has bruised ribs. You hit him repeatedly. I know that. And either you don’t care that it hurts or you enjoy it.”
The street was completely silent. There was no noise…no traffic sounds, no HVAC humming from any of the buildings around us. Nothing. It was like we were in an acoustic bubble.
“That’s none of your—”
“You’ve got two choices. Either as your son’s teacher I call the police, where I am certain you’ll end up in jail, or you’ll start seeing a friend of mine who is a counselor. Either way, you will never work with Charlie on karate. Ever.”
I saw the anger rise in his eyes. I was simultaneously watching all of him. I saw his right arm begin to tense.
“Don’t,” I said calmly. “I’m faster than you, and I want to hurt you very much.” I took a minute step closer.
He looked at me again, and the anger in his eyes changed. It reflected another basic emotion. Very primal. Fear.
“You will also take a martial art class. Not mine. A tai chi class. I’ll tell you where. And just so we’re clear, you won’t stop the counseling or the tai chi before you’re told it’s okay to do so.”
He didn’t say anything.
“I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll give you those names tomorrow and you’ll call them on Monday morning. I’ll check by the afternoon.”
He continued to stare at me.
“The next time I see you will be at Charlie’s green belt test. I don’t want to see you before that. Do you understand?”
He nodded.
“Go.” I motioned to his car.
He retrieved his keys, and looked at me. I just stared at him, expressionless. He beeped his car open, climbed in, and started the engine. He pulled out of the space without looking at me again.
6
I opened my eyes at 3 AM, which was now my norm, to see Katie watching me. “Hi there,” I said.
She smiled. “Hi.”
“So, my dear, I know why I’m awake. What about you? Everything okay?”
“I just woke up a minute ago and there you are.”
I kissed her. She moved closer and I looped my arm around the back of her head. She simultaneously leaned forward and rolled a little closer so I could put my other arm around her shoulders.
“Now that we’re both awake…” I began.
“Yes?”
“I want you to tell me a story.”
The light from the street washed into the room, creating a stillness.
“What about?” she looked into my eyes.
“I don’t know. Tell me about your family.”
“My family?”
“Back in the day. What did they do?”
“You’re a little weird, you know that?”
“And proud of it. Now talk. Tell me whatever you know about…your grandparents.”
“My grandparents. Okay.” She thought for a moment. “I’ll tell you about my grandmother on my mother’s side. There was some sort of a scandal.”
“Oooh. Juicy.”
“My grandmother was born in Russia in a very small town about 200 miles south of St. Petersburg. From what I’ve been told, her father, my great-grandfather, owned a small farm, a very small farm. I think he had, like, two cows that he was able to milk. My grandmother was the oldest of three. She had a younger brother and a younger sister. The brother was in the middle. My grandmother, when she was about 17, fell in love with one of the boys in her village. The parents on both sides didn’t get along from what I understand, but all relented and my grandmother married the boy a year later.”
“So where’s the scandal?”
“Patience. So my grandmother stayed at home and made babies. My grandmother’s brother, the one in the middle, was sent off to the nearest big town to study and get a job.”
“It’s good to be a man.”
“Stop.” Katie poked me in the ribs. “Well, apparently, while he was there he hooked up with a peasant girl from another village and they ran off together.”
“Never to be heard from again.”
“Actually, from what I’ve been told, he came back home to get his father’s blessing. The whole thing caused a big rift because his mother wanted him to get the blessing, but his father was too angry.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. I think eventually the father listened to his wife and supported them.”
“What about the younger sister?”
“The younger sister was a firecracker.”
“A firecracker?”
“Yeah. Don’t make fun of me. She was always a rebel. After her brother went off to the city to get a job, she met a guy passing through her village. He was like a revolutionary and the younger sister was instantly attracted to him. Of course her parents forbade her from becoming involved with him.”
“Okay, wait a minute.” I let a second pass as I thought. “Don’t tell me… she ran off with him to the city, and they became involved in protests against the Russian government.”
“Yes. How did you know that?”
“Then eventually the Russian government sent the army in to throw all the people out of their homes.”
“That’s right.”
“You’re so full of crap.”
Katie looked at me with innocent eyes.
“You just described Fiddler on the Roof.”
“Did not.”
“Yeah. You switched around the daughters and some other stuff…made one a guy, but that’s the story.”
“Okay, you got me there, Tevye. I stopped into a Jewish History class at school last week and they were watching the movie.”
“You’re so full of crap,” I repeated and pulled her close. I looked up at the ceiling for a long moment. I could feel the rise and fall of her torso as she breathed. Katie had deflected my request to tell me about her family, but I let it go for now.
“Gidon?”
“Hmmm?”
