In the game arcade across from us at another angle,
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the cook from a local restaurant was killing time on his break with a
game of bingo that took cash betsBeneath the eaves of a shop that
had closed for the night, a swarthy homeless guy was crouching,
motionlessA girl with pale pink lipstick who couldn't have been more
than 12 or 13 came in and asked me to play the Rolling Stones'
"Jumpin' Jack Flash"When I found the record and put it on for her,
she started snapping her fingers to the rhythm and shaking her hips as
she danced around the shopThen she asked me for a cigaretteI gave
her one of the manager's, which she smoked gratefully, and when the
record ended she left the shop without so much as a "thank you"Every 15 minutes or so I would hear the siren of an ambulance or
police carThree drunk company executives in suits and ties came
old omega watches by,
laughing at the top of their voices every time they yelled "Nice arse!"
at a pretty, long-haired girl in a phone boxThe more I watched, the more confused I becameWhat the hell was
this all about? I wonderedWhat could it possibly mean?
The manager came back from dinner and said to me, "Hey, know
what, Watanabe? Night before last I made it with the boutique chick
For some time now he had had his eye on the girl who worked at a
boutique nearby, and every once in a while he would take a record
from the shop as a gift for her"Good for you," I said to him, whereupon he told me every last detail
of his conquest"If you really wanna make a chick, here's what ya gotta do,"
he began, very pleased with himself"First, ya gotta give 'er presentsThen ya gotta get 'er drunkThen ya just gotta do
itSee what I mean?"
Head mixed up as ever, I boarded the
women's tank watch replica commuter train and went back
to my dormClosing the curtains, I turned off the lights, stretched out
in bed, and felt as if Naoko might come crawling in beside me at any
momentWith my eyes closed, I could feel the soft swell of her
breasts on my chest, hear her whispering to me, and feel the outline of
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her body in my handsIn the darkness, I returned to that small world
of hersI smelled the meadow grass, heard the rain at nightI thought
of her naked, as I had seen her in the moonlight, and pictured her
cleaning the aviary and tending to the vegetables with that soft,
beautiful body of hers wrapped in the yellow raincapeClutching my
erection, I thought of Naoko until I cameThis seemed to clear my
brain a little, but it didn't help me sleepI felt exhausted, desperate for
sleep, but it simply refused to cooperateI got out of bed and stood at the
lady dior window, my unfocused eyes
wandering out towards the flagpoleWithout the national flag attached
to it, the pole looked like a gigantic white bone thrusting up into the
darkness of nightWhat was Naoko doing now? I wonderedOf
course, she must be sleeping, sleeping deeply, shrouded in the
darkness of that curious little world of hersLet her be spared from
anguished dreams, I found myself hopingclass the next morning, Thursday, I swam several lengths of
the 50-metre poolThe vigorous exercise cleared my head some more
and gave me an appetiteAfter eating a good-sized lunch at a student
restaurant known for its good-sized lunches, I was on my way to the
literature department library to do some research when I bumped into
Midori KobayashiShe had someone with her, a petite girl with
glasses, but when she spotted me, she approached me alone"Where you going?"
louis vuitton mahina she asked"Why don't you forget it and come have lunch with me?" "I've already
eaten
"So what? Eat again
We ended up going to a nearby caf? where she had a plate of curry
and I had a cup of coffeeShe wore a white, longsleeved shirt under a
yellow woollen vest with a fish knitted into the design, a narrow gold
necklace, and a Disney watchShe seemed to enjoy the curry and
drank three glasses of water with it"Where've you been?" Midori asked"I don't know how many times I
called
"Was there something you wanted to talk about?" "Nothing special
202
"You see what?"
"NothingJust "I see'," I said"Any fires lately?"
"That was fun, wasn't it? It didn't do much damage, but
that smoke made it feel real Midori gulped another glass
of water, took a breath and studied my face for a while"Hey, what's
wrong with you?" she asked"You've got this spaced-out
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