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 "I'm not too impressed, but, I bet you get that a lot." It was more of a statement then a question, and Jake wondered if Jenkins used this line for all new people, or saved it for those who wait to show up for class with less than a month left of school after they were told to go before the first class had even begun. It’s all people, Jake, thought, as Jenkins spoke again. “And I impress easily.” “You’ve seen me before, Mr. Jenk--” “Just Jenkins. Or just Shawn. Call me fucking Yoda van Peebles, if you so desire. But never, ever with a formality, no sir, no mister, got it, Bruno?” “You’ve seen me before, Hecto-” “Everything Mr. Egan told you I need you to forget. And that’s the only time I’m ever going to ask you to forget something. I’m here to teach you how to fight and to live if the shit hits the fan. And, with recent things, shit has been bom-fucking-barding the fan with a steady rapid fire pulse that neither one of us has ever seen in our lives. And you’re fucking three months late to class. Now get in that room and shut the hell up and maybe you’ll learn something today.” Jake wanted to say a million different things, but, nodded his head weakly yes and got up. He was at the door, when Jenkins spoke again. “By the way, Bruno, I’m giving you a D fucking minus. No matter how well you do in the last month, and I expect you to be the best student after that time. Never be late or skip my class again, unless I tell you to, and there will be some you can’t come to, or I’ll come to your room and rip you off your African Princess and I’ll hurt you.” A spike of hot anger went up Jake’s spine, but then he realized all Jenkins said was ‘I’ll hurt you’. That’s all he needed to say. Jake again nodded, then walked out the small office and into the square room on the south side of the gym. There were only six other students in the class, including Mercy, who only gave a quick glance and a side-mouthed smile to Jake. He made eye contact with her, and then looked for a place to sit down. The other six were sitting in a circle, or cipher, and Jake realized there was no place for him. “Outside the cipher, long hair, you don’t belong yet”, it was Jenkins, wearing black sweat pants and a black long sleeve sweat shirt. No way was he able to change his clothes that fast... no way. “Well, sit down, you’re holding up the class, and they don’t seem very happy about that.” Jake looked at the other students and realized hat they all, including Mercy, were staring at him with a form of contempt from the corner of their eyes. Jake recognized someone else among the others. The gay one, Kelly’s friend... what was his name?? Jake realized he was unprepared right off the back. Jenkins lead them in a warm-up routine that left Jake so winded he had to stop and catch his breath. A stitch of fire burned in his side, and he was sure he was going to pass out or have a heart attack. Wearing jeans and a V-neck didn’t help, he thought, I gotta wear sweats next time.... The rest of the class did not seem to break a sweat. Jake crumpled into the corner when Jenkins said it was time for some sparring. Or course, he picked Jake first. “But... but...”, Jake said, huffing and puffing, not really understanding. “Bruno, do you think that a bad guy will wait for you? You think that he’ll see that you are winded from light cardio and be, Nah, shit, I’ll leave this little twat of a white boy alone to give him a chance to catch his air? No, a bad guy will jump on you when you’re weak and he’ll kill you. Get up. Mercy, you’re the bad guy. Kill Bruno.” Mercy looked at Jenkins for a second, and he gave her a look that she read as what are you waiting for, toothpick? She didn’t hesitate after that. Jake looked at her as she walked over to him. The class moved over behind Jenkins as they always did when it was sparring time. Jake looked like a mess, she thought. This isn’t how I would like his first class to be, but when Jenkins told her to do something, it was to be done or else he would be the bad guy, and when that happened, no one won. She grabbed as much as his shirt as she could (damn stupid V-neck), pulled his face close to hers, and whispered in his ear, “Sorry.” Jake landed on the mat with his back and a slapping sound that shook the room. Did she just flip me over? He then realized she was on top of him, her fingers (how could she be so strong with such small hands?) wrapped around his throat. Then his air cut off. She was hurting him. He was actually being hurt! “You just gonna let that little white girl kill you, Bruno! I can imagine what your father would say! Don’t make me call him saying that his long haired pussy son was killed by a slip of a white girl!” Jake reached his arm up and kind of bitch slapped (not too hard, he didn’t want Kelly to kill him) Mercy on the side of the head. The force of the blow was hard enough to knock her off of him (even though, somewhere, he kinda liked it), but it did not make her fingers release their grip. Side by side now, Jake’s chest was burning for air and it was getting worse. He looked into Mercy’s eyes and saw a glint of fear, but he also saw that she did, in fact, want to strangle him. What the hell kind of class was this, Jake thought, as he brought his hands up to his neck and clawed furiously at her hands. One of her bony knees slammed into his stomach, just missing his balls by inches. Later, she told him she could have easily taken the shot into his privates, but balked at it, she didn’t know if Jenkins knew that, but she was sure he did. Instead of lunging back, Jake had the idea to lunge forward, and, while they were facing each other on their sides, head butted her squarely between her warm hazel/gray eyes. Her grip loosened, as a flash of stars and rainbows and pain filled her world. “OW!”, she yelped, “FUCK!” They both lay next to each other holding their heads, Jake happy to be breathing again, no matter the thumping pain between his eyes, and Mercy cursing herself for being so stupid. The presence of another forced them both to look up to see Jenkins standing over them. “Guess what, biscuits? I’m the bad guy now.” Mercy had enough time to push Jake out of the way and get herself out as well. Jenkins jumped up and his feet missed their heads by mere inches. Mercy scrambled to her feet, her only thoughts was to keep him away from Jake. She kicked him like he taught her how to, just below the chin and right above the collarbone, but Jenkins was too fast, he caught her leg. “Now now, O’Gara, that’s not nice.” He brought his elbow up but Jake was on him. He would say later he was acting on pure instinct, just letting his body go for it and his mind not getting in the way. Jenkins had told him if he ever did that against someone who was really trying to kill him, Jake would be dead. Jake grabbed Jenkins elbow and tried to push it back as far as his strength let him. The strength, Jake thought, his strength is incredible! While Jake could not stop Jenkins from bringing his elbow down on Mercy’s exposed leg, it did give her enough time to break his grip and get loose. The elbow went down, hitting nothing but air, but Jake went with it, again hitting the mat with a giant slapping sound. If this mat is supposed to take the burnt of falling, Jake thought, it’s doing a piss poor job. Mercy again attacked Jenkins with a barrage of punches and kicks that he blocked easily. She was so fast that Jake, from the floor, couldn’t see where one ended and one began. He then became aware that he couldn’t get up because Jenkins huge foot was on his chest, again choking the air from him. Mercy didn’t seem to tire, but Jenkins was able to grab one of her hands. He twisted it, and brought her down to the ground. She later said that she thought he broke her wrist. She landed with a softer thump then Jake had, and Jenkins stepped on her chest with his other foot, stepping off Jake and pulling the remaining air from him. Blackness started around his eyes and then consumed him, the last thing he remembered was the shrill sound of Jenkins’ laugh. He awoke and was in the corner, the class was working on different moves in front of him, following Jenkins‘ lead. Jake felt sore, but surprisingly good. He looked to his side and saw that Mercy was sitting next to him. She gave him a weak smile. “How you doing, cheif?”, she asked him. Jake slide himself up to a sitting position and rubbed the back of his neck. No pain, but surely there should be. “I’m... I’m okay. Why am I okay? You guys kicked the piss out of me...” “I don’t totally understand it either, but I think it has to do with the room, if that makes sense. He does something to it before class. I’ve been whopped a lot worse than that, but when class is over, I never have a bruise or scratch or anything. Kinda cool, right?” Jake nodded, it was very cool. So Jenkins teaches you how to fight, and you fight, and the hurt doesn’t stick. He smiled. Mercy, to his surprise, smiled back, and he felt a twinge of heat go through his stomach. She was gorgeous, he thought, seeing her in a total new way. Sure, Mercy was always good looking, they all were, in Gorney Hall, Quad 314, just above his floor, but when she smiled, there was something there Jake had never seen before. He looked away, quickly. Not good, he thought, not good at all. But he looked over again. “You feel that, too, Jake?”, was all she said.    
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EVERYTHING JAKE is TM & (C) 2000-2011 by Mike Rosenzweig. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
