Cammy, Ada, and Lauren

"It went well, sir," I said, relieved he wasn't mad. "That spring air is finally getting here."

"Indeed," he remarked, taking his usual place near the front of the mat. "Maybe we'll have to train outside sometime this week, eh?"

"To me, that sounds just fine, sir." We didn't get outside nearly enough. And hey, it was free publicity being just off the main road. I had some plans to run tactical maneuvers through the woods for the students. Teach them some more of the ninja arts of tracking and capture evasion.

The students started to file in, their parents and families taking seats in the audience whilst the students bowed onto the training floor to stretch out. I wasn't disappointed after all: there was one adult testing. A particularly large gentleman who I was told was called Tom. He was a gold belt.

"Ian, I want you to be Tom's attacker," Mr. Eschill told me.

Just what I need, I thought. A large, powerful attacker. He's not very advanced, so he doesn't have much control, but he's not a beginner, so he'll be tested on some painful techniques. I would be the sacrificial receiver of those same techniques that night.

As the test progressed, I was surprised by just how good the student was. He appeared to be in his middle forties, but his attacks were nimble, and his posture impeccable. His power was overbearing, and since I was to be a punching bag rather than opponent, I took the full brunt of his force. As the test drew close to the end, it was time to spar this behemoth.

This is it, I thought. The one part of the test where I could fight back, and was meant to be a challenge. He threw his attacks slowly at first until I struck him directly several times. He took a step back, and scratched at the area I had struck. "You alright, sir," I asked him.

"Just fine, good hits," he responded with a smirk.

"Same to you, sir. Don't feel as though you need to hold back."

He changed his tactics to offense then, and I took several hard blows, returning them as best I could. At that point the had ceased using his ability, and instead relied upon sheer power. As well as I could avoid his attacks, he was a good fifty pounds heavier than me, and I was soon getting weary and overpowered. As he came towards me with his fist cocked back for a powerful right hook, I heard Mr. Eschill call an end to the sparring. The other groups stopped, and I faced my partner, Tom, to bow to him as was customary. And that's about the time I faced the floor, and it all got painted black.

"He's coming around," I heard Cammy say. I opened my eyes after only a few failed attempts. I saw Cammy's face A nagging pain under my left eye made me wince in pain. Cammy reached behind her, and as she got up, produced a cold pack. She tried to snap it to get it to work, but handed it to me.

"Would you like to do the honors, Mr. Willstrom," she asked.

I chuckled to myself. "I must be dreaming."

"Well, you're not. Although you may have been until just now."

"What happened? How long was I out?"

"Well, granddad told everyone to stop."

"Right."

"And you turned to bow to Tom, but he threw that right hook."

"Oh."

"That's it? Oh? You had me worried. This hasn't happened before, you know." I saw the worry in her face replace her initial relief. It touched me that she was worried for me.

"Sorry," I rationalized. He kind of took me by surprise. Sucker punch really."

"I think he just got lost in the moment. You were only out for ten seconds," she continued, "but it scared me. I kept calling, but you wouldn't answer."

"Where's the guy? Tom, where'd he go," I asked, not seeing him nearby.

"I think granddad's still talking with him. He seemed worried too."

I smiled. At least he cared. "That's good," I said, standing up and seeing Tom talking with Mr. Eschill. Eschill motioned towards me, and Tom turned with a relieved smile. I walked over to him, and extended my hand. He took it, and we shook. No words were exchanged; none were needed. Both of us understood. He drew me in closer, and we switched the humble handshake into the fraternity of a man-hug.

The audience clapped, happy at our resolution. It was a good feeling. I turned towards him as the audience applauded, and we finished the bow we could not before. As Tom and I went back to join the line of students and instructors respectively, I saw that even Cammy was clapping.

By 7:15 the test was over, and we began tearing down; folding chairs and cleaning up trash, the like. Cammy and I had just finished the chairs, when she spoke up with something unexpected:

"Hey Blaine...do you want to, I dunno, grab something to eat?"

I was taken aback. We had never done anything together outside the dojo besides talk at the college. This could be my chance to do something besides just talk shop. "Where did you have in mind," I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

She pondered for a moment, as if surprised she had gotten this far. "Coffee?"

I took a slight pause, trying not to sound too eager. "That sounds fine, Cammy. There's a place just down the street in the mall, isn't there?"

"That works for me. Did you want to go now?"

"No better time than the present, I suppose."

"Okay," she said with a new glow in her face. "Let me go tell Granddad and I'll be right out."

I pushed the full cart of chairs into the closet whence they came, and headed outside to wait for Cammy. She hurried past me on her way to the bathroom. I turned to the office, and saw her grandfather going through some papers. "Make sure she doesn't get back too late, Blaine."

"Shop closes soon, sir. Won't be gone for too long."

"Cammy should be out in a few," he said, nodding to the bathroom. "I think she's changing. Did you bring something?"

"Good idea, sir," I said. I walked over to the changing rooms, and locked the door behind me. As I shed my uniform it became apparent just how powerful Tom's punches had been. Bruises had just started to form a ghostly sick green, and a few seemed to break the skin into an abrasion. "They really were good hits, I guess."

Grabbing a small towel from my bag, I wiped any residual sweat from my face and underarms before putting on the new clothes. I buttoned the cuffs on my shirt (never was able to get them shut once I put it on), and stepped into some jeans. Probably a bit tighter than what was fashionable for guys my age, but I'd worked hard to keep myself in shape. I had nothing to hide; I wasn't really muscular as, say, Michelangelo's David. More like Donatello's David. But with clothes. And not made of bronze. And not so feminine a face. And no Goliath head at my feet. And no Tuscan shepherd's hat. Actually, in retrospect, I wasn't much like the statue at all.

I buttoned, tucked and thumb-rolled my shirt into my pants, fastening and securing with a belt. Over this I pulled a black blazer. Put my shoes back on, grabbed my hat (the old fedora people knew me by) and I was ready to go. I stepped out of the tiny room seemingly a different person. However, I, like all good black belts, wore the belt around my heart, even when I didn't bear the physical object.

Cammy came out of the bathroom a few minutes later. She was wearing the same outfit as at school, but had replaced her jeans with a long skirt. She bid farewell to her granddad, grabbed a jacket, and we headed out.

PUT ON MY BLACK FELT HAT, AND BOARDED THE CAR PARKED UP NEXT TO THAT COFFEE SHOP, LOVE'S NOT VERY FAR.

SCENE 3 ENDS

****************** SCENE 4: In Blaine's car, the two head for the nearby coffee shop

SCENE 4 BEGINS ******************

"The hummer's a pretty smooth ride for something so big," she commented, looking out the windows and down at the compacts and sedans sharing the road with us. We headed for the mall, only about five minutes from the dojo, chatting lightly the whole way.

"Here we are," I announced, pulling the car into a space perhaps fifty feet from the mall entrance. We hoofed it into the coffee shop, the chilly night air which comes with fresh spring days just beginning to settle in. Cammy ordered first, a small cappuccino with some manner of flavoring. I ordered next, a large black coffee. No nonsense.

"I like this place in particular," I noted as we sat down in two of the many comfortable chairs, "since it's not one of the chain shops, it's an atmosphere all its own."

Cammy looked around. More people than I had expected still sat in the shop. The usual college-aged kids were there, along with the obligatory laptop users (creating the next great screenplay, maybe?). Semi-professional poets and even some old-timers chuckling about their last rousing game of cribbage filled in the rest of the population.

"It is nice," she agreed, taking the first sip of her drink. She recoiled as she drank.

"What's wrong," I asked.

"Aah, ith's thoo hoth," she said, taking a hand to her tongue. Just like a kid, how cute, I thought.

"Sorry about that. I guess they'd rather make it hot, since most people grab it and go about their day. You alright?"

"Yeah," she said, recovered from the burning drink. "So how was it attacking Tom, besides the whole K.O. thing?"

"I've got a few bruises to remember him by," I chuckled. "The guy's powerful. If he can mix that with some technique, he'll be a sizeable opponent."

"Hmm, maybe I'll have to try him out sometime."

"I don't know...Don't turn your back on him."

She giggled before turning serious: "You know it was probably an accident," she reasoned.

"I know...I guess I just worry sometimes. I mean, I have, but have you ever taken it full-force in the face before?" It was only a second after I finished my sentence that I caught how bad it sounded.

She looked away. "Well...no, I haven't. I guess I...I was worried too. When you fell like you did. I knew you'd probably be okay, but you just wouldn't answer me."

"And that's why I would worry. I don't think I'd want you falling, being non-responsive."

"I'm glad," she said, blushing slightly. Why did she have to be so damn cute?

We talked of lighter matters, drinking our coffees as more and more the shop emptied. It eventually came to pass that we had exhausted all talking points to do with the dojo. So, as planned, I turned the conversation towards her more personal life.

"So, you live with your grandfather, correct?"

She laughed at the subject. "I guess I'm kind of weird that way," she rationalized, "going to college, and still living at home?"

"Not really," I said. "Plenty of people there do it too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You know, there was this kid, way back when. And I do mean way back. He was the same as you and I. Except: when he was sixteen, they say his arm got cut, but he didn't draw any blood. His father was terrified."

Cammy looked at me questioningly. "Why didn't the kid bleed?"

"Leprosy. His father took him and isolated him immediately, fearing he would infect people. Of course now we know that it isn't terribly contagious. Anyway, fast forward, and that same kid stricken with leprosy is now the king of Jerusalem."

"They let him be king?"

"Yup. Now see, he didn't have a dorm room, and he ended up king. Just think what you could do, considering since your not a leper and therefore much prettier."

"You're like trail mix," she answered.

"How's that, Cammy?"

"Nutty and sweet."

"Hey guys," the man behind the counter called. "Sorry, but we're closing up."

Cammy and I finished our drinks quickly and headed out. "What time is it," Cammy asked.

I checked my watch: "Half past eight," I answered. "Want to head back to the dojo," I asked.

"Not really. Anywhere else you can think to go? I don't have to be back till midnight."

"Wouldn't want you turning into a pumpkin, would we now?" I thought for another relatively unromantic activity we could do. Wait, I thought. What kind of thought is that? Unromantic? She had coffee with you, but still wants to spend more time with you? Take her somewhere.

Movie theatre? I don't think she would like Watchmen...Plus I don't want to feel emasculated by some blue guy for three hours. Perhaps dinner? Boring. Need something original, I thought. And there it was: the evening sky, watching the stars. And I knew just the place.

We drove out past the suburbs; Cammy had fallen in love with the idea. "I haven't done that in forever," she had said as we passed by many a rustic rural home. Half an hour later I parked the hummer and shut it down.

"Where are we," Cammy asked.

"The middle of downtown Scenic Nowhere," I answered. "But in all seriousness, it's an old construction site. Old man Thompson's company went bankrupt what with the economic downturn. So, they halted construction, and I got a new place to run around in."

"Is this...legal," she inquired hesitantly, glancing around the darkening landscape.

"It's sort of a no-man's-land," I said.

We climbed a mesa of what once was fill dirt, now covered with grass for aesthetics. I lay down and hit the button to lock the hummer. A discordant beep confirmed the lock, and Cammy joined me down in the grass. We watched the sky and chatted more about the her life.

"Where did you go to school before this," I inquired.

"Nowhere," she answered. I was obviously curios. She continued: "I mean, I had education, just that I was home schooled. It was a combination of what my granddad could teach, and online courses."

"Well, I'd never have been able to tell. You act just like the typical college student."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just saying you don't seem any different due to the home-schooling."

"Except," she said, "for the fact that I don't have many friends. You guys from the dojo are the longest-running friends I've got." Her concern with friendship struck a not with me. I had undergone similar troubles when I was young. Teasing, bullying, it was par for the day-course in grade school.

"I'm sure you could make lots of friends. I bet there's at least fifty guys in the cafeteria that see you every day and would want to talk to you."

"You think so?"

"Of course. Hell, if I didn't go to the dojo, well...I'd probably be one of them."

She smiled, but switched to a more knowing smile as she said, "but I'm sure the vast majority of those guys wouldn't want to be my friend...not exactly. They're just after that one thing."

I considered cracking a joke to lighten the mood, like 'why, how many have you got,' but thought better of it. She seemed to be really concerned about this. "Yeah, well, being a guy, I can tell you most of us are jerks. You just need to meet one of the chivalrous few."

"And are you one of those happy few?"

The question struck me as odd. Was I chivalrous? I had always tried to be a gentleman, and I had never tended towards misogyny. "Supposing I am?"

"Well then, I guess I wouldn't have to look for more friends. I've found the gold standard," she said, turning onto her side to face me.

"But there's other things to search for," I reasoned. "You've got friends, but being home-schooled, have you--"

"no, I've never had a boyfriend," she said, seeming to anticipate my question. "The concept scares me a little. Mostly that I'd end up with someone I hated."

"They say that most girls inadvertently end up falling in love with a guy who's a lot like their father. Sort of a subdued Elektra complex."

"I...," she started, but said nothing further.

"What is it?"

"I never really knew my father; my parents. Ever since I can remember, it's just been me and granddad," she said, rather sadly.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be, I guess if I had known them and then they left, I would be sad or bitter. But really, I'm just disappointed I never got the chance to know them."

"When I lie here, I can't help but think about death," I said. "That's why it's nice to have another person with me. Keeps my mind off it."

"Why does it make you think of death?"

I frowned. It could wait for another, less romantic time, I thought. "Want to head back?"

SCENE 4 ENDS