Chapter 11

## Chapter Eleven

This is the eleventh chapter of the *Banana Fish* manga.

## Summary

Arriving in Los Angeles, the group meet new and unexpected characters as they make their way to Abraham Dawson's last known address.

Dino begins carrying out plans of getting Ash back with the help of an unexpected ally that threatens the lives of Ash and the others.

## Plot

As they drive down a road, Ash notices Max appears sick and questions what brought this behavior. Max tries to claim that he's fine but eventually has to have Ash take over driving. He directs the teen where to go until they eventually come to a stop in front of a house where Max vomits. When he's done, they hear a young boy address Max as his father.

Max and the young boy, Michael, rush to greet each other but are halted when a woman with a rifle warns the two to stay away from each other. The woman, Jessica, explains that George had called to warn her that Max might be headed for them since he had run off. Max pleads with his ex-wife to let him see his son since it's been over a year since they last saw each other, but she isn't willing to negotiate as she fires a warning shot.

Ibe is able to get Jessica to relax a bit when he makes his presence known as he and Jessica had previously worked on a project together. She invites the group in for a meal and reveal that she and Max had met when she did was a former model and Max was shooting for Penthouse. Ash hears Michael mutter about the way his parent talk before Jessica suggests Ash and Eiji should pose for a magazine. Max warns the two not to accept since it would be a provocative magazine. Max and Jessica begin arguing until they realize they've gotten carried away and Michael excuses himself to go to bed. Before he does, he asks Max if he will be staying and is upset to hear his father will not be around very long.

After Ash and Jessica have a little spat and the teen scolds Max for his parenting, the group move to another room where they reveal they use a phone book to look up the address Ash was given and find it belongs to Alexis Dawson. Jessica recognizes the name as it belongs to a doctor she once interviewed who teaches medicine at UCLA and is one of the leading experts on cancer. She reveals that he once was married but became a widower about ten years ago and never mentioned any other family members.

When a phone call to the address fails, Ash suggests they just head there to see what's going on. After escaping Jessica's curiosity of what they're up to, the group head to the Dawson home with Ibe warning Max not to tell Jessica the truth about anything as it might bring trouble. They soon arrive at Dawson's high scale home where Ash is right away on alert when the gate is discovered to be open and the area too quiet.

A sudden shout behind the house proves Ash was right and he hurries to find an elderly woman by the door worrying about a "young master". Ash suddenly rushes off and catches a trio of men with an unconscious teen in their possession. The men try to fire upon Ash but are not able to land anything. Just as Ash is about to fire back, Max warns to keep at least one alive so they can get information. Unfortunately, his plea provided a window for the men to drop their hostage and escape.

Getting the young man inside, the elderly woman is concerned about his state but is assured he is fine and is just unconscious. She explains that the teen, Yau-Si, is the adopted son of Alexis Dawson and the attack came when she had been preparing dinner. Just as they realize that Yau-Si was the intended target from the start, the teen starts to regain consciousness. As Shorter notices how he looks similar to Eiji, Yau-Si questions what is going on.

Max explains that they had come to speak to his adoptive father and had interrupted the kidnapping. Yau-Si states that he does not know who the men are or why they would want him. He tells how he became the doctor's adopted son when he and Alexis became close after Yau-Si was originally hired to be a houseboy and the doctor had no children of his own. He is then questioned on when the doctor will return but shocks the group when they answer that his father vanished six months ago.

Back in New York, Jenkins and Charlie confirm that there have been no leads on Ash during the last month and now have no choice but to turn the case over to the FBI. With Jenkins mentioning how they still have Shorter's restaurant under surveillance, Charlie questions why he's still so invested in the case. Jenkins admits that he does not believe that Ash's actions cannot be for personal reasons. This feeling is supportive when he reveals that Dino and Lee Wang had a meeting recently and that Lee Wang is rumored to be the head of a powerful family involved with narcotics in Europe.

Remembering how Max was involved with Banana Fish, Jenkins points out how an insurance investigator from L.A. named Stephen Thompson was also involved with Banana Fish and was the one who gave Ash the capsule containing the Banana Fish substance. With Ash's involvement causing his very life to be in danger, Jenkins wonders why Dino is putting in so much effort to get to one person. He then asks who the doctor was that Ash saved. Charlie informs him the doctor was Dr. Meredith but he has unfortunately vanished after going to Chinatown. With all of these recent events and people involved, Charlie suspects that Jenkins thinks there is a connection between it all.

At Dino's mansion, Dino receives a phone call from an informant telling him that Ash and the others found Abraham's house. With the risks now shifting against them, Dino informs Abraham that they must find Alexis as he is key to helping complete Banana Fish. When Abraham begins to demand his payment for the work he's done, Dino replies that he will not get anything until they locate Alexis and have him help perfect Banana Fish and outwitting the Lee's. Abraham suspects that getting Alexis to help them will be a waste of time but still wishes to outshine his brother.

After the scientist is excused, Dino's guard questions if they do plan to keep Abraham alive. Dino confirms they will but only until they have the perfected version of Banana Fish as he sees Alexis being more valuable to their overall plan. He then has Gregory schedule a meeting with Colonel Gordon about a previously discussed topic and not letting the Chinese suspect them. He next orders some of his men to join the Chinese in L.A. to find Ash and bring him back to New York.

Back at Dawson's house, Ash finds a trashed office. Yau-Si reveals burglars had broken in a few days prior but hadn't put much effort into investigating. Max shows Yau-Si a picture of Stephen Thompson to see if he recognizes him. To their surprise, Yau-Si says he does recognize him as a man who visited before his father vanished. At admitting Stephen and Alexis had been in an argument before Alexis disappeared, Yau-Si provides the others the confirmation that things are connecting but adds that he has no idea where Alexis might be now.

As Yau-Si tries to question who the men are, Ash spots a computer and asks if it belongs to Alexis. Yau-Si answers that it is and Ash decides to try to get information from it, the act of which surprises the older men that he knows how to use a computer but the teen remarks how computers are a nearly everyday item people use now.

As Ash works on the computer, he notices that the computer itself is the one item that doesn't have a scratch on it. He figures that professionals would not have overlooked it considering it might have highly valuable information on it. As he starts becoming suspicious of Yau-Si, Suk-Leui announces that dinner is ready. As everyone follows her, Ash quickly asks Shorter to look into Yau-Si as he feels the young man is hiding something.

Later that night, Ash is still trying to get into the computer when he senses someone enter the room. Yau-Si apologizes for startling him as he wanted to bring the teen some tea, stating that Suk-Leui is already asleep due to tiring easily. Ash comments on Yau-Si's quiet footsteps that the other teen claims in due to Chinese learning to step quietly since infancy, something that Ash claims Shorter never learned as he is a very noisy person. At the mention of the other Chinese teen, Yau-Si asks where Shorter ran off to and is told by Ash that he went into town to meet friends.

Ash continues to frustrate over the computer as he cannot figure out the password. He admits to having tried Yau-Si's name, but it failed which Yau-Si claims is probably due to his adoption barely being a year old. As Yau-Si sticks around to watch Ash work, he spots Eiji enter the room and walk up behind Ash and right away notices the blond teen didn't once stir at his presence.

Ash explains to Eiji that he has not been able to access the computer as it is password protected. Eiji comments that many people use names relating to their families, he then gives Ash a possible break through when he reminds Ash that Alexis is a doctor and medical terms might be more likely. The trio begin going through several books and find many highlighted areas that they try to use but all fail until Ash uses the term "vivisection" as it was the only term not relating to an illness. Now in the computer, Ash right away tries locating anything relating to Banana Fish and asks Eiji to quickly locate Max and Ibe.

When Eiji returns with the two men, Ash reveals that their guess of Banana Fish being a person was wrong and that it's the name of a chemical substance. Banana Fish is truly a drug formed of numerous substances. Ash quickly figures out that the powder substance in the locket he'd been given by Stephen Thompson. As Max realizes that the drug is what changed Griffin, Ash finds that the different ingredients making the overall substance only raises more questions.

In Los Angeles' Chinatown, Shorter meets his friend Sonny and go to talk in a restaurant. Sonny begins telling Shorter everything about Yau-Si that he has gathered. He tells that Yau-Si's Chinese name is Yut-Lung Lee and he had been living with an uncle since his parents died. He tells how the adopted son was quite gifted in school that was most likely the reason he caught the attention of Alexis.

As they take a break to catch up on things, Shorter notices that Sonny seems distracted. Sonny suddenly orders Shorter not to ask questions and that he should leave L.A. as fast as possible, specifically stating that he should distance himself from Ash. Hearing this makes Shorter suspicious but is unable to press the issue further when they are suddenly surrounded by men lead by Hua-Lung Lee, the younger brother of Lee Wang Lung.

## Characters

* Eiji Okumura
* Ash Lynx
* Max Lobo
* Shorter Wong
* Shunichi Ibe
* Michael
* Jessica Randy
* Charlie Dickinson
* Antonio Jenkins
* Yut-Lung (debut-alias Yau-Si)
* Suk-Leui (debut)
* Abraham Dawson
* Dino Golzine
* Gregory
* Sonny (debut)
* Lee Hua Lung (debut)

## Trivia

* The term Vivisection was used for a password as it means a live being (human or animal) being dissected.