Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky by Sandra Dallas Page B

lives, too. Without the strawberry fields to work, the three of them had developed new interests. Tomi was proud of them, but Pop wasn’t. He wanted everything to go back to the way it was before he was sent to prison.
    Well, Tomi was angry, too. She didn’t think much of a government that would put her father in jail and make him old and bitter. Maybe America wasn’t the country she had believed in. She was confused as she ran down the street to Ruth’s barracks.
    “Pop’s home,” she told her friend.
    “That’s great! You’ve always said he was fun. I can hardly wait to meet him,” Ruth replied.
    “He’s not so much fun now. He’s different. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but I don’t like it.”
    “You’ll have to find a way to make him happy.”
    “How can I do that?”
    Ruth laughed. “I don’t know. You’ll figure it out. Come on. Let’s go eat.”
    “That’s just it. I can’t. Pop says we have to eat together. He wants us to be a family, the way we were in California.”
    “The fathers were all like that when we came to Tallgrass. But they changed. Mine did. Your father will, too,” Ruth told her.
    Tomi shook her head. “I don’t know. He’s pretty stubborn. I’m glad he’s here, of course. But I think things will be different from now on.”
    They already were. They’d changed in the few hours that Pop had been back, Tomi thought as she returned to the Itanos’ apartment. She was different, too. Pop’s treatment had made her think about things she had always taken for granted. She glanced up at the American flag that was whipping back and forth in the wind. The flag always made her proud. Pop had taught her to put her hand over heart when she passed it. Sometimes, she even saluted it. But now, she walked on past it, her hands at her sides. After the way Pop had been treated, maybe that flag didn’t mean so much.
    Pop frowned at Tomi when she returned. He was notpleased she had taken so much time. “You must not keep me waiting,” he said.
    “But I had to tell Ruth I couldn’t eat with her. That would have been rude,” Tomi protested.
    “She should understand your family is more important.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “And Sumiko.” Pop turned to Mom. “I don’t like you wearing pants. You must put on a dress.” Like many of the women at the camp, Mom wore slacks almost every day. They were not only more comfortable than dresses, but they protected her legs from the wind and dirt.
    Tomi exchanged glances with Roy and Hiro as they followed Mom and Pop out of the apartment. “He’ll be okay,” Roy whispered. “He just has to make sure we know he’s the boss. Once Pop finds a job here, Mom can stop working, and that’ll make him happy.”
    “Maybe she likes to work. Why should she have to stop?” Tomi asked.
    “Yeah, there’s nothing for her to do in the apartment except stare out the window,” Hiro said.
    “She’s a Japanese woman. She should do what her husband says. That’s what Pop thinks.” Roy told them.
    “I thought she was an American.” Hiro seemed confused.
    “Maybe not,” Tomi said. “Maybe we’re not Americans either.”

    The dining room was crowded, and the Itanos had to wait until people finished eating to find five places together. Pop complained about the food. It was no better than what he had eaten in the prison camp. He scowled at the noise and the children running around. There were no manners at Tallgrass, he said.
    “But we are together, Sam,” Mom told him. “Everything will be all right now.”
    Pop patted her hand and smiled. He hadn’t smiled much since he’d arrived.
    As they finished eating, Mrs. Glessner, Tomi’s teacher, stopped at the table and held out her hand. “Are you Mr. Itano? I know Tomi must be very happy you are here.”
    Pop only frowned at her hand and didn’t take it. “She would be happier if we were at home in California,” he said.
    “Sam!” Mom exclaimed at Pop’s rudeness.
    Mrs. Glessner