I wondered when she woke up. I wonder if she knew we were coming and was waiting for us here, expecting us to come back to the living room.\n\n
âWh, What is it?â\n
My voice trembled because I was under pressure from the mysterious intimidation.\n
I have no idea what Mother Enami is thinking about.\n
âWhat are you doing right now?â\n
The tone of her voice was languid and without inflection. I felt as if intense emotions were swirling behind the lack of emotion.\n
In my stead, Enami-san stepped forward.\n
âI told you yesterday. Weâre cleaning the living room. Thatâs all.â\n
Mother Enami opened her eyes wide and closed her mouth.\n\n
Then, like a pair of binoculars on an observatory, she moved her head to look around the living room. I was scared. It was creepy that she kept silent. Enami-sanâs words came back to me.\n
(Mom is quiet too, so letâs do it while we can)\n
I figured it might have turned out to be a bad situation.\n
If I had to guess, I would say that Mother Enami is very attached to her living room.\n\n
âIt seems that all the furniture that used to be here and there is gone. Whatâs going on? Itâs troubling without it.â\n\n
No matter how troubling it is, it will not do because they are broken. However, I was not in a mood to say such a thing clearly.\n\n
âWill they be returned after the cleaning?ăThey will be, right?â\n\n
She looked me straight in the eye. It was the kind of look that makes you feel as if your body is being sucked into the depths of her eyes.\n
Enami-san stood between me and mother Enami.\n\n
âIâm throwing it away.â\n\n
Thatâs why I couldnât hide my surprise at the simple declaration.\n\n
âThey are not needed, so Iâm throwing them away. Itâs broken and dangerous. We should buy new furniture.â\n
âThrowing it awayâŚâŚ?â\n
âYes.â\n\n
Nishikawa and I looked at each other. We were both confused, not knowing what to do.\n
All we were doing was discarding the broken furniture. Thatâs all. I wondered why the air was so tense when we were just doing the obvious.\n\n
âDonât worry, Mom. You donât need to be afraid or anxious. Just leave it to me and Iâll take care of it.â\n\n
These words did not seem to have reached Mother Enami. There was no change in her expression from earlier. I wondered if the voice was just passing through my ears.\n
Just as I was thinking this, Mother Enami moved.\n
She opened the door to the living room and started walking down the hallway. We hurriedly followed her.\n
She looked at the pile of furniture in front of the front door. She stood still. Her head not moving, her arms hanging down, she just stood there.\n\n
ââŚâŚ.Help me with thisâ\n
Without waiting for our reply, she grabbed the edge of the table that had been placed there. She tried to lift it up, but I guess she couldnât muster the strength. She soon gave up and started dragging it forcefully.\n
âRisa!â\n
A loud voice. It was the first time I had ever heard such a loud voice coming from Enami-sanâs mother.\n
âCanât you hear me?â\n
She said this as she continued to drag it along. A muffled sound echoed as the table rubbed against the floor. Even so, Mother Enami didnât seem bothered by it. I guess she didnât care if the floor was damaged.\n
âHurry up.â\n
In this narrow corridor, there was no place to escape or space to go around. We had no choice but to slowly back away from Mother Enami as she came at us from the front.\n
The table came back into the living room with a dull thud. The surface of the hallway was scuffed and had left a mark.\n
Mother Enami ended up repositioning the table in front of the TV all by herself.\n
The table legs were still broken, so the moment her hands left the table, the table hit the floor with a thud.\n\n
âWhat do you want to do with it back here?ăItâs still broken.â\n\n
Enami-san asked in a gentle tone of voice. I guess she decided that she shouldnât provoke her mother too much. To this, Mother Enami did not respond at all. How could she not have noticed that the leg was broken? It was as if she didnât care about that.\n
I wondered if she was satisfied after putting one back. Mother Enami lay down on the futon on the other side of the dining table again.\n\n
All that was left was the broken furniture and us in a daze.\n
And there was only a sweltering silence.\n\n
Finally, I understood what Enami-san had meant. If we cleaned up, it would give some changes to the living room. Mother Enami, who didnât like that, would get in the way. Even if it wasnât meant to be inhabited, or even if she was in bed with a cold, she wouldnât allow that change.\n\n
âWhat should we do âŚâŚ?â\n
Nishikawaâs eyes were swimming. Enami-san said.\n
âIâm sorry to make you uncomfortable, but I think we have to keep on cleaning little by little, even if weâre interrupted like this. Otherwise, we wonât be able to finish anytime soon.â\n\n
It was true that one piece of furniture had been put back, but the rest was still in the foyer. Itâs not like weâre back to square one.\n\n
âIâm really sorry âŚâŚ.â\n\n
Enami-san was depressed again. The fatigue was clearly visible on her face.\n
Itâs not just this time. There must have been many times like this in the past. Thatâs why she couldnât move forward.\n
I donât know about Mother Enamiâs situation. An unreasonable change might only irritate her. Should we give up, or should we move on? I donât know if either is right.\n
\nHowever, if Enami-san still wants to continue,\n
We have no choice but to move forward step by step, even if we have to force it. Thatâs what I thought, too.\n\n
<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide">\nTN: Once again, thanks for the Ko-fi.\n\n