BooksBarbecue
Back This Time Will Be Different Save as PDF
Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part I
  6. 3
  7. The History of My Beef with Brynn Foer-Preston
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part I
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part I
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part II
  20. 13
  21. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part II
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. The Complicated History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Imaginary Relationship with Her Nonexistent Dad
  29. 20
  30. 21
  31. 22
  32. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part III
  33. 23
  34. 24
  35. 25
  36. A Brief, Backward History of the McAllister Family, as Paraphrased from the San Jose Mercury News
  37. 26
  38. 27
  39. 28
  40. A Quick and Eerily Relevant History of Asians in America
  41. 29
  42. 30
  43. 31
  44. 32
  45. 33
  46. 34
  47. 35
  48. 36
  49. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part IV
  50. 37
  51. 38
  52. 39
  53. 40
  54. 41
  55. 42
  56. 43
  57. 44
  58. A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part II (Or Maybe It’s a Prequel)
  59. 45
  60. 46
  61. 47
  62. 48
  63. 49
  64. 50
  65. 51
  66. 52
  67. 53
  68. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part III
  69. 54
  70. A Note from the Author
  71. Index of Flowers and their Meanings
  72. Acknowledgments
  73. About the Author
  74. Praise for This Time Will Be Different
  75. Books by Misa Sugiura
  76. Back Ad
  77. About the Publisher

After presenting Hannah with those accursed pine cones back at Heart’s Desire, we tell her about our idea.

“What if we went to the Mercury News, or KRON, and told them about what’s happening? It would be a great story.” I put my hands up to frame an imaginary headline: “Rich racist cheats local family out of property; family struggles and succeeds in buying it back; racist takes it all away again.”

“That’s perfect!” cries Hannah.

“Kind of long, though, don’t you think?” Owen jokes. Ha ha. I make a face at him.

“But the concept is perfect,” says Hannah. “It’s local, it’s topical, and everybody loves family drama. And it’s terrible press for McAllister. And free advertising for us. CJ, you’ve saved the day!”

“It’s all about controlling the narrative,” I say sweetly.

Hannah cackles. “This is a total Mimi move. She’d be so proud of you. And here I thought you were more like me.” I don’t know how to feel about that. This is a total Mom move. Do I want to be like her? And is going to the press behind Mom’s back—after she explicitly told us to keep things quiet—something to be proud of?

By the time we finish the email to Geoffrey Acosta at the Merc, Hannah is positively gleeful, but I’m starting to have second thoughts. As I re-read it for the last time, though, I remember that we’re sending this email because of the move that Mom pulled on us in the first place. That’s it. I decide to be proud of myself.

“All right,” I say. “Send it.”

17

MOM’S ANNOUNCEMENT OF WHAT SHE CALLS her contingency plan has made being at home super stressful. Mom and Hannah seem to have come to some kind of agreement not to fight in front of me again, but that doesn’t mean they’re getting along. It’s like they’re constantly circling the ring, ready to strike; when the opportunity arises, they lunge at each other with a few sharp, stabby, passive-aggressive comments, and then retreat to their corners once they remember I’m there.

Work hasn’t been much better: Hannah made a few calls to places like the Japanese American Citizens League to see if they’d donate money to help out a historic Japanese American business, but since our problems are really more personal than civic, they declined to get involved. And since Mom poked holes in the anniversary-sale idea, Hannah has kind of dropped the whole thing. Even the fact that I’m free tonight is tempered by the fact that we don’t have a wedding to prep for tomorrow. The email to the Merc feels like our only hope. It’s been a full week since we’ve sent it, and with every day that passes, I feel my optimism wilt a little.