Hi: I finished this chapter and hurried it to my posts. I can't wait to get to Chapter 10.
Chapter 9
That's a date
Mr. Ciello's first day of class sped through the morning. Due to the oppressive heat hovering over Fujian, and the two fans attempting to create ventilation through the open windows the three-hour class ended at noon. July, in this region is an impossible time of year to ask even the most disciplined of children to sit in an afternoon class.
"I think the students really like you, Mr. Ciello." Tao relished his assignment. Waiting with two large plastic cups, the Math teacher found escorting the new instructor around town interesting and rewarding.
Taking the chilled beverage, "they looked like they were going to scream stranger, danger." Angelo said before finishing the ice-tea in three uninterrupted gulps.
"Why would they do that, Mr Ciello? They know who you are." Tao's limited growth of hair stuck to his scalp. Sparse areas of his skin glistened from the continuous birth of perspiration. Angelo sighed at the man's constant use of his family name. He wanted Tao to call him Angelo; it became evident that is not the way a teacher is addressed.
The two men continued with their walk through this area on the outskirts of Zhenghe. Tao noticed the American's constant rubbing of his left shoulder. He offered to take him past a shop where help might be available.
Angelo remained mute after seeing the perplexed expression of Tao still covering his face after he began kneading stiff fingers into the opposite joint.
"I know. I am a mess." Though his wound received in Mindanao caused permanent damage to his left shoulder, the temporary trauma inflicted in the right will on occasion surface.
Man, this guy must think I'm fallin' apart?"
"You are a guest and a great teacher from America. You need not explain anything to us." Tao bowed before finishing. "We will treat you accordingly."
Treat me accordingly? How can I explain to this guy? In China they introduce you as a teacher and they bow. In America you say you're a teacher and they hide their children until you have a background check.
Angelo's thoughts brought him a somber appearance. His lips remained pressed together as his focus did not wander from his front. Some passing women not in attendance during his debut at the modest school building nodded in his direction. They felt reassured by the sober expression that this foreigner understood the seriousness of his profession.
"Lao shi, Lao shi." Numerous females and an occasional grandfather stopped in their tracks to offer a slight bow and with soft tones whisper, "teacher, teacher."
Angelo's face darkened with the shade associated with embarrassment. After thanking a man somewhere in his eighties, he waited till the stooped over figure returned to an almost upright position. The labored bow accompanied by the muffled sound of stiff joints.
"I thought you people respected the elderly?" He asked Tao, as Angelo's grim expression turned to puzzlement. "The poor guy almost killed himself with that bow."
"Yes, but if he did not recognize your position in our community he would be considered rude."
"I thought I would be almost invisible. I mean, a teacher in a small town."
"A teacher," said Tao leading the American across the cobble stone street toward the window display of small jars and burlap bags. "A teacher in China," wiping a string of drops from his forehead, "especially one in a small village is anything but invisible."
With the end of his statement, Tao opened the wood framed door. The empty shop filled with the sound of creaking wood and rusted springs.
"Man," Angelo stated as he stared at the cause of the racket. "How old is this thing? I think the hinges are about to fall off?"
"We do not need a bell to tell us if intruders are in." Xiaoqing's voice and body froze at the sight of the two men. The attempt to reinforce her sarcastic and at times acerbic reputation halted with the force of an earthquake.
"Xiaoqing, you speak English?" Tao's eye widened with surprise. He had never heard either sister profess knowledge of the language. "Please, excuse this interruption." He begged pardon. Tao smiled at the dumbfounded young woman. To see this lovely and at times energetic creature stunned to silence made for a memorable moment. He attempted to remain respectful, though a rising grin followed his words.
"Mistress Proprietor," Tao continued reducing his broad smirk to a sly smile. "This is the new teacher." His attempt at further introductions became drowned out by Xiaoqing's thunderous response.
"The American!" She snapped her head to peer into the backroom. The slashing tail of a braid whipped the air as if a lunging Python. Once more as she returned to greet the two customers. The young woman's forced smile hid her amorous thoughts from the men.
My sister is in need of a hard sausage and this big slab of barbarian pork meat is here for the taking.
Cordial exchanges led the trio into a discussion concerning the reason for their visit.
"So you need relief for a sore shoulder?" Xiaoqing asked. A squealing fan sprayed warm air throughout the shop. Its metal toned whine added to the oppressive atmosphere often apparent this time of day.
Xiaoqing's tight light blue Hollister top remained free of perspiration as its V-neck dipped between braless breasts.
This did not go unnoticed by the American.
Her tits are small, but damn.
Angelo explained the certain symptoms that encumbered full use of his left and at times right arm. Answering her questions on his previous treatment for the malady showed little influence on his mind's eye.
Her nipples are pointing straight out. Those little boobs must be rock hard. As his itemizing continued, a rush of color took over his expression.
Oh no, she caught me.
An immortal such as Lu se, the Green Snake, needed a greater amount of practice to develop her special gifts. The talent for sensing a human's mood or thoughts does not manifest itself in a prospective shape-shifter till full maturity, a distance of two or three hundred years for the immortal named, Lu se. Yet, the young female known as Xiaoqing embraced all the qualities of a human woman. Identifying the facial features of a man cataloguing a woman's body is not something magical. It is rather human.
He looks at me as if I am naked.
Her fluttering eyesandslanted grin told Angelo he could hide nothing from this young made a suggestion.
"You need a Tunia massage. My sister is trained for such treatment." Angelo nodded, knowing of the pushing and pressing technique and its highly-trained practitioners. Recuperating in Manila, his Chinese Language instructor would recommend that he should visit one of the many shops in the Philippine capital.
"I have heard of them. My buddies kind of turned me off to the idea." Angelo said in a low apologetic voice.
"Turn you off? Explain what you mean. What did they say?" She asked.
Xiaoqing knew of this Western misconception of the deep tissue massage. Her eyes widened as the green hue of her pupils darkened. It became time to act coy and innocent. The young woman's smile grew as she felt the stimulation of a human female's hormones.
"Oh, they say stupid things." For a second time, Angelo glowed from embarrassment.
"Tell me what did your friends tell you of," slender shoulders rolled. Her top inched downward on her arms. "Asian massage?" She closed almond shaped eyes knowing that her pupils were moments from splitting down the middle.
"They say we are all whores." The blast from Bai Suzheng sent Tao back a step.
"Xiaoqing, my naïve sister, stand straight as a woman."
Both, the younger woman and Tao looked shaken by Bai's abrupt and belligerent entrance. Angelo remained unmoved with eyes locked on her face.
"Mistress Bai Suzhen," Tao ended his attempt to appease the woman. He did not know how to continue.
"The reverend Li Tao." Bai noted Tao's reputation as a learned disciple of Buddha.
"Please, Mistress Suzheng. I am nothing but a man. No special blessings I can bestow. Li Tao's family hoped he would join the priesthood. His affinity for Mathematics sent the religious young man on another path.
"They say, these barbarians from the West," Bai's soft cheeks strained with her words. "My sweet and hungering little sister, the term they use is happy ending." The final words sent Tao back from Bai further. This female possessed a strength and power uncommon for a woman. At times, he thought it uncommon for a man.
"Madam, please forgive me. I would never say such a thing." Angelo bowed as he spoke. He heard of the term bantered about when his army buddies would need sexual relief. In Manila, there are two types of massage parlors. He never visited either.
It's him.
In her rage at being compared to a prostitute, Bai did not even notice that the man with Tao is the teacher from America. A drumming heartbeat enraged by disrepute now thundered from a different cause. She remembered the voice floating from the schoolroom window.
It is the man with the wounded soul.
"I, I, must…" Unable to complete her apology, Bai left the front of her shop and returned with speed to the safety of the backroom.
"We must leave. Angelo let us continue to your apartment." Tao moved to the door as fast as Bai's departure.
"Tao, please wait?" Angelo turned back to Xiaoqing after his request.
"I want to apologize for disrespecting your sister and her profession. I feel it is a misunderstanding," the young woman batted long lashes as he continued. "I hope you can make her understand that I never intended to hurt anyone."
Her eyes sparkled from his words..
I wish I knew Tunia. I want to get my hands on your manly chest.
Xiaoqing remained with a serious expression, though her insides were beginning to boil.
I want to see him naked.
The amorous thoughts did not stop her speech.
"She is a very sensitive girl. You see, I am younger but much more experienced in matters of the world." Xiaoqing toyed with her top, pulling the front of the Hollister shirt upward. "I think you should make an appointment for a massage. I see that your left shoulder is still impeded by pain." Angelo's stiffness became obvious as it limited his arm motion.
"I guess that would be good. I hope your sister will allow it?" At that moment, Xiaoging noticed something unexpected.
By the heavens above, that color.
Blue-eyed foreigners no longer stimulated the interest of many Chinese. World travel and international cable programs watered down the effects of seeing crystal-like orbs with the cold twinkle of a sapphire.
But Xiaoqing is just not any Chinese girl.
It is almost as if he is an Immortal.
Shape-shifters go through an external metamorphosis. Their soul still maintains their natural spirit. An Immortal's eyes prove the Midsummer Night's Dream quote; the eyes are the window to your soul.
As the young woman adjusted the front of her garment, small but supple breasts rolled with the motion. She remained fixed on Angelo as he requested the best time for a possible appointment.
They sparkle as if a living entity. The moisture gives them the look of magnificent, blue ice. I wish I could rap my tail around his hips and have my way with him.
"So, anytime after school or on the weekend?" His last phrase brought her mind back to the task at hand.
If she won't rub this hard, barbarian body, I will.
"Tomorrow night, seven o'clock." Xiaoqing waited for an agreeing nod.
"Ok, I guess. Are you sure it will be alright?" He asked.
"No problem." Xiaoqing answered, flexing her dainty hand in the air to show his worry unfounded.
"Thank you, tomorrow at seven?" Angelo asked in an even tone, still not sure if her older sister would agree.
"Great!" A bubbly response as slim shoulders shook from excitement sending liberated breasts moving. "It's a date." She giggled her answer.
The two men left the shop, their expressions showing stark contrast. Angelo kept moving his arm as the thought of a vengeful masseuse ripping through his rotator cuff brought scenes of pain and controlled abuse.
Tao wiped the sweat collected on his sparse amount of hair still trying to understand the past few minutes. He could not remember Bai ever giving a massage to a man, or anyone else. Xiaoqing's conversation confused him.
Few words were exchanged on the way to Angelo's apartment. There arose between the men a sense that something unusual had happened. Or was about to.
Note to reader:
Or is about to happen...
Buckle up for the next chapter.
Thanks again...please review...
GJ
