Chin saw that donations for lessons were dropping. While some complained that it was because business was down everywhere, Chin felt it was due to Master Wu’s voluntary payment policy. Against Master Wu’s objections, Chin started charging for the lessons and housing. The strategy backfired. Rather than pay for what they used to get for free, students stopped coming.
An even bigger issue was Bruce Lee. Everyone everywhere was so enamored of him that anyone thinking about martial arts wanted to be just like this shrieking movie star chick magnet. Instead of Master Wu’s strict, integrated discipline of meditation, Scripture study and martial arts, Chin saw students flocking to teachers of Bruce Lee’s looser styles of martial arts, Jeet Kune Do and Wing Chun.
No boring stuff. All action. Kicking and punching and yelling and leaping like madmen. Chin could see the appeal. Secretly, he himself was bored with study and meditation.
Chin tried to persuade Master Wu to follow suit, but this was one area Master Wu refused to budge on: Shaolin was spiritual as well as physical.
* * *
With this impasse on direction, it was inevitable that Master Wu’s empire would crumble. Over the next six months, huge debt accumulated, more students dropped out... Seriously diminished income, falling reputation, empty studios. No amount of marketing or branding could save a product nobody wanted.
And then... hell.
One morning, Master Wu discovered three of his remaining students dead at the doorstep of the flagship studio/temple.
He was beside himself. He cried, he rent his clothes, he flagellated himself but, of course, that did diddly squat. He suspected what had happened and confronted the three ringleaders, Chin, Garret and Tommy. Garret and Tommy were ignorant, but Chin defiantly confessed.
“I did this for you; I did this for us. Because you refused to change and wouldn’t accept what I tried to tell you to do, I had to go out and find another way,” snarled Chin.
“There is only one way, the Way,” cried Master Wu.
“You are so pigheaded. Of course, there are other ways. I borrowed money.”
“More money than we borrowed from the banks?” exclaimed Master Wu.
“Of course.”
Garret and Tommy were dumbstruck. Although Chin did not state so directly, he didn’t need to. Master Wu, Garret and Tommy knew that Chin had borrowed money from the Triads, those huge, historic and violent criminal organizations that controlled so much of Asia’s underground. When he didn’t pay back, retribution was swift.
“And, if you don’t start changing now, old man, things will get even worse. You have to do what I say.”
A line in the sand had been crossed. Let alone the deception, no one had ever insulted Master Wu. Master Wu cared little about the personal attack but the honor of the Shaolin was at stake.
“That is totally against everything I stand for, everything I have taught you.”
“You said you wanted to reach out to the world. That is what I have done. This is the way of the future.”
“If this is the way of the future, I will have none of it. I forbid you to continue.”
“I don’t have to listen to you anymore. I am a Shaolin master, too,” sneered Chin. “This will be my future. Goodbye.”
“If that is your future, so be it. I will live in the past,” said Master Wu.
As Chin walked away, Master Wu turned to Garret and Tommy. “Do not join him.”
Garret and Tommy avoided Master Wu’s eyes as they followed Chin.
Chapter 5
Master Wu spent the rest of the day in his studio, fasting, meditating and praying.
He did that all the next day, too.
And the next day as well, until the bailiffs arrived and kicked him out. They left Master Wu with nothing other than the Shaolin martial arts uniform he wore: a plain, loose-fitting shirt with wide sleeves hanging almost to mid-thigh and baggy, pajama-like pants.
It was the lowest point of his life, and the master found himself staring at the sky, wondering if he shouldn’t have listened to Sigong Zhang from Heaven and stayed at the mountain monastery. Shamefully, he even thought of taking his own life, which would accomplish nothing. It wouldn’t bring back the lives of the three disciples entrusted to him.
But it would relieve his pain. And it would also ensure that he never made that mistake again.
Suddenly, he felt a tug on his jacket.
Master Wu looked down and saw a concerned seven-year-old boy.
“Hi, Mister. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Why do you ask?” Master Wu asked, curious about the young boy.
“Well, you keep on looking at the sky as if you’re hoping to see something, but there’s nothing up there except clouds. All the stuff is happening down here.”
The little boy nodded his head toward the vibrant, narrow street full of hawkers, lovers, haters, vendors selling crazy knickknacks.
The child extended his hand. “I’m Noah Reid.”
“I am Master Wu.”
“I know. I’ve seen you in action.”
“You have?” Master Wu was surprised and cautious. Surprised because he had never seen Noah before, and cautious because he worried about what Noah might have seen.
“Yup. Sometimes I stand in your doorway and watch you. You are amazing. Can we go back inside your studio and you can show me some more?”
“Well, thank you, Noah Reid. But I don’t live there anymore,” Master Wu told him.
“Where do you live then?”
“Nowhere right now.”
“Hm.” Noah thought hard for a moment. “Let’s go to my place. You can stay with us. I’m from Shanghai. I don’t remember it because I was just two when we left. I’d like to go back and see it again someday, though.”
The two began walking. A flicker of life emerged in Master Wu as the energy and ambience of the neighborhood soaked in. There was nothing he could do about the past, but being with this innocent boy ignited something that he had not felt for a long time—hope. Just like Noah said, All the stuff is happening down here.
“Maybe I’ll go with you when you head back to Shanghai.”
“Cool.”
Master Wu enjoyed the stroll with Noah, who chattered non-stop. When they arrived at the tenement building where Noah lived, it was up five flights of stairs—no elevator.
“We’re almost there.”
Master Wu squeezed Noah’s hand as they walked to the end of the dark hall to the last apartment. It gave the sifu comfort that Noah squeezed back.
There was a sign on the door: “GOOD SHEPHERD SCHOOL.”
“You wait here, please.”
Noah entered to see his parents, George and Sarah, in their living room cum classroom. A few of their pupils were graduating, and they hoped to get scholarships for college. Without them, there was no way they could ever hope to go. Tomorrow was another application deadline, and George and Sarah were frantically going over last-minute details with the students.
“Hi, Mommy, hi, Daddy,” greeted Noah.
“Hello, Noah,” replied his mother, not bothering to look up. “Wash your hands and pour yourself a glass of milk.”
“Mommy, Daddy, I made a new friend.”
Without glancing up, George replied, “That’s nice. Friends are good to have.”
“Can he live with us?” asked the young boy.
Now Noah had their attention. It was one thing to adopt a stray dog or cat, but it was another to bring a human into the equation.
“Can we meet him?” asked Sarah in a friendly voice.
“Sure.”
Noah opened the door to the flat, and Master Wu entered.
This was not what George and Sarah expected to see. Instead of a boy Noah’s own age, there was a Chinese man older than themselves.
And he appeared to be a Buddhist monk.
Quite the surprise for the Christian missionary teachers.
And then, another shock. From his standing position, the monk bowed h
is head so low that the top of his head touched the floor.
He straightened, stood tall and announced simply, “I am Wu. I am a Shaolin master of Hung Gar.”
Now, some people might complain if their kid came home and asked if someone could live with them, especially someone they didn’t know anything about.
Not the Reids, though. Someone had always stayed in their living room or bunked in with Noah or, every now and then, stayed in their room, too. They’d never thought of doing a background check or asking questions and weren’t about to start now.
However, they did know that no one wanted to be considered a charity case, especially a middle-aged Chinese man, monk or not. Sarah noticed Master Wu’s tired eyes and the stubble on his face. Her maternal instincts told her he needed something to eat, and she excused herself.
George smiled and offered his hand. “Very nice to meet you, Master Wu. Noah wants you to stay with us. If you are willing, we would be most honored if you would.”
“I accept.” Master Wu gave the Shaolin hand sign to George.
Noah nudged Master Wu. “You’re supposed to shake his hand. Like this.”
Noah took Master Wu’s hand and shook it. “That’s how you do it.”
“I see.”
Noah nodded approvingly as Master Wu shook George’s hand.
Sarah re-entered, carrying a plate of cookies. She tripped on one of Noah’s toys on the floor, sending the cookies flying. With lightning speed, Master Wu snatched the tiny delicacies out of the air before they hit the ground and put them back onto the plate.
Noah dashed to the master and pulled on his jacket. “Can you teach me how to do that?”
“It will be my privilege, Noah.”
Chapter 6
It’s done. Chin was thrilled that he finally severed ties with Master Wu. The old man’s insistence of integrating spiritual mumbo jumbo was an affliction he was so glad to be rid of. Of course, Wu would undoubtedly say it was the beginning of the end or some such nonsense. No way. This marked the beginning of the beginning.
Chin knew that Garret and Tommy hadn’t a clue as to how far he had traveled, but they were stupid. As long as he tossed them a few bones, they’d be there for the ride. Being an ascetic vegetarian Shaolin monk had much less appeal to the young men than fancy women, flashy cars and fantastic food. His so-called best friends hadn’t a clue as to what made him tick. If they did, they might not have teamed up with him.
Psychologists would have had a field day with Chin if he ever let them close to him.
Chin recalled when he was three years old and had asked for a stuffed Panda bear. His father’s response? “I’m not going to waste my money on you.”
The next day, when his father was not there, his mother bought him the bear and took it to his bedroom.
“Thank you, Mommy!” Young Chin kissed her over and over again. “I love you!”
“Oh, I don’t think you do. You’re just saying that because I gave you a toy,” replied his mother, pushing her son away.
“I mean it. I would do anything for you. Anything.” He hugged her as tight as he could, repeating his streams of kisses.
This time, his mother responded. Chin felt her tongue licking his cheek. It felt kind of strange... “I don’t like this, Mommy.”
“I knew you didn’t love me.”
“I do, Mommy. I do.”
A cheap stuffed bear. That’s all it took a warped, sick mother to turn her son into
her sexual plaything. She taught him how to please her, how to drive her to ecstasy. He just did it... because he loved her.
Chin was too ashamed and afraid to let anyone know but, when he was seven, his father caught the two of them in bed together. The father was so angry he got a kitchen knife and repeatedly stabbed the mother until long after her death.
“Stop it, Daddy!” cried Chin but, of course, his little hands were no match for his father’s strength.
In frustration, Chin jumped on his father’s back when he was kneeling over his wife’s body. Chin’s downward force drove the knife from the backside into his father’s heart. It was over in moments.
Chin was a jumble of emotions as he raced out the door. Hate. Love. Guilt. Joy. Despair. Relief... He wanted to scream as he raced out the door but knew he couldn’t. Someone might find out and blame the deaths on him. He wasn’t going to tell anyone. He didn’t want to go to jail.
Guess how a seven-year-old kid on the streets supported himself? By putting to use the one thing he learned from his perverted mother... it was easier to please strangers for food than to please his mom. And it didn’t hurt as much either.
When Chin was nine, he experienced a miracle. An expatriate American businessman and his wife somehow decided to take him in. It was a crazy decision on their part, but they wanted to have children. Chin couldn’t believe something good could ever happen to him but it was true—they wanted him as their son.
The happy life lasted four years. Of course, Chin had to perform certain chores. Five times a week, he spent the night alone in bed with either or both of his “parents,” but that was nothing compared to what he had been doing previously. After all, they loved him so much, he would do anything for them.
And then the businessman’s parent company went bankrupt. There was no more job, and the expat and his wife had to return to America. They tearfully told Chin they loved him but couldn’t afford him and, even if they could, they had no formal adoption papers to bring him back to Seattle with them. Giving Chin fifty dollars and dropping him off at a bustling market a few miles away, they told him he would always be in their hearts.
Grief-stricken, the thirteen-year-old made his way back to the apartment and sat across the street in one of the family’s favorite noodle shops. Chin saw the couple get out of a cab with a nine-year-old boy and heard the man saying to the boy, “We are going to love you forever.” The wife kissed the boy and pulled him into her arms as they walked through the apartment doors.
Chin was completely and utterly lost. Rejected, deceit and pain were all he had known his young life. To be used, abused, then discarded. Directionless and broke, he returned to the sordid world of pleasing twisted, depraved men for food.
It was a life he hated and would do anything to get away from.
And that’s when he met Master Wu.
Now, years later, it was Chin’s turn to decide his future. He already had tired of the Shaolin discipline that Master Wu espoused and, when he went to see the Triads for help, he knew where he was going to go.
Not to work with them, but to be one of them.
No, he was going to be the best of them.
The easiest thing to start with was the women. They loved his hard body, and his creativity and his athleticism were more than any of them had ever experienced. They gladly worked for him with the promise that, every now and then, Chin would spend half an hour alone to take them to heights they never even knew existed.
However, even a large stable of hookers was not going to make enough cash to make Chin happy. He needed to expand, and what else was there other than the age-old Chinese vices of drugs and gambling?
But there was huge competition, not just from the Triads, but from anyone with a spare room to set up Fan Tan or mahjong tables. And anyone with a few hundred bucks could buy enough supply of heroin, crack or opium to open shop.
How was he going to attract business and then, once he got it, how would he enforce it?
Chin needed an angle, but what? There were thousands of tough guys in Hong Kong trying to make a buck. What was going to set him apart?
The answer was Master Wu. Or at least the training he got from his sifu.
Hung Gar. Tiger and Crane. That was his style of martial arts. How he would differentiate himself was that he would show the world something that had never, ever been seen before.
And that would be the first project that he, Garret and Tommy would work on.
Chapter 7
Chin decided t
o put on a demonstration to show who he was and what he could do.
Chin had noted Garret’s organizational and financial abilities and entrusted him for logistics. Garret found an old farm in the middle of nowhere on the China side of the Hong Kong/China border. A hidden talent of Garret’s was discovered—he was a cutthroat dealmaker and take-no-prisoners negotiator. He got amazing prices for the rent, supplies and a work crew.
Out of the shadows of the stern Shaolin discipline, Tommy emerged to be funny, engaging and ebullient—it was hard not to like him. Tommy made personal calls and visits, cajoling and convincing a paying audience to “trust him” for the “Hung Gar show of a lifetime,” of which he revealed no details.
Chin’s responsibility was to train for the fight with a killer foe that had never been beaten.
The big day arrived.
Chin, standing in the wings, looked out to the audience—a couple of hundred people sitting in bleachers behind a wire mesh fence around a makeshift dirt arena.
The spectators were restless and Chin didn’t blame them. They already endured a few preliminary bouts. A couple of no name martial artists duking it out with each other and a “last man standing battle royal” with ten participants. Okay, but definitely not worth the five hundred bucks that Tommy gouged them for, let alone the time it took to get to this remote location.
It was going to be up to him and Chin relished the challenge.
He entered the arena and waved his arms high up in the air. There was some polite applause until four men emerged from a barn, carrying a caged bloodthirsty Bengal Tiger.
Mesmerized, the audience watched the men carry the tiger into the arena. As the cage door opened, ropes tied to the animal’s neck were snaked through the chain-link fence and handed to two men outside the arena for them. They held on tight as the tiger leapt and thrashed, trying to go after Chin.
Evil Rises Page 3