by H. J. Lawson
Almost, but not quite. Jesus, Parker, get a grip, this isn’t the time to let your mind drift! I curse myself.
Then the men separate, and another man, an older man, steps in front of them. He’s short and a little on the heavy side. Oshiro hisses under his breath when he sees him. And that makes the man smile, creating wrinkles over his face.
He says something in Japanese, bowing his head to Oshiro, who, clearly feeling as though the movement is meant to be disrespectful, ignores him. The man’s eyebrows rise. Then he seems to brush it off.
“I am Gumi,” he says in heavily-accented English. “I am the kumicho of Yamaguchi-gumi. The leader.”
I cross my arms over my narrow chest, trying to imitate Scarlet’s less-than-impressed attitude.
The man’s eyebrows rise again. But this time he doesn’t seem to brush the disrespect off as quickly and easily as he did with Tora’s dad.
“And you are?” he asks tersely.
“You need to let us go,” Scarlet says.
Even I know that isn’t going to happen. We already heard the men from the hotel suite above join us, their footsteps heavy on the bamboo scaffolding behind us. It felt like an army, though I’m afraid to turn and look. And then there are these men in front of us, half a dozen of them, it looks like. Scarlet is good with her karate skills, but it would take quite a bit to get through these men and outrun those behind us.
Scarlet gave me my gun back earlier. It is pressed against the small of my back where I shoved it when we came out the window. It won’t take much for me to get to it and fire. It’s a move I’ve practiced many times in front of the mirror in my bedroom. You know, for that moment when Clara might show up at the arcade and want to watch me kick zombie butt. I’m ready to help Scarlet with whatever she wants to do.
“How did you get past my men?” Gumi asks.
Scarlet doesn’t seem intent on answering him. But Gumi doesn’t seem interested in an answer.
He tugs at the collar of his shirt and I see a peek of a tattoo. Heck, this guy is covered in tattoos, too!
“I saw on the security camera. You’re quite talented with the karate moves.”
“Yeah?”
“Where did you learn to fight like that?”
“Bruce Lee.”
Gumi stares at her for a second and then he bursts into laughter. The men behind him begin to laugh as well, especially after he turns to them and makes a crude gesture.
I can feel the tension rolling off Scarlet. She doesn’t like people laughing at her.
Maybe she should stop being so honest.
“Bruce Lee is dead,” Gumi says.
“I’m aware,” Scarlet says, the words tight as they slip between her clenched jaws.
“He died long before you were even born.”
“Of that I am also aware.”
Gumi’s eyes narrow. He doesn’t like her answer.
“Why are you protecting these people? What business is this of yours?”
“Mine. Not yours.” She studies him for a long second. “And, if you don’t want to get hurt, I would suggest you get out of our way.”
Again, everyone laughs. Especially Gumi. It almost feels like a festive atmosphere, like these men aren’t here to kill us and do whatever they had planned for Tora and her family. But then Gumi suddenly sobers, his face losing all trace of amusement. He gestures to Scarlet, Tora’s family, and me.
“Grab them. But don’t kill them.”
And then he goes to turn toward his men, but Scarlet reacts immediately, even before Gumi’s words register with me. She moves into a perfect front stance and slams the side of her hand into Gumi’s throat. And then all chaos erupts.
Oshiro pulls me back and jumps into the fray, displaying fighting skills that are just as good as—if not slightly better than—Scarlet’s.
Gumi staggers back, gasping for air, and the tattooed guys attack with the same sort of skills as Scarlet. There is no way we can win this fight. I watch as one of them delivers four blows to Scarlet’s face, all in quick succession. But none of them seem to faze her.
Scarlet returns the punches as she also blocks a few more with her forearms.
Then she gets off a good kick and then another, knocking the guy back into the others behind him.
At the same time, Oshiro is wrestling with the other two tattooed men. Somehow Oshiro manages to be aware of where each one is at any given time, landing blows just before they can touch him. He takes a couple of blows, but not as many as Scarlet. And Oshiro, too, knocks one man back into the men behind him. But, like the one Scarlet is fighting, he comes back like a human boomerang.
And then one of the guys in black decides to enter the fight. He heads toward Scarlet, murder in his eyes. I can’t let that happen.
She’s already overwhelmed. I don’t want her to get hurt.
I pull the gun and fire.
The man falls forward and I turn to watch him nearly knock over the man holding a gun on Tora’s mom—the man I hadn’t even noticed until just now. But he’s like a tree. He doesn’t move, doesn’t take his eye off me. And his friends are quickly moving up around him, one headed toward Scarlet, another toward Oshiro.
“Stop,” says the man holding a gun at Tora’s mom, his voice low and steady, just like the hand holding the gun.
A weight falls against me and I turn… and the world goes dark.
Chapter 23
My body is moving. I don’t know where I am. I went to sleep in my bed and had this really crazy dream… I had a gun and I shot three people! How crazy is that? And there was this beautiful girl who knew the most amazing karate moves. I wish I could fight like that. I think maybe I will see if I can talk my mom into letting me take a martial arts class downtown. If I could fight like that, I would never have to worry about Travis again.
And maybe then I would have a real chance with Clara.
No, not Clara. Kimi. Look at you, Parker, a ladies’ man. All this time Kimi had a crush on you, I joke to myself.
That thought makes me want to smile. But then my body literally lifts off whatever I’m lying on and I land awkwardly on my arm.
Where the heck am I?
There’s noise. An engine. I don’t want to open my eyes. My head is pounding like I ate too many Twinkies and spent the night with my head in the toilet. I don’t remember that. I remember falling asleep and finding myself in Tokyo, of all places. And I remember meeting Scarlet and being told that I’m not actually dreaming, but time traveling. And we were on an assignment to protect Tora.
Crazy, right? Who has dreams like that?
I can’t even imagine what would bring on such dreams. I didn’t eat anything weird. I wasn’t thinking about anything in particular when I fell asleep. Wasn’t thinking much at all, except about the game I’d just finished playing. Maybe a little about Travis and how he hit me so hard on the football field that I passed out. But there was nothing new about that. Travis was always doing stuff like that and I was always going to the nurse’s office, which wasn’t so bad since she was hot, but I don’t suppose it looked all that great to Clara. I mean, who wants to date a guy who’s always in the nurse’s office, no matter what the reason?
But, then again, who doesn’t have a little sympathy for the weakling who’s always being bullied? That’s my deepest hope, that she does feel a little sympathy for me and she will one day tell her boyfriend to leave me the heck alone. It hasn’t happened yet, but it will someday. And then I could finally sweep her off her feet, show her what a great guy I am when I’m not knocked out on the football field.
“Wake up, idiot,” a female voice hisses near my ear.
I open my eyes and find Scarlet glaring at me.
Scarlet?
It wasn’t a dream; we’re still here. Kimi is still dead.
I struggle to sit up. My head is pounding! I reach back and touch a place where my scalp bleeds just a little. Blood is dried and clotted in my hair. And the edges of the wound are sore to th
e touch.
“What happened?”
“One of those goons hit you with the butt end of his gun.”
I half nod as I look around. We’re in a speedboat racing across the Tama River. The city is behind us, lights twinkling on the water, the hotel we fled standing high on the skyline. It’s a beautiful sight, but quite hard to appreciate with a couple of madmen pointing guns at us.
Four men are on the boat with us. One’s driving, the other three standing unsteadily in a horseshoe formation around us, their guns trained carefully on our heads.
“They took my guns, bag, and watch,” Scarlet hisses at me.
“Now what?”
Without responding to my question, Scarlet gracefully kicks out, using a scissor kick on the man closest to her. He immediately falls over the side of the boat, hitting the water hard enough that I can hear the distinct slap above the noise of the motor.
Both of the other guards rush forward, one firing a bullet that goes astray because of the motion of the boat.
Scarlet is on her feet, landing punch after punch, her karate training serving her well in the unsteady boat. Her stance is perfect, keeping her balanced as the two men fight not only her, but the waves that bounce the boat up and over wave after wave in the wake of another boat just a few yards ahead of us.
One man goes over as he throws a punch and it goes wild, missing Scarlet. The momentum of the punch continues and he simply follows, landing head first in the river. Scarlet turns her full attention to the other man. I can see panic in his eyes even as he lifts his gun high above his head, intending to slam the butt into the side of her head. I wonder briefly why he doesn’t just shoot her. But then I remember Gumi’s order not to kill us. I guess there’s a little luck on our side.
This guy manages to stay on his feet despite Scarlet landing a set of blows to his shoulders and jaw. One of his fists catches her just below her armpit as she moves forward to punch him. She moans, but she’s not down. Not yet. She shifts to her right, giving the guy the wrong impression that she’s about to punch with her left hand. Instead, she kicks with her right foot, catching him across his ribs. He cries out as a wave unmoors him and that, combined with the momentum of her kick, knocks him overboard.
Scarlet is still watching her opponent fall overboard when I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. Instinctively, I stick my foot out and the boat’s driver goes flying over the other side of the boat.
“Hell, yeah!”
Scarlet glances at me, a rare smile cracking her serious façade.
“Thanks.”
She takes control of the boat. Scarlet’s hair flies back as the speeding wind flows through it. The boat moves faster as we chase after the boat in front of us. I move up next to her. I hadn’t realized it before, but Tora and her family are on that boat with more of Vandir's and Gumi’s men. I can see Tora watching us over her father’s shoulder.
“What are we doing?”
Scarlet gestures to the boat. “I need my stuff. And we need to get Tora away from them.”
“How do you—”
“We’re running out of time, Parker. We have to do this now.”
Scarlet pulls the boat up alongside the other. We’re close enough that the other boat’s wake is washing up over the side of our boat. I can see everything so clearly, like I’ve just put on the world’s clearest glasses. The expressions on everyone’s faces range from scared to relieved to angry to excited. And I can see Scarlet’s bag sitting on a plastic seat on our side of their boat.
“Grab it!”
“What?”
“Reach over there and grab my bag.”
“Are you insane?”
“There are things in there that we have to have,” she says without looking at me. Instead, she’s concentrating on the path the boat is cutting through the water. We’re coming close to the shore—too close—and there are other vessels, smaller vessels, that are going to be a problem very soon. “Reach over and get it.”
“I can’t. I’ll fall in.”
She looks like she’s about to argue. But then she takes one look at me and nods.
“Take the wheel.”
She doesn’t give me an option this time. She grabs my hand, places it on the wheel, and then she’s gone before I can even think to protest.
Scarlet takes a running start and jumps. My heart stops as I watch her fly in the air between the two boats. She lands gracefully in the belly of the other boat, ducking into a tight roll. She’s on her feet before Gumi and his men can figure out what’s happened. She grabs her bag, throwing the strap over her shoulder as she turns and lands a quick kick to the man rushing up behind her. Then another moves into the fray and she lands a few quick jabs.
“Get close!” she calls.
I don’t realize she’s talking to me at first. But then again, who else would she be talking to? I turn the wheel too sharply and the boats collide. Scarlet’s thrown off her feet, but she manages to catch herself by grabbing the rail that’s attached to the outer rim of the boat. Three of Gumi’s men aren’t as lucky. They fly into the water.
I’m lucky I’m holding onto the wheel. I manage to keep my feet. And Tora and her family fall to the floor, but also remain in the boat.
In the confusion, I lose track of Gumi and the two other men who managed to remain in the boat. Before I realize what’s happening, Gumi slips up behind Scarlet and hits her over the head with the hilt of a hunting knife. She falls into a heap on the bottom of the boat, clearly unconscious.
Gumi and one of his men jump across to my boat, the man tugging a gun from his waistband as soon as he gets his feet steady underneath him.
“It’s over, son,” Gumi says, almost kindly. “Why don’t you take a seat?”
Three to four. The odds don’t seem bad. But when one of those numbered is a five-year-old child, one a frightened, middle-aged woman, and another a dweeb of a teenage boy, I realize that the odds aren’t as great as they might appear.
I hold up my hands and surrender, well aware of just how pissed Scarlet will be when she comes to. I suck at being the hero.
Chapter 24
The boats dock outside a large warehouse that opens up right on the river. It’s like one of those warehouses that you see in all good gangster movies, where they have the good guy and they torture him, and he only gets out alive after they have broken him. I really hope this… whatever it is—a dream, my first time to time travel— doesn’t end that way.
“Get off me,” Scarlet yells as one of the men ties her hands behind her back, then drags her inside the abandoned warehouse. Her body falls to the ground with a thud as another man pushes her down. She grunts in pain as her hip slams onto the concrete floor. Scarlet showers him with what I can guess is verbal abuse.
I wait for them to do the same to me, but they don’t tie my hands. I guess they don’t think I’m much of a threat. Instead they just push me into the water, and I wade through it to the warehouse. My shoes make awkward squeaking noises, as my socks, shoes, and water all mix together with each step.
They don’t tie up Tora or her parents, either.
Heavy metal chains hang down from the warehouse ceiling, like chandeliers for killers. Beneath the chains Gumi’s men actually have Oshiro in a chair and their guns leveled not only on him, but his wife and child as well.
Tora is crying as she curls up next to her mother. I want to go to her and console her, but if her mother can’t get her to calm down, what luck will I have?
Why does it chew at my soul to hear her cry, to see the pain in her eyes? I have no idea, but I kind of wish it wouldn’t. It would make all this so much easier if I didn’t give a crap about whether she or her parents survive this thing.
How callous is that? I’m starting to sound like Travis.
I squeak my way over to Scarlet and help her sit up. She glares at me, but she’s glaring at everyone. Scarlet, I’m beginning to understand, is a very angry person. When things don’t go the way she
thinks they should, she goes nuclear instead of trying to figure out what to do. That’s the difference between her and me. I guess she was never bullied, never learned that sometimes you have to accept your fate and just go on with your life. It’s a lesson I’ve learned well. But did I learn the right lesson?
“Why are you here?” she asks and, at first, I think she’s talking to me. But then I realize that Hector and Clint have come into the warehouse to stand beside Gumi.
“Why do you think?” Clint snarls at Scarlet.
Hector elbows Clint in the side, encouraging him to shut up. “You know why we’re here, Scarlet. We’re trying to influence the future, just like you.”
“But what is so important about this little girl and her family?”
Hector gestures toward Oshiro like he’s nothing more than a piece of furniture. “When he dies, his daughter takes over Sumiyoshi-rengo. We can’t let that happen.”
Oshiro starts to argue in Japanese, something that sounds like a curse even to my unfamiliar ears, but one of Gumi’s men smacks him across the head and orders him to shut up. Again, the words and the movement are spoken in such a way that I don’t have to understand the language to get it.
“Why?” Scarlet asks, pushing the subject.
“Because she changes things. Things in the future are altered because of the decisions she makes; the things the gang does under her rule. Things that we can change by getting rid of her and her family now rather than later.”
“So Yamaguchi-gumi works with Vandir now?”
Hector smiles one of those self-satisfied smiles that Travis often wears when he’s done something especially cruel, or when he thinks he’s said something especially clever.
“Yeah. We explained what the world’s like when she runs Sumiyoshi-rengo and he’s agreed that it’s not a great idea to let it happen.”