Partway through the meal, three young men entered the restaurant. They appeared to have been drinking heavily even though it was early evening. The young Chinese waitress approached them to show them to a table. One of the men tried to put his arm around her and she tried to move away. He grabbed her arm and she cried out in pain. Lance and Andy rose from their seats and moved towards the men. A Chinese man came from the kitchen and told them to let her go. The drunk pulled her closer. His two mates were laughing at the situation. “I go call the police,” said the Chinese man but the three just laughed at him.
Andy and Lance moved forward, Lance to watch Andy’s back. Dan stood up from the table but waited to see what would happen. “Why don’t you guys respect the lady’s wishes and let her go,” said Andy.
“What if I don’t?” asked the one holding the lady. “What are you going to do about it?”
“Yeah,” said one of his mates, “you want to take us all on?”
“I’d prefer not to,” said Andy, “but you do need to let the lady go and behave yourselves in here.” Andy moved from between the tables to confront the three men. Lance went around to the side and Dan moved towards the situation. One of the men threw a punch at Andy’s head. He sidestepped it so that the fist slid over his shoulder. Andy jabbed him in the solar plexus with his right hand and as the man gasped and bent forward, Andy chopped him in the back of the neck with his left hand. The man crumpled up and fell to the floor. The one holding the Chinese lady let her go and moved in to tackle Andy. Before he could, the Chinese man appeared and, spinning on the balls of his feet, did a high kick that connected with the man’s chest and sent him flying backwards. He crashed into the third man and they both fell to the ground. Andy nodded his thanks, then he, Lance and Dan stood around the three men as they struggled to their feet.
“Police coming,” said the Chinese man.
The man who had started the fuss said, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
The three RAF men looked to the Chinese man and he said, “Let them go. Police will pick them up in the street.” Andy and his mates stood to one side to let the men leave. As they were leaving, a police vehicle pulled up and one of the policemen came into the restaurant. The Chinese proprietor said, “Those three leaving cause problem. They drunk.” The policeman left the restaurant and stopped the men.
His partner came into the restaurant and asked for a statement. When he was told the story he asked if the lady wanted to press charges. She shook her head and said, “No.”
The policeman left and said to his partner, “Let’s give them a caution and take them in to sober up.” The men were loaded into the back of the police vehicle and it drove off. The three friends went back to their table to finish their meal. The proprietor insisted on taking away the cold meals and bringing fresh meals out, thanking them for their help.
When they had finished their meal and were getting up to leave, the proprietor came to their table and spoke to Andy. “What martial art you do?” he asked.
Andy shrugged and said, “Jiu-jitsu and judo.”
“You come to our club and train. We give you good discount. Keep you fit,” he said. “We do Shaolin. Very old, very good, very effective.” Andy gave a short bow and said that he would try to visit the club. The proprietor smiled and nodded and gave Andy a card. It had the club details on and when it met. “Call me Mr Lee. It easier than full name,” he said. He spoke to the waitress in Chinese and went back to the kitchen. When they paid, she said that they get twenty-five percent discount for helping her. They thanked her and said that they would come again.
Outside, the weather was turning windy and blustery and they headed for Lance’s car. He said, “Let’s go back to our local pub in West Sanby. It should be friendlier than this place.” The others agreed. Lance drove through to Old Clee and turned off for Humberston and then south through Tetley Lock. At West Sanby, Lance parked the car outside the pub and they headed into the bar. A fire was blazing in the hearth and the atmosphere was warm. They headed up to the bar and ordered drinks. Apart from locals, they saw people from their unit and the squadron. There was a lively game of darts in progress and at one of the tables a game of dominos. Interested spectators were at each. The barman was the casual that had been on when Andy first arrived.
“Where’s Jamie tonight?” Andy asked him.
“He’s serving in the lounge bar,” was the reply. Andy nodded his thanks and moved across with the drinks to join the others. They joined others watching the dominoes game unfold. After a few minutes, Andy told Dan he was going to see Jamie in the lounge. Dan nodded and Andy headed out of the bar and across the hallway into the lounge bar.
The lounge was quieter than the bar but still busy, with mainly couples at the tables and some having meals. Seated on a high stool at the bar was a brunette in her late twenties conversing with Jamie. Andy was surprised. She looked tall and the way she held herself suggested strength. The flared skirt showed off shapely legs and the clingy polo-neck top showed off a well-built torso. Andy paused and wondered whether to interrupt
