James rushes out of the door of the office. He makes a bee line for his car and turns over the engine. He speeds off to his Dojo and almost leaps out of his car. He nearly kicks the door of the hinges as he storms into the small gym. His instruction Master Wolfe catches James gaze instantly.
James walks right up to the shorter man and smiles, “Coach, I was wondering if you were in the mood to kick my ass with me?”
“You don’t appear to be wearing proper clothes, are you alright?” Master Wolfe spoke through his smile.
James looks over this button down and slacks combo, his nose was still a little red and raw to the touch as well. “I hate this shirt anyway,” He pops into a fighting stance and nods his head to his sensei.
The two men are alone in the decrepit building and are happily exchanging shots to the body and arms. Some shots land flush, others are pulled so as to not create as much force, sparring is designed to train, and James knows this. James’ able to block a palm strike and then flip his Sensei onto the ground. The young man quickly pops right back up and grins, “Someone has been practicing I see.” The sparring continues, until finally James is able to back-sweep his Sensei and gain a full ankle lock. With no way out Wolfe taps James’ arm signaling he has lost the fight to his student.
James releases his grip and splatters down on the floor next to his Teacher. Both men are covered in sweat and small bruises. After a few moments to catch their breath, they begin stretching to “cool down.”
James reaches out for one of his feet, “Thank you for sparring with me Master Wolfe.”
Wolfe laughs and looks around his gym, “James there is no else here,” He shakes his head, “Ever. And you can call me Brian.”
James smiles and takes his shirt off to use wipe his mouth. He checks his ribs and doesn’t notice any blood dripping, “She does good work.”
“So you want to tell me what happened?” Brian wipes his face with part of gee.
James touches his stitches for notices that the pain really is gone. Without looking at Brian he says, “I walked into a nail sticking out of the wall in my apartment. That place is falling apart.”
Brian rolled his eyebrows, “Well whoever put you back together…”
“Did an amazing job,” James interrupts with a grin. “I need to head out.”
“Not a problem,” Brian walks James to the door, “You should know I am considering moving the Dojo,” Brian sighed, “Who am I kidding? This shithole is shutting down.”
James stands for a moment in the threshold of the doorway and frowns, he sticks out his hand to his Sensei, “Well Im sure I can track you down wherever you end up. All the same, thank you again for the knowledge.”
Brian grabs James’ hand, “James I know times are tough,” he laughs, “Trust me I know that, so if you ever want to come work with me, I think you would a fine Sensei.”
James smiles and bows one more time. He pops back into his car and starts his drive home. His phone buzzes and at the next red light James checks the message, “Cell phone overdue” and like that his phone changes to “no service.” He nods at the nod and tosses it into the passenger seat. He checks his gas, “Going to need to refuel soon.” He arrives at his apartment a short time later and parks next to his favorite orange hot rod. He has a spring in his step as he gets to his door, he unlocks the door and sees Lisa sleeping in his bed.
He stands there confused as the door slams itself shut, startling Lisa back to consciousness.
She blinks and smiles, “Hey.”
“Why are you sleeping in my bed? How did you get in here?” James tries to remember if everything that should be hidden, is.
Lisa grabs something from under the covers and hands it to him. “You took off so fast I wasn’t able to give you this extra key back. I just locked my apartment and came here to house sit for you.” She smiles.
James stands still and scrunches his face, “Why not just lock my door and wait for me to knock on your door?”
She removes some of the bed sheets and shows James that she is only wearing a smile, “Because.”
James still doesnt move, he just looks at her looking back at him. He thinks about everything he needs to do tonight. He knows he needs to find the money to pay his phone bill, he needs gas, he needs a shower. But the one thing he can’t deny she looks like the most beautiful woman in the world. He sighs, “Look I would love to not do what I am about to do right now but it’s getting late and I need a shower and to head to my second job.” He pauses for a second, “I don’t have a lot of sick time built up there and all.” The lies are becoming second nature to him.
“I could always wait here.”
He rolls his head, “I will be a while, likely until the morning, Night jobs and all.”
She stands up in front of him, “So did you want some company for your shower?”
He coughs and laughs, “OK. But then you have to go so I can get ready.”
Shes takes her time walking to the shower and turns on the water, “Are you going to be doing anything tomorrow? She looks behind herself at James who has followed her.
“Tomorrow is Saturday right?” He looks down and smiles, he cant look at her as much as he wants to, “I am always free on Saturdays.”
Time has passed and now he is sitting alone in his apartment. He has finally figured out how to best wear his bulletproof vest. He looks at the mirror and studies the face in it for a moment. He can’t believe it, but the face in the mirror is actually smiling back at him.”Well this just wont do.” He walks over to his closet and straps some knives to his belt then tucks a pair of brass knuckles into his pocket. Finally he takes out his gun and checks it to make sure the clip is completely empty. He then takes the weapon and points it at the smiling face in the mirror.
His reflection frowns. “Just remember that you are going out there with something you have never gone out there with. Hope. Don’t let that get us killed.”
He loads the gun properly and puts it between his belt and pants. He tosses a large shirt over his vest and takes one last look in the mirror. “perfect.”
The Art of Ric Susman 