Summary: Chapter 15
Naomi remembers taking the train to Slocan in 1942,
when she was around five years old. Stephen was on crutches. A young
woman on the train had recently given birth to a premature baby
and had no supplies. Obasan gave her apples and oranges, and an
old woman gave her an underskirt to make diapers. Naomi played with
her toys, particularly an ornamental doll, now battered, that Mother gave
her before going to Japan.
Summary: Chapter 16
In 1962, at age twenty-six, Naomi
joins Aunt Emily, Uncle, and Obasan and revisits some of the old
ghost towns, including Slocan. No trace of the Japanese Canadian
presence remained. Naomi remembers arriving at Slocan as a child
and bumping into Nakayama-sensei, the Anglican priest from Vancouver.
He walked them through the forest to their new house. On the way,
Naomi realized she had lost her doll. The two-room hut was crumbling, low-ceilinged,
and dark. Stephen and Naomi went back outside, where they saw dozens
of butterflies. Stephen slashed at them with his crutch because,
he told Naomi, they eat your clothes.
Summary: Chapter 17
Naomi, Stephen, and Obasan shared the house in Slocan
with Nomura-obasan, an elderly woman. One day, when Obasan was away,
Nomura-obasan had to use the bedpan, but Naomi couldn’t find it
anywhere. She helped Nomura-obasan to the outhouse and had to stay
in there with her until she finished. Inside, Stephen played the
records Mother loved. Naomi had stopped asking about her lost doll.
Summary: Chapter 18
Naomi remembers staring on a bridge in Slocan with Obasan
after Grandma Nakane died in New Denver, an hour’s drive from Slocan, following
an illness. She thought, then, about the need to put other people’s
desires before your own, and to “make the way smooth by restraining
emotion.” To do otherwise is to be wagamama—self-absorbed
and rude.
During the funeral, Naomi drew and Stephen sulked. Afterward, Obasan
explained that Grandpa Nakane was Buddhist, unlike the Christian
Katos, and therefore Grandma Nakane would be cremated. She took
Naomi and Stephen to the funeral pyre. Stephen was allowed to set
the pyre alight. Naomi thought of something Obasan had told Stephen:
Just as samurai swords are subjected to fire, people are strengthened
by hard experiences.
Summary: Chapter 19
Winter came to Slocan. One snowy day, they learned that
Uncle was coming to join them. Obasan rearranged the furniture and
cooked. When Uncle arrived, she greeted him in an official-sounding
voice. The adults discussed Naomi and Stephen’s father. Naomi asked where
he was, and Stephen scoffed at her ignorance. He played the flutes
Uncle had brought. In the following days, Uncle made many improvements
to the hut. He pulled Stephen on a homemade sled to the hospital,
where Stephen’s cast was removed.
