ithasignthatsaid‘Cat.’“

    “Whatkindofcat?”

    “Justanordinaryone.Brownstripes,shorttail.Andunbelievablyfat.Itjustploppeddownonitssideandlaythere.”

    “Maybecatsaren’tsooninHokkaido.”

    “You’rekidding,right?”heasked,astoheremustbecatsinHokkaido.They’tbethatunusual.”

    “Well,lookatitanotherway:whyshouldn’ttherebecatsinazoo?”Isaid.

    “They’reanimals,tht?”

    “Catsanddogsareyourrun-of-the-mill-typeanimals.Nobody’sgoingtopaymooseethem,”hesaid.“Justlookaroundyou-they’reeverywhere.Samethingwithpeople.”

    Whenwe’dfinishedoffasix-pack,Iputthesuitandtieandshoeboxintepaperbag.

    “Sorrytokeepdoingthistoyou,”Isaid.“IknowIshouldbuymyownsuit,butsomehowIaroundtoit.IfeellikeifIbuyfuneralclothesI’msayingit’sO.K.ifsomebodydies.”

    “It’snoproblem,”hesaid.“I’mnotusingthemanyway.It’sbettertohavesomeohemthantohavethemhanginginthecloset,right?”

    Itwastruethatihreeyearssincehe’dhadthesuitmadehe’dhardlywornit.

    “It’sweird,butsithesuitnorasinglepersonIknowhasdied,”heexplained.

    “That’sthewayitgoes.”

    “Yes,that’sthewayitgoes,”hesaid.

    Forme,oherhand,itwastheYearofFunerals.Friendsandformerfriendsdiedoeranother,likeearsofwitheringinadrought.Iwastwe.Myfriendswereallaboutthesameage—twenty-sevey-eight,twenty-therightagetodie.

    Apoetdiesattwenty-one,arevolutionaryorarockstarattwenty-four.Butafterthatyouassumethateverythingisgoingtobeallright.You’vemadeitpastDeadMan’sCurveandyou’reoutofthetunnel,cruisingstraightforyourdestinatio