Кадзуо Исигуро - Klara and the Sun

Then another voice asked: ‘Why didn’t you get a B3, Josie?’

‘Because…I liked this one.’ Josie said this uncertainly, but then the strength returned to her voice. ‘There’s nothing any B3 can do Klara can’t.’

There was movement behind me, and then the long-armed girl was standing beside Danny. He seemed to feel both excitement and fear to be near her, and let go of my elbows. But now the long-armed girl gripped my left wrist, though not nearly as roughly as Danny had been holding me.

‘Hello, Klara,’ she said, and looked me over carefully again. ‘Now. Let’s see. Klara, will you please sing for me the harmonic minor scale?’

I wasn’t sure how Josie wished me to respond so I waited for her to speak. But she remained silent.

‘Oh? You don’t sing?’

‘Come on,’ the boy called Scrub called out. ‘Throw her over. If she can’t coordinate, I’ll just catch her.’

‘Not saying much.’ The long-armed girl came closer and stared at my eyes. ‘Maybe she’s low on solar.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with her.’ Josie said this so quietly, it was possible I was the only one to hear.

‘Klara,’ the long-armed girl said. ‘Give me a greeting.’

I remained silent, waiting for Josie to speak again.

‘No? Nothing?’

‘Hey, Josie,’ a voice said behind me. ‘You could have got a B3, right? So why didn’t you?’

Josie laughed and said: ‘Now I’m starting to think I should have.’

This brought other laughs, then a new voice said: ‘B3s are so amazing.’

‘Come on, Klara,’ the long-armed girl said. ‘A little greeting at least.’

I’d by now fixed a pleasant expression on my face and was gazing past her, much as Manager had trained us to do in the store in such situations.

‘An AF who refuses to greet. Josie, will you tell Klara to say something to us?’

‘Throw her over here. That’ll bring her to life.’

‘Klara’s got a great memory,’ Josie said behind me. ‘As good as any AF anywhere.’

‘Oh really?’ said the long-armed girl.

‘And not just her memory. She notices things no one else does and stores them away.’

‘Okay.’ The long-armed girl kept holding my wrist. ‘Okay, Klara. Here’s what to do. Without turning to look. Tell me what my sister’s wearing.’

I continued to stare beyond the long-armed girl at the bricks on the wall.

‘Seems to have frozen. But she’s cute, I’ll give you that.’

‘Ask her again,’ Josie said. ‘Go on, Marsha. Ask again.’

‘Okay. Now, Klara, I know you can do it. Tell me what Missy’s wearing.’

‘I’m sorry,’ I said, still looking past her.

‘You’re sorry?’ Then the long-armed girl said to the room, ‘What’s that mean?’ and people laughed. Then she glared at me and asked: ‘What do you mean, Klara? What do you mean, you’re sorry?’

‘I’m sorry I’m unable to help.’

‘She’s not going to help.’ The long-armed girl’s look softened and at last she released my wrist. ‘Okay, Klara. You can turn and look. Take a look at what Missy’s wearing.’

Though it might look impolite, I didn’t turn. Because if I did so, I’d not only see Missy – I knew of course what she was wearing down to her purple wristband and tiny bear pendant – but also Josie, and then we would have to exchange looks with each other.

‘I give up,’ the long-armed girl said.

‘Okay,’ Danny said. ‘Then we’ll do Scrub’s test. Just to please him. Phil, come here and help me swing her. Scrub, stay where you are, get ready to catch. This is okay with you, Josie?’

Behind me, Josie remained silent, but a girl’s voice said: ‘Throwing AFs across the room. That’s evil.’

‘What’s evil about it? They’re designed to deal with it.’

‘That’s not the point,’ the girl’s voice said. ‘It’s just nasty.’

‘You’re being soft,’ Danny said. ‘Phil, take her arms. I’ll get the legs.’

‘What’s that you have there in your pocket?’ It was Rick who’d spoken and the room went silent.

‘What d’you say, friend?’

Rick moved through the guests, stopping a little to my right. He showed no fear as he pointed at the breast pocket of Danny’s shirt. I’d noticed the object earlier – a soft toy dog small enough for the pocket. I’d seen children of seven and eight carrying such toys in their pockets when they’d come into the store.

As everyone shifted positions to see what Rick was pointing at, Danny raised both hands to cover his pocket.

‘A pet object, I’d say,’ Rick said.

‘It’s not a pet object,’ Danny said.

‘I’d say it’s your pet object. To help you feel calmer at gatherings like this one.’

‘What’s this bullshit? Who asked you anything?’

‘If it’s really nothing so special, perhaps you wouldn’t mind showing it to me.’ Rick held out his hand. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of it.’

‘Whether it’s anything special or not, it’s none of your business.’

‘Do please let me borrow it. Just for a minute.’

‘It’s nothing to me, but I wouldn’t hand it over to you .’

‘No? Not even a little peek?’

‘I’d never lend you anything. Why would I? You shouldn’t even be here.’

Rick was still holding out his hand, and the room remained silent.

‘It couldn’t be you’re perhaps a little soft yourself, Danny?’ Rick said. ‘At least, when it comes to cute little things for the pocket.’

‘That’s enough! You leave Danny be!’

The voice belonged to an adult, and the young people around me shrank back as the woman came striding into the room. ‘And Danny’s right,’ she said. ‘ You shouldn’t be here at all.’

Then the Mother came hurrying in after her, and I saw other adults looking through the doorway into the Open Plan.

‘Come on, Sara,’ the Mother was saying. ‘We don’t interfere, remember?’

The Mother put an arm around the Sara woman, who continued to glare at Rick.

‘Come on, Sara. Play by the rules. It’s for the kids to sort out.’

Sara continued to look angry, but allowed herself to be led away out of the room and into the murmur of adult voices in the hall. One of the voices said: ‘It’s the only way they’ll learn,’ and then the adult voices receded, and there was silence in the Open Plan.

Danny was perhaps even more embarrassed about his adult’s interference than he’d been about the small toy. He continued to cover his breast pocket with both hands as he returned to the sofa, his now slightly hunched back turned to the room.

‘Okay,’ the long-armed girl said brightly. ‘How about we go outside for a while? It’s turned nice out there. Look!’

A chorus of voices shouted approval, and I heard Josie’s among them saying, ‘Great idea. Let’s do it!’

The children filed out, led by Josie and the long-armed girl. Danny and Scrub left with them, and then there was only Rick and myself in the Open Plan.

Rick looked around at the discarded jackets, displaced seat cushions, plates, soda cans, potato snack bags, magazines, but he didn’t look towards me. I wondered if any adults would come in to tidy now that the children had left, but none of them came, and the blur of voices continued from the kitchen.

‘You challenged that boy, I think, for my benefit,’ I said eventually. ‘Thank you.’

Rick shrugged. ‘He was getting seriously annoying. In fact they all were.’ Then he added, still not looking my way: ‘I suppose it wasn’t exactly enjoyable for you either.’

‘It became uncomfortable for me and I was grateful for Rick’s rescue. But it has also been very interesting.’