Page 43 of Infinite as They Come
“Spencer.”
“Those guys are bigger than me. They’ll just do it again and it’ll be worse this time. It’ll be worse if I tell!”
Spencer wasn’t the kind of kid to fight back. I could tell. It was funny, because I had been the complete opposite back in school. Defending myself had become second nature, but it seemed like he didn’t have that in him.
“Please don’t make me tell anyone,” he said, voice all pleading.
My eyes stayed stuck ahead of me. I felt stupidly protective over him. It was obvious he was a little sensitive, and that didn’t make him weak or anything, but combining that with his quietness meant that he had a target on his back. But still, even the calmest of animals bit back eventually if you pissed them off enough.
“I won’t make you do anything you don’t wanna,” I said. “But you can’t let those guys give you shit, you know?”
“They’re all bigger than me, Sawyer. I don’t even know how to fight. I’ll lose.”
“I should teach you,” I muttered with a laugh.
From the corner of my eye, I could see his head snapping towards me. “You will?”
I frowned, giving my head a shake. “I was just kidding.”
“Mom and Dad always say violence isn’t the answer.”
“They’re…” I cleared my throat. “Right.”
“Do you know how to fight?”
“Depends on what you mean by fight.”
“Can you teach me?” He tugged at the end of my shirt. “Please?”
“I can’t teach you how to fight, Spencer.”
“Why?”
“Because… violence isn’t the answer,” I said, but there was zero conviction in my voice. Fuck, violence was the only answer sometimes, and if I was in Spencer’s position, I would have been swinging the second I walked through the school gates. “Peace and love or whatever.”
“Well, can Holly teach me?”
I snorted. “Holly? Holly doesn’t know how to fight. We should organize that, actually. Would be fun to see.”
“Well, who else will teach me?”
We slowed down at a red light and I finally looked at him again, his eyes all big and pleading behind his glasses. He slid them up at his nose, and I swore he was doing it on purpose, because how the hell was I supposed to say no that?
“You really wanna learn how to fight?” I asked.
He gave me a firm nod. “Really. Please, Sawyer. Please, please, please.”
I leaned against the steering wheel with a long breath. “What are big brothers for?”
* * *
Me and Spencer found an empty park to practice in not too far from his place. I had never had to teach someone to fight before. It was just something I knew, something I had to adapt to, because defending myself was the only way I would survive. But Spencer? He was giving me a wide-eyed look as I kneeled in front of him so we could see each other face to face.
“We’ll do the basics,” I said. “Have you ever thrown a punch?”
His head shook. “No. I don’t know how to. That’s why I need you to teach me. I just want them to leave me alone.”
Those words went straight to my heart, my fingers rubbing at my forehead. “Yeah, me too. They think you’re not gonna fight back, which is why they keep messing with you. You gotta scare ‘em a little.”
