by Lotta Bangs
Grumpy Fernando immediately complained that I didn’t show him the proper respect due to the man of the household.
“But you’re not the man here, Fernando. You have no right to make demands of me, especially after being so rude. Fermina was raised to be polite to men and wait on them; I was not.
“If you had said you were thirsty, I would have told you to get a cold drink from the fridge. If you wanted tea, you could have put on the jug yourself and asked if Mom wanted another cup. Neither of us is interested in catering to your demands after you forced your way in here.
“You’re only an occasional visitor with no say about what happens in this house. Fermina makes her own decisions without ever asking your opinion.”
“She should ask me. It is not proper for a respectable woman to do business in areas which are the correct province of men.”
“Especially, when she makes a greater success of it than the men used to, eh? And then doesn’t share her secrets. It shows up the men too much.”
Fernando apparently had no sense of humor. His face turned a dark red. He undid his belt buckle and started slowly drawing the leather belt through the loops in a threatening manner.
Fermina didn’t speak or move from her armchair; she smiled at me.
I didn’t bother to move from where I was lounging across another armchair. “Fernando, I could kill you before you had that belt ready to hit me.”
He stared at me a while, then turned to Fermina for support. “I wouldn’t be the man here if I allowed a girl child to address me with such insolence.”
“As she has already told you, Fernando, you are not the man in this household. I am, and no sulky posturing or display of machismo on your part will give you that position. I am tired of your constant complaints. Please leave.”
And he did. I saw him out to be sure.
I apologized to Fermina for again damaging her love life.
She laughed. “Taj it’s a joy to see how you put these hornless bulls in their place. It really unmans them to realize that they’re frightened of a little girl who won’t play by their rules. You bring me happiness, child.
“Unfortunately, I have to pretend that I’m still searching for a replacement husband, or garner a reputation as an unrespectable woman. At least I have a better excuse now to refuse them—nobody can fault me for not accepting a man who cannot get along with my child.
“And with you in the house, I don’t need another chaperone, so Duarte can visit more often.”
* * *
Without warning, Fermina announced that she would put on a birthday party for me. I must invite all the girls who’d had me over.
I seriously considered running away rather than have to go through such an ordeal, but that would have been mean and ungrateful.
“Please don’t do that, Fermina. I really don’t want a party with a bunch of 6-year-old girls. I have nothing in common with them.”
“Taj, you know many other people now. Why not have a mixed party? You could invite all the kids and young adults you teach at martial arts, as well as the birthday girls and their families. They invited you to their celebrations. It is important that you return a similar courtesy.”
“But what on earth am I supposed to do with all the stupid dolls and toys I’ll get? I don’t play little-girl games.”
“You could donate them to charity, Taj, or to a children’s hospital. Or just ask for book vouchers instead.”
“I’m sure the charities would prefer money. I could ask guests to make a donation to one or more children’s charities. Some people do that for funerals instead of accepting flowers.”
“Oh, come on, Taj. Your party will be nothing like a funeral. Don’t be so glum. You could hold it at the gym if that’ll make you feel more comfortable.”
So that’s what we decided to do.
I arranged a self-defense exhibition showing how a properly trained small person could not only fend off and escape from untrained larger attackers, but disable them too.
The gym owners were very happy to allow us free use of their resources, and my guests were fascinated to see how I disarmed and temporarily disabled a series of volunteer assailants.
Some of these guys were really trying to hurt me, because they didn’t want to look like milksops. I had to pretend to pant and be out of breath after taking on two guys at a time for the last three demonstrations.
The food was great, much healthier than regular party fare. We received many compliments on that.
The caterers, who had given their services gratis as an introductory offer, handed out business cards to everyone interested.
Fermina’s swim aerobics ladies did some synchronized exercises in a sort of aquatic conga line. Many of the guests, at least those who had taken the invitations seriously and worn bathers, jumped in and joined in that, and we raised thousands of dollars for a local children’s charity.
Attendance rates at the swim aerobics and martial arts classes tripled immediately afterwards and continued to pick up all year as the word spread.
Every other party I attended from that time was also catered by our firm, Galen Catering, so it worked out very well all around.
My annual birthday party became a successful social event after that, and even though I didn’t attend school with any of the local kids, I became quite popular with a wide range of age groups.
I no longer felt so stifled having to discuss dollies, and made a few fairly close older friends with whom I had something in common. They accepted me as the person I pretended to be, so I managed to have a fairly normal social life.
I also kept up a correspondence with Master Inque, Emil and with Bryan who was now seeing Sharon seriously. I even heard occasionally from the ambassador who sent me personalized birthday and Christmas cards.
* * *
Six months after I opened my second dojo, the Macdojo was bankrupt and the bank foreclosed. I was with the same bank—Bank Galen, so they were pleased to let me have the building cheap.
The bank recommended contractors to install two full-level underground parking lots and two double-Olympic-sized heated salt water pools with a small shallow pool to teach very young children to swim. They also added three more upper floors.
I offered to retrain the previous teachers to my standards and they all accepted. We arranged accommodation for them locally during the reconstruction so they could attend my advanced classes and each requalified.
I perfected my Korean language skills too in another computer course.
The extension work was approved quickly and completed in two months. The builders had done a superb job.
I had the latest gym equipment installed with four weight benches, one which used smaller weights only so the dedicated body builders couldn’t hog it too.
There was an entire floor for martial arts and another for various aerobics, dancercise and dance classes. There was a three bedroom apartment and four smaller ones on the top floor among the offices with a staff canteen and lounge. Two of the large rooms could quickly be turned into dormitories with two-level bunks for intensive training courses.
The pool with the nearby kiddy pool was segregated women only, the other was unisex. I didn’t think many dads would want to teach their toddlers to swim.
Despite all my hygiene precautions, the water in that children’s pool still needed to be flushed and changed every day, sometimes several times.
Chapter 10
Meeting Armando
After my hair had finally grown in enough so I no longer needed extensions, Fermina introduced me to a long-time family friend who liked to keep a paternal eye on her. Armando Passos had heard of my martial arts expertise and was interested in seeing it for himself.
He ran a dojo in the northwest of the same state, a fair distance away, so Fermina and I were collected with our luggage and driven to stay with his family in their palatial home.
I was most impressed by the chauffeur sent for us. He had beautiful, thick, as
h-blonde hair worn in a long fat braid halfway down his back. My own hair had proved disappointingly thin and limp, so I used gel to give it more body.
The driver also had very fine-textured, palest ivory skin, extremely sun-sensitive, yet it wasn’t pink like an albino’s. I had seen him reapply sunblock regularly whenever we stopped for a comfort break on our long car journey.
He shaded his face with his peaked cap and the sun visors and wore light driving gloves. Paul was very respectful to Fermina and smiled at me whenever he caught me staring.
He looked somehow familiar. It was hours before I recalled where I’d seen him—wearing fangs on the covers of two vampire books. He certainly had the looks for modelling, and with his pale translucent skin, he made a perfect vampire.
Armando’s wife Rosa was a warm motherly woman, eager to nurture ‘the poor orphan’ and a little shocked to find me prickly. She knew people who had known Alessandra’s family and was aghast at my early independence.
Fermina pointed out that if I had been as helpless as the usual protected girl child of my years I would not have survived alone. She praised my American mother’s forethought in having me taught to defend myself.
Armando asked about my certification.
“I’ve had only one from Master Inque certifying me at black belt level in Taekwondo, but that has been lost along the way.”
“Ask him for another copy. It is important to have your dojo registered and to have proper accreditation of your achievements if you wish to teach.
“Alessandra is a very pretty name, but you need something stronger for your martial arts identity. It will also allow you some privacy if you become well known.”
“I registered the dojo in Buenos Aires when I began teaching there, sir, under the initials TMAA for Taj’s Martial Arts Academy. My mother sometimes called me Taj, when I had done something that pleased her. It means ‘the best’.
“The registration people said that I didn’t need to give a permanent address, just to update it each time I moved, that wherever I taught would be my dojo.”
“That is correct. Do you have a logo and certificates prepared?”
I showed Armando those on my computer.
“Congratulations. Those are the most professional-looking certificates I’ve ever seen. So your colors are black and dark red??”
“Black, cherry and metallic gold, sir.”
“Very nice. What other martial arts do you have besides Taekwondo?”
“I’m good at most of them sir, including the French ones, but they were studied informally during the time I was in hiding and I’m not at liberty to disclose who were my teachers.
“Gōjū-ryū karate and Jiujutsu are probably my favorites. I have also invented two new Gōjū-ryū kata, one intermediate and one advanced, and a number of Jiujutsu moves.”
“Humph. The current kata are sufficient for everyone else. Do you have a corresponding bunkai oyo for each of these new kata?”
“Of course.”
“Well, after Fermina has rested, we’ll attend the dojo and you may show me how good you are.”
“Do I really need a chaperone if you are there sir? It would be an imposition on Fermina who has no interest in the martial arts.”
“Yes, you do need a chaperone. A young girl of good family must be known to have been protected to retain her marriageability status. There is no leeway allowed on this rule. Fermina would be remiss in her duty if she failed in this regard.”
“Yes sir. Do I continue to address you as sir or as sensei?”
“Sir will do for the present. When and if I take over your training, then you may address me as sensei.”
* * *
Armando’s chauffeur drove us to the dojo an hour later. I had already changed into my gi with the black obi, added a light coat for the return journey to my accessory bag and carried the cane.
Armando simply walked into the advanced Gōjū-ryū class. I bowed at the door and waited for the teacher’s acknowledgement before following him.
He introduced me to the teacher as Taj and asked me to choose a partner. I chose a shorter young man, who seemed the best in the class. Armando sat at the side of the room with Fermina, who had brought her needlework basket, and watched as we went through a very basic session. The chauffeur sat just inside the door.
“Alright Taj, please teach the class your new kata.”
I bowed to my partner and asked if he would aid me. He bowed back and agreed. I bowed to the teacher and took his place as he sat next to Armando.
I slowly demonstrated each individual move of the kata twice, while the students followed, then the whole in one flowing sequence. Armando and the teacher were no longer seated. I noticed them at the rear of the class, learning the moves too.
It was only an intermediate kata of twenty known moves, and these were advanced students, so they picked it up quickly.
I asked the students on the left in each pair to continue with the kata slowly while I showed their partners the related bunkai oyo. We all did that twice more, then I demonstrated with my new partner at normal speed.
After five more repetitions, I had the students reverse and taught the bunkai oyo to the others the same way till everyone had it perfectly.
“Sir, shall I teach the class the advanced kata also?”
“Yes sensei, we would all appreciate your doing that.”
Armando and the teacher bowed to me. The class and my partner followed suit.
I bowed to my class and began on the harder twenty-seven step kata with my partner, just two slow moves at a time, then the first four together, the next two, then the six, the next two, and the eight.
There were a few gasps at that as the eighth was one of five moves that were new to Gōj-ryū. I repeated them separately, one at a time, four times until everyone had them then three moves together.
We practiced the entire kata until all the moves were reasonably fluid. I had to stop and move onto the floor to amend a few incorrect stances.
The other teacher was making the fifteenth move too high and too far forward, so I corrected the man in front of him, having him make the moves more slowly as the teacher followed. The teacher nodded his thanks. I nodded back.
With that down I taught the complementary bunkai oyo, also two new moves at a time. This had four completely new karate moves, but the class handled them well.
When I was satisfied that they were being made correctly, I had the students pair off again, working the two related combinations together.
Both my new kata flowed more smoothly than most, so it was a pleasure to watch a class perform them in unison, like an exotic dance.
I asked my partner how long the class usually took.
“An hour,” he said.
I had been running the class for three full hours.
“Sir, shall I dismiss the class now?”
“Yes sensei, I believe they’ve had their money’s worth today.”
I bowed to my partner and thanked him for his aid, gave the closure, bowed, and received the class’s responses and bows, then moved over to Fermina.
“I’m sorry we took so long Fermina, were you horribly bored?”
“No Taj, I quite enjoyed watching a class of over forty grown men obeying my little six-year-old daughter. I doubt that happens very often.”
“It has never happened here before, but I believe it will become a common sight in the future.” said Armando. There is a class in Savate soon. Are you up for that, Taj?”
“Yes please, sir. Is that alright with you Fermina?”
“This is what we came for Taj.”
“Can I wear my gi with my boots and gloves sir? That’s what I usually do.”
“Whatever you feel comfortable with, Taj”
My boots were black with cherry laces. I put them on over cherry socks, but carried my violet gloves and took my bag and the cane as Fermina was busy reorganizing her needlework.
Armando looked surprised. “You have achieved
silver gloves status? Which level?”
“Three, sir.
“That will make you the highest ranking tireuse in the state, if not the country. As a woman, you cannot compete, but you are permitted to fight opponents in private club matches.”
“Yes sir, I am also allowed to challenge visiting French champions. I have fought the last three that toured here and won.
“There are no certificates awarded for these private club matches, but I have letters of acknowledgement from each champion on official club stationery attesting that he was defeated by me, with the date and club officials’ signatures as witnesses.”
“There is another French champion touring in a few months, we’ll see what we can arrange, I would be very interested to see you fight a high caliber opponent. No matter how good you are, they would have the advantage of reach, weight, experience and superior hitting power.”
“Reach, yes, but I can match any man in hitting power and speed. Being small, I don’t provide an easy target and I’m never where they expect me to be.
“Emil nicknamed me La Tabanita the little breeze fly or horsefly and wrote an article about our match for a French magazine which printed some photos. We even had the cover pic.”
“Can you get me copies of that?”
“Sure, I scanned it to my computer. Do you want a digital transfer or a printout?”
“Printout please.”
I ran it off straightaway and handed over the original French copy and an English translation.”
“The magazine is printed in English too?”
“No sir. I translated it and Photoshopped the cover copy to match.”
“A very professional job, Taj. I presume you also have professeur level as a teacher of savate?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good.”
Most of the class had gone already. My partner had stayed and waited for me to finish the conversation before introducing himself.
“I am Phillip. May I have the honor of carrying your bag, sensei?
I smiled and gave it to him, retaining the stick. We followed Armando who was reading the article as he walked, and Fermina.
* * *
I saw a small movement from a side corridor, grabbed and pulled Fermina, pushing her into Phillip’s arms while fending off the cane which had attempted to trip her. I charged low, taking out the feet of the cane fighter, reversed my cane and smacked his fibula as he fell.