When he walked through the front door his mom and dad cornered him immediately. He could tell by the look on their faces that he was not going to be able to wiggle out of this situation by simply going to his room. They meant to talk, and wanted him to talk with them. He was going to try to come up with some story but he knew that they would be able to see right through him. Sighing he stopped and looked at them.
“Alright, what’s been eating you the past couple of days?” his dad asked.
Jack shrugged his shoulders and looking at them said, “I had a lousy time at the dance. The girl I had asked to go with me wound up with someone else. I was just bummed out for awhile.”
“That’s all there is to it, all this over a girl? Well I won’t give you one of my when I was your age speeches, but I really do know where you are coming from. Just believe me that you will live and get over it. More will come into your life. I never thought that I would meet anyone that could be serious about me. Then I met your mom.”
“Dad you don’t have to get all mushy with me. I do know that I will live, and that there will be other girls in my life. But this one just caught me off guard. Can I go to my room now? I am pretty tired and I would like to be fresh for my jogging in the morning.”
“Fine, go on then, I agree with your dad and you. You’ll live to fight another day.”
Everyone said their good nights and Jack went on to his room. In his room he closed his door and got ready for bed. Turning on his stereo, he thought at least this one works. He listened to one of the new female artists sing one of her songs to a great beat. Before he knew it he had fallen asleep.
“Jack, it’s coming and we desperately need your help!”
Coming wide-awake and jumping out of bed he looked around. Once again he saw no one in his room. He walked over to the stereo and turned it off. There was no way that the voice had come out of it. That's not anything that a DJ would say and he knew of no songs that had those words in them. Scratching his head and wondering if he had been dreaming again he hopped back into bed. As he lay in bed he had the uneasy feeling that he had really heard the feminine sounding voice. Lying back and relaxing he had an odd feeling. Once again he fell into slumber. On Saturdays he usually woke about eight, but this time he slept to about nine. Waking, he went ahead and put on his jogging clothes. He grabbed a light breakfast and he decided today that he was going to pick up the training even more so he took two one-pound weights. One to hold in each hand as he jogged. Then he headed out the door to the park.
** Jack's Arrival **
When he reached the park he noticed that this was such a perfect day, there was more than the average amount of park dwellers at the tables. He was clipping along at a decent pace when suddenly there was a pain in his side just under his lower ribs. Great he thought, not even at the two-mile mark and already getting a stitch in my side. He pulled up short with his hand clasped at where it hurt. When he stopped the dizziness hit. Seeing black and gray spots dance before his eyes, he bent over hoping to stop the onslaught of the now nauseating feeling he was getting. Oh man he thought, I must have been pushing myself way to hard. He never saw the ground as it came up to meet him, and the park dwellers were all involved with what they were doing so none saw him fade into dimness, then to nothingness at all.
The first thing that he noticed when he opened his eyes was that he thought he must have rolled off the jogging path because he was lying in the grass. The next thought to hit him was that the city grounds keepers needed to do a better mowing job because the grass was getting pretty long in his little patch that he had landed on. He felt better, but a little sheepish and hoping that no one had seen him pass out like that. Pushing himself up to stand he bent over and brushed the grass from his pants and shirt. Looking up the landscaping around him was unfamiliar--- what the hell and no way!?!? In that little glance up shock and confusion tumbled right his way and rolled over him. Turning slowly in a complete circle he took in his new environment. No more jogging path, no more trees, no more benches, and where in the world were the park dwellers? Instead he saw soft rolling hills covered over with grass. In the distance there was what looked like a small lake with light shimmering off of its surface. The air smelled funny, and then he realized that the odor that was always present in the air at home was gone. Fresh country air must be what I am smelling he thought. The sky was a deep blue with a few wispy clouds high up, one like he had never seen before. Besides the confusion he began to feel threads of fear crawl up his spine. Also present with his feelings there came a certain awe of the beauty that surrounded him. Beginning to walk he tripped over something. Turning around still on his knees he saw that what had caused him to fall for the second time in one day. It was a sword that was in a leather sheath. The hilt of the sword was golden and what looked like fine leather wrapped around the middle section. On the upper end toward the blade that golden metal spiraled out to each side. At the butt it ended the same way but about half the size. Now ignoring his surroundings the temptation was too hard to fight. He stood with the sword in hand and slowly unsheathed it. With both hands gripping the hilt of the sword he pointed it skyward. The blade caught the late afternoon sunrays and shattered them into a million glinting pieces. It was hard for him to even look at the shining blade without being blinded by the light reflecting off of it. In amazement he looked from the sword to his surroundings once again. He lowered the sword and looked at the blade itself. It was gleaming silver in color with a look of superior craftsmanship. He did not know if even his dad could match it. Along the center inside of the blade there was writing that he could not read. The edges of the sword looked very, very sharp and he was not about to run his thumb along it to find out. Instead he bent and picked a single blade of grass. He held it just above the sword and let it fall. It fell to the ground in two pieces. It was very sharp indeed. Once again bending he picked up the sheath and noticed that it was kind of attached to what looked like a belt. This he put around his waist and re sheathed the sword. He had the odd feeling that it was meant for him. Still a little confused and a little scared he started off toward the shimmering water that he could see in the distance.
Chapter 2: Phillip
** At the Dojo **
Phillip was concentrating on his form. He had dark hair, brown eyes, and skin the color of coffee with a hint of cream. His medium build carried on a five foot five inch frame was very deceptive looking. Precise movements with grace integrated in them came from many years of practice. Currently he was working on the white belt form of Taekwondo. It was simple to him but he believed in the total mastery of every move. Even the white belt section of the art could be improved upon each and every time it was done. From the white belt he moved on to the yellow belt form. It had a few more moves added into it with some new ones to take you from the white into the yellow belt. Feeling good he then proceeded to the orange belt form. With each belt even more moves were added upon. From the orange he went onto his blue, from the blue he achieved green. After green to purple. Purple before brown. Next came the red belt and for some reason this was his favorite work out section. With each kick, strike, and block being done with perfection of the exact positioning of the hands, feet, and body. The form flowed from step to step with grace and accuracy. He just loved the feeling of this part of the work out. Then he decided to go to the red/black series of moves. Afterwards he looked at the clock and was surprised at what time it was so he thought he would skip the entire black belt form. He really thought it would also be to late to go through the weapons forms. He had gone through all the forms that he did slowly for perfection. Balance was also what he was after. Working slowly he could achieve more balance training than moving through at the normal speed of the movements. His goal was to achieve the rank of Grand Master. It looked as if this could be his that was a goal. As he wound up his work out his instructor smiled at the amazing thing of what he had witnessed. The irony being that he had surpassed his instructor’s skill levels a long
time ago. Phillip had to attend special classes out of his instructor’s dojo in order to improve upon his skills. He still stayed and trained there in order to help train those less of skill than him. He and his instructor Tim had become very good friends over a long period of time. When he had finally finished with white and all the way to red/black belt forms he came over and bowed to Tim with arms and hands at his sides, then again before leaving the practice floor. This showed respect of his art.
“Excellently done Phillip, I am really glad that you choose to stay here in sunny California with me. You really are a big help around here and the kids just adore you. Also you helping me don’t hurt either.”
“Tim, you know that with out you I would have never had any interest in this. I would have still been a jerk with a know it all attitude when I really knew nothing at all. It is you that has done me the favor that I could never hope to repay.”
The older of the two turned to face the younger. “You know Phillip, I just wish that you would take a good hard look at yourself. You may just find that there is something to be proud of in yourself. You are always so humble to others and so helpful. It really pains me to watch you off the mat. You carry yourself like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
“Well, at times it sure feels like it. I am struggling in school in order to keep my grades up. Even if I am not a kid anymore I still love the little stars that you give out for the grades. I just wish that I could do better. The C’s and a few B’s that I get is not going to be enough to get me into college, and there is no way that I can afford to pay my way. Well it is getting late and I have to get home. I am sorry to have troubled you.”
“Hey, it is no trouble at all. Any time, and I mean anytime that you feel the need to talk you can come to me. I will be there for you. You know that.”
Phillip looked up at Tim's face and saw real caring in it. More caring that he had ever even seen from his parents, “I know, and I will when things really start getting me down and it gets to hard to bear.”
Tim followed Phillip to the door and held the door open for him. Phillip had his gear in the bag and was carrying his Bo staff that he was using like a long wooden walking staff. He looked after him as Phillip turned the corner not knowing at that time it would be the last time he would set eyes on Phillip for a long, long time to come.
** Trouble at Home **
As Phillip approached his home he could hear the familiar voices. His mom and dad were having another row. Their voices raised in anger at each other. He realized that once again they were snookered to the gills. With a dejected sigh he sat down on the curb to wait until they had yelled themselves hoarse and passed out. He thought to himself that he could not discuss with anyone the problems that he had at home. Not even Tim. Neither of his parents had a proper education, they were also heavy drinkers and abusive. It would be far to embarrassing for him to do so. Living a life like this and often having to sit up late for hours was having a great impact on his grades at school. But he felt that no one would understand his type of problem so he kept it to himself and suffered alone. At times like this he felt that it was all his fault that his parents were like the way they were. If he had never been born he felt that his parents would have cared deeply about each other. Instead they had him. Often when he listened to them argue his name would come up again and again. They did not have enough money, they did not have enough food, and they did not have enough of anything. When he was born their lives had come to a halt. He felt that they blamed him for all their problems that they had. He would try his best to tune them out but to no avail. Sometimes the police would even show up because one of the people living around them would call in irritation. At these times he would fade back into the shadows until they were gone. On these nights there would sometimes be the smashing of dishes and other things being thrown. The police would always leave because his mom and dad would tell them that they were just having a few family problems and that they had now worked things out. The house would then go quiet because they had passed out. It was only then that he knew it was safe to go into the house, grab a snack, and if he was lucky, some sleep. Because of these disturbances, he would often fall asleep in classes causing him to miss class work, homework assignments, and notes that were placed on the blackboard. The school often sent notes home with him about these things or called his parents but they would always just say that they would take care of it. Their version of taking care of things was for his dad to beat on him and to call him an idiot among many others things. He could never raise a hand against his dad in anger because that would be disrespectful and wrong. So he just took the beatings. Phillip often felt that this type of attention was better than none at all. If Tim only knew why he did feel like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. But he did not think that even he would understand. Nobody would, so he just kept quite about his life and continue to feel lonely, discouraged, and sad. His only escape from all of this was at the dojo where he felt freed of the world and all it’s problems that it had to offer him. Tonight would be like any other night. This time, when he entered the house, he thought that they were asleep. However, he soon found out differently. He got caught as he entered the door.
“Where the hell have you been you little twerp,” his dad raged at him in a fury that he did not deserve.
Phillip calmly replied that he had been with Tim at his Martial Arts class. Looking at the clock he saw that it was not even nine o’clock yet and his parents were all ready drunk and worked up into high gear. He felt dread knotting up in his stomach at what might come after a while.
Now his mom jumped in hoping to direct the attention away from her and using Phillip as a shield and a distraction. “Tim smem, that jerk is a bad influence on you! He is nothing but a washed up wanna be that couldn’t teach a jerk like you nothun. Your schoolwork shows us just how dumb you really are. I don’t know where you got your empty head from but there is nothing between those ears at all but air.”
Phillips dad roared with approval at what his mom had said. His mom was smiling, as she knew that her tactful maneuver had been a success.
Phillip suddenly recoiled as his dad’s hand had come out and tried to strike him across his face. It was just a reaction that he had after many years of abuse. Even the kids at school would laugh at him when they would suddenly move and he would close his eyes and turn his head as if he felt a blow coming on. It was just an ingrained reflex that he had. Then they would relentlessly poke fun at him for doing so since they knew that he was taking classes in self-defense. Often he would wonder what good they were outside the dojang because he could never bring himself to strike back at them.
Phillip's thoughts came back to the present time to late. Not fast enough to avoid his dads blow that came down on top of his head stunning him from the force of it.
“What a mother,” his dad yelled and pulled his fist back in pain. “I’ll teach you a lesson you are never gonna forget!” Grabbing Phillip by the wrist he spun him around, then drove his big elbow into Phillips lower back. With a tickling sensation racing down his back, his legs betrayed him and he dropped to his knees.
“Remember don’t mark him up to badly. The school will want to know where they had come from if he is marked where they can see them,” his mom reminded his dad. “We can’t have us investigated again so soon, it would make for some bad trouble.”
Heeding her warning his dad kicked him in the ribs, then in the stomach making Phillips world explode into light. He curled into a fetal position in an attempt to protect himself as best he could. After a few more kicks his dad had worn himself out, as he was not in that good of shape. Phillip waited until his parents had gone back to the couch and grabbed up their beers once again. Then he crawled painfully to his bedroom to lie on his bed. In his mind he did see himself defending against his dad's assaults then taking action against him. Driving him down, and then beating him into a senseless blubbering mass. Then scared at even the thought he
would turn himself inward. After his parents had truly passed out he would go to the bathroom and soak in the tub filled with hot water. This would make him feel somewhat better. Then he would replace the hot water with cold water hoping that the swelling would not get too bad. Then again changing the water warm this would help him relax. For the first time that night lying in the tub he made up his mind that this time he really was going to run. Getting out of the tub he did feel somewhat better. What also really helped was knowing that he really was going to do it this time. Toweling off he could figure out where he was going to go. He decided that anywhere but here would be better than where he was now. He would think the rest out when he was safer and a good distance from home. Well away from the house. He had not considered it a real home for quite awhile now. He considered his home just a place to stay until he turned eighteen and got a job. Then he could leave to be on his own. Quickly throwing together some clothes and what money he had, he packed them into a shoulder type book bag. Without thinking he also grabbed up his Bo staff. Sighing deeply he wanted so bad to take his Bo staff with him, but decided against it as it would be hard to explain to the police if they caught up to him. However he did grab his chucks and some food. He placed these items into his book bag also. He thought no telling what or who was waiting for him on his trip, better to be safe than sorry.
** Runaway **
Walking out of the house he started up the road. It was about one in the morning so no one would be out and about at this time. Even if someone were to come by, he would never be seen, as he was real good at hiding in the shadows. He would not be missed for quite a long time for his parents slept late into the day. They would just assume that he was at school. Boldly he walked up the sidewalk. He thought that he would do this until he got out of town. Then he would travel east following the highway in the woods that ran beside it. He was making good time until he hit the woods. The darkness forced him to slow his pace some.