The Eleventh Player
“He won’t come,” Sing said.
Sing looked at the old monk, still as a statue, eyes closed. “What about the chef?”
The eleventh player was the problem. Their scroll of ancient names had ten. Legend said the eleventh was a “shadow” — someone who had already given up kung fu. Sing knew who: his older brother, now a depressed librarian who shelved books with perfect Tai Chi form.