"I'm going to drop you off here gentlemen, if you don't mind," came the driver's voice.
"Yeah," Roy O'Bannon said. "Leave us here. We'll be going soon, right John?"
Chon didn't answer from where he was grabbing the suitcases and placing them on the ground. "Sure. Whatever."
As the driver got ready to leave, there was a banging from a small trunk. "My goodness, what is that noise?"
Roy grinned. "Only one way to see. Open it," he said, taking another swig from the bottle of beer he was holding.
Chon did as his friend advised, and yanked open the trunk. A short, small boy with thin, light brown hair, fell out, wheezing slightly.
Roy sprayed all of his beer across the ground, some landing on the boy.
"Hey gent," the teen said. "Was that really necessary?"
Roy was gasping, unable to say anything. So his new wife, Lin, Chon's sister had to say it for him. "Who are you?"
"No," Roy wheezed. "I didn't mean that. Charlie, I thought we left you in London. Why'd you come here with us for?"
"Now honestly," Charlie said, standing up and brushing himself off. "What did you expect me to do in London? It's much more interesting with you and uh," he said, indicating Chon. "So, I decided to come with you."
"But," Roy protested. "Forget it. We're putting you back on a boat or something, and shipping you back to London."
"No!" Charlie yelped. "Please don't!"
"Oh," Chon said. "Is there more going on than I see?"
"Would someone explain to me what is going on?" Lin asked. "Roy? Who is this?"
"Charlie Chaplin," said Charlie, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you. Uh, I guess you're Roy," he said, pointing at the lanky blonde man, "and you're?"
"Lin," said Lin, the Chinese lady, "Roy's wife. Chon's brother."
"Oh," said Charlie. "So you're Chon."
"But back to the subject," Roy snapped. "Why can't you go back?"
Charlie took a deep breath, seeming to have difficulty breathing. "Ok," he admitted. "I stole something. I stole something, and it was really valuable. Everybody is after me now; everybody wants the thing I stole back…"
"What did you steal?" asked Lin.
Charlie ignored her. "I'm in so much trouble now. I tried to go back to the people I had stayed with before; the other thieves. And," he said simply, not looking up. "And they…"
"What did they do?" asked Chon.
Charlie explained by simply pulling off his shirt. Lin let out a small scream, Chon gasped, and Roy fell back in horror.
Charlie's torso was covered in blood and bruises, along with several scrapes.
Lin reached forward, and touched one of his sides. Charlie winced in pain, and whimpered.
There was nothing else to be explained. He was going to have to stay with them, whether they liked it or not. Little did they know that he would get pulled into messes they didn't know existed, more and more danger, things that would risk their lives…
Meanwhile in China, the emperor was distressed.
eh. the problem comes next. Review. Please?
FiNnGrl