Japanese girls love taking pictures!
From my table at Birdland:
w/ Mulgrew Miller at Birdland:
"...her soft, genuine sensibility melted away any attitude."
Japanese koto:
By the time the girls got out the bathroom I’d already finished my drink. They seemed somewhat energetic for the time of night; but they were young so it may have just been the joy of youth. The band was down by the stage, and Aiko began to take flash-pictures from the somewhat distant vantage point of our table.
“Hey,” I said to her, “Don’t do that. Here...”
At which point I took her hand and walked her down to the bandstand. We all walked together with our drinks.
And Japanese girls love taking pictures! I mean, I’m sure that’s a stereotype--though certainly not mean-spirited that I can see. But they do! They love pictures. And I happen to take great photos.
So we all introduced ourselves and I got great shots of the girls with Dave Holland and Antonio Hart and Mulgrew Miller. Really good pics that they could look at and love forever. Nyoko in particular nodded her head in approval several times as she and Aiko inspected the camera’s display window like that first night at Smalls.
At some point Kimiko got engaged in a conversation with Dave Holland. He was very familiar with the koto that she’d played as a girl and even knew different regional masters of the instrument. They really got into it. He grabbed his bass and demonstrated similarities between it and the koto. He and his band were great guys--especially Mulgrew Miller; and I was happy for Kimiko that she didn’t feel burnt on the night.
But with Kimiko occupied I soon had no one to translate with Nyoko and Aiko. After a few minutes alone at the bar--and once we’d scrolled thru all the pics for 3rd time; there wasn’t much left to do but mug at each other and make faces. Eventually I was stumped in regards to how else to communicate. I looked at the girls. They looked at me.
...What? they seemed to ask with expectant smiles.
I don’t know, I’m an idiot.
I feared losing the moment, which I did not want to happen. In desperation, I grabbed Aiko’s hand and pushed the pad of her thumb into the cleft of my chin the way she’d done earlier in the week. It was an almost subconscious gesture. Like a dog instantly chews its tennis ball when stressed. There was absolutely no context to it whatsoever; which perhaps was what cracked her up.
Cause man--that turned out to be the master stroke! Aiko and I locked eyes as I held her hand to my face. She knew what I was talking about. I mean exactly what I was talking about. I didn’t need anyone to translate when her hand shot to her mouth in a giggly gasp while her body rocked in laughter. Nyoko gave a slap to the top of my head and the two of them broke into chatter at about 2 billion words a second.
Aiko: “Like that night last week. He remembered.”
Nyoko: “Oh this guy’s a dog, but he’s funny.”
Aiko: “Come here and put your finger in here.”
I’m sure that’s what they were saying ‘cause Nyoko slid next to Aiko on the barstool and dug her long thumbnail into my cleft. A lot rougher than Aiko, without any sweetness. Like my chin was a scratch-game ticket and there was more to be revealed beneath the whiskers. But still, it was fun to look into her young eyes and feel her breath so close.
Eventually the girls left me to re-join Kimiko. She was still with the band and their small entourage, and I was left alone at the bar with my drink to contemplate my night. It was obvious that as soon as I lost Kimiko there’d be no way to talk with the girls; yet my night had already been a lot more interesting than expected. I was prepared for things to end there as I observed the group talk from my distant barstool.
As I watched, Kimiko and Nyoko suddenly stepped aside from the group. They appeared involved in serious conversation--perhaps even disagreement. Kimiko appeared alternately confused and concerned and I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d confronted Nyoko about being lied to. Whatever it was, Nyoko responded in very animated fashion 'til she was joined by Aiko.
Aiko's presence seemed to calm things down. That’s how it was with that girl. She was great the way her soft, genuine sensibility melted away any attitude. I loved her. Truly the piece-of-ass that held the whole thing together. Just like Kimko said.
Soon after Aiko arrived, the subject of conversation shifted. I could feel it even if I didn’t know what was said. They'd reconciled the matter. The girls spoke for a long time, their eyes now and again turned in my direction. Until finally they said their goodbyes to the band and re-approached me at the bar.
“I have to go home,” Kimiko said to me as she turned to share a laugh with the girls, “but they wonder if maybe you’d like to go dancing.”
* NOTE: Due to the length of this post, I'm going to split it into another part. Next (final) installment should be completed in a few days. Thanks for reading!
** NOTE: Pics # 3, # 4 and # 6 are mine. The rest were swiped off the Google and are subect to copyrights. All rights reserved on my pics.
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