Engines of Destruction td-103
Page 26
Remo laughed. "Don't forget to stir the ashes before you throw them out."
"I will get back to you on this assignment, Remo," said Smith, looking uncomfortable.
"No problem," said Remo. "Chiun and I have an appointment with a box full of mystery."
IN THE FOLCROFT GYM Remo stood over the silver trunk with the lapis lazuli phoenixes.
"Okay, open it."
Chiun hesitated. "I have told you this box contains sloth and shame."
"Over and over."
Chiun fixed Remo with his thinning hazel gaze. "Your sloth and my shame."
"Never owned a sloth in my entire life. And what do you have to be ashamed of?"
"For as long as I have known the greatness in you, Remo Williams, I have filled this box with the leavings of your stubbornness, your indolence, your-"
"Did you say leaves? This box is full of freaking leaves?"
"No. I said leavings."
"Well, open it."
Chiun frowned deeply. Then, bending, he inserted a long fingernail into the lock and twisted it. The lock clicked. The lid loosened.
"Here it comes," said Remo.
"Once this lid is lifted, your shame will be visible even to my ancestors, who are your ancestors."
"I can take it."
Abruptly Chiun flung the lid upward. Stepping back, he covered his face with his sleeves, saying, "I cannot bear to look."
"Well, I can," said Remo. He knelt.
The box was chock-full. The contents looked like excelsior, except it was a dull white. Old rice and dirty glass shards came to mind next. But the material was none of these things.
Carefully Remo grabbed up a handful. "These look like-"
Yes.
"I don't believe it!"
"Yes. They are yours. Do not deny it."
"You've been saving my fingernail clippings?"
"Since the first time you refused my entreaties to do the correct thing," said Chiun.
"All these years?" Remo roared.
"And now even the great Masters in the Void know," Chiun lamented.
Remo looked at the box with a stunned expression. Chiun peered out from behind one sleeve.
"It is not too late, you know," he said hopefully.
"I am not growing my nails like yours."
"Then all my sacrifices have been in vain," Chiun said sadly, his silk-draperied arms dropping like silvery wings. His head hung low. His eyes sneaked a look up past his sparse fluttering lashes.
Digging into a pocket, Remo pulled out Chiun's broken nail, which he had been carrying since Mystic. "Whose shame is greater, yours or mine?" he asked.
"Mine has been avenged," Chiun returned stiffly.
"What say we take our shame and bury them both for good?"
Chiun made wrinkles along the top of his bald skull. "This is a reasonable suggestion."
"Good," said Remo, tossing Chiun's long nail into the pile and closing the lid. He hoisted the trunk onto one shoulder.
"But remember," Chiun warned, "even when the box is empty, you have not been excused from lugging duty."
"My caboose," grunted Remo.
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