~ * * ~
“Now tell me again how you happened to be passing by at the exact moment your friends were assaulting a woman,” the police officer said with a disbelieving smirk.
“They’re not my friends,” I contradicted shortly.
“Yeah, so you say,” he snorted. “And you weren’t with them…right.”
“I told you, I was doing research for a paper,” I repeated stonily.
“And yet you have no notebook, or paper, or even a pen,” he pointed out triumphantly.
“I was getting ideas…” I’d had about all I could take of his obnoxiousness.
“I’ll just bet you were,” he replied mockingly.
“You can check with the library and Ms. MacInnes…” I tried again.
“Ah, the lady that was being assaulted,” he interrupted once more. “I’m sure she’s fine with you and your friends attacking her as long as you get your paper in on time.”
Resisting the urge to take a swing at him, I attempted to get through his thick skull one more time, “Look, if you’ll just call Tony Ramirez…”
“Officer Tony Ramirez?” the cop repeated suspiciously. “How do you know him? Was he your arresting officer the last time you got caught doing something stupid?”
“I live with him,” I said shortly.
“Jack…let me by you idiots…Jack are you alright?” Ms. MacInnes pushed her way through a couple of police officers, a blanket wrapped around her, hiding her torn and dirty clothing.
“You’ll have to stay back, miss, I’m still interrogating the suspect,” the officer stood between us facing her.
“Suspect?” she practically screeched. “What do you mean suspect? If it weren’t for Jack those other three would have each taken their turn raping me.”
She pushed him out of the way and sat down next to me on the bus stop bench.
“But you kicked him,” the officer frowned in confusion. “He even admitted it.”
“By accident,” her tone of voice called the officer all kinds of a fool even if her words didn’t. “I was aiming for one of the others and missed. I gave those policemen over there,” she waved her hand vaguely towards the officers standing near the ambulance where she’d been checked out a few minutes earlier as well as the squad cars containing the three attackers, “my statement so why don’t you slither on over there and talk to them before you go around accusing innocent people.” Turning to me, she grabbed my chin and lifted my face toward the light examining the cut next to my lip where her spiked heel had caught me unexpectedly. “I’m so sorry, Jack. I wasn’t thinking, or aiming, clearly. Can you forgive me?”
I nodded, relieved she had straightened up the mess with the cop. Tony was always telling me I was my own worst enemy with my clipped answers and expressionless face, but that jerk had barely let me finish any sentence before attacking me, assuming I was guilty from the start.
“I’m glad,” she half-smiled, which was probably all she could muster after the events of the evening. “I’d hate to think I’d alienated the one student in my class I can always count on to keep the thugs in line.”
At my start of surprise, she admitted sheepishly, “There isn’t much you miss standing in the front of a classroom. I’ve pretended not to hear Frank’s lewd comments all semester knowing you were more or less keeping him on a leash, just glad that he’d be someone else’s problem next semester since Civics is only for half the year, but that was wrong of me and a copout. I’m sorry I abused you in that way. I should have dealt with it immediately, but I was…afraid.”
I shrugged, “It wouldn’t have stopped him from…” I broke off unable to use the word she had earlier.
“You’re probably right,” she acknowledged ruefully. “Well, I’m very thankful there were only three of them and you weren’t hurt. Well, not seriously anyway. I should be more careful where I put my spiked heels,” she added with a half-hearted laugh.
“Jack…” glancing up I saw Tony plowing through the crowds, flashing his badge to move people out of the way. I stood up, waiting for him. “Jack, thank goodness you’re okay,” he grabbed my shoulders and looked me up and down. “You are okay, right?” he asked uncertainly, taking in the bloody cut on my face.
“I’m fine. I just…”
“Ramirez,” the obnoxious officer had returned. “This kid says he lives with you.”
“That’s right, Maddox, is there a problem?” Tony asked stiffly.
I could see there was no love lost between the two of them and that made me feel a bit better about disliking Maddox so intensely.
“No, just checking the kid’s story,” he replied defensively.
“Is he free to go?” Tony asked politely. “Have you gotten everything you needed from him?”
“For now,” Maddox conceded unwillingly.
“Let’s go before he thinks of some other way to be annoying,” Tony murmured under his breath.
“Mr. Ramirez,” Ms. MacInnes ventured hesitantly “I just want you to know how much I appreciate what Jack did for me tonight.”
“He’s a good kid,” Tony nodded. “Good thing for you that he can’t seem to butt out of other people’s business,” he continued playfully punching me on the arm.
“I’d heard that rumor,” Ms. MacInnes smiled slightly. “See you tomorrow, Jack.”
I nodded while Tony added, “Be sure they give you an escort home,” as we moved towards his pickup.
“I will,” she promised as she squared her shoulders and turned towards Maddox.
1977
“Gotta hot date?” I asked dryly, easily parrying his sword thrust.
“Don’t I always?” Shun responded cheekily continuing his efforts to dismember me.
“Probably be better if your mind was on that sharp object you’re brandishing so carelessly,” I suggested mildly, disarming him in one swift twisting move sending his sword flying into the air.
“Concentrate,” Mr. Suzuki commanded sternly, neatly catching the recalcitrant sword by the handle. “You cannot afford to allow yourself to be distracted while using swords. Besides the fact that your haha would behead me herself if either of you were injured,” he added grimacing. “Do not make me regret teaching you the ways of the Samurai.”
“Sorry, Pops,” Shun grinned unrepentantly as he caught the sword his father tossed to him. “I’ll beat you yet,” he warned me slicing the air in a figure eight.
“Yeah, you’re quite the Mouseketeer, oh sorry, Musketeer,” I returned mockingly, readying myself for his attack. “I get them confused where you’re concerned.”
“I’ll show you who the Mouseketeer is,” Shun said as his sword sliced through the air towards my neck.
Once more parrying his move easily, I twisted the sword out of his hand and caught the handle neatly in my left before it could land on the ground.
“Enough,” Mr. Suzuki halted us. “Shun, you have no focus today. Go get ready for your…evening. Instruction is wasted on you at this point.”
“Yeah, you’re even more distracted than usual,” I frowned.
“Hey,” he began defensively “You would be distracted too if you had a hot date with Barbara Schilling. She’s a fox, man!”
“If you were half as focused on your sword play as you are on your girlfriends you might be able to best Jack,” Mr. Suzuki admonished.
“As long as I can best the bad guys,” Shun replied carelessly, “I’m okay with that. Coming Jack?” he asked as he opened the door.
“Jack still has some instruction time left,” Mr. Suzuki responded before I could. “We will continue without you.”
For a moment Shun hesitated, torn, indecision written clearly across his face. He wanted to stay, but was anxious to get the evening started. His hormones won out.
“Okay,” he conceded reluctantly. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow, Jack.”
“See ya,” I returned dispassionately, unwilling to let him see the anticipa
tion I couldn’t control at the prospect of a private lesson with Mr. Suzuki.
Shun and I were almost evenly matched, each with our own strengths and weakness, when it came to Ju Jitsu even though Shun could still put me on the floor more times than I could him, but he wasn’t much competition for me when it came to swords.
As Shun closed the door behind him, something indefinable warned me attack was imminent. Turning around and raising my sword in one swift movement, I parried Mr. Suzuki’s attack and the fight was on.
“You have learned much over the past two years,” Mr. Suzuki nodded approvingly as we sat on the mats afterwards drinking water, dripping with sweat. “You have focus and an awareness of your surroundings that is rare in one so young. I will continue to allow Shun to leave early and will give you private instruction if you wish.”
“As long as Shun’s alright with it,” I shrugged, hiding my eagerness.
Although the thought of private instruction with Mr. Suzuki was exhilarating, my friendship with Shun was far more important. Nicky’s death had left me feeling alone and isolated from people in general and it wasn’t until I’d met Shun that I realized I didn’t want to ever go back to being a loner…a total loner anyway.
I didn’t need hoards of people crowding my life, but as much as I hated to admit it, I did need a few. If Mr. Suzuki’s suggestion bothered Shun at all, I would politely refuse the offer and things would continue as they had been.
“I will speak with him,” Mr. Suzuki promised. “On another subject, Officer Ramirez informed me that some of your old enemies have returned to the area.”
I nodded unconcernedly.
“They have aged and I would guess hardened with the time spent in Juvenile Detention,” Mr. Suzuki warned. “I suggest you do not take them lightly. Nothing I have taught you will protect you from bullets, and with that type of violence on the rise in the city I suspect they will turn to guns in order to solve problems if they have not already. You must be ever vigilant and refrain from rushing into a situation without evaluating all of the possible dangers involved.”
“I’ll be careful,” I assured him.
“Good,” he rose and indicated for me to precede him from the room. “I will see you tomorrow.”