Chapter 6

I’m already in Zen, when the bullet leaves the pistol. Dad taught me how to catch spears, but not bullets. I concentrate on the bullet as it leaves the pistol. It almost seems like it is going in slow motion. With my right hand, I snatch the bullet out of the air surprising mom, the guy and myself. Before the guy can react, I run towards him with lightning speed, launch myself in the air, and plant my foot in his face, sending the gun out of his hand and putting the guy out for the count.

Before I realize what I did, Mom runs to him and checks his pulse. “He’s still alive. Let’s get out of here.”

“Mom we should call the cops,” I say looking at her concerned.

“And tell them what? That a guy tried to kill us.” I look at her nodding my head. Thinking, yes he did try to kill us. “And my fifteen year old son snatched a bullet out of mid-air and flew like an eagle to plant his foot into his face putting him down.” Well, she does have a point. I show her my hand with the bullet burnt into my palm. “We need to get out of here. I’m sure he doesn’t want to tell whoever he is working for that a fifteen year old boy caught a bullet and kicked his ass.”

“Good point mom,” I say as we get in the car and head home.

Mom parks the car in the garage as I immediately close the garage door. Mom tells me to bring the groceries in as she runs into the house. What the fuck. Do I have to do everything around here, I ask myself. Well it’s either me, Cindy or Wayne. No wonder mom counts on me to get shit done around here,

I walk by mom’s den as I carry the groceries in. I can hear mom talking hysterically and crying. “He saved my life.” I’m guessing that she is talking to dad.

I’m putting the groceries away as Cindy comes in looking for something to eat.

“What took you guys so long,” she asks with her annoying ‘Queen Shit’ voice as I ignore her and continue putting the groceries away. Wow, she is a spoiled brat. She wouldn’t last one day in a foster home. She lives the life of a person that has everything given to her. Without having to work for it.

Dad enters the kitchen followed by mom. He gets some fresh herbs out of the refrigerator, and then chops them up and grabs some gauze from the first aid kit. He points at me then at the door to the basement. He points at the rest of the groceries then to Cindy.

“Why do I have to do everything around here,” Cindy asks with anger in her voice as I start howling in laughter. Wow, the princess witch has to do some work. Poor baby. “Joe was putting the groceries away just fine.”

Dad is trying to stifle a laugh from Cindy’s comment of ‘being over worked’. Dad follows me to the basement door as I hear mom tell him that she will called Candice, who is also working the Cordova case to ensure she is okay and to stay in her house. And after that, she is going to call her boss and let him know the situation.

Dad follows me downstairs and we sit in the corner. Dad smiles at me with pride on his face and says, “Show me.” I open my hand with the bullet still burnt into my palm. “You have the gift that my greatest grandfather had.” I look at him confused. “Speed of a lightning strike. Something that is not taught, but already given to you by higher.” I look at dad, who is smiling at me. “This gift is not given to just anyone. It is given to the most sincere and deserved.”

Dad crushes the herbs into a bowl and we both get into Zen. After we are relaxed, dad takes the bullet out of the palm of my hand. He rubs the herbs into the palm of my hand and wraps it in gauze. “I will teach you the healing of herbs later after I teach you how they work.” I nod as tears are coming out of dad’s eyes. “You are my son that was given to me from above. You saved my wife, your mother from being killed. YOU are my son and I love you.” Nothing else is said as I feel warmth that I have only felt from Eve. And that is LOVE.

We get upstairs and mom calls dad and I to her home office. I walk in and realize that I have never been in her home office. There is a large desk with a couch and lounge chair on the other end of the room, with a coffee table. The whole side of one wall has a large floor-to-ceiling bookshelf filled with books. Mom closes the door and sits in the lounge chair as dad and I sit on the couch.

Mom begins to tell us that she spoke with her boss and told him that she and I were followed into an alley and threatened by a guy concerning the Cordova case that she and Candice are working on.

“Mr. Cordova is being held without bail for attempted murder of a state congressman who is being investigated for racketeering and money laundering,” mom informs us.

“I left out the dirty details,” mom continues looking at me as I give her the sweet innocent look. “I think we need to leave those out,” she says as she smirks at dad and he gives her an innocent look. “He is going to have police patrol Candice’s house and ours until we can find out more about Mr. Cordova. There is nothing on his history, since his childhood. We believe he has ties to the Mafia, but no crucial evidence.” Dad nods his head and looks at me as mom continues. “Joe, there is only three and a half weeks of school left and you can’t tell anyone about this, not even Cindy or Wayne. We need to act as if nothing happened.” She stares at me for a minute before bursting into tears.

I rush to her, sit beside her, and hold her in my arms. I am guessing that the stress of what happened finally got to her. “It’s okay mom, I will never let anything happen to you or our family,” I sooth. Dad sits on the other side of mom and hugs her.

“Joe, you saved my life,” mom says as I am holding her tight. Then she looks at dad. “I don’t know what you’re teaching him in the basement and I really don’t want to know.” Mom pauses. “Is he a warrior like your ancestors?” Dad smiles and nods.

Monday morning and Wayne is driving us to school. Cindy’s mouth is going ninety miles a minute as usual, when she suddenly stops talking, which is always a good thing.

“That cop car has been following us from our house,” she says. I know why they are following us, but decide to have some fun with little Miss Witch.

“You know what,” I say, pausing for effect. “I remember seeing a cop car following the car that dropped you and your friends off early Sunday morning. Which I recognized as one of Tommy’s gang members cars.” I am taking a wild guess, knowing that Courtney came to my room at 4am. And I assumed that they went to a party with Tommy’s ex-gang, which pisses me off, because one of them was the one that threw a rock at me. I wait to hear her object, but I hear nothing from her. It seems I was right. “They probably suspect you of being a drug dealer like Tommy’s gang.” I’m trying not to laugh as Wayne pulls into the parking lot as the cop car pulls away and Cindy gets out of the car and runs into the school. That should stop the Witch from hanging around those guys.

I stop by my locker, grab what I need and head to class. I still have fifteen minutes, so I sit on the stairs and stare down the hallway deep in thought.

I’m looking down the hall at everyone getting their stuff out of their lockers and see Meagan. She opens her locker and lays her book bag down in front of it. She is so beautiful.

“Hey, Joe,” Johnny and Fred say, sitting beside me.

“What are you doing,” Fred asks knowing that I am always early and am waiting for class to start.

“Waiting for class to start,” I say with a high level of sarcasm as I’m still staring at Meagan. Fred and Johnny start talking as I tune them out.

Meagan grabs a stack of books from her locker, looks at her book bag on the floor and decides that isn’t going to work. She puts the books back in her locker, kneels down, and opens her book bag, deciding to put the books in one at a time. Her hair falls on her face as she brushes it behind her ear. She gets her book bag loaded, closes her locker and picks up her book bag to head to class. I get up and leave Johnny and Fred, who are arguing about something and walk to Meagan.

I snatch the book bag from her hand as she jumps. “Hey sexy, can I walk you to your class,” I say as I look at her as she smiles and stares at me through her thick horned rimmed glasses.

“Sure, babe,” she says grabbing my hand. As we are walking hand in hand to class, I see Courtney giving Meagan the death glare. That can’t be good, I think to myself. I hope she doesn’t think we are a couple after she snuck into my room Sunday morning. There was no emotion in what we did. I turned her over, popped her anal cherry, and made her squirt.

After my last morning class, I head to lunch. The morning went without incident. After first period, Emily blew me a kiss and smiled at me, which made a tent in my jeans. What is it about her? She is scary crazy, but turns me on. I saw Andrew after first period with his friends and girlfriend and he gave me a dirty look, which I ignored. The track and field finals are going to be held in the state university grounds on Friday and Saturday. The track teams will be out of school Friday, since it’s an all day event and the team will be bused there every day.

I meet Fred and George as we get in line. Meagan and Sheila are ahead of us in line and, of course, Johnny and Shawna are at the geek table eating their sack lunch. Shawna and Johnny has officially become a couple. They really enjoy each other and are joined at the hip. Sheila and George seem to be hitting it off and have been on a couple dates. Now that’s an odd couple. George is 6’5”, skinny and shy around girls. Sheila is short with curves in all the right places and doesn’t hesitate to give you an honest opinion. I had hopes for Fred and Karen, but there just doesn’t seem to be any sparks there.

“Joe, I’ll eat your grilled cheese sandwich if you don’t want it,” Johnny says as I sit down to eat. Johnny’s mom has him on a strict diet and he is always trying to beg for food. Johnny is short and about 100, something pounds overweight. His mom on several occasions has told myself, Fred and George to not give him food outside of his diet or she will chop our arms off. That’s enough to convince me. I pick up my grilled cheese and take a big bite out of it as everyone at the table snickers as Johnny gives me a dirty look. “Meagan, are you going to eat your fries?” Meagan answers by picking one up and feeding it to me. “Fuck you guys. I’m tired of eating rabbit food.”

“So, there are three weeks of school left,” Sheila says trying to stop Johnny from begging for food. “What’s everyone going to do?”

“I have a job,” Meagan says as I look at her in surprise. “I’m going to be a part-time waitress at a restaurant. And when I’m not working, I plan to spend time with Joe.” I look into her eyes covered in thick glasses. “If he wants me.” I touch her lips to mine as the girls giggle.

“Hey, we need to promise that the geek squad will spend time together this summer,” Karen says. The shy girl has really warmed up to us. We all consider us best friends and are happy to be together. Karen stands up and raises her milk carton as everyone at the table follows. “To best friends and the geek squad.”

“Shut the fuck up, you geeks,” someone shouts from the jock table as we laugh and finish our lunch.

As we are eating I whisper to Meagan, “Courtney snuck into my room Sunday morning. And...”

“You fucked her,” she grins cutting me off. Wow, I expected her to be pissed. “Joe, you are mine. I want you to fuck other girls. Please tell me you fucked the bitch.”

“Not in the pussy, I admit as Meagan howls in laughter.

“Shut the fuck up, you geeks.”

After school, I am on my way out of the back door past the shop class, when I hear my name called as chills run up my spine. I turn and see Coach Marcos.

“I need to talk to you,” Coach Marcos says pointing to his classroom. I hesitate, not trusting him and with good reason. He sees it. “No games, I want to talk, and that is all.” I walk into the class room and he shuts the door. He motions me to sit down and he sits in front of me.

“I’m in a bind, for the August tournaments,” he says. I stare at him, wondering what that has to do with me. “One of my champions is going to college and won’t be in my dojo anymore.” Ok, I’m thinking to myself and knowing where this conversation is going. “I saw you fight my son, who is a regional champion, and you made him look like a white belt.” I look at him confused. “Well, I’ll explain later. I want you to join my dojo. With your fighting ability, we can win state and regionals. Hell maybe even nationals. What do you say?”

“No,” I say without hesitation as he frowns. “I am not trained to compete. I am trained to protect. I don’t know how to fight without taking out the enemy. Take a look at your son. I dislocated his shoulder. In a real threat situation, his arm would have been snapped in two.” He frowns at me. Probably remembers me taking his son down. “I am not trained to compete. I am trained to take down the enemy, with whatever it takes. I am sorry, but the answer is no.”

He looks at me with a disgusted look on his face and says, “get the fuck out of here.” I obey, stand up and leave a very mad Coach Marcos.

After practice I decide not to shower and head through the hallways to the front door and I bump into Courtney. Now what a coincidence. No students in the school and I just so happen to run into Courtney.

“Hey Joe, I didn’t know you were still at school,” she says as I know better and wondering what her motive is. “Where are you going? Need a ride?” I slide past her and head for the front door, which is in sight. “I know you want me Joe, so don’t walk away from me.” Just what I need, another crazy girl like Emily. “I’ll tell Meagan what we did Sunday morning,” she threatens, as I walk out the front door and get into moms car as she drives away.

I get home and head to the basement to work out. I didn’t notice if dad’s car was in the garage, I don’t know if he is home. I take off my shoes and flick the light switch and no lights come on. I immediately get into Zen. The basement is dark as I walk onto the mat. I am focused, just like dad taught me. I hear nothing, but I feel heat coming from the far corner of the basement. Then I feel it. Something coming towards me. I can’t see it, but I can picture the shape, speed and size. It is long with a sharp point, and it is coming fast towards my head. I hear another one coming behind it as I snatch the first one out of the air and drop to the ground as the other flies over me. I disappear by rolling quickly and quietly on the mat, and end up in the corner.

I thought I was out of danger as I feel another projectile coming towards me. I am still in Zen as I can feel the speed, size and shape of the object. It’s coming fast and has a sharp blade with a handle as I snatch the knife by the handle out of the air.

“I know where you are,” I hear dad say with anger. “I hear you breathing. Stop breathing!” What the fuck. Stop breathing? Has dad lost his mind? “Focus Zen.”

I hear another knife as I duck and quietly roll into another corner. I actually stop breathing. I’m, not listening but feeling with my senses. I feel dad walking around feeling for me. I roll behind him and take him down with a leg sweep. “It’s about time, my ex-dad says.”

We head upstairs for dinner as mom shakes her head, knowing that dad tried to kill me again. I feel great.

Friday morning and I skip my morning run, because of the state track competitions. I take a long hot shower to relax, dress and relax. I Head down stairs for breakfast, Mom and dad are drinking coffee as I look and see homemade cinnamon rolls. Fuck yeah. I grab two and a glass of milk as Wayne and Cindy follow suit.

“Coach Taylor gave me your schedule and it looks like you are in three events,” mom says as I nod and take a big bite out of my cinnamon roll. “Your father and I will be there to watch you.”

“Thank you, mom,” I say as I give her a hug. Dad gives me a thumbs up as I head out the door with Wayne and Cindy. It’s been fun riding to school this week. Why? Because, Cindy doesn’t say a word. She is too worried about the cop car that follows us to school each morning. She still thinks the cops are after her, because she hangs out with drug dealers. We get to school and I head directly to the bus with my gym bag.

I find me a seat in the back as everyone is getting on the bus. We are a small team of about 25 students minus the cross country team with ten students. I feel someone sit beside me as I cringe. She is wearing track sweats with her long blond hair in a pony tail.

“I didn’t know you are on the track team,” I say to a smiling Courtney.

“Cross country,” she says. I look at her as she smiles. “Cheerleaders can do other sports.”

“I didn’t know cheerleading was a sport,” I say as she smirks. “I mean all you do is jump up and down.”

“And what do you do in any other sport,” she offers. She does have a point. “Football and basketball, you jump up and down.”

“Yes, but you also have to learn plays and have a skill set for the sport,” I counter as she smirks. It’s really nice talking to her when she’s not acting like a stuck up, ‘I’m better than anyone else’ bitch.

“Cheerleaders have to learn moves, dances and chants,” she offers with a little venom. She does have a point. I remember seeing cheerleaders as they perform.

“Ok, you win,” I say giving up as she giggles. We sit in silence for a moment as I’m enjoying the peace as the bus rumbles down the road and the students are chattering away with excitement.

“I’m sorry,” she says breaking the silence between us, and I look at her confused. “I told Meagan that you and I had sex.” I stare out the window as she continues. “And she broke up with you, because I told her that we had sex.”

“Courtney, we did not have sex,” I say shaking my head at her antics. “I told Meagan what we did. In fact, Meagan told me to have sex with you.”

“You’re lying,” she says defending herself.

“Look, Courtney. Meagan and I have an open and honest relationship,” I say as Courtney gives me a surprised look. “And she told me all about you. Why did you stop being her friend and start hating her?” Well that ended the conversation as she gets up and moves to another seat.

The games start with the cross country as everything is being set up. Coach added the two mile race along with the high jump and the 110 meter hurdles, which I hold the school and state record. We all head to the finish line to watch the cross country runners as they run down the final stretch. I see Courtney, who looks to be in second place. Wow, I saw her as just a blonde stuck-up cheerleader before, now I see her differently.

She finishes in second place with third and fourth coming in much later. I run up to Courtney, who is walking it off and out of breath. I scoop her up and twirl her around.

“That was amazing,” I say as she grins from ear to ear. “You came in second place.” I set her down as she is still smiling.

“Thanks, I told you I’m an athlete,” she chastises me and punches my shoulder. “And the guy that beat me is a senior.” I head off to watch some more as Courtney is rushed by the rest of the team.

The only event I have today is the two mile run, which is the last event at two o clock. I am sitting in the bleachers after lunch, watching the girls 110 hurdles. When a red head sits beside me. I remember her from my first track meet. She is an older version of Eve and Emily. I remember her telling me she is my cousin. I also remember the dream of a woman claiming to be my dead birth mother, telling me that Mary is my sister.

“Hey, Mary,” I say with no enthusiasm. I guess I said it like that, because I don’t want her intruding on my perfect life. “Glad to see you.”

“It doesn’t sound like it,” she scoffs as I shake my head. “I left you with questions the last time we met,” she admits. “The thing I can tell you is that you have Gods blood in you. It is written in the gospel that you will take over the church and lead us into the Promised Land as it is written in the gospel.” I start to say something as she cuts me off. “Look, everything that has been written in the gospel has come true. YOU are the savior and will have many wives and lead our church to the Promised Land. You have met four of your wives already and I will be your wife when you are called to the church. I graduate this year and will prepare our house for your leadership.” I get ready to say something again as I’m cut off. “There is no denying it. YOU are in the gospel and our future leader. We will watch over you while you build yourself to lead our church.” She walks off as I have many more questions to be asked.

It is 2pm and I am lining up for the two mile race, which Coach Taylor added to my events. There are 12 of us as we line up. I look around and see only one other person from our school I’m getting intimidated as I look around and see “6’2, 6’5 ... Fuck these guys look like seniors in college. I look into the stands and see my inspiration, mom, and dad smiling at me with pride.

The gun sounds, and we are off. I am in Zen and focused. We round the first lap and I am in fifth. These guys are fast. The past six months I had a growing spurt to 6’, but I don’t think it’s going to get me past these guys. We round the one mile mark and I see that three in front of me are starting to get tired as I take advantage. I pull to the outside and easily pass three as I hear cheers. Two more laps and I’m in third. I am right behind the guy in second place with first place way ahead. I go easily inside to pass him.

One more lap and I’m in second place. I decide it’s all or nothing as I speed up to a sprint. The person in first place knows I’m coming and does the same. I am right behind him as we are approaching the finish line as we are neck and neck. His long legs stretch out and he crosses the finish line a half second before me with cheers. We walk it off as everyone else crosses the finish line as we shake hands and give the man hug.

“Carl,” he says holding out his hand and I shake it again. “I’m a senior and you are the first person to give me a run for my money.”

“Joe,” I say. “I’m a freshman and think I need to go barf” as Carl chuckles.

“You keep running like that and you’ll have colleges begging for you,” he says as we hear a siren go off.

Everyone goes silent as we hear the announcer say, the state record holder for the two mile race by one second is ... There is a pause. “Carl Jensen!” There are applause and cheers as I’m jumping up and down as Carl has a stupid look on his face. He picks me up in a bear hug and twirls me around as I laugh and hear cheers from the audience.

Mom and dad meet me in our school parking lot. I barely get off the bus as mom tackles me.

“I am so proud of you,” she says hugging me so tight that I can’t breathe. Now, this is a mother and I am at home. “Your father said we can go to any restaurant you want. Not too far, because you have tournaments tomorrow,”

“Chinese food at dad’s restaurant,” I say as mom shakes her head and dad smiles.

We get to one of dad’s restaurants and the place is packed. The waiting area is packed as a guy comes and whisks us away. The fringe benefits of owning the restaurant. We are seated at a VIP section and given menus. I realize that I have never eaten at one of dad’ restaurants. I am looking over the menu, when I hear a familiar voice ask, “can I get you something to drink?” I look up and see Meagan, wearing her thick horned rimmed glasses and a sexy Chinese outfit. I almost creamed my shorts.

She looks at me surprised to see me as I am surprised to see her. I remember her telling me that she had a part time waitress job for the summer, but I didn’t know that it was at my dad’s restaurant. “Hi Meagan,” I say as mom and dad follow suit with a smile, knowing that Meagan and I have a thing for each other.

Meagan takes our drink orders and we order, since we already know what we want. Mom orders spring rolls with dipping sauces that dad’s restaurants are famous for. Meagan brings our drinks along with the appetizers, then she asks if there is anything else that she can get us while we wait for the main course.

While I am taking a sip from my drink, dad says, “Joe give you his big tip for being a good waitress” as I flush my nose out with lemonade and Meagan covers her mouth and giggles as dad laughs and mom shakes her head. Mom could have offered some support.

“That sounds great,” Meagan says staring at me with a grin on her face, and answering dad. When did she become the aggressive one? I have noticed that her confidence has gone up since we started going together. “Maybe tomorrow after your track meet.” I nod my head yes, as I’m still coughing lemonade out of my lungs.

After dinner, dad leaves a fifty dollar tip for Meagan and grabs some take-out for Cindy, Amy and Wayne. I’m guessing that Amy is spending the night so I am going to have to secure my door so that I can get some sleep.

I wake up at 4am as usual. I skip my mountain run and head downstairs to meditate. I don’t bother turning on the light as I head to the corner and get into the lotus position and then I am in Zen. After a long while I open my eyes, feeling great and in tune with life. I realize that dad is sitting across from me as he opens his eyes and smiles at me.

“You are a true warrior, just like my greatest grandfather,” dad says as he’s smiling at me with pride. “No one in my family has had that great gift, except my greatest grandfather and you. You have to go through great pain before you get the gift. But only those that are worthy to do good, get it.”

Mom and dad drop me off at school so that I can ride the bus with my team mates as they drive to the track competition. I sit in the back and get a visitor.

“Do you want to go to a party with me tonight,” Courtney asks. I am assuming she is going to one of Tommy’s gang member parties. “It’s not with the druggies,” she says reading my mind. “It’s Kevin’s graduation party. He invited Cindy.” That’s a recipe for disaster.

“Not tonight, I have a date with Meagan,” I say remembering last night and dad telling her that I would give her my big tip. “Well, that’s progress. So ... You would go out with me some another time?” Oops, how do I get out of this one?

“I’ll have to ask Meagan if it’s okay,” I say as she gets up and moves to another seat.

“Oh man, that’s twice,” I hear someone say and look across the aisle to see Ken a senior and a member of the track team. “You’ll never get that pussy if you keep scaring her off,” he says smirking. I sigh. If he only knew.

I am scheduled for the high jump at noon and the 110 hurdles at two. After Coach Taylor’s pep-talk, I head to our row to watch the girls high jump. I see mom and dad sitting in the bleachers and in front of them are Meagan and Karen. I smile as I see the rest of the gang. Fred, Johnny, George, and Shawna are all there. I walk over and sit beside Meagan as she kisses me. Fuck, that’s all I need, a boner in my track shorts.

“Can you come to dinner at my house after the games,” Meagan asks giving me her cute smile. How the fuck can I say no to that. “I already asked your parents and they said it was okay. My dad said he would drive you home. I need to talk to you after dinner.” Fuck, that can’t be good.

“Sure,” I say worried about what she wants to talk to me about.

The gang and I talk until coach calls me for the high jump.

There are fifteen of us for the high jump and I am nervous. Most of them look like seniors. I am sixth to jump as we start the jumps. After six rounds, there are three of us left. I am struggling as I haven’t jumped this high before. The two other guys, who look like seniors are clearing the bar with inches to spare. Both of them clear the next one as my heel clips the bar and I am in third place. I roll off the mat discussed with myself as I look in the bleachers and see the gang and mom and dad, cheering me on. All of the sudden I think of Eve and I wonder what she is doing right now. Then I realize that Cindy hasn’t been coming to the games. I know she is a pain the ass, but I make a mental note to spend more time with her.