The Edge Of Justice

The Edge Of Justice Chapter 2

Three months earlier.

The foot came about an inch from my face before I brought up my forearm to block it, then pushed back in an effort to throw my opponent to the floor. She tipped backward but recovered in time, planting her feet firmly once more, stance mirroring my own. I jumped forward, expecting her to flinch, but I was surprised when she moved forward instead, down and to my left. Her fist impacted my ribs, causing my teeth to clack together and my body to list to my right. I righted myself in an instant, and turned toward the girl to my left. She was in the middle of a back handspring, and I sprinted after her, my soft soled boots making no noise in the soft grass beneath my feet. 

She landed on her feet, and her eyes widened slightly, and I knew I had surprised her. I lowered my shoulder, intending to bowl her over and end this fight, but she took me by surprise once more when she dropped her leg and rolled to my right, and I passed her completely. Slowing down as quickly as I could, I heard running footsteps behind me. I turned to see my opponent running at me full speed, and I figured that she must have started after me as soon as I passed her. With four feet still between us, she leapt into the air, and a smile wound onto my face. She was heading for my right, and grasped my shoulder as her body flew past mine. My shoulder was pulled back, her momentum pulling her all the way around my body, and bringing her knee to what was supposed to have been my left temple. I raised my forearm once more, her shin bouncing off of it, and I raised my other hand, gripped her ankle, and pushed my forearm forward, slinging her off of me and to my front. 

She hit the ground, and went into a roll, landing back on her feet almost instantly, her breath hitched, and I knew I she was thinking twice about using the very move I had taught her against me again. I took a step forward, and she launched into a Capoeria style Au, a cartwheel meant to put distance between us, and I froze. She came back upright, and stared at me, breathing heavily. 

I crossed my arms and stared back, and we stood like that for a few moments before I asked, “You‘ve been training with Mom again, haven’t you?”

She smiled sheepishly. “Yea. How‘d you know?”

I moved toward her, and we fell into step together on our way back into the house. “Mom used to use that Au against me all the time.”

“Yea, that‘s why she told me to do it. According to her, you don‘t know how to counter Capoeria, and it‘s the only reason she beats you.”

I stopped, and stared down at the girl who only came up to my elbow. “Mom said she beat me?”

She nodded, and I growled. “I‘m gonna kill her.”

Haley laughed, and ran toward the house, her long brown hair flowing after her in the wind. She reached the back door of the mansion, and slid it open, pushing through it. I held back and walked slowly, my eyes sweeping the back of the house my wife, daughter and I shared on the northern suburbs of Chicago. Brown, and red bricks, some with a blue tint to them made up the façade, while the white balcony outside my daughters room broke out up on the second floor. She loved that balcony, and during the summer spent countless hours on the heavily padded wicker chair Melissa made me lug up there every year, nose buried in a book. Just then, the door of the balcony opened, and Haley stepped out, waved to me and shouted that she was going to take a quick shower before school.  I nodded in response, and headed to mine and Melissa’s room, disrobed quickly, threw my sweaty clothes on the black comforter, then headed into the shower myself.