Later that night, we all regrouped in the lobby of our hotel as Jia yawned and said,

"I called Xiao Tien earlier. He let me know where his bookie is."

Akio nodded as he said,

"Let's go then."

As we left, the door man opened the door for us, allowing us out as he said,

"Can I get your gentlemen a cab?"

Jia still didn't understand a word he said as Akio nodded and said,

"Please."

The doorman went to the curve of the sidewalk as he stopped a cab and opened the door for us. We got inside as Akio thanked him and then the cab driver asked where to. Akio looked at Jia as he said,

"Where we going?"

"Portobello Road."

The driver nodded as we left.

Portobello Road turned out to be a popular tourist market selling antiques, clothing, food and just plain old crap, which was still busy around night time. We stepped out from the cab, Akio paying this time as we looked around for a moment. I then said,

"Who are we looking for Jia?"

"No one. They'll find us."

He took out his cigarette case as he took a cigarette out and Akio lit it for him. Jo stuck his hands in his pockets as he said,

"I'm hungry."

Akio turned to him, tucking a piece of hair behind his ear and said,

"I wouldn't want to eat here."

As we stood in front of an old looking shop for about five minutes, an old man approached us. He paused, looking up at Jia as he said,

"I never expected the lot of ya."

Jia looked at Akio as Akio said,

"He didn't expect so many of us."

Jia nodded as he said,

"You the bookie for the Teo Chiu."

"Never really a bookie just for them. Just a bookie."

Jia seemed to catch that as the old man gestured us to follow him. We walked down the street, Jia with his hands in his pockets as he held the cigarette with his mouth. Every now and then he reached up to remove it from his mouth and exhale. As he did, he said,

"You'll have to forgive me if there is some miscommunication, I haven't gotten use to the accent you people have."

"I was worried about that myself. Your accent I mean. But I don't hear a thing."

Akio translated to Jia as he said,

"Oh...well, we lived in New York for a while."

The old man nodded as we then walked far enough from the market place and then caught another cab. We ended up going towards a darker side of London, where the tourists didn't dare to venture. Hookers walked the streets around strip clubs and burlesque houses stayed open all through the night. Sex shops with neon glowing signs were brightly illuminated as few people other then hookers walked. The old man stopped the car as we got out at the corner of what looked like an opera house. We continued down the street as he stopped and began going down the stairs carefully. We followed him as he opened the door for us and we entered. Unlike Toshimasa and Xiao Tien's booking area, this place was stone cold and empty. The only thing that was around was something that looked like a bank teller's window, a board behind the woman standing there with the words all bets off on the board. The old man opened a door to the side of the booth as he gestured us to follow. The woman then closed the door behind us and we went to the back room where the old man sat down at a round table. He offered Jia a seat across from him as he said,

"Let me explain something to ya. London is unlike any other city. There's tons of bookies, tons of gamblin folks and many, many ways to con someone."

Jia nodded, understanding business all to well as the old man then said,

"So, what you do for a livin?"

"I'm a yakuza. Proud owner of Japan, most of Korea, some of the States...it goes on."

The old man paused as he said,

"Sounds like you're bigger then the Teo Chiu."

"I am."

The old man nodded as he said,

"I don't do much of the heavy work anymore. Obviously I'm too old. But my son, he does most of the heavy work."

"You have a son?"

He nodded as he said,

"His name is Taylor. He'll be about shortly. Can I offer you gents a cup of tea?"

Jia nodded as the rest of us declined. The old man got up and went to the side where he had a kettle resting there, a tea cozy over the kettle as he pulled it off and then picked up two mugs and filled them. He came back over to Jia as he set the cup down beside him and then sat down again. Jia then said,

"Is your son...Taylor right?"

"Yes."

"Is he going to be long?"

"No, he should be back soon."

Just then, we heard the voice of a man outside of the room. The door opened and a tall, blue eyed blonde walked in. He wore khakis, a red sweater and a leather jacket with a matching flat black cap. He paused once he saw us and said,

"Sorry dad. Didn't know you had business goin."

The old man waved it off as he said,

"This is my son Taylor."

The blonde removed his cap, as spikes of short blonde hair stuck up, some to the side as he said,

"How do."

Jia turned slightly as Taylor approached him and shook his hand. The young man then went over to his father and sat down beside him as he said,

"I got the notes owed."

He reached into his pockets, removing a thick roll of London notes and setting them close to his father. The old man nodded in satisfaction. He then looked at Jia and said,

"We're not one of the most powerful booking joints."

"I'm not interested in booking. I'm interested in what you place fights on."

"Mostly anything with blood in it. But, by popular demand, blood sports like illegal boxing, bare knuckle fighting, those are the best places to set your money on."

Jia nodded as he said,

"Why is it illegal?"

"All goes. No actual rules are set in place. A man's not careful he could come out dead."

"Interesting. What's the difference between a boxing match and bare knuckle?"

"Jus how it sounds. Boxing has gloves, bare knuckle is jus the use of your hands."

Jia nodded again as he said,

"You got a promoter for this sort of thing?"

"I don't. I'm just a bookie. Friends of mine do this for a livin though. If you're interested, I'll ring them for you."

"I'm interested."

The old man gestured Taylor to make the phone call for him as Jia drank his tea.

Going into the late night, the old man asked Taylor to take us the match going on tonight. Jia thanked the old man as he followed Taylor out. The young man put his cap back on as he said,

"First time in London?"

"Yes. Your city sucks by the way." Said Jia.

Taylor laughed slightly as he said,

"You're not use to it. Is a long way from home though hey?"

"Depending on the direction you're going. I have homes everywhere."

Taylor seemed impressed as he brought us to his car outside. We got inside, Jia in the front where the driver should have gone, but since the English drive on the left side of the road, the steering wheel was on the right side of the car. Taylor took us back into the red light district and after a few twists and turns, he said we were close.

"The illegal boxing game is not so easy. There's a couple of people you gotta be aware of."

"So I keep hearing. Who's the biggest marketer?"

"This guy by the name of The Gun."

"Why him?"

"He's got a knack for it. Violent man too. Doesn't take too kindly to foreigners. He's knowing for fixing fights and givin tips to high rollers who also protect him in turn. Since they make money from it, they prevent anyone gettin close to him. He's a tough one. Old bastard doesn't die easily."

"Just how old is he?"

"I don't know...close to his fifties?"

Jia shook his head as he said,

"How old are you Taylor?"

"Turned twenty this year sir."

Jia looked over at us sitting behind us as he said,

"Are we near?"

"Yes. We're here."

He stopped the car, pulling over to a dark alley as he said,

"Car will be fine."

Jia shrugged, getting out as the rest of us followed and went with Taylor towards a medium sized building. It was all dark, the windows boarded up and blocking view inside or out. Taylor walked us in past the bouncers as they gave us odd looks and we reached the center brawl. The ring announcer was just introducing the two fighters as Taylor said,

"Oh, the one on the left is the champ so far. Won a couple of fights undefeated. Barely got a scratch on em."

Jia nodded as we walked around, Taylor stopping every now and then to collect owed money and taking more bets as we looked around, learning the game. As we stood among the crowd, Taylor lifted up his cap slightly and said,

"Ah, there's The Gun."

He gestured slightly across the ring to an old looking man, resembling Taylor's father only this guy seemed slightly younger. Black streaks ran through his hair mixing in with the gray and white. He wore thick glasses and wore a heavy brown coat. Jia smiled slightly as he said,

"Why is he called The Gun anyway?"

"Because, the man is old but he packs a punch that makes you feel like you just got shot. Rumor has it his favorite way of disposal is letting a pack of his dogs rip a man apart."

"Interesting. Ruthless?"

"Very. You can't owe him. Owing him would mean you're in his pocket and he can use you by any means."

Just then, The Gun saw Taylor and gave him a wave as Taylor waved back.

"My dad and I have kept a fair distance...if The Gun were to have us in his pocket, we'd be through."

Jia nodded as we watched the fight go on. The old man was right about it being a blood sport. Blood sprayed across each boxer, on the canvas as some went to the front row audience. Akio and Jia stepped back right away as Taylor said,

"What's the matter? 'Fraid of a spot of blood eh?"

Jia gestured to his suit as he said,

"This is Gucci. It's stained, it's ruined."

Taylor laughed slightly as he went around collecting more owed money.

By the end of the night, Taylor collected his dues as he counted the money to himself before pocketing it. As he did, the undefeated champion remained just that and we were on our way to meet the promoter of the boxing champ. As we did, The Gun stopped us as he said,

"Ah, Taylor. How's your father?"

"Fine gov. How are you?"

"Well my boy. And who might be your friends be?"

"Oh, uh, this is Jia."

Jia said nothing, looking at the small old man with thick glasses as The Gun the said,

"He don't speak no English?"

"He does."

Jia cleared his throat as he said,

"Good evening."

"Evenin. Who's your sweetheart here?"

He looked at me as I frowned deeply, glaring at him as Jia said,

"One of my associates."

The old man laughed slightly, dismissing me as so many others did as he said,

"New in town eh?"

"Yes. Trying to learn a new trade."

The Gun laughed as he said,

"Okay then. You do a bit of gambling?"

"I do a bit of everything."

The Gun smiled and aid,

"I like the look of his face. You wanna have lunch with me tomorrow?"

I sensed Taylor tensing up and almost warned Jia to decline. Before he did anything of the sort, Jia nodded and said,

"Thank you. I would."

"Good man. Good man. Tomorrow around...three. Is that good?"

"That's perfect."

"The Wheelers of St. James. You know of that?"

"I'll find it."

The Gun nodded as he then walked away and returned to his associates as Taylor said,

"Are you mad? That is not a man to associate with!"

Jia looked at him as he said,

"I make it a point not to underestimate anyone, but I also make it a point to go after the biggest prize. If that's it, then I will gladly jump head first into this."

Jia said it with a smile as he was then ready to go.

By the time we returned to Claridge's Jia was on the phone with Toki back in Japan. Aside from calling him to let him know he was missed, he wanted to let him know he might be staying in London for longer then he originally thought. Afterwards he called Xiao Tien and asked him what he knew of some strong hand in the illegal boxing world known as The Gun. Xiao Tien claimed he only saw him once or twice and only came around him once. The Gun isn't too likely to be around those that are male and look female. It's a threat on his masculinity, so he kept his distance from the China Doll. Jia understood men like that but he gave it no other thoughts since I was usually always mistaken for a girl no matter what I wore. Jia had a small meeting with Akio and Gabriel before he dismissed off all us, saying that London was going to be a place we were about to be deeply involved in.

"Crime here is disorganized, disloyal and more off, old. Did you see how many old people are running this shit?"

Gabriel tucked his hair behind his ear as he said,

"Age doesn't matter so long as you know what you're doing."

"True. I won't underestimate these people. Besides, if he was as weak as he looked, The Gun wouldn't have been running this game for as long as he has."

Gabriel sighed as he said,

"What of Taylor and the old man?"

"We'll continue with them until they fear us. Same as always."

Jia gave a yawn as he gave a wave of his hand and dismissed us.

Akio closed the door behind us as he said,

"I need a drink. Jo, comin with?"

"Sure."

The two then left as I returned to my own suite, closing and locking the door behind me. It occurred to me I had not eaten all day but I wasn't too hungry now. As I took off my coat, I felt my cell phone shake against the pocket and I removed it to see Furukawa's number. My thumb roamed over the key to answer it, but instead, I tossed the phone on the bed and went to shower instead. I decided to call for room service afterwards.

----------------------------

References

Portobello Road- A real market place in London. Known for selling antiques and a souvenirs.