I listen carefully, feeling delighted and proud of myself. Maybe he’s right and I’m not as weak as I thought. Maybe I can kill the servant inside me.
“Grab my wrist,” Wreck says, and I grip his wrist tightly. “Pulling away your arm doesn’t work. You could just grab one or two fingers and bend them back violently, breaking them. I guarantee your attacker will let you go.”
He grips my index finger and slowly bends it back. I release his wrist.
“See?” he smiles. “Now try it on me.”
He grabs my arm and I do as instructed.
“Easy, easy,” Wreck chuckles, letting go of my arm. “You gotta take it slow during training.”
I laugh, pleased with myself. He also shows me how to turn your hand to break somebody’s grip. I practice it several times. I don’t know whether Wreck is just letting me succeed, but each time he releases my wrist.
“I’m not faking,” he says after I ask. “The technique doesn’t require too much strength. And don’t forget to make a knife hand. Straighten your fingers and tighten your wrist. It expands the bones in your wrist larger and makes the grip harder to hold. And add a quick movement toward the thumb. All right, good. We’ll practice more later. Now, let’s see what you can do on the ground.”
“What?”
He snarls, walking toward me. “Most fights end up on the ground.”
“Wait! I’m not ready!”
I begin backing away. I’m not really scared but feel a little bit overwhelmed.
“You have to always be ready!” Wreck shouts, raising his arms above his head in an exaggerated and menacing way, imitating a bear.
I scream and run for the door. He catches up to me as soon as we get outside, tackling me, and I fall flat onto my stomach. Wreck lands on top.
“Oh, that’s a really bad position,” he says. “Turn immediately! You must always face your opponent.”
I somehow manage to slip over onto my back. I reach for his face, but he instantly grabs my arms and pins them to the ground like he did the night we met. I growl, squirming and trying to free my arms. He leans in closer, pressing me down with his weight. I can hardly breathe, but continue struggling.
“Nice try,” he says, smiling. “But it won’t work from that position.”
“I’ll kill you!”
“That’s definitely the right spirit!”
I growl and squirm, but can neither free my arms nor push him off. He’s too strong and heavy. I can’t break his grip.
Wreck finally frowns and asks, “Kora, can you please explain to me what the heck you’re trying to do? I don’t understand your strategy.”
“I’m gonna claw your eyes out as soon as I free my arms,” I hiss, angered that my attempts are entirely futile.
“Well, that’s a nice thought. But you see, there’s one little problem. You can’t free your arms while in this position.”
“But I have to do something!”
“Your legs,” he says. “Why aren’t you using your legs? I’ve been on top of you for like five minutes, and you still haven’t pulled guard.” Upon seeing my confusion, he directs, “Just wrap your legs around me and lock your feet behind my back.”
“Why would I do that?”
“To gain more control for one thing. And prevent me from passing your legs and moving into a full mount.”
“What?”
“A full mount is when I’m mounted on your chest.” He snickers. “A really dangerous position. One of the most dominant. You don’t want to wind up there, believe me.”
Sighing, I wrap my legs tightly around him. It feels weird.
“Feel like you’ve got more control now?” Wreck asks.
“No.”
“You should! Because you’re trapping me now.” He moves forward, but I don’t release him, holding him back with my legs. “See? You may think that you’re in a bad position, but you are actually nearly equal. You can do lots of things from right where you are. In some martial arts it’s even considered an advantageous position, although I can still punch you. So you need to cover. Now, try to knock me off balance. Use your legs to help throw me off.”
We start grappling. Wreck uses just the right amount of force, matching his strength with mine but making me struggle. I manage to slide my knees to his chest and kick him off, and we both laugh, celebrating my victory.
“Let’s do it again,” I offer, plopping down on my back.
Chuckling, Wreck lunges at me, quickly pinning me to the ground. I pull guard and we grapple.
“You like this, don’t you?” he asks. “I promised to teach you a good lesson. There it is, your first martial art lesson.”
“It was a good lesson,” I wheeze, trying to push him off me. I feel hot and am out of breath. Beads of sweat pop on my forehead. My muscles ache, but I now feel tougher and less vulnerable, more like a true fighter.
“Your legs are really strong,” Wreck compliments. “We should teach you low kicks. I bet you can kick like a mule.” His eyes flicker excitedly. “I’ll tell you what. I’m not gonna beat Ace anymore. I’ll save him for you. He’s all yours.”
“You really think I could beat Ace?”
“For sure! He’s gonna end up on his knees, crying and pleading for you to spare his life. Just like Gabriel!
Inspired by his words, I offer him a grateful smile and bite into his arm.
“Ouch!” Wreck flinches in pain, laughing. “That’s a good one. I didn’t see it
