Jack almost stayed in bed that Sunday, not wanting to deal with the world, but his body's need for movement got the better of him. He decided to take Sensei Ty up on his offer. Jack put on his exercise clothes and headed off to the mall on his skateboard. His hips ached from the handprint-shaped bruises that blossomed there. Jack pretended not to feel it because if he didn't feel anything, that means it never happened. Of course, that wasn't true, but if it got him out from the safety of his comforter, it was a worthy lie. Jack stood in front of the Black Dragons' Dojo. He gathered his courage to step inside and join the class that had already started.
"You decided to come," Sensei Ty greeted and showed Jack to an empty locker. He offered Jack a gi, but the teen refused. Jack fell into line and followed the lesson. He received curious glances looks that outweighed the dirty looks. Jack did his best to ignore them and follow the moves. The class seemed to end far too quickly, even though Ty's class is the same length as Rudy's lessons. Jack hung around, chatting with classmates and slowly collecting his things. He was about to leave when a strong hand grabbed his shoulder. Jack froze with fear as images of Dave passed by his eyes. He jumped away from the hand, Jack's body tensed so hard that it was painful.
"Woah, it's just me," Ty said as he held his hands up in surrender. The sensei eyed Jack carefully as if he was putting mental puzzle pieces together.
"I just wanted to know when your next class at Bobby Wasabi's is." Jack forced himself to relax enough to respond.
"Tomorrow at four, directly after school. Why?" Jack asked, focusing on keeping his voice from trembling as badly as his hands were. The teen kept a distance between himself and the sensei. Ty made no move to break that unspoken request of space.
"I just needed to know for some scheduling purposes," Ty explained casually. He opened the door for Jack and watched him leave, mentally planning how he was going to clobber whoever was hurting the boy. Sensei Ty could be annoying and petty, but he had a— very— soft spot for his student and any kids in need. Many of his students joined his dojo because they needed to defend themselves. From bullies, abusers, and even mental threats like self-doubt. The moment Ty learned that any of his kids were facing a conflict too big for them, he did anything he could to help. Ty could see the desperation in Jack's eyes the moment he walked in the door. He wasn't going to leave the kid to drown in troubled waters just because Jack preferred Bobby Wasabi. Ty left his thoughts to clear his schedule around four pm tomorrow.
Jack hesitated to join his friends at lunch. Just as he was about to sit with them, one of the Black Dragons students he had met the previous day called his name.
"Hey, Jack! Come sit with us. I need to know how you do that one kick." A guy in a Black Dragons hoodie waved Jack over to a table full of other Black Dragons students. Jack could feel the stares of his friends as he walked towards that table. He sat with his back to them, unable to bear seeing their disappointment. Jack went along with the conversation, wanting nothing more than to go home and hide in his bed.
The minutes slowly ticked. Finally, the bell rang to signal the end of the school day and Jack being one step closer to going home. He briefly debated skipping karate, but the threat looming over his friends changed his mind. He skateboarded the short distance to the mall and made his way to the dojo. Jack walked into the locker room to change and found Jerry already there. Jack stood awkwardly for a beat. He didn't make a move to change his clothes.
"Are you too good to use the same locker room now that you're training with the Black Dragons?" Jerry's voice dripped with sarcasm. Jack shook his head, his silky hair hitting his cheeks.
"It's not like that, Jerry."
"Then why won't you just put on your gi like you always do? You had nothing to hide before and everything to hide now!" Jack cringed at the harshness in Jerry's words. The worst part was that it was true. He had never hidden anything from his friends before, and now he was walking on eggshells to keep them ignorant.
"I just want my best friend back," Jerry said with genuine hurt.
"Jerry, I'm right here!" Jack tried to gather what was left of their crumbling friendship.
"Not really." Jerry made a move to leave. Out of desperation to keep his best friend, Jack pulled off his shirt and tossed it into his bag. Deep purple, fingerprint bruises peeked out from under the waistband of his jeans on both sides of his hips. Yellow and green bruises encircled his arms, making the patter of bindings. His wrists were rubbed raw and rope burned. Jack's shoulders had various teeth marks and bruises. Jerry stared at Jack with wide eyes.
"What happened to you?" He asked in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. Jack only shook his head in response and pulled on his Bobby Wasabi shirt and gi. He synched the belt tight around his waist without looking at Jerry.
"Jack, come on man, talk to me. Whatever it is, I can—" Jack cut him off.
"You can't help me, Jerry. Just pretend you didn't see anything." Jack started to leave, but Jerry grabbed his sleeve.
"I can't just forget that! You're covered in bruises, Jack! And ones that you definitely didn't get from sparring." Jack pulled away from him.
"Jerry, you need to keep quiet about this. Promise me you won't say a word about it to anyone." The angst in Jack's voice made Jerry reluctantly agree to stay silent. The two walked out into the dojo together where they were met with a surprise. Sensei Ty.
"What is Ty doing here?" Kim questioned Jack in an aggressive whisper.
"I don't know. I didn't plan this, I swear," Jack responded loud enough for all of his friends to hear.
"Sensei Ty of the Black Dragons is looking to see how to run smaller classes, so he'll be sitting in on today's class," Dave announced and began class as usual. While Jerry and Eddie were sparring, the rest of the group sat around the edge of the mat to watch. Ty spoke quietly with Dave briefly before Dave called Jack over. The moment his name was called, Jack tensed. His heart pounded in his chest so hard he wondered if his friends could hear it. Jack stood on trembling legs and followed the two men into Rudy's office. Jerry lost focus in the sparring match when he saw the way Jack panicked at being summoned. Eddie easily flipped him.
"Jerry, what was that? You totally spaced out," Kim commented. Jerry sat up and watched the closed office door.
"I think Jack might be in trouble," Jerry blurted before he could stop himself.
"Trouble? What are you talking about?" Milton inquired.
"When he was in the locker room, he didn't want to change in front of me. When he finally took off his shirt, he had a bunch of weird bruises and even some bite marks. Then he made me promise not to tell anyone, which I just did. Oh no, Jack's gonna kill me!" Jerry rambled.
"Hold on, hold on, hold on! What kind of weird bruises?" Eddie asked.
"There were some that looked like handprints here," Jerry placed his hands on his waist to mimic the marks he saw, "and ones that wrapped around his arms." Jerry traced his arms with his index fingers to demonstrate.
"Like he was tied up?" Milton wondered aloud.
"Who would've hurt Jack like that?" Kim asked with worry.
"I don't know, but when Sensei Dave called for him, Jack looked like he was really nervous," Jerry pointed out. The others silently made connections with their past observations.
"Jack did mention how he didn't trust Sensei Dave," Eddie chimed in.
"And he's always being asked to stay after class without explanation," Milton reminded. Just as they were about to discuss further, there was a crash in Rudy's office. The door swung open and Jack ran out, pulling the top of his gi tightly around his torso.
"You deserve a lot worse than that for touching my kid! But I'm sure your cellmate will finish the job for me!" Ty's shouts rung throughout the dojo. The gang ran up to Jack, who had pressed his back against the wall and continued to hold his gi in a white knuckle grip.
"Jack, what's going on?" Jerry asked with alarm. Jack didn't answer. His breaths were shallow and cut off as if he was struggling to get enough air.
"Back away from Jack, you're crowding him," Sensei Ty ordered as he stepped out of the office. His knuckles were stained with blood that wasn't his own. The group did as they were told and stepped back. Jack slid his back down the wall until he was sitting, he pulled his knees to his chest and stared blankly at the other side of the room. Ty knelt in front of Jack so he was directly in the teen's line of sight.
"Chicken boy, call for an ambulance and the cops. Hairy one, call Rudy." Ty gave no room for argument. Milton and Jerry moved to make their separate phone calls.
"Why do we need an ambulance? Is Jack okay?" Kim pleaded for clarity.
"Physically, Jack is fine. The ambulance is for that bastard who dared to call himself a sensei," Ty spat.
"I want to go home," Jack mumbled, his voice was distant. He was stuck between reality and memories, neither of which he wanted to experience.
"You're going home, soon. I promise," Ty said in a soothing voice. Kim nearly fell over from shock, she hadn't thought such tenderness was even possible from Ty. Eddie had the same flabbergasted expression on his face. Jack looked around, seeming to notice his friends' presence for the first time. He curled up to hid his face in his arms, too ashamed to look at them.
"Stay with me, Kid," Ty urged. He heard the sirens approaching and needed Jack coherent enough to give a statement enough to get Dave in cuffs. Jack peeked out from his arms to look at Ty.
"Do they know?" The teen asked quietly. Ty repositioned to sit cross-legged next to Jack, his back leaning against the wall.
"I haven't told them anything, that's not my place." Jack nodded in response and bit his lip thoughtfully. A couple of EMTs rushed in with a gurney and into the office as Ty directed them. They wheeled out Dave, whose face was so swollen and bloody that he was barely recognizable. Two police officers entered the dojo as well and approached Ty and Jack. They took statements from everyone in the dojo and stayed to make sure each student was picked up by their parent and informed of the basics of the situation. One of the officers, a burly man with a well-trimmed beard, pulled out his cuffs to arrest Ty when his partner, a short, blonde woman, stopped him.
"You said that guy was sexually abusing that kid over there?" She gestured to Jack who was still waiting for his ride.
"I'll do the time if it means that piece of human trash is in pain right now," Ty said with conviction. He held out his hands for the officers to arrest him. The burly officer nodded to his partner, put away his cuffs, and sighed.
"We should be arresting you for assault right now, but I think our victim was in immediate danger. Which would give you the right to use force, thus clearing you of any charges," the female officer explained with a small grin. Ty let out a relieved breath and lowered his hands.
"Thank you, officers."
"No, thank you. I can't tell you the number of times I've arrested some abuser and wished I could do what you did today." The burly officer nodded in agreement with his partner. The officers waited around longer for Jack's parents to pick him up, but they never showed.
"I guess they're still at work," Jack mumbled dejectedly.
"We'll give you a ride," the female officer offered and led Jack out to the car while her partner gave Ty his contact information in case anything happened. Jack got dropped off at his house and found it empty. He sighed and went to take a shower and get to bed, wishing he'd wake up tomorrow only to find this was all just a nightmare and everything would be back to the way it was in the morning.