Rosa Jardine tried not to stare at the cocky, handsome young man sitting across from her in the booth of the smoky, noisy bar. She would look quickly at Hanyo Soon, who was listening intently to Kenji Nobu sitting beside her, and she would then look away to Skoaler, the tall, burly man sitting to her other side, who was also listening carefully to Kenji. Every now and then their eyes would meet, and Hanyo would grin and wink slightly to her; Rosa would look away shyly and then look back to see he was focused again on Kenji’s conversation. She looked around the bar, and through the haze could make out the table with Sheriff Haught and the officers in light-grey uniforms, who were busy drinking and watching the band on the stage in the corner. She could make out only some of their conversation, none of it interesting, and folded her arms within the wide sleeves of the patterned yukata she was wearing. 

Rosa adjusted the comb and pin holding her long black hair up, and again caught the gaze of Hanyo’s deep brown eyes. He flashed his straight white teeth from his square jaw, and ran his hand through his shoulder-length, straight black hair, feathering it slightly at the part. He returned his attention to Kenji and then nodded at the same time to Skoaler, moving his eyes to indicate the people who just entered the bar. Skoaler turned his head slightly to look at the bar entrance, and saw a non-descript couple in their thirties enter, the man with brown hair, sideburns and a mustache, and the woman with long, curly blonde hair. Skoaler nodded back to Hanyo, and watched the couple move off to one of the booths near them.

Hanyo interrupted Kenji, and asked, “So let me get this straight, old man. You need to get to Ojai tonight without any attention by the federal authorities. I have a plane to get you there, but we won’t be able to take a straight route to it.” Hanyo ran his finger along the table top, drawing out his proposed route, saying, “We’re going to have to fly across the border to the south, re-fuel, and then fly back north over the ocean up the coast and land near Ventura. That’s as far as I can take you.”

Kenji nodded, and looked at Rosa, who had finished arranging her hair. “That’s the best we can do tonight. We’re going to have to figure out how to get from Ventura to Ojai. Are you OK with this plan?”
Rosa was about to speak, and then gave Kenji a look of confusion. Kenji spoke in Japanese to her, “Daijoubu desu ka?” to which Rosa nodded back and smiled gently to Hanyo and Skoaler. Kenji then said to Hanyo, “I’m willing to pay you $5000 now, and another $5000 once we reach Ventura safely and undetected.”

Hanyo’s eyes lit up and Skoaler leaned forward a bit. Hanyo tried to not speak too loudly or excitedly, but sat back calmly saying, “$10,000, eh? I think you’ve got a deal, old man. Meet us at the Morongo Valley landing strip just down the highway from this bar in an hour. You’ll find my plane there. Skoaler, go with them and I’ll meet you there in a bit; I have another bit of business to attend to.”

“Let’s go… ikimashou,” Kenji said to Rosa, and together with Skoaler they got up to leave, passing by the booth with the couple who just walked in. The couple watched them head to the door, and then themselves got up and headed to the booth where Hanyo was still sitting. Skoaler noticed this and made eye contact with Hanyo, who nonchalantly nodded back to keep going. Skoaler repositioned himself behind Kenji and Rosa, guiding them firmly away.

As they were heading to the exit back out to the parking lot, the table with Sheriff Haught and the young officers erupted into a raucous, drunken chant, “Stumpy! Stumpy! Stumpy!” The band stopped playing and quickly removed their instruments from the darkened stage. Rosa stopped walking out to look at the darkened stage, making Skoaler bump into her. “About time!” Sheriff Haught shouted, and adjusted his massive bulk on his chair to face the stage, now showing a spotlight in the centre of it. “Make sure you have a good view of this show, boys!”

Kenji grabbed Rosa by the arm, and gently tried to push her towards the door. “You don’t need to see this, Rosa,” he whispered to her above the din of the recorded music starting to play over the speakers. 

Rosa whispered back angrily, “I’m the one who decides what I can and cannot see!” and turned to face the stage, to see a beautiful, slim woman in a white, long-sleeved jumpsuit step out awkwardly from behind the curtains. She had long, straight dirty blonde hair, and began to dance to the loud, thumping music, spinning around and facing the crowd.

“I don’t see what everyone is so excited about, she’s not a great dancer-“ Rosa whispered, and then stopped when the woman grabbed her leg under jumpsuit, twisted it, and pulled it out. Rosa gasped, watching as the woman continued to dance with the flapping pant leg to music, but holding her leg above her head and then discarding it off-stage.

“What did I tell you?” Sheriff Haught roared, enjoying with glee the shocked faces of the young men with him, “Hold onto your socks, you won’t believe the finale!”

*** This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. ***