I mentioned.”
“Okay, I’ll bring twenty contracts just in case.”
Ava checked her watch and wondered if she should call Uncle, then decided not to. Better to wait until she saw exactly how much money they would be chasing.
( 6 )
She spent the early part of the afternoon getting organized for the meeting. All that really involved was printing up the contracts and going through her closet, pulling out the assortment of skirts, slacks, and shirts she wore for business. They hadn’t seen daylight in months. She tried some on and to her surprise found that the skirts and slacks were a bit loose. The shirts, a wide selection mainly from Brooks Brothers, all with French cuffs, fit as snugly as before. Ava had large breasts for a Chinese woman and wasn’t shy about making that plain to see.
She laid out a black skirt that came to the middle of the knee and a white linen shirt with a modified Italian collar. Then she looked at the time. She had hours to kill before she had to drive to Mississauga. Her bak mei teacher worked out of a house just north of her condo and just west of Avenue Road. He had only two students of the art, her and Derek. He made his real living teaching other martial arts to large evening classes. Derek and Ava did their training separately — bak mei is always taught one-on-one — and when she was in the city they coordinated their hours. They didn’t have to call Grandmaster Tang. The afternoons were always open, and he was nearly always there and happy to see either of them.
Ava decided to forego calling Derek. It was only a short walk to the house, and if Tang wasn’t there or Derek was, she could head back home. She had started taking martial arts when she was in her early teens, and had almost immediately shown ability. She was quick, agile, and fearless, and she loved to practise. In a matter of months she was so far ahead of everyone in her class of fellow teens that she was moved up to train with the adults. After two years she was at a level that almost equalled her teacher’s. That’s when he pulled her aside and asked if she was interested in learning bak mei. Ever since then she had been making the trek to the house in Toronto to learn from Grandmaster Tang.
Bak mei is almost the perfect martial art for a woman. The hand movements are quick, light, and short, snapping with tension at their fullest extent, where the energy is released. It doesn’t take a lot of physical strength to be effective. Bak mei attacks are meant to do damage. They are directed at sensitive areas of the body, such as the ears, eyes, throat, underarms, sides, stomach, and groin. Kicks are aimed low, hardly ever above the waist.
It hadn’t come completely easily to Ava. Derek was probably a more natural student, but she had persevered. And although she couldn’t match his power, her lightning-quick reflexes and her ability to attack weak spots with uncanny accuracy made her formidable.
The Grandmaster lived in an anonymous two-storey brick house. He had no reason to advertise his presence to the neighbourhood or to martial arts students. Anyone in Toronto who was the least bit serious about the arts knew who he was and where he was.
Ava rang the buzzer at the windowed front door. If he was in, he’d answer. She waited for close to a minute before she saw him coming down the stairs. She had no idea how old he was, maybe in his mid-fifties, but his usual costume of jeans and a white T-shirt revealed the body of a twenty-year-old. He smiled when he saw her and Ava gave him a little wave. Tang opened the door and then bowed his head ever so slightly. “Welcome home,” he said.
They worked out for two hours, focusing on all of the core forms. On her own she tended to focus on the panther, the snake, and sometimes the crane. Tang spent close to half an hour on the dragon, and then another long stint on the tiger. He knew her tendencies and he knew her weaknesses, and he saw no reason not to strive for perfection. Ava thrived on the challenge.
It was close to five o’clock when she returned to the condo, her entire body feeling as supple as a rubber band. She showered quickly and dressed.