Page of Swords & The High Priestess, vol.11
On the plane ride to the Honolulu airport, he volunteered to tell me about why he had tried to kill himself, even though I had tried not to ask.
This was shortly before I discovered his esophageal cancer. It happened that the right side of his body suddenly became paralyzed and painfully immobile. He could not speak because of the paralysis, and although it was the right side of his body that was immobile, the pain seemed to be all over his body, and he could not make phone calls or send e-mails because he could not move his fingers. So, he missed the recording of "Far East Rare Groove" without notifying the FM station. So, I guess the producer's impression of him was already not good. As for his body, he just let it go and eventually the paralysis went away, but this time, he had cancer. This time he was able to contact the FM station. And the producer said. Okay, okay, don't worry. Don't worry. We have already found a replacement DJ.
In other words, Masato's departure from the program had already been decided before I discovered his cancer. He could not say goodbye to his listeners. Masato Shiraishi suddenly disappeared from his dear listeners. So he despaired. He was consumed by a huge wave of guilt. And he took a lot of sleeping pills.
Hey, want to go look for Sol Hoopii vinyls or CDs?
Great! Let's go look for Lena Machado too. She's like the Aretha Franklin of Hawaiian music. No, she's older, like Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, or Dinah Washington. I would also like to buy and listen to Prince Lei Lani known as E. K. Rose, if available. It would be nice if there was a compilation CD of 78 rpm disc of such prewar Hawaiian music.
It was September 5, 2005. I think it was Monday. We arrived in Honolulu, but swimming with dolphins was scheduled for the next day. The airplane arrived at "Honolulu International Airport" at 3:10 pm. Once we checked in at the "Sheraton Moana Surfrider", we did not have enough time to do anything. However, there was a little free time that was too good not to do something. It is already evening. I had no plans for that day. Neither he nor I were that hungry yet.
So I decided to take him to a place where there was music. The best way to keep him happy and calm is to let him listen to music and talk about music.
By the way, a friend later laughed at me for being so incredibly stupid as to take a cancer patient swimming with dolphins, which requires a lot of physical strength. She was right, as a matter of common sense, but I was following intuition at the time. When I was fighting the business war to grow "Nu-Era Pics", I was constantly staring at and analyzing the numbers to take advantage of my company's strengths, to correct its weaknesses, and to clearly see the weaknesses of my competitors. The wisdom of the "Law of Attraction" had transformed me from a thinking-dominant personality to an intuition-dominant personality.
Well, my intuition was indeed correct. The answer, however, was in a slightly different direction than swimming with dolphins. It was only after this that we realized that we needed to stop in Hawaii anyway, for whatever reason. In search of a record store we walked at a leisurely pace. Then a small church appeared in front of us. The moment I saw it, like I was struck by lightning, the following thought exploded in my head.
This man and I are getting married here and now. Like a criminal couple in a famous crime films!
Could it be Sylvia Sidney and Henry Fonda in Fritz Lang's "You Only Live Once" (1937), or Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart in Raoul Walsh's "High Sierra" (1940)? Or Cathy O'Donnell and Farley Granger in Nicholas Ray's "They Live by Night" (1948)? Or perhaps Peggy Cummins and John Dall in Joseph H. Lewis' "Gun Crazy" (1950). Or maybe it was Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967). Or perhaps Keith Carradine and Shelley Duvall in Robert Altman's "Thieves like Us" (1974).
I believe I saw a scene where the criminal couple in these crime films, or leading men and women in other crime films, commit a bank robbery or some other crime, stop at a church on their way to escape, and at the urging of the pastor, simply exchange vows and kiss, a less than 10 minute wedding ceremony, and then run away again! I decided to marry Masato Shiraishi now and keep him tied to me. I would be his anchor. Even if I try such a thing, if he really wants to commit suicide, he may cut the anchor that is me and he may decide to commit suicide. But anyway, at this time I felt that it was a good idea for us to get married, for I knew that he would be very happy with me and I would be very happy with him. I forcibly pulled his hand and took him to the church.
Let's get married, shall we?
What? What? What do you mean?
We're both single. You're going to die soon, so you should experience married life before you die. In the near future, as a widow, I will be your living proof.
He looked frightened. But he couldn't run away because he owed me. I was paying for the entire trip! The pastor encouraged us to exchange vows. I swore cheerfully and he swore fearfully. Come on, let's kiss each other! But he was too afraid to kiss me. He had his own reasons as to why he was afraid to kiss me. But I did not know it at that time. Anyway, at the time, all I could see was that he was probably just surprised. So, I kissed him with a big, strong, smooch!
Thus, Masato Shiraishi and I became a common-law marriage couple. So, our wedding anniversary is September 5.
LOL. LOL. LOL.
Well, in the end, we did not find an interesting record store. NO MUSIC, NO LIFE. There were "TOWER RECORDS" and so on.
So, I invited him to go to "Neiman Marcus". I wanted to buy him a linen summer jacket. Frankly speaking, what he was wearing was shabby and I had a terrible feeling that it was lowering his vibrational energy. I thought that since he was sick, it would be better for his mental health if he wore something new and clean.
But he was very reserved and said he didn't want Ermenegildo Zegna, CANALI, or Ralph Lauren. So, next I decided to buy him shoes, and I showed him the Tassel Slip-on, a classic from Church's, and the Gancini Slip-on from Salvatore Ferragamo, but he said he didn't want them. But he accepted Ike Behar's oxford button-down blue shirt. Yay!
The shirt sales clerk also recommended a GIORGIO ARMANI tie. He refused with a firmness that was accompanied by some surprising words.
I think it's weird to wear such a stylish tie with such a sporty shirt. And I'm not Richard Gere, GIORGIO ARMANI is not for me.
Yes, you are right. My husband is not an "American Gigolo". Sure, I pay for everything now. But my husband did get a decent job as a radio DJ in the US and made a good living. By seeing his stubborn side in this shirt shopping interaction with the clerk, I could see that he had the mental strength to come all the way to New York City to dream of a successful career in music. I thought to myself, "There must be more of this side to him, and once he realizes it, he will start his fight against cancer". It was a thought that pleased me. I backed him up and said the following:
I think it would be better if "traditional style" did not include the "mòda" element. He does not need a tie. Instead, please give me the same shirt in pink.
For the first time in my life I attempted "matching outfits" with a man. Do you remember my maternal grandfather, Tatsuo Tsukida? My grandfather used to tell me the following:
Yukiko, it is wonderful to be different from everyone else. Just be yourself!
From an early age I often followed this advice of my grandfather. But, to my surprise! OMG! What a surprise, that I tried "matching outfits"! But at the time, I felt it was more like me to do so. I wanted to try something silly that girls of our generation must have dreamed of when they fell in love in middle school, LOL. That's right. My love affair had begun! Why? Why do I love this man? It was the work of "Prarabdha Karma" without a doubt! It is impossible to miss the super express of Karma, and it is impossible to get off.
After shopping at "Neiman Marcus", we decided to have dinner. He went to a Samoan restaurant called "ONO HAWAIIAN FOODS" and said he wanted to try steamed pork with a paste of taro, a plant of the araceae called "poi".
Since he has absorbed the culture of each country and ethnic group through music, he wants to know the indigenous food that will lead to understanding of music, regardless of whether it is delicious or unsavory. Interesting! Is he really going to die soon? I became happy.
That's good! Let's go!
But then, right in front of us was the Hawaii branch of the Japanese used book chain "BOOK-OFF," and he wandered in there like a sleepwalker.
©Mitsuhiro Toda@Screenwriter Group Aquariusera
