Ebony Scales

Chapter 4

Joy checked the load in the back of the truck one last time, making sure the tarp was secure. If Longwei’s plan worked, they’d have to leave town quickly, and she didn’t want to leave anything behind on the highway. There wasn’t much, they had decided to do any shopping for the village closer to home, but still they had their bags, and a few new clothes. Yingtai in particular had expanded her wardrobe, sporting a whole duffel bag in addition to what she had come with. Joy didn’t besmirch the girl any, she hadn’t gone wild, and most of the purchases were practical in nature. In fact, the only impractical thing the girl had bought was a satiny red set of lingerie, which she had shown to Joy one time when Longwei was out. “I know most village men will not marry me now, with my hand,” she had said, “but I want to still feel beautiful.”

That matching panties and bra set were now tucked securely under the tarp, along with the other items they had decided to take back to the village. In the glove box was Yingtai’s bag of currency, along with some medicines they had bought for her hand. Joy checked everything one last time. They were ready.

Longwei’s plan was simple. After angering the Triads at the gambling den a week prior, he had started observing the area quietly, following the Triads about to establish their headquarters. Careful not to be caught, it had taken many false starts before he was certain of his target, a nightclub that had two supposedly empty floors above it. Parking the truck a few blocks away, Yingtai would sit at the wheel, ready to drive away quickly if necessary, although Joy hoped that wouldn’t be necessary. The girl’s driving skills were not yet up to par, although she could probably handle easy driving on a highway or other open road.

While Yingtai waited, Joy and Longwei would attack the building. It wasn’t supposed to be a major raid, just a smash and burn while sending a message, using the Triad’s best weapons, intimidation and terror, against them.

Using her school’s printer, Joy had made a poster that she then copied at a convenience store two hundred times, in both English and Mandarin, for them to scatter around the area. The posters read:

Ladies and gentlemen of the Triad, you’ve eaten well. You’ve eaten China’s wealth. Its spirit. But your feast is nearly over. From this moment on, none of you are safe. Black Dragon

Joy didn’t think Frank Miller would mind the blatant ripping off of his words. Besides, the Batman reference resonated with her. She and Longwei were going to start a war with this, one against powers that were corrupt and entwined with the government. What better symbol role model was there?

 Joy knelt down, checking for the third time the closures on her boots. She had gone out soon after her first paycheck, purchasing the expensive combat boots, knowing there would come a time they would be necessary. She wore black denim jeans, along with a blood red hooded sweatshirt and courier bag that contained her firebombs, glass bottles filled with shaved paraffin wax, lighter fluid, and magnesium powder that would sputter and spit globs of fire everywhere once lit. The paraffin and lighter fluid had been easy, sold in local stores. The magnesium had been more difficult until Yingtai found out that the bicycle factory near her work specialized in magnesium framed racing cycles. Every day, boxes of magnesium shavings were dumped in the trash, the product of frame making and adjustments. Joy doubted it was pure magnesium, but it burned hot once they got the shavings to light, and it only took a single trip late at night to get away with a box that more than filled their needs.

Longwei knelt down beside her, patting her shoulder. “You sure you want to go in there with me?” he asked, his own pack slung over his shoulders. In his hand he also carried a small automatic pistol, taken from a knocked out street thug three days previously. “We could always start the fire outside the building, you know.”

Joy shook her head. “While the patrons might be stupid, not everyone in there will be Triad,” she said. “They deserve a chance to get out and go home tonight.”

Longwei smiled, and kissed her on the cheek. “That’s why I love you so much.”

Yingtai stuck her head out from the passenger’s seat of the truck, looking back at them. “You ready?” she asked with her new found trademark smirk. “Or do you need private time again?”

“You know, she’s really become a wisecracker,” Joy muttered, earning a chuckle from Longwei.

“She always has been. She just didn’t show it to you until you became closer. Since you’re family now, you’re getting the full Yingtai.”

The drive over to the nightclub was quiet. They had chosen to attack just as the sun was setting, before the nightclub got overly busy, in order to maximize the safety of the civilian population. Cruising past the building once, Joy could see a few men gathered around the entrance, most of them obvious gangsters. There were two women, most likely either Triad prostitutes or perhaps entertainers, similar to what Joy had done undercover in Hefei. In any case, the area was relatively empty. Joy drove on, finding a parking spot right where she wanted, next to a convenience store. Here, Yingtai could stay parked for a long time without arousing suspicion, as various workers would hang out or even take naps in their cars in the parking lot.

“All right, if we’re going to do it, now’s the time,” Joy said, shifting the truck into park. Getting out of the vehicle, she stretched her body quickly, knowing that when she and Longwei ran, there would be no margin for error, and a charlie horse or a pulled calf could mean dying. “All set?”

Longwei checked his bag, nodding. Pulling on a jacket, he slid the straps of his pack over his shoulders, keeping the pistol in his jacket pocket. Handing the keys to Yingtai, they repeated the plan. Yingtai was to wait fifteen minutes, then start the engine. If Longwei and Joy hadn’t come back within another ten minutes after that, she was to drive by the nightclub. If she still hadn’t seen Longwei or Joy, she was to leave the city, driving at least an hour away before waiting. In the glove box was a disposable cell phone, which Longwei or Joy could call her on. If she hadn’t heard from them in twenty four hours, she was to assume they were dead and drive back to the village. Joy hated that part of the plan, but knew it had to happen. They couldn’t leave Yingtai waiting forever.