Chapter 8

The House of Ying Cheerleading Academy in Coconut Grove

It turns out that baton twirling was not as simple as we thought it would be. There are three governing bodies, the World Baton Twirling Federation (WBTF), the World Twirling Association (WTA), and The Global Alliance of National Baton Twirling & Majorette Associations (NBTA), and it wasn’t as simple as sitting up a dojo. Baton twirling requires skillful coordination and extraordinary control of the body. Additionally, it requires a great amount of flexibility in order to properly execute the baton, dance, and gymnastics elements it incorporates in it’s routines. After reconsideration we would need to recruit someone to be the head of our Academy to help Dai Lu.

As a note here about finances, both Yeung, and grandmother, Dai Lu, are quite wealthy, but with Red, Isabella, we had a ready supply of gold. Raw gold is not easy to use even today, and if your not careful you run into all kinds of snags spelled IRS and US Treasury Department. Sure at the turn of the century it appeared that everybody carried around a poke of gold dust, and the bartender, or store owner, pulled out his scales when you bought something, but it’s always been complicated turning gold, or silver into cash money. Today converting gold to readily usable cash is as complicated as ever, but once again Dai Lu knew people that helped us convert it.

At one time there was a gold standard. A monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the late 1920s to 1932, as well as from 1944 until 1971, when the United States unilaterally terminated convertibility of the US dollar to gold, this effectively ended the Bretton Woods system. Many states today still hold substantial gold reserves.

In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt, (FDR), was elected president of the United States by promising to end the Great Depression, which had driven the national unemployment rate up to 25% and gutted the economy. Because he believed this action was not sufficient to prevent runs on banks and the resulting drain of gold from the system, on April 5, 1933, one month after taking office, Roosevelt used the powers granted to the president by the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 to make gold ownership illegal. He issued Executive Order 6102, which made gold ownership ... both in coins, and in bars ... illegal for all Americans, and punishable by up to ten years in prison. Anyone caught with gold would also have to pay a fine of twice the amount of the gold that was not turned over to the Federal Reserve in exchange for paper money.

At this moment we are off the gold standard and it’s legal to own gold, but the government, I should really say governments, still try to keep track of how much and where it’s kept. This is almost impossible because of illegal mining operations and other things. As in the James Bond movie Goldfinger, there is still a thriving active underworld of gold smuggling and trafficking.

Back to the Cheerleading Academy

At the moment we needed someone to front for us as head of our new school of, “Baton Twirling & Majorette”. Preferably someone that actually knew something about baton twirling, ha, ha. It was, Barb, Betty, and Deloris, of Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority that consulted the sorority alumni about our problem. It turned out the sorority alumni were quite helpful. It seemed the 29 year old high school guidance counselor at Coconut Grove high school, one Miss Rebecca Simms, was a former runner up and alumni of the World Baton Twirling Federation (WBTF).

Reading her file we soon discovered she was one of those tragic love stories you so often read about in heart throb magazines. As a senior in Coconut Grove high school she had a promising future ahead of her. She went to New York, and competed in the WBTF baton, dance, and gymnastics world competition. Though she cane in as runner-up, second best, she got a full scholarship and several grants to pay for her college education. She had her pick of the major colleges with outstanding football teams. Everything was looking up for Rebecca, and then she got pregnant. She married her high school sweetheart the captain of the football team, and quarterback, had his baby, and became a loving housewife and stay at home PTA mom, and lived happily ever after.

No, not quite, Joe, her husband went on to college, FSU, taking her and his baby son with him. He had a promising football career as a quarterback, but blew out his knee and broke his leg on the last game of his first college season. The doctors said it would never be 100% again and there went the scholarships and career in pro football he had been depending on. With that he dropped out of college and went to work selling insurance to support his new family. Rebecca continued to be a stay at home mom. Everything was going good for the first two or three years of the marriage, and then Joe got served as the hostile witness in a nasty divorce case, ha, ha. Then his boss sued him for, “Alienation of Affection”, these lawsuits are called “heart balm torts” because they are designed to soothe and lessen the pain and suffering of a broken marriage. Really they are society’s revenge on home wreckers, ha, ha. Then to add insult onto injury he was fired for cause and blackballed, after all he had been having an affair with the boss’s wife.

After that everything went downhill fast. Within the year Joe wasn’t just a heavy drinker anymore he was a full fledged drunk, and Rebecca was working full time at the local WalMart to support the family. She hadn’t filed for divorce, but she was not happy either. Joe tried to get and hang onto a job, but nothing stuck. One stormy night for some reason Joe was on I 20. The accident report detailed it was dark, raining heavily, and the worn right front tire of Joe’s car blew out. Joe was less than sober, and driving slightly over the speed limit. He lost control of his car which crossed the median of the highway. Joe was in the oncoming lane of traffic when a massive Turnpike Double, two full sized trailers behind one diesel semi truck lost control and hit him head on. Joe, and Joe Jr. were both killed instantly the report went on to say.

Rebecca was heartbroken to loose both her husband and child at the same time. Though Joe was admittedly drunk, well over the legal limit, and the accident was caused by a worn tire and dangerous road debris (a random scrap of chrome metal on the roadway), it was discovered that the trailers were improperly connected and the brakes were defective. Connected as they were to the two fatalities caused all kinds of legal ripples up and down the legal chain. All of a sudden multiple insurance companies, lawyers, and other vultures were at Rebecca’s door to file class action law suits, and/or get releases from her. Rebecca ran home heartbroken and hid while the family lawyer, a personal friend, fended off the sharks and jackals. In the end Rebecca was several hundred thousand dollars richer from the settlement for her pain and suffering, but still broken hearted from the loss of husband and son.

Everybody pushed her to go back to college, take up where she left off. Even to get back into baton twirling which she was exceptional at, but her heart wasn’t in it now. So she wound up taking sociology and career counseling at the local junior college while continuing to work at WalMart. Eventually she was offered the job of career counseling at her old high school, when she wouldn’t consider cheer coach in the athletics department. As far as anyone knew she was still single living in a single’s apartment, and had not dated anyone since the death of her husband and child.

“OK, and just how are we going to recruit Miss Rebecca Simms for the new school?” I had to ask. I mean that was what this meeting was all about wasn’t it?

“The same way you recruited me, and little Ah Kum, Master, tee, he, he.” Kelly and Ah Kum giggled together like the coconspirators they were.

“Yes, Master a little puff of fentanyl in her face, and in a drugged stupor ... sleepy, lethargic, relaxed, it will be so easy to set up the self-hypnosis lesson for her. First Kelly will help me sit her up in a comfortable padded chair. Then we’ll move over the table, and set up Kelly’s metronome on it, right in front of her. It has the usual shiny adjustable weight on the end of the inverted pendulum arm to control the tempo of the pendulum as it swings from side to side. The weight slides up and down the pendulum rod to slow down, or speed up, the beat. On ours the volume of the tick-tock, or a bell, can be controlled. There is even a small strobe light that flashes with each swing of the shiny weight. She’ll be under your control in no time at all Master, tee, he, he.” Little Ah Kum explained and giggled along with Kelly like two naughty school girls out to pull a naughty prank, which I guess they were.

“And your both sure your OK with this?” I questioned my good luck with these two both literally and figuratively.

“Certainly Karl she needs this.” Came back surprisingly from Dai Lu, Ah Kum’s grandmother and Sifu now. “Have told you rules are suspended for duration. Unhealthy for woman to live alone with no one to love, or be loved by. Grief is good for time, but not when it replaces living and love. Winter of grief has to change to Spring of love.”

And so we made plans to recruit Miss Simms into the harem ... new school. We needed a delivery system for the fentanyl first, and Deloris suggested a simple drinking straw this time. Knock on Miss Simms door, and when she answered blowing the fine powder directly into her face. This time Kelly wouldn’t need to shot her with our silenced Walter P38’s and a “sleepy time rounds”. The .45 acp rounds made of tightly compressed powered fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, and some other drugs mixed in as the bullet. When the bullet hits at that 300 foot pounds of energy it fragmented into a puff of smoke without punching a big ugly bloody hole in the target’s body, just leaving a big ugly blue bruise behind. Some of the small drug granules do penetrate the person’s body and enter the blood stream.

For once everything went like clockwork. It was Saturday, Miss Simms off day, and it was 9:30 AM in the morning. Kelly knocked on the door, Miss Simms answered the door, and little Ah Kum stepped out from behind Kelly and blew the fine powder straight into her face with the straw. Rebecca was surprised and took in a large gulp of air as she stepped back in shock. She was momentarily blinded by the fine powdery dust in her eyes, and confused for maybe a minute, and then she was just standing there like a zombe, her arms hanging loosely relaxed at her side, and with that million mile stare on her slack blank face. Staring off into the distance at nothing.

“We need to go in now Miss Simms.” Kelly, and Ah Kum, said together, and Miss Simms mumbled something back. They then lead Miss Simms back into her house, and closed the door. Once in they lead her to the living room and chose a well padded chair to sit her down in. Next they started setting up their equipment they had brought with them. First a folding card table, then they wound up the metronome, and set it before her on the table and started it. “Tick-tock”, it started to swing from side to side, the tiny strobe light flashing each time the pendulum arm reached the end of it’s swing and began it’s return. Tick-flash ... tock-flash ... tick-flash ... tock-flash ... tick-flash ... backward and forward. Her eyes, even though she was drugged and in La La Land, were drawn to it, and held captive there, just like all the other girls ... women it had been used to hypnotize in the past.

“Pretty flashing light, tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock...” She mumbled under her breath as her eyes followed the pendulum back and forth, back and forth.

I knocked and was let in at this point, and watched as they put the noise canceling headphones on her and started my original MP3 audio for her to listen to, the one I used to originally hypnotize Kelly with. You see after me and Kelly agreed on the script for the MP3 audio clip it was her that recorded the new audio that replaced mine on her player. It is her own voice that she listens to now on her new audio recording. It is her talking to herself on the audio, her hypnotizing and re-hypnotizing herself, over and over again. Hey, if you can’t trust yourself who can you trust I ask you? The same went for Ah Kum now too.

“Rebecca in front of you you see a door marked Number 1, tell me when you see it clearly Rebecca.” I waited until she mumbled back “door”. “Now, silently say to yourself Number 1, and raise your index finger. Now reach out and open the door, now step through it Rebecca. In front of you now is a flight of stairs going down. You will start walking down the stairs counting each step as you go. Count with me silently Rebecca, Step 1 deeper asleep ... Step 2 deeper asleep ... Step 3 deeper asleep ... Step 4 deeper asleep ... Step 5 deeper asleep ... Step 6 deeper asleep ... Step 7 deeper asleep ... Step 8 deeper asleep ... Step 9 deeper asleep ... Step 10 deeper asleep. Now before you is another door marked Number 2, silently say to yourself Number 2, and raise your index finger, now reach out and open it. You discover another 10 steps going down. Always going down, always deeper asleep Rebecca. As you step through the door you’ll sink 10 times, a 100 times deeper in sleep. You will walk down the 10 steps counting each step 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 10. Going deeper and deeper asleep. You will come to another door, silently saying to yourself it’s number, and then raise your index finger, and step through... 10 more steps, and another door and 10 more steps. Each time silently saying to yourself it’s number, and then raise your index finger After 10 doors you will be 100 times deeper asleep Rebecca. You will keep counting doors and steps until I give you other instructions. Begin to count doors and steps for me Rebecca.” The hypnotic induction part of my script was complete.

At this point in the recording Rebecca should be in a very deep trance I figured hopefully. I continued, well my recording continued reading the script, as my voice got a little louder and firmer now that I had some practice at this. Even though the actual instructions of the Deepening Exercise was only a few minutes long I gave Rebecca an hour to complete her assignment. If I was right Rebecca would be going through an endless number of doors, and down an endless number of stairs, counting each door, and each step, she came to, going deeper and deeper under my control. Now for the test part, nothing sexual, or even sensual, we are just establishing that we are all friends, and she can trust us.

“OK, Rebecca, your a good girl, you did so well, you can quite counting doors and walking down the steps now.” I told Rebecca as I took the headphones off. “Sleep deeply hearing only my voice, obeying only my voice. Now, picture a beautiful white sandy beach Rebecca. A warm, pleasant deserted beach. Empty, no people around, but you. Just a beautiful white sandy beach. You’re sunbathing, relaxing in the sunlight. The sun’s rays are tickling your skin, the sound of the ocean waves splashing on the sea shore in your ears. Comfortable, perfect, relaxing. Picture that white sandy beach, you laying on a towel. Feel the sun warm and soft against your skin. Whenever your skin begins to get warm, a cool breeze brushes over you ... a pleasant and perfect place. Picture it in your mind for me Rebecca. Tell me when you have that scene firmly fixed in your mind.” I paused at that point waiting. Finally a weak whispered yes came out of her parted lips.

“Now you will find that you can open your eyes Rebecca.” As her eyes started to open she started to move in the chair. “No. No, Rebecca, don’t wake up. Deep, deeply asleep, Relaxed, deep, deeply asleep, the only thing you can hear is the sound of my voice. Obeying the sound of my voice. Trusting my voice.” I directed her back down, and her head nodded forward again.

“You can open your eyes now Rebecca, but you will remain deeply asleep only hearing and obeying my voice.” I directed her this time and she stayed in trance. At that point I had Barb hold up a mirror in front of her.

“We are going to play a game now Rebecca. In front of you is a mirror Rebecca. Look into the mirror and become your normal awake self, only still deep, deeply asleep. Nobody looking at, or talking to you will be able to tell that your still deep, deeply asleep obeying my voice.” At those instructions her head came up and she looked into the mirror. In mere seconds her face transformed, it seemed to animate and come alive. It was hard to tell that she was still hypnotized, still deep, deeply asleep.

“Now look around you Rebecca.” I directed her. “We are all your friends. You trust all of us. Now say it Rebecca, say it out loud.

“You are my friends. I trust all of you.” And she stopped.

“Say it until I tell you to quite. Each time you say it it will become more true, 10 times truer, a 100 times truer. Start now Rebecca.” I ordered her.

“You are my friends. I trust all of you. You are my friends. I trust all of you. You are my friends. I trust all of you. You are my friends. I trust all of you...” I timed her for a full 5 minutes and didn’t bother to count how many times she said it.

“You can stop now Rebecca.” I said, and she stopped. “The next time you see us you will know we are all friends, and you can trust us, and will follow our instructions without question. When you hear your front door slam in a minute you will wake up from this wonderful dream that you have just had. Remembering sunbathing on a beautiful white sandy beach. Knowing that only I can take you back to that beautiful quite sandy beach that place you love so much. The next time I, and only I say, “Rebecca remember the beach”, you will return to this state, deep, deeply asleep, just like you are now, but playing our game. Nobody else knowing your deep, deeply asleep. When you are deep, deeply asleep and ready to follow my instructions you will say, “I am ready’. Repeat what I have just told you Rebecca.

“Know you are my friends ... trust you ... wake up when front door slams ... have beautiful dream ... return to dream when you say, “Rebecca remember the beach” ... still playing game ... I am ready...” Rebecca repeated.

“Good girl Rebecca.” I said, and with that we left for today.

“I want you all to know right now that even though 29 year old Rebecca Simms was ... still is for that matter ... a gorgeous young woman this was not to recruit another love slave as some people in my own harem are implying. The Group always has a end game in mind. They are always after the control of something, and I wanted to know what it is this time. Most of the time it is something obvious, but this time it isn’t. I think that justified the use of my talents, ha, ha.” I told the gathered group ... the harem.

“That’s always what you say Karl, ha, ha.” Kelly laughed, but the other girls smirked.

“We are only doing this because we need her talents. I absolutely refuse to use a blue jewel on her.” I put my foot down firmly. Sure the script ... program ... would ... if I was right ... reawaken her love life too, but that wasn’t what I ... we ... are interested in. We needed someone good with pom poms, batons, and the routines to take to our college, maybe even become a college club. It helps that she is already a high school guidance counselor.” I told everybody.

“Yes, there has been enough grieving for Joe, and Joe Jr., time to move on with life. Cannot live in past, only bring it out some times and remember it.” Grandmother, Dai Lu, chose this moment to add to the discussion. Her daughter Yeung was now my official wife at the moment.

So for the next weeks I worked on Rebecca every afternoon, not to remove the memory of her love for her dead husband and son, or the great loss she suffered with their deaths. Even if I could with hypnosis make her forget them that would be wrong. I worked on blurring the memory around the edges. Making it less a open bleeding wound, and more of a healed scar. Making it something she didn’t blame herself for mainly.

None of it had been her fault we found out while she was under hypnosis. When Joe’s knee went out, and he became a drunk, he brought up about her being a former runner up and alumni of the World Baton Twirling Federation (WBTF). About how she hated him because she had to give up her dreams, her promising career for him to pursue his dream. He even started accusing her of cheating on him with other men, imaginary men. It only became worse when she had to go to work full time at WalMart to support the family because he couldn’t keep a job.

So I blurred the bad memories of the bitter fights and accusations, and reinforced the good memories of the happier times they had together. The good memories included her cheerleading, and baton work, and how it was up to her to pass down her skills to the younger girls. How it was her duty it pass on to the younger generation her knowledge. Just being a high school guidance councilor wasn’t enough I stressed to her deeply hypnotized mind. She needed to find a way to help others like her.

In the mean time the girls had bought a large sized warehouse near the college, and were busy converting it into a part martial arts dojo, and the other half into a baton twirling and majorette studio. It even now had a sports medicine professional hydrotherapy pool to help our athletes train harder and recover faster. The non-weight bearing water environment, and unique properties of water minimize pain and decrease inflammation in the joints. The hydrotherapy pool featured an adjustable hot and cold plunge feature, and water speed control for superior resistance training. You can program how fast or slow you want to move through treatment. The hot and cold plunge feature makes it the ideal pool for after workout sessions to just kickback and relax.

“And we’re doing all this just to lure Victoria Stewart, Vicky, into the studio?” Barb questioned at the end of the third week.

“Yes, Barb, Rebecca’s pretty well programed at this point. All we have to do is put up the notice on the bulletin board in the main high school hallway that we are looking to hire a, “Baton Twirling Instructor”, and Rebecca will beat a path to our door, ha, ha.” I told the gathered group.

“And what about Vicky?” Barb followed up.

That’s your job ... jobs ... you are all going to be ... become ... her best buds ... girlfriends ... classmates at college ... whatever it takes, and convince her she wants to be a member of your ... your ... well your flag waving, baton twirling club that your going to start at college, ha, ha.” I told them all.

“And what does that get us Karl?” Betty questioned.

“For one thing that gets us full access to the brother...” I started, but was interrupted by Betty this time.

“How is her being in our club going to...” I over talked Betty at that point.

“Hopefully Vicky will be, by this time, wearing one of our fancy cheerleading uniforms, and that fancy cheerleading uniform will be tricked out with audio and video enhancements Betty. We will shortly know everything going on in that estate, and Jake’s little corner of paradise in there. I also want to point out that unlike the other RR’s we have not confirmed that Jake has actually enslaved Vicky. We have all assumed that because the Group got hold of her he has, but the fact is we just don’t actually know.” I paused at that point to look over the faces of my harem. There was Kelly, the first that it should not have even worked on, to Deloris who followed her Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority sisters here, and stayed because she liked the hypnosis, and it was fun and she was sort of kinky anyway. There were the others too with their various reasons for being here, but the common denominator with all of us is our fight to destroy the Group. To identify and destroy the Group, and so the Coconut Grove Baton Twirling Club was started at UAH. GO, Tiger Sharks!

OK, the House of Ying Kung Fu, and Rebecca Simms Cheerleading Academy in Coconut Grove becomes a reality.

The World Baton Twirling Federation (WBTF), was more than happy to see former alumni Rebecca return to the fold of cheerleaders and Majorettes. In no time our new school was widely advertised, and established, with more applicants than we could actually handle. With Dai Lu’s, and Yeung’s help Rebecca soon learned what delegation of authority is all about. It’s the process of transferring responsibility for a task to another employee, or in our case trusted coworker. Students teaching other students. As the manager it was up to her to chose the right people for each job and manage them. In short order we had it sorted out, beginners, intermediates, high school, college, and advanced. This also included the different age groups and sexes.

“I just don’t see how she never tried out for the cheerleaders, or a band Majorettes. I mean look at that package. She’s 19 years old, stands 5 foot 7, 125 pounds, platinum blonde hair, high cheekboned elfin face, bright blue eyes, 35-24-35 inches, 34C-Cup. Think actress Anya Taylor-Joy, shoulder length platinum blonde hair framing a delicate elfin face, cute little button nose over a rosebud mouth, with bright blue eyes. I mean she’s a natural.” Kelly started off at our latest meet and greet.

“And don’t forget her mother, Barbra actually owns, and runs, a high end fashion boutique, named Glam on the Miami Dade Strip. She works at the coolest hipest fashion boutique in Dade County.” Ah Kum put in.

“That may be true Ah Kum, but look what she wears to school.” Barb held up her Apple iPhone and showed us a series of pictures of Vicky in sloppy baggy jeans and sloppy oversized sweatshirts, and her hair uncombed.

“Funny because this is what she wears to work at her Mom’s boutique after school.” Deloris held up her iPhone with Vicky in short colorful designer skirts, net stockings, and ruffled blouses, with strappy 4 inch high heels on.

“I see rebellious youth, ha, ha.” Dai Lu put in laughing.

“Hey, guys I don’t know about that, but I have some of you in ever college class she’s signed up for, and I have a job in admissions so sing out if you need anything.” Barb informed us all.

“I still say it would be easier just to blue jewel her, or at least just magic dust her, and hypnotize her like we just did Rebecca, Karl.” Kelly complained to everyone that would listen.

“As I’ve already told you Nameless, our normally reliable source of information, assures me that the Group can in some way sense when a girl ... well one of their girl’s anyway ... has been altered. In our case that means no hypnosis, and the jewels are out. We have to assume that she is on their watch list. That means we can only look, not touch. She must carry our devices in and out of that estate ... compound ... as herself. We can’t fold, spindle, or mutilate the carrier in any way, ha, ha, ha.” I told everyone.

“So get to work.” I told everyone.

By the end of the week we knew it was a case of teenage rebellion acting out. All the harem’s manipulations failed to work with Vicky until Yeung, and Dai Lu, suggested using reverse psychology on headstrong Vicky. Suggest that she had won a free membership to the club, and baton twirling was a good way to remain in shape. Yeung even went further suggesting they push learning Kung Fu, and so Vicky became one of my wife’s, Yeung’s, first students.

Sifu (shifu) is Chinese for a Kung Fu instructor, and Vicky became a “little sister” (shimèi). In Kung Fu the uniform is a casual loose fitting two-piece coat/jacket, and separate loose drawstring pants, including the belt. The Karate uniform, Gi, is much the same but heavier canvas material plus the belt. In Kung Fu they wear flat soled shoes. In Karate they go barefooted. Another thing is a Sifu (shifu) is Chinese for a Kung Fu instructor. Sensei (sen-sey) is Japanese for a Karate instructor. Those who have “earned” a right to be addressed as Sifu/Sensei ... Father ... Mother ... Teacher ... Master Teacher ... or simply Master. Those they teach are brother, older brother, little brother, sister, older sister, little sister, family.

So the flexible circuit boards of the devices we were using were sewn into her fancy ceremonial Gi and sent home with her. Other electronic devices were woven into her working Gi. Finally we had a complete 3D image of the inside of the estate. Next we had a handle on the electronic chatter going straight up to the geostationary satellites orbiting high overhead. Further more my suspicions about Vicky and her brother were confirmed. Vicky was not bonded to her brother. No! I had no doubt that Vicky had the same ... same ... same imprinting by the Group as the others, but she was not as yet bonded to her brother for some reason.

I knew this because when Vicky and her brother interacted together there was no change in their heart rhythms. They remained steady with no notable changes. Yes, maybe a Kung Fu Shaolin monk could control everything and defeat my spying, but I seriously doubted that both Vicky and her brother could. Maybe we had this all wrong, maybe she was there to spy on him just like we were, ha, ha. Maybe we needed to find who she was really reporting back to, and why.