The Silent Room

“Sure, he’s got fast limbs. I bet he can do spinning kicks and backflips while blindfolded, but all that fails when reality sets in,” said a friend of mine.

“Oh, how come?” I asked.

“You see, you may be practicing this obscure martial arts from somewhere, but the truth is, a ‘laundry job’ ignores all that. Size and numbers matter. You might be skilled at martial arts, you might be able to deliver a punch really quick, but the moment someone gives you a nice heavy smack behind the head, you can and will fall. And when you do fall, you’re as good as dead goose.”

A trail of smoke escaped his nostrils as he explained to me the reality of a ‘laundry job’. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, a ‘laundry job’ is when one guy gets his ass [and most likely, along with the rest of his body parts] kicked by a gang.

“I’ve done in quite a few guys myself.” he continued.

This friend of mine [let's call him 'Rowe'] is a big, muscular guy. Taller than myself, he does 200 chin-ups and 50 hand-stand push-ups daily. He’s definitely not a guy you wanna physically mess with.

“So, in this case, his best option is to run away?” I asked.

“Considering the fact that the other dude is a short tempered idiot, our skinny friend might be facing a whole bunch of hoodlums just itching for a fight. Well, no housemate of mine is getting his ass handed to him on my watch. If they’re even thinking of storming our place, they won’t be getting off easy.”

Apparently, another friend of mine [let's call him 'Loo'] unintentionally made an enemy out of an idiot who happens to be in a gang. After some exchange of verbal abuse, the fight eventually escalated into threats, and Rowe isn’t too happy about that.

Rowe has helped out in various gang fights before, and he knows streets fights better than the average person does.

“If that idiot sticks to his threat, Loo has a chance squaring off with him one to one. Otherwise, he’d better get on legs or risk losing them.”

The clouds shifted and the day became so bright as though the sun gave out a silent yell, exerting its rays as it pierced through the skies. Another puff of smoke clouded my view of Rowe. I thought of what I would do if I were surrounded by thugs who just so happened to be very anxious for a fight.

There probably won’t be anything fancy like in movies or anime. If you’re surrounded or trapped, you’re bound to get beaten up good, if not killed. I let out a long sigh, earnestly hoping that no one would hold a grudge on poor little me, at least not one that is serious enough to warrant a hit that would break my divine, beautiful nose.

“One more puff and I’m done. You?” asked Rowe before taking in a long, last smoke.

A thick puff of second hand smoke completely blocked his face from my view. I quickly finished up my teh o ais and signaled for us to go. Hot days like that really annoy me.