Page 89 of The Other Guy

I go to my bedroom to change clothes. I have a client coming in to the gym this afternoon who is bringing her two teenage daughters with her to learn some basic self-defense.

“We’ll see you tonight.”

“Yeah. See ya soon.”

I hang up and quickly get into a pair of shorts. The rest of my gear is already at the gym so I head out to my Jeep and make my way to the gym.

Working with fighters is great but my real passion is working with battered women. Teaching them self-defense and how to gain their confidence back. It takes a lot of courage for them to step through the doors to the gym the first time but they’re always rewarded with a strength they didn’t know they possessed when they learn to fight back in a safe environment.

It was one of the things that helped my mom overcome her fears after she left her abusive husband and seeing other women get help from it makes me happy. Mom even comes to the gym to work with some of them, gives them a safe space and someone to talk to. My family also volunteers at a local women’s shelter. For a long time after we moved to Liberty, my mom didn’t tell anyone about her past. She was not just afraid that Vince would find us, but she was also embarrassed.

A lot of women have a hard time accepting that the abuser is the only one at fault for their actions. It takes time to recognize that they didn’t do anything wrong. Often times, they’ve been fed lie after lie about their worth by someone they thought they loved and could trust. It’s a yo-yo of emotions and unfortunately, I have firsthand experience. Hell, even I thought it was my fault that Vince was that way toward my mother.

The bell above the door chimes and I greet my new clients.

“Hi, I’m Jack. You must be Melody?”

“I am. And these are my daughters, Ashley and Lexi.”

I shake their hands, noticing how nervous Ashley appears. “Nice to meet you all. I’ll get you signed in then you can head to the locker room to store any of your belongings and get changed.”

“Thank you,” Melody says with a warm smile. Melody looks to be in her lower 40s and has short, cropped blonde hair. I think I’ve heard it called a pixie cut before — and the only reason I know that is because Maggie wore her hair that way for a while. Her daughters look around sixteen or seventeen and where Ashley seems to lack confidence, Lexi has it in spades. She’s walking around the room, commenting on all the equipment and asking questions. Lexi’s wearing skin tight clothes, the shirt low cut and showing an inappropriate amount of skin, leaning over the counter to talk to me and working hard to gain my attention. Ashley, on the other hand, is practically swimming in her oversized sweatshirt and sweatpants, wrapping her arms around herself and looking anywhere but at me.

“All set,” I say after Melody’s signed for the girls and she’s paid their fee, deciding on a month-long family membership rather than just for the day. It’s a little cheaper this way.

I quickly show them to the locker rooms and call Neil from the back room for his help.

“What’s up, boss?”

“We have some one-on-ones here for self-defense. Mother and her two teenage daughters.” I lower my voice when I explain further. “Things look a little off. Opposite sisters, one wants to hide and the other…”

“Doesn’t,” he finishes for me.

“Exactly. Melody is the mom. When she called she was pretty vague. Just said that with her daughters being in high school she wanted them to learn to protect themselves. No dad in the picture, she offered that bit of information, I didn’t ask.”

“Got it.” He nods once and throws on a long sleeve workout shirt with the gym logo on it and I do the same.

When the ladies return, I introduce them to Neil and pay special attention to Ashley’s reaction. It’s possible she’s simply a shy girl, which is completely okay. But if there’s something deeper, we are here to help her through it. Neil understands the importance of our jobs just as much as I do. He doesn’t have experience with it like I do, but he’s an empath and one of the most understanding people I’ve ever met.

“Ready?”

“I think so,” Melody says, looking to her daughters. “We’re a little nervous.”

“It’s normal,” I say with a smile. “We’ll start by just doing some mild stretches and warm-ups. Obviously if you’re in a situation where you’re going to use self-defense, you won’t have time to stretch first, but this helps.”

“Sounds good.”

“Alright. Just follow Neil and me.”

We lead them in a round of basic stretches then a few things to get our heart rates up. Jumping jacks, skipping rope, lunges, then a couple more stretches. Before moving on, the three grab a drink

“Melody, you okay with starting with Neil? Ashley and Lexi, you can watch and I’ll explain what they’re doing. Then we’ll bring you in when you’re comfortable.”

They nod and Neil brings Melody in front of him, instructing her to lift her arms and follow his motions.

Neil looks at each girl directly in the eye, not for intimidation, but rather to make them feel more at ease and instructs, “One of the most important things to remember is to aim for the most sensitive parts of the body. The eyes, nose, throat, and groin areas. Avoid areas like the chest because it’s not often effective.”

“Really?” Melody asks. “You can’t just shove at them?”

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