After Dark by Haruki Murakami Read Free Book Online Page B

than me and she is just
amazing
to look at. As long as I can remember they always compared me to her, like, ‘How can two sisters be so different?’ It’s true: I don’t stand a chance if you compare me to her. I’m little, my boobs are small, my hair’s kinky, my mouth is too big, and I’m nearsighted
and
astigmatic.”
    Kaoru laughs. “People usually call stuff like that ‘individuality.’”
    “Yeah, but it’s not easy to think that way if people have been telling you you’re ugly from the time you’re little.”
    “So you studied hard?”
    “Yeah, pretty much. But I never liked the competition for grades. Plus I wasn’t good at sports and I couldn’t make friends, so the other kids kind of bullied me, and by the time I got to the third grade I couldn’t go to school anymore.”
    “You mean, like a real phobia?” Kaoru asks.
    “Uh-huh. I hated school so much, I’d throw up my breakfast and have terrible stomachaches and stuff.”
    “Wow. I had awful grades, but I didn’t mind school all that much. If there was somebody I didn’t like, I’d just beat the crap out of them.”
    Mari smiles. “I wish I could have done that…”
    “Never mind. It’s nothing to be proud of…So then what happened?”
    “Well, in Yokohama there was this school for Chinese kids. I had a friend in the neighborhood who went there. Half the classes were in Chinese, but they didn’t go crazy over grades like in the Japanese schools, and my friend was there, so I was willing to go. My parents were against it, of course, but there was no other way they could get me to go to school.”
    “You were a stubborn little thing, I bet.”
    “Maybe so,” Mari says.
    “So this Chinese school let Japanese kids in?”
    “Uh-huh. They didn’t have any special requirements or anything.”
    “But you probably didn’t know any Chinese then?”
    “None at all. But I was young, and my friend helped me, so I learned right away. It was good: people weren’t so driven. I stayed there all through middle school and high school. My parents weren’t too happy about it, though. They wanted me to go to some famous prep school and become a doctor or a lawyer or something. They had our roles picked out for us: the elder sister, Snow White; the younger sister, a little genius.”
    “Your sister is
that
good-looking?”
    Mari nods and takes a sip of her Perrier. “She was already modeling for magazines in middle school. You know, those magazines for teenage girls.”
    “Wow,” Kaoru says. “It must be tough having such a gorgeous elder sister. But anyhow, to change the subject, what’s a girl like you doing hanging out all night in a place like this?”
    “A girl like me?”
    “You know what I mean…Anybody can see you’re a
respectable
sort of girl.”
    “I just didn’t want to go home.”
    “You had a fight with your family?”
    Mari shakes her head. “No, that’s not it. I just wanted to be alone for a while someplace other than my house. Until morning.”
    “Have you done this kind of thing before?”
    Mari keeps silent.
    Kaoru says, “I guess it’s none of my business, but to tell you the truth, this is not the kind of neighborhood where respectable girls ought to be spending the night. It’s got some pretty dangerous characters hanging around. I’ve had a few scary brushes myself. Between the time the last train leaves and the first train arrives, the place changes: it’s not the same as in daytime.”
    Mari picks up her Boston Red Sox hat from the bar and begins fiddling with the visor, thinking. Eventually, she sweeps the thought away and says, gently but firmly, “Sorry, do you mind if we talk about something else?”
    Kaoru grabs a few peanuts and pops them into her mouth. “No, that’s fine,” she says. “Let’s talk about something else.”
    Mari pulls a pack of Camel Filters from her jacket pocket and lights one with a Bic.
    “Hey, you smoke!” exclaims Kaoru.
    “Once in a while.”
    “Tell you the