Chapter 11

After the first snow of the season the women of the church waited with bated breath for the call from Kiku Fukushima but none came.

As the weeks passed tempers shortened and the frustration level increased among the women. Dinners were late to the table, households were not maintained, chickens were not feed, hogs slopped, or cows milked, eggs were not collected, and husbands and lovers were not cared for. There was no joy in Mudville*.

Attendance at church was slipping and the choir was a sad image of its former self. There was a general air of sadness that hung over the group. Mr. Tanaka was pulling his hair out trying to determine why the drastic change.

In December Yoshi was standing at the door when Hanna answered.

“Mrs. Fukushima need you, come quick.”

Kiku had noticed the change a fortnight ago and discerned its cause.

“You have to talk to Reverend Billingsley, Hanna. The women are in a state of complete frustration.”

“What can I do, I can’t make Yuki-Ona appear?”

“I know but you must convince the Reverend to resume the nightly visits. It is the only thing that will resolve the frustration that the women are feeling. Last year they got themselves geared up for the occasional ecchi by the Reverend’s taka chinpo and expected as soon as the snow fall occurred they would resume. The choir has gone to hell and attendance has been affected. This could result in the fall of the Christian Church here in Kushiro town. The Reverend must return to ecchi.

“Okay I’ll try. He’s coming for lunch tomorrow, I’ll beard the lion and see what I can do”

Hanna sat in the fading light and considered her position in this matter. She didn’t want Matt fucking anyone else, not because of any territorial imperative but because he was much more into it when he hadn’t been fucked twice the night before and looking at being fucked twice more after Hanna. Still she could not let Kiku down. She was her best friend in all Japan and had gone out of her way to make Hanna feel comfortable when she had first arrived in Kushiro town.

The more she ran it through her mind the more Hanna thought she might have a plan that was the best option both for the ladies and for herself.

“But Hanna there is no reason for me to engage in sex with the ladies of my church. Yuki-Ona has not made an appearance and has likely moved on to another area. We don’t even know that she is in Hokkaido so how can I justify such conduct.”

“Matt up until last year these ladies did nothing more than go about their daily lives and attend church on Sunday for the betterment of their soul. Then they willingly gave of themselves to save your life.”

“I didn’t ask them to do it. They came, no you came to me with the idea for this scheme.

“But you said yes.

“Yes, I did. Eventually. but it gave me pause. I was never really comfortable. How can it be such a big deal now?”

“Do you want to lose your church?”

“Don’t you think that is a trifle strong?”

“Matt you still don’t know these people. Once they set their minds to something it’s hard to turn them. Japan was closed to the outside world for over two hundred and fifty years until Admiral Matthew Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay with his four gunships in 1853 and forced them to accept trade in the face of overwhelming power. Those with vision among the Japanese and there were many, recognized that they were technologically in a wasteland and needed to change. In less than eighty years they were a world power strong enough to annex Manchuria and then to push the Chinese government and army out of mainland China to Taiwan and Mao Zedung into hiding in caves in Northern China. Don’t underestimate their resolve Matt.

“In 1868 the Meiji Restoration took place with a forward thinking Emperor taking back imperial power from the Tokugawa Shogun and started the beginning of the end for the feudal system in Japan. It took World War Two to completely end it. Some would say it’s not yet ended.”

“You really think these women are that powerful?”

“I don’t know Matt but they seem to me to be like the women in most Christian churches. They are the backbone of your congregation. They are the ones who show up on Sunday, the ones who make sure that that which is needed to be done is done, the ones who raise their children as Christians and the ones who think they deserve time with their minister in his bed.” With this last Hanna broke into a big smile.

“Be that as it may I can’t return to a situation brought on by an emergency when no emergency exists.”

“I think I have a plan that would be acceptable to the ladies if you agree.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“You agree to one lady five nights a week. That reduces the number of visits by almost two thirds.”

“It still doesn’t overcome my objection that no grounds exists for such behavior on my part.”

“Matt you have to give a little, you have to be willing to compromise otherwise there is no solution to the problem. I have no dog in this fight, I’m here merely at Kiku’s request. Believe me she would not have sent me unless she thought there might be real trouble brewing.”

“Let me think about it.”

“That’s all I ask. That’s not true. What I ask is for you to get your ass in bed before I attack you where you stand.”

“Now that’s a request I really cannot refuse.”

When Hanna walked in Kiku was admiring her handiwork. All of the boards were back up and the schedules for the first week set. There was no longer a red line on the graph and the blue line was set to begin where it had ended the year before.

“I can’t stand it tell me he said yes?”

“I won’t keep you in suspense, he said yes. He said after he had time to think about it he recognized the reasonableness of the request. He accepted that he had set the bar for his conduct last year and he could never put that Genie back in the bottle.”

“Thank you, thank you dear friend you have brought ureshi to a situation in turmoil. I knew I could count on you. I am very satisfied with five visits a week. I’m hoping that will hold the ladies. When you get used to a certain lover it’s hard to walk away.”

“Tell me about it,” Hanna was thinking.

“You never did tell me about your night with Reverend Billingsley.”

“There’s nothing much to tell. It was at the very beginning and he didn’t have any skill but I will say that I was impressed by his size. He is even bigger than Sol and that is saying something. I’m sure he’s much improved by now,” Hanna answered thinking that it was a strange question coming from Kiku. Maybe she just wanted the opinion of someone she trusted after all of the stories she’s heard from the ladies.