Chapter 12 Summary - Gladioli (March 1975)

It is after midnight as Yuki creeps into the attic. She had waited until her father and stepmother were sleeping. She is to leave for Nagasaki in two days, having paid her tuition, a month's rent at the rooming house and having just barely enough left over for the train ticket. She can'tcannot afford to send any of her mother's things, but she can pack a small bag to take on the train. She is sure that her stepmother will throw out whatever she doesn'tdoes not take and is surprised she hadn'thad not already done so.

The first item she takes out is a purple kimono with hand-dyed patterns of maple leaves. The last time Yuki had seen her mother wear this kimono was when Yuki had been eleven and her mother had gone to a neighbor's wedding...