When the kata ended, my brothers and I bowed to a cheering audience clapping happily for us. I glanced over at my brothers, whose faces looked just as content as I felt. We all loved this.
Mom taught us well. Knowing we would need to defend ourselves from Dr. Williams, she trained us to be warriors. Living back on the ranch with no other kids around, we didn’t know it was unusual to have the education we did from our mom. We thought lots of kids grew up with combat training. Like some kids went to soccer practice or took piano, I assumed some kids practiced and excelled in the art of guerilla warfare, like me. I was also unaware of our superior strength compared to an average human being. Only able to practice with my brothers and my mom, I thought everyone could do what I did.
Though mom was a regular human being, she had skills and training achieved through years of service as a special-forces soldier. She had trained her mind just as much as her body. She taught us how to push ourselves beyond what we thought we could do; and being metas, we could do a lot. She conditioned us to become extremely controlled, precise and if need be, lethal.
I was thinking about mom in the seconds that flashed just as we completed our kata. I felt a wave of gratefulness for everything she did for us; all the sacrifices she made to protect us. But my reverie was broken when I heard Alik call, “Ready, hep!” It was our transition signal to begin a different demonstration. I couldn’t help but smile in anticipation. All three siblings faced each other in a loose triangle.
Just as we were about to bow, indicating to those watching that we were about to begin battling each other, something caught my eye.
There, standing next to a tree in the grassy courtyard, was Creed. He was holding a couple drinks looking bug-eyed surprised. And if I were honest with myself, he also looked embarrassed. Oh, good grief! Of all the stupid things my brothers have gotten me into, this was the most humiliating! I glanced away quickly. C’mon Meg…focus.
By the time I glanced back, Creed was gone. Maybe I was mistaken. Maybe that hadn’t been Creed and my eyes were playing tricks on me. I tried to convince myself that was the case so I could complete the task at hand. Namely kicking my brothers’ butt!
“I know you two want to jump right into it, but how about we set some rules?” Evan spoke over the crowd that was quickly growing around us.
“Half?” Alik called to me.
“Fine.” I smiled watching my brothers carefully. “Half” to us meant we would hit with only half our strength so as not to cause lasting damage.
We moved around watching each other carefully. Throughout the years, we practiced many two-against-one battles. So the fluidity of our movements probably made what we were doing look easy. Alik punched, I dodged and swept his leg. Alik jumped and spun into a kick to my chest and landed gracefully on his feet.
“Oh, come on! Quit dancing around you two,” Evan chided and made the first move to strike outside the predictable. His strategy was perfect. Alik had expected him to go after me, so the double punch to his side caught him completely off guard. Even as Alik worked to defend himself, my round house kick knocked him on his back.
The crowd cheered, but I was ignoring everyone except my brothers. I jumped toward Alik and whipped my hand right into his chest. Evan came up behind me and grabbed me around the neck. One quick shift of my hips and I flipped him onto his back, but apparently this was the plan, because even as Evan was flying, Alik knocked me down face first into the cold, damp autumn grass and ranked my elbow up and behind me. His knee was digging in my back painfully. The crowd gasped.
“Spill it,” Alik spoke softly to the back of my head.
“You’ve gained weight, little brother. Get off me!” I growled, red-faced.
“Not until you spill it,” Alik cooed.
“You two ganged up on me! Evan, how could you?” I called to him trying to guilt him into helping me.
Evan shrugged and smiled sweetly. “It’s for your own good.”
The crowd was murmuring—obviously concerned for the poor girl getting her face planted into the ground by the brothers.
“I could scream. That would make you look like bullies to all these people.” I tried to leverage.
“You wouldn’t dare because that would make you look like a weak little girl crying for help,” Alik chided using a voice that was supposed to sound like mine.
“Just spill it, so we can get this over with. Don’t you want to hurry back to mom?” Evan pleaded.
“Low blow, Ev,” I said seriously. “Fine, I’ll say it...,” and hesitated because I hated to give in to these oafs. They were not going to be okay with Creed.
“Any day now, Meg.” Alik shifted his weight a little more heavily onto my back.
“Uuhhggg…okay, okay…I met a guy. Now let me up,” I yelled.
“You what?” Evan looked completely shocked.