Look left, look right and then…

In the last episode, Ben finally made it to the office. His morning had been very disturbing. Ben was now sure that something was wrong in the land of the dragon. Tina’s sudden disappearance seemed connected.

He played with the jump stick in his pocket. Then he stopped, thinking people might misunderstand him. Day 1 at the office - what surprises would that bring?

******

“We hear your partner very sick,” said Dang.

“Yes, hopefully she will be in tomorrow, and I am Dang.”

“I don’t think so,” said Ding with a smile on his face.  “Yusully people go mishing for few days more.”

“Why do you say that?” said Ben, looking at Ding.

“Who knows,” said Dong.  “What do you want from us?” he added, getting straight to the point.

"Well," Ben said, unsure of who he was facing. "Today, I thought I’d review some records and check how you do things." Then, when Tina is in tomorrow, we can pick up where she left off.”

“Maybe no,” said Dong.

"Maybe yes," Ben said, feeling frustrated. He wanted more cooperation, especially from Dong—or was it Dang?

“Maybe no, because tomorrow is Chinese holiday and we maybe might not have lecords you want,” replied Ding.

“Where are they?” asked Ben.

The debate about which records he wanted, and whether he preferred them in Chinese or English, lasted for a few hours. Then, lunch finally arrived.

“Ve have velly special runch box for you, Mr Snake, I am Dang,” said Dang.

“My name is Ben,” said Ben now with a bit of venom in his voice as he picked up the lunch. He realised he had not eaten since he was on the plane over a day ago. Mind you, it probably takes a good day to digest most plane meals.

He opened his box and there on top of the rice staring back at him were two chicken feet. They looked like they had come off a chicken that had sat on a high voltage wire. How was he going to tackle these?

The conversation continued, but when Ben noticed that no one else had the same lunch box as him, he had enough.

“I need the records; when can you give them to me?”

“We did big clean up last monff.  Many lecords destroyed.  Part of lecord leconciliation process,” replied Dong.

“Look, you can’t just destroy records; they are part of an investigation,” challenged Ben.

‘Res but your friend not here today and not tomorrow. Come back on Vendsday.  Say hello to your friend.”  I am Dang.”

They all got up and left the room. Ben was bamboozled; more confused than a magpie with two worms!

He got up and left, not really knowing what to do next. He needed to buy some time.

As he walked back to the hotel, his mind was all over the place. When he got to the lobby, he noticed a very attractive Chinese girl sitting near reception. As he went to the reception desk to see if there were any messages, the girl followed him with her eyes.

"Mr. Boa," said the clerk in a very loud voice. “I am not deaf," Ben wanted to say, but after the day he had had, he was not going to look for trouble. All he wanted to do was to go to his room and break the code on Tina’s jump stick.

“No message," said the clerk, and Ben walked towards the elevator.

The lady got up and walked towards Ben, who was getting increasingly nervous.

As they met, she introduced herself, “Harro, I am Ms Kim. Mr Lim asked me to give you this to read," handing him a package. “He velly solly for the way Mr Ding, Dong and Dang left you. They will be punished. Have a nice night." She walked off.

Ben looked at the package she had given him. Bit small for documents, he thought, and it didn't feel like chocolates. He got in the lift and went to his room.

He went to the mini bar and grabbed himself a Fosters**. I need this, he thought. A little bit of Australiana; I will pay for it myself. He opened the top.

He got out his loaner laptop, took the jump stick out of his pocket, and inserted it. He felt under the mattress for the small book he took from Tina’s teddy. Just as he was about to search for codes, he remembered the package.

He opened it up and dropped it like it was a redback spider! Full of US dollars. There must have been a couple of thousand there. He searched for a note—nothing.

He was now more determined than ever to see what was on Tina’s drive.

Two hours passed, and he still couldn't find the code. Ben’s brain was spinning, and he needed food. He put the jump stick, his laptop, and the tiny book in the safe and locked it.

On his way out, he asked the concierge for a good place to eat. He had decided he needed to try and take in some of the Chinese culture, to try and understand how they ticked. Nothing like starting with food! As long as they had Fosters, he was good. He doubted it, but any beer would be good at this stage. The concierge recommended Ho Li Fook, two blocks away. Left, right, then two blocks, right, left again and across the street.

Ben’s mind was racing at a hundred miles an hour. He was trying to make sense of the last 24 hours. It had started off so well. Tina was going to reveal all, then suddenly she was gone. What was it with the sneaky three? His keen auditing skills (??) did not give him a good feeling; they were up to something. Hiding something. But what? He would have to confront them, which wouldn't be easy.

He turned left at the corner, then right and crossed the road. He hurried, keeping pace with the crowd of Chinese people around him. Right around another corner, left, and there it was across the street: Ho Li Fook Chinese. His instincts kicked in - look left, look right, wrong way Ben! This is not Australia. Bang!

Ben did not see Mr Chow’s Egg Fu-Yong truck. He lay on the ground, slimed with Egg Fu-Yong. People gathered around, yelling and screaming. He could swear they were all kicking him and trying to steal his Batman watch and his shoes. No, not my Superman budgie smugglers** (now there is a thought for the rest of the day!). He tried to breathe slowly; everything hurt. He could not tell if he was bleeding or dripping in egg Fu-Yong.

He tried to move his legs and felt a thousand fire ants had bitten his arse!!

He looked up. All he could faintly see were the three faces of Ding, Dong, and Dang. He could not work out whether they were smiling or just badly constipated from the rice in the lunch box. And that was it. He drifted off thinking about Tina, Ernie, Mr T, Doug Selfrighteous, Penny (maybe a little bit). He thought about his Mum – what was her name again?  He closed his eyes.

[A/N: * Fosters is a renowned Australian beer; ** Budgie smugglers are very brief swimming trunks (Speedos) made famous by a past Prime Minister in Australia

Disclaimer - None of the episodes of Ben Boa is intended to be discriminatory, rude or insulting.  It is just good, clean fun with hidden compliance messages.  Readers do so of their own choice.]

Next Episode: Episode 29 - “How Do You Spell Patsy Again?”

Till next time,

Calvin