Sam and Colby: The Penitentiary

45

Yard time came quickly that day. Much too quickly. I was really dreading it, to be honest. I didn't want to see Mike and I didn't want to have to train with Big.

I led the way out to the yard, the nine other guys trailing behind me. I immediately noticed everyone's eyes on me. I wasn't sure why, wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing. I slowed down to Big's speed so I could walk next to him.

"What's going on?" I whispered.

"They're looking at how bad your face is," he explained.

"Huh?" I asked.

"You got a bump on the head and a cut on your forehead. That's nothing compared to how violent most of the fights in here get," Big said. "Ain't that right, Mike?"

I looked up to see Mike a few feet away, standing with his arms crossed. There was a scowl on his face and he glared at us while we walked past. Except there was more than a nasty expression on his face. There was a busted lip and two black eyes. A quick glance down at his knuckles showed that they were raw, but he clearly hadn't won whatever fight he'd gotten into.

"What Big means is that the less fucked up your face is, the more scared they're going to be," said Red.

"What?" I asked.

"Dude barely touched you and you see how fucked up he is now. Everyone now sees that if there's so much as a scratch on you, we're going to come for them and we're not going to hold back," Blaze explained.

"But soon enough she'll be able to go after them herself. Right, Mom?" Big asked.

"Uh, yeah. I guess," I mumbled.

"What do you mean?" asked Corey.

"I mean I'm training her," said Big.

"Training?" asked Jake.

"Hell yeah. Girl needs it. If I hadn't walked in, her skull might be crushed on the block's floor right now. I'm assuming you'd all like her alive. For the odds of that to be high and stay high, she's got to learn to fend for herself," Big explained.

We made our way out past the basketball court to the open field just beyond it. Big told all of the other guys except Sam to go busy themselves somewhere else so that less attention would be drawn to him and me.

"Alright. It's pretty clear to me that you can learn well enough from hearing and seeing things," Big started.

"Correct," I said.

"That's good. Very good. But that's not how this shit works. You learn how to fight from experience," he said. "You're going to fight Golbach."

"I'm what?" I asked.

"Yeah, she's what?" Sam repeated.

"You're the closest in height and you've both got the quickest reflexes out of the group. You're a pretty even match compared to the other guys here. Of course Golbach is bigger and stronger, but I think Mom would rather fight Golbach than me," said Big. Uh, yeah. I would. Big was almost seven feet tall and incredibly buff. He could sneeze too hard and I'd fall over.

"Um... alright," I said. "So that's it? You're just going to have me fight people until I get better at it? No offense, but I feel like there should be some basic level of teaching here."

"Oh, there will be. But it's like a pretest. I've got to figure out what you don't know so I can teach it to you. So you guys are going to fight. Golbach, don't hold back on her. You won't hurt her that bad. I'll step in before that can happen," said Big.

"God danggit," Sam sighed.

"Stay away from each other's faces for right now. And don't fight dirty. Not yet. No scratching or biting or hair pulling or anything. And don't go for his balls, okay?" Big said.

"Please," Sam said.

"Oh lord. Yeah, okay," I said.

It took Big five minutes to convince either of us to so much as get within three feet of each other. Eventually Big threatened to send in Shag instead, but I would much rather fight Sam.

Sam and I went for about three rounds, each time ending with me knocked onto the ground. Big just stood there with his arms crossed, studying everything I did.

"You're going too easy on her," Big eventually said.

"What!" Sam exclaimed. "I'm knocking her onto the ground, though."

"Yeah, so? Tripping over a shoelace will also knock her onto the ground," Big said. "Again. You're both getting some good hits in, but you're being little bitches about it. Golbach, as an extra motivation factor, you and Mom might get into trouble at the same time. If I've got to choose between the two of you, I'm saving her first. This is practice for you, too. If you can't seriously kick this girl's ass in the next five minutes, you're a lost cause."

We went again. Five minutes passed with no clear winner, aside from the fact that Sam was still knocking me over every few hits.

"Tough luck. Shag! Get over here," Big called. "Thanks, Golbach." Sam turned and went over to the other guys who were all talking on the bleachers.

"What's up?" asked Shag, jogging over.

"Girl needs to learn how to fight," Big said.

"Sure fuckin' does. Boys gonna tear her up sooner or later unless she learns somethin'," said Shag.

"I agree. So you're going to help her learn something," Big said.

"Aw, man. I gotta hit a girl?" Shag whined.

"Either you do it with the intention to help her out down the road or another guy does it with the intention to seriously hurt her," Big reasoned.

"Yeah, okay. Fair 'nough. Sorry, chica," Shag said. "Just bodies? No face?"

"Just bodies. And no fighting dirty yet. Keep it simple for now," said Big. "Girl doesn't know shit yet."

"I'm sorry in advance, girl. You know I love ya," said Shag.

"Let's go, we've only got twenty more minutes out here," Big said.

"Sure thing," Shag said. Big backed away from us and Shag planted his feet on the ground, which I copied. I wasn't used to being so... so bad at something. Most things I could study or figure out on my own, but Big was right about this. You had to live it to learn it.

Shag got in three solid punches until I was on the ground.

"Hey, buddy. Really? Her? Out here?" Waco asked, strolling over.

"No, she's okay. He's not fighting her. He's teaching her," Big said.

"Ah. I see. Atkins, you tell me you're fine and I won't interrupt this again," Waco said.

"Fine," I wheezed from the ground, holding my side.

"Good enough for me," Waco shrugged, walking back over to lean against the door and watch all of us.