Summertime of the Dead by Gregory Hughes Page A

Tanaka! I jumped behind a concrete post as quick as I could and peered around the side of it. She had a patch over her blind eye and she was dressed in black. Maybe it was to show respect for her cousin Kako. She must have known by now that he was dead.
    She stood there smoking a cigarette and admiring the sky, and then she looked down in my direction. It was like she was looking straight at me. I pulled my head in and waited a few seconds before looking out again. A man in a white vest handed her a drinkand then they leaned on the rail and talked. He had a shaven head and his arms were covered in yakuza tattoos. I hated those tattoos, but not as much as I hated Riko. ‘I’ll throw you off that rooftop! You see if I don’t!’ But now that I knew where the girls lived I had to get back to the Lump. I could just see her wandering back to the house and Grandmother answering the door. Then there’d be hell to pay. But I couldn’t take the chance of Riko seeing me, which she would if I walked back across the bridge while she was there. And so I had to wait.
    At least half an hour went by before they made their way inside. ‘Louise, I’m going!’ shouted Riko. As soon as the coast was clear I ran across the bridge and bolted back to the bike. I put on my helmet, kick-started the engine and rode out on to the main road. It was a real piece of luck Riko coming out on the rooftop like that. Otherwise it might have taken me months to find them. But now I had to get back to the shrine. I rode at full throttle and whizzed between the traffic as quick as I could, but then I got held up by the lights. It’s always the way when you’re in a rush! A Mercedes jeep pulled up alongside me, and turning, I came face to face with Riko. And for some reason I couldn’t look away.
    She couldn’t recognize me because I was wearing my helmet. But she didn’t look happy. She said something to her broken-nosed bodyguard, who sat in the front seat, and then he turned around and gave me a look. I moved up to the front of the traffic and looked back at them in my mirror. ‘Now’s not the time. But soon!’
    When the lights changed I turned on to the dual carriageway and followed it around to Omotesando. The lights stayed in my favour all the way to the park, and cutting across the tracks I headed up the hill to the shrine. As soon as I reached the top I parked and ran into the grounds. But I couldn’t see the Lump anywhere. She must have gone home!
    â€˜Yukio.’
    I turned to see Natsuko. She looked a little pained as she came towards me, as though remembering all the times I’d been there with the twins. And I felt a little sad myself when I saw her. She went to speak, but then something down the path caught her eye. ‘Is that someone asleep?’
    I was relieved when I saw the Lump. ‘My cousin.’
    Natsuko looked surprised. ‘Oh yes, I remember her.’
    We walked along the cool path, in the shade ofthe trees, and headed towards the Lump. But we were both straining for something to say.
    â€˜So how are you?’ asked Natsuko.
    â€˜Getting better,’ I said. ‘And stronger.’
    â€˜You’ve always been strong, Yukio. That’s why people look up to you.’
    I felt a surge of pride and my back straightened. ‘And how are you?’
    â€˜It hurts me when I think of them, but I am weak. And I feel as though my faith is being tested. I mean, we talk about rebirth as though it’s something to rejoice. But why would I rejoice at the twins’ death?’ She turned to me. ‘Have you any idea why they did it?’
    I felt like telling her who was responsible and how they were going to pay. And I felt like telling her how I’d killed Kako. But I didn’t. Natsuko hated violence, even if it was justified.
    â€˜No,’ I said. ‘I have no idea.’
    We came to the Lump, who was asleep on a bench. She had used