The Griffin

Part 1 - Chapter VI

The horn of the scooter was shrill and it amused Tadashi when people jumped at his beeping. He beeped at a gaggle of tourists at the crosswalk of Leavenworth and Jefferson Street just to watch them scatter. Charlie rolled her eyes at him and he smiled up at her. One arm in a sling, he needed the little King Cobra scooter to maintain the illusion of his condition. He couldn't use crutches with a lacerated deltoid. Ivan trailed them in his dark suit, playing the part of the Ryan twin's bodyguard, with sunglasses on and his suit jacket open for a quick draw of the Steyr in his shoulder holster.

He could smell the burgers as they passed In-N-Out Burger, and a few moments later he could smell the Boudin Bakery. It was Fleet Week and the crowded crosswalks were swarmed with Navy men in their crisp whites or Marines in brown and blue. Jefferson Street turned into the Embarcadero and Tadashi came face to face with the massive cruise ship docked at Pier 33. The Queen Elizabeth was a beautiful boat.

"I still think we should get into cruise ships," Tadashi said to his sister.

"You just want an aircraft carrier." She replied as they waited to cross the Embarcadero to Pier 39.

Tadashi shrugged but looked over the water to Treasure Island, where the M.S. Enterprise, formerly an aircraft carrier of the U.S. Navy, was docked and loading passengers for its next cruise. The Virgin Group had really scored, acquiring the decommissioned carrier, refurbishing it into a novelty cruise ship.

It was a Tuesday morning, and the Pier wasn't too busy. Still, people packed into the little shopping center and its restaurants. A group of Japanese tourists was posing for pictures in front of the Hard Rock Café's giant rotating guitar. He beeped at them with his scooter horn and waved. He tried to walk down to the Embarcadero every Tuesday. He went to Pier 39 and entered the Starbucks at its mouth. It was always busy, and a line always formed outside their single code-locked bathroom, and he left fifty-dollar bills in their tip jar for each of the baristas working. He had met Xin for the first time in this very café.

He wanted a crepe and had Charlie buy him a chocolate-banana crepe. She ate one with lemon, allergic to bananas as she was, and Ivan had some garlic fries. Tadashi just liked to watch them make the crepes in the window. So careful and detailed. He often wanted to install a crepe griddle at the house, but he knew he wouldn't use it enough, and it would ruin the experience of coming down for a crepe and some donuts.

Trish's Mini Donuts knew him well, and Juanita waved at him. It had been a few weeks since he had come on her shift.

"Mr. Tadashi, how are you?" She asked, her accent light.

"I'm well," he answered in Spanish, "just taking a stroll."

He always answered the same way, though this case required an exception.

"Or today, I'm taking a roll."

He beeped the scooter's horn and Charlie rolled her eyes.

"Your usual order today Mr. Tadashi?" Juanita asked with a wide smile.

"Please and thank you," he proffered his credit card.

She handed him a bag of six fresh donuts, and they began making the five hundred other mini donuts Ivan's people would take to Ryan Tower for the laboratory staff. Cassin was working there today, playing with the medical bio-gel she had been helping with these last six months. He was glad she found a useful place there. He knew how she worried about being underqualified and useless. Her supervisor, Dr. Reynuld, had concluded Cassin was intelligent, willing, and would have a bright future with Ryan Technologies. Tadashi certainly hoped she had a future with the Ryans.

He scooted around Pier 39 a bit more, finishing his crepe as he enjoyed the chilly sea air.

"I want to go to the bookstore at Fort Mason," he told Charlie. She sighed.