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My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
Limit the miracles
>> North King Street
When the two members of the Chinese secret police posing as room service waiters left in a hypnotic trance, the imitation lama made a call on his cell phone to Kamasami Khan, who at that moment was driving the real second Lama Jey Tsong Khapa and his brother Joe Kharma to the Dole Theater multiplex to see "The Passion of the Christ."
"Didn't take Te-Wu long to strike," the stunt double said and recounted how they'd tried to poison him, that a brief fight ensued, and that ultimately he had disarmed them with hypno-mysticism and sent them on their way to tell their leader they had done as ordered, but had not seen the young lama actually drink from the poison cup.
"Well done, Michael," Khan said. "Good thing you were there."
"We explained to Rimpoche Rimshot what's happening," Michael Feng-Tswei said. "He's quite disturbed and would feel better if he could talk with, ah, your friend."
Khan handed the phone to Lama Jey Tsong Khapa in the passenger seat. The conversation was short, the lama saying he was safe and that his mentor should trust the young men he was with, and that he hoped to see him soon.
"So what happened," the lama's older brother Joe Kharma said.
"Let's just say that it's a good thing his holiness is with us, and in disguise," Khan said. "Te-Wu didn't waste any time."
The theory of one of the world's most vicious secret services wanting you dead was one thing. The active reality was quite different. "So," the young lama said, "they are quite serious."
"Quite. And relentless. When they see Michael and the others leaving the hotel tomorrow morning, Te-Wu will be following. The good news is that they believe you are at the hotel. For the time being, as long as you stay in disguise and limit the miracles in public, we'll keep you under their radar."
"And that glowing head thing," Joe said, "you gotta cut that out. It's a dead giveaway."
The young lama nodded. "This does change things." His schedule had been set for weeks. Tomorrow was a visit to the state Capitol, where legislators would declare it to be Lama Jey Tsong Khapa Homecoming Day. "Whereas he realized his Buddahood at the age of 2 in Liliha ..." and so forth.
Later, a shrine would be dedicated at his parents' home in Liliha on the site where he realized his Buddhahood. Tomorrow there was a meeting with various religious leaders. Coming days included a trip to Maui. Above all, he wanted to spend time with his family and get to know them after 16 years of study and meditation in India and Nepal. Instead, he would be, as Joe put it, "just a regular guy."
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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