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memory was still shot, but he tried to hide that, too, and
since he didn't want to reveal that he had forgotten the
fictitious appointment, he had just nodded and gotten into
the car. The charade didn't sit well with Mischa, but the
determination to make Tom feel better won out.
Tom was staring out of the window during the drive, and it
wasn't before Mischa pulled up at the dojo that he woke up
from his trance.
"This isn't the doctor's office." Tom looked at Mischa,
frowning.
"No, it isn't."
Tom's eyes narrowed. "Have you gotten me a therapist
without telling me?" His voice was low.
"No. You said you didn't want one. I've gotten you a
sensei."
Tom looked completely bewildered. "A sensei? As in a
karate one?"
"Yes." Mischa turned toward Tom, serious. "Something has
to happen. You can't go on like this." Tom stared at him for
a long time.
A Russian Bear - 328
"Are you sure that it's a good idea for someone who got
attacked to do martial arts?" Tom's voice was carefully
neutral.
"I do. And so does Phil."
"Your karate friend is called Phil?" Tom sounded
incredulous.
"Yes?" Apparently, Tom never stopped surprising him.
"You can't be named Phil and do karate." Tom sounded
very sure of that.
"Well, you'll have to talk to him about that. You have an
appointment with him in two minutes." Mischa knew he
wasn't playing fair; Tom hated being late more than
anything. But he was going to make his boy better, even if
he had to drag Tom kicking and screaming all the way
there.
Tom scowled at Mischa, but he got out of the car. Mischa
was actually surprised that it hadn't been harder.
They went into the house and left their shoes at the door
like the sign told them to. Mischa opened the door and
stepped into the dojo, looking to see if Tom was going to
follow him. He got a "we're so going to talk about this
later" stare, but Tom did follow. The relief welled up in
Mischa.
Phil had been doing a series of complicated movements in
the middle of the large dojo, but when they entered the
room, the sensei stopped and came over. Mischa only
A Russian Bear - 329
stayed long enough to introduce Phil to Tom, and then he
turned toward his lover.
"I suspect you want me to wait outside instead of in here?"
Tom's eyebrow did its thing. "Yes, please." Nobody else
could put that much meaning into two little words. Mischa
spontaneously leaned in and kissed Tom before he turned
and left. Now it was up to Phil to coax his boy back to life.
***
So. Karate. Tom really hadn't seen this one coming. He
didn't have much time to think about it, though.
"Have you ever done any martial arts?" Phil didn't look
much like a Phil. Phils were slightly overweight men in
their forties who played football with their kids in their
gardens. Each and every Phil Tom had ever met had been
exactly like that. This one was fit and kind of young, too.
And Tom was distracted.
"No. Never. And I'm not in very good shape, either." Tom
shrugged apologetically.
Phil smiled. "Don't worry, we'll get you there. Mischa told
me that you were attacked. Do you have any physical
injuries from that?"
"No. But I tire easily, and I can't focus for more than short
periods at a time." Tom narrowed his eyes. "What else did
he tell you?"
A Russian Bear - 330
"Nothing, basically. He called me and asked if I thought
this would be a good way for you to regain your strength.
And I think it is."
"I guess I can try it. But I don't want to fight." Tom was
going to keep his appointment, but he wasn't going to let
anyone hit him again.
"I don't want you to. What I'm going to teach you is some
basic techniques -- that's called kihon. If you want to use
the punching bag at the end of your lesson, you can do that,
and perhaps we'll do some kata, too."
"That was the thing you were doing when we came in? It
looked cool." Tom might feel terrible, but he had to get the
best out of the next 60 minutes.
"Yeah? I can teach you one today if you'd like."
"Okay. Even if I don't think I can do what you just did."
"Oh, you're not supposed to. You learn the easiest ones
first. I'll teach you the movements separately, and then we'll
put them together." Phil sounded very enthusiastic. Tom
had his doubts, but he kept them to himself.
Phil came across as a pretty easy-going guy, and it made
the training a lot more fun. The sensei taught Tom some
blocks and punches and a couple of stances, making him
repeat them up and down the floor and correcting them
until Tom did them right. Phil did demonstrate which block
went with what punch, but the sensei always made Tom do
the punch. Tom was relieved about that; he had no idea
how he would react to getting attacked -- and he didn't
particularly want to find out.
A Russian Bear - 331
Tom tired quickly, but he got a couple of breaks to get
some water and juice. It was exciting, though, especially
when he got to put the movements together into his first
kata. He was practicing it when Mischa came back, and his
lover came over when Tom finished.
"That looks good!" Mischa sounded impressed, and Tom [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]