asked herself if she was as blind to her own sins as her father sometimes seemed to be to his.

“I figured something out, Jeff.”

“What's that?”

“Papa is a maverick. If he was only as accountable to someone else—the way everyone is to him—I don't think he would be so stiff-necked on some issues. And, Jeff!” Lily exclaimed, having warmed to her subject. “The things he holds onto so tightly are not biblically based! They are just preference issues, like our prayer time in the evening and my subservient stance with him.”

“Maybe I could write him once you go back.”

Lily nodded. “You mean, tell him the things I've shared with you?”

“Yes. Maybe your having spoken through me, a man, would go a long way with him.”

“And you wouldn't mind doing that?”

“No. We'll talk more about it, and you can tell me what you would like me to speak to him about.”

“Thank you,” Lily said quietly.

“Are you ready to head back?”

“Yes. Is it far?”

“No. Come on. Let's run awhile.”

Lily fell into pace beside her brother, a full smile coming to her face—one that showed how glad her heart was that she had come.

“Your brother has been quite excited,” Mrs. Crowley whispered, and Lily smiled at her.

This was the fifth elderly lady Lily had meet in Jeff's apartment building. Evidently everyone knew that his sister was coming for a visit and had been eager to meet her.

“I still have to work, you know,” Jeff had explained before they had left to make the rounds. “This way you'll have someone to visit with when I'm gone.”

“But you have all of this week off, right?”

“Yes. And I've taken occasional days off for the next three months to give us some three-day weekends.”

Lily had nodded with pleasure, and now having seen how nice everyone was, she was not worried in the least. It would be great if Jeff could be off more, but she had learned that the library was within walking distance, and now she knew some of her neighbors. Lily could not see a single cloud on the horizon.

“Was the trip long, dear?” Mrs. Crowley asked.

“Very. The time in the air was quite lengthy and made worse by a long layover.”

“Where was your layover?”

“Tokyo.”

“How did you get along with the language?”

“I speak enough Japanese to get by, and almost everyone speaks English.”

Mrs. Crowley turned to Jeff.

“Do you speak Japanese, Jeff?”

“Yes, ma'am, I do.”

“I don't think I knew that. Does Mrs. Kondo know that?”

“Um-hm. We speak quite often. Especially in the laundry room.”

“Mrs. Kondo is a stickler for clean clothes,” Mrs. Crowley told Lily. “I had a stain on my blouse one day—I don't know what it was—but she got it right out.”

Lily smiled at her again, but inside she ached for some of the women in Lhasa. In a heartbeat she thought she must be homesick or in need of some additional rest.

Jeff noticed her face, more specifically her eyes, and closed things off fairly soon. But his sister surprised him as they headed back to his apartment.

“Did you notice her clock?” she asked.

“I'm not sure I did.”

“It was a cat. And the eyes and tail both moved as it ticked.”

Jeff laughed. “I've seen those.”

“How does it work?”

Jeff explained as best he could but then said, “You aren't as tired as I thought you looked at Mrs. Crowley's.”

“Is that why we left?”

“Yes. You looked as though you might cry.”

Not accustomed to having her face read so easily, Lily was reminded that this was her brother; he knew her very well.

“We didn't have to leave.”

“You're not looking at me again.”

“We didn't have to leave,” she told him, her eyes obediently raised up.

“Yes, we did. I'm tired.”

For some reason this gave Lily a case of the giggles. At that point Jeff knew she was tired. And he was right. When they arrived back in his living room, she wanted to watch television, but long before Jeff was ready to turn in, Lily's lids were drooping. She gave up before 9:00 rolled around, and even with the strange bed and sounds, slept hard all night long.

Jeff and Lily planned to spend Lily's first full day seeing the sights, but before they left to take Oahu by storm, they ate breakfast and shared the newspaper.

“Listen to this,” Lily said about halfway through the news. “A man, angry with the way his employer had spoken to him, left work in a rage. He later returned with a gun, shooting and killing six fellow employees.”

“You're kidding,” Jeff said in surprise.

Lily could not stop the shock she felt from showing on her face.

Jeff needed no time in understanding.

“I'm sorry, Lily,” he said with a brief touch to her arm. “That's a bad habit that many of us have.”

“But you thought I was kidding.”