by five, samiko had learned a few things. one, do not upset the hierarchy among the other children. the eldest children ruled the roost, and there was nothing to be done about it. you learned to defend yourself as soon as possible. two, do not expect to be coddled. crying gets you nowhere. three, do not spend your hours daydreaming about being adopted. while adoption rates throughout europe and the u.s. cap out at around 90%, japan's adoption rate is a measly 10%. once in a while, samiko's yakuza "brother" as she began to call him, would stop by the orphanage to leave her gifts. the orphanage looked down on any of these visits, but didn't stop them completely, as the yakuza is feared throughout the country. "you are sumiyoshi-kai," he would tell her. "a daughter of seki." the words meant nothing to samiko, but she looked forward to his visits.
at six, samiko was enrolled in school, and playing at a park one afternoon when she was nearly run over by the lovely couple, philip and susanna ward. distraught and disturbed at their carelessness, susanna insisted that they accompany the young girl to her home, to ensure she was taken care of properly, and that her scrapes and bruises were tended to. imagine their surprise when the sweet, dimple-cheeked samiko led them to an orphanage. within six weeks, samiko was whisked from her former life and transplanted into a life in middle america, thanks to philip and susanna. renamed samantha, (a tribute to her given name), the girl's world turned upside down. no longer was she sleeping in a room with nine other girls, on a thin mattress that scratched and squeaked each time she rolled over. no longer was she subject to the bullies of the orphanage. the ward family took her in as one of their own, even though they already had a daughter near her age.
caroline ward, age six, was skeptical at this foreigner that had been plopped into her life. she barely spoke at all, let alone trying to get her to speak english. she'd been the apple of her parents eye for her entire life, and now she had to share? that didn't seem very fair. in fact, she hadn't even been consulted on the matter! how rude. but caroline did her duty as her sister, and toted samantha to country day academy with her, showing her the ropes, and communicating with her in a way that only sisters know how. during an after school tiff, where another classmate was bullying caroline for a rumor going around about her father (politics, i tell ya), samantha stepped in and served up a dish of retribution the only way she knew how. with a swift kick to the face. after that, the girls were inseperable. and caroline was the only person samantha ever allowed to call her samiko.
while the swift kick samantha delivered to the unsuspecting brat was looked down upon by her parents, rather than fighting her, susanna enrolled her in martial arts classes. it would teach her restraint, not to mention it would keep her in touch with her culture. at least this is what susanna told herself as she took samantha to karate, while she dropped caroline off at ballet. samantha continued her studies in martial arts, finding the ritual of it all to be soothing, to help center her when she was feeling overwhelmed. she adjusted into her new life easily, as young children are so malleable. soon enough, she spoke flawless english, laughed at all the right jokes, and understood american cultural references. she took up soccer, taught her classmates dirty words in japanese, and defended her family fiercely, at all costs.
when it came to college, the girls decided to go separate ways. samantha was accepted at brown, and caroline at her father's alma mater, university of michigan. living halfway across the country from one another proved difficult for the girls, but they managed with phone calls, letters, and visits. it was on one of these visits during sophomore year that samantha and caroline piled into a car on their way home from a party, and got into a severe car accident. while samantha made it through with a few scrapes and bruises, a concussion, and a few stitches, she was the only survivor of the accident. caroline remained in a coma for days before passing away. susanna begged samantha to come home, but philip could barely look at her. so samantha stayed on the east coast, found herself a prestigious internship at the white house, and burying herself in her schoolwork. to say that neither samantha nor her parents ever recovered from losing caroline would be an understatement. to this day, their relationship remains strained, and samantha blames herself.
after two summers interning at the white house, samantha graduated from brown with honors, and a double major in political science and communications. she was offered a position as a white house aide, assisting the white house press secretaries fleischer and mclellan from 2003-2005. (ah, the bush administration.) ironically, she wound up in the field of politics, where she was more likely to run into her father than any other place. she gained a reputation as a sort of good time party girl, who was somehow able to play hard, and work hard, rubbing elbows with powerful men in politics. her tastes were very refined. after two years as an assistant, she decided to return to school to study law, this time at harvard. after spending her time at law school, she contemplated returning to d.c. for another position in politics - but instead, was inexplicably pulled to boston. in 2008, with her law degree in hand, samantha shacked up in a questionable apartment and denied any help from her parents. rather than take her parents money, she attempted a stint at bartending to help pay her bills. turns out, she really preferred being on the other side of the bar. after an arrangement with her father was made, samantha was able to dive into her freelance work full time. and thus, ward and associates was born. with her connections in d.c., her family name, and her reputation as a fixer, samantha began to make a name for herself in the city of boston, the city she hasn't been able to bring herself to leave, no matter how many offers she gets.
