Chapter 60: Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!

May 27, 1995, Chicago, Illinois

“Today is Kristin’s and Katherine’s birthday!” Birgit said when she climbed into the lounge chair with me on Saturday morning.

“I know! They’re having their party here because Uncle Kurt and Aunt Kathy have a smaller house.”

“Uncle Kurt only has one wife!”

“Most men only have one wife, Pumpkin. Our family is different.”

“Are you coming to the party?”

“No. Today is Marcia’s competition. I have to go because I’m her sensei.”

“I want you to be my sensei! I want you to teach me everything!”

“You’re a yellow belt, the same as Mr. Felipe, and Will is responsible for the yellow belts and white belts. Sensei Jim decided that.”

“But you’re my daddy!”

“Yes, I am, Pumpkin. But Sensei Jim runs the dojo. Shall we get some breakfast?”

“You have breakfast with the men today! Mommy said!”

“Not today. I have to be at the karate competition by 8:15am, so I can eat breakfast with you!”

We got up and went to the kitchen where I began making breakfast. Kara, Michelle, and Jessica joined us, and after we ate, I went upstairs to shower and dress. I put on slacks, a button-down shirt, a tie, and a sport coat, which was the usual attire for a male sensei. I briefly considered wearing my formal kimono, but decided that would be totally out of place.

“What time will you be home, Tiger?”

“The day’s competition ends at 5:00pm, but I can leave as soon as Marcia is done. Tomorrow, obviously, I have to stay until the award ceremony because we intend to win.”

“I invited the Jaegers to stay for dinner after the party for the girls.”

“They’re always welcome. I should be home at 6:00pm at the latest.”

“Is there anything we need for Monday’s party?”

“I don’t think so. I asked Elyse yesterday and she said everything is set. Everything is set for the 3rd as well.”

“Are you bringing anyone in from Lone Star?”

“No. Technically, the deal won’t be complete until the end of the day on the 9th. We considered inviting them when it came up, but nothing was sure enough. I don’t think it’ll be a big deal,” I said. “Now, I need kisses before I head to DePaul!”

“First!” Birgit squealed, hopping out of her chair and rushing to me for a kiss.

I picked her up, hugged and kissed her, then put her down. I kissed my wives and Michelle, and then headed out to my car for the drive to DePaul.

“Hi, Steve!” Ailea called out when I walked into the field house.

“Hi, Ailea!”

“Is your student here?”

“I haven’t seen her yet. I’ll just wait here so we can sign in together given that I have to sign her registration form. How’s school?”

“Good. I broke up with Marco. I figured I’d tell you at lunch next week, but as you’re here...”

“Yeah. Is there another guy in the picture?”

She glanced around, then whispered, “I’m single again!”

“We talked about that, remember?”

“Sure, but...”

Someone else came up to the registration desk, interrupting our conversation. There was a steady stream after that person, including Marcia and her mom. I greeted them, and then Marcia registered and I signed her form. With that out of the way, we went to check the schedule.

“Your first bout is against someone from a dojo in Michigan,” I said. “You need to be on your guard from the get-go.”

“I’m psyched! Let me go tell Mom my first bout is at 9:00am right after the assembly.”

She hurried over to where her mom was standing and while she was talking a group of four teenage girls walked in and joined them. The five of them came over to me.

“Sensei Steve, these are my friends Jeannette, Marie, Angie, and Melody.”

“Nice to meet all of you!” I said. “Thanks for coming out to cheer for Marcia!”

“Hi!” they all replied.

“Marcia, let’s go to the meeting hall for the assembly. Your friends and your mom can go into the gym and find seats.”

She and I walked away and I heard the girls whispering and giggling behind us. We found seats and waited as other competitors and their sensei filtered into the room. At one minute past 8:30am, we were called to attention. After saying the Pledge of Allegiance, Sensei Ichirou and another sensei went over the procedures and the rules. We were dismissed, and Marcia and I went to the gym and she did some stretching and warm-up exercises.

“Just remember one thing,” I said. “Hips never lie.”

“Yours do!”

“You aren’t sparring with black belts! And besides, you’re at a point where you can block a good number of those off-balance strikes. Don’t lose your concentration if you lose a point. Just take your position, focus, and win the next point.”

“Yes, Sensei!”

“You’re going to win, Marcia. You know it. I know it. And the other students will know it as soon as you step into the ring.”

“You know, I didn’t ask, but how do black belts compete? I mean kids like Will?”

“Sixteen and up compete with the adult black belts. Anyone under sixteen, which is relatively rare, can’t compete. There simply aren’t enough black belts under sixteen to warrant a category. If Will had wanted to compete, he’d have stayed 1st Kyu until he turned sixteen. You’ll spar with a couple of brown belts for sure. But I’ve taught you enough to beat them.”

Marcia’s name was called and we went for her first bout. She reported to the referee, and I stood in the designated spot as her sensei. Her first opponent was a boy who appeared to be about fifteen, sporting a purple belt. The match was, in the end, no contest, and Marcia didn’t yield a point, winning 3-0, 3-0. Her friends cheered each time the flag went up for scoring a point, and cheered louder when she was declared the winner.

“Great job!” I said when she came over to me. “Your friends seem to approve.”

She laughed, “I had to explain everything to them last night. They had no idea. I’ve tried to get them to come to the dojo, but haven’t had any luck.”

“Maybe seeing you win will help.”

“What’s next?”

“We have to wait for all the initial bouts to finish. Then the computer will spit out a new matchup against a winner. You’ll have three more bouts this morning, then we’ll have lunch, and then you’ll do your kata. Once that’s done, we’re done for the day.”

“Where do you want to have lunch?”

“I was thinking Mr. Greek Gyros. They make a REALLY good gyros plate, plus they have just about anything else you might want in terms of fast food.”

“That sounds good. It’s OK if my mom and friends come with us, right?”

“Of course.”

Marcia had no trouble winning her bouts against a blue belt, 3-1, 3-1, and another purple belt 3-1, 3-1. Her final bout of the morning would be against a 2nd Kyu brown belt from Sensei Ichirou’s school. I knew it would be a very tough bout, but I was also confident I’d prepared Marcia well enough to win.

“You’ve sparred with Hannah and Darla and done very well,” I said, referring to two of the brown belts at our dojo.

“I can do this!” she said.

“Good. You should attack. Don’t be afraid of his belt. You’ll take him by surprise if you come out aggressively. That will put you ahead and he’ll need to take risks to try to catch up.”

“Got it!”

“Then go report.”

She reported to the referee and I took my place. Sensei Ichirou’s student, a young man named John, reported and took his place as well. John was a few inches taller than Marcia, and had a longer reach. That meant Marcia would have to rely on her dexterity and speed, and try to get ‘inside’ his attacks, or find a way to flank him. Sensei Ichirou took his place, and we made minor bows to each other.

The referee had Marcia and John bow, then called ‘Begin!’. As I’d advised her, Marcia attacked immediately and quickly scored a point by landing a solid kick to John’s side. When they reset, she immediately attacked, scoring when the third punch of a triple-combination landed on his chin. After they reset, Marcia attacked again, but this time John blocked and his counter-strike combination landed, making the score 2-1.

When they reset Marcia was cautious, and didn’t attack immediately. She and John circled each other on the mat, each feinting but not making any attempts. John attempted a simple jab, which Marcia blocked, and countered with a jab of her own, which John blocked. They were feeling each other out with those moves, and traded kicks, neither of which landed. After a moment, John attempted a kick combination, and Marcia’s block got him off balance, allowing her to easily score her third point.

She came back to the edge of the mat to talk to me during the two minute break.

“Very good! He was surprised, but recovered well. Then he took a chance with that kick combo and you did exactly what I taught you and put him off balance. He’ll remember that.”

“So now what?”

“He has a longer reach. Stay right at that distance. When he moves to throw his probing strike, step in and jab him quickly in the sternum. That will put you up a point and he’ll have to attack. He won’t expect YOU to attack immediately, which is what you will do.”

“But...”

“You’re showing him you’re defending with that first move, so when you immediately attack, it will surprise him and you’ll score. You’ll be up 2-0. Then you just wait for him to make his mistake because he HAS to score three points.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’ll work, but if you have a better plan, then go with it. I trust you to make good decisions. The key is to be unpredictable. The other sensei are watching you and you don’t want to give them any clues.”

Marcia smiled slyly, “He leads with his left when he attacks; he leads with his right when he feints. Always. I saw his earlier match.”

I chuckled, “Then you have him.”

And she did. She’d found his ‘tell’ and easily beat him 3-0 simply by taking advantage of it. She was all smiles when she came off the mat.

“VERY well done!” I said. “Let me go shake hands with Sensei Ichirou and then we’ll get some lunch.”

I walked around the mat and bowed to Sensei Ichirou, who returned the bow. I extended my hand and he took it.

“Your student is well trained, Steve-san. I’m not surprised. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

We bowed again, and I went back to Marcia. We walked over to where her mom and friends were waiting, then headed to Greek Town in two cars. I had Marcia, Jeannette, and Marie in my car, while Mrs. Ingles had Angie and Melody with her.

“That was SO cool!” Jeannette gushed. “You beat that last guy so easily!”

“Only because he made a mistake,” Marcia said. “He always did the same things with his hands.”

“That’s good if he knows what he’s doing!” Jeannette smirked.

“Jeannette!” Marcia squealed.

“What?” Jeannette asked trying to sound innocent.

“Don’t! My sensei is here!”

“Oh please! You don’t think he’s heard stuff like that?”

“Please, don’t!” Marcia begged.

“What? He’s hot! And I bet he’s never been wildly fucked by a bunch of teenage girls!”

“Actually, I have,” I chuckled reflexively, and immediately regretted it. “THAT is the end of this conversation. I mean it. No more.”

“Jeesh! I was just teasing!”

“It’s not appropriate,” I said, firmly.

“God, another boring adult!”

I wasn’t going to let her goad me.

“Stop it, Jeannette,” I demanded. “Now! On the way back, you ride with Mrs. Ingles.”

“Whatever...”

We arrived in Greek Town and I parked in a lot next to Walgreens. We got out of the car and Marcia put her hand on my arm to get me to hold back a bit.

“Sorry. I asked them to behave.”

“It’s OK. But I’m serious. Jeannette needs to ride with your mom when we go back to DePaul.”

“I’ll tell my mom. I mean, not what was said, but that Jeannette will ride with her. Angie can ride with us.”

“OK. I’m not upset with you. Don’t let this cause you to lose focus, please.”

“I won’t!”

We caught up to Marie and Jeannette and went into the restaurant. Mrs. Ingles and the other two girls walked in a moment later. We placed our orders and sat down to wait. Service was fast, and about five minutes later, we all had our lunches. We ate and I listened to the girls chatter on about school, boys, and what they planned to do over the summer. I did talk a bit with Mrs. Ingles and learned she was a buyer for Sears, and was separated from her husband, a supervisor for the Streets and Sanitation Department.

We finished our lunches, and headed back towards the cars. I was happy when Jeannette simply went to Mrs. Ingles’ car without a word when Marcia asked her to, and Angie got into the car with us. The drive back to DePaul was mercifully free from any kind of teasing or innuendo, and when we arrived, Marcia and I went to check on the schedule for the kata competition.

There were only about half as many entrants for kata, and each kyu had their list of possible kata. Marcia was eleventh on the list, which meant she’d be called around 2:30pm. We found seats in the bleachers to watch the competition, and Marcia’s friends were quickly bored. They decided to leave the field house, promising to return at least ten minutes before Marcia was supposed to compete.

“They’re easily bored,” Mrs. Ingles said after they walked away. “That’s why I’m glad Marcia has taken to karate.”

“Moooommmm!” Marcia protested. “I’m right here!”

Mrs. Ingles laughed, “I know that, honey, but it’s true. It keeps you occupied and out of trouble. Which is exactly what parents want! You’ll find out when you have a daughter of your own.”

I nodded in agreement, “I know all about that! I have three daughters!”

“Three girls?” Mrs. Ingles laughed. “You’ll be gray by the time you’re forty!”

“My oldest daughter is a yellow belt at the dojo. Her mom is a 1st Dan black belt.”

“What does she do?”

“She’s a chemistry professor at UofC and is about to receive her PhD.”

“And you run your own company, right?”

“Yes. A computer company. We do consulting, computer support, and sell software to law firms and small medical practices.”

“Did I hear right that you started it as soon as you graduated from college?”

“Yes. With four friends. And with backing from my mentor and from my dad.”

“Marcia says you’re very successful.”

“So far. In business, like sparring, one mistake can get you into serious trouble!”

“I heard you went to Japan last summer and that’s when you became a teacher?”

“I was an assistant teacher before the trip, but yes, I was promoted to full teacher at the end of that trip.”

“How long have you been married?”

I wondered exactly how much Marcia had said about my family. It seemed as if she’d not conveyed much, if any information, which was probably the wisest course of action on her part.

“Since December 15th of 1985 which was the year I graduated.”

“I married right out of college, too. Marcia was born about eighteen months later. It lasted until about a year ago. Illinois requires a two-year waiting period for a divorce.”

I nodded, “I know. A couple of family friends have divorced their husbands and I heard all about it. He won’t sign the waiver?”

She shook her head, “No. He’s trying to find a way to protect his pension, and he’ll drag it out as long as possible. But I make enough to support Marcia and me, so he doesn’t have much leverage.”

“Divorces are ugly,” I said.

The kata competition moved along, and I’d been watching while we talked. There were one or two competitors who I was sure had close to perfect marks, and those where the ones Marcia would have to beat. When there were four competitors to go, I excused myself to use the restroom, and Marcia decided she needed to go, too. We walked out of the gym, and went to the restrooms. As was usually the case with men and women, I was out first.

“You know why she’s so upset, right?” Jeannette said from behind me.

“She’s not upset,” I said. “And PLEASE don’t say anything to her. I mean nothing. She has to focus.”

“She’s upset with me because SHE wants to fuck you and she’s mad I said something!”

“Jeannette, that’s enough,” I said crossly. “Do NOT speak to me again. Do you hear me?”

“Gawd!” she exclaimed, and walked away towards the gym with the other three girls in tow.

I hadn’t picked up ANY signs Marcia was interested in me in that way, not that I’d been looking for them. She had never been anything but polite and proper, and hadn’t given me so much as a chaste hug. Her mother showing up at the dojo wasn’t an indicator of anything, as it made perfect sense for a mom to be concerned about her sixteen-year-old daughter being alone with a man twice her age. All things considered, I was reasonably sure Jeannette was simply trying to cause trouble.

Marcia came out and we walked back into the gym. I didn’t say anything about Jeannette and I decided to simply let it drop unless Jeannette said something else. If she did, then I’d have to speak to Mrs. Ingles. We didn’t go back to the stands, but went to the staging area to wait for Marcia to be called. Ten minutes later it was her turn, and once she walked onto the mat, I moved to my assigned place at the side of the mats.

As each of the randomly chosen kata was called out, Marcia went through her paces. She was nearly flawless, though I saw a few places where she might lose a point, though everything depended on how critical the judges were. I didn’t know any of the three of them, but I doubted they had my severe attitude towards being technically correct. When Marcia finished, I was sure she’d be in the top three, which would be good enough, when combined with my expectations of her winning the sparring competition, to win the city-wide championship in her age group.

“Nearly perfect,” I said. “You’ll have a top score, and have a good chance to win this competition.”

“I just have to win three matches tomorrow!”

“You’re in a very good spot. There are only eight of you left. One blue belt, three purple belts, and four brown belts. You’re up against the blue belt. But don’t let your guard down.”

“No way! Thanks so much for working with me on this!”

“Let’s get you back to your mom. I’ll see you here tomorrow at 8:45am for the 9:00am match!”