Southland

Jackie wonders why no one has ever mentioned the incident at Frank’s shop: “That no one talked about history, the internment, seemed a community decision; the entire Nisei generation might have taken a vow of silence” (75). She calls Lois and tells her the news and is relieved when she realizes that Lois had no idea about the murders. Lois remembers the hurried packing and the family’s flight from the neighborhood after the uprising, but there was never mention of murder. She tells Jackie that there was, in fact, a racist cop in the area who made trouble for Frank. She recalls the other boys who worked in the store—Derek, David, and a Japanese American boy, Akira Matsumoto. Akira cleaned his act up and moved to Japan, but she doesn’t know what happened to the Black kids.

Jackie meets Lanier at a church barbeque function in the Crenshaw district. Once again, she feels out of place as she is an obvious minority. She feels the eyes of the teens trained on her, questioning her presence. Lanier introduces her to the Carters, a couple who knew her grandfather. She and Lanier eat and discuss their findings. Lanier reveals that David’s last name was Scott and that he died in the freezer. David and Curtis graduated from the same school. Derek’s last name was Broadnax, and he was in the store afterward, when the boys were found. His younger sister Angela was Curtis’s girlfriend. With this news, Jackie feels sick to her stomach. Although Akira is in Japan, she’ll try to contact him for information.

Lanier reveals that he has a lead, a cop named Robert Thomas. He and his partner were the only two Black cops in the neighborhood and were colleagues of Lawson. He tried to contact Thomas, but the man hung up on him twice. Lanier plans to visit Thomas so that he can’t hang up on him again. He isn’t mad that Thomas treated him as such, and “almost felt sorry for him—what twists, what backflips he must have had to perform in order to succeed at his job” (82). Lanier then takes Jackie on a driving tour of the neighborhood. He shows her Leimert Part and the progress being made and explains how nice the neighborhood is despite its bad reputation. He then takes her to her grandfather’s old house, and later to the boarded-up old store. Although Jackie doesn’t react much to seeing the house, she has a strong reaction when seeing the store. She gets out of the car and places her hand on the rough board on the door, wondering what the inside looks like.

Lanier is glad that he brought Jackie on the tour. He tells her that Frank likely met Curtis when he was sitting outside with his friend Mr. Conway and greeting kids after school, which was a favorite pastime of his. He reveals that Curtis was born up north and that his father, Bruce, who was from LA, met Alma up north and moved back down with her. Bruce and Curtis didn’t get along, but Curtis was always there for people, including Lanier (Jimmy in the flashbacks). As the two prepare to leave, a group of little kids on a walking trip see Lanier and run over to him, smothering him with affection. Jackie is amazed at how playful and loving Lanier is with the kids. His love makes her like him more, and she notes how his tough exterior is mostly a front: “The children’s obvious adoration of him, his tenderness with them, was a surprise, and a recommendation” (90).

Frank argues with his father one day about accompanying him to Little Tokyo. Frank works for Old Man Larabie at the store every weekday and has to go to Little Tokyo often, so he doesn’t want to go on his one day off. His father insists that he accompany him, but Frank puts his foot down. Although Frank’s father is older, he can still beat Frank up if it comes to that. Frank’s mother intervenes, however, and Frank stays home. As soon as his parents leave, Frank goes to play football with his friends. The kids joke about their mutual dislike of going to Little Tokyo, especially Frank, who “loved his neighborhood” (93).

When they’re finished playing, Victor reveals that he received his license the previous day. He has his father’s keys, and he wants to go to the beach. The group piles into the car and heads to the beach. When they get there, however, they’re shocked to see a sign that says “Whites Only” on the left and one indicating an entrance for Black people on the right. Frank is puzzled:

He’d never had to think like this, either—for his first eight years he’d lived in Little Tokyo, and then for his next seven in Angeles Mesa, where there weren’t enough people of any color to legislate such boundaries (97).

He’s not technically white, but he’s not Black either. A white couple comes out and the man indicates that they should go on the right, though his wife says the kids are white. Frank finally takes off in the direction of the “Blacks Only” beach.

Jackie searches for a folder with family memorabilia but is let down when she finds it. There’s a photo of Frank with a shirt that says “Holiday Bowl,” as well as a postcard from Frank from “the only trip she’d known him to make” (99-100). The postcard is from San Francisco, from a trip Frank took to the city alone. Later, Jackie and Laura have dinner at Laura’s parents’ place in Beverly Hills, but the presence of Laura’s successful sister sours the dinner. Laura is in no mood to hang out after this, so Jackie leaves and ends up at a lesbian bar. To her surprise, Rebecca is there, and the two start drinking together while talking about different things. There’s seemingly sexual tension between the two: “[S]he wasn’t really attracted to her—but there was something between them, a challenge or a question” (105). Rebecca asks about Laura and makes a joke about Jackie not wanting to sleep with her. Jackie is having a great time, and she wonders to herself what it would be like to not have a girlfriend and how great it might feel to hang out like she and Rebecca are doing all the time.

During the last week in April of 1942, the government orders Japanese Americans to evacuate their homes: “They had a week, the orders said, to prepare for their departure” (107). Pandemonium ensues, with Japanese Americans selling off land, businesses, and household items, as well as destroying any items that might link them to Japan. Frank’s father, Kazuo, isn’t around for this, however, as the government took him right after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Agents interrogated him and a few of his friends and then whisked them away, even though the families don’t know who officially has done so. The government eventually resettles Frank and his remaining family in Manzanar. They take up jobs and must deal with the harsh environment of the desert. Although the heat is stifling, the wind is even worse. His mother makes a small garden and laments the fact that she and Kazuo came to America.

One day, the Sakais receive word that Kazuo has died. They ask the government to send his body to Manzanar. Frank goes to identify the body and notices that someone tortured his father. When he asks what he died of, an unconcerned soldier simply says, “heart attack” (114). To make matters worse, Frank’s sister Kumiko becomes pregnant but dies in a premature childbirth: “She died there giving birth, the blood draining out of her, the baby stuck and smothered between her small, unyielding hips” (114). To flee the pain and loss, Frank enrolls in the army with other boys wanting to flee the camps. He trains hard and ships out with the 442nd, an all-Japanese American unit. The higher-ups often give this capable yet expendable unit the toughest missions. Frank notes that, even though the media denounce his unit, the unit is special because no one in it wants to bring shame to their family, which means they are good soldiers.

Frank receives an injury in France while trying to ease the pain of his dying friend on the battlefield. A grenade goes off near him, knocking him out, and he wakes up in the hospital. He ends up losing some toes and part of a finger (he’ll walk with a limp from a botched surgery from now on), though he feels like he’s lost more than that. It’s as if the gangrene has reached his heart. He’s flown home, and officials release his mother from Manzanar. They try and resume their lives in Angeles Mesa, though it’s quiet without Kazuo and Kumiko. One day, Old Man Larabie tells Frank that he wants him to have his store. Larabie takes whatever monetary amount Frank has, even though the store is worth more. Frank now has something to look forward to, and he sets about making the store his own. Frank becomes a part of the neighborhood again, and as he does, his heart begins to thaw.