Chapter 34 second quarter

Forty-two, the fire alarm three years ago happened at the end of autumn. The Katayama House in Huoshou is a small restaurant opened for passers-by, maybe it should be called a noodle stall.There is a saying that the candle is not careful.It was burned in the middle of the night. After we burned out, my parents took me to a friend's house in the harbor.At that time, the aunt was no longer together. I vaguely remember asking my mother where my aunt went?My mother seemed to say that she had gone to North Korea, but I don't know how long before the fire alarm.The memory of when I was five or six years old is very vague and fragmented.

Speaking of fragments, Auntie seems to have lived at our Tannoura house for a while.It was only later that I heard that my uncle was a policeman and was transferred to North Korea.Because I went to work alone, I let my wife live with her sister's house, which is my mother's house.This aunt also went to North Korea later, but died soon after.This is what my mother told me. I can't remember what my aunt looks like at all.It is said that she is prettier and taller than my mother.Speaking of this, it seems that the appearance of the aunt is still in the eyes.However, maybe after hearing this, the shadow appeared in the fundus of the eyes.

Auntie loves me so much.That might have been due to being a sojourner with me, but I do remember her playing with me a lot.In my memory, she carried me to see the coast, and she also led me to walk nearby.The strange thing is that the memories of mother and aunt can still be clearly distinguished up to now. Uncle still has a slight impression.A big man with a tuft of beard.Later I heard that he was promoted to the chief of the bureau in North Korea. I think I saw him when he sent my aunt to my house.My father moved slowly, but my uncle was lively and rhythmic, just like a police officer.This is also the impression formed by the words I heard from my parents, but it is not completely memoryless.

Even so, in my memory, my aunt still has a vivid impression preserved without relying on the words of my parents.Rather than saying that this is the impression of my aunt, it seems to be more of a scene. At the back of the house, the room facing the bay has about six seats, where my father and aunt are.Looking from my side, my father turned his back to me, and my aunt was sideways.The two are talking.I remember I was playing around by myself.So the mother was not there. Then suddenly, my father raised his fist and hit Auntie.At first, I didn't know it was playing.I haven't seen the meaning of that action yet.No matter what, my father just turned his back to me, knelt and dragged my aunt.Auntie was lying on the tatami, her hair was messed up.That long hair.It stays vividly in my eyes.

At that time, women all wore their hair in a bun, and those who didn't had a comb rolled up on the back of their heads.My aunt wears a Japanese bun, and my mother seems to have it too.Although I can't remember the face, I can remember the hair and figure. Now that I think about it, I know that when my aunt was beaten by her father, her long hair immediately became messy, probably because she didn't wear her hair in a bun at that time.The blurry image in my memory is my aunt crouching to bear his father's fist, letting the big black hair flow from her shoulders on the tatami.In this way, maybe the auntie happened to be combing her hair.This point is very vague.Before this, the two seemed to be talking, and it seemed that the aunt turned her back to her father, combing her hair while talking to her father.

At that time, what my aunt said, of course I can't remember.It seems that the father stood up suddenly and looked at the aunt from above.Or, the father rushes to nurse the aunt.That's because Auntie's head is bleeding. I was thinking that the reason for the impression of blood is that when I was a child, I slipped and slipped down when I was climbing the back mountain, and my foot was injured and bled. The fear at that time is always unforgettable.At this moment, Akiko and I stood looking at the bare place in the front of the mountain, and that was where I was injured.To this day, the scar from that time still remains on the knee.Only that piece of skin is smooth.

Because of this, I remember so clearly that the aunt with disheveled hair was bleeding.What happened after that, I have no idea.As long as the mother is not present, it cannot be wrong.It happened while the surroundings were unusually quiet. Not long after that.Auntie sleeps on the second floor. Not only my aunt was sleeping, but my mother was going up and down the narrow stairs, so I thought it was not an ordinary situation.There is an alloy basin next to my aunt's pillow.Because the basin is shiny, I feel so rare.It was placed on the old newspaper next to my aunt's pillow on the second floor, and there were heavy towels in it.

I thought it was my aunt who was sick.I must have asked my mother.I can't remember how my mother answered.But remember the following words: "Don't tell people that your aunt is sick. If you do, the police will come and arrest your father." I looked down from the second floor window.I think it's because I want to see if there are any policemen among the people passing by.I do not quite understand.All of this is a memory without light or color, in a blurred twilight. In addition, there are also fragments about the aunt. There is a place famous for cherry blossoms in the port about one mile away from Tanohura.It is the grounds of the shrine.This shrine is also very old, and there are worships in the spring flower season.

I was taken by my father to watch the excitement.I remember my father putting me in a railroad carriage, so it must have been about five or six years old.That time, my mother didn't go with me.When saying goodbye, there is a lively market.Pancakes baked with idols are a specialty here.At that time, for some unknown reason, my father asked me to go home first on the way.It was someone who happened to meet Noo and entrusted me. "Dad has something to do, you should go back obediently." My father seemed to be saying such things, coaxing me who was about to cry. I was taken by neighbors, rode in a railroad carriage, and went home.When my mother saw me coming back, she said:

"Hey, this kid, why did you come back by yourself first?" Then he asked his father what happened. "Dad said something happened and asked me to come back first." I think I am extremely wronged to say such things.Of course I can't remember what my mother was like at that time.But, thinking about it at this moment, maybe my mother's eyes are piercing.Auntie is not at home. I don't know if my father met my aunt somewhere in the street after he sent me back.When I got home, my aunt was indeed not at home.This is because my aunt loves me so much, knowing that I will come back from my trip, she will definitely come to me.

Whether this incident happened before or after my aunt got sick, I don't understand either.It seems that it was a long time ago when the father got angry and beat the aunt, and it also seemed a long time later.I can't make sense of the chronological order of these things at all.The fragments I can remember are fragmented. One more thing is this. It was after a fire alarm and moved to a friend's house on the street.There, even young children can feel that it is a narrow and untidy home.In the house, various people often come and go to see my parents.It was because of the fire, everyone came to express their condolences.I remember that it was also after that period of time. Once, my parents were not at home for two consecutive days. This is because I remember my mother begging the landlady's children to play with me, and I also spent two sad days with the children I didn't know well.I am an only child, and I have never lived without my parents. The feeling of loneliness left a deep impression on me. That incident made me feel strange until a long, long time later.Where have father and mother been for two days?But I never asked about them.Not only that, the scene where my aunt was beaten by my father always gave me a sense of mystery, so that I never asked them about the memory of my aunt. When I grew up, I did ask my parents about some vague memories of my childhood, but this was the only point I was too shy to mention.