Page 44 of Infinite as They Come
“I don’t know how to be scary.”
I laughed. “Well, you don’t have to be scary. You just have to let them know that you won’t take shit from them.”
“You swear a lot.”
“I know. Bad habit,” I said, looking down at his feet. “They ever corneryou, the first thing you gotta do is make sure you’re standing good. One wrong move and you’re falling over, right? So, don’t keep your feet so close together like that. Keep them shoulder width apart.”
He nodded, shuffling on his feet a little until he got into position. “Like this?”
“Yeah, like that. See, your balance is better now,” I said. “Alright, what’s next? What do you usually do when those guys are in your face?”
“Um…” His eyes rolled up to the sky behind his glasses. “Yell for a teacher?”
“But they’re not always around, right? Like the other day when you were in the park? What happens when you’re on your own? So…” I curled my fingers at him. “Punch me.”
His eyes widened. “Punch you?”
“Go for it. You can do it.”
“I don’t wanna hurt you.”
“You can hurt me. I can take it. Just one punch.”
Finally, he let out a long breath and gave me a nod that looked a little more sure. “Okay. Just one. Tell me if it hurts.”
I held back a smile as he balled his little fist up and swung it my way, and I was quick to hold my own arm up to block him. It was easy enough. He was small and moved slowly, but he still looked up at me with big eyes like I just defied gravity.
“Whoa,” he whispered.
“You can do the same thing. Those kids are gonna move faster. And maybe you think they’re stronger, but that doesn’t mean you can’t defend yourself. Now,” I said, grabbing one of his little legs and adjusting his stance again, “you stand like that, and I’m gonna throw a punch at you.”
He held his hands up. “Wait.”
“I won’t hurt you. I want you to do what I did. Block the punch. You can do it. I’ll go slow, okay? And I promise I won’t hurt you.”
Shoving his glasses up his nose, he nodded. “Okay. I trust you.”
And those words meant more to me than he realized. I didn’t even know I wanted to hear them, really. My head shook, trying to ground myself back in the moment as I slowly and gently moved my arm towards him, and hehesitantly shot his little one up. My fist didn’t touch him, and a slow smile spread across his face.
“I did it!” he said, surprise laced there in his voice. “I can’t believe I did it.”
“I can. You did good. But I was moving slow, right? Those kids aren’t gonna be taking their time. Let’s try this a little faster now. You can do it.”
We spent the next half hour there in the park. Spencer was hesitant and a little awkward with his hands, but he was a quick learner. He kept looking up at me with wonder as I went on and on, like I was giving him some lifechanging advice. For a kid who was so sweet, he seemed plenty excited about learning how to kick someone’s ass.
But it was getting later and later, and I remembered what he had said the other day: about his dad and mom—my mom too—getting worried when he got home late.
“How about we call it a day?” I asked, pushing a hand through my hair. “I should get you home. I’ll drive you. Come on.”
“Okay,” he said, his little fingers brushing up against mine, curling towards me.
I held his hand, feeling too protective over a kid I had just met a few times. But he was my brother. My little brother. I was supposed to look out for him.
“How’d you learn all this?” he asked. “How to fight so good?”
“Uh…” My tongue clicked. “I watch a lot of hockey. Maybe you should watch some. You’ll learn a lot. You like hockey?”
Slowly, he gave his head a little shake. “No. I don’t like sports.”
