Red Panda Goddess

The Unexpected Expected

Mr. Cheng readies himself and then comes at me full charge without any warning. Now in sparring with him I was never able to hit him once with using what he was teaching me. But he told me to invent my own style, so here it goes. We trade blows back and forth with punches, kicks, sweeps, blocks, and all sorts of different techniques and nothing reaches the other. His power is immense, for an old man he can put a lot of power behind his strikes, and his blocks are like metal walls. Everything I do to strike or block him hurts me worse than it does him, then I remember about the sand box...

“Vemo, you will strike the sand until it doesn’t hurt anymore, then you will strike coarser sand, then you will strike pebbles, then you will strike stones, and then nails, and then needles, and lastly you will strike broken glass.” I did this same routine for every part of my arms and legs. Then I would do it all again against a punching bag, then a punching post, then the post without the padding, then a tree, then a stack of bricks, then a cement pole, and lastly a metal pole. “Until it didn’t hurt...” it was like a message with a bell hung to it floating in my mind waiting to be rung. When I felt the rigidity of his structure but the way he took the blows was like a springboard. Then I remembered the timing training. He filled the same bowls that he used for sand with water, “you will strike the water and take a sip before the drop hits the waters surface, you will do this with every strike.”

“Even my feet?”

“Yes, you may think it’s a great distance to travel from foot strike or shin strike to push your face up to the water for a sip, but it is much closer than you think.” And it seemed like everything would go in slow motion, I could see his strikes coming at me, but it’s like my body would react faster than my brain. And lastly I remembered the very first thing he taught me...muscle memory. Something I have a natural talent for? Just then my mind flashes back to reality when I see an unorthodox opening and time stops. How would I make that strike? My hands are tied up, my legs are firmly planted...how? And then it dawns on me that my entire body is usable as a weapon, and just as time starts back up I thrust my shoulder into his chest, grab his arm and push strike him away from me, do a half turn and finish with extending back kick.

“Stop!” He stumbles back a couple of steps. Then he takes a deep breath and stands up firmly. “Very good, I’ve never in my 50 years of martial arts, had anyone find an opening that quick and take advantage of it. You have progressed well and I’m proud of you. We are done...”

“Wait what?! Just like that? But I love coming here and hanging out with you. This is more than training to defend myself and keep order and peace to me...”

“Enough! I said we are done. I am proud of you. I have nothing more to teach you, now you must teach me...”

“Teach you?! That’s impossible, that’s basically telling an ant to teach a god to lift a rock.”

“Then by all means, show me to lift a rock. I think it would be amusing to go rock skipping one day. What about it? A picnic by the river?”

“What’s gotten into you? Are you ok?” I could notice his change in demeanor was very odd and something wasn’t right.

“Look, when I was in China I had a fight with both my sister and brother. I made up with my sister when I moved here to America. And when she died I received a red Panda baby that was an albino, it was a black red panda named Juki Akaihime, she should be running around here somewhere. But for my brother I never got to make peace with him and it’s been on my mind for a long time but it wasn’t until I heard about you having that big fight with your brother that I started to worry. I’ve taken up a big portion of your time and that was selfish of me. So I’m giving you a break so you can spend time with him and fix this wound before it festers.”

I had to collect my thoughts for a moment and sat down right where I stood. “So the raccoon was a panda?” He looks up suddenly in surprise then laughs.

“Oh so you’ve met Juki by now huh? Rascally little thing, but cute as a button. One day I’ll tell you about why red pandas are so special to my family, but for now I want you to make up with your brother.”

I get up and walk over towards him sitting at the table with the clothes sitting on it.

“What about you and your brother? And what about these clothes? I picked these but idk which ones I was supposed to pick?” I sit next to him taking the gloves and wraps off.

“All three are for you, I had them made just for you and your unique style and stance. You are a reverse southpaw, meaning your left side hangs back like a left handed fighter but your power lies in your right side, it’s the most balanced unbalanced stance I’ve ever seen. You would be wonderful at Drunken Fist, save had you the alcohol to master it. And for my brother, he died 2 years ago and so I can’t fix anything with him.” He looks down at the grass and notices Juki in the corner of his eye walking up nervously sniffing the air. “She likes you.”

“Who likes me? And why don’t you go to China to his grave and talk to him? I would...” he looks up from the grass and puts his hand out to Juki. She comes up, sniffs his hand, then rubs her face and ears on his hand.

“Juki likes you, she told me she enjoys watching you train, there’s something special about the way you are she just likes. Which is rare because she has never liked anyone other than me.” He sits back and she jumps into his lap. “If you only knew how much I value your input.”

I look up at him and stretch my hand out to Juki, she sniffs at it and then hops onto the table and over into my lap and curls up. “What do you mean?” I look back up to him.

“For years my family has been urging me to come back to China and make peace with my brother but I’ve never given it a thought. But right now hearing you say that you would has unexpectedly changed my mind. I had expected to go, maybe later rather than sooner, but never expected to have a change of heart coming from a man much younger than myself.” He looks up at the moon, “that’s where I think you came from, there...” he points to the moon, “Yuèliàng...”

“The moon? Why do you think that?” I start petting Juki and scratching her ears.

“You don’t realize it but in the midst of darkness you are a light that shines and guides people to their homes. It’s the brightest thing in the night sky and when it’s at its fullest it can light up an entire countryside just like the sun.” He smiles and gets up, “come inside I want you to have something.” He walks inside leaving me and Juki sitting at the table. I look down at her and pet her across the back.

“You ready to go in?” I could swear I saw her smile and close her eyes. “Alright then, let’s go.” I pick her up and sit her on my shoulder and walk inside. When I walk through the door I see Mr. Cheng sitting at the dining table with food laid out for four. I can see the shadow of someone else in front of him in my seat and the fourth plate has smaller portions. On the other side is my chopstick box open and the sticks laid out to be used. As I get closer I realize the shadow in my seat was my brother! My pace quickens and I rush to sit down in my alotted spot.

“Hey Mark, Mr. Cheng here called me and said we needed to talk, what’s up...? Hey! Those clothes look really cool on you man! Where’d you get them?” He reaches over and feels of the clothes and he seems a lot calmer than he did earlier today.

“They were a gift along with two others from Miss Juki and Mr. Cheng. Hey look, I’m sorry about earlier...I said some mean things and I didn’t mean to yell at you...”

“Look don’t worry about it, momma would’ve gotten pissed at both of us anyways for fighting like little kids. So let’s just drop it and go on about things ok?” He reaches his hand out to shake, I go over and hug him and we both say I love you.

“Now that it’s taken care of, shall we eat?” Mr. Cheng’s voice seems to quiver and you can see some tears welling up in his eyes. He meant to interrupt to keep from stirring emotions.

“Yes let’s eat!” I was so enthusiastic to finally eat with my chopsticks that I forgot to wait for the blessing. “Wait, we need to ask for blessings first...”

“Would you care to do the honors Vemo?” He smiles at me and I put my hands together and bow to the food.

“Thank you for this food, and may it grant us nutrition and health for the day to come.” We all four bow our heads and dig in. My brother looks up at me with a questionable look.

“Who is Juki? I only see us three?” He looks around the table at the four sets of food and then Juki pops up, grabs a piece of chicken and drags it to her cushion to eat.

“That is Miss Juki, she’s an albino red panda that lives here with Mr. Cheng. Very cute little thing ain’t she...uh...isn’t she?” She pops up and back down for just a moment when her name was mentioned.

“Whoa! It looks like a raccoon! That’s cool, so how has Mark been doing Mr. Cheng? I know he’s been gone for over six months and I made a big commotion about it, but if I had known he was here and not making trouble I wouldn’t have said anything.”

Mr. Cheng looks up at him with a concerned look, then you could see a twinkle in his eye as an idea popped in his head. “Vemo has been doing well, you see, I’ve been preparing him to escort me to China next month...” my jaw hits the floor and then my body does...”and we will be staying there for a little while but I’m not sure how long, do you think that would be alright?” I come to my senses and am shocked beyond all senses.

“He doesn’t have a real job and he’s not in school so I don’t see why not? Plus it’ll be good for him to go out into the world instead of being stuck here in Alabama his whole life. Mark just be sure you tell momma about it or else she will worry herself to death.” They both look at me and I’m barely holding it together at this point. On one hand, yeah! That would be amazing! I’ve always wanted to go to China! But on the other hand...how long will I be gone? What am I allowed to take? Why am I over thinking this? Wait I don’t have a lot of money so will I be a hinder to Mr. Cheng? My mind runs rampant with all of the pros and cons and just before I could even speak...

“Great!” Mr. Cheng smiles, “we will make all the preparations and after 15 days Vemo will come stay with me until we leave for China ok?” He stands up and walks out the back door.

“Why does he keep calling you Vemo?” My brother whispers to me.

“You the Panda Tree? The owner and his family took a liking to me since I went there all the time and the son, Chou, gave me a nickname, and his sisters shortened it so how they used to call me Viper in school right? Well emo is kind of like demon in mandarin, so the little twin sisters were 5 years old and started calling me Vemo and uncle Vemo. It’s weird I know, but Mr. Cheng is family so he got ahold of the nickname too and now it’s stuck. I don’t mind it though.”

“You could’ve just said the Panda Tree twins gave you the nickname I would’ve understood idiot.” He laughs and punches me arm, “ow, when did you get tougher than me?”

I laugh and we sit there laughing and messing with each other until Mr. Cheng walks back in with the clothes from outside folded and rolled neatly enough to be put in my bag. I cleaned my chopsticks and stuck them back in the box. Then I started to put everything in my bag when my brother stopped me and pulled out a couple of new bags for me. “I saw your tote bag is about to fall apart so I got you a messenger bag for your books, computer, and whatever, then this cool backpack for all your other stuff, look at the cool pockets and design. You like them?” He was pointing out all of the features and designs and I couldn’t get over how he turned from a raging demon this morning back into my old brother in just a day.

“Yeah they’re awesome man thanks! I love them.” I started loading each bag separately and felt a new orderly confidence about myself. After coming home and packing up more of my stuff with my newly acquired storage containers...bags...I decided to cut my hair. It was down to my mid back right up under my lotus compass tattoo but I didn’t want to lose the length, but I needed to lose the weight. So I measured up on my scalp to where my hairline started and parted it out of the way and shaved it down to 8mm, then I continued all the around. So that my top hair remained long but my sides and back were shaved. It felt lighter, better, and I felt like it looked better too. I went to a hair stylist the next day to get it cleaned up and thinned out some because thick hair can be a mess sometimes. She asked me if I wanted to do anything different and I thought, why not? I’m about to go to China so why not have some fun. So I agreed and she asked me my favorite colors and I told her, blue, purple, black, white, and pink, in that order. So she turned me around and played with my hair for what felt like an eternity in heaven. Because she was a very attractive young woman with a very nice and well endowed body, and she likes to get up close and personal when doing her hair art. It was mesmerizing and wonderful. And before I knew it she was done, she whirled me around in the chair and to my surprise it was amazing. She died the base color black then put in highlights of blue, purple, and pink and then drenched the tips in silver white for a really nice touch. I wanted to kiss her after that and it had nothing to do with the foreplay torture she put me through. It was quite the beautiful work of art on my head. I felt like a lion with a beautiful new mane. I thanked her kindly, gave her a hug and paid her generously. After that I decided I should get a tattoo, not for celebration, but for something Mr. Cheng told me about how I fought and the way I looked.

“I watch you moving and striking in such a fluid motion and it’s like watching two Pandas play with each other. They fall into each other and use every inch of their body to attack each other. Plus all I ever see you wear is black and white, so you’re like my little panda brother to Juki the red panda.” And it made me smile more than anything to hear it come from him and not just anybody. So I went to a tattoo shop and asked for some panda ideas but couldn’t get anything I wanted. I tried going to several shops and all of them turning out to be duds. So I got the idea to draw my own and have them trace it, of course! They hardly do free hand anymore anyways, plus all of my tattoos up to now are my own art anyways. So I took my time and drew out a panda design that seemed to fit me in my own personal way and took it back to the most talented artist I found on my search and had him put it on me. Unlike the hair stylist, this was not the most pleasant experience and it’s on my left chest so it’s going to be special. The girl at the front desk however was very nice to look at so I did have something to think about while writhing in pain. After it was done and over with I had one more thing on my list to do and that was to go on a day long joy ride on the motorcycle through the countryside and up to my favorite city to visit, Chattanooga. So the next day being Saturday I decided to go home and take a nap and get up early Saturday morning and start my adventure. I took off with my new blue clothes on and put my wraps on my hands. I tied down my messenger bag and tightened up my backpack and turned my music up wide open and hit the road at 3am. With it being so late/early there’s hardly any traffic on the highway or back roads so it’s nice to have the road to myself, aside from the cops, and with that in mind I let the motorcycle go. At one point I reached 245mph gliding on the road like I was on a cloud, I passed by a cop that flipped its blue lights on and then off again. I felt like I was flying, I felt free, I felt alive, I felt like I could die happy right then and there. Then I realized there was a semi truck in front of me so I slowed down and went around it...I slowed it back down to a reasonable speed and cruised on towards Chattanooga. Having been there so many times the roads were like home to me so going where I wanted was no problem at all, the problem was parking. I knew if I left my stuff with the bike it would get stolen and if I took it with me, it would be a burden, so I visited an old friend and asked him to watch it for me for a day and I’d be back later on to pick it up. Then I went back into the city and went joy riding through the darkened city just having a blast. When finally the sun came up I decided to park it under the aquarium and walk over to the music park. I played around for a couple of hours and spoke to random pretty girls that were nearby and then eventually made my way back over to the aquarium. Once in I waded through the whole place with a relaxed nature getting all kinds of odd and unique looks from people. Every so often I’d get a nice look from a pretty girl then more ugly ones from other people. It didn’t bother me. I took lots of pictures with the flash off of course for respect to the animals. I felt like I could live in that place it was so peaceful. Afterwards it was getting dark and I was starving so I found a nice Chinese restaurant to eat at that I haven’t seen before. I went in and they seated me with great respect, I wondered to myself, “is it because of the clothes I’m wearing?” But I didn’t give it much thought. Once my food was brought to me the waitress seemed to stare at my chopsticks for a few moments before walking off. A good few minutes later the manager came to my table and asked me, in mandarin, “where did you get your chopsticks if you don’t mind me asking?” I pulled out the box and handed them both to him for inspection. He took a while examining everything about them then finally said, “This is Feihan woodwork right?” I shook my head yes, “you have some of the finest taste sir, thank you for coming to my restaurant! Your meal is free thank you thank you thank you,” he kept repeating thank you as he backed himself back into the kitchen. I should’ve been the one doing that, he just gave me a free meal. I left after finishing my meal and thanking the entire staff for a wonderful and tasty experience, I met up with my friend and got my stuff back and went roaming on the city again. I rode all over the city, checking out buildings and taking pictures of everything, I even had a cop stop me and asked what I was doing. I told him my story and he took a selfie with me. He was even so kind as to call in an immunity order for me so I could ride around with my helmet off, instead of taking it off and putting it on every 5 seconds. Finally after being up for 26 hours I decided to go home and take a breather. So I drove back down to Alabama and went to my parents house and slept that Sunday all the way through. I woke up Monday morning and told them everything and they were just as excited as I was to hear the news. I spent the next week with them having fun and saying goodbyes to friends and stuff then on the last day I headed back to my brothers. I told him goodbye and he helped me drive over all of my stuff. I packed my guitar and a few knives for when I get bored, but I doubt that will ever happen. I spend the next week at Mr. Cheng’s house teaching him to play the guitar and he teaches me some traditional Chinese music. We also train and practice my mandarin and calligraphy, but another thing is that Mr. Cheng makes me play Juki for 2 hours everyday. One hour in the morning and one hour at night. I’m not sure exactly why, I’m not complaining I’m growing to love her like my own pet, but it was an odd favor to ask. Lastly it is finally the day and we pack up my brothers truck and he takes us to the airport where we are China bound.