A Song For Lisa (12 page)

“I’ve reached a decision about the baby I’m carrying, Doctor
Day,” she announced with a tilt of her chin. “I’ve decided to keep the baby. I
know that the father was a contemptible beast, but the child cannot be held
responsible for him. I have the power of ending a life or giving it birth. It
will be my responsibility to not only give the child birth, but to love and
nurture him or her. I believe the child deserves a chance to live. There has
been so much death and destruction these past few years. Maybe I’m making a
mistake, but since I’ve made up my mind, I’ve found a peace and sense of
self-worth that is comforting to me.”

Doctor Day calmly listened to Lisa’s explanation. Tears
welled in her eyes. He hugged the fragile lady and passed her some tissues.
“Let the tears come, dear lady. Your decision has confirmed my faith in
mankind. What a glorious day this is! I understand how agonizing your decision
has been, and I agree with you one hundred percent. I also know that your
decision may cause you pain and anguish at times. From what I’ve been able to
observe, young lady, I believe you have that reservoir of strength to rise to
any challenge. I have two favors to ask of you, Lisa.”

“I’ll answer them if I can.” She wiped her eyes.

“Would you consider it out of line if I asked you to be the
child’s Godfather? And would you keep me advised of how things are going for
you? This war isn’t going to last forever. When it’s over, I plan to return to
Boston to resume my practice. Will you extend me and my wife the privilege of
being friends? I would also consider it a privilege if you would allow me to be
your family doctor!”

Five years later—June
24, 1950

Lisa and her four-and-a-half-year-old son, Terry, were
riding in her 1947 Studebaker Champion automobile on their way back from Boston
to Lisa’s childhood home in Twin Mountains. Her mother and father had passed
away while she was in captivity during the war, and her sister Angeline had
maintained the family homestead since their death. When Lisa returned home at
war’s end, Angeline insisted that she live in the house.

Lisa looked at her young son sleeping on the seat beside her
and took his tiny hand in hers. The small boy reflected his Japanese heritage
with angular facial features and eyes, though they were softer than a
pure-blood Japanese. He was a Eurasian, a half-breed with Asian and Caucasian
blood. Lisa did not see the Japanese heritage when she looked at him, instead
she saw a product of her womb. She had given him life and nurtured him and was
teaching him the values she lived by. The only thing Japanese about him was his
eyes. Beyond that he was as much American as any child in his kindergarten
class at Twin Mountains. Regardless of how others perceived him, Terry was her
pride and joy. He gave meaning to the difficult years she had spent since being
released from the prison camp on Luzon.

She defended him as much as possible from despicable and
hurtful remarks made by adults or children. Many World War II veterans carried
a deep-seated hatred for anything remotely Japanese. Some referred to him as a
little “Jap” and were contemptible of his presence. Other epithets were like
“slant eyes,” “Tojo” and one with frightening connotations for Lisa was
“hara-kari.” Few of the younger children who called him that understood the
meaning of the words, but they were applied to him just the same, simply
because he was different.

Terry was told at an early age what the derogatory
name-calling words meant. Lisa made a point of informing him why others
perceived him the way they did and emphasized that it was not him personally
that they hated. Lisa knew that Terry was too young to understand. She
maintained a very protective cocoon around him, intentionally avoiding large
crowds or gatherings where Terry might be the target of ridicule, such as
restaurants and supermarkets; consequently, they lived a rather reclusive life.
He deflected unkind remarks with all the pride his mother had taught him, and
would reply: “I’m an American!”

The measure of protection Lisa could wrap around Terry was
limited when he was allowed to have social interaction with children his own
age. As a matter of fact, Terry handled the barbs of racial prejudice from
children his own age with an amazing attitude of tolerance and forgiveness for
a five-year-old. Obviously obnoxious people were avoided whenever possible.
Lisa’s hopes and prayers during those youthful years was that eventually,
people would accept him on the basis of his character and integrity instead of
the heritage he was not responsible for. She had dedicated herself to preparing
him for the moment that she was certain would come someday.

The sun had just settled in the west as they passed through
Manchester on their way north. It was just as well that Terry had given up and
fallen asleep. Tears filled Lisa’s eyes and rolled down over her cheeks,
dropping onto her new green blazer. For the past nine years of her life, tears
had frequently flowed. Wiping her eyes so that she could see the road clearly,
Lisa recalled events that led to one of the most painful experiences of her
life. It had all started when she left the hospital ship at Pearl Harbor.

June Schenk’s husband had met the hospital ship as it docked
at Pearl Harbor Navy Base, prepared to take her home to Pennsylvania. The
former prisoners were held over for another week while being interviewed by
navy and army intelligence officers and historians. All were given government
vouchers to purchase new clothing and personal items. They were also tested and
extensively evaluated to be certain that all that medical science could do for
them was carried out. On the trip from Luzon to Pearl, the former prisoners had
gained an average of twenty pounds each.

Doctor Day insisted on being Lisa’s physician. When June and
her husband were ready to leave Hawaii for the homeland, Doctor Day signed
Lisa’s release so that she could accompany them to the states. Lisa could still
hear his kind and encouraging words.

“Good luck, Lisa Carter. Hold your head up high and never
let anyone judge you by the child you carry. Don’t ever let anyone judge you
who has never been tested to the degree you and your fellow prisoners have
endured for the past three years. I’ve given you my address in Boston. I hope
you’ll look me up when this ugly war is over. Go home now, dear lady, and put
your life in order.” He embraced her like a father would a daughter and wished
her a “Bon Voyage.”

Lisa traveled to Philadelphia with June and her husband. It
was a tearful parting at the train station. The two women had been inseparable
during their incarceration, and Lisa soundly believed that she owed her life to
the gentle and resourceful matriarch. An hour after she waved good-bye to June
and her husband, Lisa boarded a train bound for Boston. The army headquarters
at Pearl Harbor had given her Jeff’s address and location. The army also told
her that they would send a special communication to Jeff’s commanding officer
requesting that Jeff be sent home on a short furlough. They had forwarded her
reservation itinerary to his command post. She was excited about seeing him.
Her first visit with him in Boston was an experience she still could not
believe. The hurt still lingered.

Jeff had been promoted to captain and was busy training his
company for combat. He had been alerted about the time her train would arrive
in Boston. It pulled in at six o’clock in the morning. Jeff made sure to be
there when the train rolled to a stop. He instantly recognized Lisa as she
stepped down from the train. Her auburn hair was cut short just below the ears,
the way she had worn it when they were going to school. This meeting, the first
in four years, was the fulfillment of all their dreams and prayers. They
embraced with an intensity reserved only for those who have teetered on the
edge of life’s volcano and survived.

Jeff had borrowed a friend’s automobile, a 1941 Buick sedan,
and had parked it close to the station. He released her and told her that he
had a vehicle. Once outside, he pointed to the car and opened the passenger
door for her. He was like a little kid on his first date. His Lisa was alive
and with him. He could hardly believe his good fortune. Now, anything was
possible! He mentioned that he had only a twenty-four hour pass and limited
coupons to purchase gasoline, so they decided to go to a nearby restaurant
where it was quiet, spending hours reminiscing over steaks and coffee. Late in
the afternoon, they ended up at a park near the Boston Shell beside the Charles
River. They talked about changes back home. Lisa’s parents had caught pneumonia
and passed away a few months apart. Lisa told him that her sister Angeline
lived in the old house with her husband, Harry Lender. He had been medically
discharged from the navy when he lost a leg on a destroyer that was torpedoed
in the North Atlantic early in the war.

Lisa held back from telling Jeff about her condition until
the last few hours of his leave time. She did not want to spoil the rapture of
the moment. The scene that took place was etched in her memory.

“Jeff, I have something important to tell you,” Lisa began
in a tremulous voice.

“What is it, Lisa?” Jeff asked, perplexed at her somber
tone.

“On the last day at the Japanese prison camp, I was raped by
a Japanese soldier…” Lisa stopped to catch her breath and searched for the
right words to lessen the impact of the message. “As a result of that attack
upon me, I’m pregnant!”

“Pregnant with a Jap kid?” he cried incredulously.

“Yes, Jeff… a Japanese…” Lisa heard the tone of his response
and began to cry, afraid that she was going to pass out. She had trouble
breathing and gasped for air. Jeff pulled away from her as if she were a leper.
His revulsion horrified her.

“I can’t believe that a man can impregnate a woman if she
doesn’t want it,” he cried, disbelieving her story.

Her world was crumbling around her. Jeff was like a
stranger! The look in his eyes made her feel dirty and cheap. “I could not help
it, Jeff,” she talked fast to defend herself, frightened of what was taking
place. Jeff had changed! She was stronger than ever since her release from the
compound but she was still relatively fragile. Several times she reached out to
Jeff for physical support and was rejected each time. She felt weak and the
fear of fainting and falling to the ground troubled her. Lisa was completely
unprepared for his vitriolic response to her situation. She clung to a nearby
tree for support and faced Jeff.

“What are you going to do about it, Lisa?” he demanded in a
high pitched voice. “You can’t have the baby. We’re at war with Japan. It’s
unthinkable.”

“It’s unthinkable… yes… but it’s a fact, Jeff,” she pleaded
for understanding and begged him for some comfort, a touch, a kind word,
anything to stop feeling dirty and immoral and cheap. She never dreamed that
her Jeff could abandon her so abruptly and so ruthlessly. “I’m not to blame,
Jeff. You have to understand what it was like…”

“Are you going to keep the baby?”

“Yes, I’ve decided to have the baby. I had hoped that you
would support me in that decision,” she anxiously cried.

There was a long pause. Jeff avoided eye contact with her
and spoke in a softer tone. “Do you realize what you’re asking me to do? I don’t
think I could ever condone your decision to keep the baby. Under the
circumstances, I think it’s insane and unfair to you, me, and the child.”

“Maybe I was wrong, but I expected you to support me, Jeff.
I need your acceptance so badly. You’ll never know how much I’ve agonized over
the decision. I won’t change my mind. Sure, I’ve thought of all the problems it
could cause. I was hoping that our love for each other would be strong enough
to overcome any obstacle,” she pleaded one more time.

“It is, Lisa. I’ve been true to your memory and I’d do
anything… but accepting a Japanese baby… I, I just can’t believe you’d ask such
a thing of me.”

“Well, Jeff,” cried Lisa, desperately drawing from her last
vestige of strength. She presented an ultimatum to him. “Where do we go from
here? It’s now or never, and it’s up to you, Jeff.”

He was unapologetic. “I can’t imagine being with you, while
you’re pregnant with someone else’s child. Don’t you know what you’ve done to
us…?”

Jeff never finished the sentence. Lisa, consumed by rage and
pain, slapped him hard across the face. “How dare you blame me for my
condition, how dare you? I expected more than this from you, Jeff. The memory
of our love for each other gave me courage over the years when it was a rare
virtue.”

Lisa turned from him and ran hysterically across the park,
anxious to get away from the stranger that Jeff had become. In the distance she
could hear Jeff calling to her. “I’m sorry, Lisa. I’m sorry, Lisa…” He stood
his ground watching Lisa run away from him without any attempt to stop her. A
lifetime of dreams had just been obliterated!

Lisa pulled the faithful Studebaker to the side of the road
to wipe her eyes. It was a traumatic experience that still hurt. That reunion
with Jeff five years before had shattered her sense of trust and belief in
close friends. She never saw Jeff again. Something had changed him, and the
agony she felt still lingered. It was difficult for her to accept that she was
alone.

Terry was sleeping on the seat with his feet resting on her
lap. She brushed a few loose strands of hair from his face and patted him on
the cheek. She loved him more than she could ever say, possibly because a few
in the world hated him for what he looked like. Occasionally, when she was
confronted with negative reactions, the thought would quickly run through her
mind that maybe she had made a mistake bringing him into the world.
Fortunately, those kind of thoughts never lasted too long. Just thinking about
them angered her.

Lisa pulled back onto the highway remembering all that had
happened to her since she returned home from the war. She had lost Jeff, a
large part of her world, but she had gained a staunch supporter and a personal
friend in Doctor Day and his wife, Erin. Terry was born October 10, 1945, two
months after the war. Doctor Day had been discharged from the navy and was
continuing his practice in Boston at the Mass General Hospital. When her time
was close, he strongly urged Lisa to come to Boston so that he could deliver
the baby. She was relieved to oblige. The kind doctor was a man of his word. He
and Erin became Terry’s Godfather and Godmother.

That was the beginning of a friendship that was instrumental
in guiding Lisa through parenthood without a husband. She taught the fifth
grade at Twin Mountains Elementary School during weekdays. One weekend, when
Lisa came to Boston with Terry for a checkup, Erin Day had arranged an audition
for Lisa with the Pops Orchestra. Erin was an enthusiastic supporter of the
orchestra and knew Arthur Fiedler, the conductor, personally. Erin and the
doctor offered to babysit Terry while she kept the appointment for the
audition. 

Fiedler was impressed with Lisa’s talent. She lacked the
touch of professional discipline, but she made up for that deficiency by her unique
interpretation of the musical selections. To many in the hall during that
audition, it was as if they were hearing the music for the first time. It had a
deep fresh appeal that touched emotions and feelings. They loved her simple
style without frills. “Music with heart,” was the way Fiedler had described it.