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Before long, I heard three sets of footsteps behind me when Meech came back. And Casey’s question.
Hmm, I almost thought she would chicken out. Not like I’d given her a choice, though.
I continued punching, only paying attention with half an ear as I tried to get myself back together.
I had a son. And Toby might be alive.
What the fuck was going on? Neither of those things was what I thought would happen this year, and the fact that they happened simultaneously was suspicious.
“Um, Mr. Zane?”
I came back to reality at the sound of the kid’s voice. By the time I looked up, the other two were both gone.
“Where did Charlie go?” I asked.
“Um, she went with the big guy to get something from the kitchen. They said they would be back soon.” He shuffled his feet from side to side nervously, but I could tell from his eyes that he was excited.
“So…where do we start?” he asked nervously.
It took me a while to realize what he was talking about. And then I remembered I had promised to train him. I sighed. I wasn’t in the right mind or state to be training anybody right now.
But then, when I didn’t answer for a while, I saw the way his face fell. In a split second, he tried to cover it up with a bitter smile that threatened the corner of his lips. But his shoulders fell in a slouch as though they were used to being let down. He was used to being disappointed.
And I couldn’t do that to him again.
So, that was when I found myself going, “Yeah. Get in.”
At my words, his face instantly lit up again. He didn’t need to be asked twice. He dropped his backpack on the ground right there and climbed in.
“What do I start with first? Punches? Motto? In karate, they usually start with reciting the theory, although I dunno. I haven’t been to karate class, so I’m not sure. I’ve only done this through YouTube—”
“The first step is to not talk so much,” I said because the kid seemed to have inherited Charlie’s gift of the gab.
He smiled sheepishly. “Right, got it. I talk a lot sometimes, so—”
“The second step is for you to focus.” I picked up the gloves Meech left on the ground, holding them up to the boy. I waited for him to hold his hand out, and he did, allowing me to lace the gloves up one by one. I did it in silence while the kid looked around.
“How long did it take you to build this?” he asked. “It must have cost a fortune. Are you rich? I asked Charlie if you were, and she said she didn’t know if it was all legal.”
I smiled a little. Leave it to Charlie to be as blunt as possible and say exactly what was on her mind. And it definitely seemed like her nephew had gotten the same trait. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Well, I don’t mind even if it is illegal. You seem like a good guy.”
I glanced at him and at the sincerity that glinted in his eyes.
“And I’m not just saying that because I think you’re about to kick my ass,” he added.
I smirked. Cute kid. “It’s your first time. I’ll take it easy on you.”
“That’s a relief,” he said as he assumed a pose.
“Show me what you got,” I urged.
After a few minutes of sparring, the good news was that the boy wasn’t completely tragic. There was power behind his blows, and he was stable on his feet. He also seemed to have an endless supply of energy with the way he was bouncing around, muttering, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”
At the same time, though, his defense was shit. The kid was all offense, and he got too excited about landing a blow that he didn’t stop to think before he took the shot. He just went for it even when it was feigned, and it left him wide open.
That problem would get his ass kicked all the time.
