Unknown Victim by Kay Hadashi (classic books for 11 year olds .TXT) 📕

saying a single word, he got up, gave her an apologetic bow, and left the porch in silence. Once he got to the little bridge, he turned to give her a wave before crossing.

“I could’ve made the poor guy breakfast. At least given him some tea.”

She went back in to the kitchen and started the process of making toast and boiling water. She added something to her to-do list, and that was buy a microwave oven.

She decided on trying to make an omelet again today and got the bowl of eggs from the fridge. Assembling everything she’d need on the counter, she raised an egg over the edge of the mixing bowl, ready to crack it open.

“Come on, you can do this.”

She lifted her hand and swung it down. But before it got to the rim of the bowl, she stopped.

“Not today,” she said, before quickly putting everything away again. “I clipped the Virgin Mary in the knee with a forty-five caliber slug, but I can’t crack an egg. That’s not weird at all.”

When her meal was finally hot enough, she took it to the small back porch which faced the rising sun.

“I could get used to this.”

Hearing hammering on the roof, Gina went down the porch steps and looked up to where the ladder led.

“Oh, goodie. The roofer is already here…” She checked the time on her phone. “…and it’s not even seven o’clock.” She went farther out to get a better view of what he was doing. His pickup ruck was parked in the same spot, not far from his ladder. “Good morning!”

All she got back was a quick wave of the hand before the roofer went back to work. When she turned to go back into the house, she saw a cat trot along the driveway, going off in the direction of the stream.

“I don’t mind having a cat hanging around, but does it have to be black?”

After a cup of tea and a piece of toast with pomegranate jelly, Gina tied her only hat onto her head with a string under her chin and climbed the ladder to join the roofer. He’d already finished a row of shingles at one end of the roof.

“Kinda early to work on a Saturday, isn’t it?”

Once again, he paid her no mind and kept hammering nails into the roof. She found a stack of shingles on the other side from where he was working. With it was the same hammer from the day before, but along with that was a new tool belt, already filled with nails. Next to that was a small pair of leather work gloves. They had the name of a local hardware store stenciled on the back: Kaimuki Hardware.

“Are these for me?” she called to him.

He just kept hammering nails.

After putting the tool belt around her waist and cinching it tight, she put on the gloves, grabbed her hammer, lined up a piece of three-tab roofing material, and started hammering nails.

While they worked, Felix came by to drop off several cans of paint and the supplies to go with them. He waved to the roofer as enthusiastically as he did to Gina when he left again.

“I don’t know why he brought paint. There aren’t walls to paint yet,” she said, wondering if the roofer was paying any attention to her. When he just kept banging his hammer without saying a word, Gina gave up on conversation.

It was barely after twelve noon when they finished and descended the ladder for the last time. Once again, he put the ladder next to house.

“Come,” he said to her. He opened the passenger door of his pickup. “Sit.”

Gina knew better than to ride off in a stranger’s vehicle, even though she trusted him. She still didn’t know his name, and he’d barely said half a dozen words to her that day. Plus, she’d have no idea of where he was taking her.

“Felix brought paint. I should work on that for a while,” she said.

“Nothing to paint.” His eyes seemed to narrow at her over the hood of his pickup. “Sit.”

“Okay.” Gina did as she was told and sat on the front seat of his truck. She did, however, leave the door open for a quick exit. They sat quietly until most of their water was gone.

“You big boss here now?” he asked after a while.

“Right. The Tanizawas just hired me last week, and I got here a couple of nights ago. I still need to…”

Gina shut up when he tapped her thigh.

“Work from sunrise till lunch. No work in the afternoon. Still got work to do? Do it from four o’clock till dinner. Then time to knock it off. Okay?”

The way he said it, it was more of a command than a suggestion.

“Yes, Sir. It’s just that I have so many things to do, and…”

He patted her thigh again.

“No need to make friends with flies.”

“Flies?” she asked.

“Honey and poo attract flies same way, right? But no need to attract flies. Plenty of them around all the time.”

“I guess I don’t understand.”

He looked impatient. “One kind job in kitchen, another kind job in bathroom.”

“Okay.”

“Hard work for morning, easy kind work for afternoon, hanashi banashi for time off, nighttime for sleep.”

She had no idea what he was talking about, let alone what some of the words meant. “I’ll remember that.”

He finished his bottle of water and put the empties back in the cooler. “What time you go to church?”

“Tomorrow? I wasn’t planning to. I don’t know where they are here.”

“You nice Catholic girl, yeah?”

“Catholic, anyway. Why?”

“Ja, mata ashita de.” He started his truck, ready to leave. He seemed to give something some thought before saying, “Grazie mille.”

“Di niente,” she said while getting out of the truck. It was odd hearing Italian come from a Japanese man, but gave it little thought. “When are you coming back for the ladder?”

“Mata ashita,” he said before leaving.

“Sure, whatever.” Gina watched as he went over the little bridge. “Why do I get the idea growing plants