My father brought the pot from the stove and began to serve the stew.
'And this Aurelio kid shouldn't have to fear for his life every day at school,' my father said.
'No,' Cash said. 'He shouldn't.'
We all ate some of the stew. Pearl sat close by my leg staring at my plate, just in case.
Patrick put down his fork and drank some beer from the bottle and put the beer down and wiped his mouth with his napkin.
'You won't have much trouble with one-on-one,' he said, and grinned. 'You been well trained.'
I nodded.
'But if you gotta go up against a bunch of guys, there's some tactics to think about.'
'You've all taught me how to fight more than one guy,' I said. 'How to punch and pivot and punch and slide. You been drilling me for years.'
'That's fighting two people,' Cash said. 'Maybe even three.'
'But with a bunch of people,' Patrick said, 'you gotta pick out the leader.'
'And separate him from the others,' Cash said.
'So it's just you and him, one-on-one,' Patrick said. 'Not you against ten.'
I nodded. Pearl rested her head on my thigh.
'Any kind of confrontation,' my father said, 'you need to manage it. Don't let the other guy manage it.'
'If I can,' I said.
'If you can,' my father said.
'And if I can't?'
'You run,' my father said.
'Run?'
'Sure, running is part of managing the situation. You're outnumbered or outmanned, run, come back to it when you can manage it.'
'I can't just run,' I said.
My father looked at my uncles, then back at me.
'We been teaching you how to fight,' my father said. 'We have not been teaching you how to be a fool.'
Cash and Patrick nodded. All three of them looked at me. I nodded.
'You're a tough kid,' my father said. 'It's probably in your bloodlines. You're going to be a tough man.'
'And pretty soon,' Patrick said. 'You've grown up a lot since you went down the river with Jeannie.'
'Where,' Cash said, 'you were brave enough, but you also had to run away from Luke in order to manage the situation.'
'Same with the black bear,' Patrick said.
It all suddenly seemed to kick in.
'Yes,' I said. 'That's right.'
