That summer, just when I thought things might calm down for a change, my older sister Norika arrived from Japan to stay with me. I'd kind of invited my whole family to come, but my dad couldn't get time off, and my mom didn't want to leave him alone, so Norika ended up coming by herself.
The day of her flight, I took the train up to Los Angeles to meet her at the airport. She was all dressed up in a short flowery sun dress and sunglasses in a holiday mood. Even though she and I are sisters, we don't look that much alike. I'm kind of cheerful and bubbly while she often has this serious expression on her face. I think she thinks it looks sexy, staring right at you with these shining brown eyes. Maybe my eyes are even darker than hers, more black than brown. She has a slender nose, and she tweezes her eyebrow into arches, so she looks quite elegant, refined. I'm more of a girl next door type, wide eyed, innocent.
We came back to my house, and I introduced her to my host mom, Loretta and her 19-year-old son, Brandon, and his sister, Jennifer. Loretta was warm and welcoming, but Norika was all tired out from the flight, so I took her up to my room, and laid out a futon for her on my floor. She had a quick shower, came back wrapped in a towel, and went to sleep. Norika used to tease me a lot when we were young, but still I was glad to have her here, so I could show her a bit of my new life in the States.
The next morning, Loretta made us some pancakes while we showered, and got dressed. She and Brandon were asking Norika all kinds of questions. Norika's English was pretty good, better than I remember. Norika's boyfriend Evan is British. Loretta took Brandon and Jenn off to camp on her way to work, and I had to go to work too at my summer job. For the first day, Norika said she was just wanted to stay around the house, and take it easy.
"That's a nice backyard. Maybe I'll work on my tan," she told me. I gave her a spare key, and headed off to work.
That night when I came back, I could tell right away that something had happened. Brandon looked over at me with this silly grin on his face.
"What? What's wrong?" I asked, but he wouldn't tell me. I went up to my room, and found Norika in a flower dress lying on her futon reading a guidebook.
"How was your day?" I asked cautiously.
"Fine. Have you been to the Japanese garden here?"
"Yeah, it's on campus, near the anthro building. What did you do all day?"
"Oh nothing. What else is there to do here? How far is San Diego?"
"It's not that far. What's Brandon grinning about?"
"I don't know. Maybe he's a happy guy. How far is it to L.A.?"
"Norika! I want you to tell me what's going on. What were you doing today?"
"Nothing. I told you. I was just sunbathing in the backyard."
I glared at her sternly. My mind flashed back to the time I'd caught her out sunbathing naked in our yard at home in Kamakura.
"What were you wearing?" I pressed.
"Oh I don't know. It was so hot out. I couldn't find your swimsuits. Where do you keep them anyway?"
"Norika! You didn't!"
"Oh, it was nothing I swear. He only saw me for a second. I didn't realize he'd be home so early."
I sat down at my desk chair, shocked that she would have the nerve to sunbathe naked in our backyard.
"Oh, don't make such a big deal. So he saw me naked. It's not like it's the end of the world!"
I stared at Norika, appalled. This was my home, my host family that she was messing with. I'd always tried to be so careful here. Now Brandon would know the times that he caught me naked it wasn't just an accident.
"Anyway, don't do that here. Loretta would freak if she saw you."
"Oh c'mon, Emi. Don't be such a sourpuss. I'm here on vacation. I want to have fun. What do you want me to do?"
I looked over at her. I guess I could understand how she felt. She was away from home. She wanted to kick back, relax, do things she couldn't do in Japan.
"There's a nude beach in town," I noted cautiously.
"Really? Wow! That's great. Let's go!"
"Norika! It's not that simple. There are some weird guys there."
"So you've been, have you? Did you get naked?"
"Keep your voice down."
Norika was getting all excited now. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to go with her. She does tend to get a bit carried away. I was worried if we got there, I wouldn't be able to calm her down.
"Oh c'mon. Let's go. I promise I'll be good."
"Well, I'll think about it. I'm off on Saturday. Maybe we could go then."
"Oh that's wonderful. You're the best." She got up, and gave me a hug. I was still worried about what I was letting myself in for, but anyway, hopefully this would get her to be more careful around the house.
That evening, my host mom's boyfriend, Hank came over to join us for supper. I was nervous about this. Loretta was older, but Hank was 30ish, closer to our age, fit, handsome. He has a sharp straight nose. His nostrils flare a bit, and he has kind of cute lips. His hair is brown and always cut short and neatly combed. I'd had a little late night run-in with him myself. I guess I came home a little tipsy, and one thing led to another. I managed to get away before things really got serious, but there'd been this tension between us ever since.
Norika looked him up and down, clearly intrigued. At supper, we chatted back and forth about life in Oceanview and back home in Japan. Brandon had so many questions for Norika, but Hank was pretty quiet most of the night. I was relieved though when he finally went home.
As it got near bedtime, I let Norika have a shower first, and then I had one. When I came back, she was still lounging around in her towel.
"Where are your pajamas?" I asked.
"I guess I must have forgotten them at home."