“I’m positive. I was practically useless back there, and I don’t ever want to be a victim ever again.”
“Okay. I’ll change. Meet me down there in five.” He left the room, leaving Harini and Ari.
“You really want to learn to fight in the real?” Harini asked. They all fought in the virtuals, but not many knew how to in real life.
“My old trainer taught me some. It’s nice to feel… well, not weak, empowered even. After what I’ve gone through in the last year, I never know when I’ll need it.”
“Maybe I’ll come watch and do some cardio.”
“Great. An audience while Joe kicks my butt.”
Harini smiled. “Every good butt-kicking needs an audience with appropriate mocking.”
Ari stood to leave, bringing her coffee with her to finish on the way. She may need it.
After a quick change into flexible pants and a loose tank top, she hurried downstairs, a mix of excitement and nerves. She always had worked out, especially when she learned about the connection of her mental and physical health, but she hadn’t grappled for a while. Joe stood on the mat, stretching out his arms. After she was warmed up, he began with some basic techniques. Similar to what Niomi had taught her, but he moved with a speed and a grace that Niomi could never match.
Sweat poured off her skin as they speed up the exercises. Harini stayed on the elliptical machine watching them, and even Tricky stopped in to see what was going on. The two of them offered encouragements and criticism where needed; of course, Harini was the cheerleader while Tricky rode her butt.
Marco appeared briefly in the basement, but once he saw Ari on the mat, he turned back around mumbling something about going outside.
The hour sped by and ended with Ari in a sweaty pool on the mat, sitting with her arms on her bent knees. “Thanks, Joe.” Ari had to get it in now, because tomorrow she may be too sore for gratitude.
“I’m going to get some reading in before lunch,” Harini said as she headed upstairs. “See ya.”
Tricky had already left by then, so it was just Joe and Ari in the basement.
He grabbed a towel and dabbed at his temples. “You need to make it right with your brother.”
Ari pulled back slightly. It wasn’t like Joe to get involved in anyone’s personal life. He was always silent when it came to things like that, taking it all in, but never participating.
“I apologized.” She stood up, uncomfortable having the conversation with her on the ground.
“Apologizing is not the same as making it right. I was with him when you left. Both times. And I have the feeling it happened before. You don’t run out on people you care about, or when you return things are not ever the same.”
For the first time, it sunk in a bit. Ari had always worried about herself and what was happening to her. Even when she went back for her mom and Marco, it was for her own peace of mind. Marco’s world was just as scrambled as hers, no fault of his own. Even when their dad fell into his VR coma, only Ari got to go back in to see him one final time. To her credit, she did apologize, but that wasn’t enough. Problem was, she didn’t know how to make it right.
“I’ll talk to him.”
“Sooner than later. We need our team to be cohesive. We can’t afford to be any less than our best.” He threw the towel in the nearby hamper and left.
Despite her desire to sink into the mat and never get up, Ari followed Joe out of the basement, in search of Marco.
Chapter 28
Ari found her brother on the back porch smoking. “Patrick says exercise and you start smoking?” She glared at the cigarette.
“It was a bit too crowded down there.” Grumpy didn’t look well on Marco. His normally jovial eyes narrowed and creased his forehead.
She kicked at a stray rock and it skittered across the grass. Never tiring of all the green that surrounded her, she took a deep breath. Somehow, even though they were at a higher elevation than home and the oxygen was thinner, she found it easier to breathe here. Not as suffocating as the dust and cactus back home.
She needed that extra breath to not jump into their normal bickering. Looking at things from his perspective, she needed to find compassion. This was her brother that she loved. She didn’t have so much family that she could risk losing any of them.
She took the seat next to him on the large wooden swing. He didn’t acknowledge her, just took another drag. They sat in silence, letting the small noises of nature surround them. He exhaled a large plume of smoke into the dense trees.
After trying to gather her thoughts, Ari broke the silence. “I need to apologize.”
He didn’t say anything.
“Marco, I’m sorry for dragging you here. Sorry for not thinking through how my decisions affect you.”
“Thing is, that doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change the fact we’re in a foreign country with people we barely know. It doesn’t change the fact that Reed is back home working in the factory, and it doesn’t change the fact that Dad is dead.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Emotions tried to claw their way up her throat. She reached over and grabbed his e-cig and took a drag. Coughing, she remembered way too late that she hated smoking. Yet right now, she welcomed the discomfort that kept scarier emotions at bay.
“Patrick says exercise and you start smoking?”
“Yep.” She took one more drag and handed it back. “How can I make this right?”
A bitter laugh escaped him. “Not sure you can. I can’t get back my life, my dad, or even my friend.”
“Reed isn’t dead. It would be more difficult to contact him, but have you met Joe and Blur? With them, anything is possible. But if you do,” Ari swallowed the knot in her
