Education, I remembered Abuji saying, and Uncle talking about freedom.
I couldn't believe that Abuji and Uncle would admire people who killed babies for fun.
The boys were still staring at me; I felt my face growing red. "The movie," I mumbled, just to say something, anything.
"Yes," one of the other boys said. "If the Americans have the chance, they'll kill all of us. Because we have black hair. We have to kill them first!"
Tomo glanced at me quickly, then at his friends. "Yes, but we won't need to kill any babies," he said. "We'll kill all their soldiersâbomb their citiesâthey'll surrender like dogs!" And he zoomed his plane over their heads. "
Ack-ack-ack-ack-ack!
"
Tomo ran up the lane, with his friends following him. I waited for a moment, hoping he'd look back at me, but he
kept going. I turned the other way and walked home, feeling confused and a little sad.
I was glad that Tomo didn't want to kill babies. Still, he and his friends all seemed to think that playing at killing was fun. Was it because they were boys?
Even the talk about killing had made my stomach feel cold.
10. Tae-yul (1942)
A few weeks after the news about Pearl Harbor, I'm riding my bike home from Uncle's shop.
I hear a humming noiseâfaint at first, but then stronger.
Like a car. But not a car. Some sort of engine.
I look up and down the street. Nothing. Just people walking.
The noise comes even closer, and it's not coming from the street.
It's coming from the sky.
I look upâand there it is. An airplane!
It flies straight over the townâright above me! I duck my head and immediately fall off my bike.
Afterward, I feel like a complete idiotâthe plane wasn't anywhere close to my head. But everyone else on the street was looking up at the sky, too. So I don't think anyone saw me fall.
I watch the plane until it flies out of sight to the west, then pick up my bike. But I don't start riding again right awayâI walk, pushing the bicycle beside me.
I've seen pictures of airplanes, and Uncle told me about seeing one a long time ago, when I was only a baby. But I never thought I'd see one myself.
I walk along, trying to remember every little thing about it. The noiseâhow it was so small at first, like a fly buzzing. Then louder, louder, so loud you couldn't hear yourself think. And then fading ... like the sound had a shape, almost. Small at the ends and huge in the middle.
The way the plane lookedâlike a cross when it was just overhead, but a tiny black dot in the distance.
And the speed! What would it feel like to travel so fast and so high?
I jump on my bike and start pedaling. Faster, faster, like if I get it going fast enough, it'll lift right off the ground. My ears are aching, my eyes tearing from the cold wind, but I hardly notice. I coast, take my hands off the handlebars, and hold them up over my head.
"AI-EEEEEEE!" I shout, not caring if anyone hears me.
Is this what it feels like to fly?
Radio Tokyo. It used to be always the same old stuff: the brave Japanese army in Manchuria, the great deeds and sayings of the Emperor.
But now things are different. Now the announcer is always excited. News of the war all day long: Hong Kong. Singapore. Burma. The Philippines. The Japanese are advancing so quickly. In just six months, south to New Guinea, near Australia, and east to Attu, near Alaska.
The names of these strange places become part of our lessons every day. Teacher sticks Japanese flag-pins on the conquered countries. Nothing can stop themâsoon the whole world will be full of little Japanese flags....
So much good newsâfor the Japanese. Around town you can tell. Uncle's business is booming. I get to help print signs for the merchants to hang in their windows.
Victory! Strength
to the Japanese army!
Things like that. The signs make the streets look like a celebration, all the time. Everybody is more cheerful and even the guards aren't as cruel.
It's so odd. The war is
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