The Memory Police

A few days after the quake, the town struggles to recover in the cold and austerity. The narrator thinks she sees Professor Inui’s son’s gloves through a small gap in the canvas of a Memory Police truck.

Somewhat unsettled—physically and emotionally unhomed—by the earthquake, the old man moves in with the narrator. He completes repairs around the house but doesn’t have anyone check on his wounds. The narrator, the old man, and R discover that some of the abstract sculptures her mother made were broken in the quake, and there are objects hidden inside. These are objects that have disappeared, so the old man and the narrator are unsure how to handle them. R identifies them as a ferry ticket—“the same ferry the old man worked on” (212)—candy, and a harmonica; he encourages the narrator to share anything she can think of related to them, trying to wake “up [the narrator’s] sleeping soul” (213).

She shares a memory of her mother showing her the ticket from the secret drawers. R plays some songs on the harmonica, and she remembers organ lessons from her childhood. The narrator also attempts to play some songs on the harmonica, and they eat some of the hard lemon candy.