The Bonding Chronicles Ch. 10

"This is between Junior and me, bitch," his tone was cold, and his eyes looked crazy.

Will watched as his father's hand went back in preparation for another hard slap to his mother's face. Would he ever know peace from the brutality of his existence? Within that moment, he saw his entire childhood and remembered how different things had once been. He had known only love from his father as a child, and then something changed, and his father grew distant and cold. Eventually that depression turned bitter, and his father grew angry. He could remember the first time his mother had shielded him from his father's anger, and then as he grew older, he had tried to do the same for her.

Would he ever escape? That question haunted him as he watched his father's hand while it was poised to strike. Once high school was over, he planned on moving as far away as he could. Enlisting in the military was how he was going to escape, but that would leave his mother alone with that animal. He had begged her to leave his father once, but she was convinced he was a good man, and Will had long since forgotten the man she still saw. As he watched the hand start its devastating march towards his mother's face, he knew that it had to stop.

"No!" Will cried out, breaking the spell from his father's intent, as he prepared to slap his wife.

William wondered how so much of his confrontation had mirrored the events he had shared with Andrew. Did the small man know, or was it just a weird coincidence that things should line up so similarly?

His father didn't recognize the threat until it was too late, and by the time he looked down towards his son's furious face, the strike was already landing.

William's mother fell from her husband's grip, her face still twisted to the side in preparation for the incoming slap. William's uppercut hit home, driving directly into his father's gut, and Will recognized the pain that his father was feeling as the large man doubled over and fought back his urge to vomit. Unlike Andrew, Will was not going to underestimate the fury that his opponent possessed.

William found himself clear and his actions purposeful as he stood over his father, and he was determined not to make Andrew's mistake. The sight of his mother crumpled and weeping on the floor calcified his determination to see this through. It was because of that resolve that when his father's clumsy haymaker lashed out, Will easily blocked the strike, shrugging off the force with his powerful frame.

The look of shock on his father's face as his strike was so thoroughly deflected was unfamiliar. Will knew that he never wanted that to happen again, and that his father needed to understand that the days of abusing his family were over. Whether his father was too slow, or too stunned to react was unknown to Will, but the result was the same either way. Will's right-cross landed on the side of his father's face, and it was clear by the force of his strike that Will was not playing.

"You think this is a fucking game? That this is how you treat family?"

His father looked up, disbelief written across his face as blood oozed from his split lip. He stood and lunged forward, attempting to tackle his son to the ground. Surprise settled in as the athletic and powerfully built young man allowed his father to wrap his arms around his waist, but despite his massive size, the older man could not force his son to the ground.

Years of playing on the defensive line had trained William to take a tackle, and while his father had once been a pretty good athlete, he just could not compete with the well-trained skills of his son. William began laying debilitating hits to his father's sides, until the large man released him and again fell to the floor.

"You know why I never should have gone after Andrew?"

He leaned down and lifted his father's fearful face, and forced the old man to look at him. "I thought he was weak, because he allowed his girlfriend to defend him."

William Sr. tried to use this moment to catch his son off guard. His feeble strike was caught by his son, who had anticipated his father's attack. Will punched his father in the shoulder just beside the armpit several times, ensuring that his father would not try that again.

"He was not weak." Will looked at his mother, who was watching with love for her son written across her face, and fear for her husband hidden behind her eyes.

"She stood up for him, because that is what you do when you love someone. It didn't bother him, because he knew what I just figured out. You protect the people you love, and fuck what other people think about it."

He grabbed his father by the nape of his shirt, and dragged the large man across the room, grabbing the phone off its stand as he passed. His mother cried out, "Will, stop! He has learned his lesson, son."

Will dropped his father at the foot of the stairs and knelt down before grabbing father's tear-streaked face. His voice was chilling and dispassionate as he stated, "If you ever hit me or my mother again, I will finish what I started. This will never happen again."

He stood and dialed the phone, which rang once before someone answered, "911, what is your emergency?"

Will's voice sounded pained as he cried into the phone with a deep and commanding cadence, "I've fallen down the stairs and... Oh god... I think my leg is broken."

He hung up the phone as his father's terrified eyes grew wide, and his mother cried out, "Will, you can't!"

It was too late. Will's foot came down hard and fast, and before his father could squirm away, the damage had been done. A pronounced crack filled the room, followed by his father's wailing cry as the large man felt his tibia shatter.

The last thing that William Sr. remembered before passing out from the pain, was his son's face entering his field of vision, and saying, "You fell down the stairs, you piece of shit." The fierce determination within the young man's eyes startled him. As his vision faded he could hear his son's words fading away with the light, "Never again."

William stopped his mother who had gotten up and tried to run to her husband. He pulled her into his arms, and prevented her from squirming out of his embrace, while she battered against his chest. "I know mom, I know... I'm so sorry, but this has to stop, he has to be stopped."

She stopped struggling and buried her face against his shoulder, her body shaking as she cried out.

"We need to go, mom. We can't be here when the ambulance arrives."

The pain in the side of Will's face returned as his body became heavy. The adrenaline was wearing off, and he felt cold and weak as he grabbed his mother's purse from the floor and hurried her out of the house. She drove them down the block where she continued to cry, and watch with pensive anticipation for the ambulance. It only took a few minutes, before the ambulance and two police cars pulled up to the house.

Will had not expected the police, but in hindsight, he was not surprised. The neighbors had called the cops enough times for domestic abuse, that everyone in the emergency services had to have had their address memorized.

The car started, and Will directed his mother to the diner where she worked. He knew they could trust them to corroborate his story. His mother was like a zombie, the shock of what had just happened still settling on the troubled woman as she followed her son's directions blindly. For the first time, she felt like perhaps things could change.

As they pulled into a parking spot at the diner, she turned off the engine and looked at her son. Whatever had happened to him that day, the man who sat before her was nothing like the boy she had seen off to school that morning. The resolution within his face was remarkable, and she saw a clarity in his posture that had seemed absent for much of his life. Her heart swelled with pride for the man he was becoming, and for once she felt hope for who he might be.

***** Close Combat *****

Andrew took the parking spot closest to the gym when he arrived at school later that night. He enjoyed the warmth of his parents' SUV while he admired the silhouette of the distant trees. Thoughts of his evening revisited him, as he watched the shifting colors of the evening sky.

They had shared a busy night, moving Sara out of her mother's home and into the house they had started to think of as theirs. Psycho took the move well, curling up on Andrew's lap during the entire drive between buildings. By the time they had the cat situated in the new house and the couple of suitcases containing Sara's clothes moved into the closet, the rest of the group had arrived, and were studying or preparing dinner.

Despite Sara's concern, Psycho took to the group quickly, and became a constant and moving fixture within someone's lap. There was something about the easygoing cat that seemed to make everyone more relaxed, and Andrew loved how happy the cat's presence made Sara.

His mother called just as everyone was sitting down to eat dinner, and Andrew was forced to retire to the master bedroom with the sounds of the large group laughing in the distance. Michelle had been worried, the Principal's voicemail had been just as dramatic as Andrew had expected. He managed to settle her down within a couple of minutes, and they ended the call on a happy note. Both of them were excited about what they were dealing with; Michelle with breaking ground on the new base, and Andrew with the large group of friends that acted as the background music to their entire conversation.

When it came time for Andrew to leave, Sara was watching a movie with Allison and Marcus, who seemed to have late curfews. Seth had left at the same time as him, and Andrew was eager to get started on their role-playing campaign. The characters his friends were working on sounded like a lot of fun.

He was surprised by how much Allison seemed to get into the process, and Sara was eager to help her. The two women had gone through many books before they settled on a class for Allison to try out. Andrew laughed as he remembered the excited declaration from Sara, who bounded from the couch with a book in hand.

"Necromancer!"

He had never heard someone so excited about something so traditionally evil. He was about to protest, when he saw the excited gleam in Allison's eye as she considered the possibility. Despite his reservations, the two women worked up a backstory that explained why someone of a neutral disposition might take up something considered so evil.

Andrew shook his head and laughed as he got out of his parents' utility vehicle. He fetched his father's training duffel from the backseat, before he ran towards the large building. "How crazy is my life?" he thought, as he pulled open the heavy steel door.

Mr. Spencer was intimidating by nature, and Andrew was struck by just how true that was when he saw the large man standing in the center of the open room. His arms were crossed, and his powerful muscles stood out under the warm lights of the gymnasium. Andrew could see why most people would fear the man, but he was just reminded of his father.

The sound of the duffel bag hitting the floor echoed through the large room as Andrew asked, "So, where do we start, sir?"

The teacher looked him up and down and rubbed his chin, as he considered what he saw. Andrew was wearing almost the same thing he wore to gym everyday, which was practical, considering they would be working up a sweat, and the shorts would allow him to move easily.

"What have your parents taught you?"

"Well, we focused on defense, sir. So, I've learned how to block and move, to avoid a lot of attacks." Andrew did his best to remain stationary while he spoke, but noticed that his feet seemed to shift and track Mr. Spencer as he circled around him.

"Gear up, let's see what the Williams can do."

Andrew considered the teacher's words while he put on his protective gear. Something about the phrasing stood out to him, but he struggled to think of what it was. By the time he was putting his mouth guard into place, the nagging feeling had faded, and his nervous anticipation of what was coming had taken full control.

Mr. Spencer popped his neck, and fixed his gaze on Andrew before he said, "OK, I'm not going to be holding back, so show me what you can do." The teacher secured his mouth guard and moved towards Andrew, where the two men hit gloved fists.

The speed with which his teacher moved seemed almost unnatural to Andrew, who was only able to block the first jab and duck the follow-up cross because of the training he had with Sara. His girlfriend was much faster, but the speed of the large man startled Andrew, and kept him on the retreat for the first minute of their sparring session.

The only respite from the barrage of punches and kicks came when Andrew would take a hit to the head, or block a devastating punch that sent him sprawling onto the floor. It became even more evident to Andrew, that his parents and Sara had all been holding back on him, and that Mr. Spencer seemed to hold no such reservations.

He was reminded of his earlier fight with Will, except that his opponent now seemed to have a remarkable amount of training. Andrew knew his parents were better, but that did not matter, when you were facing down two-hundred-and-ten pounds of ballistic fury.

The speed that the teacher possessed came from the way the man trained. For him, this was not a sparring session. Andrew could see in the iron gaze of his opponent that this was a winner-takes-all bout for the title. He dug deep and tried to rise to that energy, tapping into a strength he had only felt a couple of times. Time seemed to lose meaning as the two men danced around the center of the room. Mr. Spencer was always the aggressor, while Andrew struggled to eek out a defensive victory.

The match wore on, and as Andrew's arms grew weak and his legs became sluggish, he realized that Mr. Spencer was wearing down as well. He managed to keep himself going long enough that the teacher was forced to wave his fist, and take out his mouth guard, before both men bent at the waist and took gasping breaths. Andrew checked the clock, and realized they had been sparring nonstop for almost an hour.

"Holy shit, Andrew," Mr. Spencer's voice shone with admiration.

Andrew was surprised by his reaction, feeling like he had failed to rise to the challenge. He could not think of an exchange where the large man had not scored several hard, and almost debilitating hits. Andrew had been forced to use every trick he had learned, dodging a lot of the incoming strikes, but having to block or absorb many more.

He looked at his teacher with his confusion written clear on his face. "Holy shit — good or bad, sir?" The words escaped him between deep, purposeful breaths, a trick Sara had taught him after one of their long sparring sessions, and one that worked wonders to settle his pulse and clear his thoughts.

Mr. Spencer looked at Andrew and seemed to size him up, "Your parents just started training you last Wednesday?"

Andrew walked over and knelt before the duffel bag, pulling out two bottles of water. He tossed one to his sparring partner while he responded, "That's right, sir."

"Jesus!" The teacher shook his head and grinned while he thought. "Not sure why I'm surprised," the large man said aloud, talking to himself before taking a long pull from the bottle of water.

The hairs on Andrew's neck stood up. "Does Mr. Spencer know what I am?" Andrew thought to himself, as he studied the ex-military man who stood across from him. The teacher seemed relaxed and Andrew dismissed that idea, but wondered what he could have meant.

"Why would you say that, sir?" Andrew struggled not to add the honorific to the end of his statement.

"Well, Andrew, you're a 'Williams' after all." He took another drink of water while he watched the small man.

"That's the second time you've made a comment like that. What do you mean?"

Mr. Spencer grinned at Andrew's confusion, and realized how little the kid knew about his own parents' history within the military.

"Your folks are kind of legends in the Corp," For the first time Andrew saw the teacher smile and tilt his head at him in respect, before he continued, "and you have done them proud."

Andrew beamed at the praise, but struggled against the nagging feeling he had, realizing he knew what it was. "It's no coincidence you're here, is it, sir?"

The large man laughed and grinned one last time before he finished his bottle of water and said, "Like I said, a 'Williams'."

Mr. Spencer turned and crossed the room, heading towards the lockers. Andrew called out to him in frustration, "Is that a yes?"

He could see the bald head of his teacher shake from side to side as the sound of his chuckling voice called back, "See you tomorrow, Andrew."

"See you tomorrow, sir." Andrew called back, confused and frustrated.

***** Growing Together *****

"Are you sure this is OK, sweetie?" Andrew's tone was steeped with concern.

Sara's laughing voice carried through the speakers of the car, the bluetooth tethering working its magic. "I'm so happy, Andrew. Knowing that our family is growing is the best news ever, and she is amazing. You two need this time alone to figure things out and connect. Have fun, and I will see you later tonight."

Andrew smiled at the console of the car, his adoration for his amazing girlfriend shining through his voice, "I love you, kitten."

He listened to her swoon, and felt her joy through their bond. "Love you too, my little devil."

Andrew chuckled and ended the call, basking in the warm glow of Sara's affection, which seemed to be amplified by their distance. While he was excited to see Karen, he couldn't shake the slight trepidation that stalked his expectations. A lifetime of witnessing his parents' relationship, and being sold on the image of the atomic family by popular entertainment had told him that what he was preparing to do was a mistake. Regardless, he knew that he had to move forward, and could feel the disconnect between what was expected of him and what he needed within the core of his being.

The world grew quiet as Andrew parked outside of Karen's house. The now-familiar rambler style building sat in the cold darkness of night, warm, inviting light trickling through the windows, and calling out for Andrew to enter. His worries mounted as he exited the car, and he wondered if perhaps Karen had changed her mind. This entire thing was strange for them both, and while she had been so sure earlier that day, perhaps her mind had changed.

He was preparing to knock when the door opened, revealing Karen's smiling face on the other side. She was breathtaking, and Andrew struggled to do anything more than gape at her. His speculation that she had lost the slight plumpness of her body could not have been more correct. What had been alluring last week when framed in her figure-hugging clothes, now appeared mouth-watering as she revealed herself within a sleek and sexy dress.

Her slim body possessed a curvy femininity that was difficult for Andrew to ignore. Her long curly brown hair was vibrant and sheened as if she had just been to the spa. She wore no makeup, but her cheeks held a rosy glow which helped her umber eyes stand out as she looked him up and down.

"I apologize, Karen. I feel terribly underdressed."

She smiled and smoothed out her short and airy dress, while turning her body to provide Andrew with a better view. It was made from a light gray cotton or linen, and Andrew thought she would look right at home in a lush green field, with wind billowing her hair and dress out, under an intense early afternoon sun. She looked radiant, and seemed to be no older than thirty.

"What, this old thing?" her voice was playful and endearing.