The Scent of Sake (20 page)

she continued to sob. “You need never worry. I will always make certain you are cared for. Please, O-Yumi. You know we will do our best for her.”

O-Yumi put her hands to her face.
“Uh . . . huh . . .”

“All right, then, I’ll come for her tomorrow. Don’t worry, please. We will take care of you,
both
of you.”

As Jihei left the Kitaya, O-Yumi followed him to the door, her

face red from crying. She bowed but said nothing.

The day after Jihei’s visit to O-Yumi, he was sent on an errand to the Kitaya with O-Natsu to help as they had done when Yoshitaro was brought home. The difference was of course that Kazu would not become head of the house. Rie knew the sum Kinzaemon instructed Jihei to give O-Yumi was not as large as what was given to O-Toki for Yoshi. At the same time, Kinzaemon told Rie that taking the daughter of a geisha also meant a continuing financial obligation to the geisha. Rie was not happy about the financial arrangements, though she welcomed the daughter for her future value to the house. She knew that when Jihei frequented geishas it was a financial loss to the house, and this she found hard to accept. She felt it was a difficult balance.

Both Yoshi and Fumi were curious about the new baby in the house. They spent time in the children’s room talking to her, petting her, kissing her. Rie was pleased to see them playing well together. Yoshi had begun trying to teach words to Fumi, even to teach her to write kana. Rie could see Yoshi becoming an asset

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even as a young boy. Perhaps he would become a far better house head than Jihei one day. Anyone would.

It was time for the end of brewing season celebration, one of the big events of the year, a grand affair to which well over a hundred guests were invited: heads of major brewing houses, coopers, suppliers, officials, and shogunal commissioners. No expense was spared in the preparations. The maids spent days cleaning, and the kurabito made preparations to serve the highest quality of the year’s cellar. A large leaf ball was hung out at the entrance of the brewery, next to the White Tiger
noren
banner to announce to customers that the first sake of the season was ready. It was the one occasion when several geishas were called to serve the guests. Rie sat with her father and Jihei as they planned the event. “Oh, by the way,” her father commented, “I hear that the Katos are marrying off their third son. They announced his engagement at the last meeting of the Brewers Association.”

Rie froze, stopped looking through the guest list. She felt a knife had slashed through her heart. She could not expect him to remain alone forever, and his family would not allow it, at any rate. Still, her heart seemed to have shriveled at the news, and she hadn’t slept well since. She would not want to see his wedding. It would be too painful to watch. Jihei could represent the family and she would make an excuse. For once, she had no desire to see her beloved.

“Which geishas should we call this year?” Kinzaemon asked as he went over the long lists of guests.

“How about calling someone from the okiya that serve the Kitaya and Sawaraya this time?” Rie asked, grateful to think about something other than Saburo.

Jihei looked up, startled and embarrassed. She knew he wanted to ask why they should mention these two establishments, the ones he frequented, but he couldn’t without loss of face.

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“A good idea, Rie,” her father replied. “We can ask the madam in charge of each to furnish two or three names.”

Rie smiled and Jihei pulled at his eyebrows.

Unlike weddings and funerals, this was a celebration to which only men were invited, generally heads of houses. Rie was disappointed that Saburo Kato would not be included, as he was third son. Except for Fumi, the light of her life, she often felt lonely and wished she could experience just one more sweet moment like the one she and Saburo had shared when Fumi was conceived. Now, with the impending marriage, she truly knew what it meant to “kill the self,” she realized, as she forced her attention to the upcoming celebration.

On the day selected, the shoji were removed to create a huge main room. Several rows of lacquer tables were arrayed in the room, one small table for each guest. On each table were sake cups and small plates containing choice morsels of beans and dried fish to accompany the tasting of the best brew.

The guests arrived in a flurry of festivity as finely groomed geishas flitted through the rows with flasks of sake, kneeling to pour for each guest. Since there were no women invited, it was necessary for geishas to serve the guests. Rie was not able to appear openly, but peered into the room without being seen herself. She thought she could pick out O-Yumi, whom she knew was Kazu’s mother, but O-Toki she could not pick out.

Kinzaemon gave the welcoming speech, urging the guests to enjoy the year’s cellar. The event lasted three or four hours, and by the time the last guests had departed, everyone in the house was exhausted. Kin had taken care of financial arrangements for the geishas, and everyone else had performed their proper duties for the occasion.

When it was over, Rie came into the room to hear her father’s assessment of the event.

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“I think it went well,” Kinzaemon said. “Even Yamaguchi behaved.” It had been impossible to avoid inviting the president of the Brewers Association, though Rie had hoped they could omit him from the list for this event.

“I heard quite a few favorable comments about the taste of the brew this year,” Jihei said. “And I heard a few people wondering about our recipe, which of course we don’t share.”

Kinzaemon smiled and nodded.

“I wish I could have been in the room,” Rie said, hiding the longing from her voice. But as in everything to do with the brewery, she knew this was an all-male custom that would not change.

Six months later O-Toki gave birth to a baby girl she named Teru. During the later months of O-Toki’s pregnancy she had not been at the Sawaraya, and it had been some time since Jihei had seen her. He was sent on the same mission that had taken him to O-Yumi and for the same purpose, since this was Rie’s plan now. Jihei did not relish this visit, especially after bringing Kazu into the house. For him the visit was a disappointment, without the bath and sensual gratification he expected with O-Toki, a slight, he felt certain. When he mentioned Teru, O-Toki asked, “Would you like to see her?” As O-Toki poured sake for Jihei he noticed an undercurrent of tension. He longed for nothing more than to rise and leave, but how could he refuse to see the baby, his own child?

A maid brought in the infant and handed her to O-Toki. She held her out toward Jihei, who took one of the baby’s tiny hands in his but did not offer to hold her. Only a girl, after all.

“I think she has your forehead and eyes, don’t you?” O-Toki said pointedly, as she kissed the baby. “I have named her Teru.”

“It’s hard to tell who they look like when they’re so small,” Jihei said.

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The baby cried, and O-Toki opened her kimono to feed her. “You probably want to raise her yourself,” Jihei began, awkwardly.

“It’s usual with a girl, isn’t it?” O-Toki replied, innocently enough. Still, he thought he caught a gleam in her eye that made him uneasy. “She will be a comfort to me in my old age. She will care for me when I’m too old to work.”

“You know you need not worry about your old age, O-Toki. That is my responsibility, as I’ve told you before.” Certain that O-Toki wanted to keep the baby, Jihei wondered how to broach the official reason for his visit.

“Actually, the Omura House would like to adopt her, to have a sister for Yoshitaro.”

O-Toki rocked the baby before speaking, her jaw tight. She clutched Teru to her. “Why do you need my daughter, our daughter? Don’t you have enough children? Won’t Yoshi succeed you?”

Jihei gazed at the sake cup in his hand. “It’s true that the succession is settled. But you know, for a large house one or two children don’t always guarantee security of succession. What if something should happen to Yoshi? My father feels that we need more children. I understand how you feel about Teru.” He glanced at the baby. “It may be hard to give her up, but she will have a good life with us, a good marriage. I realize it will be a different life from what she would have with you.” He reached over and touched O-Toki on the arm. “So will it be all right then if I come for Teru in a month’s time?”

“If you are going to insist, what can I say?” O-Toki kissed the baby, then looked directly into Jihei’s eyes, a rare challenge. Then she dropped her chin abruptly, as was fitting. “But you must promise me regular reports, and I would like to be able to see her.”

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“You will surely be able to see her marriage, and perhaps see her on other occasions as well.”

O-Toki smiled at him through tears glistening in her eyes.

Then she hugged Teru closely and whispered a farewell.

Jihei felt relieved as he said good-bye and left for home. He still did not understand why it was necessary to bring in another girl.