“Come inside, we’ll be safe here.” Jason said as he and his men started entering the back of a dry cleaner’s shop.
“This is my father’s shop.” He explained. “And a front for our crack cocaine distribution.”
He opened the backroom, where I saw three men taking crack out of gallon size plastic bags, and putting them into smaller bags.
“Why are we in danger?” I asked. “We won, Chi is dead.”
“Chi is only the beginning.” He said. “Chi’s younger brother is who we really have to worry about.”
“Chi Wellli was the leader of one of Atlanta’s Tong factions. But his brother, Chao Welli, is the leader of the entire Tong; he controls all of the Chinese mafia in Atlanta.”
He then pulled out a poster with Chinese writing on it.
“I can’t read this.” I said.
“It says ‘Winner: Chao Welli.’” Jason continued. “Back in Shanghai, Chao was a Sanda champion, he was undefeated.”
“Then why’d he leave?”
“Because you make more money as a cocaine boss in Atlanta than a kickboxer in Hong Kong.” He said. “We were on decent terms with him, aka he didn't want to kill us. Now, he will."
"Jason, I'm so…"
"Kayla, don't." He said. "I made the choice to rescue you, I'm the one who's gonna have to deal with the consequences. Now, you're going to stay here, while my men and I head back to our dojang to train together. We're gonna need to be at the top of our game if we're gonna survive."
"Wait." I said. "I want to be trained too."
"Kayla, it takes months to learn even the basics of tang soo do. Becoming truly proficient takes years.” He explained.
“Then teach me what you can.” I said. “I don’t want to be defenseless anymore; if there’s a war coming, I want to be as prepared as I can be.”
“Very well.” Jason said. “Come, we’re going to my father’s dojang.”
____
“During normal hours, the dojang is open to my father’s students.” He explained. “But after 8PM, it’s our training ground.”
We entered his dojo. It looked like a pretty legit place; one of the walls was covered in weapons (bo staffs, nunchucks, knives, even a few swords). In one corner, was an entire row of punching bags, all of which looked worn. And scattered around the room, there were things like punching mitts, kick shields, and other training gear.
We walked in to see a group of eleven students getting warmed up; some were stretching, some were doing pushups, some were even doing practicing forms.
Jason went to the front of the dojo and said “CHARYOT!” I don’t speak enough Korean to understand exactly what that means, but I’m pretty sure it must have been a call to stand at attention, because that’s what all the men did.
“Kyung Nae.” He said. I didn’t understand what that meant either, but all the men bowed.
“Kevin, you’re leading class today.” He said. “I have to teach our newest student.”
______
While Kevin led the class with some bagwork, Jason took me aside. I said “So, are we gonna start with punching or kicking?”
He chuckled and said “Oh no, you’re lucky if I teach you either of those by the end of the month.”
“Time to start with the basics.”
______
My entire first class was spent learning how to get in a fighting stance. The entirety of the second was spent practicing basic footwork. As for our third class; well, I don’t know, because just as it was beginning, class was interrupted by a group of gangsters wielding hatchets.
It was over. Chao had found us. Even though I never met him before, I knew it was him the moment he entered the dojo. They had roughly as many men as we did; no matter what happened, a fight between us was going to be long, hard, and bloody.
“This is gonna be easy.” Chao said. “Now, I think I’ll…”
“Chao, I’d like to challenge you.” Jason said. “You and me, one on one. No rules.”
He laughed. “Alright, I’m game. What are the stakes?”
“If I win, we’re even, we put Chi behind us, and your gang continues to respect our territory like you used to. If you win...The Midtown Tigers will be no more, the gang will shut down.”
“Oh, it is on.” He said. He then turned to his gang and said “If, by some miracle, this fool beats me, you are not to attack his men. But don’t worry, I won’t let that happen.”
“You!” Chao said as he pointed to one of his men. “Bow us in.
_____
“Jason Ren, are you ready?” Chao’s thug asked.
“Yes.” Jason replied.
“Chao, are you ready?”
“Yes, I am.” Chao said.
“FIGHT!”
Chao immediately came out on the offensive; he bombarded Jason with a flurry of punches and kicks. Jason recoiled back, desperately trying not to get knocked out.
Chao then went in close and tried to do a hip throw; Jason got out of the way in time, and then punched Chao in the side of the face. Unfortunately, it didn’t appear to do much.
Chao then retaliated with a powerful left hook that landed right in Jason's liver. Jason stumbled, and then Chao got him in the side of the face with an elbow, knocking him straight to the ground.
He then started gloating; he turned to his men to claim their applause. But he counted his victory too soon; despite all the pain he was clearly in, Jason got up.
"This isn't over." Jason said.
Chao then turned to face him once again. Chao threw a front kick, but Jason blocked it. Jason then threw a sidekick, which Chao sidestepped away from, but then, Jason jumped forward, and before Chao could even react, Jason hit him in the back of the head with a hook kick.
Now, the fight finally looked like it was turning in Jason’s favor. Kicks to the back of the head are no joke, they can leave a fighter seriously disoriented. Chao was clearly struggling to even stay on his feet after that kick.
Chao retaliated with a flurry of punches, but Jason evaded all of them, and then came back with a combo of quick, decisive punches of his own. One landed in Chao’s stomach, the other in his face.
Chao’s men turned from cheerful to terrified; it was now looking like their leader could lose. But nonetheless, they stayed at ease.
Chao then stepped forward and threw what would’ve been a powerful round kick…if it had landed. But no, Jason ducked underneath it, and then came back with a front kick that landed right in Chao’s neck. Chao then fell to the floor, helpless and unable to get up.
Jason then stumbled towards his men, where he was greeted with a round of applause and high fives. Meanwhile, Chao had to be helped off the mat by his men.
“Give it to me.” He told one of his men. Chao was then handed a knife.
Moments later, Chao shouted “KILL THEM ALL!”
It then became a free for all. Our men rushed to grab weapons from the weapons wall, as the Chinese enforcers rushed towards them.
One of them made a move on me. He tried to stab me, but it wasn’t working. I was blocking and evading all his strikes. Even though it had only been a few days of training with Jason, I was already stopping him from hurting me.
But, since Jason still hadn’t taught me any offense, I couldn’t do anything to hurt him. Luckily, I didn’t need to, because Jason came over and knocked him out cold with a round kick.
______
Minutes into the fight, all of Chao’s men were running to get out of the dojo, but for most, it was too late. It was an absolute bloodbath in there, but at least our men were pulling ahead.
Finally, as all his men laid dead on the floor, Jason took a sword and stabbed Chao in the chest, ending the gang war once and for all.
“Kayla, I gotta say, I was worried about you, but you’ve learned a lot in just a few days.” He said. “We don’t normally accept girls into the Midtown Tigers, but I think you could be an exception. What do you think, wanna join the gang?”
I thought for a moment and said “Yes, I think I do.”
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