It's All In The Reflexes
"You're telling me you still haven't heard from Egg?"
Jack Burton sat up in his chair after taking his feet off the table. He leaned forward and asked "Do you think his China finally gave out?" while thumping on his chest.
Wang Chi shook his head. "He didn't say China was his heart, he said China was in the heart. It's possible he could have died somewhere, but news would have filtered back here to Chinatown somehow."
"Part of that inscrutable Chinese grapevine, or whatever you call it. Maybe he just went to the real China" Jack surmised.
"Maybe, but I think he would have told us if he was going to do that. Of course he would have walked out of here without a word if we hadn't stopped him to ask where he was going." Here was the Dragon of the Black Pool Restaurant that Wang owned in San Francisco's Chinatown. His uncle Chu helped manage the place, and now his wife Maio Yin helped too. Wang's friend Eddie Lee served as the head waiter. Egg Shen was a local expert on Chinese history and magic who also ran a bus tour and owned a whole block of Chinatown.
In fact it was Maio Yin that had been the catalyst for one of Jack's biggest adventures ten years previously. She was kidnapped after arriving in the United States by David Lo Pan, a half-ghost/half-man cursed creature that had existed for over 2000 years. He planned a ceremony where he would wed then kill Maio Yin so as to become flesh and blood again. Jack and Wang had attempted a rescue, which only resulted in a lawyer named Gracie Lee and journalist Margo [Winterbottom] also being kidnapped. Jack and Wang then recruited more help, and along with Egg and the Chang Sing gang raced underground and stormed the ceremony just in time to kill Lo Pan before he could kill Maio Yin, rescuing Law and many girls bound for the sex trade in the process. There was also the small matter of "the three storms", fighters of extraordinary skill and strength in league with Lo Pan that were killed with great difficulty in the final escape.
Margo eventually wrote of the adventures as the fictionalized serial account "Big Trouble In Little China" that was met with acclaims and landed her a position on the local Chronicle newspaper.
More importantly, Jack Burton became an underground legend in Chinatown. He was afforded great latitude to the point where even the street gangs considered him untouchable, with a mixture of gratitude and awe at the stories that had only grown over time. Jack didn't encourage the stories, but he didn't discourage them either.
Jack found the learning curve for understanding old Chinese legends and magic just a little too difficult to climb, and powered through with his usual drive and the occasional weapon. He had known Wang for some time, but got a lot bigger serving of the ancient Chinese culture than he anticipated. For Jack, sometimes it was action first and understanding later, if at all.
"So when was the last time you heard from Egg anyway?" Jack asked.
"About a year ago. He was going to look into some old underground structures in Seattle."
"Well, give the man time. He's what, about 150 years old?" Jack waved before Wang could object. "Ok, so he's only 93 or something. Maybe he found a piece of China down there."
"Speaking of finding something, what are you doing now Jack? You haven't been making your usual runs for a couple months now."
"I'll tell you Wang, I'm about ready to hang it up. After we shook the pillars of heaven with that Lo Pan crap, I figured it was time to start planning on retiring. I already have a bundle stashed away in an IRA, got some property in the central valley and I've had my truck paid off for three years now."
"The good ol' Pork Chop Express, eh?" Jack's specialty was hauling pigs from the mid-west to the west coast markets.
"Pork Chop III, actually. I wore out the first one and somebody totaled the second. I was able to pay cash for the third, so she's been all mine from the start. I've diversified a bit to keep busy, so that's why I haven't been up this way as much; I figure two more years and I'm set. Maybe I should buy some real estate up here as a rental property; what do you think Wang?"
"Not unless you're going to be in it for a while; short term you might take a bath. Yeah, the prices are outrageous and they'll go up alright, but you can get killed in the short run. Here, let me read off a few for you." Wang picked up the paper and started looking for listings as an example.
Jack noticed an article on the back page while Wang was scanning. "I see Margo has her own byline now. I think Eddie married up." Jack looked at the article, about a woman who had gone down to LA on some civil rights case involving trucking only to disappear. "Some of those truckers can be really nasty; I've had a couple of run ins with 'em. I feel sorry for this woman Gracie…Gracie Law? Gimmie that" he said as he snatched the paper from Wang.
"It's her Wang; count on Gracie to get herself in trouble. How old is this paper anyway?" A glance at the top told him the article was published a week ago. "How come you didn't say anything, Wang?"
"Didn't know about it. It's on the back page, Jack. Nobody looks at the back page."
Jack stood up and started pacing around. "A guy would have to be crazy to go into something like that."
"He sure would" Wang agreed.
"He'd have to have lots of help."
"As much as he could get."
"And he'd have to plan it down to the last detail to make sure nothing would go wrong, because brother from what I've seen of this world things go wrong more often than they go right."
"It would take weeks of planning at least."
Jack stopped pacing. "Who the hell am I kidding? Are you coming or not?"
"Let me tell Uncle and Maio and then I'm with you Jack."