Fifty Pushups Miss ☑️

Ch42 Lessons

I reached the ground on time, but didn't find Killer there.
I could hear that heavy voice though. "Look around dammit! Mark your man!" he was shouting at the boys on football field.
Nick was playing with the boys, so obviously he was getting a part of Killer's taunts too.

I went and stood behind him.
He noticed me, and blew the whistle, stopping the game.
All the boys, including Nick, took deep breath. Killer started walking away and Nick came to me.
"You're a saviour" he laughed and blew his whistle.
The game restarted with Nick now standing out as a coach.

I rushed to follow my instructor.
"What are you planning to do?" his question caught me off guard.
"Workout?"
I didn't know what he wanted to hear.

He hung his head down with a jerk.
Okay, so that was a wrong answer.
"I'm asking about your future. What are you planning to do in life?"
Did he really ask me this? I thought he minds his own business.
"I.. I don't know. May be.. do honors, and get a decent job.."

"You're not the job type. Go for something better."
"What do you mean?" I didn't know where this conversation was heading to, but I wasn't afraid to ask him.

"Ever thought of following your father's footsteps?"
Dad's words were echoing again. 'You're my blood! Fierce and fast! Enter the army and you'll reach great heights!'
My reply to him was always the same. 'I want to stay alive as long as possible.'
But, I dare not say this to the man limping in front of me. He'll kick me out of this world in a moment.

"Never thought about it. I don't think I'm made for this." I pointed at the academy while stressing at the last word.
"If you are sure, then don't. Unsure people stay unhappy here. But if one day your heart says yes, then do it."
I nodded, knowing what he meant.

We reached the ground.
He made me run a few rounds. I have accepted their stupid concept of warm-up.
As I came and stood in front of him, he presented his palm to me. " Punch. Thrice. With your right fist and all the power you have."
I did as he said. His hand didn't move at all.

Then he bent down a little bit, bringing his arm in front. "Kick with your right leg. Try to hit with the area a little above your ankle. Use full strength."
I followed him again.
He straightened up, with furrows on his forehead.
"What is more comfortable for you? Kicking or punching?"

It was my turn to be confused. He sensed it and we did the whole thing, again.
"I think punches are better. It's difficult to target with the foot."
He nodded in acceptance.
"Let's go."

And, here we are again.
At the gym.
I'm starting to get scared of this place.

He went to a punching bag, stroked his hand over it like his long lost lover, and suddenly punched it, hard!
The bag swayed in air because of that single impact. He must have hit it very hard. A heavy thing like that moves so violently only if hit by strong force, my basic physics knowledge says that.

He came back with small pads over both his hands and stood in front of me.
I had no clue whether I'm supposed to hit them, and if yes, then how.

"Show your basic skills. Imagine that you are getting attacked by these pads. Try to defend yourself and hit back. No one is judging you, so just let your reflexes act, without getting conscious."

Thank god he said the last part.
Oh crap!
I saw something about to hit my face, I moved back just in time. God! He's after my nose or what?

He did it again and i moved one more step backwards.
The third time he did it, I hit hard on his hand, imagining it to be his face. Oh it felt so good to break his nose.
While i enjoyed that, something hit my head on the other side. He has two hands, Jane!

"Focus!" that was more of a threat.
I nodded. He did it again and again.
I was getting good at it.
After sometime I was able to hit him, defending his every attempt to break my skull.
But it was becoming boring now.

I knew which hand he'll bring next.
Then it happened. I was ready to punch on the pad approaching my face when he hit my abs.
It wasn't life-taking painful, but it was just tolerable. If he had decided to hit me harder, I would have gone to Ren.

I bent down to ease the ache.
"Watch your enemy, carefully, all the time."
I suddenly remembered him shouting at Ren 'Watch both hands' when she and uncle James were fighting. She learnt it in much harder way than me.

"Yes sir."
That was the first rule of fighting I learnt from him.
For the next two hours, he made me defend different moves.
I knew that's not his normal pace or strength of hits, he's just keeping it slow and light for me to be able to judge and hit back.

"Always cover your face. It's the most important part of your body. If you get a strong hit there, you can get blind or bleed from your nose, or lose a few teeth, or worst, get a blackout. You should use this knowledge to save yourself and attack your enemy. Go for his face when you think he's not ready."
I never thought of it! He's right. Second rule.
A good punch on face can do serious damage.
That's why he was asking Ren to cover her face that day.

Gosh I can relate so many things now.

My face was his next target for a few minutes.
I had already got one nice punch on my nose, and one on each cheek.
I was praying to God for helping me, when my angel arrived.

I knew Ren has come, because Killer just stopped hitting my face, had a big smile on his face and he threw the pads on the floor, all in one moment.
"oh yes! My prize is here!"
He sang in joy.

I turned around to see Ren with bent shoulders and a skeptical look on her face.
"Not without gloves, plumcake." she snapped at him.

"All the fun is without gloves. And you just worsened it for yourself." he grinned from ear to ear while picking up boxing gloves and wearing them.

"Willy this is not the time to take revenge. You should help..."
"Haha, you wish." that devil laugh sounds so hot, but none of us like it.

He scared us both by hitting his gloves against each other with a loud sound.
It reminded me of those WWF fights back then, when one fighter entered the ring only to kill the other one.

"Wills, I don't trust you now. I want her to note the timing." she pointed at me.
"As you wish." he handed over me a stopwatch.
"She'll do 20 crunches, and you'll check her timing. Then you'll let me screw her happiness for the same amount of time after she gets up."
He said the last part with a smirk, looking at Ren, who was now regretting her decision.

I still wasn't sure what was about to happen, but it was just a matter of few minutes.
I nodded, and his payback started.

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Finally a big chapter.
And I enjoyed writing this one.
Things are finally moving!

Thanks for following... :)