?Jimbo, you?re a sweetheart and I hate to see you break your heart over her.? Nyla tried to consol the big guy.
?I don?t know what to do,? Jimbo groaned mournfully.
?Let me see if I can find her,? she sat another beer in front of Jimbo. Nyla walked over to the waitress station. She needed some breathing room. Jimbo?s regular agonies were hard to tolerate. He was smart enough to see through Tina?s manipulations. He was a sap for her and his brains flew out the window every time she screwed him over.
Mandy was at the station looking at some thing in her hand. ?Hey, what?s that?? Nyla leaned over the bar to get a better look revealing deep clevage. ?S?matter, somebody stiff you on a tip??
?Nah,? Mandy spoke trying to keep her eyes fixed on the palm of her hand. She poked at the thing with a long lacquered fingernail, as if it were road-kill she was poking with a stick. ?I got the tip okay. It was left on the table when I went to clean up. I dunno? what the hell it is. Maybe just an old chicken bone.?
As Nyla leaned closer, her right breast rubbing Mandy’s forearm the China appeared. He too bent over looking at Mandy?s treasure.
?Where you get?? He looked at both the women. ?This not good. Where you get?? As he spoke he became more agitated. ?This very, very bad. Bandit need to know about this.? He shook his head back and forth.
?What?s the matter with you,? Mandy said sarcastically to the cook. ?Ain?t ya? never seen an old chicken bone before??
?What do you think it means?? Nyla turned to the Chinaman. As she spoke she took the object from Mandy?s palm and held it between her two fingers. It appeared to be an ordinary dried chicken leg bone except on one end a hole had been drilled, through the hole was threaded a piece of rawhide. The length of rawhide contained a brass coin with a square hole in the center and Chinese writing around the outer edge. There was also a gem tied to the rawhide. The gem was probably jade, Nyla thought. Jade like those expensive pieces she had seen in the Chinese jewelry shop at Ports o’ Call, a series of international shop farther up the channel.
?Maybe we can ask the jeweler down at the port?? She turned to the Chinaman. But before he could respond, Mandy grabbed it out of Nyla?s hand.
?Hey, that?s mine. It?s part of my tip,? Mandy pouted.
?Look Mandy, there are some strange things going down around here. I mean, those guys that tried to blow us away in the alley the other night. Then the Asian guys asking about Bandit. Then this?.,? she pointed to the chicken bone amulet in Mandy?s hand. I?d like to know if this is a sign of trouble to come. Mandy you can have it after we find out what this is all about. She turned to the Chinaman, but during her tirade to Mandy, he had vanished.
Nyla walked to the kitchens swinging doors. Looking to the inside of the kitchen, he was no where to be found.
?You seen the Chinaman?,? she asked of the Mexican busboy. He just shrugged, either from ignorance, avoidance or fear…
