A horn sounded in the garden. Koji had modified the muffler of his Skyline, and the engine roared thunderously, like a large truck. Mitsuo pulled on a clean pair of jeans, jammed a comb in his wet hair, and headed outside. A cool breeze played upon his bronzed cheeks. In the headlights, the hothouse appeared to be on fire. The tomatoes burned black and flames danced on the leaves.
Koji leaned his shoulder out of the car window and yelled, "Hey lady-killer, you should've dried your hair."
Mitsuo opened the door with a soft, white, wrinkled finger. Koji shot away before Mitsuo had completely settled in his seat, and the door slammed shut on its own. The glass in the passenger's window fogged almost instantly, and Mitsuo lowered the window to dry his hair in the rush of wind. It would be dry by the time they hit town.
"Have to do the planting. It's only one acre, so it'll be done in two days. If you help me, that is." Koji's words spurted from his mouth in unison with the vibrations of the car. Each time they rounded a curve, the headlights brought the roadside thickets to life. Koji never slowed, and his sharp jerks on the wheel drew squeals from the tires. He whistled. "How about stopping in on your papa?"
"Don't wanna see his face." Mitsuo slapped Koji's hand off his shoulder. Koji pretended to lose control of the car, jerking wildly on the steering wheel. They continued winding down the road.
"What does your mother think about your old man? You wouldn't believe how she gets off on telling those dirty stories. She's tough. Everyone likes her."
"She's just putting on an act."
The lights of the town appeared through the darkness, moving right and left as the road curved one way or another. The sky above was a fiery red. The sight reminded Mitsuo of his older brother who'd called earlier asking for money. Scrounging for the down payment on a house, Tetsuo was still three million yen short. As the eldest son, he claimed he was entitled to a share of the money from the sale of the family land. As far as Mitsuo was concerned, Tetsuo was lucky it had been their mother who had answered the phone. He himself would have told his brother straight off that if Tetsuo's head wasn't up his ass he'd know their father had left home two months ago, taking the bankbook and the family seal with him.
Just when the weather had turned, bringing a cold, dry and dusty wind, the old man had stopped coming home. He rented an apartment in town and set up a love nest with his mistress. At first, Mitsuo had given them a week at most. How long could it take the fool to realize she was interested only in his cash?
The car crossed an interchange. Along the sides of the road signs studded with yellow lightbulbs flashed in the darkness, advertising a gas station and a restaurant. The surroundings were getting brighter. They crossed a river. The surface of the water reflected the windows of the nearby buildings.
Mitsuo got out in front of the sturdy front gate of the elementary school. The gate was always left unlocked, and ever since the town had started taking shape the schoolyard had doubled as a parking lot. The surrounding neon made the blackness seem like a swamp, and Mitsuo had hesitated a moment before finally stepping out.
On the main street a pack of men in suits sang drunken melodies, their arms laced around each others' necks. Mitsuo bounced energetically along, feeling excitement in each step he took.
Koji seemed excited, too. He said, "A man needs to get into town every now and then, eh?"
"Yeah, we're too young to be country bumpkins."
"Hey fellas, come have fun in here." A man in a black suit with a bow tie put an arm around each of their shoulders in feigned geniality. His breath stank of curry. He raised his little finger and stuck it in front of Mitsuo's nose, at the same time elbowing him in the side.
Koji said, "We'll have a drink. Hey, we're still sober!"
"Drinking's better with a pretty girl to flirt with. All the beer you can drink for five thousand yen." The man stood in front of Mitsuo and held up the five fingers of one hand. Mitsuo folded back two of the fingers. The man re-extended one and pressed it against Mitsuo, "OK, four thousand yen for the both of you. It's a deal."
Mitsuo walked with one arm pressed on the man's shoulder. "I'm telling you, I'm telling you," the man repeated, meaninglessly, jabbing Mitsuo in the side.
Koji came up from the other side and leaned on the man's remaining shoulder. "Remember, it's four thousand yen for the both of us." The men stumbled along like entrants in a three-legged race.
As they walked, Mitsuo asked the guide, whose hair was now dyed in neon, "Where are you taking us?"
"The finest cabaret in Japan."
Men in short pink coats walked about clapping their hands to attract customers. The names of various establishments were printed on their coats. One said to Mitsuo and Koji, "Say, you men look like you could be with a woman night and day. How about it?" Their own guide urged them forward.
Women dressed in negligees, mini skirts, and nurse uniforms stood beside the blinking lights of the entrance of their destination, beckoning them inside. Light bulbs in five colors illuminated the arch-shaped door, though the stairway down was murky. The man continued using all his strength to push Mitsuo and Koji forward. He seemed to regard them as prey, and his hunt unfinished until he'd shoved them down the hole of the entrance and slammed the door behind them.
Ear-piercing sound greeted them inside. Once in, they were made to hand over five thousand yen a piece. Mitsuo and Koji were led to separate seats by a waiter carrying a flashlight. The chords of an electric guitar pounded off the walls and ceiling. The room smelled of smoke, cosmetics, and toilets. Low-slung sofas for two were set facing the same direction. Mitsuo sat and felt he was squatting in a hole. A waiter brought a small bottle of beer and a glass and left them on the table. Brilliant flashes of light shot forth from a mirror ball. At a seat far off he could see shoulders emerging from a deep-red dress. Shafts of light from the mirror ball darted into a man's neck like arrows. Mitsuo poured his beer into the glass and drank. It was lukewarm. Light shone in the bubbles of froth. The noise was deafening, to the point that the room almost seemed quiet. The woman in red appeared suddenly at Mitsuo's side and shouted into his ear, "Excuse me!"
He made room for her on the sofa. She clung to his neck, kissing him on the ear as she whispered, "Sorry it took me so long to get here. We don't have enough girls tonight." Mitsuo felt her slobber dribbling down his face. He stuck his hand through the sleeve of her dress. She raised her elbow to make it easier for him to touch her breasts. Leaning against him, she drank her beer as he stroked her pliant body. He gently pinched her nipples between his fingers, then moved his hand down past the wrinkles on her belly. As he attempted to get into her panties, she stood and said, 'I'll be right back." She brushed her lips against his cheek and vanished into the darkness.
For a long while, Mitsuo continued to sit by himself. He had polished off his beer some time before. When he lit a match, he saw scratches on the back of the sofa in front of him, and the rim of his glass shone orange. He puffed on a cigarette, but since he couldn't see the exhaled smoke it was as though he weren't smoking at all. He threw the butt on the floor, and the sparks bloomed like a flower. A waiter squatted down beside him. Mitsuo turned his head and heard him shout, "Are you planning to stay longer?"
Mitsuo slapped himself on the knees and stood. The waiter lit his way out of the room with the flashlight. Mitsuo spat on the floor. Even in the darkness he could tell that his guide had clenched his fist. The register sat as though at the bottom of a box. An old man punched calculator buttons in the light of a desk lamp. Mitsuo climbed the stairs, the sky a lustrous square visible above.
The tout saw him and said, "Thank you!" then laughed. "I'm sure you found our service top-rate. Our girls are well trained, you know."
"You're full