Read Online I Hear Them Cry by Shiho Kishimoto - Free Book Online Page A

had slapped me, again. For the second time since we’d known one another, the palm of his hand had taken flight and landed on my cheek. He had also struck Alan while gripped in the throes of jealousy. When Pierre had stolen Noriko’s bag, Shigeki had chased him down and beaten him. At that time I believed this violence was a sign of his masculinity.
    Jean had said, “Whatever the reason may be, anyone who wields violence is essentially someone who harbors burning rage. Most of the time, the problem with such a person lies in the matter of love, or the lack thereof. He certainly appears to be an outstanding man in many ways, but what concerns me is his face. It’s vacant.”
    What was Shigeki angry about? His wintry eyes were vacant for sure, just like Kanako’s eyes. I first met her when Shigeki introduced me as his wife one humid day during the rainy season. She smiled the whole time, but her eyes didn’t registermy presence. They were fixed on some empty space in the remote distance. Her husband Taichi had been missing for five years by then. I can’t imagine the pain and torment she’d been through.
    Shigeki also appeared cold and removed in front of Kanako.
    “I’ve chosen to marry her,” he had said, like someone reporting to his supervisor.
    “Congratulations, your father will also be pleased,” she had said effortlessly, as if the father were still alive, or so it seemed to me at the time.

REIKA: FOUR
    Before I knew it I had fallen asleep, and when I awoke the sun was high and Shigeki had already left. I could tell that he’d slept on the living room couch; a cushion he had used for a pillow was propped up on one end, its surface indented with the trace of his head. He’d left a can of beer on the table.
    Desperate to know where Shigeki had been yesterday and exactly what he was doing there, it seemed only natural to call Kanako.
    “Yes, this is Tachibana,” she answered in a depressing alto.
    “I heard that you were able to reach Shigeki yesterday. Thank you for your help.”
    “He was on board the boat after all. That child, whenever something from work troubles him, he always makes it a point to go there to consult with his father.”
    I remembered then how Shigeki had been so dismissive of his father, referring to him as “that guy.” I didn’t believe that Shigeki suddenly had become attached to his father, and whiled away his day and night ruminating and losing himself in nostalgia for his father. But Kanako had spoken as if he were lost without him.
    “Is that right?” I went on. “I’d like to visit the boat myself one of these days.”
    “I can’t quite get myself to board it, you know,” Kanako said. “We haven’t even kept up on the maintenance.”
    This smoke screen of an excuse made it clear that I would not be getting a tour of the boat anytime soon. Nonetheless, the conversation granted me some relief. I suppose it was because there was a part of me that still needed to believe in Shigeki, that he was still the exemplary businessman I had fallen for, the kind of dedicated professional who really preferred to be alone to think through complex work-related issues, to mull over new challenges. I desperately needed to believe that I was being silly and paranoid, that I really didn’t need to press him and insinuate that he was having an affair. I don’t know. Perhaps I was just hoping against all hope. But at least that was my rationale then, which—if nothing else—made it clear that I’d already forgiven Shigeki. So I became excited about the idea of asking him to have lunch with me. Eager to apologize, I called his cell phone. It rang several times before he picked up. In my sweetest, most flirtatious voice I purred, “Hey, it’s meee.”
    “The President is away from his desk at the moment,” said Muraoka, Shigeki’s personal assistant. His voice sounded extremely cautious. He was in his thirties, around my age, and still single. I had met him socially a few