Chapter 52

The martial arts class quieted when I walked in followed by the female Foot Brothers. I smirked thinking the scene was out of a bad kung fu movie; students in sparring equipment happily beating on each other, suddenly representatives from a rival school enter. I spoke to the school owner about paying one of his students a visit, but the entrance must have seemed ominous.

The instructor and I bowed to each other before I waved the female Brothers towards the spectator section where they could put on their sparring gear. Both Stephanie and Rachel's eyes were heavy on my back, a sensation that I ignored.

"I'll be back," I told the Brothers. "I left something in the car."

It took longer to resolve my business outside than I expected so everyone was ready when I returned.

"I informed Stephanie of your desire to test her progress," the instructor told me.

"You're ready then?" I asked Stephanie.

"She's ready," Rachel answered from beside Stephanie.

The girls were suited up, and looked eager for what I had planned.

"Both of you?" I asked them.

"We're friends," Rachel replied with hostility.

"Hmmm," I said turning towards the female Brothers.

"To be fair, one of you at a time," I told them.

Charmel nodded and stepped onto the mat. The rest of the students sat against the wall fiercely concentrating on the unfolding action.

Charmel and the two girls lined up on opposite sides with the instructor in the middle. He gave brief instructions before stepping aside.

Rachel charged as soon as the instructor signaled them to begin. The girls' natural ability to work together surprised Charmel forcing her to retreat carefully. Stephanie and Rachel could not make up for Charmel's experience though, and the instructor stopped it when the outcome became obvious. He insisted on a couple of minutes of rest for the girls, which they took advantage of by talking to each other.

Their match with Evelyn went better showing me that they dissected their mistakes and constructed a more effective plan of attack. It did not work, but they managed to hold off Evelyn longer than they should have been able to.

I had removed my shoes and socks by the time the instructor signaled a halt to the match. Rachel's eyebrows went up when I stepped onto the mat.

"Pick the one you want on your side," I told the girls gesturing at the Brothers.

"Both," Stephanie answered immediately.

"Tell me when you're ready," I instructed and turned around to stare out the window.

"Let's go," Stephanie said a few minutes later.

I turned to see them lined up with the female Brothers on the outside. I put my mouthpiece in, and walked to stand across from them.

"No pads?" Rachel asked me.

I ignored the question and set lightly.

"It's your body," she said with a shrug.

The instructor shook his head knowingly, but did not comment. My opponents spread out as he looked to either side to make sure everyone was ready. He signaled us to begin, and jumped out of the way.

It was a good idea because Rachel charged immediately as she had in the two previous matches; unfortunately, she moved too fast isolating her attack. Two steps brought Rachel in range, and she launched a roundhouse kick. I stepped into the follow-through zone of her kick and rushed forward. The move would have robbed her kick of power, but that was not my intent. I trapped her kicking leg below the thigh in the crook of my arm while my other arm snaked around her neck. I lifted Rachel off the ground and tossed her at Stephanie.

Catching a kick like that required a good read and timing, from the gasps around the room it was obvious the instructor had made the sensible decision of not demonstrating the technique.

The Brothers were a couple of steps behind Rachel's charge, which they should have known was coming and adjusted their attacks accordingly. Their original positions outside the less experienced girls separated them too much to hit me at the same time. It was the second time they made that particular mistake with me, which was unacceptable.

I moved to the left and Charmel froze to prepare herself for the blow. She paid a high price for ceding me the initiative. The chest pad offered her the same protection that a boxer's training does from a precise left hook to the liver.

None.

I drove into her body the lesson that coming at me alone was suicide.

Watching her partner collapse made Evelyn hesitate long enough for me to get closer than she wanted for her attack. Throwing a punch was the dumbest thing she could have done, I caught it and pulled her in hard against my shoulder. It must have felt like she ran full tilt into a concrete wall; she fell on her ass stunned by the impact.

Stephanie had untangled herself from Rachel by that time and moved towards me. A spinning back kick threw her five feet in the opposite direction. I tried to spread the force of the blow so that there was no permanent damage, but she did not get up after landing hard.

Rachel yelled and ran at me again. I glanced around but neither of the Brothers was going to rejoin the fray soon. Rachel's kicks and punches had some serious intentions behind them but I shook each off with quick turns out of their power.

Letting her hit me made Rachel even angrier, she threw everything she had at me to little effect because of my blocking and rolling. At some point, she must have decided just hitting me was good enough and kept at it until exhaustion overtook her.

"Do you feel better?" I asked when she stopped.

Her roundhouse had no tell so my body reacted naturally. I spun down hooking her base leg out from underneath her. She landed on her back with a thud and air exploded out of her lungs.

I stood looking down at her until she caught her breath.

"Now, I feel better!" she gritted out from behind her mouthpiece.

I shrugged and walked to Stephanie who had sat up. I crouched down to look into her eyes.

"Was this really necessary?" she whispered angrily.

Everyone was paying attention to us so we kept our voice tones low enough that even the Brothers and Rachel could not hear our conversation.

"What happened happened, Stephanie," I told her. "What happens happened. What will happen, you determine."

"Do I get a fortune cookie with that?" she whispered sarcastically.

"You were raped. It happened and nothing you ever do will change that," I told her. "At this moment, you cannot fight me and win. I have years of training and hard experience that you will never be able to acquire. You know my family history; there are generations of breeding the best of us inside of me. You could not have killed even your rapists as easily as I will kill you. What happens in a fight between you and me already happened, Stephanie. It happened every morning that I woke for one of these classes while you rolled over and hit the snooze button for another fifteen minutes of sleep."

"So what am I supposed to do?" she asked seriously.

"Determine what will happen," I answered. "Give yourself a fighting chance against monsters, against a bullet in your head, and even against me."

"It's really fucking easy to talk from your side of the table," she said.

"The Brotherhood has decided what will happen if you fail," I told her. "I have decided what will happen if you succeed in breaking the past's hold."

"You will kill me anyway," she whispered.

"Maybe, Stephanie," I said. "But our decisions won't matter if you make one of your own."

I stood up catching two male students getting up from the corner of my eye. One of them coughed so I turned towards them.

"Beating up women is no big deal," one of them said.

I sighed wondering if they understood why the backs of every woman straightened violently. A measuring glance told me everything I needed to know: a pair of barracuda in a goldfish pond.

"I think beating a woman is a big deal," Evelyn said putting her mouthpiece back in.

Charmel did the same thing and waved me aside. I nodded and stepped off the mat. Neither barracuda chose to step out of the water after the female sharks got through mangling them.

"Would you like a ride home?" Charmel asked when I leaned against the driver side door of her car.

I had asked them to pick me up in front of the student center that morning. They agreed instantly with my plan to test Stephanie making me feel that they wanted a second round against me after getting more information about what they faced. The ride to the school was a pleasantly quiet one making me think that other Brothers spent time together to get away from the general noise that accompanied Siblings.

"No," I told Charmel. "Stephanie offered me a ride home."

"Did you get what you wanted done here?" Evelyn asked from the passenger seat.

"I tried to change what will happen," I answered. "I won't know until it happens or does not happen."