However, if I was to make my way to Tokyo I’d have to find work on a ship that would take me there, which would mean leaving the convenient job I had. These were the matters on my mind as we walked along the beach that evening – Mo, Ela and me. It was Ela who kept saying, ‘You have to go and find your brother.’ But I was thinking of my comfortable life. Chappy was alive. The war had been over for thirteen years, so what was stopping him from returning to his wife and children, or at least finding a way of contacting them.

‘You won’t be happy if you don’t go and find your brother.’ I knew Ela was right, but I kept trying to think of other solutions. That is until Mo, fingering his chest, said, ‘Chappy sick.’

All right, I had to go to Tokyo, even though I didn’t know what I would be able to achieve by it. Japanese immigration to New Zealand was not possible at the time, and having a wife and family in New Zealand could seem a falsification if all he had to show was a marriage certificate bearing the name of Chappy Star. I wondered if it could even incriminate him.

Before driving Mo back to his ship, I wrote a note for him to deliver to Chappy saying I would come when I could. I don’t know if he ever received it or, if he did, whether he was able to find someone to interpret it for him.

I’d first met my wife’s brother-in-law Ishy on the day of our wedding. At the time he was struggling to set up his business and had been away from home seeking custom. Not long after my marriage to Ela, I began helping him in his enterprise by delivering packages to different Hawaiian destinations, and then further afield to marketplaces round the Pacific. Smuggled goods? I don’t know. I didn’t ask. Anyway, it was all harmless as far as I was concerned – watches, rings and the like. Not like these days with all this trafficking. Maybe Ishy didn’t have a licence, or maybe it was just a cheaper or more convenient way of doing things.

Ishy wanted to pay me for the work I did, but I didn’t want payment, being only too pleased to be of use to my wife’s family. One Christmas, Ishy gave me a very nice jewelled watch for my mother, which I was happy to accept. My mother wore it to social gatherings, especially when she went out to play cards. She said it brought her luck. Its sparkle distracted others round the table while she spread out before them her pairs, three of a kind, queen high flushes, full houses.