41 Even after Hatsumomo has gone from Okiya, Sayuri and the maids
on okiya Nitta could still sense her presence to abuse everyone as usual. We can see from the following quotation:
Whenever I climbed the stairs to the second floor of the Okiya, I still kept my eyes lowered for fear that Hatsumomo would be waiting
there for landing, eager for someone to abuse. I can ‘t tell you how
many times I reached that last step and looked up suddenly with the realization that there was no Hatsumomo, and there never would be
again. I knew she was gone, and yet the very emptiness of the hall seems to suggest something of her presence. Golden, 1997: 331
After time passed, everyone on okiya adapted on the current new
environment and slowly forgot about Hatsumomo. A peaceful life freed from Harsumomo tyranny and abuse has come for Sayuri and everyone in okiya.
4.2.2.2 Sayuri against Mameha
Mameha was certainly one of these top geishas. She was probably one of the two or three well-known geishas throughout Japan. She was also
the one who guided Sayuri to become a Geisha. As the older sister, Mameha always guided Sayuri resulting on
Sayuri‘s popularity, one of the result was Sayuri‘s mizuage became the most highly-paid in that era compared to the
other Geisha in the Gion. Conflict with Mameha happened when Sayuri was got promoted into
Mameha ‘s sister, while Pumpkin promoted into Hatsumomo sister. Both of
Hatsumomo and Mameha were rivals and they were willing to make their younger sister into the most successful geisha in Gion. Because of that,
Sayuri got dragged into the conflict. We can see from the following dialogue:
42 ―Yes… Well, that‘s all fine, but I‘m not just talking about how hard
you work. You ‘ll have to be careful not to let Hatsumomo trick you.
And, for Heaven ‘s sake, don‘t do anything to make your debts worse
than they are. Don ‘t break even a single teacup‖
I promised her I wouldn ‘t; but I must confess that when I thought of
Hatsumomo tricking me again … Well, I wasn‘t sure how I could
defend myself if she tried. ―There‘s one more thing,‖ Mameha said. ―Whatever you and I
discuss must be kept private. You are never to tell any of it to Hatsumomo. Even if we
‘ve only talked about weather, do you understand? If Hatsumomo asks what I said, you must tell her.
‗Oh, Hatsumomo-san, Mameha-san never says anything of interest As
soon as I ‘ve heard it, it slips right out of my mind. She‘s the dullest
person alive ‘ ‖ Golden, 1997: 120
Mameha was cold to Sayuri for awhile when the bidding for Sayuri mizuage being held. It was because she knew that the Baron, Mameha
‘s danna, was also participating on it. But few days later, she was back as usual
and supported Sayuri. We can see from the following dialogue: ―Oh, no, the bidding between Dr. Crab and Nobu went just as I‘d
hoped, ‖ she told me, ― and the final figure was a considerable sum.
The moment I found out, I knew Mrs. Nitta would certainly adopt you. I couldn
‘t be more pleasant‖. This is what she said. But the truth, as I came to understand in
stages over the following years, was something quite different. For one thing, the bidding hadn
‘t been a contest between Dr. Crab and Nobu at all. It had been ended up a contest between Dr. Crab and the
Baron. I can ‘t imagine how Mameha must have felt about this; but
I ‘m sure it accounts for why she was suddenly so cold toward me for
a short time, and why she kept to herself the story of what had really happened. Golden, 1997: 277
Mameha probably felt jealous and uneasy when she heard about Baron participated on Sayuri mizuage bidding. Even though she tried to
surpress her feeling from Sayuri, she can ‘t hide it perfectly. As the result
43 Sayuri wondered what happened on Mameha and why she act cold toward her,
until Mameha back like usual few days later.
4.2.2.3 Sayuri against Chairman
