Duncan makes a face.
“What?”
“Oatmeal?”
“It’s healthy. For the baby.”
“I think you’ve earned a treat.”
“Full-fat breakfast?”
He nods. “Yeah. It’ll be alright.”
I don’t even need to think it over. A full breakfast sounds great, something I haven’t had in ages… since before I found out I was pregnant. I’ve been sticking to all the healthy foods, trying to give my baby the best nutrition… but I can’t think of a better time to get some food for my own soul.
“I know a cute café in Brighton,” I say. “They do the best scrambled eggs. I don’t know what they put in it, but it’s magical.”
“Maybe opiates.”
“Stop it,” I say, slapping his shoulder.
“I read about it. Some noodle shop somewhere in China. They were putting opium in their broth to keep people coming back.”
“I doubt that’s the case here.”
Duncan waves down a taxi, and we get in. He turns to me, wipes smudged eye-liner from under my eyes.
“It’s going to look like we had one hell of a night out,” he says.
Epilogue One
Fletcher’s.
I take the steps up to Pierce’s gym two at a time – it’s on the second floor – and push open the heavy, wooden double-doors.
There I see a group of young boys huddled in a semi-circle on the floor. In front of them is a large flat-screen television. They’re watching an MMA match, and Pierce is standing next to the television, explaining the moves.
He catches my eye for a moment, ignores me, and keeps instructing. As I get closer, I realize that he’s playing one of my matches.
I’m not doing too well in this one. I remember the fight, it was tough, and I almost got pinned when I let my opponent get on my back and get a hold of my leg.
“You roll your body,” Pierce says, pausing the video. “Like Creature does here. Use your forearm for leverage, twist, then pull.”
He’s teaching them how to get out of a leg lock. You have to get your opponent off-balance, so that they can’t exert force in the proper direction. It’s all about angles and leverage. Get the right angle, get leverage, and you can outmaneuver a man twice your strength.
“Watch how he uses the movement as momentum, to spin himself up to his feet.”
One of the boys says, “It’s like a kung-fu movie.”
Pierce waits until the sparse laughs die down. “This move requires a lot of core strength. That’s why I’m always telling you boys, work your core.” He slaps a flat palm against his stomach. “Here. Where else?”
“Back,” one of the boys says.
“Correct. Where else?”
“Obliques.”
“Good,” he says, pointing at the boy who answered. “Now, where else? You’re all missing a big one.”
The boys don’t answer. They look at each other, confused. And then one of them spies me, does a double-take, and I hear him whisper to the closest next to him, “Holy shit, it’s Creature.”
All the boys start murmuring, and as they turn on me, I see familiar looks in their eyes. These are at-risk kids.
Some will live in group homes, others in foster care, and most are likely latchkey kids at low income households.
Some are older, already out of the system, already young men, looking for something to work toward in their lives, something to help them build self-confidence.
“Hey!” Pierce cries, clapping his hands together, snapping their attention all back to him. He’s got a natural authority over these kids, and they listen to him. He’s doing good for these kids. They all don’t look at me even once more. They’re well disciplined.
“Where else constitutes your core?” he asks. “Which major muscle group?”
“Your butt!” one of the kids shouts. Everybody snickers.
I see a smile on Pierce’s face. “Correct. Your glutes are very important for stabilizing your body. They are one of the most important muscle groups in your body. Stretch them for twice as long as any other muscle, got it? Ever wonder why so many people have back pain? It’s because they have tight asses.”
Again, everybody snickers.
“I’m telling you the truth,” Pierce says. “Ask any physiotherapist. If everybody just stretched their ass a bit more, they wouldn’t get so much back pain. You see, the tight glute muscles will pull against your lower back.” He turns around and rubs a hand just above his tailbone. “This worsens your posture, and you are forced to use other muscles to compensate. Remember, every muscle in the body affects every other. That is why we emphasize core strength, and conditioning of the major muscle groups. Having big guns…” He lifts up his arm, flexes his strong bicep. “Is useless. You need strength here.” He motions at the trunk of his body. “Got it?”