Weedflower

Sumiko has always loved dirt, especially its rich smell. However, the dirt in Poston doesn’t have the right scent. She asks Bull why her stock seeds haven’t sprouted yet, and he tells her that the dirt needs “organic matter” (150). She mixes chicken droppings into the garden soil, and day after day runs to check on her seeds. She’s overjoyed when they finally start sprouting and constructs small domes out of sheet pieces to protect them from bugs. When the flowers bloom, they’re different colors and fill the air with the scent she loves. She wants to enter the garden in a camp competition, but Mr. Moto feels that they don’t have a chance at winning. Sumiko writes to Uncle and Jiichan about using the Sumiko Strain seeds that Uncle developed. Now that Sumiko is adding the chicken droppings to the dirt, it’s healthy and is the same rich scent that she used to know.

In September, the government offers to relocate Japanese Americans to various jobs around the country because of a labor shortage. Many people don’t take the offer seriously. The government would give them only one hundred dollars to resettle and start new homes, and the jobs would be low paying, like picking crops or working in a factory. After losing everything because of the government, people aren’t keen on starting over with so little. Furthermore, they know that conditions may be dangerous for them, since many Americans wouldn’t treat them kindly outside of camp. No one in Sumiko’s family wants to leave, including Sumiko, who feels like she at least has a few friends and the garden to keep her busy.

She goes to the bean field one day to gather more cuttings for Mr. Moto and brings an extra cup of ice in case Frank is there. She finds Frank among the bean plants, and although their conversation starts on edge, the tension doesn’t last. Frank says that although the Native Americans didn’t want the Japanese on their land at the start, the Office of Indian Affairs now wants them to stay. Because the Japanese have been farming the land, the government is paying to bring water to the reservation. Sumiko shares that her family came from California, and Frank explains that he’s Mohave but that other tribes are being brought to the reservation. They talk about the many things they’ve lost, and Sumiko cries uncontrollably when she thinks about all the changes and losses she’s endured. Frank comforts her and calls her “Weedflower Girl” before leaving the field and telling Sumiko to meet him again in two days.

Sumiko enters the garden competition without telling Mr. Moto. Other than working on the garden, she has little to occupy her time and mostly tries to find ways to stay cool despite the heat. She returns to the bean field to see Frank, and he shares a little about his culture with her: He cannot eat the snake she brought to share because the Mohave believe that some animals are their ancestors. He also shares that his father died, and Sumiko explains that her parents both died in a car accident. One of Frank’s brothers already joined the army, and his other brother, Joseph, is leaving soon for basic training. Joseph is interested in farming after the war and wants to meet Sumiko’s cousin to learn about irrigation. Frank asks Sumiko to think about arranging a meet-up between Joseph and Bull to talk about farming.

On the day of the gardening contest, Sumiko admits to Mr. Moto that she entered their garden, only to find that he did the same. They make their garden look its best for the when the judges pass. That evening, the Native American basketball team from the local high school comes to play the Camp Three team. The paper warns the Native American boys to stay away from the Camp Three girls, and Sumiko wonders if someone found out about her friendship with Frank. After the game, a Japanese girl talks to a Native American player, and soon other members of each team come over to them and tell them to stay away from each other. Bull intervenes to deescalate the situation before a fight breaks out, but Sumiko later overhears young boys taunting the girl who was talking to the Native American player. The situation is unsettling to Sumiko. She realizes that having Frank as a friend means that she may have to stand up for him or hold her head high if people call her names. When she returns to her barrack that evening, she finds a third-place ribbon on her door and celebrates by eating cooked snake with Mr. Moto.