Most days she sits daydreaming about a life that is light years away from her. This affects her psyche and she starts reminiscing her life at the farm amongst flowers, family, and friends. The restlessness of getting news of her beloved grandfather and uncle also makes her uneasy at times. With no school and work, boredom starts creeping in her mind. It is only in the camp where Sumiko’s real struggle starts- a struggle which is most internal than external. In due course of time, they are shifted to Poston, a refugee camp in the desert of Arizona. They started selling off their possessions including their much-loved horse, Baba at peanuts. With the man of the house gone, Sumiko could only look towards an unknown future. It isn’t much later that her grandfather and uncle are arrested as well and Sumiko is only left with her elder cousins as the men of the house, to look after her and her little brother. Japanese were being tracked and removed from the social milieu.

The fear of oppression by the Government is always on their minds which leads them to lead frightening sleepless nights. The Japanese community starts feeling like caged individuals after losing their identity.

Sumiko’s dreams are crushed under the weight of nationality and war and she is taken out of school, her books are burnt, her family photo with her late parents are burnt too, to remove the trace of her Japanese identity. Those born in America but of Japanese nationality seemed to be fleeing away from the land towards safety. With the news of the bombings, starts coming news of Japanese arrests in America. Not only she helps in the farm post-school but also dreams of owning a flower shop of her own. Sumiko’s family is into farming flowers and she finds extreme solace in learning the tips and tricks of flower farming. The happy-go-lucky girl-next-door, Sumiko lives with her grandfather, uncle, and his family and her own little brother.

‘But, Bull, is it just because we’re Japanese?’ Twelve-year-old Sumiko is still not aware of the true consequence of her being Japanese when she asks her older brother Bull this question.

Weedflower book