Dong-Cha

DONG - CHA
10/??/97
10:00 a.m.

It's Friday, sometime in early October. I must recant the story of the past two weeks; for, in one word it was...HELLISH! Last week sometime, I decided that C.J.'s (the name of the dry-cleaners that I was working for...and run by my ex-girlfriend's mom and her boyfriend) would see me no more. There is only so much that one can take of falsely being accused of stealing money, not paying rent and leaving the store unattended for periods of time. What insanity it was!
On the issue of not paying rent...
They would take money for my rent (yes, believe it or not, I lived at my ex-girlfriend's folks' house, too) out of the paycheck on the first two weeks pay, so how could I even attempt not to pay rent?

They would try to justify their claims of my supposed thievery by saying that there was too little cash in the register drawer. Compared to what?
Definitely not the sales receipts, that's for sure...The figures match the cash amounts exactly! I don't even feel like addressing the third issue (of my not being at the store for long periods of time), but I guess I will. Stacey's mom said that there were even `first-hand reports.' People came to drop off clothes and the door was locked, and yet the sign said "OPEN." Maybe so folks, but let's use our head and tell the whole story. Gee... - Was there also a sign that said "Went to the store; back in five minutes." Or perhaps "Gone to lunch; back in thirty minutes?"

Anyway, last Saturday morning I woke up on time to report for work, even though the work hours have extended...again, meaning get to work earlier and go home later. And then something hit me in the middle of the shower...

Let them feel the impact of why not having a `satisfied employee' is not a good thing. So I got out of the shower, sat down on my sofa and flipped on the T.V.. None of the shows on had any entertainment value, but just intentionally sitting there, watching them, instead of going to work gave them a delightful quality.

Yes, today would definitely be my last day for work. I would've rather wasted the time away on a good breakfast at my favorite little place, called Waffle House, but as usual I was broke.

They still owed me one hundred and fifty dollars from last week's pay and it was already pay day for this week!

So, an hour and half later, I strolled into C.J.'s cleaners.
"Do you like working with me?" John (Stacey's mom's boyfriend) asked as soon as I walked in.
I think, "What a nerve this guy has!"
"No!" I triumphantly harrumphed.
"Okay"
And then he told me that to finish up the week, I was to help him move a few items.

"No problem," I thought.
We hopped into his mini-van and...As we pulled into a Ryder's rent-a-truck driveway, I knew it was not going to be a good day! I mean, do we really need to rent a truck for a `few items?'
We were basically going to be moving equipment all day.
Dry Cleaning equipment.
Heavy equipment.
Go to your local dry cleaners and take a look in the back. Just imagine one little skinny white kid and one little Korean dude lifting and carrying that all of that crap around all day.

We also went to the Korean night club that they owned to move refrigerator and stuff, from there to a storage room.

We eventually got home around midnight. I had planned to be in Athens that night ...
To try and rebuild a shattered dream.
`What dream?' you might ask.

My school of Northern Shaolin Kung fu. Although I've been teaching for six years now, I have never had an official school; it was always out in the parks and stuff.
`Monkey', my senior student, and I, finally decided to go full force. We got a really good deal on a huge warehouse space up in Athens for only two hundred dollars per month for rent. We made up some very professional looking brochures and fliers, that had already begun drawing in new students. On the first of this month, I cut class short, so we could all discuss the coming projects to get the school in order. Painting the walls, building shelves, etc., etc., we were all excited; especially me. I had spent almost all of my available time translating movement into written word, building a manual. I had re-constructed my entire teaching system and even developed a logo that would encrypt our training regimen.
As we pulled out the cash to give to the `landlady' she shook her head and said "We've decided to turn the place into a workshop."
Needless to say I was crushed. So this past Saturday I planned to spend the weekend up there searching for a new place to build a school.

Obviously, finishing work at midnight would not give me ample time. We went back to C.J.'s to get my car and just as I expected, it would not start. The engine just kinda sat there, turning over and over, but it never would catch.
What a situation!

I wanted to be clear of John (Stacey's mom's boyfriend) as soon as possible, no doubt, and with each time that I tried to start it and failed, my irritation boiled hotter and hotter. After about twenty solid minutes of the ignition turning over and over and over to no avail, I defeatedly climbed back into the mini-van.
"Hey John, can you pay me today?" I asked.
He says that he can only afford to pay me twenty dollars and will pay me the rest tomorrow.

Sunday is usually my day off, but at about 8 o'clock the next morning, Carl (Stacey's little brother) comes in to wake me up and says that we still have stuff to move.
I then realize "Oh, so that's it. I'm not going to get my full pay until they use me for more than what it's worth."

So we all hop into the moving truck and cruise over to another one of their dry cleaning stores, about one hour's drive away. After loading the rest of the stuff up, we go over to San Ou Lim; that's the name of the Korean night club that Stacey's mom owned. The name translates, as they explained it to me, roughly into something like "primal scream," as one would do after reaching the summit of a dangerously high yet beautiful mountain.
We move a refrigerator from the club onto the truck. Carl gets a coke and David tosses me a beer.
I think, "Jeez, it's only twelve-thirty in the afternoon."
I waited until he opened his can first before I opened mine (just in case it was going to be something that they judged my personality on to hold against me later). Next, over to the storage room we went, and unloaded everything but the `fridge. Then back over to C.J.'s. That's where the `fridge was to go (so that they could always have a good supply of good food and drink at work). Two machines had to be taken out of the back of the cleaners and back over to the storage room. That was the last trip...
Finally.
We were sitting at the truck-rental place waiting for Stacey's mom to come and pick us up, when I said "John, are we going home now?"
"No" he replied "I'm taking everyone out to lunch."
Huh??? - Boy this family is confusing!

Oh yeah, I have to tell you what I was wearing, to make the coming situation a little bit more understandable:
camouflage pants that had dirt & grease all over them from moving the machines around, and a whit t-shirt turned greyish-black; not to mention how dirty my hands were and how unkempt my hair was.

Stacey's mom came and drove us over to a restaurant called Pung Mie.
It use to be a dirty little ramshackle of a hole-in-the-wall Chinese joint. The prices were cheap and the food was good (my kind of place); but I still would have rather looked a little bit nicer. Evidently they had been really cashing in though, and saved it all up, because now that ole' ramshackle place turned into a seriously fancy get-up. It was three times the size that it use to be and had three floors. Not to mention chandeliers and the whole bit. The servers were `all decked out'. Marble columns all over the place. Aquariums that you wouldn't even dream of calling a "fish tank," because it went from floor to ceiling and ran the span of the wall. Ornate wooden carvings were placed here and there. Now that you've got a pretty good idea of what the restaurant looked like, think back on the description of my attire.
Not too fitting, huh?
Of course, Stacey's mom had brought both John and Carl clothes to change into.
All of the patrons were dressed quite nicely as one might imagine and needless to say they all kind of stared disapprovingly as a clean, normal (looking) Korean family walked in, with a dirty American guy behind them.
During the meal, they informed me that they would be moving soon, and that I had better start looking for a place to live.
On the way back home they gave me my pay, making sure that they kept the part for my rent.
So after picking up some food that I felt should last me for a while, I was left with about one hundred and twenty dollars. My `food,' by the way, was not quite up to par with a healthy diet. It was Ramen noodles all of the time. And I do mean all of the time. And I could only afford to ear one or two bowls a day of that stuff. Don't get me wrong though, if no one was home when I cooked `em, I would dig into their cabinets for a dash of pepper powder or sprinkle in some sesame' oil, soy sauce and every now and then I would add some Kim Chee and or eggs and eat the noodles as a soup. Believe it or not, those ingredients would make all the difference in the world.

O.K., so the next day was Monday.
Stacey's mom wakes me up and tells me that I'm going to have to move my car from C.J.'s as soon as possible because "1) I don't work there any more and 2) delivery trucks have to get into that space." I tell her O.K., just let me shower, try to find a ride over there to the cleaners, and then find a way to get it fixed (keeping in mind that I only have a little over a hundred bucks to my name). After calling everyone I could think of (which didn't take too long because I don't that many friends) I couldn't find any of getting there.
I had showered and put on some clothes and the Stacey's mom shows up in my doorway again and thin time says "You have to move the car today!"

I say "Sure, but I don't have a ride." She just nods her head and tells me that she is going shopping.
Oh, that must be nice.

So, I put on the white shoes. I specify `white' only to distinguish them from the other ones that have holes all the way through the soles. It looked like it was going to rain, so I threw on my jacket and headed out the door, with no idea in mind on what to do once I arrived at C.J.'s.
I mean, "Move the car" she says.
Oh believe me, I'd love to be able to move it.
Move it all the way to a little village in China for that matter!
Being that I had not too many options at my disposal, it seemed as though today my two feet would be my carriage. When I was working at C.J.'s, it took me thirty minutes to drive there from the house, so just imagine how far I had to walk.

After a little while of travel, I was beginning to get hungry, so after crossing over the interstate, I headed over to Ryan's steakhouse to dig in to their "Megabar." An all-you-can-eat buffet lover's dream. I figured I had better fill up on some good food right then because 1) I would be needing the energy on this t rip and 2) it would be my last meal of good food (as opposed to constant noodles) to come for quite some time. After an hour and a half of eating three plates of food, taking a nice rest, and then eating three more, I stood up feeling pretty damn full and I left the restaurant to continue my journey.

Of course, in a situation like that, with miles ahead of you, and a questionable destination at that, one inevitably ends up doing a lot of thinking. I began to come up with the realization that the illusion was pretty much true; it was "me against the world." But, with that realization came the wonderful idea that I felt just fine; Great as a matter of fact - here in my own little world walking along the road with just my own thoughts to keep me company.
I even began to wonder what it would be like to do this type of thing more often; I mean really do this - like selling all of my stuff, just keeping on to books and things that had Kung Fu or spiritual value to me. Putting it all into a backpack and walk `til nightfall or whenever I felt like stopping and find a place in the woods to sleep for the night; I am an Eagle Scout after all.
"But then, what about showers?" I thought. "Well, just bring a good comb. I know that the hair will get greasy and dirty at first, but then after a while, its own natural oils will keep it healthy. But then again, I got to keep somewhat clean, because of bugs and stuff. Maybe every now and then I could find a place to shower, like sneaking into a hotel or something. Maybe when I come to a nice little town, I would find a job as a dishwasher or something and save up whatever money I could, aside from what I needed to spend on food. Yeah, that would be cool as hell!" I always liked that songs like "The Drifter."
Plus I could do what I always wanted to do: travel and see new sights...and I could save money.
Yeah, I was doing some thinking...

Well, when I finally got to the block where C.J.'s was located, I stopped into QT (QucikTrip - a gas station/convenience store) and got a nice refreshing beverage and guzzled it down as I walked down the street to the cleaners.
As I entered the parking lot, I couldn't believe what I saw...
Stacey's mom's car!
After shopping (if she went shopping at all) she must have just driven right on past me to C.J.'s.
I guess you could say that I was slightly bothered at that thought. I peeped in to the front of the store and no one was there... "They must be in back."
I went around to the side door and sat against the stoop to rest my aching legs and to finish my drink. John poked his head out of the side door and says "Are you going to move the car or not?"
I reply "Well, I'm going to take a look at the engine and try to figure out what's wrong with it.(I've never been too knowledgeable about automobile engines) If I can figure it out, then I will try to fix it. And then maybe I can move it. But right now I am resting. I had to walk here!" - half expecting some sort of compassion. Of course – I got none.

I was so damn tired, I didn't even hear a car pull up in the parking lot while we were talking. He saw it though, and asks "Is that your friend?" (I guess he was showing his stupidity and thought that I had gotten a ride, even though I had just told him of my recent mode of transportation).
"No!" I shout "I just told you – I walked here!"
"Unnnhhh!" he says - you know, his little Koran grunt of acknowledgment. Then he says "A customer." and walks away, back into the store to help them.
"Bastard!!!" I screamed inside my head.
So, I called my mother and father from a pay-phone; yeah, there is a regular phone in the dry cleaners, but I was not about to set foot in that damn place again.
I told my parents I was O.K.
Next, I popped open the hood of the car and fiddled around with everything that I could lay my hands on. They say that everything happens for a reason. Well, maybe, maybe not, I don't know.
But one thing's for sure; I definitely know a lot more about engines now than I did before car troubles.

That's the great thing about having a "Dong-Cha."
In Korean, it literally means "shit-car."
So, if you'd like to know more about engines, sell your nice car and get a dong-cha instead! Or maybe it doesn't quite work like that.
Anyway, guess what???

The damn thing finally started!
I hopped in and was headed straight home. I say `was' because it did not end up that way. Oh no, my beloved war-story friends, in my life, it never does.
Only three miles down the road and whoopsy-daisy, there we have a road block with a very `out of the way' detour. It took me into the parking lot of a local hospital, around the back, to a tiny little road in a small residential neighborhood and out to a main road just off of the interstate highway.
Normally, to get to that road from the hospital would only take about two and a half minutes. Hell, on this fine day, it took me one hour and fifteen minutes. I was just about to pee in my pants by the time I finally pulled into a gas station. I guess it is a pretty good thing, that I did that though, because upon looking at my console, I came to find that my fuel gauge showed me being way past that terrifying "E."

I felt like I needed a release (from the stress, not the pain in my bladder, because I took care of that as soon as got to the station), so I decided to stop over at my friend Jason's apartment. "He should be home from work by now," I thought, but when I got there, I saw that neither he nor his roommate Chris had yet arrived. I parked the car and walked across the street from his place and climbed up on a big rock and proceeded to drink the coke I got from the service station. As I reached into the inside pocket of my jacket, my shoulders dropped and I sighed a heavy sigh. Boy, it felt good to get away! I lit my Marlboro ... And I smoked... And I relaxed.
It then suddenly hit me that my cigarette was totally black, and I looked down at my hands to see that they were thickly coated with oil and grease from my earlier engine experience.
Hours went by...

During that time, I began to think again.
My thoughts kept being interrupted by that Chinese girl.
There she goes again.
She wasn't even jogging; she was doing that rapid-walk thing where you swing your arms about and sashay your hips all over the place.
Anyway - it was the first thing to make me smile all day. I mean, the sight was funny as hell! She looked almost anorexic and someone could easily think that with each step, that poor girl was having a stroke, grimacing in pain and having all sorts of convulsions. The worst part is that the little rock that I was sitting on was situated in between the two little roads that connected each other behind the apartment buildings, making a little loop. I would see her come this was and then a few minutes later she would pass me again on the other side. She must have made at least ten laps or so while I was out there. I normally don't poke fun at people, but I felt that with all the fun that the gods have been playing with me, I deserve a poke or two.
Don't worry, I always get paid back for anything...And then I get payback again for the same thing, and then again, ad infinitum!

A little while of struggling lead me to succeed in ignoring her and my thoughts turned me back to the taiqi symposium just the week before. Dr. Xu is a well known Tai Chi Chuan teacher in Atlanta. He's taught one of my other teachers, he's taught Stacey, and he's taught me. I thought that since I owed him eighty bucks for a beautiful white silk tai chi outfit that he bought on his last trip to Beijing, that would be the reason for his call about a week and a half ago. He was very nice over the phone, and invited me to a symposium that would be going on at the J. W. Mariott hotel, by Lenox Mall in Buckhead. "Of course," he said, "it would be much appreciated if I could also bring the money when I came."
"Sure" I said "I'll be there" even though it was taking place in the middle of the day.
There was no doubt in my mind that neither Stacey's mom nor John would let me have a couple of hours off to run this little errand, so I decided to go during my usual lunch hour. I could just pop in, check out what's going on, give the `doc his dough, and get back to work.
Hey, if anyone had called while I was gone, I could just say I was at lunch! It shouldn't take more than an hour or two.
But, looking back at that idea in hindsight, I slap myself. Me planning something exactly like that and actually expecting it to come through...
No way!
But I was in warrior mode and I felt I had to repay that wonderful man for his kindness.
The day of the symposium showed up, and around lunch time I sped down there to take care of business. It was a pretty cool ordeal; about five hundred people were in attendance, consisting of physical therapists, doctors, chiropractors, and other health care professionals. They were discussing the benefits of incorporating tai chi movements into their repertoire of healing methods.
And then there was Dr. Xu, demonstrating movements and describing tai chi theories, which are can be quite complicated, but yet are pretty simple on the surface. As I stood in the back of the auditorium listening and watching, I gained an even deeper respect for that man.
The reason being is that Eastern Traditional and Modern Western medical theories do not really go hand in hand for the most part, so trying to tie them together in front of a most-likely biased crowd would be a bit of a task.
During the break, I went down and gave Dr. Xu half of the money that I owed him and said that I would give him the rest later.
Not wanting to be one to forget my duties, I quickly remembered that I should hurry back to the store.
So I bolted through the hotel lobby and out to the parking deck to my little red Chevrolet Cavalier. I hopped into the driver's seat, turned the key, and guess what?
That's right! - Good ole' Dong-Cha lived up to its name.
I popped the hood and fiddled around with everything I could, hoping for the same luck that had struck me the day of the walk to C.J.'s.
I decided to try and prime the carburetor, by putting just a little bit of gasoline into it. Well, as I walked around to the back of the car to open the trunk and get out my half-filled gas can, I was having some trouble locating the key to open it up. When I initially got into the car to try the engine, I had the ignition key and did not notice that the door key was missing, because I never locked my car's doors (the car wasn't really visually appealing & I never kept any valuables in it).
Then I remembered something.
Trisha, Stacey's sister had come home the previous night, as opposed to sleeping at her boyfriend's house, and immediately went to take a shower. China, her three-year old daughter, wandered around the house until she walked down into my room to play.
I didn't mind because I had always felt a certain closeness to the little girl. But then again how could I not?

- Her absent father was a good friend of mine that I had known since we were in Boy Scouts. He got scared and denied that the baby was his. He wouldn't even come for the paternity test.

Anyway, I now remember that while I was sitting on my sofa and reading, China was playing with the stuff in my `just-home' bowl. (When I am `just-home' from somewhere I toss my keys, cigarettes & matches or lighters, wallet, and other pocket possessions into my `just-home' bowl) She must have dropped my car-door-keys somewhere in the room.

"So now I am screwed. " I couldn't get to my gas can. And I only had eight bucks in my pocket.
I went across the street and a hotel bellhop informed me that the nearest gas station was about a mile down the road.
"Oh Great!"
Having no time to waste, I bolted off down the street. I found the BP station that I was directed towards and panting, I ask the service attendant how much a gas can would cost me.
"Five-ninety-nine" he says.
"O.K., give me one of those and I'm gonna put fifty cents of gas into it."
Five minutes later found me retracing my steps back to the parking deck; partly jogging, and partly not, because of a huge fear of spilling the precious liquid on the street or on my clothes(not to mention the fact that it would not be good for business if customers of our dry cleaners would be overcome with that foul gasoline smell as soon as they walked in the door). Twenty minutes later and I am once again standing over `the evil brain of Dong-cha.' Although it seems that I am now well prepared to deal with the situation, I wait and think.
What if simply priming the carburetor is not the solution? And now instead of eight bucks in my pocket, there are only but a few coins...
So I pray.
I beg.
And I talk.
"Please... Let this work..."

I prime the carb....and she awakens!

I sped back to C.J.'s, hoping that neither John nor Stacey's mom had called the store a number of times while I was gone and then, deciding that I was not there, had come over to see what was going on. I drove up and luckily there were no cars in the parking lot.
Whew!
The sign that I had left, reading "Gone to lunch" had been left undisturbed.
As soon as I unlocked the door, I sped over to the phone.
I called John...
"Did you guys call over here? I was busy and could not get to the phone."
"No."
"I wonder who it was..."
"Unnhhh."
"Bye."

Later that evening, I saw the Chinese fitness-walker again as I waited for Jason to get home. He did finally get home, and we went out for a couple of beers.

And much later that evening, as I closed my eyes to drift asleep, I almost caught myself falling into the trap of accepting my fate;

But I whispered "Good night, my little Dong-Cha" and I slept like a baby....