must stay.
‘This woman so sad in her marriage and her life, she sometime think she might die. But one day she hear about Yonigeya. She take her small savings and a dish of otoro that she has prepare especially for him. The Yonigeya is so amazed, so thrilled at the taste and the skill of this young lady, that he agree to help her right away. He arrange for her to escape and not charge her too much money. When she set up her own restaurant abroad and make her fortune, then she can send Yonigeya what she owes.
‘One month later her husband awake and there is nobody there to fix his breakfast. Husband furious. When he realise his young wife is set free and escape, he bangs his fist through treasured rice paper screen. To this day no one knows where she go to. Some say Australia. Some say Toronto. Some clever people think London.
‘No. No…ha ha, is not me. This not even my place. No, the Yonigeya not here. I don’t think there are any in London.
‘No. I am not one. Of course not. Is too much trouble…for a simple waitress.
‘Really? This man disappear?
‘No. I don’t see it in the papers.
‘No. I don’t see it on TV. TV was broken, remember?
‘Where do you think he go to, this man?
‘Sorry, sorry. Your brother.
‘No, I don’t know either. He never say anything to me. Just one day I tell him the story of the sushi girl and he seemed to like it a lot.
‘No, I didn’t help him, why you say this?
‘OK, I accept your apology. But this programme is very romantic. Is also a little dangerous, I think. Who in this world hasn’t wondered for a moment what it would feel like to start their life over. To begin again sweet and crisp, like a new spring plum, freshly cut from the tree. No blemish, just perfect and ripe like a newborn, with a life to start over afresh. No mistake, no hang up, no problems. Erasing every one of your wrong turn. How light it would make a person feel. How better to fight his mortality than to give a person a second chance at life. So you see, I don’t have to do anything. I don’t even put the idea in people’s head. The idea already there, snoozing like fat dog with an empty belly. Is there in all minds at some time or another; with this man, maybe was time his dog woke up.
‘No, there’s nothing else I can help you with.
‘No, there is nothing more I can say. If you know him well enough you will guess where he went. They say the sushi lady kept postcards of London bus under her bed, but still the lady family not work it out. Or maybe they not want to know the truth. That she was right and they were wrong. Sometimes is so hard for people to change the way they see a loved one, they prefer not to see them at all.
‘How do I like London? Very nice. Very open. Very green. But the water not so good. Give a funny taste to the rice. They say it go through seven people before it get to tap. Sometime, I think I taste every one.
‘Am I good sushi chef? Of course. How you can ask? I am spectacular chef. A true master.’
It Helps to Have a Plan
My family looks utterly flabbergasted. At my suggestion? At my detective skills? At my logic? Or at the fact that I’m sat here with Michael? They’re staring at me like I’m insane: Mum, Robert, Sylvie, Kay and even–I suspect–Stinky Jools.
‘This is your big idea?’ Sylvie says. ‘That’s why you dragged us all over here, to tell us about a soap opera in a Japanese restaurant?’
‘I think it’s too much of a coincidence, that’s all. The waitress said Daniel went there all the time.’
Kay looks confused. Distressed.
‘Daniel doesn’t like Japanese food,’ she says, quietly. ‘He hates sushi, I know he does.’
‘Well, I don’t know what to tell you. I showed his picture to the waitress and she said he was in there a lot.’
‘Watching this programme?’
‘Yes.’
‘And she thinks there are Yonigas…whatever you called them, operating here in London.’
‘No. She thinks not. But it’s more the idea of
‘This woman so sad in her marriage and her life, she sometime think she might die. But one day she hear about Yonigeya. She take her small savings and a dish of otoro that she has prepare especially for him. The Yonigeya is so amazed, so thrilled at the taste and the skill of this young lady, that he agree to help her right away. He arrange for her to escape and not charge her too much money. When she set up her own restaurant abroad and make her fortune, then she can send Yonigeya what she owes.
‘One month later her husband awake and there is nobody there to fix his breakfast. Husband furious. When he realise his young wife is set free and escape, he bangs his fist through treasured rice paper screen. To this day no one knows where she go to. Some say Australia. Some say Toronto. Some clever people think London.
‘No. No…ha ha, is not me. This not even my place. No, the Yonigeya not here. I don’t think there are any in London.
‘No. I am not one. Of course not. Is too much trouble…for a simple waitress.
‘Really? This man disappear?
‘No. I don’t see it in the papers.
‘No. I don’t see it on TV. TV was broken, remember?
‘Where do you think he go to, this man?
‘Sorry, sorry. Your brother.
‘No, I don’t know either. He never say anything to me. Just one day I tell him the story of the sushi girl and he seemed to like it a lot.
‘No, I didn’t help him, why you say this?
‘OK, I accept your apology. But this programme is very romantic. Is also a little dangerous, I think. Who in this world hasn’t wondered for a moment what it would feel like to start their life over. To begin again sweet and crisp, like a new spring plum, freshly cut from the tree. No blemish, just perfect and ripe like a newborn, with a life to start over afresh. No mistake, no hang up, no problems. Erasing every one of your wrong turn. How light it would make a person feel. How better to fight his mortality than to give a person a second chance at life. So you see, I don’t have to do anything. I don’t even put the idea in people’s head. The idea already there, snoozing like fat dog with an empty belly. Is there in all minds at some time or another; with this man, maybe was time his dog woke up.
‘No, there’s nothing else I can help you with.
‘No, there is nothing more I can say. If you know him well enough you will guess where he went. They say the sushi lady kept postcards of London bus under her bed, but still the lady family not work it out. Or maybe they not want to know the truth. That she was right and they were wrong. Sometimes is so hard for people to change the way they see a loved one, they prefer not to see them at all.
‘How do I like London? Very nice. Very open. Very green. But the water not so good. Give a funny taste to the rice. They say it go through seven people before it get to tap. Sometime, I think I taste every one.
‘Am I good sushi chef? Of course. How you can ask? I am spectacular chef. A true master.’
It Helps to Have a Plan
My family looks utterly flabbergasted. At my suggestion? At my detective skills? At my logic? Or at the fact that I’m sat here with Michael? They’re staring at me like I’m insane: Mum, Robert, Sylvie, Kay and even–I suspect–Stinky Jools.
‘This is your big idea?’ Sylvie says. ‘That’s why you dragged us all over here, to tell us about a soap opera in a Japanese restaurant?’
‘I think it’s too much of a coincidence, that’s all. The waitress said Daniel went there all the time.’
Kay looks confused. Distressed.
‘Daniel doesn’t like Japanese food,’ she says, quietly. ‘He hates sushi, I know he does.’
‘Well, I don’t know what to tell you. I showed his picture to the waitress and she said he was in there a lot.’
‘Watching this programme?’
‘Yes.’
‘And she thinks there are Yonigas…whatever you called them, operating here in London.’
‘No. She thinks not. But it’s more the idea of
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