Part 53

Dad is pulling me back from the reporter and one of the policemen is getting between us; the reporter is howling again, his hands to his face, blood flowing from his nose.

“Ah, by dose, da liddle bidch boke by dose! You saw id officer, I wand her and all her family arresded. Dey’re crazy!”

The policeman responds, “I’ve got a daughter just her age, I didn’t see a thing. Count yourself lucky. Now get him out of here.”

Turning to Dad and I, he says, “Listen, I sympathize, I really do. I do have a girl about your daughter’s age, but you guys can’t be doing this, okay? Don’t worry about it this time but try to control yourselves. Nice hook by the way.”

He gives me a wink then asks Dad, “He really hit his knee on the ground when he was tackled? Never mind, I don’t want to know. We’re taking him to the hospital to have his knee and his nose looked at, then down to booking. He’ll be initially charged with trespassing and the DA will be in touch with you about that and any other charges that they want to pursue. If there are any more problems, just give us a call.”

With that he turns and leaves. Eventually, everyone is gone but family and this Joe guy.

Ellen and the twins rejoin us. The twins are all excited.

“Wow, sis,” says Mark, “Way to go busting that guy’s nose.”

“Dad,” I say, “I think I broke my hand on that guy.”

Joe comes over and looks at my hand.

“Wiggle your fingers. Okay, does this hurt?” And he gives my hand a light poke and a squeeze.

I say, “no,” and he says, “I don’t think it’s broken, just bruised. Next time keep your fist as hard as you can. It was too loose and that’s why it got hurt.”

I finally ask, “Just who are you and what are you doing here?”

Before he can answer, Mom gets home and comes running out to see us.

* * *

“Trust me, Mom, I’m fine, really I am,” I say as I change up in my room. “At first I was scared, I mean who wouldn’t be? But now, all I am is mad. Why do people have to be like that?”

From my bed where she and Ellen are sitting while I change, Mom replies, “I don’t know, honey. You’re sure you’re okay now?”

As I finish pulling my tee-shirt on, I go over and give Mom a hug. “I’m sure, Mom. The only damage is a slightly-bruised hand when I socked that guy.”

“Mom, you should have seen her clock that guy right on the nose. Sis, I didn’t know you had it in you,” says Ellen with a grin.

“Me? What about Dad? He was amazing,” I say. “And just who is this Joe guy downstairs?”

“Let’s go downstairs and I’ll have your Father explain, honey,” replies Mom.

Slipping my sandals on, we all head back downstairs.

As we walk out to the back patio, Dad gets up and says to me, “Feeling better, sweetheart?”

As I give him another big hug I reply, “Much, Dad, and thank you.”

I then turn to face Joe.

“Now could someone explain just who you are please?”

“Alex,” says Dad. “This is Joseph Manning; he’s one of the security people employed by my company. Once we got you back, I asked Joe here to help us with security for not only the house but for you kids, too. He and his team will be installing the new system this next week.

“Last Thursday, Joe and his team discovered that someone tried to break into the house. That, coupled with the persistent requests to meet you, prompted Joe to suggest that we keep a personal watch over you kids until we could get all the systems installed.”

“Ellen, did you know about this?”

“No, I’m as surprised as you are.”

“Mom?”

“Your father and I didn’t want to worry you kids unnecessarily, but we still wanted to make sure you all were all protected. Since last week, there’s always been someone watching you kids and this house. That will continue until this place is secure and we’re confident that you kids are protected.

“At first I thought we were over reacting: now I see that we weren’t. That could have been someone with far nastier motives than to interview you. I will not allow one of you to be taken from me ever again. The last time was once too many.”

I give Mom a smile and squeeze her hand then turn to Joe.

“Okay then, Joe, what went wrong?”

“Alex,” Mom chastises, “He stopped that man.”

“No, Mrs. Conners,” says Joe, “Alex is right. That reporter should never have gotten as far as he did. When he went over the wall, I was out of position checking on a disturbance I heard at your neighbor’s house. On my way back I saw him drop over the wall and I came running after calling the police.”

“So can you guys tell us about this security system that will be installed?”

“Alex,” says Dad, “It’s a bit more than a normal security system and maybe we’re going a bit overboard with this but your mother is right, we can’t go through losing one of you kids again. I’d rather be safe than sorry so this is what we’re doing.

“First, Joe and his team will be installing a security system here at the house. This will be a monitored system, much like what you’re probably thinking of but a bit better than what is available commercially. Second, we’ll be upgrading your cell phones and boys: you’ll finally get the cell phones you’ve been begging us for. They each will have a panic button on them. Press it and police will be on the way. Third, you kids are going to take some self-defense classes. We want you to be able to protect yourselves and maybe give yourselves a chance to get away.”

At the news of the cell phones and the self-defense classes, the twins start cheering.

“Dad, you know I don’t like fighting, it makes me sick,” I say.

“You did okay punching that reporter in the nose,” Ellen says with a grin.

I blush and hang my head. “Yeah, but I still don’t like it.”

“Listen,” says Dad. “We don’t want you fighting. It isn’t about that. It’s about protecting yourself. If saving your life means giving someone a bloody nose, bloody the nose, okay?”

“Point taken, Dad. So what, we start going with the twins to their martial arts class or something?”

“No, you’ll take your lessons here. This isn’t like what the boys are taking; this is all about your survival. Joe and some of his people will be coming here to teach you all. Joe used to be an instructor with the Israeli Defense Forces and will be teaching you what he taught them. It’s called Krav Maga and it’s very effective. You also wanted to get into shape faster–well this will do it. It’s an intense workout.”

We spend the next hour talking about what we’ll be doing and finally Joe leaves and the house gets somewhat back to normal.

Feeling rather depressed, I go up to my room and lay down. As I lie there hugging my bear, Mom comes in.

Sitting down on my bed next to me, Mom asks, “What’s wrong, honey?”

Putting my head on her lap and wrapping my arms around her, I cry, “I’m sorry, Mom, this is all my fault.”

“What do you mean, baby, what’s your fault?”

“All this: having to get a security system and self-defense classes, all of it. It’s my fault. I’m sorry.” And I just hold Mom tighter and continue to cry.

“Hey there, stop, it’s not your fault, honey.”

“If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have to do all this. It’s because I was in the news and doing the commercial and all.”

“Not entirely, honey, but are you saying that if you could do it over again, you wouldn’t save Elizabeth?”

“No…of course not.”

“And if you saw some kids picking on someone, you wouldn’t try to do something to help?”

“Well…no, I’d still want to help.”

“Good, now listen to me: first of all, because your father does so much work from home, his company was going to install a system anyway. Next, there are wackos everywhere. You have no control over what they’ll do and there’s no way to tell who they’ll target next. If you can’t control their actions, how can what they do be your fault?”

“I, I don’t know. It just seems like all of this is happening because I got famous. I didn’t want to be.”

“I know, honey, but really all this could just as easily have happened without you getting your notoriety. There’s just no way to tell. You just concentrate on the things under your control. Worrying about that which isn’t will just drive you crazy and is of no good purpose. Okay?”

“Yeah I guess so. Mom?”

“Yes, dear?”

“It’s Dad, you should have seen him. I’ve never seen him like that before. When he came out and they had the reporter on the ground, Dad asked if he had touched me. He hadn’t, but I think if I had said, ‘yes,’ that reporter would be MIA right about now. It’s a side of Dad I’ve never seen before.”

“Were you frightened?”

“No of course not. Proud yes, scared no. Surprised too, it’s a side of Dad I haven’t seen before.”

I start to giggle.

“What’s so funny?”

“Mark and Bill. You should have seen them, they were great, too. They heard me scream and came charging outside right after Dad did, their baseball bats held high and ready for combat. Those two really don’t know the meaning of fear. Maybe you should have a talk with them, they could’ve gotten hurt. I’m awfully proud of them too, though.”

“They love you very much you know. They told me back when we announced your real gender that they felt it was their job to take care of their new sister. And don’t think that just because they’re so young that they can’t take care of themselves. You haven’t seen them at their martial arts. They’re very good and they’re advancing rapidly up the ranks. Their teacher is very impressed.”

“Next time they do one of their demonstrations, I’ll go to it.”

“They’d like that. You feeling better now?”

“I guess, you sure I’m not messing things up for everybody?”

“Very sure, honey, now why don’t you come on downstairs and help me with dinner?”

“Okay, but it’s still a bit early, can we just stay here for a few more minutes? I think I need a bit of a cuddle and playing at being your little girl.”

“Oh, sweetheart, you’ll always be my little girl.”

* * *

“Hit me…come on, Alex, hit me like you mean it.”

I swing again at Joe, hitting him on the arm. I know I didn’t hit very hard, but for some reason I just can’t bring myself to do it. It’s not like I can hurt him, we’re both in pads and even if we weren’t, I still don’t think I could hurt him. Joe is around my height, but built out of steel and rock. I don’t think I could hurt him if I used one of the twins’ baseball bats.

“Okay, let’s take a break.”

We both take off our headgear and grab our water bottles.

“Alex, you’re learning the moves brilliantly, but when it comes to doing anything with an opponent, you hold back so much. I know you can hit harder, I saw you do it yesterday, so why won’t you?”

“Hitting pads is one thing, but…I don’t know, I really don’t like fighting, I don’t like the thought of hurting someone.”

“You didn’t have any trouble hitting that reporter. You did a good job of it too, busted his nose real good. How come you could hit him then?”

“I was mad,” I mumble.

“What was that?”

“I said I was mad. I was mad and scared and tired of being a victim and it all came out at once and I hit that guy. I’m sorry I broke his nose.”

“Don’t be, he deserved it. Speaking of broken noses, are you all healed from your injuries?”

“Oh yeah, I’m fine now.”

“Well then, there you go.”

“What do you mean?”

“Alex, what we’re teaching you isn’t how to fight, it’s how to survive, how to get yourself out of a bad situation. It’s more than self-defense and hopefully you’ll see that. You’re all healed from your injuries. If you find yourself in a bad situation and you have to break someone’s nose–or for that matter their arm–to get out of it, then they’ll heal too.

“You need to take whatever it was inside of you that let you hit that reporter and use it. By doing that, you could end up saving your life or someone else’s, like your Mom or your brothers, maybe a friend at school. One of my students is a Buddhist; I’ll bring him over at our next lesson so he can talk to you. He feels about causing injury to others like you do and he’s one of my best students. Maybe he can help you resolve this conflict you have.”

“Thanks, Joe, I’d appreciate that.”

“All right, I’ll be back on Wednesday. In the meantime, I want you to be thinking about this. Okay?”

“Will do, I promise.”

* * *

“Alex, I’m again surprised by some of the events that surround you,” says Amanda. “You do realize that nothing that happened is your fault, don’t you?”

“Weelll…I guess.”

“Meaning that you do think they’re your fault. Listen, what happened with Brandon was an easy mistake to make, especially when you were so, um distracted shall we say? I’ve never ridden on a motorcycle before. I didn’t realize it could be so…stimulating.”

Amanda giggles at my blushing.

“Honestly, Alex, although embarrassing, I don’t think you could blame yourself for what happened.”

“But I got sooo excited, I mean geese, I damned near orgasmed and all the while holding onto…well holding onto Brandon.”

“Alex, cut yourself some slack–you’re fifteen and you’re just learning about your body. There are going to be times that you are going to be surprised by how your body, your emotions or both react to a situation. Some of those times you are going to be overwhelmed and that will be beyond your control. Welcome to adolescence young lady.

“Now, as to the visit by the reporter, your Mom is right, you can’t blame yourself for that either.”

“I can blame myself for breaking his nose and that brings up the whole thing about not being able to hit or fight back in my self-defense classes.”

“Let’s analyze that.”

For the rest of my session, Amanda and I talk about the whole fighting and self-defense stuff and she even has me go through my relaxation exercises as she has me picture myself in various situations.

At the end of my session, after I wipe my eyes and blow my nose, I ask Amanda, “Am I ever going to get better?”

“Yes, Alex, you will. You’ve come so far already, I’m really quite proud of you. When you stop blaming yourself, you’ll have taken another huge step. Be patient, we’ll get you there. Now I have a prescription I need you to fill.”

“Aw pills? You know how I don’t want to take any drugs. They make me all fuzzy-headed.”

“No, it’s not for drugs. You and your friend Robbyn hit upon a good therapy technique that helped with you being so uncomfortable being touched. I want to expand on that. You’ve mentioned how pleasant you find the massages your friend and family give you. I’m taking that to the next level.

“This prescription is for you to get massages. Since I want them to use different techniques and different masseuses, I’m hoping that we can continue what you and Robbyn started.

“I’ve already talked to the person I want you to use. Her name is Paula Sands and she’s very good. She also has a number of very qualified people working for her so we can get the variety we want, too. She knows that this is for therapy and anyone giving you a massage will immediately stop and back off if you get too uncomfortable. I’m hoping that won’t happen, though.

“You’ll like Paula I think. She used to teach high school but found retirement boring so she went back to school, learned massage therapy and eventually started her own business. Your first ‘session’ will be Friday.”

“Gee, how many people dream to get a prescription to get a massage? I just hope this works and I don’t freak out on them.”

“I think you’ll be fine, just don’t push yourself too far or too fast. Let them know if it gets to be too much, okay?”

“I will, thanks, Amanda.”

* * *

“Hey, Alex, what are you doing?”

“Oh hi, Chelsea, I’m trying to get this petroleum jelly off my locker. At least I hope it’s petroleum jelly.”

“They got you too, then. You’re not the only one: a whole bunch of the lockers got hit. If Mother finds out who did it, there’ll be hell to pay. My guess is some of the boys got in here. They’re always pulling some prank or another.”

“It looks like whoever did this used a whole jar of the stuff on my locker. Man, this is nasty.”

“The custodian is going around cleaning up so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Meet up for lunch?”

“Yeah, that’ll be great.”

“Brilliant, well got to dash. Bye.”

“Later.”

Using more paper towels, I get the majority of the petroleum jelly off the handle of my locker and get it open. Grabbing my English book and notebook, I quickly stuff my backpack into the locker, close it and run into class.

English Literature is turning out to be a pretty good class. Miss Mitchell has an obvious passion for it and she’s able to make it interesting, even Faulkner. I still don’t really care for what Faulkner wrote, but now I at least can appreciate how he wrote. With luck I can convey all of that in the paper we need to do.

After class I head off to the library to work on my paper. I found a great little nook that’s by one of the windows. Given how the book stacks are arranged, you have to squeeze to get to it so it offers some great privacy.

When I get to the library, I’m about to squeeze into my little hidey hole when I realize that it’s already occupied. Poking my head around the corner, I see Lindsey’s shadow Joan with her shirt and bra pulled up and a boy with his face in her cleavage.

Shocked, I pull back before I’m seen and go in search of another spot. As I turn to make my way out from behind the stacks, I come face to face with our resident Goth girl. I’d seen her around but hadn’t met her yet.

“They still at it?” she asks.

“Um, yeah.”

“Shit, that’s one of the best spots too.”

As we move away, she continues, “Ever notice that the ones that call others sluts tend to be the slutty ones? Joan’s the biggest one here, but to hear her talk she’s as pure as the driven snow.”

Not really knowing what to say, I introduce myself.

“My name is Alex, by the way,” and hold out my hand.

She looks at my hand, then at me. “You probably don’t want to be seen with me, besides I’m not really looking to make any friends.”

At that she turns and starts to walk off. When she’s a few steps away, she stops and turns her head slightly back and says, “I’m Blair.” She then rushes off.

Heading over to another corner of the library, I set my stuff down and curl up to do some reading.

* * *

On our way out of the lunch room, I grab an ice-cream sandwich. When Chelsea gets one too, I raise my eyebrows at her.

Going over to our now usual spot by the trees, I give Chelsea a knowing smile as I sit down at the table.

“Go ahead, Alex, rub it in. I admit it, I was wrong. I’m trying to be better and figured that I’d take a bit of what you said to heart.”

“What I said?”

“You mentioned that you really work out a lot and that allows you to eat, well ice-cream for one. I figured that since we have our P.E. test today, I’d end up burning off the calories I’d get from this. Besides, I’ll be starting an aerobics class with Mum this weekend and that should help me, too.”

“Not a bad plan, but do it because you want to, not because I said anything.”

“Oh I am, the class Mum and I are taking should be fun, especially since we’ll be taking it together.”

“You’re pretty close to your mom, aren’t you?”

“She’s like my best friend on top of being my Mum.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Mom and I are real close, too. Say, Chelsea, what can you tell me about her?” and I point to Blair who is walking back down the path towards school.

“Who, Blair?”

At my nod, Chelsea continues, “I’d stay away from her, Alex. She has a bad reputation.”

“Like what?”

“Well I’ve heard that she’ll sleep with just about anyone and on top of that, if you get on her bad side she’ll slap you up.”

“What? I find that hard to believe.”

“Well that’s what I heard. She’s the only one at school that Lindsey won’t bother. In fact, pay attention the next time you see Lindsey near her, Lindsey is scared of her.”

“Chelsea, have you ever seen her with anyone else?”

“No, she’s a real loner.”

“Then how can you say she sleeps around if you’ve never even seen her with anyone?”

“It’s just what I’ve heard being said.”

“That sounds like something Lindsey would say. If Lindsey really is scared of her, she would say something like that and she has the ability to spread the rumor far and wide, too.”

“Hmm, you’re right: it is something she would do. I need to think about this some. In any case, she’s not very friendly. She refuses to talk to anyone and hardly responds in class to even the teachers.”

“Well, I’ve got calculus next so I need to run. I want to talk to Mr. Murphy before class starts. See ya at gym.”

“Okay, Alex, later.”