Page 66 of Blossoms of the Heart
Akito kicked me again before I could finish. They laughed again.
“It was an accident.” Phoebe jumped in.
“Yes, every year there was something. Thatsomehowwas an accident.” That time I tried to say it just like her.
“No, that’s not true.” She argued.
“Okay let’s do this. The year we went to Mantengai Cliff and we both fell in the gorge. You broke both arms and your leg, and I got blamed for it.”
“I was being chased by an albatross. I somehow bumped into you. I didn’t know we would fall.”
“It wasn’t an albatross. Do you know how rare it is to see an albatross?”
Mitsuke was hollering, laughing so hard tears ran down her cheek.
Akito was laughing too. “Maybe it was a seagull dear.” He offered.
“Or a pigeon. It definitely wasn’t a damn albatross. How could I miss a big assed bird like that. You forget I was there too.”
“It was an albatross. I know what I saw.” She folded her arms under her breasts and pressed her lips together, eyeing me sharply.
“Whatever. Anyway then there was the year we went camping and we both got poison ivy.”
“Because of you and your stupid evil yokai stories. I thought one was outside my tent so I fled and somehow I ran straight into you in my escape. I didn’t know we’d fall in the bush with the ivy. Or that it was poison ivy.”
“No comment.” I grimaced because I was certain that was a lie of sorts because she was spying on me. “The worse year was when we all went to Kanazawa to see the samurai villages, and you decided to venture off on your own and I went looking for you.”
“That was because you upset me. I was twelve and Mom cut my hair too short. You told me I looked like Mowgli from Jungle book.”
Mitsuke started dabbing her eyes with tissue.
“That didn’t warrant running off. Princess Phoebe went all the way to a neighboring farm and accidentally set all the animals free. I spent the whole day chasing pigs and sheep so you wouldn’t have to, then princess here wouldn’t help me.”
“I didn’t want to touch the pigs.” She was trying not to laugh but failed.
I got blamed for that too. Somehow it turned into my fault.
“I don’t know how you managed without me all these years.” I added.
“Don’t act like you didn’t miss me. At least I made summer fun.”
“I did miss you.” I said that with more emotion than I realized I could express. Probably because the damn words came straight from my heart. I looked at Phoebe, holding her gaze.
Her eyes brightened and affection glowed within them. “I missed you too.”
In her words I got the answer I’d thought about for so long.
The moment however was interrupted when Candace said, “wow sounded like you guys had some crazy summers.”
Candace.
The discomfort of not fitting into the conversation was very evident in her tone.
I blinked several times and looked from Mitsuke to Phoebe. Both of them wore the same pensive expression.
“Yes we did.” I turned to her and answered.
Mitsuke thankfully changed the conversation to work. She started talking about the assignment in LA she was going on tomorrow and writing.
