Page 51 of The Dragon 1

I’d learned from our years of friendship and short dating that Zo needed time to freak out. It took him minutes to travel on his darkened path of hysteria. Once he got to the mid-point, sweat dripped down his red-tinted face.

In those moments, I reeled him back into reality, calming sentence by calming sentence.

We'd dated for three whole weeks before mutually calling it off. If anyone asked me why we stopped, I would say due to his inherent ability to absolutely not enjoy himself.

He would say it all came down to my recklessness.

A perfect date for Zo was dinner and a movie in the safe confines of his home.

For me, jumping out of a plane rushed to my mind first. Afterwards, we'd just let the wind take us to the next journey.

God, I hope I’m right. Has Kenji forgotten my crazy behind by now?

I checked my watch.

It’s been three hours. We should be safe.

Zo shrieked. “We’re going to die!”

“Hey, please calm down. Stressing each other out is not going to save us.”

When Zo and I broke up, we stopped communicating for a week. Seven days without talking to him had been excruciating. He'd ended the silence by calling and saying,“we may not be compatible but you damned sure are something I need in my life.”

Then, he invited me over to his place for a quick chat and to watch one of his favorite shows. Soprano reruns if I remember correctly. Italian mafia drama and wine was how we began our friendship. After so many years, neither of us ever looked back or even tried to do anything physically.

“Did you have to knee him? Really!” Zo shrieked again, bringing me back to the present. “I should have never left you alone!”

“I didn’t mean to—”

“But you just couldn’t help yourself?” He stomped back and forth, back and forth, leaving prints of his long, bare feet on the thick carpet. “He's going to kill us.”

“It's going to be okay.”

“Never. We'll be dead by dawn.”

“Or fine and alive.”

“No way.”

“Yes, way.”

He raised his hands in the air. “You kneed the Dragon!”

“Really? The Dragon? Stop saying that.”

“The odds of us surviving are not in our favor.”

“We're full of luck, man. Nothing's going to happen.”

Zo raised his fists in the air and shook them. “You kneed the bloody Dragon! I had no idea it was really him until I got a good look atthatface. I mean, who can forget a face like that? It’s like the devil himself chiseled it.”

“This sake is amazing, by the way.” I took another sip and crossed my legs. “Is this lychee?”

Zo glared at me. “You know damn well it’s lychee. You were with me when I bought the wine yesterday. You tasted it last night. You had a sip before we went out this evening. You know it’s lychee! We’re going to die and you’re talking about fruit-flavored sake.”

“You have to relax.”

“You kneed the Dragon in his groin!”