Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

After the discovery in the hotel, Henry, Marty, and Samantha stop by a grocery store so Samantha can buy ingredients for dinner, which she insists on cooking. Henry and Marty discuss their findings, which Ms. Pettison has allowed Henry to take on a temporary basis. Henry tells Marty about Keiko for the first time, explaining that she was his best friend during the war years. Marty understands the implications this friendship would have had with his fiercely anti-Japanese grandfather. He asks if Ethel knew about Keiko. Henry’s answer is that when he married Ethel, he never looked back.

On Thursday, Henry returns to school alone. On the way, he throws out the new button his father has given him, a red, white, and blue button reading “I am American.” When the students begin to taunt Henry during lunch service, Mrs. Beatty steps in to stop them by telling him they are out of food. She asks Henry if he would like to earn some extra money by coming with her to Camp Harmony as a food service assistant.

On their way to Camp Harmony that weekend, Henry learns that Mrs. Beatty’s father, a merchant marine, has been in a German POW camp for the last two years. When they arrive in Puyallup, a small farming community, Henry gets his first glimpse of the sprawling Camp Harmony behind miles of barbed wire fencing. The barracks themselves are horse stalls, meant to house animals during the state fair.

After passing through security, they begin to set up in the kitchen. The food is canned, greasy, and unappealing. Prisoners begin to file through the lunch line, and Henry asks repeatedly if anyone knows the Okabes, but without any luck.

A week later, Henry and Mrs. Beatty return to Camp Harmony. Henry realizes that Mrs. Beatty has some sort of black market arrangement going on, where she is siphoning off supplies from the school and trading them in exchange for cigarettes. As he serves food, Henry again asks if anyone knows the Okabes. Keiko’s father, in line for food, overhears him and tells Henry he can meet Keiko at the visitors’ station.

Henry is afraid to wander too far away from Mrs. Beatty and be mistaken for Japanese. He stands at the barbed-wire fence with a few other visitors, waiting for Keiko. When she approaches, looking sick from a recent bout of food poisoning, Keiko tells Henry that she has dreamed about him recently. Henry asks if he can do anything for her family, and she gives him a list of things he can bring when he returns—stationary, stamps, and fabric for making curtains. She also asks for a record to listen to during her birthday celebration in a week, which will be the camp’s first organized social. Henry agrees, knowing it will be difficult to locate another Oscar Holden record for her. To thank him for visiting, Keiko gives Henry some dandelions she picked from their horse stall.

In the morning Henry’s father reports that the war has been going very well for the Chinese, with several major victories. With the situation in China somewhat secure, he is planning to send Henry there to study when he turns 13, a tradition for Chinese American families. Henry, however, has no desire to live with strangers in China.

He sets out to find the items on Keiko’s list, passing the boarded-up Panama Hotel. As he is wondering if there is a way to get inside, Henry sees that some other boys—Chaz and several others—have entered through a smashed window and are beginning to vandalize the property held in the hotel for safekeeping. Henry grabs an abandoned broom handle and threatens the boys. Several run off, and Henry’s fury causes even Chaz to back down. As he walks away, he sees a police officer pull over Chaz for questioning about the looting.