The Bamboo Bridge Chapter eight: A hand lost.

That Chinese New Year we had many adventures. Plum Mountain received two new southern style heads and a hand me down drum and new members who had studied Kung Fu in the past. The picked up Lion dance eay enougha and by grasping at water collecting here and there we were able to go out ad a large enough team. Though we were unable to parade in Brooklyn. I explained that though many would travel around NJ, Brooklyn was another matter.

So unfortunately we didnt do that. But the woman who had been interested in that parade, who we began to call Tough Beauty, asked that we perform at her business opening in the spring. Joyce ended up doing that one without me as I had promised to take Nara on a trip just the two of us.

That Chinese New Year we had so many dances that we even sent out two teams at a time, which was amazing because to look at any of our classes we barely had a team. It was because I gathered and forced people to practice at odd times even at the bus stop. I even pulled of a dance in New York City at a big company going with two people and recruiting from the Audience.

All of these stories really need to be told on their own so I will list them and tell them to you as short stories here.

BENSON Hurst

Acrobats and lions jilted

Drowned out by a recording 

Many stores

School of Gong

Thanksgiving Freeze

But if all the people that showed up, the group that I was teaching in my basement came to none of them and I had foreshadowing that I should not be helping these people. A second Chinese New Year season had come and gone and Kai' s texts became strange and controlling. When he purchased the drums... suddenly a partner ship seemed to transform into a relationship where he somehow thought I was taking orders from him.

I told him we would separate and I would take a drum as payment. He refused and in the end Kai Polk and Mo Yung Tai and I stood before Athena drum and heads, sticks and knives laid out before her.

"He is just a teacher! If he wants to quit let him quit!" Kai Polk said

Mo Yung said also, "This person has no right to anything the drums belong to 4C"

Athena spoke, "Let Kai and Tai have the drums so that they may use them. And let Peter have the heads so he can use them."

Kai grabbed the drum and spit on the black lion. Understanding that heads could be interpreted in more than one way I grabbed the two butcher knives and hacked away at Kai. It was like cutting through smoke and as his head vanished a centipede twice as long as a man jumped out and stung my left hand before encircling Mo Yung Tai who laughed. The Black lion came to live and bit my hand off before the poison could get to my heart as Tai and Kai in his true form walked away with the drums.

Athena took my knife and put it in the fire place and then sealed my wound.

"To achieve something requires sacrifice, and to be betrayed to to gain new insight to people's souls. You will gain another hand. I will see to it. And for now you have gained immortal eyes. For though you only saw Kai's true form, you cab infer that Mo Yung is no ordinary man either."