Kylie Chan: Blue Dragon

John completely lost it. He roared with laughter, then straightened and changed back to his normal middle-aged self. He grinned at Roland with delight. ‘You think I’m a demon? You have seventy-five of them in here already and you think I’m a demon ?’

Roland didn’t shift.

‘Sorry about this, Leo,’ John said. ‘Couldn’t be helped.’

‘Not your fault, my Lord,’ Leo said. ‘It’ll be fun to tell him anyway. Can’t wait to see the look on his face.’

‘I want to be there too.’ Michael came down the hallway and stopped behind Leo. ‘I want to see his face when he finds out. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.’

‘You three go and tell him everything,’ I said. ‘I’m taking Mum and Dad shopping.’

‘I want to come too,’ Simone said. ‘I brought my wallet.’

‘Go,’ John said. ‘If any demons approach you, send them up here.’

Roland stiffened when John said ‘demons’ but didn’t move otherwise.

‘Hi, Roland,’ I said.

Roland didn’t move or shift his gaze from John.

‘Look behind you, at the end of the hallway.’

Roland still didn’t move.

‘See the altar at the end of the hallway there?’

‘I know it’s there,’ Roland said.

‘Who put it there?’

‘Leo.’

‘Yeah,’ I said with a broad grin. ‘Which god is it for?’

‘Pak Tai.’

‘Yeah, Pak Tai. Chen Wu,’ I said. ‘Leo put it there ’cause Leo works for Chen Wu. ’ I gestured towards John. ‘This guy.’

Roland dropped his arms and his face went slack. ‘No.’

‘Come on, guys,’ I said to my parents. ‘Let the boys have their fun.’

‘I think you spoiled their fun already, Emma,’ Simone said with delight. ‘That was great.’

‘Call me when you have them all tamed,’ I said as we left.

My parents’ faces were white as we took the lift down to street level. I didn’t know what to say.

‘Can we go to Toys R Us, Emma?’ Simone said. ‘I have some money to spend.’

‘How about we show my mum and dad some grown-up stuff?’ I said. ‘You can go to Toys R Us any day.’

‘Oh, okay,’ she said. ‘Of course.’ She looked up at my mother. ‘What sort of things would you like to buy?’

My mother stared at Simone as if she were a creature from another planet.

‘She’s just a little girl, Mum,’ I said.

‘Yeah,’ Simone said with a grin. ‘Emma’s the one that’s the snake .’

Both my parents stiffened.

‘Damn,’ I said softly. I raised my voice and tried to sound cheerful. ‘Let’s go to the China Products store. There’s a lot of great stuff there from the Mainland—Chinese handicrafts. You said you wanted to see that, right, Mum?’

My mother watched me, silent.

‘Are you okay?’ Simone said.

Neither of my parents spoke.

What’s the matter with them, Emma? Simone said into my ear.

‘Come on, guys,’ I said. ‘Let’s go and be tourists. Perfectly ordinary, normal tourists.’

Finished, Emma, come on back.

‘John’s finished with the demons at the dojo,’ I said. ‘We’ll go back and move on to Bright Mansions.’

When we reached the dojo, Roland Pak was in his office with John, beaming with delight.

‘Where’s Leo and Michael?’ I said.

‘In one of the training rooms,’ John said. ‘Leo’s teaching a group of youngsters. Michael’s assisting.’

‘Come in, come in,’ Roland said to my parents. ‘Come. Sit.’

He rose and gave his seat to my mother, and gestured towards an empty chair for my father. The tiny office was a squeeze with all of us in there. Simone climbed into her father’s lap.

‘You can throw chi too, Emma?’ Roland said, leaning one hip on the desk.

‘Yep,’ I said, standing behind my father and resting my hands on his shoulders. ‘I’m about ten times as good as Michael.’

‘And that’s just in human form,’ John said. ‘In Serpent form she’s another ten times better than that.’

My parents stiffened and I glared at John, but Roland’s grin didn’t shift.

‘Where did you put them all?’ I said.

‘I sent them up to the Mountain. Construction will move three times more quickly with so many extra hands, even if they are unskilled. I may have some of them taught to use heavy equipment; we’re short on bulldozer operators to clear the rubble.’

‘One Two Two’s really done us a huge favour then,’ I said. ‘On to Happy Valley.’

‘How about I drop you at the Jockey Club clubhouse in the Valley on the way?’ John said. ‘You can have lunch there while I sort the demons out.’

‘Uh,’ Roland began. ‘Before you go…’

‘Yes, Roland?’ John said.

‘You want me to show you some stuff, don’t you,’ I said.

Roland nodded.

‘Oh, of course,’ John said, leaning back. ‘Least we can do for you, Roland, after putting you through all of this. Imagine having a hundred demons turn up at your front door like that. I’ll get someone to set seals on the studio early next week.’ John rose and slid Simone off his lap. ‘Do you have a free room we can use?’

‘Come this way,’ Roland said, his grin even wider.

‘You guys can stay here and wait for me, if you like,’ I said to my parents.

‘I’d like to see, Emma,’ my father said. ‘Barbie?’

My mother nodded, silent.

Your mother’s not talking much, Simone said into my ear. Is she okay?

‘If it’s all too much for you, just say so, Mum,’ I said, linking my arm into my mother’s and giving her a squeeze as I led her out into the hall. ‘I’ll take you home and let you rest.’

‘I’m okay,’ my mother said softly. ‘I want to see.’

Roland took us down the hall, past the room where Leo had resumed his lesson, to another training room. It was only about three metres square and didn’t have any mirrors. One wall was windows overlooking the busy Causeway Bay street. I jammed my foot into the mats on the floor to test them: not as good as the ones up on the Peak, just cotton wadding. But they would do.

‘What would you like to see, Roland?’ I said.

‘Siu Lim Tao,’ Roland said.

‘You’re joking. The basic Wing Chun set?’

‘I’m impressed, Roland,’ John said. ‘Good thing to ask for. If Emma performs the set for you, you will see it done by a true Grand Master, in perfection. You should take a video.’

‘I can’t do it perfectly,’ I said, annoyed. ‘Nobody can.’

‘Not even me?’ John said with a grin.

I glared at him. He could see that I wanted to thump him and his grin widened. ‘Do it, Emma. If Roland can find any imperfection in your performance of the set, I will be very impressed indeed.’

‘I’m going to do the basic set of moves for one of the more lethal types of Chinese kung fu,’ I said to my parents. ‘But the most effective styles are the least impressive to look at. Don’t expect too much, okay? After I’ve done this for Roland I’ll do some pretty stuff for you. And I’m not a Grand Master, Roland. Call me sigung and I’ll be very cross indeed.’

‘ Sigung ,’ John said loudly. He dropped to the floor to sit cross-legged and pulled Simone into his lap, holding her around the waist.

‘When I am able to touch you again,’ I said, moving into position, ‘old man,’ I flipped my fists and moved into Wing Chun stance, ‘I really am going to beat,’ I punched with my left fist and then my right, ‘the living crap out of you.’

‘Stop,’ Roland said, and I froze. ‘Sorry. Apologies. But you didn’t do a signature.’