Chapter 2

Saturday morning, I slept in until eight. Shocking! Mom was in the kitchen and I asked if she had chores I needed to do and she told me I was caught up. I wasn’t sure how that was possible since I hadn’t done anything since the wedding. She said Franklin called. They were enjoying Puerto Rico and especially the food. They were going to El Yunque National Forest, which I knew was a rainforest. They planned on going dancing that night. She said they’d been to Old San Juan and loved it. I was glad they were having a good time.

After a healthy breakfast, I took a shower and got ready. I needed to make a healthy breakfast a habit if I wanted to compete well in sports, especially swimming. I decided that’s what I would do. I took my sunglasses, book, and a beach towel, remembered to move my laundry to the dryer, and grabbed ten dollars for a sandwich.

Sitting on the front steps, waiting, I took a deep breath and took stock. I had a notebook of lessons learned and I was way behind on writing things down. Franklin and Karen’s wedding, Mrs. Diedrich’s funeral, and our trip to Denton Ranch, each had enough lessons to keep me busy writing for a while. I had just started to sort through some of the lessons from the wedding when Kim pulled up. She was early.

“Hey,” I hollered.

She got out of the Aquatruck, walked to me in a hurry, and wrapped her arms around me. I reached up underneath her neon pink top and could feel her bikini. She squeezed.

“I’ve missed you,” she whispered in my ear.

“Your top has a pull tab,” I said, fiddling with the string.

“Don’t even think about it. Okay, maybe you can think about it later.”

“I missed you, too. You feel good. You smell nice, too.” Life was good. We kissed, nice and easy. Neither one of us wanted to get worked up.

“We need to go. We’re meeting at Mel’s house and everyone’s throwing the big stuff in the back of the truck.”

We climbed in for the short drive to Melanie’s house. I was quietly shaking my head for not realizing the two of them were best friends. “Who’s this?” I asked. She had someone new on the stereo.

“Tanya Tucker. Like her?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

We pulled into Mel’s driveway. Bobby Claire brought an ice chest, a couple of beach chairs, and the beach umbrellas to the back of the truck so I jumped out to help. We wedged the chairs against the cab and used the ice chest to hold them in place. We’d just gotten everything arranged when Vince pulled into the driveway in his little white MG. He hopped out and opened the door for his girlfriend, Lani Newsome. Fortunately, she had on a very modest cover-up.

“Whose idea was this?” I whispered to Kim.

“Mine, why? I called Lori and got Lani. Lori couldn’t make it but Lani and Vince could. Is that a problem?”

“Vince, good, Lani, bad,” I said and grinned.

“Stop it. She doesn’t look anything like Lori.” Lori Newsome had the most amazing, hour-glass figure I’d ever seen, and the last time we’d gone to the beach it had been torture trying not to stare.

“She looks exactly like Lori,” I complained.

“Stop. No drooling or Vince will beat you up,” she said, laughing.

“Vince is taking boxing lessons from me. You’re not helping,” I answered, laughing.

We said ‘hey’ to everyone and loaded up. Vince left his car and the four of them climbed into Bobby’s. Kim drove us out to Folly Beach Road with them following. Bobby had said it would be easy to follow a light blue truck. I still couldn’t believe Kim had bought an aquamarine-colored truck because my nickname was Aquaman. I told her.

“I love you, Jack. I really do. You ride and listen to country music and are working this summer because of me. You’ve never even asked for a change of music.”

“Well...” I started and before I could say anything else, she popped Tanya Tucker out of the cassette player and popped in a new one. It took a second for the first song to start and I didn’t have to wonder for long.

“If you start me up,” the song began and I joined in and so did Kim. “If you start me up. If you start me up, I’ll never stop. If you start me up. If you start me up, I’ll never stop. I’ve been running hot. You got me wrecking gonna blow my top. If you start me up, if you start me up, I’ll never stop. Never stop, never stop, never stop.” We sang along with the Stones for the rest of the drive to the beach. Neither of us could sing. We were both bad. Really terrible, but Kim was pretty pleased with our effort. Definitely, a great way to start the day. Since neither one of us could carry a tune, it just made it that much more fun.

Kim found a spot on Ashley Ave with only a couple of cars nearby. She parked next to a boardwalk that crossed rocks and grass to the beach and stopped with our friends right behind us. Vince was at the back of our truck before I was. He handed a beach towel to each of the girls and asked them to find a spot where the sun was set to the right temperature. They laughed. I’m not sure if they would have laughed if I’d said it. Vince was, well, he was larger than life. He was older than me, smarter than me, and a better athlete on top of that. Kim had reminded me that he was also a senior. He was still larger than life.

Vince, Bobby, and I divided up the rest of it and lugged it over the boardwalk. Of course, Vince took the ice chest because it was the heaviest. Take notes, Jack. Take notes. Bobby carried a couple of beach umbrellas and a bag with food and more drinks. I carried a batch of beach chairs. We lugged our supplies down to where the girls had started spreading their blankets. We set up the beach umbrellas and put the ice chest under one so it wouldn’t have to be moved. I had no idea how they were going to arrange us and I really didn’t want to get caught in the middle of that. Vince solved it for Bobby and me.

“Let’s get wet while they’re figuring things out,” he said and I was a happy man. Unless I picked a spot on the end, I’d probably be asking for trouble somehow. And if not me, Bobby. I could tell, he saw it, too. The three of us jogged down to the water and then walked out until we were chest deep. A couple of surfers sat on their boards a hundred yards away, waiting for a wave that was never going to come. Unless there was a hurricane off the coast, our South Carolina waves were tiny.

“You’ve been up to Notre Dame, I guess,” I said to Vince, as we sort of bobbed into a loose circle.

“Yeah. It’s a long way from this, that’s for sure.”

“What is it, something like eight hundred miles or so?” Bobby asked.

“Real close to that. Chicago’s about two hours away but I don’t really know much about the windy city. It’s windy, I guess,” he said and we laughed.

“Going to take the MG?” I asked.

“Yeah, but I’m not going to drive it. First, there’s not enough room for my stuff. And second, I don’t want to put the miles on it. Actually, I’m not even sure if it’s a good idea to take it. I doubt the MG is a very good car in the snow. It’s sort of finicky, too. I’m always tinkering with it.”

“I bet it’s fun to drive, though,” Bobby said.

“Definitely. Now that I really think about it, I’ll probably leave it here and get something up there.”

“We’ve got an extra spot in our garage,” I offered.

“Uh-huh. When do you get your license?”

“Not until February,” I complained.

“I know how that feels,” Vince said. “At least Kim has a truck. Dang, buddy. She got an aquamarine truck because you’re Aquaman.”

“Wow,” Bobby exclaimed. “I didn’t realize that. Is that really why?” I nodded. “That’s way more than a letterman jacket.”

“No kidding. She has the truck so when I go shopping for a car, it will probably be for a sedan. The truck is great for just the two of us but it’s pretty tough to squeeze four people into it.”

“She’s the one, huh?” Vince said.

“I’m sure not going to do any better. Plus, I love her. I’m listening to country music,” I said, which pretty much proved my love for her. I couldn’t think of anyone else who could get me listening to country music.

“And riding horses, I heard,” Bobby added.

“Not well but I’m improving. It’s crazy but I really enjoy it and I didn’t even think of it as a possible hobby until Kim.”

“Is she doing any of your kind of stuff, or just you doing hers?” Bobby asked.

“I haven’t even thought of it like that. Lifting, I guess. She goes with me to boxing. She takes me, actually.”

“I bet that’s interesting,” Vince said. “Many other women at Mink’s?”

“No,” I laughed. “And the first time we went, she practically shut the place down. It was pretty funny, really. Most of the guys stopped what they were doing to watch her.”

“What was that like?” Vince asked. “I mean, you’re walking into unfamiliar territory with your girl, and here are all these guys who could beat the crap out of you. Not now, maybe, but that was before you started, right?”

“Yeah. I think most of them could still beat the crap out of me,” I said and we all laughed. “She did the craziest thing. We met Mink and were talking about lessons and stuff, and he’s obviously enjoying Kim being there. So, Mink asks if she was my sister. I think that’s what he said. Kim says, ‘he’s my fiancé.’ It just came out. She said word would get out and no one would bother us anymore. Something like that.”

“Damn, Buddy. Must be nice,” Bobby said.

“I won’t lie. It was nice. What about you two? You’ve been dating since before regionals, right?” I asked Bobby.

“Pretty much since the bus ride back from Bishop England. She’s nice. We’re still figuring each other out,” Bobby said.

“Same. Lani’s nice. Really talented and obviously pretty. Not sure what we’re going to do when school starts. She’s got another year. We have the summer to figure it out. We’ll see.”

“Do you know what you’re going to major in?” I asked Vince.

“Biology. Neuroscience, actually.” Bobby and I looked at each other.

“Of course, you are,” Bobby said as if it were the most normal thing in the world. “Why?”

“What’s the most amazing organ in the body?” Vince asked. Bobby looked down, pulled the front of his shorts out so he could look, then looked up and smiled. “Fine. What’s the second most amazing organ? It’s your brain, right?”

“That was actually pretty funny,” I said. “Bobby, I didn’t know you had a sense of humor.”

“I don’t,” he answered with a straight face, and Vince and I lost it.

When Vince and I finally stopped laughing, Vince said, “Why do you do what you do? How do you decide? Even simple things, like what you’re going to say next. What’s the process?” He paused for a minute, trying to figure out how to explain it. “You love Kim?”

“Definitely.”

“Being with her would increase your dopamine levels and maybe decrease your cortisol. Your brain is a chemical factory. Do you really love her or are you chasing pleasurable chemicals? I believe you love her but how does that even work? Do we have free will or are we just the product of our genes and we’re sort of programmed to seek the chemical release that’s the most pleasurable?”

“I hope you haven’t shared that with Lani,” I said. “Not going to get a lot of romance points for that. My mom says love is a choice. You decide to love someone. Some people are easier than others but she says it’s a decision you have to make every day. Do you love Lani?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” he said and we laughed.

“Me neither,” Bobby added. “I’m definitely in lust, though.”

I looked back at the beach and the girls were talking. “What do you think they’re talking about?” I asked.

“Time to get back,” Vince said and we laughed again. I’d spent plenty of time during the school year sitting with the cheerleading squad and talking with them, and Bobby joined us later in the year. But this was the first time in a long time I could remember talking with just a couple of guys and enjoying it.

On the way back in, I asked Bobby if he knew what he was going to study in college. “Not neuroscience. Hey, Vince, did you decide to study neuroscience, or are you just chasing dopamine?”

“Huh. I don’t think I’ll know until after I graduate,” he said and we laughed again.

“I think I might be a gynecologist,” Bobby said. “Probably a lot of dopamine there.” Vince pushed him under the water from behind and it was pretty funny.

“Hey, landlubber,” I said to Vince. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“Holy crap,” Vince answered, laughing. “Probably not.” As Bobby popped up, Vince switched into his news broadcaster voice. “And in local news, a Porter-Gaud graduate recently made the fatal mistake of attacking a champion swimmer, while in the water.”

We made it to shore without any fatalities. We walked up to the girls, who had suddenly become quiet.

“And what are you fine ladies talking about?” Vince asked. They looked at Vince, then each other, then at each of us, and broke out laughing.

“We were talking about how handsome our dates are,” Melanie said.

“I thought you were with Bobby,” I said, sounding confused.

“Nice,” Bobby answered.

Sitting next to Kim, I said, in a voice everyone could hear, “Vince thinks maybe I don’t really love you and that I just hang out with you because you increase my dopamine levels and decrease my cortisol levels.”

“You don’t have cortisol levels,” Kim answered. “You don’t have cortisol. Gone, to make room for all the extra dopamine you get as one of the many benefits of dating me.”

“What’s dopamine?” Mel asked.

“This,” Kim said pointing to me, “Dope of mine. That,” she said, pointing to Bobby, “Dope of yours.”

“It all makes sense now,” Mel answered and the conversation went downhill from there until we were all laughing.

“Come here, dope of mine. Let me put some sunscreen on your neck and arms. You’ve got a farmer’s tan and the rest of you needs to catch up.” She was right. My arms and neck were a lot darker than the rest of me.

We talked and laughed for an hour or so and then dug into our sandwiches. After that, it quieted down some and a couple of people seemed to be sleeping. I opened Dune Messiah and started reading. I managed to make it through four or five long chapters before falling asleep.

“Wake up, dope of mine,” Kim said and I opened an eye. Apparently, I had slept through the afternoon. “We’re going to pack up in thirty minutes or so. Be sociable.” I opened the other eye. Everyone else was walking toward the Atlantic.

“Lani looks like her sister,” I said before I thought better of it.

“I hadn’t noticed,” Kim said as we stood. I gave her a look. “Okay. I noticed. She got a ridiculously tiny waist. It’s not natural. You like it, though.”

“I’m speechless,” I answered.

“Probably safer that way,” she said, taking my hand.

“You’re truly beautiful,” I said.

“Uh-huh. Damage control?”

“No. Simply a timely observation.” I managed to keep my mouth shut and my eyes averted from Lani until she was neck deep.

The six of us sort of bobbed around talking until Melanie screamed, “Something bit my toe.” She went racing for shore before anyone could slow her down. Bobby popped up from underwater and saw his girlfriend running away and the rest of us laughing.

“She better not find out that was you, big guy,” Vince said.

We followed her in, each trying our best to keep from laughing but it was impossible. Our laughter probably saved Bobby from getting a royal chewing out. We packed up our gear and lugged it back to our cars. I managed to be in front of Lani on the walk. Everyone told me I should never play poker. Usually, that’s not a problem. However, when you’re with someone that looks like one of the Newsome sisters, it was dangerous.

When we were all loaded, Kim started the truck and waited for a break in traffic, then made a U-turn. I was sleepy and knew that anything I said could be used against me. Especially since both of Kim’s parents were lawyers. She thought like a lawyer and that was dangerous. We passed the pier and the only surf shop I knew of, and turned right on Folly Beach Road. We crossed over the Intercoastal Waterway and I could see the tide was coming in.

“That’s genetic, you know?” Kim said, and I kept my mouth shut. “There’s not a diet in the world that I could follow to get my waist down to that size.”

“You’re beautiful just the way you are, Baby.”

“It’s just that...” she said and stopped, waiting for me to fill in the blank.

I was in no hurry to do that but she’d wait until I did. “It’s just that I’ve never seen anyone with a figure like Lori or Lani. It’s fascinating and attractive. Their figures are. Not them. I don’t even know them. Not really.”

“That’s a pretty good answer,” she said and was quiet for a minute. She looked over at me and then back at the road a couple of times. “You look so guilty right now it’s funny, and, it’s actually pretty adorable. You could never, ever cheat on me. I’d know in an instant.”

I risked it. “I’m not in trouble?”

“No, Baby. Vince is quite a catch but I don’t want him. I’ve got you. And both Lori and Lani have ridiculously good figures, but you don’t want them.”

“I have you.”

“Yes, you do. Besides, who else is going to give you so much dopamine?”

“While lowering my cortisol. I’m not even sure what that means. You should have heard Vince. He’s going to study neuroscience at Notre Dame. He’s an overachiever.”

“Says you. That’s rich.”

“I guess he probably doesn’t think of himself as an overachiever,” I answered. I didn’t see me that way.

“You don’t see yourself as an overachiever?” she asked.

“I think it’s kind of like asking a fish how wet the water is. It’s just the way it is. I’m just me. I guess other people get to figure it out.”

“I did. You’re not average. I wouldn’t date average, would I?” she asked as we pulled into Melanie’s driveway.

Everyone had something they needed to do or someplace they needed to be so we unloaded the truck and did our best to get everything back where it belonged. Kim and Melanie talked for a few minutes and she came back to the truck and climbed in. She took off and I didn’t really pay much attention to where we were going until she pulled into her driveway.

“Looks like your dad’s car is gone,” I said.

“It should be. Let’s check messages and stuff.” She let us in, hollered ‘hey’ and didn’t get a response so we went to the kitchen to check for messages.

She went past a couple that were obviously work-related and we heard her mom say, “We’re on Pawley’s Island with the Durant’s. Going to stay for dinner and be home before ten. There are ribs in the fridge. Make yourself a salad. Oh, there’s something stinky in the trash that I meant to take out. Would you be a dear and take care of that? Pewie! Be good.”

“I think I can be good. How are your dopamine levels?” she asked.

“They might be a little low.”

“This would be a good time to use my pull tab,” she said, leading the way.

We had time and I suddenly had a lot more energy than I’d had just moments before. We raised each other’s dopamine levels. Afterward, we lay in each other’s arms, simply enjoying being so close. She was on the edge of drifting off and her breathing sounded like she was purring. I was the luckiest guy in the world.

“I’m concerned, Baby,” I said.

“Do tell,” she mumbled.

“I’m afraid that you don’t really love me and you just hang out with me because I increase your dopamine levels and reduce your cortisol.”

“Drat. I was hoping you wouldn’t figure it out,” she said, quietly.

“Drat? Drat? Really? Have you been reading Batman comics? Drat?”

“I’m hungry.”

“That’s more like it. Let’s go to my house and see what’s cooking.”

“Holy donuts, Batman, let’s go,” she said, trying to sound like Robin and failing miserably.

“I’m Aquaman. Maybe there’s fish. Let’s go,” I said. We showered and dressed and drove the short trip to my house.

Kim was happy. I was happy. I was also tired and hungry. It seemed like days ago that I had a sandwich at the beach. Kim was weird that way. She could eat a giant meal and then, skip a meal or two with no problem. We pulled into the driveway and there were four extra cars.

“What are we walking into, Jack?” Kim asked.

“No idea. No, that’s not true. That’s Doctor Legare’s truck and Veronica’s car. I don’t know the other two. They’re both nice. Franklin and Karen are still in Puerto Rico. That’s all I got.”

“Shall we?” She asked and we walked in.

Spanish music was blasting from the rec room. Kim and I just looked at each other. “You go first, Robin,” I said, pushing her gently from behind.

“Stop the Batman stuff. What is going on?”

“Holy puzzlers...” I started and she turned and shoved me hard toward the rec room.

Nothing could have prepared us for the spectacle. A lady I’d never seen before was dancing with a pair of castanets and Doc Legare had another pair and was trying to match her. Mom, Dane, Veronica, and another man were standing in a circle around them and cheering them on. We just watched. The lady seemed like she knew what she was doing and the good doctor wasn’t doing too badly at following her lead. I was speechless. I looked at Kim and she was holding back a laugh.

The song ended and so did the dancing. They laughed and clapped and Mom saw us watching.

“Hey, you two. You’re just in time,” Mom said.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I answered and Kim elbowed me in the ribs.

“Looks like fun,” Kim said.

Mom introduced everyone. “This is my son, Jack, and his girlfriend, for the next three months, Kim. This is Marie and Doctor Tipman and you know the rest.”

“What happens in three months?” Marie asked with a strangely accented southern drawl.

“In the worst kept secret in the Lowcountry, he’ll ask her to marry him and she’ll say ‘yes’ and turn into a fiancée,” Mom said.

“He is the one?” Marie asked. “You’re sure? How can you be so sure? I want to know.”

Veronica, Doctor Tipman, and Doctor Legare stopped what they were doing and turned to Kim. They were bachelors. Mom and Dane already knew. I laughed inwardly that I would even notice that.

“He gives me one hundred percent. Always! He is tuned in to me. He knows me and he always gives me his best and he makes me want to give him my best. I feel good when he comes into the room, and when he leaves, it’s like the air went out of the room. I know that I love him but somehow, I always think he loves me more and I don’t even know how that’s possible but it seems that way. And I trust him. Plus, he’s a dufus.”

“Dufus?”

“Goofball.”

“You are sure. Maybe I want him,” she said and laughed. “Congratulations.”

“Not quite yet,” I answered. “Can I ask where you’re from?”

“You can. I am from North of the Cooper,” she said and waited. She smiled and continued, “I was born in Pamplona but have lived here for a very long time.”

“Pamplona, Spain,” I said, and then, in my best Spanish, “And you were teaching the good doctor how to dance.”

She showed us a beautiful white smile framed by very full, red lips, and answered back in Spanish, “Yes, I am, and he is doing very well, don’t you think?”

“English, please,” Mom said. “Sheesh. Apparently, you like Spanish a lot more today than you did a week ago, Buddy.”

“It’s like a secret code. And Doctor Tipman?” I said, gesturing to see if they were together.

“No, no. I’m just here as an observer. Call me Phil.”

“Marie teaches at the dance studio occasionally and we thought this would be fun,” Mom said.

“And you were right,” Dane added.

“Perhaps something a bit slowa,” Doctor Legare said, in that deep, slow voice of his, and for some reason, it was funny. He had to know how he sounded to the rest of us. I wished I could sound like that.

Doctor Tipman said, “I’m not sure there’s a dance that slow, Hank.”

“Do show us how it’s done,” Doctor Legare said in invitation offering the dance floor. Doctor Tipman put his hands up in protest but he was outvoted, the music started again, and we watched as Marie instructed him. He seemed to pick it up pretty quickly and was having fun.

I gestured to Mom that I was hungry and she mouthed the words, ‘pizza on the way’. They finished the dance to much laughter and merriment when the doorbell rang. Doctor Legare came with me. I took the pizzas and he paid, giving the delivery guy what I thought was a generous tip.

“Yankees talk fast,” he said, “But when it’s time for action you discover it’s nothing but bluster.”

“I have a hunch this isn’t going to be very healthy, doc,” I said as we walked into the kitchen.

“I believe a Solanum lycopersicum may have been involved in the production,” he said and I gave him the look that deserved. “Tomatoes. We’ll indulge, just a bit,” he said with a conspiratorial tone.

We set six pizza boxes on the counter and I started setting out plates. “I haven’t been working out much,” I said.

“Your mother said you were doing manual labor. That is a type of workout. You may be surprised at the impact it has on your stamina. A word of advice,” he said.

“Definitely. I’ll take anything you’ll give me, doc.”

“Be somewhat intentional. I find that people tend to get into a routine that is convenient rather than balanced.”

“So, if I do something sort of right-handed for a while, I should do it left-handed for just as long?”

“That’s it. That’s it, exactly. And consider your form when you do. If you were to draw a rake to you, think of it in much the way you would think of a lat pulldown. By comparing your labor to lifting, you’ll have better posture.”

“And you won’t have to put my hips back in whack at the end of the summer.”

“Exactly,” he said, smiling. “Two or three days after you’re done working for the summer, square off with the heavy bag and see how you do.”

We heard laughter from the next room and it sounded like they were wrapping things up. “Give me the quick skinny on Marie and Doctor Tipman.”

“Doctor Tipman is an orthopedic surgeon and we have worked together many times. Good man. Marie is a story you’ll have to work for.”

“You like her, don’t you, doc?” I asked.

“She has a charming feminine energy that is hard to deny,” he said. That sounded like a ‘yes’ to me.

They filed in and we sat around the big table. I laid out the pizza and we started eating. Kim sat across from me like she always did, and Marie was to my right. I asked her about the dances she was teaching.

“Most people want to learn the tango but there are many kinds of flamenco dancing. I was teaching Hank an alegria. It’s a very fast, happy dance, twelve beat.” She switched to Spanish and asked, “So where did you learn your sugary Spanish?”

“Sugary?” I asked, in Spanish.

“Sweet. It is very soft.”

“And yours is not?” I asked, but I could hear the difference. Kim kicked my shin and gave me a look.

“No. Mine is correct Spanish,” she said, laughing. “Pamplona is north, so it is more guttural than the Spanish of the south. Mexican Spanish is very soft.”

We switched to English when I said, “I took Spanish in seventh and eighth grades but I didn’t like it. My swim coach said something about learning to like something once you got good at it so I’ve been working with guys who speak Spanish all day long. Coach Miller was right. It’s fun.”

“Who do you work with that speaks Spanish?”

I realized I hadn’t told Kim much about it so I told them both about Art, Emilio, and Manny. Art kept us on track, Emilio and Manny cracked jokes all day and made fun of me. I told them how we got paid by the job and so we hustled to stay ahead of inevitable rain days. They asked a couple of questions and then Kim started talking directly with Marie. I ate more pizza.

While they were talking, Doctor Tipman said to me, “Dane tells me you’ve taken up boxing.” He was about thirty-five and looked like he worked out. He also had the brightest red hair I’d ever seen and together with green eyes, he was definitely a standout.

“I’ve taken a few lessons. I’m taking a break for the summer. I’m not sure if I’ll go back or not. I liked it but my trainer gave me a few things to think about.”

“Like what, if you don’t mind my asking.”

“He said I’d be able to defend myself, as long as my attacker didn’t kick, or use a knife, gun, or club.”

“Ah. Still, it’s nice to be able to defend yourself.”

“Definitely. But I don’t know how much more boxing lessons will help.”

“Why don’t you come join me sometime? I study Hung Gar. I try to go on Tuesdays and Thursdays but it doesn’t always happen,” he said.

“Hung what?” I asked, and he laughed.

“Hung Gar. It’s a style of Kung Fu from southern China. We learn about defense against weapons as well.”

“Kung Fu like on the TV show?” I asked. I’d never known anyone that actually studied it.

“Somewhat. The style they attempt to portray on TV is a northern, Shaolin style. Much more circular than Hung Gar. Come and watch, if you like. See what you think.”