Jaime took a deep breath and redirected his thoughts to being a good karate student. “Konbanwa, Sempai.”
* * * *
As soon as he stepped out of the changing room, Tyler spotted Jaime entering the dojo in his uniform. Come to think of it, Jaime always arrived in his uniform and left that way, while most students used the dojo changing rooms. Either Jaime really liked his privacy, or he was nervous about changing with the other guys. If it was the former, Tyler could understand. By the way Jaime averted his eyes whenever one of the guys passed him, Tyler had a suspicion it was the latter.
“Konbanwa, Sempai,” Cynthia greeted Tyler as soon as she spotted him entering the dojo.
Jaime joined in with the other students in the greeting. When he emerged from his respectful bow, Tyler was pleased to see Jaime’s eyes looking directly at him. It was a tentative glance that didn’t last more than a second, but it gave Tyler hope that Jaime could be drawn out of his shell.
Whenever he looked at Jaime, Tyler thought of his best friend’s younger brother. The kid followed them around everywhere. They got him into more trouble than he could dream of, but Ben and Tyler were always there to bail him out. And Jaime definitely looked like he could use someone to watch his back. While his skittish nature brought out the protective side of most of the women in class, it was like waving a red flag in front of the young men who thought harder and faster were the only ways to win a fight. Their bravado was their shield. Tyler loved stepping into the ring with one of them and seeing their confidence deflate at the sight of his belt. Sparring was as much mental as it was physical. And everyone had some challenge to overcome.
Tyler spotted Randy kneeling in front of a red-cheeked white belt from the children’s class. The boy was no more than seven and sniffled as he nodded. Randy gave the boy a pat on the back and sent him on his way to his waiting parents.
“How did the kids’ class go?” Tyler asked Randy.
Randy shrugged. “Should a room full of rug rats be more terrifying than a black belt testing panel?”
“On a good day.” Tyler smiled. He was grateful when Randy had received his black belt and took over as Sensei Melissa’s assistant for the children’s class. On a good day, they were a handful. On a bad day, there wasn’t enough ibuprofen to dull the headache their screaming induced. “What happened with Jake?”
Randy glanced at the boy who bowed at the edge of the dojo on his way out. His face was still beet red, but the trail of tears on his cheeks had dried.
“He got into a fight at school,” Randy explained. “He didn’t start it, but he sure did finish it.”
“What was the fight about?”
“Some kid was picking on a girl in his class and Jake took exception to it.” Randy shrugged. “Kind of hard to chew a kid out for acting on his instincts to protect someone. He’s just got to learn to use his words instead of his fists.”
“That’s probably the hardest lesson to learn.” Tyler added as Jake headed toward the changing rooms.
Tyler could sympathize. When Tyler had started taking karate, he had a hard time controlling his temper. Seemed like every other day he was jumping into other people’s fights and making them his own. He learned quickly the best defense was an aggressive offense. It was great for the schoolyard brawls Tyler could defuse just by acting tough. It wasn’t so great when he stepped into the sparring ring. As soon as someone hit him, he’d be all over them. Tyler had been on the losing side so many times he fought with everything he had as soon as he felt threatened. It took years of training to realize no one in the dojo was going to hurt him, at least not on purpose. He learned to cherish the blows that struck their mark as much as the ones he blocked. Karate training was a continuous learning process.
When Tyler became a black belt, Sensei Melissa took him aside and explained that helping others was as much his duty as his own training. Over the years, students came and went. As long as they walked out of the dojo having learned something about themselves, he felt he had lived up to Sensei Melissa’s words.
“Line up.” Sensei Melissa’s voice called everyone to attention.
* * * *
By the end of class, Jaime was tired and happy to bow out. Sensei Melissa was feeling particularly energetic and ran them through a double set of basics. Jaime was among the many kyu-ranked students shuffling out of line like zombies, stiff-legged and groaning from the effort. When the floor was almost empty, he took advantage of the space to practice his kata. It wasn’t until he finished that he noticed Sempai Tyler was the only other person still on the dojo floor in uniform.
“Sayonara, Sempai.” Steve and Ed said in unison as they bowed at the door.
“Sayonara,” Sempai Tyler returned their bow. “Good class.”
Jaime ignored the scowl Steve gave him. He hoped Sempai Tyler had missed it or thought it was only a matter of jealousy about another student sucking up by staying after class. A certain level of competition was common among students of different ranks. As long as Jaime didn’t have to sit through some uncomfortable talk about how he should stop being himself to make others more comfortable, he could put up with a few dirty looks.
“What’s the story
