Page 101 of My Family

The Ridgecrest fighter obliges. He throws a jab-cross that could knock me down easily. But Reed parries the jab, catches the cross on his glove, and doesn't move.

Not a step.

His feet stay planted, his center stays low, and the Ridgecrest fighter's best combination does nothing.

Then Reed goes to work.

Punches start to rain. He gets the kid, breaks his guard, drives a knee into his chin once, twice, three times, then punches him in the face again.

Dominguez turns, trying to escape.

Reed takes his back, locks in a rear-naked choke, and drags him down with him.

It's a bloodbath, and within seconds, Dominguez is tapping out.

Skill is what I do.

What Reed does is something closer to instinct.

The guy is ridiculous.

Reed stands in the center of the mat. He doesn't raise his fists, doesn't prowl. He pulls his mouthguard out, rolls his shoulders once, and turns.

His eyes search the crowd.

He finds Tyler.

Tyler is standing by my side, his curly hair damp and unruly.

Tyler and Reed exchange looks.

Then Tyler looks away.

Too fast.

Fuck.

We're all screaming then because the referee raises Reed's hand, declaring him champion of the inter-academy tournament.

Then it's all over.

Officials confer over clipboards, tabulating points and placements. The mats are being cleaned and rolled up at the edges where they're no longer needed, creating a clearing at the center of the gym. The scoreboard displays the final standings in white text.

Aspire Academy: second place overall.

We lost to Ridgecrest.

Griff stands at the edge of our group with his arms folded, but he looks soft and content.

Proud of us.

A Westlake administrator reads the placements into a microphone that feeds back every third word, and medals are distributed. There are only three academies competing, so everybody gets a medal, but it's better than nothing.

Maybe it's part of their therapeutic approach: you're all champions for showing up.

Aw.

We all look ridiculously proud of our silver medals, and Jack keeps biting his like it's a real gold medal.