Phoenix (5 page)

“Never. I remember you told me to keep it secret, even though you never told me why.”

“Good. Keeping it above the window was a mistake. All someone had to do was watch me from the trees and they would see me mixing it into my morning tea. Foolish. I let my guard down.”

“It happens. Believe me, I know.”

Grandfather shrugged. “I never expected someone in America to know about dragon bone. I also never expected to encounter someone here with such skills.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The man who grabbed me knew what he was doing. He had kung fu training. Only one other person has ever been able to immobilize me like that. His name was Fu. But that was a long, long time ago.”

“His name was ‘Tiger’? Was he in your kung fu class or something?”

“He was my temple brother.”

I wasn’t sure I had heard him right. “You lived in a
temple
?”

Grandfather nodded.

“Tell me about it!”

“No.”

“Come on. I don’t know anything about your past. You said once that you learned kung fu at a martial arts school.”

“I did. It also happened to be my home. Think of it as a boarding school.”

“I don’t believe this. How long did you live there?”

“Nearly thirteen years.”

“Why did you leave?”

“The temple was destroyed.”

“What happened? An earthquake?”

Grandfather shook his head. “An attack led by one of my former brothers.”

“Your temple was attacked? By your own temple brother? This sounds like a kung fu movie! Tell me more.”

“It is a long story.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Grandfather groaned. “I am in an awkward position, Phoenix. You do deserve information. However, I am reluctant to tell anyone about my life in China, particularly my childhood, and especially about dragon bone. Even you would think me
chi seen
.”

“
Chi seen?
Doesn’t that mean ‘crazy’ in Cantonese?”

Grandfather nodded.

“Whatever it is, your past has caught up with you. You
have
to tell me what is going on. Those guys wrecked our house. They sabotaged my bike so I would end up in the hospital. One of them even choked me unconscious. What are they going to do next, kill me?”

“Do not speak of such things.”

“Why, because it just might happen?”

Grandfather stood and lowered his voice. “Someone is going to die, Phoenix, only it will not be you. They took my dragon bone.”

I felt the color drain from my face.

“That is right,” he said. “Now you know why I am so upset. I have only a few weeks to live.”

I sat on my bed
, staring at my grandfather. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know about his past. He was going to die because he stopped putting powder into his tea?

I took a deep breath. “Are you sure about this?”

“I am sorry,” Grandfather replied.

My mind began to race. Someone had to be able to help. I thought about my uncle, the doctor. He was my mother’s brother, and he ran a nursing home in Indianapolis. Grandfather went there a couple of days a week to teach the residents a form of slow-motion Chinese exercise called tai chi.

“What about Uncle Tí?” I asked. “Isn’t it his job to help people live longer?”

“I am sorry, Phoenix,” Grandfather repeated. “No one can help me. As I have already told you, there is no more dragon bone.”

“There has to be something we can do. I can’t lose you. You and Uncle Tí are the only relatives I have left.” I felt tears begin to pool in my eyes, but I was angry.

“You have to be strong.”

“I
am
strong!” I shouted. “So are you! Why don’t we fight back? What if we found the men who took it?”

“How might we do that?”

“I don’t know! Think of something. You’re old and wise.”

Grandfather smiled. “I have thought about this longer than any person should have to. Believe me. Running out of dragon bone was inevitable. It simply happened a few years sooner than I thought.”

I couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t done arguing. “Since it’s gone, can’t you at least tell me what true dragon bone does?”

Grandfather shook his head. “Its properties are the biggest secret of all. If I tell you what it does, I might as well tell you everything else.”

“Please, Grandfather.” The tears in my eyes began to fall, and I noticed Grandfather stiffen. He looked away.

“Right now,” Grandfather said, “I do not know whom to suspect. I do not want to put you at any more risk by telling you too much.”

“I can’t possibly be at any more risk,” I said. “Please, let me help you.”

He sighed and turned back to me. “I do not know. Perhaps you could be of assistance. Since you have no knowledge of the past, you might form conclusions that
elude me, and we might find a way to get it back. Maybe I
should
tell you its secrets.”

I wiped the angry tears from my face. “Tell me.”

“If I do, you must promise to never discuss this with anyone.”

“I promise.”

Grandfather nodded. “Very well. True dragon bone has the power to accelerate the body’s healing processes, and it has been known to repair internal damage that is normally irreversible.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know firsthand of a boy who lost his eyesight, but after taking dragon bone, his vision returned.”

“Really? How come more people don’t know about it?”

“The properties of true dragon bone used to be fairly well known, but it was scarce. And expensive. A time came when a few people stockpiled every bit they could. These stockpiles were soon depleted, and no one could find any more dragon bones. Eventually, apothecaries began to use fossilized bones from different animals, which provided some similar health benefits—helping people sleep, for instance. They soon forgot about the other properties of real dragon bone.”

“They forgot?”

“People forget all sorts of things, Phoenix, especially when it comes to medicinal herbs.”

“So you were one of the people who stockpiled it?”

“Yes.”

This was sounding a little far-fetched, but Grandfather
had never lied before. “Why did you keep the dragon bone to yourselves? I mean, couldn’t it be used to help others?”

“Yes, but we found that it had effects beyond the acceleration of general healing. Most notably, it prolonged people’s lives. We did not want it to fall into the wrong hands.”

“I don’t understand.”

“A dishonorable person who lives a very long time could amass a huge fortune and, in turn, become extremely powerful. That power could be put to ill use.”

“But you aren’t rich.”

“No.”

“Then why did you and others keep taking it?”

“I suppose we were greedy in other ways.”

“How?”

“We did not want it to end.”

“Didn’t want what to end?”

“Our lives,” Grandfather said. “At least, that has been my motivation. While I have no fortune to speak of in monetary terms, I have you. You are the reason I continue. Before you, there were others who needed me. It seems there has always been someone in need of my help. I suppose I am also selfish. I enjoy life too much to leave it.”

I didn’t know what to say. This really was
chi seen
. “Are you sure you’ll die if you stop taking it?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I know two people who stopped, and they passed away within one lunar cycle—a month. There was a third who stopped, but he eventually started
taking it again. In the end, he died of other causes. Dragon bone does not make you immortal. If a person is injured and the wound is too great, no amount of dragon bone will help.”

“So you take it once, and you’re addicted for life?”

“No. It is not an addiction. It is more like a codependency. It feeds you, but you also feed it.”

“Like a parasite that gives something back to its host?” I asked. “We learned about that in school. It’s called a symbiotic relationship.”

“Exactly. In this case, it is a bond that must be closely monitored. If a person consumes dragon bone recklessly, it can become one with his or her system. The connection may be too strong to break. Skilled apothecaries knew to administer only the tiniest amounts, and to allow patients to take it for only a few days. Even then, some patients underwent a period of extended lethargy once they stopped consuming it. They were utterly exhausted, unable to even get out of bed.”

“Isn’t there some kind of antidote?”

“No. However, as I have said, if a person is not reckless with it, they can sever the bond. They can also fight the lethargy with extreme physical exertion, shortening the recovery period. It seems that sweating helps to disconnect the dragon bone’s hold and purge it from one’s system.”

I thought about Grandfather’s peculiar scent whenever he exerted himself. “There is dragon bone in
your
sweat, isn’t there?”

He nodded.

“Who were the dragon bone users who died, and why did they stop taking it?”

“One was an old apothecary named LoBak from the city of Hangzhou in southeastern China. He was a good man. After his granddaughter died in childbirth, he decided that he had seen enough death for one lifetime. The other was HukJee—‘Black Pig’—a black market dealer from the more northern city of Jinan. HukJee and LoBak were best friends. HukJee decided that he, too, had had enough of what the world had to offer. He had no desire to continue on without his best friend. The two of them distributed their remaining dragon bone supplies to the rest of us, and they passed away together. If anyone could have been able to locate more dragon bone, it was HukJee. But he never could. He tried for more years than you could believe, just for the fun of looking for it.”

“Wow,” I said. “What about the third person?”

“The one who stopped and started again, but died anyway, was another of my temple brothers. His name was Ying, or ‘Eagle.’ He was the first person I ever knew to use the substance. He began taking it at age sixteen in an effort to strengthen the Dragon spirit that lived inside him. He used to mix his dragon bone with fresh snake blood to make it even more potent, but he eventually decided that he was enough of a Dragon without the dragon bone, and he stopped consuming it. I later learned that he had to start taking it again because of the lethargy. In the end, he died of a sword wound that was too great for any amount of dragon bone to overcome.”

“So you can’t just stop taking it and lie around until your energy returns?”

“Me specifically? No. Over time, I have taken less and less and can still function normally. Even so, there is a minimum amount that I require, and I have been at that minimum for more years than I can count. When someone as old as I am takes it for as long as I have, just as LoBak and HukJee did, the energy does not return. It leaves with the dragon bone, and your life goes with it.”

“How long have you been taking it?”

“I would rather not say.”

“Please, Grandfather. No more secrets.”

Grandfather’s brow furrowed. “Some things should not be shared. This piece of information would change our relationship. I do not want that.”

“Knowing your age won’t change a thing,” I said. “Some people live to be a hundred and fifteen years old or more these days. That’s like four generations. So, what are you, one-thirty? One-fifty?”

Grandfather didn’t answer.

“Wait a minute,” I said. “I know what you’re worried about. You’re not really my grandfather, are you? You’re actually my great-grandfather or maybe my great-great-grandfather. Right?”

Grandfather nodded.

“Whew! That is strange, but I can accept it.”

“Can you? Think about it for a moment.”

I did, and Grandfather was right. This changed everything I thought I knew about my family. However, I still
wanted answers. “What happened to my actual grandfather, my mother’s father?”

“He died of lung cancer in China, as did his wife, your grandmother. They both smoked.”

I frowned. That did hurt to hear. But I wanted more. “What about Uncle Tí? Is he really my uncle?”

“Yes. He was your mother’s older brother—her only sibling.”

“Does he know about any of this?”

“He has his hunches about my true age, but we have never discussed it openly. He once did a complete physical examination of me and asked for a sample of the herbs I take, but I refused to give him any of my dragon bone.”

“What about my father’s parents from Indiana? I remember you telling me once that they both died of heart attacks.”

“They did, and your father did not have any siblings or extended family members, either. Your uncle and I are the only family you have left. I am sorry.”

I shrugged.

“What are you feeling, Phoenix? Be honest.”

I paused, then swallowed hard. “I’ll be fine. You had your reasons for pretending to be my grandfather, and in every important way you are. You’re my mother and father, too. I can still call you Grandfather, can’t I?”

I saw tears welling in his eyes. “I would be honored if you did,” he said.

I didn’t know what to say. I’d never seen him tear up before.

He saw that I was concerned. “Do not worry. I am simply moved by your words. I now believe I must answer your original question completely and honestly. I do not know how you will react, but I feel it is important. According to the Western calendar, I was born in the year 1638.”