by Shinn A. H.
After they changed in to their gym clothes and laced up their tennis shoes, they walked out of the locker room together.
“Do you know what we’re doing today?” asked Kellie.
“Today…we are playing basketball,” answered Sunday. “Exciting, huh?”
“Thrilling,” said Kellie, as they both giggled.
“Sit down, girls,” instructed the gym teacher. Ms. Howard was a tall muscular woman with short gray hair; her skin was a dark tan and the years of sun exposure showed on her weathered face. She had a tough attitude and never took “I can’t” for an answer from any of her students. One time, she pushed them so hard during track and field, all the girls became dehydrated and some of them passed out. She had to be reminded by the principal that they were only teenagers.
“You will form six teams of five,” she said, walking back and forth, her whistle around her neck swinging side to side. Each team will play another for a total of fifteen minutes. The teams have been randomly formed and are listed on the poles,” she said, pointing to both ends of the basketball court. “Teams 1 and 4 will play first, Teams 2 and 5 will play second, and Teams 3 and 6 will play last.”
“Now line up!” shouted Ms. Howard. “After the warm-up, we will begin to play immediately.”
The girls got up without much enthusiasm: some tied up their hair, while others chitchatted. After a few arm and leg stretches, they did jumping jacks as Ms. Howard counted them off.
Kellie was suddenly feeling better; she actually felt a surge of energy. The aches and pains she suffered with just before seemed to have passed and she was thankful it didn’t turn out to be a cold. In fact, as she worked out, her body felt strong and for the first time, Ms. Howard wasn’t pushing hard enough. She was compelled to do the jumping jacks at a faster rate, but instead contained her seemingly boundless energy to remain with the pace of the class.
Ms. Howard observed Kellie with her eyebrows raised as she finished counting, and then ordered, “Look at which team you’re on. Teams 1 and 4 get ready to play. The rest of you, sit around the court and watch the game.”
As soon as the girls read the list, they either took their position on the court or sat down on the warm cement.
“We’re both on Team 4,” Sunday said to Kellie, as she peered over Kellie’s shoulder, skimming the list of names.
“Great!” said Kellie. “Let’s get’em tiger. We’re up first.”
Ms. Howard stood in the middle of the court with the basketball. Each team naturally chose the tallest person for the jump ball. Jennifer Goodwin, who was on Kellie’s team, was almost six feet tall, but not very athletic. She was gangly and clearly in her awkward stage. When the whistle blew and the ball was tossed up into the air, Jennifer managed to tap it over Carrie Ann James’s head, at the shock of everyone around her, since Carrie Ann, a rough tom boy, had always been the most athletic and competitive girl in the school.
The game quickly moved into motion and the girls ran up and down the court while dribbling the ball the best they could.
Ms. Howard blew on her whistle hard and yelled, “Double dribble on Jennifer!”
Trina Romstead, who was on Carrie Ann’s team, stood outside of the court, seeking an open teammate. She threw the ball to Carrie Ann and the game was back in high speed. Team 1 scored six points and Kellie’s team only had two points. Jennifer was on the defense, trying to block Carrie Ann from shooting, but because she wasn’t very coordinated, she stumbled onto Carrie Ann, knocking her to the floor.
Ms. Howard blew her whistle and shouted, “Foul! Two shots for Carrie Ann!”
Carrie Ann dribbled the ball a couple of times behind the free throw line before she took the first shot. The ball went straight in and some claps were heard with the swoosh of the net. She dribbled the ball a few more times before the second shot. When she threw the ball, it circled around the rim before dropping in.
“Good job!” yelled Trina.
With the score now eight to two, Patty Melford yelled, “Time-out!” with a frustrated attitude. Patty was on Kellie’s team. She wasn’t as skilled as Carrie Ann, but she was a decent basketball player. She took charge, Kellie guessed, after she had enough of all the humiliating plays. Waving her arms at her teammates, she motioned them to approach her.
Team 4 formed a huddle. “Okay,” said Patty, “we’re behind and there is only a few minutes left. I’m sorry Jennifer, but we keep turning over the ball and the other team is making points because of you. Pass it to me whenever possible. Kellie — you cover Trina. Lay low, Jennifer.”
“I’m sorry,” Jennifer choked up.
“Don’t feel bad,” said Sunday, empathetically.
“Let’s go team!” shouted Patty.
Basketball wasn’t Kellie’s forte, so she usually tried to avoid handling the ball. Today, because of her sudden explosive energy, she ran around with ease and intensity, hoping to get her hands on it. She ignored her inner voice telling her to back down.
The game was in full gear, and with every opportunity, the ball was thrown to Patty. She made two baskets, so the score was eight to six. Since time was running out, both teams played frantically. The girls watching began rooting for their friends, as the close game awakened their interest.
The other team quickly recognized that Patty was leading Team 4, so they switched their strategy and defended her well. Three of the girls moved to cover Patty and she was cornered. She saw that Kellie was wide open and passed the ball to her. Without thinking, Kellie dribbled down the court with unexpected quickness and agility. Then what she executed next brought everyone’s jaws to the ground: she slam dunked the basketball! Her curled body hung off the rim, like a cat dangling from a tree branch.
Ms. Howard and the onlookers were all now on their feet, shouting and jumping up and down with fervor. No one could believe what just happened.
Kellie stood in astonishment as her team members patted her on the back and gave her high fives.
“Thirty seconds left!” shouted Ms. Howard over the roaring spectators.
Carrie Ann passed the ball to Trina with angst on her face. They were tied eight to eight and had the chance to win the game. Trina dribbled the ball down the court and passed it back to Carrie Ann, her team hoping for a miracle shot. As Carrie Ann raised her hands to catch the ball, Kellie pounced up in front of her, adrenaline coursing through her veins, and swatted it away with the palm of her hand.
She had been learning the way of the tiger from Master Chen almost daily and the tiger strike came out of her as a natural reaction. The power was so immense that the ball soared across the court and smacked Sunday in the face. She collapsed to the floor and gasps were heard all around.
Kellie sprinted to her friend, screaming, “Oh my gosh — Sunday!”
She moaned as she covered her face.
“Game over!” yelled Ms. Howard and she blew her whistle while running over to Sunday. “Where does it hurt?”
“My eye,” she whimpered.
“Can you get up?”
“I think so…”
Ms. Howard helped Sunday up and led her to the office as she shouted, “Teams 2 and 5 get ready to play. Miss Jackson will be out to supervise the rest of the games.”
The girls surrounding the injured player dispersed as the next two teams walked onto the court. Kellie stood stationary in the middle of the changing crowd. She felt horrible and hoped Sunday wasn’t hurt too badly.
Kellie stared into space as the basketball game replayed in her head. She couldn’t believe she slam dunked the basketball and even more, how effortless it felt. Oh no! Master Chen’s warning suddenly dropped into her head. A slam dunk wasn’t natural for someone her age and size and it happened right after her throbbing headache. Her mind rewound back to the remarkable stories Master Chen disclosed about her youth when her thoughts were disrupted by people who came into sight. She saw two men standing on the other side of the school fence wearing robes similar to those worn by the monks at Taip
ing Monastery. A few girls walked in front of her, blocking her view. When she was able to take another look, they were gone. Her eyes must be playing tricks on her. Had the monks come to town for a visit? No, Master Chen would have told her.
Miss Johnston blew her whistle inches from Kellie’s ear, startling her. “Teams 2 and 5, take your places. Everyone else, off the court!”
After the games were over, the tired teenage girls hustled back to the locker room, as it was the end of the school day. Kellie looked around for Sunday, observing that the spot in front of her friend’s locker was empty.
“Great game, Kellie!”
“Impressive, Wei!”
“Er…thanks,” Kellie said back to Patty and Carrie Ann. She was supposed to stay under the radar, but instead, she put herself in the spotlight. Next time, when she felt abnormally dynamic, she was going to have to restrain herself.
Kellie got dressed and was leaving hurriedly when she saw her teacher. “Excuse me, Ms. Howard?”
“Yes, Kellie.”
By her tone, Kellie gathered she wasn’t upset about the mishap.
“Do you know where Sunday is?”
“Her mother picked her up already.”
“How is she?”
“Besides her swollen face, she’ll be fine…but will probably wake up tomorrow with a black eye.”
Kellie covered her mouth with her hands. Envisioning Sunday with a bruised face made her feel awful.
Ms. Howard showed a rare moment of softness and said, “Accidents happen when you play sports, Kellie. I’m sure Sunday understands that. By the way, you played remarkably today. You are the first student at Milldale I have ever seen slam dunk a ball.”
“I just got lucky,” Kellie was quick to say.
“Well, you should think about trying out for the girls’ basketball team.” She gave Kellie a sympathetic tap on her back and went inside her office.
The girls’ basketball team? Kellie decided against it once she pictured herself displaying more atypical behavior in front of a much larger audience. She just wanted to go home; it was a long and eventful day and her exploding energy already crashed. She was also eager to get home to tell Master Chen about the men in monk robes.
ellie practically flew into the house, but forgot what she was going to say when she found Master Chen sitting on the couch, staring at the wall.
His head turned toward her and at the same time, they blurted, “What’s wrong?”
“What?” asked Kellie.
“You look bad,” said Master Chen.
“I do? Well, I…uh…think I gave Sunday a black eye….I feel awful about it.”
“You got in fight again?” he asked, with alarm in his voice.
“No…oh no! In P.E., I accidentally hit Sunday with the basketball, right in the face. Ms. Howard said her face was swollen.”
“Oh,” said Master Chen, looking relieved. “Her face looks ugly?”
“What?”
“You said face is swollen.”
“No — er — yes…Ms. Howard said she’ll be fine. What about you? Why are you just sitting there?”
Kellie was accustomed to seeing Master Chen busy around the studio or house; he was always either involved with kung fu, cooking, cleaning, building, gardening, reading, or even sewing. She had never seen him sit idle before.
“We have —”
“Oh yeah,” she said, cutting him off, remembering what she was about to tell him. “I could have sworn I saw —”
“Hello, Bao Yu.”
Kellie jolted around, not expecting anyone else to be in the house.
“Master Zheng!” Her eyes didn’t deceive her after all. She ran up to him, giving him a big hug. She felt like a little girl again back at the monastery, smelling the incense from his robe. He must have been meditating in the other room.
“So happy to see you,” said Master Zheng warmly.
“You must be Bao Yu,” said another monk, trailing behind Master Zheng.
Kellie smiled at him politely, not recognizing him. “Nice to meet you.”
“This is Shifu Tao,” introduced Master Zheng. “He is the newest member at Taiping Monastery. He has been with us for a few years.”
Shifu Tao looked like a younger version of Master Zheng. Both had cleanly shaven heads and wore the same golden yellow robes.
“What are you doing here?” Kellie asked, shocked and excited about the unexpected visit. “Why didn’t you tell me they were coming?” she directed at Master Chen.
“I not know of it,” he said. “They just come. I was gardening and see them suddenly in yard.”
Kellie wasn’t sure, but Master Chen seemed uneasy. She would have thought he would be thrilled to see his brothers from the monastery.
“Please, have seat,” said Master Chen. “I bring some tea.” He got up and veered toward the kitchen.
Master Zheng and Shifu Tao took a seat on the couch and looked around the American-styled home. Kellie sat stiffly on the armchair. When Master Chen came back out of the kitchen and was pouring them some tea, she caught them staring at his denim jeans, plaid shirt, and the hair on his head.
“It seems you’ve adapted well to the American way,” said Master Zheng.
“Yes, Kellie and I settled here quite easy,” said Master Chen, sitting down on the sofa across from Kellie.
“You do not wear your robe?” asked Shifu Tao, sounding almost inappropriately critical.
“No,” is all Master Chen said, apparently not caring to explain himself to the young monk.
“How are you doing?” Master Zheng asked Kellie with peaceful calm in his voice. She had the feeling he was changing the developing cynicism in the room. “I hear your kung fu is excellent.”
Kellie had always admired Master Zheng. Ever since she could remember, he exhibited nothing but serenity in his way of life. She never once witnessed him lose control of his emotions; even his kung fu displayed equanimity. He was a long time master, and similar in age to Master Chen. They trained together for many years at the monastery and their skills paralleled one another’s. Their key difference was their education; she didn’t forget Master Zheng’s teachings in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese back in China. He had attended college in Shanghai before he entered the monastery, being well versed in many languages, unlike Master Chen, who had a short formal education.
“She is doing very well,” said Master Chen, answering for Kellie as if she wasn’t there. “Kellie is good student, her grades excellent, and kung fu progressing wisely. She teaches students admirably and maintains studio very properly.”
Kellie blushed. She was impressed with the resume Master Chen whipped up, but couldn’t help but wonder why he sounded a little defensive.
“The other monks will be proud to hear that,” Master Zheng said. “Bao Yu — er — Kellie…has always been a natural fighter,” he said to Shifu Tao. “I remember when I was teaching her how to spar — she was not looking at me. I asked her, ‘What are you looking at?’ She answered, ‘I know I’m fighting you, so I’m not worried. I’m keeping my eyes out for someone who might surprise me.’”
Shifu Tao nodded in acknowledgement, and all three monks sipped the hot liquid with an awkward silence, putting the cup down to the saucer and back to their lips. To remind them she was in the room and to get to the bottom of the tension, Kellie asked again, “Master Zheng, why the sudden visit?”
He looked as if he was deciding how he should answer and glanced over to Master Chen, while he took another sip of his tea.
“Kellie is fifteen years old…that is old enough to know truth,” said Master Chen to his fellow brother. “We should allow her to learn…everything. I have already told her about past…about Shifu Lau.”
Master Zheng’s eyes widened after hearing this. Master Chen read his reaction, took a sip from his cup, and waited for Master Zheng to respond.
Looking at Master Chen, he said, “You are right. We should not hide anything from her.”
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nbsp; Kellie felt as if she wasn’t in the room again. Her fingers were digging into the seat cushion, feeling the friction rising.
Master Zheng then said to Shifu Tao, “Shifu Lau found Kellie in Shenmi Forest. He died protecting her.”
It felt as if a boulder fell in her throat, hearing the news again. She still couldn’t believe that Shifu Lau was gone and it was hard to accept that his death had something to do with her. She wasn’t so sure if she wanted to hear everything.
Master Zheng was now looking straight at her. She felt nervousness come over her as he opened his mouth.
“My dear Bao Yu, we will be moving out of Taiping Monastery. We will begin constructing a new monastery elsewhere. Master Chen was asked to come back to China as soon as possible. We require his assistance in helping us reorganize, as he is one of the masters. Shifu Tao will be able to watch over you here temporarily until things are settled.”
Kellie was on the edge of the chair and almost fell forward. Did she just hear him say that the monks were leaving Taiping Monastery? She couldn’t fathom the monastery being abandoned and even more disconcerting, Master Chen leaving her? She came to comprehend Master Chen’s discord with Shifu Tao. Shifu Tao was replacing him as her guardian and she didn’t even know him.
“Why are you moving?” Kellie asked.
Master Zheng looked at Master Chen who responded with one slow, deep nod.
“Taiping Monastery has changed,” he began to tell. “It isn’t how it was when you were there. As a matter of fact, since you and Master Chen left, we have had bad luck with the weather. Mother Nature has not been kind to us.”
Shifu Tao cleared his throat loudly as if he wanted to say something.
Master Chen gave Shifu Tao a firm look and Master Zheng continued with his story.
“The primary reason we are leaving is because we have had attacks.”
“Attacks?” Kellie repeated in astonishment. “Is everyone all right?”
“Thankfully, yes. There have been some minor injuries, but no deaths since…”