Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven

When a girl is finally ready to make her social debut as an apprentice geisha, she needs to develop a relationship with an experienced geisha.When two girls become sisters, they must perform a wedding-like ceremony.Afterwards, they almost regarded each other as family, and addressed each other as "sister" and "sister", like real biological sisters.A competent older sister becomes the most important person in a young geisha's life.She taught her sister how to laugh awkwardly and gracefully when a man made a dirty joke, she helped her choose the beeswax to use before applying makeup, and she made sure her sister attracted the attention of the people she needed to meet in the future.To achieve this goal, she will take her sister around Gion, introducing her to the hostesses of various teahouses, artisans who make wigs for stage performances, chefs of well-known restaurants, and so on.

Back when I first came to the art museum, my mother probably wanted Hatsumomo to be my older sister.In my case, though, I can't count on Hatsumomo to help me.Of course, my mother can force Hatsumomo to be my older sister—not only because Hatsumomo lives in our geikan, but also because she owns too few kimonos and must rely on the geikan's collection.But I don't think there is any power in this world that can compel Hatsumomo to train me well.I'm sure that if one day she was asked to take me to meet the mistress of the Mizuki Tea House, she would obediently take me to the bank of the river and say to the river, "Kamo River, have you met my new sister? "And then pushed me straight into the river.

As for having another geisha take on the task of training me... well, that would mean going head-to-head with Hatsumomo.Few geisha in Gion dare to do this. After a few weeks, Mameha paid a surprise visit one morning.Mom talked to her in the reception room. I was so intrigued to know what they were talking about that I grabbed a rag from the maid's room and eavesdropped on their epiphyllum while pretending to scrub the hall floor. Before long, they finally talked about me.Mameha said, "I've noticed that Chiyo hasn't been to school for the past few weeks. I think she must be very sick! I recently met a doctor who is very skilled. I was wondering if I should ask him to drop by Take a look?"

"It's very kind of you," Mom said, "but you must have misunderstood someone. You couldn't have met our Chiyo in the school foyer. She hasn't been there for two years." "I can't believe it's been two years since I saw her there," Mameha said. "Maybe she was so impressive that I thought I'd seen her recently. May I ask Take a moment, Mrs. Nitta... is she okay?" "Are you sure her name is Chiyo?" Mom stood up from the table after saying this, opened the door, looked at me and said, "Little Chiyo, come in." "I'm talking about this girl!" Mameha said. "How are you, Chiyo? I'm glad to see you so healthy!"

"Oh yes ma'am, I'm fine," I replied. "Thank you, Chiyo," Mom said to me.I bowed and said goodbye, but before I could stand up, Mameha said: "She is such a lovely girl, Mrs. Nitta. I have often thought about coming here and asking you to allow her to be my sister. However, since she is no longer in training..." Mom must have been stunned when she heard this, because she was about to take a sip of tea from the teacup, but now the hand holding the teacup was raised to her mouth, and her hand was still there when I walked out of the room .I was about to walk back to the hall, and when I was about to continue mopping the floor, my mother finally responded: "You just said..."

"Ah, what am I talking about? Well, that's irrelevant. I can't take your time any longer. I'm glad, Chiyo is pretty healthy after all." "Very healthy, yes. But, Mameha-san, if you don't mind, please wait a while before leaving. You said just now that you are almost considering taking Chiyo as your sister?" "Well, she hasn't trained for so long now..." Mameha said, "Anyway, I believe you have very good reasons for making this decision." "It's heartbreaking to say that people make so many choices these days. I just can't afford to pay for her training anymore! However, if you feel she has potential, Mameha-san, I'm sure you're investing in her future Every penny you spend will be rewarded handsomely.”

Mom was trying to take advantage of Mameha.No geisha will pay for her sister's education. "I hope such a thing will work," Mameha said, "but in this terrible time of the Great Depression..." The two started haggling and finally came to an agreement.If I can pay off the debt before the age of twenty, my mother will give Mameha twice the commission, but if I fail to pay it off, Mameha can only get half of the original price. When I heard this, my aunt sent me out to run errands.When I got back to the Art Museum, the pumpkin told me to go to my mother. Mom said, "In the past days, I haven't paid much attention to you. But today, a geisha like Mameha came and said she wanted to be your sister! How on earth should I understand all this?"

It seemed to me that Mameha was actually trying to hurt Hatsumomo, not help me.But I definitely can't tell my mother about it.I was just about to tell her that I didn't understand why Mameha was interested in me, but before I could open my mouth, the door of mother's room was opened, and I heard Hatsumomo's voice: "I'm sorry, mother. I didn't know you were busy yelling at the maid!" "She's about to quit being a maid," her mother told her. "There's a visitor today, and you might be interested in it." "Yes, I guess Mameha came to rescue our little fish from the tank," Hatsumomo said.She came and knelt down at the table.

"For some reason," Mom said, "Mameha seems to believe that Chiyo will be able to pay off her debts when she is twenty." Hatsumomo turned her face to me.Seeing her smile, you might think she is a mother looking at her beloved little baby.But what she said was: "Maybe, Mom, if you sell her to a brothel..." "Shut up, Hatsumomo. I didn't invite you in to tell you such things. I just wanted to know what you did recently to offend Mameha?" "Maybe I walked by her on the street and ruined Miss Jiao's good mood, but other than that, I didn't do anything."

"She's thinking of something. I want to know what she's thinking." "She wants to use Miss Stupid to humiliate me." "I can't imagine Mameha doing that," Mom said. "If she thinks she can make Chiyo a more accomplished geisha than Pumpkin," Hatsumomo continued, "the ending will surprise her. However, I'm glad to see Chiyo walking around in a kimono. The pair of Pumpkins It's a perfect opportunity. Haven't you ever seen a kitten chase a lineball? Pumpkin will be an even better geisha after she sharpens her teeth on this target."

Mom seemed to appreciate this sentence, because she raised the corner of her mouth and smiled. "I didn't expect today to be a good day," she said. "When I woke up this morning, there were still two useless girls living in the art house. Now, they are going to fight...  They were guided by the two most famous geisha in Gion!"