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Chapter 25; Kung-Fu Fighting

Once, maybe twice a month Malik and Hadiya asked for Altair to baby-sit the children while they went out on a date.

On those days Altair called Desmond because Desmond was, at heart, still a child and Malik's kids actually liked and listened to him as opposed to when Altair had to watch them and all they wanted to do was make large dark eyes at him, scream and eat mass quantities of sugar.

Having the younger man there meant he could stay down stairs in his room and work while Desmond played nanny and he only had to check on them once or twice or if there was excessive yelling.

Tonight Desmond had brought Finding Nemo, Beauty and the Beast and promised Saree and Kalila they could paint his fingernails and make him eat tiny little tea biscuits with powdered sugar on them.

And Altair had decided he was going to take a bath.

He usually showered, but sometimes, you just had to take a bath and lay there in the water and make a production of stress relief.

At least, that's what he was intending to do. Stretch out in the tub, hike his knees to his chin and bliss out for an hour or two…

But then, as he was running the water in the tub and fishing some clean underwear out of his drawer he noticed a little figure standing at his elbow watching him.

He almost pissed himself, whirling around and staring downward at the little miniature Malik. "G-Gadil, what—Why aren't you upstairs watching movies?"

"It's girls' movies… He didn't bring anything interesting."

Altair swallowed nervously. He had THINGS laid out in the bathroom, and the tub was almost full.

"Uncle Altair… You know how to fight, right?"

He nodded slowly.

"Can you teach me?"

"You do know your father can fight as well."

Gadil obviously didn't believe it and crossed his arms; "I asked YOU."

"Is that boy not leaving you alone?"

Gadil shook his head; "I'm going to have to make him bleed to shut him up."

Altair chuckled, Gadil was always a practical kid. He crouched and maneuvered the boy's fists into defensive positions then mocked the stance himself. "Aim for the nose. There are more blood vessels closer to the surface in the nose and mouth than anywhere else in the face… How old is this boy?"

"His name is David and he's nine."

Altair held a hand up to about six inches taller than Gadil.

"Taller."

Two more inches.

Gadil nodded.

"Okay… First off, don't hit him on school property. You've only got a week of school left, he's not worth getting expelled over…"

Gadil's eyes widened; "I could get expelled?"

"Yeah, but that's why you wait until he leaves to get on the bus or his parents' car. If you're off school property the teachers can't do anything about it. You won't get in trouble." He took a little fist and flexed it again, curling it until the heel of his hand was presented. "That said, you want to use this part of your hand and try to hit him right here." He touched his own face, the bit of skin where lower lip and chin met. "It will tear his septum loose… That little flap of skin below your teeth. Or it'll split his lip. Don't try to get his nose or you could hit too hard and shove the bone into his brain and kill him. Aim for that part of his lip." He took the other fist, "You can hit his nose with either a straight on punch, or hit downward across the bridge of his nose. That'll make him bleed."

He mocked the motions with his own fists, slowly, gently, then held up a finger and darted into the bathroom to turn the tap off, and came back, shutting the door behind him. He crouched and held up his hands again; "Try it, upward motion with the heel of your hand, like you're pushing on the elevator gate. Hard as you can." Three or four smacks against his palm and Gadil had the basic idea. "You know how to punch right?"

Gadil nodded… Then shook his head.

"Right, keep your fists close to you." He demonstrated; "Don't let your wrist bend, keep it straight. And let your shoulder follow the movement." He coached the boy to smack his palm a few times, corrected his stance and let him do it again; "Never over extend your arm… And if all else fails, kick him in the balls."

Gadil made a face, but grinned at the same time.

"Don't kick him unless the punching doesn't work. And if you do, run like hell afterward."

Gadil nodded and pushed his new glasses up on his nose. "Uncle Altair?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any kung-fu movies down here? Desmond's scaring me 'cause he's crying over Finding Nemo."

"Since when do you like kung-fu movies?"

Gadil went pink in the face and looked at the floor from the corner of his eye. "Dad has one and I borrowed it to watch 'cause I was bored yesterday, since I caught his cold…" He coughed pathetically in a way that was obviously faked. "But there was only a little fighting at the beginning and then the man and woman started wrestling then Dad's eyes got really big and he screamed and took it away."

Altair felt for a moment like his brain had been deep fried.

"Do you have any?"

"Nnnnno—No… Uh—I have Lost in Space, how does that sound?"

"Okay, as long as it isn't a girls' movie." He took the DVD Altair handed to him. "Thanks."

Altair watched him go and locked the door behind him, grinning deviously. So, Malik had 'kung-fu' movies? Fancy that. After the big prude had made such a big deal that Altair had a few pieces of fetish gear in his closet!

Altair hummed as he disappeared into the bathroom and hoped the water hadn't gotten too cold.

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When Malik and Hadiya returned late that night Saree, Kalila and Zafir were asleep on the couches and chair, and Desmond was sitting in the floor wearing a frilly pink and yellow hat and eating popcorn with Gadil while they watched Lost in Space.

Malik still wasn't feeling well, and grumbled as he shuffled to the kitchen for a drink.

Hadiya sat on the edge of the couch and pushed her hair over her shoulder, hunched forward watching intently as the Jupiter Two crashed on an alien planet.

Malik peered around the corner at them and after calling to his wife a second time without her answering, he just sighed and went to the couch, bending and carefully scooping Zafir against his shoulder, a delicate balancing act between his right arm and the stump of his left. Thankfully when Zafir was asleep he was like a koala bear and if he clung to something, you couldn't pry him away from it. Once the little boy was in his bed Malik slid out of his sweater so he didn't have to struggle with those tiny little fingers. He made three trips, taking his children one by one to bed, then dropped into the chair Kalila had been sprawled bonelessly across and fell asleep himself.

Altair came up a little while after that for a snack while he was working and stopped at the edge of the couch his nose wrinkled up at the movie, pretending not to notice the hat or the nail polish; "Des."

He grunted and turned from the TV.

"You guys be here early tomorrow. That lead I told you about? It's good. I need your help with a few things before we get started on this shit."

"Okay." He sounded professionally excited, Altair reasoned it was just because he was still focused on the movie. "Should I tell Shaun to wear walking shoes?'

"Yeah, you're gonna need 'em."

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