Unlikely Associations

Unlikely Associations

A Tale for my Writer’s Group

Like so many youths Jerry had the misfortune to seek companions who led him into such adventures of petty crime. All so innocent on the surface, until someone got hurt. ”I will be alright, I don’t want to go to the hospital. It is only a flesh wound”, he said. They left him hidden from view to cash in on their venture, to return to find he had bled to death. This made Jerry leave the group to seek a life less reliant on crime. Down and out he found respite in the unlikely favour of one the ladies of the night who took him home and gave him his first meal in two days. This particular woman was different from the rest of the sisterhood plying her trade purely for the satisfaction and money of the modern courtesan. Jerry lolled in the unaccustomed luxury of her apartment a few days and food from the refrigerator, or ordered paid with some money left. He managed to save some for the time she kicked him out. Years later they would meet again under very different circumstances.

The lady in question became an adventuress with special talents from her sojourn in the mountains of Thailand. The meeting with a wealthy Japanese caused her to be introduced to a master of oriental combat. He scrutinised this small attractive woman who was this time sporting a mass of beautiful red hair. He addressed her in accented English, ‘’I perceive you are an unusual female with remarkable potential. I offer you the training which you would find useful in future employments.” Curious, she accepted the offer prepared to pay the cost of being bullied and drilled to the extremity of endurance. He marvelled at the complete absence of fear in some of the tests he contrived, and beyond his usual reticence remarked on it. She replied, “I am not your common student. Fear is unknown to me. I was told during the period of my conflict with authority, that I was a type of psychopath and cautioned lest I should end my life in prison.’’

When the time came for her to leave, she had become accomplished in close combat. This was duly noted by certain criminals who sought her service and recruited her. Always ready for a bit of excitement she found herself committed to a number of highly paid killings, which appealed to her distorted morality. This led to the meeting with a prominent Yakuza and her consent to be his mistress. The affair was satisfactory to both parties during which she learned somewhat of the Japanese ancient history.

Remarking on the Japanese feelings of superiority hidden in the self control of rigid politeness, resulted in a strange story which emerged after the exhibition of the tattooed skins of loyal soldiers of the Yakuza. These were displayed in artistic fashion glued on to the wall in a background of flowering trees. “I notice you do not have many tattoos’’, she said. ”Certainly not’’ he replied, ’’that is only preferred by the recruits. They have to drink enough water, or in their case usually beer as their extensive covering of tattoos prevent their sweating on hot days. Some of these men rise in the Yakuza and are always at risk of death from the law or the rival factions in our secret society. We honour them in this way. The predatory influence is deep in our ancestry and is tolerated by the government and the emperor. We came from the Orion Empire thousands of years ago based on individual ambition and greed, enslaving other planets and altering their genes.’’ She commented, ’’You are certainly clever bastards, but you are still easily killed’’. ‘’So it appears’’ he said, ’’How did you manage the last assignment without entering ? ‘’ She said, ‘’I climbed onto the balcony from the next room’’, and proceeded to demonstrate by putting a small cross with her lipstick on the neck of a figure on the wall , and then stepped back the measured distance and taking out a slim knife from her purse flung it violently into its centre.

A few months of living with this man was enough. She left abruptly without warning as she expected to be killed if it was suspected she might leave with harmful information. She became a legend serving in the CIA and propped up in different ways in their history.