Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 Before Danny really understood what was happening, Aki had dragged him up to their house, if you could call it a house. It was smaller than the Cranes' house and made of cement, with a metal roof. Still, there was something nice about it — the white flowers climbing up one of the walls, the neat vegetable garden planted in front. Aki's mother had introduced herself on the way up — she was Mrs. Sudo. She explained that Aki's

father was a fisherman out on a three-day trip. He'd be back tomorrow afternoon. Mrs. Sudo had Danny sit down at a little wooden table in front of the house. Aki scrambled onto his lap. He stayed there as Mrs. Sudo served lunch. The food was weird — bowls of rice with fish in a salty sauce — but not so bad, especially the bright orange fruit for dessert. It tasted sweet as a lollipop. After they ate, Aki curled up on Danny's lap. Danny thought he would fall asleep, tuckered out by all of the excitement. But then a formation of bomber planes flew over them. There were always military planes crisscrossing the skies above Pearl Harbor. There were army and navy airfields all around the harbor, not only Hickam, where Ma worked. Aki leaped up. "B-18!" he shrieked. A minute later, three more planes appeared. "A-20!" he shouted. And finally, "Danny! B-17! Flying Fortress! B-17 Aki's favorite plane!"

"Aki knows all the planes," Mrs. Sudo said, putting another plate of orange fruit in front of Danny. "Aki, why don't you show Danny your book?" Aki hopped off Danny's lap and shot into the house. He reappeared a minute later and handed Danny a worn sketchbook. He grinned proudly as Danny opened it. Danny stared at the pages, each one filled with perfect drawings of bomber planes and warships. "You drew these?" Danny said in amazement. "My papa!" Aki said. "My husband drew those," Mrs. Sudo explained. "When he's home, he takes Aki down to the docks. They'll sit there for hours." "He's really good," Danny said. "He's an artist." Danny could hear the pride in Mrs. Sudo's voice. "Fishing is just his job."

"I wish I could draw," Danny said. Actually he already could draw, a little bit. Mrs. Mills got him a sketchbook and told him to practice, but he never made much progress. "My husband would love to help you learn," Mrs. Sudo said. "Is your father in the military?"

"No," Danny said. "It's just me and my ma. She works as a nurse at Hickam. We moved here from New York City a couple of weeks ago." "Your mother's very brave, to come all this way to start a new life." Danny had never really thought of it that way. Ma had looked so scared after Finn fell. But he guessed it was brave, to leave the city she'd lived in her whole life, to travel halfway around the world. "She's lucky to have a boy like you," Mrs. Sudo said. The words hung in the air a minute — a boy like you — and then they seemed to slap Danny in the face. Tears came into Danny's eyes, but he had no idea why. Somehow, being here with Aki and Mrs. Sudo, some of that ice inside him had melted. He had to get out of here. He stood up so quickly that he dropped Aki's book onto the floor. "Thank you for lunch," he said, picking up the sketch pad and handing it to Aki. "But, uh, I have

to go." "Danny!" Aki shouted. "Stay!" "You're welcome to stay the afternoon," Mrs. Sudo said. "Until your mother returns from work." "I'm sorry," Danny said. "I'm sorry, but… I have to leave." And without even a wave good-bye, he ran down the hill and into his house.