The Manga Girl by Lorenzo Marks Page A

to the food court.
          “Been here before?” Lucy asked.
          Nick shook his head.
          “Welcome to ‘Japantown’.”
          She headed for a corner which was comprised almost entirely of Japanese restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores.
          “How do you say hello in Japanese?” Nick asked.      
          “ Konnichi wa ,” said Lucy, smiling.
          They went into an impossibly small restaurant called the Sakura , which was practically full. Lucy went up to the counter and stopped in front of a harassed-looking Japanese lady who looked up and cried, “Natsumi!” and the next thing she was around the counter, hugging Lucy tightly.
          Lucy introduced Nick to the woman, who turned out to be her Aunt Akiko, and then to the rest of the staff who were all relatives, and all women.
          Nick said, “ Konnichi wa ,” several times, which everyone found funny, until Lucy informed him that everyone here spoke English, and then guided him to the only free table.
          “I’m going out back for a few minutes,” she said. “I hope you’re hungry.”
          “Famished.”
          “You’d better like Japanese food then.”
          “I like eating you, and you’re Japanese.”
          Lucy pinched Nick’s nose and then disappeared into the kitchen.
          Almost immediately, a cold bottle of Kirin beer was brought to the table. Evidently Lucy had ordered for them both, and by the time she returned, the table was covered with dishes of soba with sliced duck breast, tempura, sushi, miso soup, katsudon, teriyaki, curry bread, stir-fried vegetables, salmon caviar and steamed rice.
          “Why aren’t you eating?” Lucy asked, dropping into her seat.
            “I was waiting for you.” Nick gestured to the array of Japanese cuisine. “I’m not sure if I was that hungry.”
          “I wanted you to try a lot of different stuff,” Lucy said as she deftly picked up a strip of chicken with her chopsticks.
          They ate mostly in silence - mainly because of the volume of food they had to put away. Periodically, various aunts or cousins would come over and chat with Lucy. After a while, Nick took a break from eating and drank his beer. He looked around at the compact restaurant which remained constantly full, and then at Lucy who was devouring her food with gusto. Despite the quantity of food she was consuming, she executed it with typical oriental grace. Even eating was a sensual experience with her, he thought.
          “What do you think?” Lucy asked, and then suggestively sucked a string of noodles between her lips.
          “Great. I’m stuffed.”
          Lucy wasn’t done though, and they finished up with melonpan bread and green tea.
          “Do you want anything else?” she asked when their plates were cleared.
          “Yes. I want to explode.”
          “We’ll go for a walk,” she said. “Burn it off.”
          Nick wondered how in the hell he was going to get up, never mind walk.
          They went and said goodbye to Aunt Akiko, who steadfastly refused Nick’s offer to pay, and then Lucy took him into a Japanese book store which was run by Lucy’s cousin, an elegantly beautiful girl called Chieko. The two girls chatted awhile in Japanese and Lucy ordered an art book she needed for college.
          They left the mall, and when they passed the train station, Lucy paused under a tall steel pole, atop of which were perched what looked like three red aluminum kites.
          “It was built by Susumi Shingu and it’s called Gift of the Wind ,” she said. “I wrote a paper on it for college.”
          “I don’t get it,” said Nick, gazing up at the peculiar modern sculpture.
          “When it’s windy, it flies,” Lucy said, and as she spoke, the wind did indeed pick up and the metallic kites began to tumble and twirl