Life changes

Chapter 8

I heard the annoying ringing of the phone a few times from downstairs, as I fought to keep myself asleep the next morning. After endless rings, one after another, it soon stopped thankfully- for it was driving me batty. The quiet fell over the house once again.

Happy now that it was silent once again, I sighed and rolled over and drifted back off to sleep very quickly, I just had no real gumption to get up, since the ringing ceased. If it would have, I might have got up just to put the phone through a window or something just to stop that infernal ringing.

I was awoken later by the same ringing phone. It seemed to ring and ring, on and on. I was now awake to know that the answering machine had picked up and did not need to be answered. In my coming out of the sleep haze world, I realized that the housekeeper was probably out at the market or something, and my Uncle was at work as usual. I layed there in the still of my room, trying to decided whether or not I should get up or just be lazy and fall back to sleep for awhile longer.

I realized two important things made my decision for me at that exact moment, all very clear. I had to take a whizz so bad that I felt like I would burst ‘n’ drown if I just layed there, and my mind was screaming for coffee. It was a crystal clear.

I just sighed deeply, knowing that the two ideas would just win in the end I surrendered to it and picked myself out of bed, reluctantly.

After taking the leak that seemed to go on and on like a waterfall, I pulled on some jogging pants and a old t-shirt that I wore only to motor around the house in, forgoing socks just for comforts sake. It might be fashionable over here, but it was comfy anyway.

I just headed down stairs spurred on by just the thought of the hot, steaming cup of coffee I really craved so badly. Incentive to get up, I found mine to be in the form of the savory black liquid.

I found that there was no one was anywhere in the house, as it was still and quiet as a place can get. I could only here the stillness that blanketed the house. I just smiled. This felt strangely good, I thought to myself, The quiet was so very soothing first thing in the morning, I could get use to this easily.

A note I found near a ready made full pot of coffee which told me that the housekeeper was gone for the entire day, and that my Uncle would not be home until some time in the wee hours of tomorrow morning, or possibly even later on the next day. I smiled broadly as the thought of the message made me happy, the house was all mine as I had thought.

I was the master of the stillness, and it was a very grand feeling. I was king, at least for today. I should say I was the emperor of the stillness, for being here in Japan, I humorously corrected myself.

I was left just to decide just what I would do for the entire day, since no one would be around to talk to. I grinned and moved to the cupboards over the sink, and to where the mugs awaited me. Coffee was the thing for me to have, that way my brain would activate to the go position enough to decide these things. I guess it was a addictive type of needing.

I didn’t care anyway, I did not smoke or anything...I even have been drunk only once when I was four when I snuck out of my room at night and drank my mom’s coke at a party she was throwing after I was in bed, only to find out years later that it had two and a half ounces of rum in it. I was sick for all of the next day. I needed a vice, I m glad that it was just coffee for now.

Pouring a cup of steamy coffee, I left the blinking answering machine alone for now and went in to the front room. I just might be able to catch the sports scores on an American satellite channel, or take my time to watch some of the local channels and see just what the Tokyo sports teams are like.

I found some baseball scores from the major leagues in North America on a satellite channel based here in Tokyo, and sat back on the couch to soak it all in. My coffee was perfect, as usual, but I saw my Toronto Blue Jays had been beaten by the Chicago White sox by such a ridiculous amount, that it was quite comical at best. Twelve to two was not a spread that a ball team should lose by. If it was a game of Football, yes... Base ball, this was like shooting your own foot, And the blue jays seemed to amputated themselves but good.

I groaned loudly to the stillness of the house in contempt for the very laughable score they had lost by. My luck, even though I was so many miles from my old hometown, they still could not win at any cost.

Disgusted at the sporting news as a whole, I gulped down some of my drink, as the other scores were encapsulated to me one at a time by cookie cutter look alike on air personalities. Everyone on Japanese television seemed to be out of one mold. I thought back and realized that the same system of announcers were also in Canada too. I just chucked, as the media everywhere was the same, I thought.

I still thanked god and any other deities for satellite TV, although I wish I could figure out how to unscramble the playboy channel. A man has to wish for something, naked chicks on tv was one of the top three on most guys lists.

The phone rang loudly as the tv now was on to other sports news. I reached over to the side table and grabbed a handset, one of many my Uncle had scattered around the house. I guess he did not like getting up to answer a phone.

To my astonishment, it was Seia, the brainy girl of the four sisters on the other end. She seemed to be nervous, actually stuttering a little bit as she spoke.
“ Did I wake you up, Hiroaki?” She asked, meekly on the other end, voice quivering with each syllable she uttered. “ If I did, I could simply call back if that was the.... the case... that would not be a problem.”

I giggled a little under my breath but not audibly to even myself, as her voice was so full of worried that she had rousted me. I must get this girl to calm down, I thought, before she gave herself a nervous breakdown or something.
“ No...don’t worry, Seia, Don’t you worry a bit... ” I replied, reassuring her a couple of times. “ I’m just sitting here, having my morning coffee at the moment watching mindless nonsense on the television.”

The girl seemed to not even breath for a couple of moments while I waited for her to continue, obviously my attempt at my brand of humor had been met with a standing ovation of nobody. Dead silence was the end results of it. If I was a comedian on stage at that very moment, I would had to have dodged many types of rotten fruit that would have been pelted my way.

I guess people here had a different style to there humor. I must learn the art of it before someone actually decided on those rotten fruits.

Seia paused for about a few seconds longer, causing even more dead air on that telephone line.
“ I was just phoning to see if.... if...” she said, her voice spluttering and stammering with apparent nervousness. She continued this way as she spoke, broken syllable after broken syllable. “ If you might come over and help me with my mathematical studies tonight.” Seia halted herself in mid sentence for a second or two, then added almost as if she had forgotten her manners. “ If you have the time.”
“ I can do that, since I said that I would... and the fact that I am free all day today also lends me to agree to it.” I replied to the girl, glad to be able to be of some help to her. “ When would it be good for you to have me drop by and do that then? In the afternoon or in the evening? “
I waited for a second or two, then felt compelled to say something when I heard no reply from the other end. “ It does not matter to me when you want.”
“ You will come over to do that?” she said quickly, taking a few deep breaths between each and every stammered words.

This reaction puzzled me some, but I just passed it off as just her way too overactive shyness that was getting the best of her. It was, particularly, just her in a nutshell- nothing more could ever describe her any better than that. That made her somewhat more likable, in a unusual sort of way.
“ Eight would be a very good time...” She said, only after many seconds of silence that proceeded her, probably trying to think a little. “ I’m babysitting my sister Emi tonight while everyone is gone out of town until late in the morning, and that would work out just fine for us...er...me.”
“ Sounds like we have settled on it then.” I said, stifling a smallish chuckle then asking. “ Will she be a distraction for you, with all the topics we might have to cover to help you along?”
“ Despite the fact that she is a little on the hyperactive side of everything, Emi will not be any bother to us. I will make sure that our studying will not be interrupted in any way.” She paused, as if to make sure her words could turn out to be right. “ She just might be in her room most of the evening until bedtime, I will set something up so we can get a lot of work done.”

I waited for a second, thinking she was going to say something more. When that was not the case, I just jumped in with what I wanted to.
“ Then I will be there at eight o’clock sharp.” I said, hoping my boldness did not send this girl deeper into the sea of nerves than she already was exhibiting. “ Would that be a good thing?”
“ Eight o’clock then.” She said in echo of my last couple of words, after giving a drawn out sigh, as if the words were a thousand pounds of weight. “ Thank you very much for all of this .”

I heard a sigh of relief flood the phone on the other side of the line for a second time, as another long silence broke and hung on the line. I just waited for her to come out and say something.
She had paused for a moment or two once more, almost as if she did not have any words to say at that second but she wanted to have some.
“ Then it is settled, Hiroaki!” She said, her flattened voice was a sign that this girl was trying to reign her seemingly exuberance to a more somber toll... yet not fully getting a handle on it, as her inflection shone right through. “ I will see you at eight.”
“ I’ll be there.” I said, restating myself to confirm to the girl again.

The phone went dead, and the dial tone hum took over, she had not even said her goodbys. I just hung up the receiver and chuckled loudly to myself. She was the most introverted, yet extremely high-strung person I had ever known, but it was a cute thing at the same time. It was, as I had speculated for sometime, somewhat of a Japanese trait. She just seemed to really perfected it.

Grabbing my coffee to continue my morning routine, I just sat back and flicked through the channels while wondering just where my Uncle had hidden the morning paper he always so diligently would read each morning. I ended up considering that he probably took it with him to the office.

I just grabbed a day old copy off of the coffee table and decided that this would have to do for now. Reading the headlines, it was late news anyway.

I finally just decided to do just what I was doing, being too lazy to really search for the paper, I read the one that I found. I just kicked back and rested for awhile more, at least until I could figure out just what to do for the rest of the day.
This decision will be quite a long one to scratch my head over... I had enough coffee to help me through it, I said to my self. I chuckled and got up to get a refill on the coffee.

Coffee and the paper. A combination if I had ever seen one, I chuckled to myself.