Scene 6

The bad part of town, Georgetown, Guyana

As Greg and I carried the still groggy Frank down the street, Ms. Crane suddenly stopped us with her head raised, as though she were sniffing the air.

“What is it?” Greg asked.

“We’ve got company,” she said.

Just then, a large group of over a dozen rough looking men stepped out of the shadows and surrounded us. I recognized some of them as part of the crowd who had witnessed the drinking game.

“Where do you think you’re going, lady?” asked one of the bigger ones.

“My friends and I are calling it a night,” Ms. Crane answered. “Now, if you don’t mind, we will be on our way.”

“Oh no, we do mind,” said the big man. “You took our friend’s money, our money, and we want it back.”

Ms. Crane stood defiantly before them. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I earned that money fair and square and you’re not getting a bit of it.”

“You’re going to give us our money, lady. And, because you’re being so difficult, I think you’re going to give us something else to make up for our trouble.” He glared at her lecherously. “We’re going to have some fun with you.”

I noticed Ms. Crane subtly changing her stance. “Be ready to get low and keep an eye on Frank,” I whispered to Greg.

Greg looked at me, his eyes wide with understanding, and gently took all of Frank’s weight away from me.

Ms. Crane glared at the largest thug. “I don’t think you’re man enough.”

Anger crossed the big man’s face and he lunged for Ms. Crane. He had just made a big mistake.

I had recognized Ms. Crane’s change in stance; it was a fighting stance. She had trained quite a bit to develop her own unique fighting style that could best be described as a blend of the Brazilian art of Capoeira and good old bar room brawling.

When the big man lunged towards her, she had sprung backwards onto her hands. At the same time, her feet came flying upwards, catching the man under the chin. His head snapped backed and he flew over backwards, hitting the ground hard.

I quickly released my hold on Frank and spun around to face the men behind us. At the same time I had pulled out the telescoping batons that I had hidden under my shirt. Flicking both of my wrists, the batons slid out to their full length.

Greg took Frank’s weight from me and quickly eased him to the ground. He then assumed a fighting stance of his own.

The other toughs hesitated. In just a moment, their leader had fallen and their supposedly helpless prey had turned into competent and ready fighters.

“Do any of you want the same?” Ms. Crane demanded of them.

The men all looked around at each other, unsure of themselves.

“Get out of here now!” Ms. Crane ordered.

The men all turned and moved quickly away from us.

“Well done,” I said to her as we all relaxed.

“Nothing to it,” she answered. “Thugs like that are all basically cowards, only preying on the weak. If you stand up to them and take out their leader quickly, they don’t know what to do.”

“Nevertheless,” I said, “let’s get out of the area before they remember they outnumber us.”

Greg help Frank back to his feet and we quickly moved down the street.