SEVEN
Alicia
W
hat the fuck had I signed myself up for? I pulled into the Hard Knocks gym after work the next day, and I could already feel my blood coursing through my veins. Why in the heat of the moment had I been so stupid? If I backed out, Cain would never let me live it down either. I could only hear his voice tormenting me about it. There was no getting out of this now. I took a deep breath as I entered the gym to Dnd Runcan and Tobias both sitting on the front desk behind the computer. Runcan raised an eyebrow as he saw me walk in. Father than being dressed in my regular physio uniform, I was dressed in a white workout top and tight pink leggings. I carried a Grank “reen water bottle by my side and lifted my sunglasses up to my forehead.
M”iss Taylor, fancy seeing you here at this hour.z
I had talked to this man a do’en times since starting CainYs therapy, yet at the moment I felt out of breath and lightheaded. ”y anxiety was beginning to shoot through the roof and unless I went ahead with what I was about to do there was no way that it would come back down anytime soon.
MAes, IYm here for a class with Cain.z
MI know, he told me.z
8N ”.E. REFKO, ”ETT ”O”O”EF6
I fumbled for my phone, readying to pay at the counter. MHow much do I owe you for the class?z
Runcan waved me away with a kind smile. Mjothing, your Drst class is on us. Es a thank you for helping Cain so willingly.z
MAouYre paying me, why would I not help him?z
MAou know how di!cult he can be.z
I struggled to contain my smirk as RuncanYs smile also widened. MI wasnYt going to say anything.z
MItYs Dne, we qust want you to have a good time. Tobias, get her some gloves. Twelve ounces.z
MAes, popPz
Tobias ducked down underneath the desk with a sSueal of excitement. He reemerged a moment later with a plastic wrapped parcel in his hand. He threw it over the counter at me and I caught it. I turned the parcel over and saw that in my hands were a pair of black and white boxing gloves. I smiled at him and thanked him. Runcan gestured towards the open door that took me through to the main gym -oor.
M9ut your stuL in the shelves to the right. Cain will be with you soon.z
MThank you very much, Runcan, Tobias.z
They both smiled at me as I took another deep breath. Why was I so nervous? ”illions of people did this across the world each day, so how hard could it be? I stepped out on the open gym -oor and found do’ens of people all waiting for the class to begin. Bome were stretching, whilst others hit the boxing bags with lightning7fast kicks. Two boys were even engaged in a game of shoulder tapping, with the loser forced to do two star qumps each time that they got hit. This was very much not my environment to be in. I preferred a social netball game, or even softball where I could look most other participants in the eyes. 6r an environment in which more people had clothes onP Why was everyone shirtless?
Ell around me were a mix of people, mostly boys, all teenagers that appeared to be half my age, all of them taller and more muscular than me. E second head count told me there were about twenty in total and this was my Drst time seeing the gym with more than qust Cain and his family in it. Oach person here looked like they had been doing ”uay Thai for most of their life. Two girls who looked to be in their early twenties, stood near the shelves and smiled at me as I approached.
MHiP How are you?z
MHey good, IYm Carmen, and this is Jauren.z
Mjice to meet you both.z
They both seemed friendly enough and moved out of the way as I placed my phone, keys, new gloves and water bottle into shelves. The gym seemed fuller than it had before, like everything in it was engorged in si’e. Cain was not here yet, but as I walked out onto the rubber tile mats, I heard a door from upstairs slam shut. I turned my head and saw Cain limping from another room, one that I could only imagine was his. He had told me he lived in the gym, and that looked like the place for it. I watched Cain as he hobbled down the stairs. We still had lots more work to do. I had at least released everything in his body this morning, but he still needed more time to get his full range of motion again.
MGive7thirty class, letYs line upP JetYs goPz
Runcan was also shuZing in from the front desk onto the gym -oor, but I had no eyes for him. Es Cain limped down the stairs, he removed the red Hard Knocks singlet that he had been wearing. He wrapped it around the hand railing before moving across to stand in the middle of the row of punching bags. Runcan qoined him standing to his left and at the last second, Tobias came running in to stand to CainYs right. E smirk reached CainYs lips as he glanced down at the child.
MHands and feet together.z
I did as I was told and a Suick glance around the room told me that I was not alone in what I was doing. The motion felt awkward, but I could only guess it was part of an important respect ritual for the gym.
M1owing in.z
2U ”.E. REFKO, ”ETT ”O”O”EF6
The class all took a collective bow in and released the motion, allowing me to stand back up to my full height. I hoped that I was doing a deep enough bow. Es I came out of it, Cain looked around at the room and nodded with satisfaction.
MElright, weYve got a good number of you today. RonYt forget that Ranny, 3ustin and Vac are all Dghting this weekend at the 1ig 1ash. Tickets are Dfty dollars, come and see me if you need them. 6ther than that, grab your skipping ropes, and letYs get into it. Aip, yipPz
The class echoed Cain with excitement, and I looked around for a skipping rope. Carmen and Jauren were both heading towards one of the taped yellow poles that stood between each of the bags. I saw them retrieve a skipping rope each and snagged one of my own, before Dnding some space on the -oor. I stood in the middle of a taped red rectangle and noticed that nobody else was skipping yet.
E loud strained bu’’er sounded overhead, and almost at once, everyone began to skip. I had not skipped since primary school, and I worked out it was for good reason. Gor the life of me, I could not get the rope to travel over my head for more than two revelations without having it whack into my ears. Overyone else looked so much better than I did with their skipping, and my anxiety only grew. 3ust exactly what had I signed up for? How long was this going to go on for? The bu’’er sounded a few more times overhead, before a Dnal louder and more deDnitive sound bu’’ed overhead.
Bkipping ropes were lowered all around me and already, people were moving to put them back where they had got them from. CainYs won7 derful, deep, loud and commanding voice found my ears once again. He could have given me any instruction he liked and I would have listened at this rate.
MFopes awayP Have a drink and get ready for shadowboxing.z Bhadowboxing? What the fuck was shadowboxing? I returned my rope to its home behind the pole and needed water. Rarting over to the shelves, I noticed a clock with red numbers overhead, counting down from Dfty. Was there only a minute between each activity we were doing? I Suickly undid the lid to my water bottle and sucked down a sip of the precious liSuid before returning it to its place. The clock was already at ten seconds. How had it gone past that Suickly?
MTen seconds, Dnd some spacePz
I looked around and found my own space, right near the shelves. There was no indication of what we were supposed to be doing. The other students all seemed to know and panic was beginning to set in.
MWhat are we doing?z ”y ears were going red from sheer embarrass7 ment. Why had I thought that this would have been a good idea? I probably should have at least gone onto AouTube and seen how a ”uay Thai class worked.
Cain was limping towards me with a sly grin on his face. His dark eyes were lit up with a hint of enqoyment. MHaving trouble, are we?z
I scowled at him. He had heard my comment and fully knew that I was struggling. Bweat pooled on my forehead, and I could feel the sweat already on my boobs. Overything was uncomfortable and I felt out of place. ”y leggings were also riding up, but I was not going to pull them down here, not in front of everyone. I groaned at Cain so he could sense the frustration that I was facing.
MIYve never shadowboxed before.z
The bu’’er sounded overhead and the round had begun. Cain stepped to my side with that grin still looking like it needed to be slapped oL his face. He had not taken his eyes oL me and yet, with his intense ga’e, I did not feel qudged, but instead like he had done this hundreds, if not thousands of times. It was kind, unlike when he looked at me at other times. Gor the Drst time, I felt human underneath his ga’e.
MElright, IYll take you through the basics. Ere you left or right7handed?z
MFight.z
M6kay, so I want you to widen your stance like this, and put your left foot forward, about shoulder width apart from your right. This will be your normal stance and I want you to throw all of your punches like this.z
MBtance, got it.z
I stared down at my feet, and I felt like I had anything but got it. He looked so natural and I wondered whether he had spent more time standing like this than walking normally. Then as I shuZed my feet around, I felt Cain move in behind me. “oosebumps ran down my neck. sually, it was me this close to him from behind, not the other way around. His presence was commanding and I felt like I was half the si’e that he was. CainYs hands fell onto my shoulders with a gentle touch and he pushed down. The touch was enough to make me weak at the knees.
MBit into your stance like this. Aou want to drive through the hips and with your knees bent, youYll get more power.z