A woman in a kimono with a painted white face stepped out of Zerzinski's place just as I arrived. She smiled briefly in greeting, and opened a parasol above her head, before descending the stairs.
Zerzinski seemed happy. I don't know why that even seemed notable, but he smiled without any provocation as I entered the house.
Soon enough we were sitting across from each other once again, cappuccinos in hand.
"I'd like to ask you about your move to Yamaguchi. And life since then."
"Well, we wound things down at the clinic," Zerzinski said. "Sold my house in Portland..."
"You sold it?"
"Well, it was mostly owned by the bank," he said. "But yeah, I was ready for something else. For this."
"What was it like when you first got here?"
"Well, more unusual experiences are more memorable. The really memorable stuff started when I was on my way here."
"Tell me about that?"
"So, before that, like the week before, there was a week in between closing the clinic and flying to Japan.
"I hadn't made any social plans or anything for the week. I found myself, for the first time in a long time, without anything in particular to do. No responsibilities. Just waiting. And no sex either."
"What was that like?"
"Well actually, I was feeling a bit guilty about the no sex thing."
"Guilty?"
"Yes. It is actually helpful for them, you know."
"Of course."
I felt stupid for needing clarification.
"But it was nice otherwise," he continued. "To actually have time to feel sort of naturally aroused."
"Without needing anyone to do extraordinary things to inspire that arousal?"
"You could put it like that," he said, with a tone of slight suspicion.
"Did you ever think about just going out and walking into a random cafe without a disguise on?"
He paused. "You remember the circus I described in Connecticut?"
I nodded.
"Well," he said, "it never really stopped being like that.
"If I was recognized in public, you never knew entirely what might happen. If it wasn't a lecture in morality from some religious wingnut, or jealous guys quietly stewing and thinking vengeful thoughts, or feminists telling me about my shortcomings, it was - far more often - random women wanting to have unprotected sex with me. And sometimes acting pretty aggressive about it.
"And I'm not a fan of any aspect of any of that.
"And if the sex sounds good, think about the chances you'd be taking by having that much unprotected sex. With women who have not gone gotten tests and medical exams like they would at the clinic, or here at the Temple.
"It would be just way too predictable for me to get HIV. And I'd really rather not. Though the theory of the random encounter is very attractive. Because of the random element."
"Hard to have things be both random and safe, eh?"
"Yes. But something like that happened on the plane to Narita."
"Oh my. Flight attendants?"
"You guessed it. Unionized and organized, with STD test results in hand, and a whole plan of action for the eleven-hour flight."
"How did they present that to you?"
"Very much like one might sit down to talk to a passenger about their choices for an alternative meal. Very matter-of-fact, very polite, very Japanese."
"It was a JAL flight?"
"I suppose it might have been," he answered coyly.
I didn't press the issue, and he continued his story.
"A very attractive Japanese flight attendant sat down next to me. One of the ones who just looks perfect in those little outfits. With nothing out of place, shaped like an anime character.
"Her face was so beautiful. But also fully possessed of the kind of stoic sense of authority that flight attendants can often convey so well.
"Or as they might say in Japan, she was possessed of a perfect 'outdoor face.'
"'Mr Zerzinski,' she said, 'we are very honored that you are on this flight. I just wanted to welcome you on board. Please let us know if there's anything we can do for you.'
"OK, when you're me, and a woman sits down next to you in a plane and says something like that, you think certain things.
"I'm basically a shy person, though, and I wanted to be sure. So I just put the ball in her court, and asked if there was anything I could do for her.
"Her stoic cracked. She looked down. She might have been blushing. And she pressed her lips together hard, and forced herself to lift her head back up and look at me.
"'Yes,' she said.
"And then she actually handed me three pieces of paper from a Planned Parenthood clinic in Portland. They were the very familiar STD results papers. Each with a driver's license paperclipped to it, with a woman's face on each license.
"'The three flight attendants pictured here, Mr Zerzinski, are all on the flight, and available to meet with you at any time.
"'There is a private sleeping area in the back of the plane for flight attendants to use. And we would like to offer it to you for the entire flight. You may use it by yourself, or you may use it with any of the three of us.'
"When she said 'us,' I realized that one of the licenses was hers.
"The picture looked like it was many years old. But she was still in her twenties, for sure. And even more beautiful than she appeared in the picture. Certainly more self-assured."
"Do you like self-assured women?" I asked.
I guess he could tell that I thought he probably didn't, and he looked momentarily confused.
"Oh yes," he said. "See, it's no fun if they're, say, so submissive that they lack confidence, or don't know what they want.
"The fun is when there's a choice. When they do want something, and they know what they want - and you can choose whether they get to have it.
"So self-assured is very good. Or can be."
He continued the tale. "So basically, being the responsible benefactor that I like to think I am, I started coming up with a plan."
"What to do with an embarrassment of riches?"
"Pretty much, yes.
