The Dragon Within His Shadow

by Phyllis M. Rumore

  Neither he nor Tang spoke much during the trip. They were both in a rather pensive mood and lost in thought. As the day passed by slowly, they wove their way though vineyards, mountains and forests before getting on route 101 at Calpella. John used the drive along the ocean, with its breathtaking views, as a door for some gentle conversation. It took a while for Tang to relax and stop thinking about whatever was bothering him. Finally, just before reaching Florence, Oregon, they got off route 101 and drove through some smaller roads till they found Bea’s, a pretty white house surrounded by an acre of flowers across the road from the river.

  A short distance down the road, Beard had parked his car and was waiting. His face registered a smirk when he saw them park in the driveway. After a short while, they came out and walked to the lone seafood restaurant just down the street that was set on a barge. Beard drove off certain that they weren’t going anywhere for the night.

  Beard returned around midnight just as Tang and John were walking back to the Inn. He remained in his car and waited until around two in the morning when he was sure everyone was asleep. He got out and slid carefully under Tang’s car trying not to make noise, which was difficult, because the driveway was covered in gravel.

  After Bea made them a huge country breakfast of eggs, bacon, pancakes and sausages, they got in their car and were on the road, failing to notice the dust covered black sedan that followed behind an old red truck. Tang felt confident they weren’t followed, so he decided it would be safe to go back to the main interstate route 5 and at Waldport turned onto route 34. They were talking about a wide range of subjects, but nothing in particular. Tang confessed his respect for John had grown and that he really did love Lauren. They talked about the upcoming wedding and John teased him for a while about marrying the boss's daughter. They laughed about silly things, talked of a few important matters, but not much else. John didn’t want to get into any deep conversation. He needed time to adjust to the new life opening up before him. Tang wasn’t ready to confide completely in John. All the while, they were awestruck by the transforming beauty of the West and humbled by the magnificence of the Cascade Mountains.

  “Say Tang.” John looked at Tang as they drove along a road that wove its way around the curves of the mountain. “Why did you start working for my Dad?”

  “Opportunity.”

  “Opportunity? That’s it? What kind of opportunity?”

  “The kind that would get me out of the slums, provide me with money, food, and when I needed it, support. John, most people don’t get to live the life you had. Most struggle. I didn’t like the formulize study and work hard bit. That took too long. I wanted- - needed, something faster. Mostly I felt I needed support. I wanted a mentor and someone whose friendship would fill in for the stuff that was missing from home.”

  “You joined the tong?”

  “Eventually. I started in the gang just as you did. The gang was like a second family. See I only have a father who was never around and when he was, he would beat the shit out of me. Perhaps I deserved it. I mean, I was pretty wild and reckless, but sometimes I think he did it out of frustration. My mother died years ago and the other relatives, well let’s just say they’re distant. The gang provi- -” Suddenly they passed through the yellow light of some local truck stop. Tang tried to slow down, but the brakes had gone. The next few turns were sharp and as they descended on the far side of the mountain, control over the car was near impossible. The car swerved erratically, as Tang tried to control its movement around the bends in the road.

  “What’s wrong?” John asked. He saw a look of terror on Tang’s face that he had never seen before.

  “Brakes are gone,” Tang bent hard into the next turn. “Shit, I won’t be able to hold on.”

  “What? Look out! Tang! Look Out!” John shouted as Tang took the next few turns in the road wider than the width of the lane, brushing along the side of the road, scraping the car with the low tree branches.

  *

  Beard had allowed too far a distance between himself and his target and started driving faster. He couldn’t afford to lose them. Focusing only on the road ahead of him, he zoomed passed the truck stop, totally missing the red light. A police officer, who was just pulling out of the diner’s parking lot, saw Beard’s car speeding and immediately started pursuit. Rather than risk the vengeance of the local police, Beard pulled along the side of the road and slammed his hands on the steering wheel.

  *

  “Hold on, John!” Tang tried to shift gears to slow the car, but nothing was working.

  “Try the emergency break.”

  “Already did! Hold on! We might have to crash into something.”

  “What? Look out!” John cried as the car swerved closer to the cliff’s edge and Tang barely made the twisting mountain road turns. John terrified, peered out his window, but couldn’t see the valley floor, it was so far below.

  “We’re gonna have to take a chance, John.”

  “What? Are you crazy? Look out!” John was panicking.

  “Get ready,” Tang undid John’s seat belt and indicated the door.

  “Shit Tang, no! Tang!” John screamed.

  *

  One officer walked over to Beard’s car, while the other called in the plates. Beard just sat waiting with his hands on the steering wheel. He answered questions politely and as the officer wrote the ticket, a violent explosion broke nature’s silence. The officer said something to the effect of ‘what the hell’ before handing Beard his ticket and running back to his car. The cops took off in the direction of the explosion.

  Beard knew it was Tang’s car as the road had been deserted for most of the trip, so he turned the car around and went back to the truck stop diner to wait. As he pulled into the parking lot, he saw black acidic smoke rising above the treetops and heard the siren’s wailing in the far distance, summoning the firehouse volunteers. Checking the map, he saw they would have to come from back around Alsea if not from Tidewater. There was nothing else along that road for miles until Philomath on the other side of the mountain’s summit.

  It was about fifteen minutes later when three fire trucks stormed by, along with an ambulance and several additional state police cars, before disappearing around a turn in the road. Beard just sat at the counter enjoying some late morning coffee on the steps with the rest of the people, who came out to await the return of the officers.

  Some trees had caught fire and people by the diner were frightened the blaze would spread. The waiting seemed endless until a few firemen from the first shift returned to the parking lot to rest. The men were working hard as the month of July had been an unusually dry one and the fire was proving difficult to contain. As word spread from person to person of the expanding danger, some left to go home just in case. Beard sat still, listening to the conversations around him. A lone fireman had separated from the pack and made his way inside.

  “What happened?” A middle-age woman from behind the counter inquired.

  “A car drove off the road and exploded,” the fireman said with disgust.

  “Was anyone hurt?” The man with a rather large paunch asked.

  “Were you able to get the people out of the car?” Another questioned.

  “There were no survivors. No one could have survived the plunge,” said the fireman. Everyone who knew the area knew this assumption to be a good one.

  “Any idea who it was?” The old geezer sitting next to Beard questioned.

  “Some tourists from California,” said the fireman. “The car had California plates. Excuse me,” he pushed his way gently through the crowd. The people gathered continued mumbling amongst themselves softly, wondering who it could have been.

  No one noticed Beard. He was more than satisfied with the report and walked over to the pay phone at the other end of the diner to call Kai’s beeper. He punched in the agreed upon code, indicating no known survivors. He looked up just in time to see a tow truck with the carcass of the car, dri
ve slowly away. There was nothing left but the car’s steel shell. Everything that was plastic had melted. Anything organic had burned. People gasped in horror with the thought that whoever was inside burned to death. Beard just smiled.

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  The flags and pennants of nineteenth century China were all triangular in shape, with only the standard of the emperor being rectangular. Several flags were carried with each being symbolic of a quality desired. The red one represented good luck and was the standard of the Ming dynasty which given its relation to the triads, was placed first before the men. In ancient China, it was considered taboo to mention the word tortoise, so it was called the Dark Warrior and was represented by the black flag. There was once a tortoise, which was a heroic figure that according to legend, helped the first Emperor tame the Yellow River. The blue flag was for the Dragon, the symbolic representation of the absolute man, which was set to the left, while the white flag for the Tiger, representing courage, was set on the right. The yellow banner representing the center of the five heavenly directions, and hence the Emperor, the center of China, was set in the center of the flags and higher than all the rest. Sometimes the name of the gang, or tong, was written on the flags themselves, but not in this case.

  These flags were set in a stand on the right side of the Buddhist altar, which had a statue to the god of War in the center, along with several offering plates of oranges and incense. James watched Kai walk up to the altar and light sticks of incense before placing them in the cauldron of sand and prayed. He swore an oath of brotherhood in front of all the dai low present. James’ stomach was sickened to see the guys nodding their heads in approval. After the brief ceremony, the captains and lieutenants of the gang offered Kai their congratulations before moving into the next room for the banquet. Everyone was in high spirits and felt there had been a private resolution between the two bitter rivals.

  James therefore was stunned when Kai asked to speak to him privately. He knew Kai was told that he would be the liaison between the tong and gang. Perhaps Kai had some questions, thought James. He couldn’t think of anything else Kai would want of him.

  They moved over to an empty corner. “I have some news you should know about.”

  “What is it Kai?” James looked at the overly proud and way too happy man.

  “I’ve had a report from our brothers in Portland that Tang’s car drove off a cliff. I guess it’s my duty to inform you there were no survivors. It seems their bodies were cremated in the fire.” Kai watched James’ reaction, as James looked away for a moment before looking at him with crinkled brow and pursed lips.

  “How? When?”

  “From what I was told, it happened sometime this morning. The road was slippery; the driver lost control and went off a ledge. These things, these accidents, sometimes do happen. I realize you’ll have to report to the elders and won’t be able to attend the banquet. Please extend my condolences to your family.” Kai turned and walked away.

  In the briefest of moments, James’ demeanor changed from a man of hope, to a man of anger. He realized his fragile position was still under attack by Kai, indirectly by Richard. He would have to talk to his father. When he told the guys, he wasn’t going to attend the traditional banquet, some looked astounded, but kept quiet. They had to stay and show support for Kai, their new dai low dai.

  James returned home earlier than his mother had expected and was surprised to find his uncles sitting in her living room.

  “James,” said Rose. “What has happened? Why do you look - -”

  “Tang and John are dead. I’ve just heard the news from Kai.” James’ voice trembled. He looked into the faces of his new dai low’s, Mr. Cheung and Mr. Ng. They were still his uncles, but as a member of their tong, he had the opportunity to move up the ranks from an ordinary sze kau (enforcer) or sai low to their positions as Cho Hai in Mr. Cheung’s case and Sin Fung in Ng’s.

  “Oh, my God. How? When? When they left here yesterday they were fine.”

  “Where did this happen?” Ng tried to remain calm. He knew he would have to call and congratulate Kai later for solving two problems. Now, he thought, only a month more for James and Rose. Richard should have taken care of George personally, by then.

  “It happened, according to Kai, this morning.”

  “How and when did Kai find this out?” Mr. Cheung asked.

  “He didn’t mention, but I think it was just before the ceremony. He got a beep and made a few phone calls,” said James.

  “This is interesting news. Hmmmm. James I want you to call your contacts in Portland and Seattle. See if they can confirm this information. More importantly, find out how and when this happened and when they found out. Also, I think it best if you inform your father. Whichever way the information reveals, I want you to call me, immediately. Understood?” Ng, at the very least, felt he had to pretend he was concern.

  “Yes, sir,” James said obediently, as he swallowed hard the news. He looked at Ng and then his mother. Her face had a glazed over look which he took to mean despair. He decided to call his father before calling Portland and returned to his apartment. He needed to know things. Like, how did Ng know Tang and John were going North? He didn’t tell anyone where, or when.

  George thought the cost of battle was at times way too great for him to shoulder. He sat in his office trying to decide how he was going to break the news to Catherine and Lauren. There were new questions regarding his survival. Eliminating Richard wasn’t the end but the beginning of his woes, he thought. Richard’s demise was just starting to be reported on the late news now. This could only mean Richard’s death was not tied directly, to John or Tang’s. He returned to the bedroom he had begun sharing with Catherine and decided the bad news could wait until later. What was it that they said, that death comes in threes?

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  Tang stopped rolling almost immediately, got up and looked frantically for John, but could not find him initially. John had landed in the ditch by the side of the road and for the moment was unconscious. Tang saw him, rushed over and was able to rouse him, but things appeared fuzzy to John who was badly shaken. A car that had been coming up the hill saw the accident, stopped a short distance away and rushed to Tang’s side to see if he could help.

  “What?” John felt confused, sore and barely able to speak. “Tang?”

  “I’m here John, I’m here.” Tang looked around and saw a man getting out of his car. “Hey! Over here!” Tang heard the sirens in the far distance, while he waved for the man peering over the road’s edge to come over. “Help’s coming.” He could feel the heat from the flames licking up the side of the mountain. Sparks had carried the flames to the level of the road and a few trees and scrubs were catching fire.

  “Are you all right?” The frantic man approached.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” Tang ignored the blood streaming down his face. “But, you got to help me move him. The fire is spreading.”

  “I’m not so sure about that. Maybe we should wait for the police or an ambulance?”

  “No! Look, I can’t explain but we must go now. The fire is getting too close and I must get him out of here.” Tang heard the sounds getting louder as the police neared.

  The man looked at Tang, saw something in his face that said it wasn’t safe to hang around and thought to himself that he suddenly, wanted to get as far away from the fire, too. “Can he get up?” He asked, while reasoning to himself that if the boy wasn’t badly injured, then it would be all right to give them a lift. They can report it in town.

  Tang looked at John who wasn’t talking. He helped him stand up, pulled his arm around his neck and with John leaning on him for support, wobbled as fast as they could to the man’s dirty white Chevy. The man opened the passenger door and Tang helped John into the back seat.

  “Hold on,” said the man, who got back in the driver seat as Tang entered the passenger side. He turned the car around, perhaps too cautiously and slowly for Tang, who wan
ted to get as far away as he could from the explosion. “Relax, son. You’ll be outta har soon ’nough.” He wanted to ask Tang why he was nervous, but thought better than to pry into a man’s business.

  Tang realized the brakes didn’t fail on their own and that someone had to have tampered with them. Whoever they were, they probably wouldn’t be too far behind as they would like to verify their successfulness. Probably that black car he had seen behind them on occasion. He figured that if they could get away without anyone seeing them, then whoever sabotaged the brakes will think that they had died in the crash. They’d hopefully think their bodies were cremated which should buy him some time, he thought.

  “Thank you.” Tang, finally realized, he had forgotten his manners.

  “It’s all right, son. You’re a bit shaken up. Lord knows I’d be, if I survived that wreck. What happened?”

  “The brakes gave out,” said Tang. “We had to jump.”

  “Lost ya brakes, hmmmmm. That’s bad luck.”

  “If you can take us to the next town, perhaps, we can find a doctor there.”

  “That I can do. If you open the glove compartment there, you’ll find some of my misses’ wet things. It’s not much, but you can clean that there cut, a little.” He looked at Tang and said to himself there were some people you just didn’t ask questions. This man was one of them.

  “Thank you,” Tang reached into the compartment, pulled out a package of Wet Ones, and handed some to John, who wiped his face as best he could. Tang tried thinking of possibilities. He had family not too far from here, in some town called Astoria, up on the coast by the Columbia River and if there was going to be a safe haven anywhere that would be the place.