Lion Boy and Drummer Girl

by Pauline Loh

  Ricky noticed Stellar averting her eyes and had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Zeus immediately became self-conscious when he spotted Stellar. He tried to comb his hair with his hands, but only succeeded in looking more tousled and boyish.

  Ignoring Zeus, Stellar greeted Lung San and presented the fruit basket to him. Lung San thanked her gratefully, and invited Stellar to have tea with him in his office.

  The two girls retreated with Lung San to his office. Ricky elbowed Zeus, but the older boy sighed and returned to the practice. It looked like things were not going well between the modern-day Romeo and Juliet.

  The boys had already left when Ying Ying walked Stellar to the gate and wished her a safe trip to London. Stellar glanced around the empty porch with a downcast expression. Ying Ying suddenly said, “Stellar, we’re good friends, so I hope you don’t mind if I give you a piece of advice.”

  Leaning towards the younger girl, Ying Ying said soberly, “Don’t fall in love with a lion dancer. He will break your heart.” Then, waving farewell to Stellar, Ying Ying went back into the hall.

  Out of earshot, Stellar murmured sadly, “Ying Jie, do you like Zeus too? Is that why you’re telling me to let go?”

  CHAPTER 26

  AN UNWELCOME PROPOSAL

  Ying Ying kept an eye out for Ricky. With their busy schedule, she had had no chance to talk with Ricky about something that had been on her mind. Hercules’ visit to Legend’s Hall had given her a brainwave. It was the perfect solution to the Lion Legends’ problem, and Ricky was central to it.

  “Hi, Ricky.” She smiled. “Do you have a moment?”

  He brightened. She was surprised at how her heart jumped, and warned herself silently, he might have megawatt charm, but remember—he treats all girls this way. She was silent for a moment as she chose her words. Then she spoke. “Ricky, what if I told you that there is a hall that can give you a leg up the industry ladder?”

  Ricky said, without missing a beat, “Legends Hall?”

  “Hot Lions, actually.”

  Ricky’s smile dimmed. “Our enemy? Our biggest rival?”

  Ying Ying shook her head. “Who has been telling you that? Hot Lions is our competitor, not our enemy. Did you know that the CEO of Hot, Ang Mong Jang, is Shifu’s sworn brother? Hot Lions was voted the Most Professional Troupe in the Leopop News survey last year.”

  Ying Ying paused, choosing her words carefully. Ricky had become extremely attached to Lion Legends in the short time he had been with them. She had to convince him that Hot Lions was just as good for his career, if not better. If he were willing to go to Hot, she would be a big step nearer to her goal.

  She was not just thinking about the Legends but about Ricky. Uncle Ang would pay him a better salary than the Legends could, and perhaps Uncle Ang could even inspire Ricky to become a lion dancer instead of remaining as a big head doll. Like her father, she felt that, as a doll, Ricky was not living up to his potential.

  She would not allow herself to admit that creating distance between herself and Ricky would help calm her turbulent feelings about him. Lately, Ricky had been setting off too many of her alarms and she had to sternly repeat her mother’s warning to herself—the one she had also given Stellar—don’t fall for a lion dancer!

  She wondered why she should feel threatened by Ricky when he was obviously nothing more than a pampered boy with no ambitions, and an outrageous flirt to boot. Argh! Her feelings towards him were so complicated, and she felt as if she were tripping all over them.

  “Ricky, would you like to go to Hot?” she asked, her words tumbling out. “I can put in a good word for you.”

  Ricky leant back with a lazy smile. “Thanks, but no thanks. My contract with Legends is signed and sealed, remember? Besides, I’ve a mission to accomplish here.”

  “What mission?” Ying Ying scoffed. “I am talking about your career! What mission could be more important than that? But you don’t care, do you? It’s always up to other people to push you to do something with your life.”

  Ricky’s phone started to ring, and he was sorely tempted to ignore it. He wanted to explain himself to Ying Ying. “Ying Ying, I’m going to win your heart. That’s my mission,” he wanted to say, but it would sound terribly mushy. What if she laughs? What if she tells the guys?

  He cleared his throat to buy a few seconds, then continued, “My mission is to get to know the Legends better, and that includes you.”

  But Ying Ying was now glaring at his phone. “Answer it. You just debuted. It could be a journalist or somebody important!”

  Ricky exhaled noisily in frustration. It was always the Legends first with Ying Ying. He did not realise that she needed the interruption to calm her heart, which couldn’t stop racing whenever she dealt with Ricky. He answered his phone crossly.

  “Boy Boy!” a warm voice greeted him. Ricky gulped. It was his mum!

  Mrs Kang continued, “Why didn’t you pick up my earlier call? I’m on my way to Singapore and my plane will touch down soon. I’m calling you from the air! I was invited to a charity dinner by Mrs Gupta of the Singapore Rotary Club and I thought I could visit you while I was in town. Pick me up at the airport, please.”

  He took down his mother’s flight details, then answered all her questions about his health: “Yes, I’ve been taking the vitamins you gave me. No, they aren’t overworking me. Girls? Er…I’ll tell you when you get here.” He glanced at Ying Ying.

  Ricky ended the call and looked at Ying Ying. Her expression was unreadable and she had her arms crossed over her chest. Ricky said resignedly, “It’s my mother. She has an appointment for dinner in Singapore. I’m to pick her from the airport. So…I’ll just be going, okay?”

  “Bye,” she said unsmilingly.

  When he had left, Ying Ying murmured to herself, His mother gets on a plane just for a dinner? This is the kind of family he comes from, and don’t you forget it.

  CHAPTER 27

  PLEASE FIRE HIM!

  Ricky reached the airport arrival hall just in time to see the luggage from his mother’s flight appear on the trolley belt. Soon, he spotted her claiming her designer suitcase. Mrs Kang was so glamorous and youthful, people often thought she was Ricky’s older sister even though she was already 50. Her long hair was expensively curled in the latest style. Her dangerously high heels were studded with diamante. They perfectly matched her elegant belted dress. Ricky thought fondly that there was no woman on earth, except Ying Ying, who looked prettier than his mother.

  “Boy Boy!” she squealed when she came through the glass doors. She somehow managed to make her son feel simultaneously embarrassed and proud of her.

  They hugged and she pursed her lips expectantly. He gave her a peck, careful not to get any of her lip gloss on his lips. With a sigh, she dumped a stylish tote into his arms. “Your father insisted that I bring this bottle of wine to your teacher, even though I told him that it’s much easier for me to buy it at the duty-free shop. But he said DFS doesn’t stock any wine worthy of his friendship with Lung San.”

  Ricky pinched her cheek affectionately. “I’ll get you checked into the hotel so that you can rest.”

  Mrs Kang shook her curls. “I’m not tired. Let’s make a stopover at your teacher’s office first.”

  Ricky raised his brows. “I don’t know if he is available to meet visitors.”

  “Well, call him. Ask him if I can personally pass him a gift from his number-one fan, Kang Yong Gu.”

  Ricky obediently put in the call to Shifu’s mobile. Shifu was actually out on an errand, but when he heard that his sworn brother’s wife was in town, he immediately urged Ricky to bring her to the hall.

  “I’ll make my way there now,” Lung San said.

  When Ricky’s taxi stopped outside Legends Hall, he saw Shifu waiting ceremoniously at the gate. Even Ying Ying was there.

  “Sister-in-law, welcome to Legends Hall. Is Yong Gu well?” Lung San beamed. Ying Ying nodded politely.

  “Lung S
an Shifu, it’s so nice to finally meet you,” Mrs Kang gushed. “Yong Gu has told me so much about you. The time that he spent training with you in lion dance was undoubtedly the highlight of his youth.”

  “Please call me Lung San. I feel the same way about him. Yong Gu is the best brother any person could have. I am tremendously lucky!” Lung San courteously ushered Mrs Kang into his office. Ricky and Ying Ying trailed them.

  Mrs Kang presented her husband’s gift to Lung San, and they chatted a bit about Mr Kang’s fishery business and Mrs Kang’s visit to Singapore. Then she asked about her son’s progress in Lion Legends.

  Lung San smiled approvingly. “Your son is a natural entertainer. He has great charisma on stage and engages the audience very well. And he is disciplined when it comes to practice. I could not ask for anything more in a disciple.”

  At Lung San’s use of the word “disciple”, Ying Ying looked startled, while Ricky blurted out gratefully, “Disciple? I thought I was just a new recruit! Does that mean you’ve decided to take me on as your disciple?”

  Lung San nodded. “Your father called me from Hong Kong and begged me to groom you. I don’t usually accept disciples without careful consideration—not even the son of a sworn brother. But I looked at your resume and my instincts told me you have great potential. As always, I was right. I would have preferred if you had agreed to become the lion head, but I can wait.”

  Mrs Kang looked mystified by the whole exchange. She said, “I thought Ricky was here just to learn some skills for a semester, then return to Hong Kong?”

  “Mum, I signed a contract. I am effectively an employee of Lion Legends,” Ricky corrected her.

  Mrs Kang ignored her son. She looked at Lung San pleadingly. “Lung San Shifu, how long will this go on? I am sleepless at night wondering when Ricky’s lion dance obsession will end. Now I hear that he has signed a contract? My boy has good prospects. He is the future CEO of Golden Fishery. When my husband started, it was a simple home business, but now it is a listed company with a handsome annual profit. Ricky has to study hard now if he wants to take over the company in the future.”

  Lung San listened with raised brows. “Ricky, a fish farmer?”

  “No, no,” Mrs Kang corrected him. “The fish farm is very high-tech; the CEO does not need to work on the pools except to check on production or ensure that government regulations are being followed. Most of the time, Ricky will be in an air-conditioned office, planning the company’s expansion and making sure the farm continues to bring in profits.”

  “You want Ricky to be an accountant?” Lung San asked blankly.

  Ricky shuddered.

  Mrs Kang clicked her tongue in exasperation. She said firmly, “Anyway, Ricky must study Business—I’m thinking UCLA in the States. He is wasting his time here. Lung San Shifu, please fire Ricky!”

  CHAPTER 28

  A FAIR TRADE

  Ying Ying was furious with Mrs Kang and how she had described her father’s business as a waste of her son’s time. But part of her agreed with the woman. Lion dance was all very well for the likes of Zeus, Prome and Mercury, who did not have a prosperous business to inherit. But it made sense that Ricky should study and make preparations to eventually take over his father’s empire.

  Mrs Kang reminded Ying Ying of her own mother. They both had their children’s welfare at heart. They knew the importance of a stable income and of preparing for the future. He has so many choices! she thought enviously. But all he wanted to do was continue goofing around as a doll. She agreed with Mrs Kang bitterly—her father should just fire Ricky!

  Mrs Kang said her farewells and Ricky rushed to the door with great relief, ushering his mother out. “May I please take a leave of absence tomorrow to spend time with my mother?” he asked Shifu. “She is only in Singapore for a short while.”

  Lung San nodded, still upset about what Mrs Kang had said.

  After their departure, Ying Ying tucked her anger against Mrs Kang into a corner of her mind. She decided to concentrate instead on rehearsing the speech she intended to make to her father. At the same time, she switched on the TV and started playing a recording of the pole apprentices, Hodge and Derrick. Lung San sighed with dissatisfaction at their lacklustre act.

  “Dad, what are you going to do about the upcoming Pole War?”

  Lung San waved his hands around vaguely. “It’s four months away.”

  “Only four months,” Ying Ying emphasised. “Do you think our boys will be ready by then?” She crossed her arms and looked daggers at her father. He hung his head in defeat.

  “Dad, we need a pole carrier, and someone good enough to mentor the younger boys. They are not practising—they are just messing around because there’s nobody to give them direction.”

  “I know, Ying Ying, I know. But recruiting a good one takes time,” Lung San’s tone was placatory.

  Ying Ying interrupted, “I know the perfect candidate. And if you ask him, I believe he will join us.”

  Lung San did a mental roll call of pole carriers in Singapore and found all of them unattainable. He looked at Ying Ying for clarification.

  “Hercules,” she answered.

  Lung San shook his head immediately. “Hercules is Ang’s right-hand man. And Ang is my brother. That would be poaching! It’s not the right thing to do to a brother.”

  Ying Ying said impatiently, “Uncle Ang is a businessman. I wish you’d think like one too! If you trade somebody good for Hercules, Uncle Ang would definitely consider the exchange. Then it would be up to Hercules to decide which hall he wants to join.”

  Lung San chortled. “Somebody good? All our boys are good! Zeus, Mercury, Prome, Apple, Ares, the musicians… As a matter of fact, I know Ang would offer Zeus and the boys twice their allowance if they were willing to go to him. But our boys are too loyal to leave the Legends!”

  Ying Ying nodded, taking a deep breath. “I know, our boys are family,” she repeated Lung San’s favourite phrase. “So we need to trade away somebody who’s talented but newer, somebody who doesn’t have the kind of sentimental attachment or loyalty to the Legends…” She looked probingly at her father.

  Lung San wrinkled his brow as he tried to follow Ying Ying’s train of thought. Suddenly, his eyes grew dark. “Are you talking about our Ricky?”

  Ying Ying smiled, confident that her father would agree with her. “I’ve considered this carefully. We all know how Uncle Ang loves foreign talent. Look where he sent Stellar to study.” Her smile disappeared. “And now that we know how his mother feels, I say we trade Ricky before she makes him default on his contract with us.

  “Ricky for Hercules,” she concluded. “It will be the most profitable exchange for both halls.”

  The office door suddenly slammed shut, startling both father and daughter. “It’s the wind,” Ying Ying dismissed impatiently. “My idea is good, isn’t it?”

  But Lung San was not smiling. “No,” he said with an air of finality. “I will not trade Ricky. He’s…he’s special. It’s out of the question.”

  CHAPTER 29

  THE PAINFUL TRUTH

  Ricky left Legends Hall in a daze. He did not look where he was walking and a passing bicycle grazed him. Ricky clutched at his side, wincing. He made his way to a bus stop and sat down limply. He could not believe what he had just overheard.

  After leaving Shifu’s office, he had hailed a taxi for his mother, but she suddenly remembered that his father had asked for some Legends souvenirs. So Ricky bundled his mother into the taxi and promised to meet her at the hotel after he had gathered the items. He made his way to Lung San’s office, and his hand was already on the doorknob when he caught the sound of Ying Ying’s voice. He paused, unsure whether he should interrupt the conversation between father and daughter.

  Then he overheard what Ying Ying was saying to her father about him. He was rooted to the spot until he heard Ying Ying’s full plan to trade him—not just for anybody, but Hercules! Ricky removed his hand from the door
knob as if the metal had burnt him and fled from the hall.

  He suddenly recalled a strange encounter on the day of Apple’s coming-of-age and Ying Ying’s drum performances. He had inserted himself quietly into the audience to watch her act, trying to avoid Zeus. After applauding her performance enthusiastically, he became aware of a man staring at him. The man was in his fifties and had the look of a lion dancer—his posture was upright, he had broad shoulders and powerful arms. But he was heavy-set and had grown paunchy around the middle.

  “Are you from the Legends?” he demanded from Ricky. “I’ve never seen you before.”

  Ricky did not like the man’s arrogant manner. Nevertheless, he politely stated his name, and the man’s eyes narrowed. He grilled Ricky about his background and experience. Ricky grew steadily more annoyed with the man’s questions.

  The man then thrust a card into Ricky’s hand. “Call me. I am always in need of a good lion dancer. Ask anyone—people will tell you that only the best work for Ang Mong Jang.”

  That was when Ricky realised that the obnoxious man was the owner of Hot Lions and Shifu’s sworn brother. That was the man that Ying Ying wanted to sell him to?

  Ricky, where did you go wrong? he wondered to himself. You gave her the lotus hairpin. You thought she was starting to like you back. She said that we were going to be fellow disciples. Okay…that doesn’t actually mean that she likes you. But it was a good start. No, I won’t agree to be traded away. I need time to win her heart.