New York. 02/03/2013: 18:55.
"Dad, what do you want to take for tonight?" Lina asked, looking at her father.
"I don't know, I want to cook tonight, do you want something specific?" Michael answered.
The father and daughter pair had stopped on their way back home to a little bodega. They got off work early today and so Michael wanted to cook something for his family. He was a pretty good cook and he loved to do it but lately he was doing a lot of overtime and so had no time to indulge in it. It was not even for money because their financial situation had improved significantly since he took his new job but because there was just too much work in the company for the both of them to do.
"What about ribs?" He asked, looking at the shelf.
"Ribs? Please, no! I don't want to gain another pound. What about some salad?"
"Salad? I'm not a rabbit!" He exclaimed playfully.
The two of them kept bantering, walking further back to the bodega to search for something to eat that could satisfy both of them when the door of the bodega was violently open and four mens entered with face masks.
Looking at the mens who had entered the bodega, Lina and Michael immediately took a knee and hid behind one of the shelves. A gunshot quickly echoed in the bodega, the other customers yelling and taking cover.
"This is a robbery! You, give us the money!" The one who seems to lead the group yell at the clerck before looking at one of his guys. "Jason rounded the customers and took their phones, wallets and jewelry! Move, now!"
"Dad, do you have your gun?" Lina whispers.
"No, I'm not a cop anymore Lina and I can't take the gun provided by the company when I'm not working, my own gun is home with yours in the safe." He answers bitterly.
"What do you want to do dad?" Lina asked.
"Listen kiddo, they are only two with guns, the others two have baseball bats. The one coming in our direction has a gun if I can take it from him, we could turn this around."
"Dad! No! We don't have to involve ourselves with this! Let's just give them our things and be done with it!" Lina whispers furiously.
At that moment they hear someone crying in pain, the pair turn to find one of the older customers clutching his stomach.
"That serve you right son of a bit**! Trying to hide your watch, PEOPLE give me everything you have or you will be next on the floor!' The thug yell, his eyes dancing with malice.
"Lina, I need to do this, I took an oath to protect and serve and I will uphold it. Please stay safe, I will not be long." He said patting her head before moving away quietly.
Lina wanted to stop him but her throat closed down, overwhelmed with emotions. Michael walked quietly, going to the thug's back while he was busy yelling at other female customers. That's when the woman made a mistake, seeing Michael appear on her line of sight, her face showed a surprised expression which Jason recognized instantly.
Turning around with his gun raised, Michael was expecting something like that and so managed to knock the gun out of his hands. What surprised him was when the thug launched himself at him, the two crashing into a shelf full of bottles that broke on the ground. The huge noise immediately alerts his buddies who turn in the direction of the commotion.
"Jason, what the hell is going on over there?" The one in charge shouted.
Lina shocked herself out of her stupor, her eyes still on the fight between her father and the thug named Jason. Even if it was more of a brawl, she was experienced enough now to see that her father had the lead and was going to win but there was a problem. Jason's buddies had heard the noise and were going to investigate very soon and more likely before the fight ended.
Lina knew that she had to do something or her father would be in danger. In her mind, the same phrase was going on over and over, 'What Nathaniel would do in this situation?' While another voice was whispering maliciously in her head 'You're not Nathaniel, you just old, useless Lina!'. That's when she remembers something that Nathaniel said to her while he was training her.
'People will always underestimate you because of your height, the fact that you are thin or because you have just a kind appearance. They will never feel threatened by you, never try to change that, this is an invaluable advantage for you to have. It will allow you to go where most people can't and it will enable you to get close to people and at that point it will not matter. Once you are inside someone's guard, it doesn't matter if they are taller, stronger or heavier than you, you just have to hit them where it hurts and I will teach you where it hurt the most.'
Suddenly, she knew what to do. Getting to her feet, she started running to where the thug was at the front desk before falling to her knees, tears coming to her eyes.
"Please don't hurt me! He wanted to hit me and he slipped and knocked his head on the shelf! I'm sorry, I didn't want that to happen, please forgive me, please don't kill me." Lina starts rambling.
Seeing the girl on her knees, crying, the thugs laughed before coming closer to Lina.
"I'm not surprised, I always thought that the fact that this morron can tie his shoes everyday is nothing short of a miracle." The leader laughed.
"Wow, she has a nice ass." The one on the right said, leering at her.
"Too skinny and too flat chested for my taste." His buddy laughed.
"Listen girl, if you are nice with us, we will be nice with you." The leader laughed, checking out Lina's body.
Lina had to fight really hard to suppress the disgust and hatred that she felt hearing them but she knew what to do. She had been trained by the best. 'When you are in combat, always spot the leader and take him out first. The loss of the leader will shock his followers and so you would gain more time in the offensive.' and then there was one other thing that she knew. To always have a knife on you, Scott and Nathaniel had stressed that enough that now everybody had one, Lina included.
Waiting for the leader to touch her hair, Lina took the knife that was hidden in her belt and stabbed it in the man's ankle. Surprised by the attack, the man yells in pain and feels hard on his back. Lina was already moving, she made a roll forward and took the gun that was on the ground.
Seeing one of the thugs attacking her, she shot him in the knee before moving sideways and shooting the leader on his right shoulder when he tried to grab her. Getting to her feet, she aimed the gun at the last thug standing, his baseball bat raised but still when he saw the gun aim at his head.
"Drop the bat! And raise your hands in the air" Lina shouted.
Seeing his friends bleeding and crying on the ground, clutching their wounds, the man started to sweat furiously before dropping the bat. He knew that the girl was not to be messed with and raised his hands in a sign of surrender.
"Good." Lina said before walking to him and kicking him with all the strength that she could muster in the groin.
The man turned white and with an inarticulate cry, he fell on his knees, clutching his groin before losing consciousness from the pain. Turning around, Lina could see her father with a gun in his hand and a split lip looking at her and the thugs on the ground stupefied, his mind clearly having trouble accepting what he was seeing.