No More Running by Jayton Young Read Free Book Online Page A

seven.  When Chris wanted to do it, I had to do it, too.  Even back then I was the feminist having to prove I could do anything my brother could do.”  Chris was two years older than Claire, and she’d told me that though he’d made fun of her a lot when they were little, once she started school it all changed, and he became very protective of her.  They grew really close, and are still good friends.
    “What all martial arts do you know?”
    “Karate, Judo, Krav Maga, Taekwondo, and Aikido.  I started out with one, but when I conquered that, I’d move on to the next.  The thing about any form of martial arts is that there is always room for improvement.  There is always more to learn, so I guess I said it wrong when I said I conquered them.”  She said looking off at nothing like she was thinking.  It was weird to think that Claire could do all of that.  She was only four inches taller than me.  She was built though.  I had thought she was plump, but looking at her in her exercise clothes, I could see that most of it was firm, like muscle, not the way it looks in the clothes she wears to work.
    “Do you think I would ever be able to do any of that kind of stuff?”  I asked wistfully.  “I really would like to be able to defend myself and my friends from Chuck, but I always thought I was too small and weak.”
    “You have to think of it this way.  Most children that take karate start when they are five or six.  Like I said, I was seven when I started.  Do you really think that you are smaller or weaker than a five year old?”
    “No, of course not.  I just never thought about it that way.”
    “Well, it’s always been my belief that anyone can do anything they set their mind to if they put their all into it and try.  Just don’t start out with the big stuff.  Start with this self-defense lesson, and then if you want to, just move to the next level.”
    I watched the class that Stefan was teaching.  It had girls and women of many different shapes and sizes.  There was even a teenager about my size that put Garret down.  It was funny to watch, and Garret just gingerly got up and congratulated her; telling her she did a good job.  When the class only had about twenty minutes left, Claire ordered Pizza for the four of us to be able to eat before Stefan and I started our lesson.
    When the class had been let out and we were eating, Garret filled them in on the phone calls, and what I said about staying in my apartment.
    “Well, I understand that you don’t want to risk our places, but if you don’t stay with me, I’m going to stay with you.”  Claire said.  “I’m not leaving you to get taken, beaten, or worse yet; killed by some man whose ego is so low, he has to beat a woman into staying with him instead of finding someone who actually wants him.”
    “I don’t think its ego.  I think it’s a feeling of possession.”  Stefan piped in.  “It’s more his thought that if she won’t be with him, he don’t want her to be with anyone.  In his eyes, she belongs to him only.”
    “Yes, he has said that many times.”
    “So my place or yours?”  Claire asked.
    “Mine.”
    During the lessons, Stefan told me to picture him as Chuck and take out all of the anger and frustration on him and attack, but I just couldn’t.  I couldn’t attack him, no matter whether I was thinking of Chuck or not, so we worked on defensive blocking.  He said it was a good place to start and that he should have done that to begin with, but he had wanted to gage my fighting ability.
    “I have no fighting ability.  I used to fight back in the beginning, but never to any effect.  I was always more of the peace maker in school.  I’ve never really been in an actual fight.”  I explained.
    We worked at it for another hour before calling it quits for the night.  Claire had ridden there with Stefan and didn’t have her car, so she left with me and Garret.  We took her to her house to pack a bag,