Page 2 of Every Which Way

Stairns whipped out his arm and grabbed the back of her neck, forcing her head forward. Her body bowed under the pressure behind her neck.

Kenna reached back and grabbed his shoulder. Then she kicked out with her left leg but didn’t make contact. She held it up, touching it to the back of both of Stairns’s knees. His loose grip on the back of her head, mostly just the weight of his hand now, lessened, and she straightened enough to look at the group. “What happens if I swipe his legs?”

Someone said, “He falls back.”

“But so do you,” a woman at the back said.

Kenna nodded. “It’s possible he could take me down with him. If we both fall back, but it was my action that got us there, I’ll have an extra split second to think while he’s surprised. So there’s a chance I can get away.”

A chance that had saved her life before.

She straightened and tipped her head for Stairns to step closer to her.

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?” He moved in front of her.

Kenna grinned and several people chuckled. She put her arm around his neck, feeling the usual twinge of pain in her forearms. She’d been working on physical therapy the last few months, giving her injuries time to heal so she could lift more than her cell phone and open all doors, not just the ones that weren’t heavy to pull on.

She wrapped her arm farther around his neck from behind and grabbed her own wrist, holding loosely to everything. “I can trap my opponent, and he’ll never see my face. Once he’s immobilized, I could do whatever I want. This is something we’re going to practice because I’d like for you to know how to get out of a choke hold. It’s important that, in the heat of the moment, you don’t panic. So if we practice these things, you might, for a second, be able to have a cool head.”

She looked at the group over Stairns’ shoulder. “One partner get the other into a loose hold. I don’t want anyone getting hurt or passing out. But here’s your first tactic. The second you realize your partner is moving to choke you, I need you to do two things. First, tuck your chin as far as you can before the hold hits. Second, get your stance strong.”

Stairns said, “If they can get you on the ground, it’s harder to get out of the hold. You need to stay standing.” He shifted. “Plant one foot slightly back and keep your knees soft.”

The pairs each got into their stances. Most of the pairs were two men or two women. Considering the size difference between some of them, that was good. Interestingly, the young man was the victim, and his female friend was the attacker.

Kenna said, “Okay, all of you turn so you can see me.”

The young man winced, turned by the force of the woman’s hold.

“Make sure you’re not holding tightly on your choke. The goal is not to hurt your partner.”

The young man’s face remained impassive, maybe even resigned. She’d seen that look before on the faces of victims who didn’t believe they had any power to change a situation. It might be a stretch, and she might be projecting based on the kind of people she usually associated with, but if there was even a chance this guy needed help, she wanted to help him.

“If they’re close enough to choke you, you’re close enough to hit back. Anyone have any ideas of things you can do?”

“Jab their eye with your thumb!”

“Elbow their side.”

“Stomp on their foot.”

Kenna said, “Anything you can think of. If your airway is cut off, you have ten seconds before you’re going to pass out. That means you need to work fast. First, you have todecidethat you’re not going to be a victim. Right here, right now.”

She had an idea.

Kenna let go of Stairns and started to walk around the room. “A choke hold is a threat to your life. So, what are you going to do? I want all of you who are in the position of the victim to say this out loud.”

She took a breath. “I’m not going to be a victim.”

A couple of people murmured it.

“Louder!”

Her friend Ramon, tucked away in the van, chuckled in her ear, but he didn’t know what was going on in this room. He thought she was only pretending.

A few of the “victims” repeated her statement. She went to stand in front of the young man. “Let me hear you say it.”

His jaw flexed, determination on his face. “I’m not going to be a victim.”

---