Cain pulled curbside in front of his two-bedroom town house. The American flag above his porch blew lightly in the wind. He noticed two packages by his door. He grabbed them on his way inside the house. Although he had moved to DC two years prior, most of his belongings were still packed in cardboard boxes. He weaved through the maze of unopened boxes and headed straight to the kitchen.
He was parched. He grabbed a bottle of water and looked at his packages. One had a customs form and Japanese characters. He found himself feeling cheerful for the first time in days at the sight of her handwriting. It was a gift, and he knew who had sent it. He ripped open the parcel.
Chapter 11
Cain’s nightmare engulfed him. He twitched in his sleep and was relieved when his cell phone buzzed on his hip, waking him. He saw that he was still sitting in the recliner, still wearing yesterday’s clothes. I must have been more tired than I thought.
“Hello?” he answered groggily.
There was no reply. He cleared his throat. “Hello?”
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to the best twin brother in the world.”
Cain smiled and joined in on the last line of the chorus: “Happy birthday to you!”
They both laughed a similar chuckle.
“How’s my favorite brother?” Bonnie asked.
“Better now that I’m talking to you. How’s life in Tokyo?”
“It’s busy! It’s five thirty in the afternoon and I’m still at work. Picking up another shift. But I couldn’t not call my favorite brother on our birthday.”
“Well, I’m glad you called. Even if it is three thirty in the morning here.”
“The time difference is horrible!”
“Half the time my body doesn’t even know what time zone it’s in. But I was so excited to see your gift yesterday. The Japanese instrumental CD is perfect. It worked as advertised. I listened to it for a bit and it helped me fall asleep.”
“You’re home? I thought you were in South America.”
“It’s a long story.”
“I always have time for your long stories.”
“Well, I was, but a bunch of us got recalled. Some colleagues enjoyed the company of some local women, and one agent in particular kicked his date out in the morning without paying her. She—”
“Without paying her? So, you mean a prostitute?”
“Anyway,” Cain continued. “She started a scene, so I paid her what I had before the police got involved.”
“Ooh, this sounds good. Who was it?”
“I’ll give you three guesses, but you’re probably only going to need one.”
“If I get it right on the first try, will you come out to Japan?”
“Ha!”
“I bet it was Tomcat. He’s such a cochon.”
“Bingo!” Cochon means “pig” in French. “We got back yesterday. We have to answer to management later on today.”
“What’s the worst that can happen to you?”
“They could fire me.”
“Fire you?” She scoffed. “Nobody is going to fire you.”
“I’m probably being a little dramatic, but it’s a possibility.”
“Well, you have always had a little flair for the dramatic. You’ll be fine, brother. You’re a dedicated agent. They’re lucky to have you. With your experience, you could easily be a private investigator or a pilot. You could make so much more money in the private sector.”
“Maybe. But you know how I feel about money as a motivating factor. I’m more interested in service to country.”
“I know. I’m just saying there are other options out there besides the government. But you’ll be just fine once you explain that you were trying to avoid embarrassing the Service.”
“They might give me a few days’ suspension without pay.”
“Then you can come visit me in Japan! We can hang out together on the beach in Zushi. We’ll spend my money. I can also introduce you to some of my cute Japanese coworkers. I’ve told them all about you. They’d love to meet an American gentleman like you.”
Cain laughed. “I’d love to visit you, but that flight would be brutal. What’s it—about fourteen hours?”
“I’ll use my family perks and get you upgraded to business class.”
“That sounds nice, but like you said, I’m sure everything will work out once I explain what happened. Then I’ll be back on the president’s schedule soon.”
“Sucks for me. I was looking forward to hosting you on this side of the world, especially before summertime. Vacation season picks up and all our flights are booked. I’m already having to cover extra routes.”
“That must be why Pops said he couldn’t reach you last week.”
“Yeah, probably. I was flying to either Seoul, Guam, Hong Kong, or Singapore. We’re trying to compete with the Asian airlines. It’s tough! They’re paying their flight attendants peanuts.”
He laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.”
“No, really. What was so funny?”
“When you serve your customers peanuts, expect to be paid in peanuts.”
“That’s domestic! Not international.”
“Just don’t fly yourself to death,” Cain said. “I read an article that the Japanese are dealing with a crisis: employees are working themselves to death. There was a photo of Japanese men sleeping at their cubicles.”
“Sometimes I get the impression that Japan’s national motto is Work Harder, Not Smarter. But I like my job as a flight attendant, and I like it here in Tokyo. I feel really safe.” Bonnie changed the subject. “Have you talked to Mom and Pops lately?”
“Not since before I left. You?”
“It’s been about two weeks. It was so funny watching them try to use Skype. Pops can fly an airplane but can’t operate a smartphone.”
Cain and Bonnie laughed together.
“Well, in all fairness,” he said, “his airplane is older than us!”
“And with the way he cares for it, it’ll probably outlive us all.” She laughed. “Did he send you the usual birthday present?”
“Yup, a box of Community Coffee’s dark roast with chicory.”
“I don’t know how the Lemaire men can drink that nasty crap. Way too strong for me.”
“It’ll certainly put some hair on your chest.”
She laughed. “That’s not the look I’m going for. Just make sure not to drink too much of it, or you’ll never get any sleep.”
“Okay, Mom.”
“Hey! I’m just concerned. You told me you were still having nightmares.”
“You can’t have nightmares if you aren’t sleeping.”
“That’s why I sent you the CD! Have you talked to the Secret Service psychologist?”
“God, no! They claim to be confidential, but if the Service is paying their salary, that’s who they’re loyal to.”
“Have you considered talking to a priest?”
He paused before responding. “I haven’t been to a church in years. You know that.”