Well, it was wrong of me to ask her to keep it from Tak-Wing and Father. I see that now. I thought I was protecting her. I thought I was protecting them. I don’t know what I thought. When the past comes back in the light of day, it feels so impossible to make sense of it, even of my own logic and my own actions.

After a while, she turned toward me again.

“We can tell them you hid in the supply closet with me, and that we heard a lot of screaming. But we’ll tell them we’re okay.”

“Okay, Violet,” she said. “You’re right, they won’t be able to handle it.”

My beautiful, clever, mischievous sister was gone, replaced by this pale, cold ghost. The lively young woman never came back, but somehow Emily went on living.

We were so exhausted that we fell asleep on that battered rattan couch. We were so distraught, though, that we didn’t sleep for long.

When we woke up, the young British couple told us that Hong Kong had surrendered. They had a radio, which made it possible for us to get the news. Masaichi Niimi and Takashi Sakai were named co-governors of the Japanese Occupation Administration.

CHAPTER 27WHEN IS A FISH NOT A FISH?

December 25, 1941