Finding myself

22. Punch

Day 20

The doctor has told me that I don't need to be cautious anymore. My concussion is still there and I should not do anything too active but I can still do some things.

For example today I can go to the gym with my brothers and they're going to teach me how to fucking fight. I don't want to be here. I'm going to accidentally do something good and they're not going to believe that it was just dumb luck.

How do you hide the fact that you are one of the best fighters in the world from people who were raised to spot a lie?

I am going to die doing this.

The punch I landed onto the punching bag was weak and sloppy. Something I would never do if it wasn't for the 4 boys staring at my every movement. Christian still at the house working.

I need to hide all my knowledge, my stance needs to be wrong but not too wrong because I did take some self-defence classes as I told them. I need to hold back all the power in my blows but still seems like I'm trying. I need to act new to this when in reality I started when I was 10 maybe even younger I don't remember.

"No, you need to angle your shoulder like this so that when you hit you can carry more momentum, which then creates power," Benoit instructed his hands pushing my shoulder at the angle that I would normally use.

(I know nothing about fighting/ punching I'm sorry if this is way off and doesn't make sense)

I punch again and as expected I hit harder. More precise. My brothers seem proud. Not of me, but of their teaching.

Benjamin walks up next about to correct my posture I'm assuming. I mean that's the thing that's way off at the moment.

"Anna, don't look at the punching bag, imagine that bag is someone who touched you without asking." that's not terrible advice. I mean I don't necessarily need it, but he picked up on what angers me and is using it to help me. "I know you can punch hard if someone does that." I heard him grumble under his breath.

A slight smile lands itself on my face for a second and I position myself again. Not fantastically, just a little better. I punch the bag harder than before to show some improvement.

Next up is Alex, he's not necessarily known for his fighting but he's still quite good. He's like maybe top 15 in France, which don't get me wrong is fantastic but compared to his brothers who hold the top 4 spots, well I guess now 2-5 spots, he's not amazing.

He, as expected corrects my stance, keeping my feet separated to keep myself on balance. keeping my center of gravity at the best angle possible.

For a moment I forget what I'm doing and hit the bag with my usual amount of power. Landing a hard blow in the middle of the bag, where if it were a human, their chest would be.

Alex looks at me bewildered. Shit. How could I forget? They are all sitting behind me. I turn on my heels looking at them wide-eyed.

If I act surprised, then maybe they will think it was just one good hit.

"God damn Marianne, I think there was more power in that than a fucking hippos jaw." the astonishment in Alex's voice was clearly visible.

"I knew you took self-defence classes but... they don't teach you that do they?" I don't think being surprised is working. They don't seem to be suspicious at all they just seem caught off guard. That's a good sign, right?

"Yeah I was one of the best in that class but I'm still not fantastic I still lost some of the fights. It was mostly beginner stuff. My stepfather was actually the owner of it. He was my coach." it's always easier to lie when you're not fully being untruthful. If I hide a bit of truth in it, they won't be able to catch the lie, because it isn't one. Not fully.