CAULIFLOWER

Chapter 5

Father opened it.

A strict woman of about sixty was standing in the doorway. Her gray, back-length hair was artfully pinned up and she wore an elegant, brown yukata. First she looked at Papa Nagashi's wet pants; her eyes were black, round, and she looked around with a stiff, somewhat wild expression.

“I am your neighbor.” She explained coolly and her statement confirmed the half-open door of the neighboring apartment. The apartment was right next to the Nagashi's and was probably once connected. Now two families lived there, the Daichis and the Kobunjis and apparently from now on this gray lady. All apartments were accessed through a common small anteroom. A huge, heavy door led from the anteroom onto the stairwell. Now that door was wide open.

"Yes, please?" asked Father Nagashi with polite interest. His legs were freezing and he wasn't supposed to be here for long.

"We do not know eachother yet."Said the neighbor." Okada. "

"Nagashi."

"I have a request."

"Sure, I hear?"

"This door."

"This door?"

“No, this one.” Ms. Okada pointed with her thumb at the heavy iron doors with the brass handle.

"Oh, these," mumbled Papa Nagashi. "So?"

"I ask you to close this. That's all. To close it."

"O." said father. "I understand."

"There's a draft from below, Nagashi - san. Ever since this new basement entrance was installed."

“That is not impossible,” admitted Father Nagashi absently.

“A!” Ms. Okada seemed a little pleased. "Did you notice that too?"

"A!" said papa. "No I did not."

The brief glow of joy and understanding vanished from Ms. Okada's eyes.

"Pity." She said dryly. "Interesting that no one sees it. Strange things happen in this house. Really strange. I would even say - mysterious." She broke off, apparently waiting for a sign of interest from Mr. Nagashi.Father sighed imperceptibly.

"Well, anyway," Ms. Okada was disappointed. "So please remember that. That door."

"Of course. That door." Papa bowed hesitantly, not knowing whether to think the conversation was over and assuming that it was, he wanted to retreat into the apartment.

"Oh, wait a minute," the neighbor stopped him in an aggressive tone. "That is not all."

"No?" said Father Nagashi resignedly.

"In my old house, I had quiet, cultured neighbors. Why aren't you like that?"

"Father was speechless. Mama, with her mouth full of pins, looked out of the room, not believing her ears.

"Screams, noise, children trample, the girls laugh out loud. Well, actually you all laugh quite loudly. You, however, excuse me, always scream these Latin verses. Guests come, bang the doors. And this agonizing knock on the walls. .. "

She talked more and more nervously, not taking her piercing gaze off Mr. Nagashi.She stated that she had inquired. The whole floor used to be an apartment. But then you bricked up all the door openings between the rooms. And there was such a common door in Mrs. Okada's apartment and the girls' room. It is walled up, but only from the Nagashis' side. Ms. Okada has a niche here. So she listens to everything that happens to the girls. Every word. Every knock.

Father was silent.

“If you don't believe me, feel free to check it out,” suggested the neighbor. With strong fingers, she grabbed Mr. Nagashi's sleeve and began pulling him into her home.

"No!" horrified father. "No, not necessary, really ... I believe you. We will do our best ..." He tried to free his sleeve from Ms. Okada's grip. "We will do our best to respect your wishes."

“I hope so,” she said and reluctantly let go of the sleeve. “Good night.” She looked coldly at Nanako and Megumi, who were peeking out of their room."I wish you a nice ... and quiet New Year's Eve." Letting go of this last poisoned arrow, Ms. Okada withdrew into her apartment. But even though she left the battlefield victorious, there was no triumph in her voice. Megumi even thought for a moment that her voice sounded disappointed and resigned.

The appearance of the neighbor ruined everyone's mood.

“I didn't think we were such boobs.” Father, brutally torn from behind his curtain, rubbed his hands in confusion. "Turn that idiotic TV down."

Mama sighed impatiently.

"Darling, don't fall into psychosis. I don't think we're one of the noisy families. After all, we've always lived in apartment buildings ..."

"Yes, yes, exactly!" Nanako waved his arms. "Why didn't anyone tell us anything before?"

“I think so too.” Megumi agreed with her. "These are thick walls, solid doors, you can't hear anything from room to room. And especially not through walls."You looked at the affected wall.

In fact, there was a meter-wide thickening that was the size of a door. You could clearly feel regular rows of bricks under the thin layer of plaster.

Megumi loudly ruled out the possibility that anything but a hand grenade explosion could be heard through a brick wall.

"Well, don't knock!" frightened father.

Megumi reflexively withdrew her hand and immediately laughed.

"Papa! She can't hear us! Come on, you don't believe her!"

"I don't know," mumbled father. "She made a really extraordinary impression on me. I felt uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable."

"That's the fault of those pants," noted nutria. "I can wash your pants, papi, if you want."

“No, thank you.” Father replied humorlessly.

"Well, it'll be second for me," Megumi announced.

She headed for the bathroom, but suddenly she stopped.

"Moment." She said. "Wait a minute. I'll tell you what.If she can't hear us through the wall, how does she hear us? "

"Well, not overpowering. We have already found that out!" shouted Nanako.

"So? How then does she know that Papa is reciting Ovidius at dinner?"

All are silent. Fact, where from?

"Megumi is right," Mom said nervously. "She hears us, but how? I know that Papa doesn't scream, please excuse me, Masao. So ..."

The secret was in the air.

"N / A." Megumi said, hiding her insecurity with a brave smile. "Then you have a New Year's Eve puzzle. Think something and I'll go to Yukiko." She locked herself in the bathroom, undressed and stepped into the shower. As every day, she took a cold shower and rubbed her body with a rough glove (hardening the organism and stimulating the blood circulation is very important for athletes). Then she jumped on the cold tiles and grabbed the rough towel in order to subject the organism to further torture with its help.In the bathroom it was by no means warm, but temperature conditions that would give a normal mortal shiver and goose bumps weren't even worth paying attention to for Megumi. Singing happily, she rubbed herself dry and then took care not to catch a cold on the way. A thin cotton dress on the bare shoulders was not the right way to wear things under a thick winter coat for a cold of minus fourteen degrees. So Megumi took a white, freshly washed and fairly new blouse from the string, which was owned by Nanako. They wanted her to wear clean underwear then please.

With the damp, dark brown tears of hair on the healthy face and the sober look, megumi by no means looked like a romantic butterfly. She tried to change that and put on her new yellow dress. But that didn't help much either.

"What the hell the hell with it." Megumi muttered. She ran her fingers through her hair and found that she could walk."Bye!" she called to her family from the hallway, putting on her hat and coat. She went out, ran gently down the stairs and only remembered when she was outside that she had not closed the door that bothered Ms. Okada so much.

"Good luck!!!" shouted the generous Nanako after her, who had decided not to be offended anymore. She half hung out of the window and waved both hands like a woman possessed. Nanako's sisterly love came to the fore in the most impossible moments and ways.

Megumi laughed and looked into the windows of her apartment. They were brightly lit - although the family only sat in one room. From the street behind Nanako's back one could see the glimmering television and the hunched mama who was collecting the plates from the table. Yumi and nutria laughed and played catch. You couldn't see Father, who was probably sitting in front of the television and drinking tea from his favorite mug with the dwarf on it. Megumi looked into the full of Nagashi's room and thought that she fucking loves them all.Then she looked in the window next door - it was dark and only reflected the fault of the supermarket across the street. A car drove by and lit the window for a moment with your headlights and Megumi drove a cold down her back. In the short light she saw Mrs. Okada, who was watching her, hidden behind the window curtain.

Author's note:

I know. Long. I am sorry!!! But I have so much to do at school now !! This is the last week of school now and I am trying to improve my grades. I wrote this chapter for two weeks !!!!! Please excuse!!!!!

Could you still give me clerks ...?

What do you think of Ms. Okada ??? I am very curious what you think of her.

Bye

Maid