“I know, Jimmy.” I lean in. Cupping his face in my hands, I try to smile. I run my fingers through his hair. “I think I saw him. My grandfather.” My voice trembles. “He was in Elsa’s images.”
“Did you tell anyone?” Jimmy stares at me, and I feel his gaze.
“No. If they find out, they’ll kick me out of the project.”
“What are you going to do about it?” He leans toward me.
“I don’t know.” I look down, feeling self-conscious.
“You don’t know?”
“What am I supposed to do? Righting the wrong is not my job. Just recording it.”
“That’s not what she thought.”
“Who?”
He points his chin at the TV screen. A picture of a woman in her thirties flashes across the screen. Dressed in somber suit of dark blue, she wears a faint smile. Her eyes are shaped like mine. Her long, smooth hair cascading over her shoulders. “She tried to intervene. Tried to change the past. That’s why she’s dead. She planned to go back to save her people. And somebody—”
“Are you serious?” I gasp. “You think she did—”
“No, I don’t think. I know.”
“How do you know?”
“Because we care about our people.”
“Your people? And mine don’t? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m stating a fact.” Jimmy frowns. “This is the fundamental difference between us.”
“Seriously? My people are murderous thugs. And your people are pacifists? Then what about Uyghur women and children? Tear-gassing Hong Kong activists? It’s happening right now! Don’t tell me you hold ancient history against me. I wasn’t even born yet.”
“Ancient?”
I nod, trying to calm down.
“Many of us were never born because of people like your grandfather. We had no chance.”
“I know, but it’s not my fault. What am I supposed to do? Go back in time and kill my grandfather? Give me a break. It has nothing to do with us, Jimmy!”
“You’re still complicit. You choose to ignore it. She chose another path. This is why our relationship is complicated.” Jimmy mumbles. “We carry so much cultural baggage. Your government hasn’t even owned up to any of this. You guys flatly deny any wrongdoing. Many of you still claim Japan waged a just war to save Asia! Now you say your beloved grandpa was part of this? How can you do this to us?”