Southland

Lanier goes to meet with Captain Robert Thomas, whom he considers a man of his father’s generation (though he doesn’t know his father). He notes the fear that Thomas instills in his underlings now that he’s captain. When Lanier first sees Thomas, he notes that, though he is in his 50s, he looks 10 years older. Thomas apologizes for hanging up on Lanier, who he thought was a reporter. They make small talk, and then Thomas points out people in photos, including his old partner, Oliver Paxton, who left the force right after the Watts Uprising. When Thomas talks about his past, there is bitterness and anger in his voice at the way others treated the Black officers on the force like a necessary evil. Lanier admits that he “had to work ten times as hard as the white cops to get any kind of respect” (136). However, Thomas himself openly hates many Black people, especially those he considers the “Southern masses with whom his family was lumped together” (136). Thomas has worked hard to make a life for himself and his family, and he believes that these “ignorant blacks” have set him back. When Lanier finally presses for information about the murders, Thomas seems surprised at the photo of Nick Lawson. He says that it will be near impossible for Lanier to get people to talk out against Lawson, and he indicates that he himself won’t speak against Lawson. Lanier suddenly feels fearful of Thomas, and before they part ways, Thomas tells Lanier, “You watch yourself, son” (136).

Lanier calls Jackie after meeting with Thomas and asks if she’d like to grab a bite to eat. She’s unsure, as she normally doesn’t do things so spontaneously, but she eventually agrees. She doesn’t take him to one of her usual lesbian spots, preferring to keep her orientation to herself. The restaurant is opposite CBS Studios, which reminds Jackie of the recent earthquake that caused so much devastation. Lanier mentions how severe Thomas is, and how he’s probably hiding something, though he feels that they might find out something from Oliver Paxton. Jackie then tells him about the cash, the unopened box, and the bowling ball. Lanier guesses that the ball is from Holiday Bowl and suggests that she follow that lead as old-timers who might have known Frank still frequent the lanes. They also plan to follow up on Derek Broadnax and his sister.

The two begin talking about their family histories, and Lanier launches into an acutely personal history. He doesn’t really remember his father, but he remembers a story about him. He was a medic in the Korean War, and he took in an 8-year-old girl whose parents were killed. One day, he was gone longer than usual, and when he returned, he found the girl dead: She had been raped and murdered, and someone had carved a racial slur into her stomach. Lanier’s father knew he’d be accused of the crime, so he buried the girl and waited until people nearly forgot. Then he took his revenge, killing eight white soldiers. After that, he didn’t care about anyone. Jackie, who has lived a far safer life, doesn’t know how to respond. She diverts to a lighter subject, angering Lanier, but then makes it right by acknowledging his story about his father.

Although they get back on the same page, Jackie’s world again turns upside down when she sees Laura and her friend Kristine ushered to a table. Things suddenly become awkward, with Laura acting accusatory towards Jackie, who is trying to appease Laura while also trying to keep their relationship a secret. Lanier is only slightly paying attention, however, as he’s reliving memories of his father. When Laura leaves angrily, he briefly wonders why she’s so attached. Later, Laura calls Jackie and demands answers. Jackie finally tells Laura an abridged version of what’s happening.

Frank is working in the store when he hears a rapping at the back door. When he goes to investigate, he finds Curtis bloody and beaten up. Derek is away on errands, so he can keep Curtis out of sight for a bit. He sets about trying to make him feel better while asking who his attackers are: “Looking at Curtis’s face, he thought of his father, lying sideways, bruised and beaten on the gurney. He felt that old anger fuse with this newer one and coil through him, twisting and twitching” (151). Curtis refuses to say who his attacker is, and the thought angers Frank enough that he wonders if he and Victor Conway can still take on those who did this. Curtis also doesn’t want Frank to tell Alma, which means he wants Frank to lie. Frank genuinely cares about Curtis and wants the best for him. When Derek returns, Frank goes outside and flags down a police officer. It turns out to be Lawson, and against his better judgment, Frank tells him about the incident with Curtis. Lawson doesn’t care and belittles both Curtis and Frank. As Lawson leaves, Frank wonders “not for the first time since he’d come back to the States, if he’d defeated or even recognized the enemy” (155).

Jackie breaks a time-honored routine of spending weekends together with Laura by leaving early for Holiday Bowl: “The inviolate had been violated. And this was now the second time” (156). When Jackie arrives in the morning (as Lanier and Lois instructed her to do), she’s surprised at what she sees in the coffee shop. There are elderly Black and Japanese American men and women co-existing in the same space. She’s seen gatherings of elderly Japanese American people, and gatherings of elderly Black people, but never the two together like this. She tries to play it cool and order breakfast, and when she’s settled, she asks the waitress about Frank.

The waitress is surprised to hear that Jackie is Frank’s granddaughter. She goes off and talks to an elderly Japanese American couple, who then invite Jackie to sit with them. The Nakamuras, Bradly and Christina (Tina), knew Frank well. They also seem to know more about Jackie than Jackie does about herself: “[Jackie] shifted in her chair. It bothered her that this man knew the outline of her life when she hadn’t even known he existed” (159). The Nakamuras recall the Saturday that Frank brought Jackie to the Holiday Bowl, even though Jackie’s mom got upset at the action. Tina’s brother was a No-No Boy during the war (he opposed fighting against the Japanese), which meant both whites and Japanese Americans shunned him, except for Frank.

When Jackie asks about any surviving friends of Frank’s, Tina mentions Kenji Hirano but warns her because Kenji is old and mostly incoherent. He comes in on Tuesday mornings to bowl, however. When Jackie leaves, she realizes she forgot to visit the bowling alley, but she’s had enough for one day. Tina and Bradley then wonder if it was the right call to tell her about Kenji, given his state of mind. Tina visits him in the bowling alley and tells him that Frank’s granddaughter wants to meet with him eventually, but he simply mutters about God and being cold.

Kenji and his family are devout Catholics. He takes up bowling in 1955 because he believes that Jesus has told him to. It was his father Seiichi, in fact, who was instrumental in helping the Catholic Church of Little Tokyo come to fruition when he asked via post if he could be pardoned for his sins because he had to “defer to the Lord in the case of his son” (164). The US denied Seiichi a visa, so he came via Mexico. The Hiranos evacuated to Heart Mountain, and that’s where Kenji defied Jesus. Jesus appeared to him and told him not to have a child yet, but Kenji had heard the rumors about how the Americans planned to sterilize Japanese American men. Although he didn’t initially love his wife Yuki, passion soon grew, and they began filling the time by making love. Kenji then went off to war but returned for the birth of his child. To his horror, his wife was swollen beyond recognition when he returned, due to the prescribed salt tablets she took for dehydration. When the white doctor finally arrived, he was visibly drunk, and even the nurse was nervous. The doctor ended up brutally mishandling the delivery, killing Yuki and the baby.

Kenji didn’t kill the doctor, but he took out his rage on all the soldiers he killed in Italy. However, his anger wasn’t satisfied: “Twelve years later, Kenji didn’t know what to do with his hands, which still shook from not strangling the doctor” (168). It wasn’t until Jesus told him to bowl that he found something to do with his restless hands. He then asked Frank to teach him how to bowl.