Terry Yaki Parts 1, 2 & 3

By T. Patrick Rooney.

Terry turned off the movie projector and looked out the little window
on the wall above it. The movie was over so the theater was almost
completely empty; the last few people were on their feet and walking out
now. Smiling to himself, he turns for the exit to the projection booth and
walks over, his hand reaching up and touching the image of Bruce Lee on the
Enter The Dragon poster as he passes. Stepping out into the hallway he locks
the booth behind him and hustles down the stairs. A girl with blue clips
holding back her waist-length black hair looks up at him and smiles. The
nametag on her concession stand smock says Yim Shi.
"See you tomorrow night Terry," She says, her bright blue eyes shining
in the lobby lights.
"See you tomorrow babe," Terry says, his mouth moving for a few
seconds after he stops talking but no more sound comes out.
He turns to the glass doors at the front of the theater and pauses as he
sees his reflection. At six foot five most men look tall and somewhat
stretched, Terry however was six-foot-five with a ten inch tall afro. His dark
chocolate brown eyes gaze back at him as he grins at himself. Reaching into
his afro, he pulls out a black hair-pic and begins fluffing up the edges as he
goes out the door. The black jeans, black converse and black jean jacket he
is wearing are almost as black as his skin. He likes to think clothing
companies cannot compete with his blackness, which makes him smile even
more.
Turning left he struts down the street humming the theme to fist of fury to
himself as he goes. As he walks he notices a black Cadillac limo round the
corner a few blocks up and head his way.
"Say, Terry do you know what is going on man? Why are the Tonfa's
acting so crazy man?" A voice from across the street asks.
Looking across the street Terry watches an old wino wearing a green
hooded sweatshirt walk between two parked cars and head his way.
"No Mad Dog, what's up with the Tonfa's?" Terry asks, his mouth not
matching up with his words again.
"They aint right man, I was in the alley behind Mr. Hand's bar when a
bunch of those Tonfa's went in there and started fucking people up man.
Girls were screaming and guys were dying man. They were eating them! I
seen em through the back door, and I took off running," Mad Dog says.
"Eating them? Come on man, your drunk Mad Dog," Terry says his lips
barely moving at all and not in sync again.
"I'm afraid, he is telling the truth Terry," says a voice from the open
window of the black Cadillac limo stopped in the street.
"Say man, what's up P-Funk? You know something about all this?"
Terry asks, his mouth almost moving right with his words.
"As a matter of fact, I do some of the Tonfa's made off with a few of
my girls and fucked up some johns man, I grabbed the last four and we are
heading uptown till all this shit blows over man. Watch yourself Terry these
boys are on something weird, it's making em crazy," P-Funk says.
Terry watches the limo pull away for a second and looks around Mad
Dog is nowhere in sight. Down the street however Terry watch four shapes
emerge from an alley and start walking his way. They are all wearing
sleeveless jean jackets and black t-shirts, Terry has a feeling all of them have
a back patch sewn into their jackets that reads Tonfa's.
There were no words spoken, but Terry stands there watching them
approach for a few seconds and then starts walking towards them. They
spread out as they approach two stay on the side-walk and two walk on the
edge of the street as they get closer. About twelve feet away they walk under
the street light overhead and Terry sees what everyone is talking about
finally. All of them are gray, with black blood vessels beneath their skin,
their eyes are glazed over with a white film. They are all dead. This
realization hits him as they raise their arms, moan and shuffle slightly faster
toward him.
Closing the distance with the one on his far left Terry spins around in a
blur of motion and his spinning clenched ham-sized fist connects with the
Tonfa's jaw. A bone-shattering crunch is heard as the dead punk spins down
to the sidewalk, in a bloody denim heap. Terry spins around the opposite
way and his left foot arcs upward connecting with the next closest one's right
ear. The skull of the thing collapses around the converse as the force of the
blow sends the body flopping end over end down the sidewalk in a smear of
gore. The last two don't pause at all they both come in at once, Terry jumps
from between them spinning in mid-air his body twists as if flies his feet
kicking out hitting them both in the chest as he lands on his hands, pushes off
and flipping in mid-air lands in the street facing away from them. The bodies
fly away from where he had been standing and land with thumps on the
ground. Both instantly get to their feet again as the first one swings its
clawed hand to grab Terry, it's mouth open so wide it's jaw is lying limply on
it's chest. Terry spins grabbing the things wrist as he turns, his hip juts out
and then the thing is flying over his shoulder back into one of the two on the
sidewalk. The other closes in and Terry drops down taking its legs out with a
low sweeping kick. Spinning with his hands down on the street Terry's leg
arcs up high and then down on the things head in an axe-kick. The skull of
the creature is crushed under his shoe splattering brains, bone-fragments and
an explosion of gore all over the street. Terry completes his move landing on
his feet facing the last two. The one of the left makes a grab for him so Terry
grabs its wrist and pulls it close right into his mallet-like fist. The things face
flattens out against those massive knuckles bones smashing to pulp in an
instant the thing drops down to ground like it is made of jelly. The final one
groans as it comes in and Terry kicks it in the face. The brains explode out of
the back of its skull as it falls to the ground in a hot-mess.
Thumbing the side of his broad nose Terry looks around for more.
Seeing no one around he stands up straight and dusts his hands off on his
jeans.
"Fuck you too, motherfuckers.."

Terry Yaki, Part II

Yim Shi, puts the mop and bucket away and takes off her concessions
smock. Throwing the smock onto a chair in the employees’ break-room she
grabs her gray hooded sweatshirt and pulls it over her head covering the
yellow smiley face on her white t-shirt. Her skin-tight jeans are so faded they
look a strange blueish-white color and her pink converse sneakers are well
worn-in. She pulls her long coal-black hair from the hoodie and removes the
blue hair clips. She put the hair clips in her jeans pocket and smiles at herself
in the break-room mirror. Her slanted almond-shaped eyes are the same blue
as the sky. Her father claimed her mother slept with the postman, they both
always laugh at that joke. Shrugging her shoulders, Yim turns and walks
back out into the lobby. Beyond the locked, doors three men stand watching
her from the sidewalk. They are all wearing sleeveless jean jackets and black
t-shirts. As she walks closer to the glass she can see their skin is uniformly
gray with blackened veins running beneath the surface. They stand perfectly
still watching her approach the doors, she does not even see them blink.
Yim Shi opens the door and steps out on the sidewalk beside them. As
one they raise their arms moaning and lunge for her. Yim jumps into the air
rotating her hips and whipping her foot around in a spinning kick. Her long
hair splays out around her like a black cloak as she lands. All three of them
smash together and fly backwards landing in a heap on the sidewalk. Bowing
to them slightly, she turns and walks away. Smiling she looks up at the stars.
From behind her comes the scuffle of feet, smiling even more she stops
and turns to face them again. Dropping into crane-stance, poised on the balls
of her feet, which were shoulder length apart she waits at the ready. Her
hands at poised as well, the tips of all her fingers pressing against the end of
her thumbs. They approach slowly, kind of staggering and stumbling, as they
get closer. Their jaws are broken, hanging down dripping blood, shattered
teeth and slobber onto their chests.
The closest one reaches out with his hands for her as her back foot
leaves the ground in a blur of motion. It's head snaps back with a bone-
smashing crunch. Suddenly it is flying backwards into it's friends and once
again they all fall down into a pile on the sidewalk. This time only two
struggle and stand back up again. They rush her at once arms flailing hands
grasping for her. Her foot blurs through the air as it kicks one in the face
smashing its skull flat from the front. Her left hand punches outward at the
same time striking the temple of the second one, rupturing bone with a
snapping sound. She lands on lightly on her right hand letting her arm
collapse as she hits, flowing into a smooth rolling motion that ends with her
silently on her feet dusting her hands off on her jeans. There is blood
splattered all over the sidewalk so she walks into the street to go around it.
Not a drop of it is on her though.
Down the block a bit she can see Terry Yaki, standing in the road
looking down at several crumpled forms at his feet.
 "Hey Terry!" she calls out
"Hey, Yim Shi," Terry says turning to walk towards her.
Terry stops before her, in the street light she can see his eyes on the
bloody sidewalk behind her, they roam down her body looking at every inch
of her. She smiles, he is checking to see if she is ok, how sweet.
Glancing over her shoulder for a second she looks back up at him and
nods. He smiles down at her. She is all of five-foot-two and maybe one
hundred pounds if she carries a cinder block. Standing next to him, she feels
like a kid but the smile he is giving her, isn't one he would give to anyone
else, let alone another girl. He is fiercely loyal and demands the same from
her, which of course she gives him, more then willingly. Holding out her
hand, which he takes, they begin walking down the street.
"So, looks like I am going to have to go over to Club Scratch and see if
Johnny T, knows anything about what these Tonfa's are on. Shit ain't right,
they look fucking dead," he says.
"Well I may as well go along with you, they jumped me too. Besides, I
think I'd like you to walk me home again afterwards," She says smiling up at
him.
"Oh, you do, do ya? Well I am game for that. It will take up to much
time to walk let’s roll on over there shall we?" he asks.
"Yes, lets..... HEY TAXI!" she yells at a passing yellow and black
The cab squeals to a halt just past them.
"Hop in you two, some shit's going down," a voice says.
"Hey Ginger, that you?" Terry asks.
"Yes, now get the fuck in here."
Terry helps Yim into the backseat of the cab and then goes around the
other side and slips in beside her. As they shut the doors the cab takes off
very quickly.
"In case neither of you have noticed, the fucking Tonfa's have started a
fucking gang-war tonight. That's why I didn't make that last showing of Enter
the Dragon tonight. I have been taking squares from the bars to their pads all
night. You two are the first cool people I've seen in hours," says a large red-
headed man with an unlit cigar defying gravity in the corner of his mouth.
"Yeah we noticed the Tonfa's man we both got jumped by those jive
motherfuckers, thats why were heading for Club Scratch, and why your ass is
headed the wrong way," Terry says.
 "Yeah, well I would love to take you over to the club Terry, cept its
burned to the fucking ground as of two hours ago. While you were enjoying
the master up on the big screen us peon's have been watching some of the
coolest places in the city burn to the ground," Ginger says.
"Aw fuck man, Johnny T get out of there ok?" Yim Shi asks.
"No sign of him, but I hope he did, hang on let me check with the
office," he begins, and picks up the radio handset hanging from his
dashboard, "Hey Ernie, did anyone find Johnny T yet?"
"Yeah an ambulance brought him into Saint Williams about ten minutes
ago," a voice says.
"Thanks Ernie," Ginger replies.
The light turns red and Ginger stops the cab.
"Well since the club is out, where do you think we can find out what is
going on Ginger," Terry asks.
As Ginger opens his mouth to answer six figures step from the alley and
walk towards the cab. Ginger punches the gas and the cab rockets forward
through the red light and on down the street.
"That was close," Ginger says glancing into the rear view at Terry.
"Look out fool!" Terry yells
A man in a sleeveless jean jacket steps from between two parked cars.
Ginger wrenches the wheel to the left and the cab goes up onto the sidewalk.
A few hundred feet later there is an open spot in the parked cars, so he jogs it
right again back out onto the street.
"That was even closer," Ginger says not glancing up this time.
"Yeah, just keep going Ginger, let me think about our next move,"
Terry says, sliding his arm around Yim Shi and pulling her close.

Terry Yaki, Part III

Yim Shi, watches the street lights going by out the window of the cab
she smiles a tiny happy smile and snuggles closer to her man. Terry looks
down at her and grins their eyes burning for each other. Terry’s eyes
suddenly widen he looks up at Ginger eyes in the rear-view mirror.
“Ginger, I got it man take us over to The Stygian Horn. If we cannot
talk to Johnny T, then we are going to have to see if Marlin knows what is
happening.”
“Ok by me but I am going to need to go fill up man, I will be almost
empty by the time we get there,” Ginger replies.
“That is no problem man, in fact sitting in one place seems like a bad
idea just circle the neighborhood once you get gassed up and keep your eyes
open,” Terry tells him.
“I like the jazz they play at the horn, I reminds me of something, as if I
had heard the song before yet I cannot place it. I asked Marlin about it one
night and he said the boys play tunes that your soul recognizes. If those
Tonfa’s go in there looking for trouble they are going to be in a world of hurt
those musicians don’t just carry around their instruments in those cases,”
Yim Shi says smiling.
“You got that right, the last dude that stormed in there looking to ob the
place left in three separate body bags. Check that out…” Ginger says
motioning out the passenger side window slowing the cab down.
Terry and Yim Shi look out the window of the cab the bus station is
burned to the ground, there are firemen and police everywhere, and thirty or
more bodies covered up with sheets, jackets or coats.
“That’s heavy,” Ginger says hitting the gas again.
“Yeah, this was going to be a good night, whatever is going on we have
to stop it,” Terry replies.
They stop at a red light four blocks past the bus station and from the
corner store’s entrance a man bursts out on the street screaming his scalp is
torn and a flap of bloody skin is dangling from the wound. He runs out into
the side street and gets hit instantly by a pickup truck. The driver gets out
while Terry and Yim Shi scramble out of the cab. From the entrance to the
store four of the Tonfa’s emerge all of them with faces smeared with blood.
They split up two heading for the driver of the pickup truck and two heading
for Terry and Yim Shi. Terry reaches out and grabs an arm on each of the
two stumbling toward them they instantly lunge for his face their broken
teeth snapping open and shut in their blood caked mouths. Suddenly a pair of
pink Converse kicks them both in the face and Yim Shi lands behind them
doing a cartwheel toward the other two Tonfa’s. Terry shoves both of the
dazed things away from him and lashes out with his right foot. The arcing
kick connects with the left one’s jaw the momentum of the kick carries it into
it’s buddy and they both go down in a bloody heap on the sidewalk.
 Yim Shi spins up behind the other two, their backs are to her she pivots
her hands and springs with her shoulders and elbows from the ground. Her
body flies upward and her knees tuck into against her chest and then she
pivots her hips in mid-air and lashes out with both feet at once. Her shoes
connect with the heads of the Tonfa’s shuffling toward the confused-looking
old pickup driver. Their heads smash together from the impact of her kicks
and she tucks her shoulder in and rolls to a standing position facing them.
Just as they both try to regain their feet a body flies into them its face split
open spraying blood and brain matter from it’s cracked skull. Yim Shi lashes
out smashing the other in the nose with the heel of her left palm, the impact
knocks it back down and the back of its head cracks against the street.
Hearing yell she looks up to see the driver of the pick up backing away from
another Tonfa shuffling around the front of the truck arms extended.
Glancing back she watches Terry smash his shoe down on the skull of the
Tonfa lying beneath him. She leaps into the air and slides across the hood of
the truck and her foot smashes the fifth Tonfa in the ear. It falls to the ground
as she lands and as it pushes it self up she kicks it in the face, there is a
cracking sound as its head snaps backward and it falls lifeless to the ground.
“Hey we gotta go!” Ginger yells suddenly.
Looking back they see ten more Tonfa’s heading down the street
toward them.
“Get in your truck and drive old man get home and lock your doors!”
Yim Shi tells the truck driver who is helping the injured man into his truck.
Terry and Yim Shi dive back into the cab and Ginger floors it. The
engine roars as the cab takes off. Terry pulls out a bandanna and wipes the
blood from her knuckles with it and then cleans off his own. She smiles up at
him as the cab turns to the left pressing her up against him.
One the cab’s radio Ernie is yelling for someone to get over to the
Jupiter Restaurant there is a pick up. Another cabby says he will get it.
“Hey Ernie make sure everyone stays clear of the bus station I just
rolled past there, it’s burned to the ground man,” Ginger says into the radio
hand set.
“Ginger do you have a fair right now?” Ernie asks.
“Yeah, I have a fair right now, why what’s happening?” Ginger replies.
“Oh some old man just called from The Komodo says he needs a ride,”
Ernie replies.
 “I’ll get it,” says another voice.
“Thanks Johnny,” Ernie says.
“Ernie, some nut just jumped out in front of my car, oh god I hit him,”
Johnny says.
“Was he wearing a jean-jacket vest,” Ginger asks.
“I don’t know it happened to fast, hang on I stopped and he is getting up
back there, oh man he looks hurt. Hey are you ok man?” Johnny yells.
There is a moaning sound approaching.
“Run Johnny floor that bitch, he isn’t hurt! He is dead man! Get out of
there!” Ginger yells into the microphone.
“Do what he says Johnny, punch it!” Ernie yells.
“Oh hey man let me go dude, hey you stepped out in front of me ahhh..”
Johnny’s voice starts to say and cut off.
“Oh fuck me, what the fuck is going on out there tonight!” Ernie yells.
“I don’t know Ernie but we are going to find out right now,” Ginger
says.
Suddenly cop runs out from an alley way from their left. He waves his
arms and runs around to the passenger side of the car. Yanking open the door
he jumps in.
“Gun it! Floor it! Get us out of here!” the officer yells frantically.
They look to their left as Ginger guns the engine and they peel out,
from the alleyway stumble eight more of the Tonfa’s.
“They pulled Murphy from our squad car, they almost got me to. Let
me use your radio ok?” the officer says.
“Ernie I just picked up a cop can you patch us through to the police
dispatcher?” Ginger says into the microphone.
“Sure thing… Give me just a second here. Ok your on,” Ernie says.
Ginger hands the mic to the cop.
“Dispatch this is officer Ramseur, Murphy was pulled from our cruiser
in the alley way at Tenth and Essex, we were checking out that report you got
about the screaming. You have an officer down in that alley, I drew the men
who were after us out onto Essex and I hoped into this cab. They are still
following us. Something was wrong with them dispatch I shot one of them
twice in the chest and he staggered but did not go down. I had to get out of
there,” the cop says.
“We have gotten reports like that coming in all night, I am instructed to
tell each officer to shoot for the head, that is the only thing that seems to stop
them. We will dispatch two more units with the ambulance can you lead your
pursuers around the block until they get there?” dispatch asks.
“Yes but be advised there were at least eight of them, we can lead them
on a chase around the block until you get here,” Ramseur says.
“You got it boss,” Ginger says turning left at the next intersection and
waiting until the things turn the corner and then gunning it again.
“ETA on the ambulance and escort is five minutes Ramseur,” dispatch
says.
“Roger that,” he replies.
“It’s going to be a long night baby,” Terry says to Yim Shi.
“Yes, it seems that way. We should have brought some popcorn,” Yim
Shi says smiling up at him.