Redemption

by Brent, Amy

  Tyson ran through some more, like the arm-bar and Kimura, to name but a few. He explained the strategy was about preventing your opponent from moving and that even a lighter woman could take down an average-sized man and hold him in submission.

  Ben held me to submission. Boy, did he ever. My face felt warm.

  “Are you enjoying it?” Ben asked as he pushed his head between Nicole and me.

  “Geez Ben, you made me jump.” I slapped him on the arm. It was a sign of affection and Nicole noticed it. “This is excellent stuff. Our girls are going to take their own lives back soon.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. My guys seem pretty relaxed, as well.” I wondered how many were going to hit it off.

  I remarked how tight Jessie had Tyson in a headlock. His hands were all over her legs, and her ass was trying to find a way out. It seemed to me that MMA was the new way of breaking the ice on a first date.

  “That might be your answer right there,” I said. “A dating camp, with Tyson as the main attraction.”

  “Tyson, you’re kidding me? He barks up a different tree,” Ben replied.

  “What do you mean?” I began saying, and then I guessed. “Well, who would’ve thought that?”

  Ben smiled at me. “Travis has left the hospital. I just got off the phone with the doctor.”

  So that’s where you were hiding.

  “Where is he?”

  Ben explained Travis’ mom had traveled up from Georgia. She was taking him back home, so she could make sure he took his meds correctly.

  “I’m glad to hear that. He’s better off with someone who loves him.” I felt Nicole poking me in the middle of my back. I glared at her and tightened my lips.

  I know. I know. Stop freaking reminding me.

  “He still needs therapy down that way. You don’t know anyone, do you?”

  I shook my head. It was too great a distance, but I had friends who knew that area better than me. I told him I’d make some calls and see if anyone could recommend a therapist. Ben thanked me and turned his attention back to Tyson who tapped out.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Your girl has caused Tyson to go into submission.”

  “Woooo, wooooo. Go, girl!” I yelled. Ben and Nicole turned to me.

  “By the way,” Ben said, “Jacob hasn’t shut up about you since Sunday breakfast.”

  “He keeps talking about me?” I replied. “He must need counseling.”

  “Go, Girl,” Nicole cheered from my side. “Woooo!!”

  “You wanna come over for dinner again tomorrow evening?” Ben asked as if he could read my mind, somehow.

  “Of course, I would. I’d love to.” Yes, dinner and the chance to watch a movie again with Jacob. How much fun will that be! “Same time or do you want me earlier?”

  Ben said he’d leave that up to my discretion. If I arrived too early, all I’d be doing was watching him prepare dinner.”

  “Cool, but I’ll cook,” I said.

  I noticed Nicole’s eyes as they widened. She’d never heard me say that before, and I’d never said it so easily. Maybe I had to Nicole, but never to a man. Not since, well, that was too long ago, and I didn’t want to think about it.

  That’s why you’re not speaking to Ben about it. Because you don’t want to bring it up again.

  “Enough of all that. I want to watch these MMA fighters and my girls,” I said, telling both Nicole and Ben to be quiet.

  Ben said he needed to go through some paperwork and was heading back to his office. I smiled as he walked away and then I heard a squeal and glanced at the mat as Tyson held his ear. I looked back over my shoulder and Ben was nowhere to be seen.

  I sighed. Like a thief in the night, he comes and steals your heart.

  The fights continued, and then the guys and girls paired up and ran through all the moves they’d been shown. Through fits of giggles and laughing, I could tell the girls were learning a valuable skill. None of them would be a pushover in a relationship, not ever again.

  Now, why can’t I do the same?

  My mind was full of thoughts that shouldn’t be there. I should have things out in the open. Nicole continually badgered me and told me where I was going wrong. Six years she’d been on my case, and now Ben was back in town. She wanted closure as much as I did, I guessed.

  “Are you watching this, or do you want to head back to the camp?” I asked Nicole. She looked deeply into my eyes, and she knew me well enough to know this wasn’t a question I was asking her. It was a polite demand that I wanted her to go back with me. I needed Nicole therapy, and I needed it damned quickly.

  “We can go back. Everyone can leave from here when they’re finished,” she commented.

  I walked to the car and looked back toward the canopy and the office. Paul knew we were leaving because Nicole told him. I spotted Ben’s head as he leaned back in his chair and his hands were clasped behind his head.

  See you tomorrow evening.

  I walked over to the office window and rapped my knuckles on the window. Ben spun in his chair and signaled the window didn’t open.

  “What do I cook tomorrow?” I yelled.

  Ben shrugged and said it was up to me. I clenched my fists and shook them at him in a mock temper. “What does Jacob like?” I screamed through the glass. “Don’t say chicken and rice.”

  Ben pushed his mouth closer to the glass. I leaned forward and waited for him to answer with my ear and cheek pushed against the window.

  “What are you doing?” Nicole yelled.

  “Ben’s telling me what to cook tomorrow,” I yelled back, with my face slightly contorted.

  “Is that so?”

  Nicole stood with her arms folded and was watching me. I thought it strange, so I stood and Ben had his lips puckered and pushed against the window as if to kiss me on the cheek. I stood and stepped away from the glass.

  You men are all the damned same.

  “Pasta. The curly ones,” Ben said finally after making me look like an absolute idiot.

  I gave him an okay sign. I could cook pasta, so things should be okay. I headed to my car and tossed Nicole the keys. “You can drive.”

  Nicole floored the gas, and vast plumes of dust spewed from the back tires. She headed up the drive and met the main road. I glanced at the trees as she made her way back into town. She drove slowly, and I knew it was so she could talk, and I wasn’t in a position to get away from her.

  Damn you, Nicole.

  “You’re going to dinner again, happily?”

  “It appears that way, and I’m doing the cooking,” I replied.

  Nicole said this could be my chance to lay all my cards on the table. Ben could do the same, and we could clear the air, one way or another. It wasn’t often we had the chance and Jacob would be in bed around eight at the latest. We did have the opportunity to talk once and for all. Nicole continued to talk, and I listened. I couldn’t argue with any of it because she was right. There was only one thing I had to say, and I’d wait until she was finished before I slipped it in.

  “Before you move forward.”

  “Say what?” I asked.

  “Have you heard anything I’ve said?”

  I nodded, and I explained I’d heard every single word apart from the first couple of lines and the last few lines. Nicole swung the car into the camp parking lot and yanked on the parking brake. I smiled as she pushed the red button on her seat belt connector.

  “You heard nothing?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “Sorry, I was miles away and didn’t hear anything.”

  “Why I waste my time sometimes,” she muttered, stepping from the vehicle.

  “I switched off.”

  “What are you trying to accomplish by doing that, and why does it stop you from talking to Ben?”

  Nicole was right. “I’m scared, alright?”

  “Scared of losing him again?”

  “Yes.”

  Ben

  My head felt gre
at. It was clear to me that this whole evening was heaven sent. Pizza was the hot topic, and Jacob and Lindsey both agreed that it was a great idea to get all the toppings except for olives and anchovies; no one really liked them, did they? Instead of cooking, Lindsey had decided to pay for the most favorite takeout that Jacob liked. She didn’t have time to go to the store because Spirita had called in sick, and she had done all the yoga classes with Nicole.

  I dialed the local pizzeria and felt happy watching the two interact. It was a special feeling that rose up inside of me as they played a game of tag on the back lawn. I could see them through the window. Lindsey laughed, and the light of the sun began to fade away, and then Jacob and Lindsey came inside, full of joy about spending time with one another. Even Jacob's mother never spent time with him like that. His face was made up of a beaming smile that lit up my heart, and Lindsey's eyes showed truth and love inside them that gave me a fantastic feeling. I knew now that the decision to keep seeing her was the right one. She was here as Jacob's friend—and as my girlfriend? Wow, I hoped so.

  “I'm starvationing,” said Jacob, making Lindsey and me laugh.

  “You mean starving?” I asked.

  “Yep, I need food in my tummy, Dada. Lin-see makes you hungry when she chases you!”

  “It's my favorite,” said Lindsey.

  Jacob's eyes widened. “Me too!” I watched him smile at her as he said the words.

  “Well, the pizza will be here soon. Maybe you could have some water to help your tummy wait,” I said, suggesting a way to feel less hungry.

  “I'll go,” said Lindsey, helping Jacob to get some water from the kitchen.

  After a few minutes they came back into the living room like two peas in a pod, and I felt like it had always been this good, and like my ex had never even been a part of my life. All the hurt and devastation about it seemed to vanish, as if in an instant. I was happy. Something I hadn't been able to admit to being for quite a while. But Lindsey was filling that gap for both of us now, and I was extremely fulfilled by the feeling of it as it washed over me.

  “Dada, I want us to watch Kirby and the Great, please.”

  I knew the movie picking wasn't going to be anything on the adult radar, not while Jacob was still awake. This particular movie was one of his favorites, a cartoon dog with a twist in the story.”

  “Hmm, I don't know,” I said. “Do you think Lindsey will like it?”

  “Dada, Lin-see will love it!”

  He raced over to his DVD collection, found it, and then passed it over to me. He looked so excited, and I watched as Lindsey gave me a wink, signaling that it was fine by her.

  We sat together on the couch. I was so happy that Jacob snuggled in the middle of us. He was completely still as it started, and Lindsey looked at me with a wonderful smile. The night was beginning to be picture-perfect. I still found my heart being drawn to them both. It was so beautiful to sit as if we were a family.

  Whoa.

  “Sssssssh,” said Jacob. “You must watch all of it,” he said, double-checking that our eyes were fixed on the screen.

  We had to see Kirby, the black and white dog, discover himself along a long and winding path, through multiple locations. It was part of a big journey that he needed to take.

  We all watched Kirby as he ventured into a landscape filled with rain and lightning. He'd been told by his mother that he must follow the path until he found Great. Because Great would have a “great” message for him.

  The narrator narrated it well.

  Kirby looked very frightened as he huddled up for the night underneath a tree, but some ladybirds joined him, and they sang to him.

  The next day, he woke to find himself continuing on the path toward a huge jungle. He said to a nearby squirrel, “I don't have the courage to walk in there.”

  I watched Jacob tell Lindsey, “Yes he does!” Lindsey smiled and gave me a look of satisfaction at the joy of Jacob watching his favorite movie. I could smell her perfume as it wafted over to me.

  We continued watching as the squirrel offered to go with Kirby for part of the way through the jungle.

  Kirby's face garnered a smile as he accepted the squirrel's offer. They both walked together as silently as possible, hoping they wouldn't arouse any scary or predatory animals.

  “I hear there are lions in here,” said Kirby.

  “Oh yes, and huge tigers that can eat you in one bite!”

  “What?” said Kirby, feeling more nervous than before.

  Jacob was glued to the screen as they tip-toed through the undergrowth.

  Behind the trees and vines were eyes that peered at them. Jerny, the squirrel, smiled the whole time, confident that they would be safe.

  “Why are you so sure we'll be alright?” said Kirby.

  “Because my dad is the king of the jungle,” he said.

  “Your dad is a lion?” asked Kirby.

  “No, that's impossible. I'm a squirrel. My dad is also a squirrel.”

  Kirby thought for a moment and then inquired. “I've never heard of a squirrel in a jungle before, let alone being the king of one.”

  “Well, my dad is Great.”

  “You mean he's the one I'm trying to get to?”

  “Oh yes, he's expecting you. We don't have far to press on now.”

  Kirby looked fascinated as he walked with Jerny. He thought it was magical that he found himself in a jungle where a squirrel was in charge. And the fact that he was expecting him made it all seem even more mystical. His mother had been right.

  Jacob and Lindsey were both glued to the screen as they watched the cartoon about Kirby. It was well done, and it held the attention span of children and adults well. I'd seen it loads of times, and I still enjoyed watching it each time. Plus, I never got sick of seeing Jacob's face light up.

  We were all glued to the screen as we watched Kirby continue to find Great, the king of the jungle, who happened to be a squirrel.

  “Wow, this is the biggest tree I've ever seen,” said Kirby, fascinated by the sheer brilliance and magnificence of the tall and dense beauty.

  “We have to climb right to the top to see my dad,” said Jerny.

  Kirby's face looked forlorn at the idea of climbing the two-story high tree. It seemed too high up for a dog to manage.

  “But I can't,” cried Kirby. “I'll fall.”

  The squirrel gave a kind smile and told Kirby that he would do it with him and that the vines were strong enough to hold onto and swing on. Kirby didn't like the idea, but he decided he must do it, especially if he wanted to meet Great.

  Carefully he climbed to the top and finally made it. But there was nothing there except a view of the entire jungle. It was breathtaking and very beautiful, but still no Great anywhere to be seen.

  “But where is your father?” asked Kirby, hoping he wouldn't have to do this feat another time.

  The squirrel looked up, and high into the sky. “My father, Great, he is in heaven. This is the closest we can get to being there.”

  Kirby's face grew angry. He felt like he had been tricked. “You're telling me that I came all this way, through rain and hail, into a dangerous jungle, and I could've been eaten alive—only to look at the sky?”

  “But it's great, don't you think?” asked the squirrel.

  “No!” said the dog, becoming more impatient.

  “Well, I think it is. You see, while you were looking for Great, you became great, yourself.”

  “I did?” asked Kirby.

  “Yes, and you passed the test that many others have not.”

  “What test?” asked Kirby, confused.

  “The test that makes you become the king of the jungle. You have faced all your fears, and now you are the fearless leader of the animal kingdom. No other animal kept going and passed the test. It is written, and you are the chosen one.”

  All the animals below were happy that a new king was ready to lead them. And through the leaves, Kirby could see them all. There were monkeys, l
ions, tigers, dodos, elephants, hippos, and many more beautiful animals. He was going to be their wise and willing leader. But first, he had to find his way back down.

  “Wow!” said Kirby, “I’m the king of the whole jungle.”

  “Yes,” said Jerny, “and now you must walk your path.”

  “I’m too tired to go any further.” Jerny laughed and explained what he’d meant by walking a path. He meant that he had to live his life in his new kingdom, not walk along an actual path.

  And they all lived happily ever after.

  The end.

  The credits rolled as Kirby climbed down and greeted all the animals. Jacob had a wide smile as he looked first at Lindsey, and then at me. He was so happy. We all were.

  “Hey Jacob, it's teeth and bed for you.”

  “But—”

  “I'll come and tuck you in,” Lindsey said. And I can read a story if you like.

  “Really?” asked Jacob.

  “Of course.”

  I cleaned up the last few dishes as Lindsey and Jacob went together. He was excited to spend the time with her, and she was amazing with him. I couldn't have asked for more.

  When she arrived back, I was comfortable on the couch with some soft music from the radio playing. She sat by me and smiled. “He's so smart and unbelievably adorable.”

  “He must get it from me,” I said, offering a cheeky grin. “I think kindy is helping. They learn so much there, and my mom has been invaluable.”

  “She is amazing,” agreed Lindsey.

  “Wanna watch a movie? A less cartoony one?” I asked.

  “Sure,” she said, sipping on her sweet wine.

  We huddled close, and I felt my body warm to hers. It was cozy in the living room as we watched a movie about a woman who was being chased for a briefcase she knew nothing about. As the credits rolled I leaned in, kissing her with a passion that I had been aching to get out all night.

  Our lips entangled, and I whispered into her ear. “I want you to stay over, Lindsey. We can be quiet.”

  Her eyes sparkled underneath the soft light, and I felt like she was drawn to me too. We needed one another, and I knew we both wanted each other, very much. Her eyes and her kiss had told me that, and I was excited to be intimate with her. My body knew it needed to be inside of her.