JOURNEY TO THE WEST, PART ONE [247 a 249]

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JOURNEY TO THE WEST, PART ONE

Just days after my conversation with Willie, the two of us were on a plane, leaving Hong Kong. We spent a short time in Taiwan, getting updates by phone from Leonard Ho. From there we went to South America, where we flew from country to country— “like refugees,” joked Willie, which in a way we were.

“Here’s some good news,” said Willie, as we sat on a hotel sundeck in Rio. “I received a telegram from Leonard saying that Young Master just broke ten million Hong Kong dollars at the box office. You have another hit, Jackie.”

I took a sip of iced tea. It was nasty—Brazilians just didn’t know how to make proper tea, that is to say, Chinese tea—and I was in a rotten mood anyway. “When do we go to America, Willie? I want to get back to work.” 

Willie snapped the newspaper he was reading, and turned the page before answering. Somehow, Willie was always able to get Chinese-language newspapers, no matter where in the world we went. “Well, Jackie, think of it as a vacation,” he said. “Golden Harvest wants to make sure your ‘situation’ is resolved before it puts you on a new project. Besides, the script isn’t ready, and I’m sure you want your first American film to be as good as possible, don’t you? Finish your tea and go out on the beach. It’s lovely here, and both of us deserve a little bit of rest.” 

And then Willie leaned back in his deck chair, covered his face with his newspaper, and went to sleep. 

I threw up my hands in disgust. I didn’t know how Willie could be such a cool customer, considering the situation. What would happen if things didn’t work out? Would we be on the run forever? 

I was bored out of my wits, and I hated being bored more than anything. It almost made me want to go back and face the Triads. At least I’d see some action. 

My prayers were finally answered a few days later. Willie knocked on the door to my room, waking me from a deep slumber. I shook the sleep from my head, and opened the door, still in my shorts. “Morning, Willie,”

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As usual, he’d woken early and was already dressed in a tropical blaze of color. 

“Morning, Jackie,” he said, good-naturedly. “Time to pack up. We’re checking out today.”

I blinked. “Another country?”

He nodded. “Several, actually. That is to say, I’m going back to Hong Kong, while you, dear boy, are headed north—to America.”

“What? How come you’re not coming with me?”

Willie shrugged and walked into my room, tasking at the discarded clothing that lay in heaps on the floor. “You’re usually neater than this, Jackie. Vacationing doesn’t bring out the best in you, does it?” he said. “Well, it seems that Leonard and Raymond feel that you should go alone—you’ll have to learn to fit in, you see, and I’d only act as a crutch. This time, you’re on your own, I’m afraid.”

I dove back into bed, hiding my head under a pillow. “What am I going to do, Willie?” I said, my voice muffled by the fabric. “I’ve never been to the States; I don’t know anyone there. I don’t know any English. I wouldn’t even know how to order breakfast in America!”

Willie sat down on the bed and patted me on the leg. “Well, of course, I can tell you how to say some simple things!” He laughed. “And there’s a Golden Harvest office in America—you won’t be completely alone. Besides, if you have any troubles, you can always just call Hong Kong. Just remember that there’s a thirteen-hour time difference; I don’t want to be woken up in the middle of the night, okay?”

He stood up and headed for the door. “And Jackie,” he said, as he left the room. “Remember to write!”

As we sat in the airport waiting for our respective flights, Willie filled me in on what had happened in Hong Kong. The summit meeting between Lo, Jimmy Wang Yu, and the Sun Yi On had apparently not gone well. The news wasn’t clear, but there had been some sort of altercation that had ended with the gathering being broken up by the police.

 Luckily, calmer heads eventually prevailed. Lo’s contract with me had been bought out by Golden Harvest, and Lo had settled his arrangement with the Triads. He retained the rights to the movies I’d made under that contract (including the unfinished Fearless Hyena II and the undistributed Half a Loaf of Kung Fu), but agreed to release me to Golden Harvest without restrictions and without further harassment.

  

“In short, Jackie, there shouldn’t be any further problems with anyone,” said Willie. “Although there is the matter of owing Jimmy Wang Yu a few favors. It got somewhat sticky for a while there, I imagine.” 

That was probably an understatement. Later, I ended up returning

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the favors to Jimmy Wang Yu by appearing in two of his films — Fantasy Mission Force and Island of Fire. They were both awful, but I’d been raised to believe that nothing was as important as repaying a debt. 

Still, in the end everything had worked out for the best. And all that was left now was for me to start earning back Golden Harvest’s investment. 

Hollywood, I thought to myself, ready or not, here I come!