Lodo Grdzak's Japanese Story--Part 2* (*Scroll down for Part 1):

Looks like Nyoko:



A lot like Aiko:

"Well, that's Chris Potter, and he's great. And that's Antonio Sanchez on drums, so... "

“Lodo,” she said again, this time towards her girlfriend to share in the conversation. The girlfriend smiled and nodded her head.

I couldn’t really communicate with these girls, but we sat together at the bar. The dark-haired girl was Nyoko. Her lighter-haired friend was Aiko. Aiko was the softer of the two. Gentler. But Nyoko knew more English and was more outgoing.

Every so often, we’d exchange a single line or two.

“These guys are good?” Nyoko asked before the set began.

“I don’t know,” I answered as I watched her sip her drink from its narrow, red cocktail straw. It was an odd band in that the headliner was the least famous one in the group.

“...I know that guy there (pointing toward the stage),..is Chris Potter. He’s great. And that guy there (I pointed again) is Antonio Sanchez. So you kno,...

Nyoko appeared to concentrate hard on my words. I tried to slow down and looked deep into her eyes to communicate.

“...So you know,..I have to believe they’re gonna be...”

I tried to gesture how great I assumed the band would be, but wasn’t really sure how to express it non-verbally. We got a good laugh out of my failure.

After the show I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Aiko.

“You take...?” she asked like a child as she gestured for me to take a picture of her and Nyoko. I took their picture. Showed it to them. Took a few more. I happen to take really good pictures.

After the last photo, the two girls nodded in approval. Nyoko gestured for a guy behind me to take a picture of her and I. Then Aiko jumped in for a few, so it was the three of us. We inspected the pics together on the camera’s small, digital screen. The girls giggled as we examined our expressions and faults. We had fun even without talking.

At some point, Aiko turned from the camera toward me. As though she wanted confirmation of something she’d seen in the display window. Her soft eyes absorbed my face, until she unexpectedly smiled and pushed the pad of her thumb into the cleft of my chin. Kind of...nudged it in there like girls will sometimes do and made a comment in Japanese that made Nyoko laugh hard.

I really wanted to talk with those girls.




* NOTE: I'm going to have to split this post into at least one more part. I'll have Part 3 in a few days. Apologies y'all--but its the weekend. Thanks for reading!!

* *ADDL. NOTE: All pics included herein are used simply to enhance the narrative. Don't assume any of the girls (or anyone for that matter), is actually from the story.

My personal photos are # 3 and # 4 from the top. The rest are probably copyrighted by the professional photographers who took them. Don't get me in trouble now!