I met Neeka at her car shortly after the last class. As we drove over to River Street and our first Kung Fu class, we talked about my adventure of the day.
"I can't believe that Sara just threw all your clothes out the window like that." She said. "What was she thinking?"
"She was looking for something exciting and kinky to do." I said. "I should have seen it coming when she told us about her sister daring her to do stuff. It looks like the Hendersons have made this sort of thing a hobby."
Neeka was quiet for a while. I didn't need to be able to read her mind to know that she was thinking about what we had done and wished that she had been there to participate.
"You're right." She said with a grin. "I wish I had been there. The four of you, lined up like captured fugitives, begging for Steve Wojeski's cock — that just makes me so hot!"
"We were so excited by the time he came along that if he hadn't suggested it, one of us surely would have. Have you ever done anything like that?"
"Put myself in a situation where I might be caught naked? I guess. I think that's a common enough fantasy that everyone has done something like it at some time or other. I've done some fairly safe stuff — sunbathing in the back yard. Getting naked in a guy's car. I've even posted some pictures of myself on the Net. But I never put myself in a position where I was so totally committed like that. I mean, anything could have happened!"
"And did!" I said. "I got fucked by the biggest stud at school. And he wants to date me!"
"Yeah, and you want to kick his butt. He shouldn't have laughed at you like that."
"Well, it's just that he had been such a gentleman up to that point. I was... I am... I do like the guy. A lot, actually. It takes a lot of class to basically rape you and then apologize for not taking more time. But I can still hear him laughing at the idea that I might be his equal."
"Must be grating to know that you are really his superior."
"I try not to think of it like that. He didn't... couldn't know. It was just that automatic assumption of superiority - grrrrr!"
"Easy there, tiger! Down girl!"
I took several deep breaths and tried to calm down. I didn't want to walk into class with a load of adrenalin going. Someone might get hurt.
"So you plan to whip his ass." Neeka said. "That'll teach him."
I thought about that for a bit. She was right. Satisfaction would feel good for a short time. But it would ruin any relationship I might have had with Steve. The worst part was he wouldn't learn anything from it except that I could beat him. He would know I was special and he might hate me for humiliating him. I could be making an enemy and giving him a weapon to use against me, all in one ill-considered act.
"The Sword of Justice has two edges." Neeka said.
"You're practicing your Chinese philosophy. But you're right. I have to be very, very careful using my abilities in social situations. As much as I want to pin Steve to the mat and show him who the weaker sex really is, I see that that's not the right way to handle this."
"So what are you going to do?" She asked. It was rhetorical. She would know what I was going to do as soon as I made up my mind to do it.
We were just passing a health-food store when Neeka pulled over and parked. I was out of the car and walking into the store when I realized that she had just reacted to a decision I had made in real-time. No discussion. No clarification. Just my thought and her action. I bought several energy bars in a variety of flavors and went back to the car. Having a mind-reading chauffeur was certainly going to have some tactical advantages. I still wasn't looking forward to her doing it on that bike, though. The only thing going through my mind then would most likely be "Slow Down!"
Master Li taught classes in an old mattress factory on River Street that looked like it might be the oldest building in town. It was a big brick place with incredibly high ceilings and thick wood floors that had been patched and sanded, but not stained or waxed. The acoustics were terrible. Sounds echoed all over.
Li was a Chinese man of indeterminate age who was immediately impressive because he made no superfluous movements. He had no tics or twitches. He did not cough or sneeze. He neither scratched nor rubbed. I watched him for several minutes before I could even be sure that he blinked. During those times when he was not moving with a purpose, she stood as still as a statue. When he did move, it was with such grace and economy that he always seemed to be dancing. I had never met anyone who had such complete control over himself.
Neeka and I were part of a class of ten students. The others were a mix of bored housewives looking for a way to fill their afternoons, college students who had got interested in Kung Fu from the movies, and a couple of retired men who were looking for a fun way to keep fit and flexible in their later years. To these last two, Master Li suggested that they switch to a Tai Chi class as more appropriate for their needs.
When he asked me what I wanted to get out of the class, I said simply, "Control." He looked at me intently for a beat and then moved on to Neeka, who said, "I need to keep up with her," and hooked a finger at me.
Even though he reacted the same way to each of our responses, I got the impression that Neeka and I had intrigued him. Maybe that was just wishful thinking, because Li was the kind of person who was so impressive that you just felt compelled to try to impress him back. I thought that capacity to motivate probably made him a better teacher.