Street Mind

Lincoln and Dan were standing outside in the dirt-laid parking lot. It behind one of Lincoln's brick built clubs that are a common site in the boondocks of America. In the world that that the two of them lived in, the color of money mattered more than the color of a person's skin.

"Damn, Whiteboy, you made over six hundred tonight. That means we both take home three hundred each! Kid, you're gonna make me one of the richest black men in America."

Whiteboy, or Dan, as his mother called him, showed Li, i.e. Lincoln, his middle aged black mentor, a smile. "Don't worry, Li, I think we're gonna make a killing off these street fights. None of these fools out here in Maryland expect a seventeen year old white boy from Virginia to know how to fight!"

"Yeah, kid, I know. It's like you can read their minds!"

The greedsters broke out in hysterical laughter. Li knew that Dan was a young telepath who could read the minds of most people as easy as a nerd can read a book. Outside of the people who were born with a natural immunity to his power and the very strong willed, only a few savage, deranged minds were beyond his reach. For these two, this meant that only one out of 30 or so people were beyond Dan's ability to read them in the ring. But these types usually were so drunk or coked up that Dan's natural fighting ability, craftiness and youth allowed him to win anyway.

Li looked the boy over. He was six feet tall, about 200 pounds of muscle, browned haired, a strong, clean-cut good looking kid. Lincoln wondered why didn't the boy merely take some kick boxing lessons and become a real fighter. He certainly had the body for it, and with his parent's overpermissiveness, he certainly had the money.

"Because," said Dan, "beating them the real way wouldn't be as much fun."

"Oh, you were reading me again, huh boy?" asked Li.

"No, you know I can't do that," answered Dan. "That one is written all over your face. You always look at me like you wonder why I don't learn how to fight the regular way. Well hell, man, you said so yourself, I'm a natural. But I also got my natural but kicked by a lot of guys in my karate class. Once I realized I could do this, I said to hell with karate class!"

Li dropped his rural street cool for a second. His paternal instincts took over. "Look, son, one of these days some real fighter who is immune to your ability is going to mess with you, and then what? You need to know how to fight then, right? What are you going to do if that happens?"

"That did happen to me before man." It had. The situation replayed before Dan's eyes. "So all I had to do was suggest to someone else that they stop him, and they did. The cop locked the guy up because I made him think that I was being attacked by that serial male rapist that was on tv a couple years ago." Dan's smugness could not be pierced by anyone.

"Whatever you say, Dan," answered Li. "But can't nobody rely on one thing like that for too long. The world just don't allow it. Not even you, kid."

Dan laughed. "Come on man, take me back to my car so I can get home. My parents think I'm down here visiting my girlfriend Rachel."