Weedflower

Sumiko wears her mint green school dress on the day of the evacuation. She says goodbye to the kusabana flowers she loves so much and retrieves some of Uncle’s special seeds for new strains he was working on. She finds some labeled “STOCK—SUMIKO STRAIN” (78) and brings them with her. The family can take only a few things, and Bull makes a special box for Tak-Tak’s pet crickets. Sumiko sadly surveys the deserted community as they leave, and wonders if they’ll ever return. She knows they cannot even run away because no one would be sympathetic to them. When they reach the drop-off point, they see their neighbor, Mrs. Ono, who’s distraught at having to leave her dog behind. A long line of army trucks comes, and they all climb aboard.

The trucks stop at a racetrack in San Carlos, California filled with rows of barracks. Armed soldiers stand by as everyone gets their stable assignment and fills their mattresses with straw. Ichiro learns that about 20,000 people will live at the racetrack until they’re sent to permanent camps. Dinner is served cafeteria-style on trays, and it upsets