The Face: Tournament of Death, Chapter Ten

Sam Lee Kim stood staring into the lightly dimmed plateau of the Asian island jungle, just as the morning sun had reached the tip of the horizon at dawn. Fai approached the small deck that connected to the front of the bungalow to where his other cousin stood, rubbing his eyes from past sleepiness. His eyes widened at the sight of the resolute Sam Lee Kim standing before him stoutly. “Cousin, you’ve been awake all this time?” he asked him.

Sam Lee Kim slowly turned his head with a grave look upon its face. “Cho and Weng never came back last night…I’m just a little worried. After all, I did get them in trouble…” Fai yawned in awakening, drawing a deep breath of fresh air from the atmosphere. “Don’t worry, cousin, I’m sure they’re fine. I’m almost sure they’ll be at the factory today…” He patted the slightly depressed Sam on the back. “Now come on, Mina made breakfast…and you’ve got a big tournament starting today…”

After the small ration of breakfast, Sam decided to collect his thoughts in the underbrush of the backyard foliage of the small bungalow next to the bubbling creek behind. Upon arrival, he saw Mina, along with an unfamiliar young Asian man with a red shirt on, making passes at the helpless young girl.

“Come on, Mina, come back with me…we’ll be great together…” he said to her, tugging upon her arm. “No…” she contested, pulling her hand away. Samuel Kim crept closer and stood in view, folding his arms against his chest. Both of the others spotted him, and Mina quickly retreated within the safe range of Sam Lee Kim. The young man looked up at the solemn-face Sam, and waved Mina off, making the wise decision to leave them be. Sam escorted her back to the bungalow just overhead.

“But Sam, you must leave for the tournament now,” Billy told him. Samuel stood before him, ungrudgingly. “No, I must be sure that Cho and Weng are alright. Once I see that they are fine, then I’ll go,” he proposed. Unable to persuade his resoluteness, Billy allowed Samuel Lee Kim to accompany he and his brothers to the icebox factory once again.

The sun shone ever brightly that day, radiantly gleaming upon the glisteningly moist skin of the hard workers. Upon scanning the area, the cousin, brothers, and friend could find neither Cho nor Weng. “My brothers…they are still not here…” Chen said to Billy. Billy looked around suspiciously, searching for an answer to their difficult problem. He questioned the foreman, who was busy whipping an uncooperative employee. “Hey, foreman!” he called to him. The tubby man grunted and looked toward his caller. “What do you want?!” he asked rather hostilely, in a grumbling tone.

“Cho and Weng…do you happen to know where they are? They never came back for dinner last night.” The foreman shrugged his shoulders carelessly. “Eh, I don’t know, I don’t keep track of all the workers here…” Billy was disgruntled by this remark. “But you’re the foreman! You’re supposed to keep track of everyone here!” he explained angrily. The foreman aggressively stood up to him in an offensive stance. “Watch who you’re talking to, here! Check with the manager if you want to find them so badly!” He instigated. “Fine, I will!” Billy replied, walking away.

The manager was busily sitting upon his porch, feet perched upon a small table, reading a magazine. Billy walked toward him with a silent resolve and determination. “Hey, you!” He hollered toward him. “Eh?” the manager grunted. “Yeah, you!” Billy cried once more. The manager earnestly picked himself up from his chair. “Hey, you can’t talk to me like that! I’m your manager!” Billy quickly shifted the flight of stairs and knocked down a pot of tea onto the ground. “Where are Cho and Weng!?” he demanded to know.

The manager seemed to calm himself after all the commotion. “Ah…Cho and Weng? The deserters? I don’t know…they probably went into town and got drunk…flirted with the ladies or something or other…” He suggested. Billy was not dissuaded. “No…Cho and Weng wouldn’t be so disrespectful, they wouldn't do anything like that…Where have they gone?” he further inquired. The manager, too, shrugged his shoulders like a helpless little shrew, uncaring for the matter… “Look, I’m sure they will turn up soon…they may just be dawdling somewhere or something…now just don’t concern yourself with such matters and get back to work,” he insisted.

Billy Tien would not budge. “Where’s your boss?” he asked. The manager was startled. “What?” he said. Billy reasserted the question. “Where’s your boss? I want to speak with him!” he continued. The sly manager sighed in contempt. “I’m sure he would not want to be disturbed in his own humble abode right now…” he explained to Billy. “Just get back to work.”

Billy, unwavering, stood in thought, hand to chin. He then suddenly spoke once again. “You mean the large manor…just about a mile down from this dirt road?” He asked, pointing to a road ahead. Again the manager was startled. “Uh? Yes…it is, but what are you gonna do about it?” He wondered. Billy would not falter in his duty to find his friends. “I’ll go myself, and I’ll make sure I get an appointment with him as well,” he said, turning his back, and quickly fleeing the scene.

As the young strong-willed warrior fled from sight, the malicious manager called yet another employee to his presence. Responding quickly, the employee heeded to the call. “Send a message to the boss…I expect he’ll be having some visitors soon…” The messenger nodded in agreement, and quickly fled down the winding dirt path that led to the lair of the higher authority, eager to deliver the message…

Billy Tien returned to the impatiently awaiting crowd to hear the news. “So, what’s the deal? Where are Cho and Weng?” Fai asked him. Billy had a type of silent fury resonating throughout his eyes. Quickly he walked past the crowd, as well as Sam Lee Kim, and said to them, without looking backward, “I’m going to see the boss on this matter…” Upon the hearing of this, Chen’s attention was drawn. “The boss? I’ll go with you…it’s about time I found out what happened to my brothers…” Chen said.

Samuel Lee Kim began to follow Billy and Chen as well, giving his input. “I’ll go too, I am what caused this mess in the first place…” he said, but Billy stopped in his tracks, and slowly looked backward at his honorable cousin. “No, cousin. You must go to your tournament, and win your first match, so that you will be on your way to taking back the revenge that your family as well as mine surely needs. Chen and I will be able to handle this problem by ourselves,” he concluded. So Sam stopped himself from following the two as they walked off into the dusting array of clouds that smoked the dirt path in the distance ahead of them.

“Good luck, my friends,” Samuel Lee Kim imparted to them. He then proceeded to the bungalow to gather his belongings for the long, daunting tasks that were laid before him in the tournament ahead.