Properties of Thirst

Sunny thinks about Stryker. Because he was the reckless one, he always forced her to be the twin who adhered to the rules. Rocky has attempted to determine the whereabouts of Stryker’s new wife, Suzy, but can’t obtain any information on her. Again, Sunny muses on her mother’s cookbooks and notes, recalling how over the years she taught herself to untangle her mother’s recipes and learned to cook. She benefited, too, from the garden her mother planted, filled with both native and non-native vegetables and herbs. The challenging element for Sunny was fish, which wasn’t readily available. At age 12, she asked Cas to take her to a fish market in Los Angeles. Instead, she and Stryker were informed that Christmas that their gifts were separate trips to Europe: Stryker with Rocky to England and Scotland, and Sunny with Cas to Paris.

Both groups departed from New York City, but whereas Rocky and Stryker flew to New York, Cas and Sunny took a train. Aboard, Sunny ate many foods for the first time, including oyster and lobster, and recorded the details of everything in several notebooks. One night, Cas gave her a photo of Lou on her wedding day.

They arrived in New York and were picked up by Declan, the family chauffeur. He took them for New York hotdogs—another first for Sunny. Over the days that followed, Cas and Sunny fell into a routine of shopping for Sunny’s clothing for Paris, visiting museums, and eating fine meals. One afternoon, Cas took Sunny to tea at the home where she and Rocky lived as children, which Cas now owned. The cook and butler from the family’s larger house resided there, in service to its new renters. On their final day, Declan took them to a fish market.

They set sail for Europe, and Cas secured a place for Sunny at the captain’s table, though children weren’t permitted to eat with the adults. They were invited to tour the kitchen after the first mate learned that Sunny aspired to be a chef. There, he pointed out that all chefs were men, and women cooked only at home. As the trip continued, Sunny and Cas spent time with a woman they met on board named Rosemary Dust, who sometimes invited Henri Brouillard, the first mate, to join them.

Once in Paris, Sunny suggested that they try to find her mother’s birthplace. Cas told her about Lou’s mother and grandmother and about Lou and Rocky meeting in Chicago.

Rocky sent Cas long letters from England and Scotland, and Stryker sent Sunny brief ones in which he complained about both countries. The weather in Paris was perfect, except for a day of rain when the two traveled to Gex, near the Swiss border. Upon returning, she and Cas found Stryker quarantined due to chicken pox, so Sunny spent most of the time with their friend Hace (short for Jesús), the grandson of Mr. Mendoza, an apple farmer at Manzanar. Stryker gave Sunny a fancy pen-and-ink set, including purple ink, that he purchased in the United Kingdom.

As an adult, Sunny rarely looks back on the notebooks she kept during that trip. She’s disappointed that they contain so much information about the food she ate and nothing about anything else, such as the sights or the people. She has kept Stryker’s letters, which she’s grateful for now. She decides to read the Japanese cookbook that Schiff gave her and is surprised to find some annotations in purple ink—the color her mother used; Sunny chooses to interpret this as significant rather than a coincidence.

Schiff and Svevo head the intake process as the Japanese arrive. They have a list of items that can’t be brought into the camp. They worry that the interred may try to revolt and have taken measures to keep the unmarried men separate, believing they’re the most likely to organize and revolt. Schiff begins a practice of walking the camp each day, and the children begin to call him “Uncle,” then (upon learning his name) “Uncle Abe,” and then “Uncle Schiff.” He recounts how he got his name: His Jewish mother, believing herself cursed, consulted a rabbi who asserted that a name from the Torah for her unborn child would break the curse. He and Svevo are eager to establish jobs for the men (to help them fill the days) and to get the school up and running.

They establish hours during which the interred may contact the administration with concerns. Schiff’s “open door” policy subjects him to salesmen, who want to supply the camp, and even some locals. He chides a pair of women charged with rationing who complain that the interred people are privileged to enjoy foods that they aren’t.

One day Schiff is visited by Georgina Takei, a law professor at the University of Chicago who has voluntarily joined the internment in solidarity with fellow Japanese Americans. She’s compiling several lawsuits on the internment’s unconstitutionality, which Schiff concurs with, though he can’t support her. Upon internment, citizens must sign an oath declaring allegiance to the US alone and denouncing allegiance to Japan. Those who refuse are transported to harsher prisons and monitored more closely. Although it’s against his orders, Schiff secretly shares with Takei a list of the 121 residents who refused to sign the oath.

A few hours later, Svevo enters with Jimmy Ikeda. He’s jumpy and nervous, refusing Schiff’s offer to have him moved to another camp so that he can be with his father. Instead, he wants Schiff to help him join the armed forces so that he can fight for the US and regain the respect of his fellow citizens. Schiff has heard the same rumors about Japanese Americans enlisting but isn’t sure whether they’re credible.

Next, Sunny enters. She has devised a plan whereby the women in the camp can be recruited to cook in a community kitchen. Schiff is skeptical, but she insists that she can personally fund the endeavor; Svevo takes her to visit the remaining barracks, where she might carry out her plan. She, in turn, tells him about her fiancé, Hace, and the elephant incident. Stryker had gotten a job acting in a film involving elephants. Hace had been hired to care for the elephants. One night, Stryker had an accident and drove his car into a ditch. He decided to use one of the elephants to tow it out. However, the elephant broke loose and was shot by an agent of the Los Angeles Department of Water. The elephant trampled the agent as well as Hace. The agent and the elephant were killed, and Hace was charged with manslaughter for his involvement. Stryker fled to the navy, and Cas secretly transported Hace back to Mexico, where he took a new name. Because of the outstanding charges, Sunny and Hace couldn’t even write letters to one another. However, due to the labor shortage created by incarcerating the Japanese fruit pickers, Hace has crossed the border, hoping to work.

On her way out of the camp, Sunny passes a building filled with babies. She’s shocked to learn that it’s an orphanage. She promises the woman in charge that she’ll have Svevo deliver rocking chairs the next day.

Back at the restaurant, Sunny notices the clientele is dwindling because of the war. She knows she’ll have to shut down the restaurant soon for the war’s duration, though she plans to still provide boxed meals and hopes to sell her sauces and jams. She returns to Three Chairs, where she searches through cookbooks for details on Passover dinner because Svevo has asked her for some herbs for it. She asks Cas for more information on Passover, which leads to a discussion on Stryker’s death. Sunny worries that Rocky hasn’t acknowledged it and believes they need to carry out some type of ritual or memorial to honor Stryker.

The next Friday evening, Svevo summons Schiff to his Seder dinner; he has assembled a large tent, and a Jewish Japanese family, along with Cas, Reverend Leslie, and a Congregationalist minister, are present. Jimmy Ikeda is dressed for service. Sunny has prepared all the food, with input from Svevo. He conducts the readings and other rituals involved with the celebration, and then Cas has Reverend Leslie read a passage from Shakespeare’s Henry V; Kenji (part of the Japanese family) plays guitar. After all the guests have left, Svevo continues to rave about Sunny’s food and then informs Schiff that Sunny’s engagement isn’t so secure.

The scene shifts to Three Chairs, where Rocky has entered the casita, which means “little house.” This small building was present on the property when Rocky first acquired it, and Stryker began sleeping in it when he became a teen. No one has entered it since Stryker has been gone. He looks at Stryker’s things, noticing pictures of himself with Stryker, and then, leaving the casita, hears women’s voices. Inside his kitchen, Sunny is helping 15 women from Manzanar cook dashi, a Japanese broth.

When they leave, Rocky is unusually affectionate and warm. Sunny senses that something’s afoot. When he invites her to go fishing the following week, she confesses her plans to meet up with Hace. Rocky tells her that she should leave Three Chairs to be with Hace permanently. Sunny resists, insisting that Three Chairs is her home. She shifts the conversation to Rocky’s refusal to pay for water, and they’re interrupted when Cas enters. Rocky tells the women that he has been inside the casita. They discuss getting in contact with Stryker’s widow; Rocky suggests that Schiff should be able to help. They reminisce about Stryker, telling stories and laughing.

The scene shifts back to Manzanar: An army plane has arrived to take Svevo to his next assignment. As he and Schiff say goodbye, Svevo urges Schiff to pursue Sunny.