The Ryerson Adventure Part 3

The Ryerson Adventure is the epic story of two men on a journey to the legendary Bigfoot computer store, this is the beginning of chapter three, chapters 2 and 1 can be found on this blog also. To refresh your memory we left off at the end of chapter two with our heroes, escaping two cracked up CD selling gangstas…our story continues...

Chapter 3: Conquering The Chinese: Part 1 – Cold War

I could smell it before I could see it. I tilted my head up to a big yellow sign which I couldn’t read, all the confirmation I needed. China Town. I’m unprepared for such an endeavor and I feel my body seizing up. It takes all my concentration to keep moving. My eyes are watering as I look to Tony for answers, “Must be getting close.” He says. We pick up the pace in aspirations of getting out faster, that’s when I see him. A five foot five Chinese kid I used to work with, but never got really comfortable with back at the CNE. Damn. Situations like this must be handled with extreme care. He’s with a companion, another short Asian, definitely Chinese. I take a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for the upcoming war. Ring the alarm, alert the governor, don’t spare the horses, assemble the weapons, rally the troops. As he walks towards me, I see a shift in his eye, so he recognizes me, this is going to be tougher then I anticipated. Then he looks right at me, IN MY EYES! A preemptive strike. Jesus Christ the aggressive bastard. I immediately avert my eyes. I had no idea he could be this belligerent. So this is how he wants to play it. My move. I scan over the top of his head with an unfocused glaze in my eyes, an expert maneuver. But without any hesitation or uncertainty he responds with some cross chatter with his companion and a head tilt in my direction. Pure brilliance, I’ve never seen this technique, and I wonder who I’m really dealing with here. He is an exceptionally strong combatant, and I find myself looking directly into his eyes once again, my defenses gone, he stares back a knowing smirk on his smug face, he seems totally calm and collective, and totally sure he is going to pull my into some meaningless stop and chat ‘catch up’ conversation. We’re only a few meters away now and it’s starting to get awkward. I’m loosing. As he is about to start talking, I use everything I’ve ever learned, or heard of. Picking up my pace, I start chewing my gum loudly, cough, unfocus my eyes and look directly down (a desperation move)… Time slows down. It’s a millennium between the beats of my heart and I ache for a miracle… …………………….We cross paths! No words exchanged! I exhale too loudly but that doesn’t matter now. I won! No awkward conversation. I look at Tony, “I knew that guy.” I say. But he has no idea what happened, I don’t blame him. It was a well fought and expert battle only perceivable to highly trained experts. But I’m tired and feel drained, and there’s no time to recuperate because there’s a very strange scratching sound coming from behind me.

To be continued.