Another thing Mr. Dragon and I found that we have in common is our ability to eat quickly. After we finished at the exact same time and divided Heathcliff's share as well, we got up, left the dining room and Mr. Dragon showed me to the gaming room via a secret tunnel located behind the refrigerator in the kitchen. He told me that taking the secret tunnel as to the main hallways saves him at least ten minutes, so in no time we emerged from behind the refrigerator in the gaming room (also the den) and Mr. Dragon showed me to the table with a build-in chessboard. He went to the stereo system and put in a CD, after a while I recognized it to be Gone With the Wind, and we whistled to the main theme as we played five quick games and Mr. Dragon taught me the name of each piece and their range of movement. I found international chess very similar to Chinese Chess, except for the abundance of pawns in this chess.
We were into our sixth game and Mr. Dragon was discussing the prospects of marriage with me (since he brought up the subject of what I want to do with my life and I said I plan to get married to my sweetheart once I return home from this trip), when the door slammed for apparently no reason. Mr. Dragon leaped from his chair like a soldier on row call and made it to the door in two seconds flat. He investigated the source of the slamming but found nothing.
'Blast the engineer who designed this place!' He said, 'The wind is not properly ventilated in this building, I had in mind to fix that some day.' He thought for a bit. 'Now what were we discussing just now?'
'We were discussing marriage.' I said.
'Ah yes, why don't we go back to our game later, this door here just gave me an idea that I ought to show you my humble home. While we're at that, I say let's continue our discussion.'
'Certainly.' I said.
So we went out of the den and made a left, and we kept talking about marriage.
'So what does your sweetheart of yours look like?' Mr. Dragon asked.
'Like Vivien Leigh.' I said, 'And the thing I like about her most is that her hair is the color of dark chocolate, and it always smells nice.' Thinking about her brought a smile to my face.
'Really! What a coincidence! My wife too looked like Vivien Leigh, though she always denied it.' Mr. Dragon chuckled, 'What do you intend to do after marrying your sweetheart?'
'I thought we might start a small business together, making candies like gummy bears, cola bottles, gum drops, peach slices, jelly worms and all those. I always wanted to run a candy store, and I really like cola bottles.' I said. 'We'll buy a small shop in town and start out there, and then we can buy the land so we don't have to pay rent, and then we can pass it down to our children.'
'Oh? Is that all you want to do with your life?' Mr. Dragon asked.
'Yep, I don't think I'll need any more than that. Me and my sweetheart, we make a really good team as business partners too, she is excellent at maths and accounting, and I can man the store. And the best thing is, there isn't a candy store in the town yet, only a convenience store that comes with the gas station, and they only have limited selections of candy to choose from. So when we open up business will always be good.'
'That's very thoughtful, boy,' Mr. Dragon said, 'Where did you find the inspiration to start off this candy store, if you do not mind me asking?'
"Of course not,' I said, 'I went to the big city for the first time when I was eight, it was because dad was going off to protest with the farmer's union about increased taxation, they were going to do it in front of the parliament and it will take a long time, he said, so he dropped me off at a candy store and left to join the picket line. I had ten dollars on me at the time so I bought some of everything and I talked with the clerk, who was a really nice fellow, and when dad didn't come back he offered to stay with me in the store for the night. That's how I became inspired to think about starting a candy store, I took down the names of all the candy in that store I stayed in and that's what my own store will stock once I get the business started.'
'And what happened to your father?'
'He got arrested by riot police during the clash with union workers, they charged him with assaulting a police officer.' I said, 'But according to him, the police threw the first punch and they also had better equipment like batons and tear gas, so technically speaking when he assaulted the officer it was in self-defense.'
Mr. Dragon laughed, 'Yes, the police are always using the law as an excuse to bully lesser folks, and they get paid a handsome amount by the government to do it too.'
'Were you also wronged by the government some time in your life?' I asked.
'Yes, big time too, I nearly lost everything to them.' Mr. Dragon sighed, 'And one of the reasons I almost lost everything was because of a wife who didn't approve of my work.'
'Was it the result of an unhappy marriage?' I asked.
'No! My wife and I were a pair matched in heaven, it couldn't have been better, but then again, the catch was that she let her decency get in the way of things and thought it her duty to prevent me also from achieving greatness.'
'I don't get it, don't happy marriages last forever?'
'Bah, humbug!' Mr, Dragon waved his hand dismissively.
'You quoted Scrooge.' I said.
'Aye yes, quoting Scrooge is the only way to describe it.' He said.
We stopped walking and arrived outside a door with a sign that read, 'Parking Garage'.
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