Women On the Other Shore by Mitsuyo Kakuta Read Free Book Online Page B

the grease-encrusted fan into t h e water, she was no longer so sure. The day she told Shuji her job description, he'd responded with what could only be taken as a put-down.
    "Oh, so basically we're talking cleaning lady."
    That had stung, b u t in point of fact, here she was, a cleaning lady.
    She was scouring some u n k n o w n stranger's kitchen sink and range while gritting h e r t e e t h over her mother-in-law's snide remarks and worrying that even at this very moment her daughter might be bawling her head off. H o w was this supposed to solve anything?
    "Stop! Easy does it!" Almost as soon as Sayoko attacked the range top with her scouring pad, another admonition from Noriko interrupted her thoughts. "Try going at it more gently, and in circles," she urged.
    Sayoko eased up on t h e pressure and began moving the pad in circles. Sure e n o u g h , t h e resistance of the grime against her strokes began to melt away.
    Once she was satisfied that Sayoko had the hang of it, Noriko proceeded to the b a t h r o o m and started issuing directions to Aoi. Sayoko craned her neck out to see what Aoi was doing, but the half-open door blocked h e r view. She could only hear their voices.
    "Ugh. It's like slimy strands of seaweed."
    "We don't need t h e commentary. Just scrape it all out with one of those chopsticks. W h e n you've cleared it, sprinkle some of this around, and let it sit while you wash out the tub. Got that? What do you say?"
    "Yes, ma'a-a-am. Ooof. This is so foul!"

    "I said you may dispense with the commentary."
    It almost sounded like a comedy routine, and Sayoko had to stifle a laugh as she turned her attention back to her own task. Working her way slowly across the range top, she got so she could predict with almost gleeful accuracy when the last speck of grime would come away. The resistance of the caked-on grease diminished slowly, bit by bit, until poof, she could feel the precise moment when the last trace of friction faded to nothing—as if her pad had suddenly entered a small, circular void. She drew the scouring pad aside and stroked the bare stainless steel with her other hand. The polished surface slid smoothly beneath her fingers, exactly as Noriko had said.
    Once Sayoko learned to read the progress of the retreating grime, scrubbing the grease-spattered floor on hands and knees and stretching deep into the cabinets to wash off a shelf turned into unexpected fun. Her soap-filled sponge described endless circles on the floor, round and round and round, and as she felt the layers of grease gradually peeling off beneath it, she could also feel her crowded mind steadily emptying out. Her mother-in-law's sarcastic voice fell silent, the nursery school waiting lists vanished, her doubts as to whether work was the answer melted into thin air, and a wide-open blankness spread in their place. It was a blankness that she found so serenely relaxing she wanted to remain in its hold forever.
    There was still a good bit of work left to do, but they wrapped it up for the day a little before five. Back in the van, Noriko retraced the route they had come that morning, continuing toward Nakano Station after stopping to pick up the women they'd dropped off on the way. Fatigue showed on everybody's face.
    Sitting behind the driver's seat, Sayoko glanced repeatedly at her watch. Aoi wanted her to stop by the office and start a work diary, but she'd told Grandma Tamura that she would pick up Akari by six. At the rate they were going, it would already be after six when they got 48

    back to the office, which meant it would probably be at least six-thirty before she finished writing up her daily report and started home.
    "Would it be all right if I made a phone call?" Sayoko asked timidly in the quiet van.
    Aoi turned to look at her from the front passenger seat. "To who?"
    "I left my daughter with her grandmother, and I need to let her know I might be late. Otherwise I'll never hear the end of it."
    It was depressing to