Life Can Cho be Tough
(Nothing Like a Vacation)
Cho looked at his stop watch. Seven minutes exactly. He grinned, put his head down and increased his pace. Six minutes later he jogged slowly to a stop. Two miles in thirteen minutes. He was breathing hard, but he was satisfied with his effort. He'd taken five days of vacation starting with a long weekend, giving him ten full days off. Sitting behind a desk, sucking coffee and doughnuts, with the occasional pizza, was not balanced by chasing down the occasional runner. His morning workout routine helped, but was not doing what he wanted it to do.
He had ten days to get back on track and he intended to do so. The iron will that had taken him from ghetto gang life and kept him alive and honored in combat would be relentlessly brought to bear on getting back into peak physical condition. These ten days were just the beginning. Cho was going to reclaim his body.
The ringing of his phone interrupted his musings. His jaw set and he muttered half aloud, "If that's Lisbon....." but it wasn't Lisbon. The caller ID showed "Sunny". He grimaced and answered, "Yea?"
He listened and finally responded. "How do you think I am? You go to New York, and I never hear from you, you won't answer my calls or texts. You just drop off the face of the earth to me. I'm just fantastically great and how are you?"
"I see. I'm not being hostile. You haven't seen hostile, yet, and I agree with you. You did make a mistake. What makes you think I want to talk about it? Your silence for the past two months has said more than enough."
He listened, his face hard, but softening. "OK, OK. Stop with the crying. I can't stand that and you know it. When and where?" He listened. "Actually, I think a public place would be more appropriate." He sighed. "Oh, whatever! Tonight at seven, then." He flipped the phone shut and stared at it like it was a venomous snake.
"Bitch," he muttered. He slid the phone back into its holster and proceeded to work through another thirty minutes of interval sprints. An hour after the beginning of his workout, he was lying on the grass, in the warm sun, relaxing. Sunny's call had receded from his mind, the physical exertion demanding his full attention. He was peacefully drifting in a state of endorphin induce euphoria, enjoying the sensations of a reasonably well tuned body getting some much needed exercise.
The park he was in, did not have the best reputation. It wasn't the worst, but it was secluded and periodically became a mecca for drug deals and the occasional gang hang out. Equally periodically, the police would go on a "clean up the park" crusade and all would return to a peaceful normalcy. Sadly, for the approaching group, this was not one of those normal times.
Cho's peaceful reverie was disturbed by the raucous epithet, "Hey, Chink! What are you doing in our park?"
Cho's eyes instantly opened and he kipped to a standing position, mentally and physically switching to combat mode. He saw four late teen or early twenties men standing in a semi-circle facing him. "They don't even know how to deploy," he thought. "Right now, it's what I'm not doing that's important," he responded. "And if you want me to keep not doing it, you'll just walk away." He mockingly bowed, Japanese fashion and offered a death's head grin. "Consider that your only warning."
"And just what is it you're not doing that's so important?" came the response from the lead man, flipping a fixed blade knife.
Cho dropped, rolled forward, executed a leg sweep that broke the knee of the lead man with the knife. He used the momentum of his leg sweep to stand and execute a spinning kick to the short ribs of one of the other men. The obvious crack of a shattered rib indicated the success of that kick. Turning to take out the remaining two, all he saw was them running away. He grinned and bent over the Mr. Knife with the broken leg. "What I wasn't doing was hurting you, ass-hole!" A weak moan was the only response.
A quick call to Jane, asking him to request an EMT unit to the park, allowed him to be long gone by the time the got there. Jane was going to have fun explaining how he "knew" of the damaged bodies in the park. Being psychic has it perks. Especially if you don't reveal your sources.
* * * * * *
The headline read: Ninja Park Attack. The article described how two innocent citizens had been walking through the park, when there were attacked by several Ninjas that set upon them, finally overpowered them after a valiant fight, and took all of their valuables. The article called for a renewed crime prevention effort in the park, and the mayor agreed and claimed that it would begin tomorrow.
Cho smiled and flipped the knife he'd "liberated" from Mr. Knife. "I wouldn't say that this is all of your valuables. Then he thought of the rocks of crack he'd flushed away and grinned. "But I bet I put a crimp in your style. I hope that shit was fronted and you can't pay. That would get your attention." He gave a very un-Cho-like snicker. "Or the attention of someone! Sure hope he's understanding about how those bad old ninjas ripped him off."
Glancing at his watch, Cho felt his stomach flip. Well, won't be long now. I wonder what she wants. Doesn't make sense. After dumping me, like that, there has to be more to it than her "everlasting" love for me. He looked at the door, dreading the knock he knew would come.
oOOOo
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