Lion Boy and Drummer Girl Read online

  CHAPTER 20

  A LION’S PREY

  The baby lion darted desperately about the corners of the stage. The ringmaster swung his long whip in big lazy circles and taunted the audience as well as the lion. Suddenly, the lion lunged at the ringmaster, sending him crashing onto the stage floor with a bone-crunching thump. It planted its front paws squarely on the evil ringmaster’s body and gave a mighty roar of triumph.

  “Help!” the ringmaster yelled. “The beast is attacking me!”

  His voice was picked up by the stage mike and boomed throughout the open theatre. The judges had forgotten their checklists and were leaning forward, mouths agape at the drama unfolding on stage.

  The lion opened its maw and clamped down on the ringmaster’s arm. It rocked its head from side to side, like a wild animal attacking its prey. The audience did not know the script, but they certainly did not expect what happened next—the lion ripped off the ringmaster’s arm.

  The lion reared its head, the ringmaster’s neon-green sleeved arm hanging limply from its jaws. A jet of bright red blood arced out from the grisly stump and sprayed all over the stage. The ringmaster gave a bloodcurdling scream and slumped into a dead faint.

  Roaring, the lion shook the limb ferociously. Suddenly, the arm, slick with blood, slipped from its mouth and flew into the audience. To be precise, it flew onto Candy Peach’s bosom. Blood splattered over her and the other judges. Candy let out an almighty screech that caused the media executive beside her to jerk backwards in fright. His chair, with him still in it, crashed violently into the row of cameras behind him.

  The lion, still mounted atop the fallen ringmaster, froze in shock, its ornate head riveted in the direction of the chaos it had created. Even the ringmaster forgot he was supposed to be dead and raised his head to ogle the hysterical Candy with horrified fascination.

  Ricky swung back to glare at Apple’s face through the aperture of the lion’s mouth. Apple’s shocked expression told him that the whole thing had been an unfortunate accident. A nervous giggle unexpectedly bubbled in Ricky’s gut and he bit his lip in an attempt to stifle it.

  “Get off me!” he whispered fiercely to the petrified Apple. “We have to exit this stage now!”

  Apple backed off. Ricky bounced up, executed a hasty bow, grabbed the baby lion by the scruff of its neck and hustled it off the stage. A smattering of uncertain applause told Ricky that at least some people appreciated their mad skit. However, what he saw at the front of the stage chilled his blood even more than the wreck of the judges’ table. Ying Ying was standing there with fists planted on her hips, her face white with fury.

  CHAPTER 21

  PAYING FOR THE PARTY

  Nipping down the stairs behind the stage, Ricky and Apple murmured, “Excuse me… Please excuse me!” while trying to dodge the accusing stares of the other performers. Before they could escape, Ying Ying blocked their path.

  “What were you thinking?” she fumed at Apple. “You’ve totally ruined your act and the whole competition! And maybe our Legends’ name forever!”

  She then turned her kohl-lined eyes to Ricky. “And you! Were you part of this mad scheme?” she demanded. Her eyes narrowed. “Or were you the mastermind?”

  She glanced around distractedly. “Where’s Zeus? I told him to keep an eye on you guys!”

  Ricky grinned weakly. He really wanted her to like him, but he could not let Apple shoulder the blame. “The older guys have been ragging Apple. But he has so much potential and the teasing was holding him back. I thought, how about a performance to showcase Apple the man, Apple who’s no longer a child…”

  Ricky knew he was blabbering. He could not help it. The full blast of Ying Ying’s attention upon him had rendered his brain mush.

  Apple interrupted bravely. “It was me! I planned it! It’s my coming-of-age performance!”

  “Coming-of-age? What on earth is that?” Ying Ying spluttered. Before she could rant further, a curious reporter with a microphone, accompanied by a cameraman, bore down on them. Ying Ying pinched Ricky and surreptitiously gestured at him to take Apple away. Ying Ying schooled her expression and stepped towards the reporter, blocking the woman’s access to the hastily retreating Apple. “I am so sorry for my troupe members’ inexcusable behaviour on stage,” Ricky heard her say before he ran out of earshot.

  Apple and Ricky hurried to the quiet car park. They shed their costumes and stowed them carefully into the Legends’ lorry. They were about to search for a quiet hidey-hole to wait out the storm when they heard quick footsteps on the gravel. The two boys turned to see Zeus storming towards them. A lady hurried behind him, trying to keep up with his long strides.

  “What happened?!” Zeus demanded. “A guy from another troupe just said something about one of our Legends killing someone? That the competition can’t go on because we sprayed blood all over the judges?”

  Apple and Ricky tried to look bewildered and innocent. “I don’t know,” Ricky said, “but Ying Ying is livid. The last time I saw her, she was demanding to know why you were missing when you were supposed to be working. Yes, where were you?”

  His eyes slid pointedly to the lady who was now trying to hide behind Zeus. Apple peered behind his two brothers and his eyes widened in recognition. “Stellar Jie!” He jostled Zeus as he reached out to hug her.

  “Hi, Apple,” she greeted pleasantly.

  Now that Ricky could see her properly, he was struck by how pretty she was. Stellar was tall and leggy, one of the few girls who could match Zeus’ height. She was not attractive in the way that Ying Ying was luminously beautiful but her upturned lips and kind eyes showed that she had a sweet disposition. She looked about Ying Ying’s age.

  Apple said, “I thought you were in London, in a conservation? What are you doing back in Singapore?”

  “Conservatory, you moron!” Zeus corrected his brother, looking embarrassed. Turning to Ricky, he reluctantly introduced them. “Ricky, meet Stellar; Stellar, Ricky.”

  CHAPTER 22

  A STAR-CROSSED COUPLE

  For the rest of the afternoon, Ricky and Apple tried to remain out of sight. The two boys were hiding in a musty broom closet in the basement when they heard the contest results announced loudly over the public-address system. Apple was not even mentioned in the rankings.

  Apple shrugged and grinned. He had expected to be disqualified. His performance may not have been the best one, but he was certain it was the most memorable.

  “Ying Ying’s act should be up soon,” Ricky fretted.

  Apple looked alarmed. “But Zeus will be there,” he warned.

  “He’s got eyes for nobody except his girlfriend from London,” Ricky smirked.

  “Nah, Zeus wouldn’t hang out with her in public,” Apple said. “They’re like those guys I’m reading about in school. What’re their names? Romeo and Juliet. Star-crossed lovers.”

  Ricky looked at Apple for an explanation. Apple obliged. “Stellar is Uncle Ang’s daughter! When we were young, we used to hang out in the Legends gym together. She had a good voice even then. Musically talented. Then she started growing.”

  Apple gestured awkwardly in the region of his chest and hips. “Zeus began behaving like an ass around her. It was painful to watch. But it was also the same time that Uncle Ang split from Shifu and set up Hot Lions.”

  “So, Hot became our rivals and Ang didn’t want his daughter coming to Legends Hall to hang out with you guys any more,” Ricky guessed.

  “Yeah, and we couldn’t go over to their hall, because that would be, like, spying. Then Uncle Ang caught Zeus hanging around outside his home like a stalker, waiting for Stellar after school. Later on, Uncle Ang sent her overseas for classical voice studies. He told Zeus not to come around any more.”

  Ricky snorted. “Well, I’m glad Zeus didn’t stand for that nonsense. Because it looks like he’s still dating her.”

  “Nah, I think they just bumped into each other here while Stellar is having her school b
reak. Zeus is going to be all moony and wretched the next few days. You just watch!”

  The public-address system dinged again, signalling that another contest was starting up.

  “I’ve got to go,” Ricky said urgently. “Can’t miss Ying Ying’s act!”

  CHAPTER 23

  A LION’S PUNISHMENT

  When Ricky and Apple returned to the hall that evening after the competition, all hell broke loose.

  Shifu had heard all about the fracas. He viewed the video clip of Apple’s gory performance with narrowed eyes while the two boys stood at attention, shamefaced, in front of him.

  In a cold, controlled voice, Shifu asked, “It was a prop arm? And the blood is red ink?”

  The boys swallowed and nodded.

  “Ying Ying told me it was Apple’s birthday performance?” Shifu asked again.

  “Not birthday, Shifu. Coming-of-age, Shifu,” Apple stuttered.

  Shifu looked at him uncomprehendingly.

  “Coming-of-age. It’s a ceremony to celebrate that a person has become an adult,” Apple explained nervously.

  Shifu looked unmoved. “So, would you say you behaved like adults today?” He had been sitting cross-legged on the floor, but unfolded his limbs and loomed to his full height over the two quaking boys.

  After the lengthy reprimand, Ricky and Apple had to kneel and repent, in total silence, in the reflection room. It was only long after the other boys had gone home that they were released from their positions of penitence and ordered to come back the next day for drills, even though it was a rest day for the troupe because of the competition.

  The hall was deserted the next day when Ricky and Apple clocked in. The two boys ran five kilometres, boxed the punching bag for an hour, practised their stances for balance and strengthened their abdominal muscles with crunches. Lunch was two packets of cold rice delivered by a preoccupied Ying Ying.

  Ricky fussed over his food. He said to Ying Ying, “You like me, don’t you? I can feel it in my rice.” Ying Ying rolled her eyes.

  He put his palms on his chest. “Where do you think a person’s heart is? On the left or the right?”

  “Didn’t you learn that in school? Or did you never go?” Ying Ying mocked, refusing to be drawn into bantering with him.

  After she left, the two boys surveyed their cold food and sighed.

  “My coming-of-age ceremony was worth it!” Apple told Ricky defiantly, tucking in.

  When they had completed the tasks Shifu had set for their punishment, Ricky and Apple clustered around the TV to review their performance.

  When the video showed the evil ringmaster cracking his whip at the baby lion, Apple pushed Ricky playfully. When the ringmaster’s arm came off and the camera cut to the audience’s bemused faces, the boys choked with laughter. When the camera zoomed in on Candy Peach’s face and her bosom splattered with red ink, the boys rolled around on the floor, clutching their aching tummies.

  “Play it again!” Apple gasped, tears running down his cheeks.

  “Ssh!” Ricky said, because the TV was now playing Ying Ying’s apology statement.

  “I am so sorry for my troupe members’ inexcusable behaviour on the stage,” Ying Ying said. “I hope that the Leopop world will not judge Lion Legends and, indeed, all lion dancers by my members’ unforgivable behaviour. Lung Shifu will be personally visiting the judges and the competition organiser to express his sincere apologies. I know this is not enough, but please forgive us.”

  Ying Ying bowed from the waist. As her head dipped, the aged hairpin lost its grip on her hair and her chignon came loose. Strands of hair tumbled down, but Ying Ying was so earnest in her apology that she did not straighten from her bow.

  Ricky sobered up. It dawned on him that on what should have been their rest day, Shifu and Ying Ying must have been visiting the media companies, delivering fruit baskets and making apologies—apologies that should have been made by himself and Apple. He glanced at the younger boy, whose flushed face showed the same remorse.

  After parting from Apple for the day, Ricky took a taxi to a jeweller’s shop, where he left instructions for the item that he wanted to customise.

  “It’s a hairpin, about fifteen centimetres long. The blade is plain and rounded. Please fashion the end like this…” Ricky started sketching a lotus flower, with six petals folded like a demure bud, flanked by a sprig of six oval leaves. “Please use pink amethyst for the bud, and light green jade for the leaves. And can you please make me a photocopy of the sketch?”

  Emerging from the jeweller’s, Ricky took another taxi to a tattoo parlour renowned for servicing entertainment stars. He took the photocopy of the sketch out of his pocket and stared at it fondly.

  CHAPTER 24

  A LION’S GIFT

  Apple’s and Ricky’s reparations were by no means complete. The boys had to go to Candy Peach’s entertainment company, where they presented her with a huge bouquet of flowers and said their practised apologies.

  But Candy Peach had a weak spot for pretty boys and forgave them quite quickly. When she heard that Apple and Ricky had two million social media followers between them, her eyes gleamed hungrily. The boys obligingly took a photo with her and uploaded it to their Instagram accounts, tagged her in it, and gave her free tickets for Legends’ next performance. All in all, it had turned out to be a “strategic visit”, according to Ying Ying.

  After their apology, Ricky asked for an hour off and paid a second visit to the jeweller’s shop. He left carrying a velvet box the size of a paperback. When he opened the taxi door and it accidentally knocked into him, he winced and held a hand protectively over his rib, which was still tender from his visit to the tattoo parlour.

  Back at Legend’s Hall, he sought out Ying Ying. “I haven’t apologised properly for leaving a mess for you to clean up. But it was a great coming-of-age ceremony, don’t you agree?” he asked in a pleading voice.

  Ying Ying rolled her eyes. “Don’t mention that term to me again!”

  “Sorry, sorry,” Ricky said hurriedly. He pushed the velvet box into her hands.

  “What’s this?” she asked.

  “Something from my heart,” Ricky said. His hand unconsciously strayed to his rib.

  Ying Ying opened the box and was stunned to see the item nestled in the black satin interior. It was a brand-new replica of her old hairpin, but more sturdy and expensive-looking. “How did you…?”

  “Well, you know, such old-fashioned designs aren’t sold any more,” he teased. “But since you like it so much, I had another one custom-made for you. Your old pin wasn’t keeping your hair up properly.”

  He pointed to a white slip of paper tucked into the box. “I’ve included the receipt, in case any of the gems come loose. It can be repaired for free.”

  Ying Ying took out the sheet of paper and glimpsed the price of the hairpin. Ricky reassured her, “Never mind the price. Please receive this gift that’s from my heart.”

  Ying Ying stared at him, her expression unreadable. “How can I accept such an expensive present? You could not have afforded this on your Legends allowance.”

  Ricky shrugged. “I have savings. Please take it as my apology. And forgive me?”

  She continued staring at him cryptically, then seemed to come to a decision. She smiled and said, “Yes. We’re going to be fellow disciples, so let’s try to get along.”

  “Fellow disciples,” Ricky murmured with chagrin. Perking up, he said, “Okay, let’s get along. And I hope you give us the opportunity to get to know each other better.”

  He tried to wink and flash a smile, but somehow he could not seem to muster towards her the smoothness he usually had with other ladies. He left hurriedly, feeling embarrassed.

  Alone again, Ying Ying stared at the receipt grimly. “One thousand three hundred dollars,” she whispered bitterly. “You’re the only son of a fishery businessman, and your mother is the chairwoman of a Rotary Club. Are you trying to buy me? You can’t compare my gr
anny’s heirloom with your bit of bling!”

  She slipped the receipt back into the box and snapped it shut.

  CHAPTER 25

  LOVE FROM AFAR

  Three days had passed since Ricky had given Ying Ying the bespoke hairpin, during which he had felt on top of the world. He got to spend time with Ying Ying because it was her job to accompany him to the back-to-back events she had organised for him to work up publicity before his debut. These included an interview with Jessica for Leopop News, a fan meet-and-greet session at a shopping mall, an Internet voting contest and a photoshoot at the park for a teenage magazine.

  The shoot had been particularly successful. The photographer had asked Ricky to do a wide variety of poses, and Ricky had obliged. An audience had quickly gathered, and Ying Ying was able to secure an endorsement deal for Ricky with a soft drink company.

  In the taxi on the way home, Ying Ying looked pleased at how well the last few days had gone. Her head leant towards Ricky’s and she sat close to him as they reviewed the day’s photos in her camera. He felt hopeful that she was growing to like him more.

  The taxi stopped outside Legends Hall and they found Stellar standing nervously outside. She had a huge fruit basket in her arms and looked like she would be quite glad to put it down. Ying Ying nudged Ricky to take over the basket, then moved to the younger girl and hugged her in welcome.

  “Why are you standing outside, Stellar? Come in and take a seat,” Ying Ying fussed.

  “I wanted to say ‘hi’ to Uncle Lung before I leave tomorrow for school back in London.”

  “You’re sure it’s Shifu you want to see, and not somebody else?” Ricky teased.

  Ying Ying glared at him. She knew about the situation between Stellar and Zeus—everyone did.

  They went to Lung San’s office and found it empty. Then they checked the gym, the other gym on the second floor and the studio. Ricky was getting quite tired of tagging along behind the girls, carrying the basket like a bellboy. Finally, at the basketball court behind Legends Hall, they found Lung San and Zeus supervising the younger boys in their practice. Zeus must have been drilling hard along with them because his white tee-shirt was soaked with perspiration and clung to his taut frame, and his hair was dishevelled.