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My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
Fear of taming
>> Kapalama Heights
Having observed the dazzling Honolulu city lights from outside the Kamehameha Schools chapel, they drove back down the hill, Kamasami Khan and the second Lama Jey Tsong Khapa continuing a conversation that lamas and Khans have had for centuries.
"I did not come back to this realm, friend Khan, to lead a military rebellion," the 18-year-old Liliha-born lama said. "It is not with guns that we will defeat the Communists, but with the truth of Buddha's teaching. I may not be there to see it, but we have begun a process that will lead to change. Just as my student became the first Dalai Lama, and the third Dalai Lama tamed your ancestors the ferocious Mongol Khans, making them friends and allies, one who follows me will tame the Communist leadership and restore truth, wisdom and compassion to China in place of their lies about the inhumanity of secular materialism."
"That, your holiness," Khan said, "is exactly why they fear you, and why Te-Wu has orders to remove you before you can start a movement."
"I understand. But apart from our philosophical differences, strategically speaking, won't the Communists respond even more harshly to any physical challenge to their rule in Tibet?"
"Perhaps at first, but we will be relentless, and unstoppable. We will be victorious, because we are right."
Approaching the guard station at the bottom of the hill, Khan slowed the red Ram 1500 as his cell phone rang to the sound of Tibetan bells and gongs.
"Now we know," the lama's big brother Joe Kharma exclaimed from the back seat, "who put the Ram in the rama-lama-ding-dong!" And he sang a few bars of the iconic '60s hit.
Khan listened to the caller, frown gathering. "OK, got it. Thanks." Then, replacing the phone, "Te-Wu is waiting for us at the bottom of hill."
Joe swore. "How do they know?!"
"They know nothing," Khan said, waved a shaka to the guard as they passed.
"There, the black car on the left. Try to keep the glowing head thing down for a while, would you please, your holiness. And do not stare."
They passed the black car, in the glow of the street light Khan saw one figure at the wheel.
"Vaya says it's just one young guy, low ranking. It's not unusual for Te-Wu to follow various people they consider threats -- Tibetans, Taiwanese, Falun Gong. Anyway, their big detail is at your hotel in Waikiki."
At that moment, two members of the Chinese secret police, dressed as room service waiters, were entering the young lama's hotel suite with tea and fruit, thinking how pathetically defenseless he was, never considering he might actually be a member of the Free Tibet Warrior Society and armed.
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Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek. His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin. He can be e-mailed at dchapman@midweek.com
