“Okay, Coach. Thanks for listening.”
I walked over to Uncle Jake. “How’d it go?” he asked.
“Not good,” I told him and then explained everything that coach had just told me. I was telling him about the rent, the repairs, and the cleaning, and when I got to the cleaning, he said, “Wait. Cleaning?”
“Yes, Uncle Jake. Someone has to clean up here every day. The mats. The locker rooms. The bathrooms. You know, all this stuff,” I said.
“Good. That is the way.”
“What way?” I asked.
“That is the way you can get Nathan to be able to train here. Not for free but by working. By cleaning.”
“Oh yeah!” I said to Uncle Jake, realizing that was a great idea.
“But Coach also has a great point. All this stuff costs money. Lots of money. You have got to try and help there as well. How much money did you bring?”
“About two hundred dollars.”
“Is that all of your money?”
“Yep, that’s all of it.” I really hoped Uncle Jake wasn’t going to make me give up all my money.
“Okay. First, you need to save twenty percent of it. That’s forty dollars. That leaves you one hundred sixty dollars. How much of that do you need?”
“Well, I’m not sure, Uncle Jake. I worked hard for that money.”
“I know you did,” he told me. “And you should definitely keep a lot of it. But like I told you the other day, when it comes to money, the only feeling that compares to earning it is being able to use it to help someone else. What if you offer coach sixty dollars? And I said I will match what you put in. So your sixty plus another sixty from me comes to a total of one hundred twenty dollars. Plus, tell him you will clean the mats, the locker room, and the bathroom after every class.”
“Okay, Uncle Jake,” I told him. And I have to admit, even though I was feeling pretty bad about giving away sixty dollars, at the same time it also felt REALLY good to know I was going to be helping someone out.
I walked back over to Coach Adam. “Coach?”
“Yes, Marc?”
“My uncle Jake had an idea, and I wanted to see if you don’t mind me asking for another way to have Nathan train here.”
“Okay, Marc. Let’s hear it.”
“Well. First of all, I know nothing is free and that you have to work for everything. Luckily, I have been working hard all summer long mowing lawns and pulling weeds, and I’ve saved some money. I could give you sixty dollars. Plus my uncle wants to help out, too, so he said he would give the same amount as me, another sixty dollars. So that is a total of one hundred twenty dollars.”
“That’s really nice, Marc. And that’s nice of your uncle, too. But it costs a lot more than that to train here,” Coach Adam said.
“I know. That’s why we are going to offer to do more. We are going to clean the academy for you—Nathan and I. We will clean the mats, the locker rooms, the bathrooms … everything. We will do whatever else you need us to do around the outside of the academy, too. Pull weeds. Sweep up. We will keep this place in tip-top condition. It will be both of us cleaning, so we will do a great job. I promise.”
Coach Adam sat for a minute, thinking. I could see he really wanted to help. But I still wasn’t sure what he would say.
Finally, after what seemed like FOREVER, he said, “Okay.”
At first, I didn’t believe him. “Okay?”
“Yes, Marc. Okay. You can do it. You can bring Nathan. He can train here. And you want to know why I am allowing it?”
“Because of the money?”
“No. Because of your attitude. One hundred twenty dollars isn’t enough to cover many costs at all. And I won’t save too much having you two clean. But your attitude is good. And because you and your uncle are trying to help, you are making me want to help, too. And that is part of jiu-jitsu, too. Being part of a team. Helping one another out. So if you give that money to help pay for things and you and Nathan help around here by cleaning up, then he can train here. Good job, Marc. Way to take care of your friend.”
“Thank you, Coach!” I told him. Then we shook hands, and when we shook hands, it felt kinda different. Like when two adults shake hands. Like a business deal. It felt great spending money to help someone else. Uncle Jake was right!
I went over and told Uncle Jake that we had a deal. He got a big smile on his face, too. I went to the car and got my money and then Uncle Jake gave me his money, and I gave it all to Coach Adam.
When we got in the car, Uncle Jake said, “First mission accomplished. Good job, Marc.”
“Thanks, Uncle Jake,” I told him.
“Now we are on to mission number two.”
“Mission number two? What is that?”
“Well, you wanted Nathan to be able to train in jiu-jitsu, but you also wanted him to get a bike. So we are going to get a bike.”
After a few minutes, we pulled off the road by a sign that said JUNKYARD.
“Junkyard?” I asked. “We are going to look for a bike at the junkyard?”
“Yes, we sure are. People waste all kinds of stuff all the time. They throw away things that would work fine with a little time and effort.”
We parked the car and got out. An older man wearing overalls walked over to us. “Good afternoon, folks. Whatcha lookin’ for?”
“Good afternoon,” said Uncle Jake, “we are looking for bikes.”
“Okay, then. Second path over there, to the right. Next to the appliances, just after the lawn furniture.”
“Thank you, sir,” Uncle Jake said as we headed down the second path.
We walked for a bit and finally walked past all the lawn furniture. Then I saw a HEAP of old bikes. Some were almost completely destroyed, but some of them weren’t too bad. Some of them were even in better shape than The Bruiser was when we started working on it.
We climbed through and over the bikes, looking for one that was a kind of bike Nathan might like and wasn’t in too horrible of shape.
As we were looking, our eyes both locked on one bike at the same time. It was a bluish color without too much rust. But the tires were flat, the handlebars were flipped upside down, it was missing one pedal, there were no grips on it, and overall, it just looked pretty rough. But not too rough. I looked at Uncle Jake, and he looked at me. We both smiled. It was the one!
We untangled it from some of the other bikes, and Uncle Jake carried it over to the man who had welcomed us.
“How much for this one?” Uncle Jake asked.
“How about two dollars?” the man said.
Two dollars! I thought to myself. The Bentlee cost almost TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS!
I reached into my pocket and pulled out two dollars. Uncle Jake took one of my dollars, then pulled out one of his own, and handed the money to the man.
“Looks like you got yourself a new bike! Well, maybe not a brand-new bike. But you got a bike.”
“This kid will make it new,” Uncle Jake said as he nodded at me.
“Well, good luck, kid,” said the old man. “Good luck with that.”
“Thank you, sir,” I said. “I will do my best.”
With that, we loaded the bike into the minivan and drove away.
“What was the last problem you wanted to help Nathan with?” Uncle Jake asked me.
“Well, I was hoping he could have a place to hang out after camp every day.”
“That’s right. And now he can help you get this bike fixed up. So now he will have a place to hang out—your garage—and he will have something to do while he is there—fixing this bike!”
“This is AWESOME, Uncle Jake,” I said.
And I meant it. It was exactly as Uncle Jake had said it would be. Helping people helps everyone. I felt better already.
CHAPTER 21: A GREAT DAY
Today was one of the best days I’ve ever had. It started as soon as we got done with camp. I asked Nathan if he wanted to come over because I had some cool stuff for him.
“What kind of cool
stuff?” he asked.
“Cool stuff. Trust me.”
“Okay. Sounds good.”
When camp was over, we headed back to my house. Since Nathan didn’t have a bike, we took turns riding mine. I would ride for a block and he would run, then he would ride for a block and I would run. When we finally got to my house, we went around to the garage. I opened the garage and said, “There it is!”
“What?” Nathan said.
“That,” I said as I pointed to the old blue bike that was sitting in the middle of the garage.
“That?” Nathan asked.
“Yes. That.”
“An old bike?”
“Yes,” I told him, “an old bike. But it’s your bike. And I have all the tools and paint and gear to get it fixed up to be AWESOME.”
Nathan stood there quietly for few moments with a look on his face like he couldn’t believe it.
“Are you sure? For me?”
“Yep. It isn’t ready to ride right now. But it will be. It looks about the same as The Bruiser looked when I first started fixing it.”
“How long will it take to get ready?”
“It depends on how hard we work! I did most of the work last time by myself. With you here, it should go quicker. And I kinda know what I’m doing this time, which should also make it go even faster.”
“Well, I am ready to work! Let’s GO!”
When he said that, we got to WORK! We did the same thing that I had done with The Bruiser: We took off the wheels, the brakes, the handlebars, the seat, the stem, the forks—EVERYTHING. It was cool having Nathan there, and I could tell he really liked working on the bike and learning all the different parts, and we were having tons of fun as we did it. It was kind of hard to believe that just a couple months ago, this was the same kid who annoyed me like crazy and got me kicked out of school on the last day!
After we had been there for a few hours, Uncle Jake walked into the garage. “How is it going, boys?”
“It’s going great, Uncle Jake!” Nathan said loudly. Then he got quiet and said, “Sorry. I know you’re not my uncle.”
“That’s all right, Nathan. You can call me Uncle Jake. I don’t mind one bit.”
Nathan smiled. “Well, it is coming along great. We’ve got the whole thing taken apart,” Nathan said. “All the pieces are organized in piles like the way you showed Marc last time.”
“Yep! It is all squared away, Uncle Jake!” I added, pointing to the neat piles of bike parts.
“I see. You guys have done some great work. But now it’s time for me to take you to jiu-jitsu,” Uncle Jake said.
“Okay,” I replied. I looked over at Nathan’s face. I could see he was let down because he didn’t think he could go.
“Well, I can just head home I guess. Thanks for having me over,” Nathan said.
“Nope. You’re coming with us,” I told him.
“I can’t,” he said quietly. “I already used my one free class.”
“I know you already used your free class. But remember today when I said I had some cool stuff for you?” I asked Nathan.
“Yeah, I remember.”
“Well, this is the other cool thing. Jiu-jitsu.”
“What about it?” Nathan asked.
“You can train there now! Whenever you want!”
“Wait. What? How?”
“Well, I know you really liked training there the other day. And Coach Adam noticed that you liked it a lot, too. And since I had a little extra money from working and Uncle Jake always wants kids to learn jiu-jitsu, we were able to get a really good deal for your membership.”
“I’m a member?” Nathan said, sounding thrilled. “AWESOME! THANK YOU!”
“Well, there is a little catch,” I told him.
All of a sudden Nathan looked very serious, like maybe it was too good to be true.
“What is the catch?” he asked.
“Well. Since I couldn’t pay the full price for the membership, I told Coach Adam that we would clean the mats, the bathrooms, the locker rooms … pretty much everything to pay for your training.”
Nathan looked surprised. “That’s it?” he asked. “That’s the catch?! That’s AWESOME! YES! We have jobs! At a jiu-jitsu academy! AAAWWWWEEESSSSOOOOMMMEEEE!!!”
And that was it. We washed our hands (which were covered in dirt and grease and rust from taking apart the bike), grabbed a couple of my jiu-jitsu gis, and headed to the academy.
When we got there, we were a little early. Coach Adam had us sweep the floor and take out the garbage from all the different trash cans before class. He was really cool, and we were HAPPY TO BE THERE.
Then the class started. We warmed up and learned some moves and then it was time to train. I practiced a few moves, then Coach Adam put me into the “Shark Tank.” The Shark Tank is what Coach Adam does to you when you are getting ready to compete. During the Shark Tank, I had to stay in the middle of the mat, grappling against the other kids one at a time. About every minute, Coach would send in a fresh person who was not tired at all. After about five minutes, I was really tired. After ten minutes, I was exhausted. And after fifteen minutes, I thought I was going to pass out—but I saw Uncle Jake was watching and thought, NO WAY!
I stayed in there the whole time, giving it my best effort. There were even some people—kids who normally don’t beat me—who were able to tap me out because I was so tired. Even a little girl named Zisa who is much smaller than me was able to tap me out with an armlock! But Coach said that was okay, because I kept trying my best. I kept moving as much as I could. By the time it was over, I could barely stand up.
But I did stand up. I shook everyone’s hand, and Coach Adam said, “Nice work, Marc. As long as you fight that hard in the tournament, I will be happy.”
“I will, Coach. I will.”
And with that, Nathan and I walked off the mat to where Uncle Jake was waiting. I was sweating. HARD.
We got in the car, and Uncle Jake started driving. I was too tired to talk, so I was just kind of sitting there. Then Nathan said, “That was cool to watch, Marc. You did awesome.”
“Thanks, Nathan,” I said.
He was quiet for a little while. Then he said, “No, Marc. Thank you. And you, too, Uncle Jake. Thank both of you. For everything.”
And with that, we drove back to the house, tired, sweaty, and happy.
It was a great day.
CHAPTER 22: WIN OR LEARN
So. Today I participated in my first jiu-jitsu tournament. It was CRAZY!
I have to admit that it was even harder than I thought it would be. First of all, the scene was nuts. The crowd was berserk. I have never been around so many people yelling and screaming so much. And it was HARD. The kids I fought against were GOOD and STRONG.
Before my first match, I was super nervous. The kid was named Barry, and he was bigger than me. When I walked out onto the mat, I actually felt like I was going to throw up! The referee had us shake hands, then bow, and then he said, “Fight!”
When he grabbed my gi, I could already feel something different than what it felt like in training. He was grabbing me HARD! He pulled me and pushed me and pulled me and pushed me, and I felt like he was going to throw me across the mat! Then he stepped in and tripped me to the ground, but luckily I was able to put him in the guard on my way down. Once we were on the ground, I realized once again how crazy competition actually was! He was going nuts! I kept my guard closed tight and tried to pull him down and control him. Then he grabbed the collar of my gi and started trying to choke me. At first, I started to panic as it got harder to breath. Then I heard Coach Adam say calmly, “Relax and do what you know how to do.”
At first, I thought, IT IS A LITTLE HARD TO RELAX WHEN SOMEONE IS TRYING TO CHOKE ME!!!! Then I thought, Just listen to Coach. So I did. I tried to relax and detach from all the emotion and chaos of the fight. Suddenly I felt much better. I thought about what I knew how to do. Then it hit me: ARMLOCK! This was the perfect spot to do an ARMLOCK. H
is arm was straightened out as he tried to choke me, all I had to do was lock his arm into position with my legs and use my hips to put pressure on his arm. So I did it! I swung my legs around his arm and trapped it and moved my hips to apply the force, and HE TAPPED OUT! HE TAPPED OUT!
I looked over and saw Nathan jump in the air, and Coach Adam nodded his head and mouthed the words Good job.
Uncle Jake was standing on the sideline with a MASSIVE smile on his face as he pumped his fist. I WON MY FIRST JIU-JITSU MATCH.
But that was only the beginning. As soon as I walked off the mat, Coach Adam said, “Great work. Now relax and get ready for your next match.”
NEXT MATCH??? I just finished my first match! I sat down and drank some water. Nathan came over to me. “That was AWESOME! YOU TAPPED HIM OUT!”
“Thanks! It was crazy!”
“What was crazy about it?” he asked.
“The whole thing. The crowd. The screaming. How hard my opponent was fighting. Everything.”
“It might have been crazy, but you DID IT!”
“I guess so!” I said, still kind of not believing that it had happened.
“What’s next?” Nathan asked in an excited voice.
“I have to get ready for the next match,” I told him.
“Okay. Do you need anything from me?” Nathan asked.
“No. I’m okay. Thanks, though,” I told him. I sat there, still trying to catch my breath.
Uncle Jake walked over toward me. “Relax,” he said. “Just relax.”
“I’m trying,” I told him.
“I know,” he said. “It’s hard.”
Then I heard Coach Adam say, “Marc, next match. Let’s go!”
I got up and moved back over to where coach was. The referee pointed at me and waved me on to the mat. Here we go again! My second match and I was still tired from the first one!
The kid I was going against in this match was about the same size as me. He looked like he was at least as nervous as I was! But you never can tell what someone is going to be like on the mat until you feel what they are like on the mat. As it turns out, this kid was STRONG!
The New Recruit Page 9