THE RABBIT QUEEN” screamed the headline of the never-shy New York Daily News. The same headline, in more subdued typography, topped Jack Crawford’s column:
… I know the Rabbit Queen. I do not fathom why she is such a nexus of events. I doubt if anyone can.
The bare facts don’t give me a clue. Ms. Usagi Chiba came to America with her family at the end of the Nineties. She already had one child; she had another shortly after dropping out of high school. She was crippled by an unsolved shooting. She married, but her husband was among the dead at the White House last June.
She does have friends who are famous. Michiru, of course. Minako Jones, married into the family of a famous gang leader I myself helped to make known beyond his California fiefdom. Makoto Urawa, famous for fleeing the country rather than surrender two children she had taken in to the questionable care of their natural parents. And now, the queen of a people come to us from another star.
It is true that the Rabbit Queen lives in a huge mansion. She doesn’t own it, nor does her family. She spends most of her day caring for her own children—five of them, including an orphan she is trying to adopt—and those of her friends, who literally number in the dozens. She finds time to sew a remarkable number of quilts and plush toys.
Kensington, where she lives, is an aging community, especially in her neighborhood. However, if you ask any of the families there who have children, except perhaps those vocal souls who follow Reverend Swainson, they will probably tell you that the one person in the neighborhood they trust to watch their children is the widow Chiba. Look at any newborn nearby, and chances are excellent it will be wrapped in a quilt made by Ms. Chiba, usually one festooned with moons and stars or rabbits.
I don’t know about you, but I feel a little safer when I hear that aliens from outer space would rather trust in Usagi Chiba than something like the United Nations. I think the UN has done some of the best things in this world. But who would you trust with your kids: The Security Council? Or a gentle woman usually found chasing after tots in her wheelchair.