Dark as Daylight Ch. 16

Debbie had just delivered a perfect 'chagi' (kick) to Holden's tuhk (chin), knocking him onto the mats, totally disoriented. She pounced on him, and drew her fist back to punch him in the face.

She yelled, "Yield?"

Holden didn't answer, but he wasn't resisting. She was about to throw the punch, when Joe grabbed her hand.

"Gomhan(Stop). Seung(Win), go to your corner, Deborah."

"She was happy with the win, but worried that Holden was not getting up."

Joan held her by her shoulders.

"Don't worry sweetheart, unless you had a hammer hidden in your instep, he'll be fine. He will be angry as heck with you for knocking him out, but he will be just fine."

"What if he's not grandma? What if I damaged his brain?"

"Out of a billion chances of damaging his brain, your kick was just one."

"How many times have you told me that I was one in a billion?"

"Look, darling, he is awake, and he is sitting up. Why don't you go over to him and say something nasty, just to get him to react?"

"And you say I'm evil?"

"You had to get it from somewhere, didn't you?"

*******************

She walked over to where Joe, Laura, and Samantha were working with Holden to make sure he was still in one piece.

"Your two-minute rest period was up 10 minutes ago. If you don't get off your ass soon, and start fighting, I'm going to have to get out of these wet clothes, because I'll catch a chill, and get sick."

Holden's eyes focused lower than Debbie's eyes when he said, "I'd pay to see that."

Debbie reached for the rear fastener of her bikini top, and uncoupled it.

Holden could see the fabric sag, but her breasts stayed prominently where they were.

"Now exactly how much did you say you willing to pay for that rich boy?"

"$100 million."

"That's $50 million per breast, not bad. If I was staying on this planet I would take you up on that offer, but I can't spend that much money in six or seven months. Unless of course you're saying this big bubble of yours isn't going to take us into space, and you and your brother are frauds. Is that what you're telling me Holden?"

Holden was on his feet, being restrained by the three people who were worried about his health moment before.

"Listen to me you little bitch, this spacecraft will take us places and teach us things no one on this planet will know for the next thousand years, because they're as stupid as you and your sister."

Debbie reached back and slapped him.

"Listen to me 'Shit for Brains,' if you want to call me stupid, go right ahead, and I'll take you 1 for 1. However, don't you ever call my sister stupid, because I'll have your head on my desk as a paperweight. Do you understand me? I just knocked you into next week, and I wasn't even warmed up yet. So, don't get me pissed off at you, because you will spend the next six months in the hospital."

Laura said, "Joseph, who do these two remind you of?"

"Don't you dare say that to me, not even in jest. I could not survive six months of keeping them apart."

"You don't have to keep us apart, Mr. Constantino. He will see me, and run the other way. He wants no part of a physical confrontation with me."

Holden replied, "You got one lucky shot in, and you think your Miss World. Do you want to try it again?"

"If you would shake your head, and try to remember, I asked you that five minutes ago. Are you finally ready?"

"Holden, I advise you against another match right now. I would like to get an MRI of your head just to make sure nothing happened up there."

"Don't worry Mr. Constantine, I won't hit him in the head, during this next match. I will only hit him in the neck and below."

Holden laughed. "I will remind you of what my brother told your sister. I am bigger, weigh more than you, and I am faster than you are. If you don't hit me in the head to get a knockout, how do you anticipate beating me?"

"PAIN! You will feel a lot of pain."

"Bull shit."

"Mr. Constantine, I am ready."

"So am I, Joseph."

Laura grabbed Holden, and had him on his back before he knew what happened.

"Where are you, Holden?"

"I am training in the gymnasium."

"How do you address your instructor?"

"By using his proper name, Mrs. Constantine."

"Do you wish to fire my husband, and retain someone else to protect you? He is a very wealthy man in his own right, now, and could retire to Italy and be with his family, if he desired. Instead, he is here protecting your ass from people who don't want you and your brain to continue bringing the future closer. I don't want him shot at anymore. Why should I let him stay here with you?"

"There is no one in this world that I trust as much as Mr. Constantine. Both Richard and I know he would put himself in front of us to keep us from harm."

"That's exactly my point, Holden. I want to grow old with my husband, why should I let him continue protecting you, while you have no respect for him?"

"Except for Mr. and Mrs. Laver, my guardians, there is no one I respect more than Mr. Constantine."

"I have one word of warning for you, and I will not repeat it. If you disrespect my husband again, I will yank him out of here, and we will retire; me from the FBI, and him from protecting you and your brother. Do we understand each other, Holden?"

"Yes Mrs. Constantine, perfectly. May I stand up now?"

"Yes, you may."

"Mr. Constantine, I apologize for anything that I did to disrespect you. In my heart, there is no one I respect more. Every morning when I awake the first thing I want to know is where you are. When I know that, I feel safe. The only time I will feel safer is when I am in space, and I'm not even sure about that."

"You are forgiven Holden."

"May I ask you one thing, before we begin the next bout?"

"Go ahead?"

"Do you think Mrs. Constantine is right about Deborah and me? If she is, we are going to have to add more liniment, bandages, and antiseptic to our packaging lists."

"God would not do that to this planet."

"Ouch! Then again, you are not going to be on this planet much longer."

"Ouch, Laura, you are in enough trouble as it is, stop hitting me."

"If I am in as much trouble as William told me, I figured I get my licks in now."

"Are you two ready?"

In duet they replied, "Yes Mr. Constantine."

"Mouthpieces in, Choon bi(ready), Seijak(begin)."

Holden went from his starting position directly to a kick to her solar plexus. He missed and hit her breasts.

She said, "Men normally use their hands, Holden."

"Fuck you, Debbie."

"We are both virgins, asshole. What would you know about fucking?"

"I read books."

"Gee whiz, so do I."

With a tumbling movement of her body (goorugi), she used both feet to kick him in the lower groin area. He cried out in pain, as he fell to the ground, trying to protect that area. He folded into a fetal position, and Debbie began hitting him with her fists in the lower rib, and kidney area.

Joe yelled, "WARNING (Kyong go)!"

Debbie turned and asked him, "Why?"

"You're not allowed to hit him in the kidney."

"I'm not, I'm hitting his rib. I can feel it."

"Show me."

Debbie put her fist at the lowest point she had ever hit Holden, and sure enough, he had an extra rib. No one had ever put it down on his physicals.

"Point(jeum)", Joe said, awarding Debbie a point rather than removing one.

However, during this slight pause Holden had recovered from the pain he was in, and was now able to move around and regain his feet.

"I didn't know you took gymnastics."

"Gymnastics, I never took gymnastics. I used to fall a lot, so instead of looking like an idiot all the time, I turned it into a forward roll, and always wound up back on my feet. When we started taking taekwondo, I added it to my repertoire. I normally aim for the guys' balls, but I took pity on you. Becky told me you were so small to start with; anything less would be an insult to the fragile male ego."

"If I let you live long enough, you'll find out I don't have an ego. It's because all I do is work. I love my work. I want to find the eye of God. I don't want to be him/her; I just want to know why all of us happened."

"Didn't you just say that you didn't have an ego?"

"That's right, I don't." He grabbed Debbie around her neck, and brought her down over his knee. She was nearly bent in half.

"How does it feel to be on the receiving side of pain?"

She replied, "What, this position, this is nothing. Shall I show you?"

"You can't move. I have your neck in a vice. Your back is across my knee, and your feet barely touched the ground. Where the hell do you think, you're going?"

"Going up!"

He watched in amazement as her legs came parallel to the ground, and then continued skyward. Then suddenly, the only portion of her body that remained on his leg was her shoulders, and the weight of her body was pressing against the arm that had her neck in a stranglehold.

She was perfectly vertical, pressing down on his body. In a part of his brain that wasn't already in awe of what she had done, he could hear applause coming from the people in the room. He couldn't blame them, if he was watching, he would have applauded also. He had to let her go, he could no longer hold her in this position.

Her head popped free, her body floated gracefully to the ground, and she levitated gracefully to her feet. The applause was thunderous.

Holden asked, "How the hell did you do that?"

"500 sit ups before breakfast, 500 crunches after breakfast, every day, without fail."

"You don't have a life. I thought Richard and I were bad, but you and your sister are even worse."

"It takes us less than one hour to do this fitness routine, which leaves us 23 hours to fill. We enjoy spending time with our grandparents. We just finished our doctorates at University of Chicago, and both are being published by Peregrine Press. We take taekwondo lessons three times a week, and play golf as much as possible. Rebecca, and I have no handicap, my grandfather is down to an 8 handicap, and my grandmother is a 9 handicap. We are very competitive family.

As Holden was listening, and circling to his left, he raised his right arm a little too much, leaving his lower chest exposed.

Debbie took immediate action to make him regret it. Her left heel hit his solar plexus with an upward motion towards his heart, immediately knocking him to the floor, and making his heart skip a beat. He did not go unconscious, but again he was in a daze.

As she sat by his side she said to him, "Are you in there; cupcake? I am tired of sitting around, waiting for you to fight with me. Maybe next time, if they give me something other than 'an itsy bitsy tiny winy, red and white, polka dot, bikini', you will pay attention to fighting, rather than looking at my gorgeous body."

"Yes, I'm in here, but where is Joe?"

"I'm right here, Holden."

"I felt my heart flutter, when she kicked me. Does that mean I'm in love, or is she going to kill me before my time?"

"When Laura kicked me in the balls, I saw my life pass before my eyes. I knew I was dead meat at that moment. It could be the same thing for you. Don't you hit me."

"Who are you talking to Mr. Constantine, it's only the three of us."

"I swear I felt her breathing on my neck."

"I'm here Joseph. I have the agents setting up an SUV for emergency transport to USC Medical Center. That kick was perfect, Debbie and could have been deadly if you put more force behind it. Did you see your life pass before your eyes, Holden?"

"No Mrs. Constantine, I felt my heart flutter, and I wondered if it meant I was in love."

"Joseph, we must do everything possible to get these two off this planet as quickly as possible. There is no telling what will happen if we don't."

"We will just keep them apart. It's just a simple as that. We will send her to monkey Island, east of Kawai, and keep him here. It's only for seven months, and the hornier he gets, the faster he will work."

"Joseph, the big balloon will blow up if he works too fast, and his mind is 4000 miles away."

"He's not going to be getting laid anyhow."

"I thought this was a PG rated gymnasium?"

"You are correct, let me restate. There is only going to be social discourse between the two of them. It will not proceed further than that for many years. Mr. Finch has informed me that the girls wish to maintain their virginity until their 18th birthday. For Deborah that's more than 2 ½ years. Rebecca is a year closer. I don't believe Debbie would wish to break her grandparents' hearts by breaking that vow. Would you Debbie?"

"Until today, neither Becky or I thought about having sex in the near future. I am in no rush. I'm not sure I'm interested in a guy I can beat up so easily."

"Ouch!" Debbie looked around and asked, "Why did I get hit?"

Laura looked at her, and sighed.

"Oh, I get it. I'm sorry Holden."

"If you want to go to the hospital with him, you have to get out of those clothes."

She reached to unclasp the top of her bikini, and got hit again.

"I wasn't going to take it off, at least not all the way."

"I think I'll go talk to your grandfather, no, I think I'll talk to your grandmother, instead."

"Please don't, I'll run to your room, take a quick shower, and the back here as quick as a jiffy."

"I'll speak to your grandparents and tell them you're going to the hospital with Holden. I'll tell them if you take off your clothes, you will be in the hospital with Holden."

"Mr. Constantine can I ask you at what age you lost your virginity?"

"Of course you can ask me, it doesn't mean I will answer you."

"Mrs. Constantine, will I get the same response from you?"

"No, you can ask me that question."

"Mrs. Constantine, at what age did you lose your virginity?"

"Miss Finch, it's none of your god damn business. Now go change if you want to go with Holden."

"Mr. and Mrs. Constantine, thank you for your non-answers. When you speak to my grandparents don't forget to tell them that I won my match 2-0. See if you can set one up between Richard and me. I will buy a proper outfit for that fight if you can arrange it."

"You just want a piece of your sisters' boyfriends' ass."

"We share everything else, why not him?"

"Why don't you ask your grandmother that question."

"Because I'd like to be alive to hear her answer."

"You are not as dumb as your question would leave someone who didn't know you, believe."

"I get that a lot."

"But you are the smarter sister."

"Don't tell Rebecca that, it would break her heart."

Laura said, "Don't be a fool Deborah, Rebecca already knows it. Look at the way she protects you. She is always watching out for you. She never lets you out of her sight, because you are so precious to her."

"I thought that was just a big sister thing."

"Big sister things only go so far. She always goes above and beyond that for you, doesn't she? You're always first to do this, first to try on a pretty dress that you both like. You're always first, right?"

"Not in the bathroom, that's war."

"You better get separate rooms on the spacecraft. Showers are 45 seconds long, and not one drop of water is wasted. If you two are close now, you are going to be peanuts in the spacecraft. Go take your shower, I want to get him to the hospital."

*******************

"What do you think Mrs. Constantine, are we a match made in heaven, or like you and Joe; a boxing match?"

"You should only be as lucky to be as close as Joseph and I are, Holden."

Two agents showed up with a gurney, sheets, towels, and blankets, ready to put Holden on board.

Joe said to them, "He does not leave the building, until I am at the head of the gurney."

"Yes sir," was their response.

Holden said, "Thank you Mr. Constantine."

"That's what you pay me for Holden."

"In that case, I don't pay you enough."

****************

"I have been told by my grandfather I cannot kill you. He told me you would tell me the reason why. So far I know you've stolen money from an account you did not have access to, and had me sign papers under false pretenses. I'm not sure if I would have killed you, even though I wanted to, but I would have disappeared off the face of this earth after my obligation to those two boys was completed.

I didn't care about the money. I didn't care about the paperwork. I cared that you lied and deceived me. We promised each other we would never lie to one another, and I find out you have been lying to me since before we were married. As I'm standing here in front of you, I am having trouble controlling my rage. I want to ring your neck. I want to put my hands around it, and squeeze until only my flesh is touching. Tell me why I shouldn't. Tell me why you should continue breathing?"

"I'm pregnant."

"What?"

"Joseph, I am going to have your baby."

"I thought we agreed...You don't want... What does..."

He grabbed his head and began walking around the room trying to make sense of this new situation.

Laura stood where she was, watching him like a hawk. She didn't know what he was thinking, or how he was going to react. She wondered if he was going to implode, or if he was going to explode; either one was a possibility.

Suddenly, he stopped walking, turned and marched towards her.

Joe grabbed her and shouted, "You are going to have our baby, and you have been fighting with me, every night of the week? Are you out of your mind? It's not only you anymore, there it's a tiny thing inside you to think about."

"If you start making 'tiny' jokes about me and this baby, I will cut you off at your hips."

"How far along are you? More important than that, do you want the baby? You specifically said you didn't want to have children."

"Your great grandmother told me that a woman has the right to change her mind. So, I changed mine."

"When did you change your mind, and when were you going to tell me about this?"

"I changed my mind 22 days ago, when I peed on a little white strip of paper, and it turned blue. It took me a while to make all the arrangements I wanted to make, and I was going to tell you after I went to the doctor next week to verify everything was going along correctly. I don't know how far along I am. I just realized I hadn't had my period in a while, and decided I'd better find out if I was pregnant or not."

"Don't you think it would have been better for me to accompany you to the doctor?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I didn't want you there, just in case something was wrong with me, and I had to terminate the child."

"You wanted to carry that burden on your shoulders, by yourself, with no help from me at all. It was like I had no part in this pregnancy. It was another immaculate conception. Is that what you're saying?"

"It wasn't something I wanted you to worry about."

"You go after some jackass that's running around killing people, and leave me for weeks at a time. What do you think I do then, Laura? I can't protect you from him, or them, but I should be allowed to share our family matters, don't you think?"

"Yes, Joseph, you can come to my doctor's visit with me next week. You can even peak under the sheet."

"Why would I want to look at that ugly thing?"

She was off the ground, with her arms out, reaching towards his neck, and blood in her eyes for insulting her clean-shaven sex.

Joe dropped down on a knee, and watched as she flew over her target, and onto his shoulder. He gathered her in her legs, and positioned her body on his shoulder. When he was satisfied, he smacked her ass hard.

"When are you going to learn how to take a joke?"

"Probably when it's on you."

"Don't do that to me, Laura. After I'm finished saying what I had in mind, you would not leave enough of me for a DNA sample."

"You see Joseph, you are trainable. Now, shall we talk about your money?"