Miscegenist Sabishii by Pepper Pace Page B

slacks and a cream sweater with the sleeves pushed up to my elbows. The doorbell rang.
     
    Anxiously I answered it. I was hoping it would be Nikki first but it was Mom and Dad. I hugged and kissed them.
     
    “Come on in.”
     
    “Mmm.” Mom said, handing me her jacket, “Smell good.”
     
    “I’m going to the restroom.” Dad said. “Get me a glass of ice water, son.”
     
    Mom followed me into the kitchen. “I set table.”
     
    “It’s already set. You want something to drink? Water, juice, Saki?”
     
    “Tea.” I made us both a cup of tea and took it to the living room on a tray where Dad joined us. Mom bit into an almond cookie.
     
    “You bake?”
     
    “Hai. It’s your recipe.”
     
    She nodded. “Did good.”
    “So where is your friend?” Dad asked. Mom gave him the evil eye. He shrugged. Mom’s game was that if she pretended Nikki didn’t exist, I’d know how little she thought of it.
     
    “She’ll be here shortly.” No sooner were the words out of my mouth before the doorbell rang again.
     
    “That’s her.” I leaped up and answered the door. Before she could come in I gripped her and kissed her quickly.
     
    “Hi. You look great. Come in.” She did look great. With a shaky sigh she stepped into the lion’s den.
     
    “Mom, Dad,” they stood up. “This is Nikita Mason; my girlfriend. And Nikki, this is my Mom Kayo and my father, Morio Yakamoto.”
     
    “Nice to meet you.”  Dad spoke, extending his hand to her
     
    “O-ai deki-ti ureshii desu.” Nikki responded, surprising us all.
     
    “Ahh.” My Dad smiled. “You speak a little Japanese.”
     
    “Just what Tony has taught me.”
     
    “Sit down everyone.” I said. “Nikki, do you want something to drink?”
     
    She looked at the table at what everyone else was drinking.
     
    “Tea would be good.”
     
    I hurried to the kitchen hoping nothing would go wrong in the short time that I would be gone. Nikki liked her tea slightly sweetened, so I made it up quickly and went back to the living room. They all looked up when I walked in.
     
    “What’re you talking about?”
     
    “We didn’t know you and Nikki worked together,” Dad said.
     
    “Yes.” I handed Nikki her tea and sat down beside her.
“We’ve been working in the same office about six months, dating about one month.”
     
    “You not have problem having friend at work in same office?” Mom asked me. She gave Nikki a brief smile, because my mom would never be intentionally rude. That would be low class.
     
    “Well, there hasn’t been a problem yet.” I said honestly.
     
    “You not rock boat, Toi.” Mom said passionately. She sighed and looked at Nikki. “How your family feel about you date Japanese man?”
     
    Nikki sighed too. “My family trusts my judgment.”
     
    “Ge-ge?” She asked, and then in Japanese she said more to herself, “What do the young know about life with no experience?”
     
    “Eigo-de- itte-kudasai,” I said softly. Please speak English. My mother leaned forward.
     
    “Excuse me. You nice lady…or my son not care for you. But you two are much different.”
     
    Dad put his hand on her knee, and she looked at him briefly then sat back in her seat.
     
    “Not much different- not on the inside.”  Was Nikki’s response.
    Mom didn’t respond. I had hoped that they could have talked and gotten familiar with each other before this…I stood.
     
    “Why don’t we eat?”
     
    Dinner was ultra-polite everyone complimented the food. Nikki seemed to like the eel and conversation was neutral; about nothing personal or sensitive. After dinner we had tea cakes and Nikki and I had Saki while Mom and Dad had tea.
     
    “You like Japanese cooking?” Mom asked Nikki.
     
    “Yes. I didn’t know much about Japanese cooking before I met Tony, but I’ve grown to really love it.”
     
    “Ahh.” My Dad smiled. “Soon you learn to speak broken Japanese well, just like my son.” We all laughed.
     
    Mom said,