Train Spirits

Angel Wings and the Broken Blade – PT 3

Bill finally came back with the water. He served me a transparent glass with about the usual half-liter size. The water was refreshing, and I swallowed it with all fancy, just like the way they taught me.  Do not show your true feelings.

I was really thirsty and drank all of the water. My comic smarts failed me now. What if there was some sort of drug in the glass? The real ninja does not eat or drink from his enemy.

Only time would tell now.

At first, I thought that it was my cell phone that was ringing, but Bill answered the call.

‘Hey Max, what’s taking you so long? The chick is already here.’

The chatter on the other side took more than ten seconds. Whatever was said was not to Bill’s liking. He moved away to a corner, where he was certain that I could not hear his replies.

My dad worked as a communication engineer for a telephone company in the nearby island of Grand Cayman. He taught us to use our oral communication skills, especially listening and sharing our thoughts. It is rather unpleasant when people ignore your presentation.

The church is one of the most common places for multiple conversations. While the pastor preaches, the members delight in gossip, friendly chatter, business plans, and even using chats via their cell phone.

Bill was so wrong about me. I could hear his every word. Now he made me more worried than ever as I heard him say.

‘We can’t make the same mistake again. Penelope could have lasted longer.’ He seemed desperate. ‘You have to come now, the show is about to start, and I must get going. People may notice if I arrive late.’

Penelope, who was Penelope? What mistake did they make? Did they kill her?

‘Lacy, I am really sorry, never meant to hit you. Can you forgive me?’ he was so penitent that you could see it on his face.

‘Who is Penelope?’ The question shocked him enough to make him draw closer to me.

‘You’re more amazing than you let on. You overheard our conversation. That is so wild, Lacy. Have to say so.’ He shook his head in amazement.

‘So, you’re not going to tell me who she was, and how she died?’ Was that remorse on his face?  He sat down across from me.

‘Lacy, I beg you, please cooperate with us.  No harm will come of you.  I swear it on my mother’s grave.’

‘So, Penelope did like the show, and you killed her.  You are a cold-blooded killer, Bill. How could you..be..so…cruel?’ Tears rushed to his eyes, and this time I was sure. He truly regretted whatever happened to Penelope.

‘Penelope was so beautiful, so innocent and sweet in all her ways. We fell in love like crazy teens locked in our world of fantasy. I could not be with her, you know, my job and my family left me with little time.  But once she found out that I felt the same, there was no way of stopping her.

‘One day, she came by the bookstore; we were all alone except for Max. She looked so beautiful in her uniform, I could not resist kissing her.  Hell broke loose after that.’

Penelope was my missing classmate, but every just called her Penpee. Oh my gosh, this could not be happening. What was I locked into?

‘I wanted to tell her how impossible it would be, but Max became a bigger problem.  He came up with the idea of keeping her for ourselves, selling fashion and nudity with her. ..’

‘I can’t believe that you agreed to that.  How could you, Bill, not think about your children?’

‘I did Lacy, but Max had the videos of my kiss with Penelope, and he threatened to end my career and destroy my family if I did not cooperate.  So we rented an abandoned house on the outskirts of town and transformed it into a photo studio.

‘I told her that we would have to elope, and she agreed.  I never wanted any of this to happen, just hoped that I could eventually let her go.  But she never wanted to do nude modeling, and Max threatened to rape her if she refused.

‘I convinced her to do it, so that she would not get hurt…’

‘Why didn’t you just go to the police? Or fight up to Max, you have strong muscles and a tough hand..’

‘Sorry, I hit you, Lacy, but I can’t with max. I started taking classes in secret, but when I challenged him, things only got worse.  There is no way out.  Not even the police can help me….’ There was so much fear in his voice, I felt like screaming out loud about how big a coward he was, only able to pick on women.

‘You and I can handle him, Bill, I am not so defenseless as I look.’

‘I know, Lacy, I have learnt that the hard way.  But we can’t fight Max, Lacy.’

‘Come on, Bill, be brave now for both of your family and us.’

‘Lacy, you don’t understand, Max’s a ninja!’ I sat upright sharply. ‘We could never fight him.  I know, I have tried more than once.’

This is the part where I am supposed to pinch myself. This is the twenty-first century, everyone knows that those ninja comics are just stories based on urban legends.

‘Come on, Bill, I am a book bug, but you can’t expect me to believe that.  That is just a flimsy excuse to defend your crimes.’

‘No, Lacy, how I wish it were as you said. I would have gotten rid of him by now.  But no, he has a sword, can appear and disappear when he likes, and can move between walls.’

‘Well, Bill, let’s say I buy into that. Why can’t the police deal with?’

Bill shook his head. ‘Max is Ben Rin. He has the local police in his pocket. Once I tried that way, I gave them all the evidence that they needed, but they only arrested me for a weekend; they let me go the next day and warned me not to make that mistake again.’

‘So the whole police force works for Max.  When Penpee died, did you bring them evidence…’

A voice resonated from the other side of the counter.  How long has he been hiding there, or what did he hear? I had no idea.

‘So nice to see that you two are getting on fine.  So, we hope that this one is better than the last one.  I do not have much time. Let’s get going, Bill.’

Max walked from the shadows, dressed in a black ninja outfit. He carried a sword on his back and a non-shaku strapped to the left side of his waist.  He filled the room with a rare sulfur-like odor, maybe from the stage lights that he was using at the show.

‘Hello Lacy, so nice to see you. Can you please stand up?’ This was the voice we all knew as Ben Rin, leader of the musical band.

Bill looked at me, pleading with his eyes. I stood up rather slowly.  My buttocks and head still ached from the double fall. I looked him over and concluded that I would be better off obeying for now.

‘Nice and sweet of you, Lacy. ’ Max moved to my left, placing himself between Bill and I.

‘Now, please take off your blouse.’

‘Over my dead body!’ There was no way I was going to strip-tease for these criminals.  Max reached for his sword.

‘Max, no!’ Bill intervened. ‘Please, Lacy, my heart could not face another loss. Please take off your blouse.’

‘Who cares about your heart. I would drive a dagger in it if you just give me the chance. Come on, Max, lend me your sword. But no, I am not taking off my blouse.’ My ire was getting the best of me. I knew Bill was only trying to save me from pain.

Max laughed out loud. Nothing like the weird laughter seen in those thriller movies.

‘Well, Lacy, I am impressed. So, if I give you a dagger, will you plunge it into Bill’s heart?’ he laughed again.  ‘I am afraid that will have to wait.  I need Bill’s help in my studio.  Now, I am not going to hurt you, just want to see your body, making sure that you have no ugly scars.

‘So please, take your blouse off, or I will cut it loose. Your decision. Either way, your blouse is coming off.’

He placed his hand on his sword.

‘Lacy, please, just do as he says.’ Bill was surely in love with me, I just wanted to kill them both.

‘Max, I can assure you that I have no scars on my body.  Please don’t do this.  You can still walk away free.’

‘I have little time, must get back to the show. Take off your blouse now!’

That was some snapping. Even a dog would take offense. All these years that Mom had ignored me have made me pretty tough.

‘Just get back to your blasted show and leave me alone!’

I yelled so hard that my lungs hurt. In a single movement, Max unleashed his sword. He waved it around his head before making several fast swishes in my direction. I closed my eyes, but even so, I could feel my blouse begin to lose its shape before falling to the floor.

My hands flew automatically to cover my breast even though I was wearing a bra. I looked down at my blouse, now lying on the floor. Shredded to bits, one of my favorites. Dad had given me this shirt as part of my fifteenth birthday gift. But now it was all gone.

‘see, Lacy, it wasn’t that hard. And it is true, you have no scars.’ Max walked around me in a circle. Review every inch of my body. I felt like someone was violating every inch of my privacy.

I want to pluck out his eyes, then kill him so much until he was dead.

‘Now, Lacy, one last part. Please, take off your pants. I assure you that I will not touch or even come close to you.’

‘you can go to hell, Max’, the tears were flowing down my cheeks again.  ‘But, I won’t be taking off my pants, and if you try to cut it off, I promise you, I will kill you where you stand.’ There was no fight left in my voice; the words came out all tear-filled and broken.

Max looked at me for a moment, then he raised his sword once more.

‘You leave me no choice, Lacy. I really admire your courage, but my time is valuable, and I must return to the show.’