“Who’s with him?” I was getting confused.
Rose said, “You wouldn’t be the first man to take a woman by force and never doubt your right.”
“Oh,” I said.
“We back down from you now,” Jane said, “and it will be easier next time. So we’ll draw the line here, up front, first time.”
“But if you do,” I said, “you’ll make me use force. Not to take anyone, but to see that she’s in fact okay.”
“You saw that yesterday,” Jane said. The color was higher on her cheekbones now, and more intense. “You told me you saw Pam and Rose go shopping together.
”I don’t think you’ve got her chained in the attic,“ I said. ”But duress includes managing the truth. If she has no chance to hear me and reject me for herself she’s not free, she’s under a kind of duress.“
”Don’t you try to force your way in,“ Jane said. ”You’ll regret it, I promise you.“ She had stepped back away from me and shifted into a martial arts stance, her feet balanced at right angles to each other in a kind of T stance, her open hands held in front of her in another kind of T, the left hand vertical, the right horizontal above it. She looked like she was calling for time out. Her lips were pulled back and her breath made a hissing sound as it squeezed out between her teeth.
”You had lessons?“ I asked.
Rose Alexander said, ”Jane is very advanced in karate. Do not treat her lightly. I don’t wish to hurt you, but you must leave.“ Her black eyes were quite wide and bright as she spoke. Her round pleasant face was flushed. I didn’t believe the part about not wishing to hurt me.
”Well, I’m between a rock and a hard place right now. I don’t want you to hurt me either, and I don’t take Jane lightly. On the other hand the more you don’t want me to see Pam Shepard, the more I think I ought to. I could probably go for the cops, but by the time we got back, Pam Shepard would be gone. I guess I’m going to have to insist.“
Jane kicked me in the balls. Groin just doesn’t say it. I’d never fought with a woman before and I wasn’t ready. If felt like it always does: nausea, weakness, pain and an irresistible compulsion to double over. I did double over. Jane chopped down on the back of my neck. I twisted away and the blow landed on the big trapezious muscles without doing any serious damage. I straightened up. It hurt but not as much as it was going to if I didn’t make a comeback. Jane aimed the heel of her hand at the tip of my nose. I banged her hand aside with my right forearm and hit her as hard a left hook as I’ve used lately, on the side of her face, near the hinge of her jaw. She went over backward and lay on the floor without motion. I’d never hit a woman before and it scared me a little. Had I hit her too hard? She was a big woman but I must have outweighed her by forty pounds. Rose Alexander dropped to her knees beside Jane, and having got there didn’t know what to do. I got down too, painfully, and felt her pulse. It was nice and strong and her chest heaved and fell steadily. ”She’s okay,“ I said. ”Probably better than I am.“
At the far end of the hall was a raised panel door that had been painted black. It opened and Pam Shepard came through it. There were tears running down her face. ”It’s me,“ she said. ”It’s my fault, they were just trying to protect me. If you’ve hurt her it’s my fault.“
Jane opened her eyes and stared up blankly at us. She moved her head. Rose Alexander said, ”Jane?“
I said, ”She’s going to be all right, Mrs. Shepard. You didn’t make her kick me in the groin.“
She too got down on the floor beside Jane. I got out of the way and leaned on the door jamb with my arms folded, trying to get the sick feeling to go away, and trying not to show it. People did not seem to be warming to me down here. I hoped Jane and Eddie never got together.
Jane was on her feet, Pam Shepard holding one arm and Rose Alexander the other. They went down the hall toward the black door. I followed along. Through the door was a big kitchen. A big old curvy-legged gas stove on one wall, a big oilcloth-covered table in the middle of the room, a couch with a brown corduroy spread along another wall. There was a pantry at the right rear and the walls were wainscoted narrow deal boards that reminded me of my grandmother’s house. They sat Jane down in a black leather upholstered rocker. Rose went to the pantry and returned with a wet cloth. She washed Jane’s face while Pam Shepard squeezed Jane’s hand. ”I’m all right,“ Jane said and pushed the wet cloth away. ”How the hell did you do that,“ she said to me. ”That kick was supposed to finish you right there.“
”I am a professional thug,“ I said.
”It shouldn’t matter,“ she said, frowning in puzzlement. ”A kick in the groin is a kick in the groin.“
”Ever do it for real before?“
”I’ve put in hours on the mat.“
”No, not instruction. Fighting. For real.“
”No,“ she said. ”But I wasn’t scared. I did it right.“
”Yeah, you did, but you got the wrong guy. One of the things that a kick in the groin will do is scare the kickee. Aside from the pain and all, it’s not something he’s used to and he cares about the area and he tends to double over and freeze. But I’ve been kicked before and I know that it hurts, but it’s not fatal. Not even to my sex life. And so I can force myself through the pain.“
”But…“ She shook her head.
”I know,“ I said. ”You thought you had a weapon that made you impregnable. That would keep people from shoving you around and the first time you use it you get cold-cocked. It is a ninety-five, I can bench-press three hundred pounds. I used to be a fighter. And I scuffle for a living. The karate will still work for you. But you gotta remember it’s not a sport in the street.“
”You think, goddamn you, you think it’s because you’re a man…“
”Nope. It’s because a good big person will beat a good small person every time. Most men aren’t as good as I am. A lot of them aren’t as good as you are.“
They were all looking at me and I felt isolated, unwelcome and uneasy. I wished there were another guy there. I said to Pam Shepard, ”Can we talk?“
Rose Alexander said, ”You don’t have to say a word to him, Pam.“
