The Monkey's Tail

This is taking to longer to explain Steve's story than I thought so I'm breaking it up into two parts. This is the first.


No sex but I hope a few surprises.


"I wish you two would say something. Or at least close your mouths." said Mr Barkin as he sat down in a chair facing the couch. He then indicated that they should sit in the couch. They moved almost in unison to the couch and sat down together. Their expression never changed.

"Hmmm. Maybe it would be better if we tried this over coffee." suggested Mr Barkin.

"I'll get it!" said Kim as she almost lept off the couch and headed to the kitchen.

"I still have that effect on them." thought Mr Barkin to himself as he smiled inwardly.

"So Ronald, I guess you have some questions about what happened in high school."

"Well, yeah. I guess I do Mr Barkin."

"Ronald, your not in high school anymore. You've saved the world, graduated college and you're soon going to be married. I think you can call me by my first name now." Replied Mr Barkin.

"Okaay, Mr Barkin. (pause) I thought you had it in for me up until I started playing football my senior year, ever since I gave you that look in seventh grade."

"Ronald, do you know how many students have had the gumption to make eye contact with me during their first week of their freshman year since I have been teaching?"

"Ahhh, no."

"Two. You did it the first day. Kimberly did it the second day. Even Big Mike never looked me in the eye till the second month. I thought you had possibilities that day and I decided to push, prod, and do everything I could to help you be all Sensei and I thought you could be."

"Wait a minute Mr Barkin, Sensei? But I didn't have the Magical Monkey Powers till later. How did Sensei know about me then?"

"Oh, you know Sensei. Always knowing more than he tells and giving out gardening tips. I think he said " A small acorn takes time to grow into a mighty oak and give comfort and protection to others, even if he looks like a young sapling," when he told me about you before your freshman year started. You proved yourself to me when you dealt with Gill."

"Gil? Ron asked.

"Gill, with two L's." replied Mr Barkin.

"Oh Gill! Yeah, I did do okay then." said Ron humbly.

"Okay?" said Steve Barkin. "Working with only yourself, your molerat and what was left in that run down camp, you did a fine job, saving me and your friends. Your biggest problem was you were prone to getting a big head sometimes when you did a good job. Something I'm glad to see you got over." said Mr Barkin.

"That and that silly notion you had about your Bar Mitzvah Certificate proved your manhood. Now, I'm not saying that reading from the Toran in front of the assembly isn't a big step in a young man's life, but you were more concerned with that piece of paper than your actions. I challenged you and you learned from it. A person's actions determines whether he is a man or not. Not a piece of paper or a medal. You learned it then and you proved it again when you admitted that you cheated to get on the football team. I wasn't happy that you cheated but I was impressed that you came to me and told me the truth. That's the kind of thing that proves you are a man."

"Think back to just before you met Sensei. If it hadn't been for me, do you think the school board would have allowed an exchange program with a school in Yamanouchi, Japan, that doesn't even exist on the records? I had to push hard on that one."

Ron thought about what Mr Barkin said for a few moments and then said, "Wait, at my graduation you called me a "non conformist punk.""

"Didn't you once declare your motto to be "Never be normal!"?

Ron thought about it. He did remember telling Kim that. He then got up off the couch, walked over to Mr Barkin and held out his hand. Mr Barkin took it and Ron said as he shook his hand, "It may be kinda late Mr B, but thank you. For all of your help. I wish I had asked you to write a letter of recommendation to all the colleges I applied to."

Mr Barkin smiled and said, "You're welcome Ronald. And I did send a letter to each college you applied to. I'll explain that latter." he added seeing the look of disbelief on Ron's face.

Just then Kim re-entered the room with a coffee tray. Feeling the change in the atmosphere in the room, she set the tray down on the table, poured the coffee, gave one to Mr Barkin and Ron, poured one for herself and sat back down next to Ron.

"What did I miss?" she whispered to Ron.

"I'll tell you later." he whispered back. Out loud he said, "Steve is about to tell us how he is Yori's father."

She did a slight double take at Ron, hearing him call Mr Barkin "Steve," but said nothing.

Both of them then looked at Steve Barkin and waited.

He took a sip of coffee and then leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees before he started.

"My tour in the Army was just about over and I was going to reenlist. I may have been a lousy cook, but there was one thing that no one could best me in. Hand to hand combat. I had hoped to be able to train the sergeants that would be training our solders. My Captain called me into his office before I could re-up and introduce me to an agent for Global Justice. They had been watching me and thought I would make a good field agent and maybe do some hand to hand training myself."

"They weren't so high techie back then. An agent had himself to rely on. Not some gizmo to lead him by the hand or wipe his nose when he needed it."

Kim started to object to that remark, but Mr Barkin interjected, "Not that I'm putting you or them down Kimberly. Even then I was more a dinosaur than a thinker, but I was good at it. Our computers took up entire floors of buildings and slow as dirt. We had some men that were quicker with numbers in their heads"

"Anyway, the Captain told me that I would probably be doing a greater good for my country if I joined GJ than if I stayed in the Army. I joined them that day. About a year later I was a full fledged agent."

"Another agent and I were given an assignment. Some nutcase bent on ruling the world calling himself Dr Chicago, had stolen some plans and papers with theories about a device that could, in the wrong hands could create a black hole the size of Nevada. We had to recover them."

"Let me guess, the Pan-dimensional-vortex-inducer?"ask Kim

"Ah......yeah." answered Mr Barkin.

"Again with the Pan-dimensional-vortex-inducer. It's almost our arch......ah..... what would it be Kim? It wouldn't be our arch foe, that would be a person." asked Ron.

"Never mind Ron. We've heard of it.... ah.... Steve." Kim said. "Go on."

"Anyway, we caught up to Dr Chicago in eastern Asia and managed to recover the items. The little black box had been removed from our jet and a safe installed in it's place. That's where we stored the recovered info. We were returning flying back, but soon found that he had sent four other jets after us. We ended up in a dogfight we couldn't win. Agent Buzz managed to down the pursing jets, but we had taken several hits, including one that got Buzz. We were somewhere over a mountain range in Japan and loosing altitude when Buzz told me to take over, just before he passed out. I was good, but not nearly as good a pilot as he was. I thought I could put it in a climb near a mountain, dump most of the fuel, lose some airspeed in a climb till it came almost to zero and then gently fall onto a ledge. It didn't work out that way."

"When we fell, the ledge I had picked collapsed. The plane slid back down the mountain, flipping over several times till we hit bottom. I woke up in what I thought was a small village. A young woman named Kiyone had pulled me from the wreckage and brought me to her home. I was banged up pretty good. Nothing broken, just hammered real good. There was only one major problem. I couldn't remember anything before waking up and seeing her by my bed. She told me about the crash and there had been another person with me, but he hadn't made it, when she got there. Her father thought about taking me down the mountain to a city and trying to learn who I was, but he was concerned that it would bring to much attention to his small village. I didn't understand, but I didn't have a problem staying there. Kiyone was a very pretty woman and as far as I knew, I didn't have anything important to do or worry about. I'd check my hand to see if I wearing a ring. They decided I should stay They also decided I should be called Chen En Dowa. It meant "Man with unknown name," in their dialect. "

"After she nursed me back to health to a point I could get up and walk around, I started doing some exercises to keep limber. I don't know why but I remembered that it was important. Anyway, when I was just about completely healed, she came in one day just as I was getting started. She stood and watched me for a while and asked if she could join me. I wasn't going to say no. I think I said something stupid about I hoped it wouldn't be to strenuous for her. She said that she would try and keep up."

"Oh she kept up. For the next three hours without a break she kept up. If I started to slow down, she would laugh and say, "This is fun!" or "We use to do this when I was a little girl." By the time we were done, I could barely breath, Every muscle hurt like hell. I felt like I had been rode hard and put away wet. I don't think she even got close to breaking a sweat and she looked like she could have gone on all day. God, she was beautiful. She told me about the hot springs to relax and restore my muscle tone."

"She asked if she could join me tomorrow and maybe show me a few others that might help. By the end of three months I was in better shape than I had ever been in my life. It didn't take me long to realize that her "others" were more hand to hand combat orientated. When I asked her about this, she laughed and said that they were just exercises, but we could try some fighting moves that her father had taught her. Needless to say, by the end of the next four months, I learned more about hand to hand than I had during my time in the army and GJ. She taught me something new every day and tested me on it till she knew I had it right. It was during this time that I realized I had......feelings...... for her. Strong feelings."

"At first I thought it was just gratitude for saving my life, being my trainer, and my friend. But I was never able to convince myself of that."

"One day we going over what she had taught me so she decided the best way was have a match. We fought for what seemed like hours. I think I surprised her. I held my own through out the match. Then came the mistake. We both were getting tired and she wanted to finish it quickly and she forgot herself. She used an advanced move that she hadn't taught me yet. I managed to deflect most of it, but when the final blow came, she knocked me loopey. Next thing I remember I was laying on my back, the world was spinning out of control and she was kneeling by me calling my name, crying and planting little kisses on my face at the same time. When she saw me open my eyes, she kissed me on the lips...................and I returned it."

" When she realized what we were doing, she quickly stood up, turned her back to me and said in a more formal tone," I am glad that you are not injured. I would have much to explain, especially if you were hurt while I was showing you technecs that are closely guarded secrets.""

"I start to say to her that we should talk about the what had just happened, but before I could get it all out, she walked off telling me I should continue practicing. Alone. She had to return to the village."

"I think I forgot to tell you that after I was able to walk around, they seemed to want me outside the village walls during the day." Mr Barkin said to Kim and Ron. " Kiyone and I usually practiced behind the town by a small waterfall. Sometimes we would go up near the hot springs or to a small field, but mostly by the waterfall."

"Several days after the "kiss," when we were just getting started, her father showed up. "

"Father? To what do we owe this honor?" asked Kiyone as she bowed to him.

"Does a father need a reason to come and sit by a quiet stream to watch his daughter practice with our guest?" answered Sensei as he sat down on a large rock facing them.
"Besides, I've heard that you have proven yourself to be an apt pupil." as he addressed me this time. " Kiyone tells me you are very...............(pause).............skilled. I wish to see for myself if this is so, if you do not object."

"Kiyone bowed to her father, walked to where we practiced, turn to me and said, "Please, fight like your life depends on it." She then bowed to me and took a fighting stance. Her father then quietly said."Begin."

"She attacked me like a hawk on a young chick. She was a ballet dancer and wrecking ball all wound up into one person. If any one of her blows had made contact, I know she would have taken off my head. After I managed to survive her first onslaught and get myself up to her speed, the fight was on. I have no idea how long we fought. All time had stopped and there was nothing else in the world except her and me and the battle."

"If you two haven't yet, I suggest you have a real sparing match together. It get the blood moving and you have your full concentration on the other's every move and body. It's almost as good as sex."

"Eew!" said Kim and Ron together.

""Sorry." said Mr Barkin." I keep forgetting that each generation thinks that it invented "sex," and doesn't want to hear anything about the prior generation's escapades."

"Anyway, like I said, I have no idea how long we fought. We had gone through every move, counter move and combination of moves that we had gone over. I think she threw in a few that we had not. Each of us fended off the other's attacks. We were both sweating and breathing hard, but neither of us would concede. Just when I didn't know if either of us had anything left, her father said," Hold." as he stood."

"It has been some time since I have witnessed a display of such skill. There are not many men that could last half that time in a fight with Kiyone. She is the most skilled student/teacher at Yamanouchi School for Ninjas."

"Ninjas?" I ask him.

"He took me by the arm and lead me back into the school as he explained what Yamanouchi was, a secret school for Ninjas and the art of Ti-Shing-Pec-Whar. I had been tested and he invited me to stay and learn. Also to help Kiyone teach the new students."

"When I asked him why, when he had no idea of what kind of a man I had been before the accident, he said," Your chi is pure. No matter what you have done before now, you are a good man or your chi would be stained and I would know. Besides, Kiyone has strong feelings for you and I am a loving father. Do you not have strong feelings for her?"

"I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He wanted me to stay and help Kiyone teach, for some reason that seemed to be important to me, and he told me she had strong feelings for me. Of course I said yes. How could things get any better? I had a purpose in life, I now had lots of friends and I had a beautiful girl friend. Within the year, we were married. A year after that, we had a beautiful daughter."

"And then, three years later, my world died."

Steve Barkin sat his coffee down on the table and instead of looking at either Kim or Ron, started looking at a space on the couch in between them.

"We were coming back from the hot springs. Both Kiyone and I needed to relax from a hard day of training and little Yori just loved to play in the water. We could just see the top on the temple when we heard the noise. It was getting louder. I felt like a part of me knew what it was but I couldn't identify it. It was scaring Yori."

"Over the rise came five OH-6 Cayuse Hueys without doors, 4 men each and each with a Katie, Bravo 51 snipper rifle. They were in a V formation with a lead chopper and they were flying at an altitude of 50 feet. They stopped and hovered when they got within 30 yards of us."

" There was a man wearing a lab coat in the lead copter. He had a mike for the loud speaker and when he spoke, he sent shivers ran down my spine."

"Agent Barkin! At last I, Dr Chicago, have found you. It took me three years to find out that you never returned to the States. My spys thought the government had just put all of the research under tighter security and hidden it somewhere better. Three years wasted. It took the rest of the time to track down your flight path and sort out where you had to have crashed and gotten to, but at last I have found you!"

"Now why don't you make it easy on yourself and turn over the research papers and information to me now, or else someone might get hurt. And you are not alone now I see. It could be some one you love."

Kim noticed that Mr Barkin's expression had gone blank and his voice had grown soft. She wasn't sure if he was telling them what happened or reliving it all over again.

"I yelled back, " I don't know what you are talking about. When the jet crashed and I woke up, I couldn't remember a thing. If you want me, I'll go with you. Just leave the woman and child alone.""

""Amnesia eh? To convenient. Maybe a little emotional shock will bring back your memories." He then turned to the man closest to the open door and said, "Kill the child.""

"They were going to kill Yori! They were going to kill my daughter! The gunman undid the seatbelt so he could lean out and get Yori in his sights. he was quick, but I was a little bit quicker."

"She had been hiding from the noise behind my leg when I turned, held her and covered her with my body to try and shield her, hoping that a shoulder blade or spine would deflect any bullit. And then I heard the report from the rifle. Everything seemed to go in slow motion after that."

"I realized that neither Yori or I had been shot. When I turned my head to look back at the gunman, that's when I thought my life ended. I saw Kiyone's body hit the ground behind me. She had been quicker than me. She had used her body to shielded both Yori and me. The man in the helicopter was waving his hands at the gunman and I think he was yelling at him. He turned back, facing me and talked some more, I think.
All of the sounds had gone into slow motion too, blurring them. I kept looking down at Kiyone, hoping she would move. I couldn't go to her because of protecting Yori."

"I heard more sounds of the man speaking again and when I looked up, the sniper was aiming at me. All I cared about was protecting Yori and hoping Kiyone's effort wouldn't be in vain. I didn't care about myself past that point. Just when it looked like the sniper was going to fire, an arrow appeared, sticking out of his arm holding the rifle. The fletchings were so close to him that the arrow had to have gone through his arm, rifle stock and in to his other hand. He fell out of the chopper. The sudden weight loss to one side made it lurch a little and as one, all of the choppers turned to face the direction the arrow came from and so did I."

"There stood Sensei on the top of a small rise, notching another arrow into his bow. As soon as the Hueys turned to give the men a chance to shoot Sensei, a flight of arrows came at the Hueys from behind Sensei that darkened the sky. Then every student, teacher, man and woman from Yamanouchi came pouring over that rise."

" You would think that there would be no way an arrow from that distance could make it to the target. Because of the downdrafts of the blades, those arrows should have just fallen to the ground, but the only arrow that hit the ground was the first one that Sensei shot and that was because it was in the man that shot his daughter. Every one of those arrows hit the helicoters. Some hit men. Some penetrated the plexiglass canopies and shattered them and some hit hydrolic lines. All of the choppers turn and fled, but they weren't going far. They had maybe a couple minutes left in the air before they fell from the sky and the people of Yamanouchi took off chasing them till that moment happened."

"Sensei was by my side in less than a minute. He accessed the situation in a glance and called Yori to came to him, to give in a few minutes with my wife. Lifting her head, I saw that she was still alive. I called her name and she opened her eyes and gave me a weak smile."

"Kiyone, why did you do it? I was willing to that that bullet to protect our daughter."

"I know my Chen-san." she said. "I am not as strong as you are in some things. I did not think I could go on living without you by my side. Besides, I think you still have a part in something greater than the two of us. You must promise me one thing though. Please make sure that Yori is brought up in our ways and that she is raised with love and honor."

"I promise." I said. Then I bent over to her ear and whispered in it."

"She smiled and said. "I will tell them that then. Please know that I lov................................"

"She died in my arms and my soul cried out in agony."

In the silence that followed and tears in his eyes, the vacant look in his face, Kim knew that Steve wasn't here. He was back on that path in Japan holding his dead wife. Leaning foward, she reached out her hand and put it on his. She hoped to bring him back to the present. Away from that moment.

His hand was cold. He didn't respond. She gently tried shaking it. Nothing. She looked at Ron with a little worry in her eyes. Ron softly call his name, "Steve? Mr Barkin?" Still nothing. " Finally he said." Chen-san?"

Steve looked up. He looked shocked that they were there. He quickly looked around and realized where and when, he was.

"Funny. Sensei did almost the same thing that day. My grief almost consumed me but he put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a slight shake."

""Chen-san, you still have things to do this day. The people responsible for this still have to be dealt with." he said as he handed me the Katanna that he and Kiyone had helped me forge."

"When I took it, I saw that I had Kiyone's blood on my hands from holding her. I pulled the blade from it's sheath and wiped her blood on the blade. I wanted a part of her there when I found the bastard that did this."

"I stopped long enough to check the gunman that had fallen. I was right about the arrow going though his arm and into his other hand. What I hadn't seen was that the shaft had also passed through the trigger guard behind the trigger, preventing it from being pulled back enough to fire."

"I took off in the direction the choppers headed and found the tracks of the people of Yamanouchi easily. They were moving fast, not trying to hide their passage as they normally would have done. About 2 miles later, I found what was left of the helicopters and some of Chicago's men. Some hadn't survived the hard landings and some had been shot, but not by arrows. They had been pinned to the inside of the copters by their clothes with arrows. Someone had shot them after they landed, with a gun. "

"I followed their trail away from the landing site. I found more of his men that had been shot in the back as I got nearer. By the time I reached the small box canyon they had been cornered in, Chicago's henchmen had been whittled down to five. I asked what had happened when I joined up with our people."

""He is a madman!" I was told by one student. "He shot his own men in the helicopters because he didn't want them telling information about him. Then he shot some of them in the back while they were running because they wouldn't fall back to guard his retreat. He has no honor at all." "

"I told him to pass the word for everybody to keep their heads down and that I would talk to them. He warned me to be careful. A man like that could not be trusted at all."

"I thanked him and then moved closer. When I was close enough, I called out, " Chicago! " I am coming out to talk to you. You are not in a position to open fire without repercussions of these archers." After I gave that a few minutes to soak in I stood up and started walking towards them, my Katanna held low.

"When I was about 20 feet away, Chicago smiled and said, "Drop your weapons men. We are about to be arrested by a Global Justice agent. We surrender! "

"What he said threw me and I paused in my advance. He then said to his men and everyone else to hear, "Global Justice agents have sworn an oath to bring anyone in their custody in for due and justice by the courts, and since we just surrendered, we are now in his custody. Know your opponents weaknesses and make them work for you. We will be out of jail before the weekend." I continued forward, thinking of what result my actions or inaction here would have. When I was within 8 feet of the henchmen that surrounded him, I looked at each one and then said, "Run. And if you stop to hurt anyone or steal from anyone as you go down the mountain, I will hunt you down." They were smart and ran. I then turned to Chicago."

"As I slowly stepped closer to him, he started backing up, until his back was against a rock wall, the sweat starting to pour off him. He wasn't so cocky now. I got right in his face and said, "I told you when you first showed up that I didn't remember anything before my crash. Fortunately for you, I do remember the oath." I turned and started to walk away. After I took one step though, I turned, bringing the Kantanna up and stuck it into his lower abdomen on his right side. He screamed but had no way to back away from my blade. "Unfortunately for you, I don't remember taking that oath." I said as I brought the blade across him, letting his intestines pour out onto the ground as I walked away from him."

"I returned to the school, knowing that I had dishonored myself by taking the life of an unarmed man that had surrendered to me, but I didn't care. Kiyone would not have approved, but she wasn't there. As soon as I got back, I found Sensei and told him everthing. He asked me very few questions, knowing that I was going to tell all and leave nothing out. When I was done, I bowed to him and remained in that position to await his decession, even though I knew what it had to be."

"' You have brought a great dishonor to yourself Chen-san. One that canot be allowed to remain in Yamanouchi. You will have to leave in disgrace right after Kiyone's funeral.' As he spoke, I knew that this was hurting him."

"I stood, bowing my head and said, " Your pardon Master Sensei, but Chen-san died today, just before Kiyone did. My name is Steven Barkin and I am an agent of Global Justice. I must leave and return the items that that man stole to the proper government agency. The secrets of Yamanouchi will remain here. I only have one request of you. Kiyone asked that Yori be raised in honor and love. I can no longer raise her up in honor. Would you care for Yori and make sure her mother's dying request is fullfilled?"
Please?"

"Sensei nodded and said." It would be my honor t......................" He stopped midsentence and looked at me as if he was looking at me, trying to see inside my mind. He then continued. "You thought that I would extract my own revenge on the person that brought about the death of my daughter if you brought him back here, didn't you?'" It was a statement, not a question. I said nothing."

"'Even in doing a dishonorable act, you have done it with a degree of honor in your heart.'" he said softly.

"It would be better for a school to lose a teacher than it's Head Master, Sensei.' I replied."

"He looked at me another minute and said." You may tell your superiors about Yamanouchi. It will help in your defense when you return. They will keep our secrets also. We took the wreckage of your plane and hid it in a nearby cave. We will do the same with the helicopters. Their bodies will be given a proper burial. Your friend was burried near your crash site. We thought this day would come, so his body was wrapped in a way so that when we exhumed it, it could be return to his home."

"'I can retrieve the items from the wreakage Sensei. Buzz would have said 'thank you' for the care of his remains. I will say goodbye to Yori and leave tomorrow, after saying my final goodbye to Kiyone.' I said to the man that I had called father."

"There will still come a time when you can recover your honor Steven-san. Your services to us are not ended here. I will contact you when you are needed. You might visit us in future days to check on Yori." Sensei said."

"I thanked him and went to recover the safe from the plane and prepare my wife for her funeral."


Please let me know what you think of the story so far.

Just a couple of footnotes about how I am showing my age.

1.) Dr Chicago- A bad guy charactor from the original "George of the Jungle," cartoon. He sounded like George Jessel. Look him up on the internet. I'm not even going to try and explain him.
2.) Chen En Dowa- Shenandoah. I remember watching a western TV series as a kid. "A Man Called Shenandoah." It was about a man who was found shot and left for dead on the trail and is revived. He has no recollection of his past and, calling himself Shenandoah, roams the West in search of his identity."
3.) Kiyone- The only female charactor from the Tenchi that wasn't a total stereotype to me. She seemed to be the only one that was "real?" to me.
4.) Director Waverly- He will be in the next part. Name taken from Alexander Waverly who was the head of Section I in "The Man From Uncle," series.