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Chapter 2- Finding Danny

When I arrived back at my house, I immediately sensed something was wrong. It didn’t take much searching to find the source: a camera. Now that I looked, I found many cameras, on the inside and outside of my house. I screamed furiously. They were taping me, trying to see what I was doing! Then a thought came to mind: what if those cameras see who are my friends and who is helping me, then they take them away too? That’s it. I can’t keep talking with anybody, not even Michael and Josh.
I was now convinced more than ever that I have to train on the south side of town, or the FBI will know exactly how to fight me. I quickly grabbed my bike (as I didn’t have my permit yet) and rode down to the south side. Really it wasn’t that far away, and I rode slowly up and down the streets completely on edge. The south side is supposed to be where all the murders happen, and where the gangs come out. And I just happen to be there at night, where this stuff happens. But I saw no one. The windows were barred, half the houses were boarded up, the small fires of squatters inside. The occasional of a whiff of a drug being used, the screech of tires when some hotshot on another street decided to be cool, all of these things worried me. It was really obvious I was brought up on the other side of town.
The south side was so big. How was I supposed to find the school? That’s when I saw the man. He looked like an ordinary guy, with a pair of blue jeans and a regular t-shirt. He had black hair, dark skin, and shockingly blue eyes. He was fairly tall, and he seemed to be around 27. But there was something about him that gave off a warning signal. But I decided to ask him about the school anyways. I took a deep breath and held my head high as I walked up to the guy, leaving my bike under the streetlight. I cleared my throat then said
“Hey, could you tell me where this school ran by a man named Danny is?”
I had picked that piece of information up in the hallways, too, but I wasn’t positive it was right. The man gazed at me for a second then said, sounding amused
“Now why would a sweet young girl like you want to find an awful place like that?”
“ I need to find out if I can train there.”
“Train for what? That place isn’t a gym, you know, for volleyball players trying to get better.”
I decided to ignore his comment, and said nothing. He stood, staring, and finally said
“Well, you can’t train there anyways.”
“Why not?” I demanded.
“You’re a girl for one. You’re much too small and pretty for another.”
“What’s that got to do with anything? And I’m 5’5, thank you very much. And you aren’t enormous either!”
“That’s different. I’ve been at this since I was 5.”
“And as for being a girl, I can learn to fight better than any boy. Just give me a chance, and show me where this place is! What’s the harm? I just need to talk to Danny.”
“You’re speaking to him.”
“What? You let me rant on this whole time for nothing?”
He ignored me and said
“The name is Danny III. My family has been running the place underground for more than 50 years, and we have never accepted a girl. Really, there haven’t been any girls that have tried.”
I had no idea what to say. That’s new.
“Are you going to stand there all day, mouth gaping like a fish? Come on, we’ve got to see if you have any chance of succeeding in this place.”
“What’s it called?”
“Bellator schola.”
School of Fighting in Latin. How appropriate. I followed him, more determined than ever to show I could learn. We walked to what looked like a gas station and opened the door. It looked abandoned, maybe like a crackhouse, complete with dusty counters and shelves. I followed him to the back, through the “Employees Only” door. He stopped in front of a trap door and pulled on the handle, and for the first time I noticed how muscular he was. Not the Arnold Schwarzenegger kind of muscular ( you know, buff arms, huge body, muscles even under the armpits – who needed those anyways??!! ) , but the wiry muscles of a person well-trained, like a soccer player. If all went well, I could be like that, or close to that in a few months time. The door was open, and there were stairs leading down into a basement. Danny motioned for me to go first, and I hesitantly walked down the stairs.
The room was filled with punching bags and training dummy’s and of course people using them. I don’t think I’ve seen so many muscular men in one place my whole life. Danny called a boy called Robbie over to us, and as he did so, all of the men stopped to stare. It was obvious weren’t down here often.
“What are you all looking at? It isn’t as if you haven’t seen a girl before!” Danny cried out, mock- angry.
They resumed training while I studied Robbie. He looked about my age, 6’1 and it was obvious he hadn’t been here long. He didn’t have the muscle, and he was fairly gangly-looking, out of proportion, freckles and blonde hair. Danny turned to me and said
“You will attempt to fight him. I do not expect you to win, but I need to see your fighting technique.
Robbie and I faced off, Robbie with a over-confident smile I wanted to smack off his face, and me unsure what to do. I needed a strategy, fast. I remembered fighting Josh. True, it had been mock-fighting, but my quickness had been how I always won. I would have to hope this boy Robbie is as slow as Josh was. Robbie made the first move, lunging at me, and I stepped aside. I pivoted and hit his back, unbalancing him enough for me to knock his feet out from under him. He crashed to the floor, but popped back up more quickly than I expected and snagged my jaw. I staggered back, but retaliated with a kick in a place I knew would slow him down. As he groaned with extreme pain, I kicked him in the chest and he fell over. I bent quickly and put my knee on his torso as my hand went around his throat. Pure luck and adrenaline and gotten me this far.
“That’s not fair, you cheated!” Robbie whined.
“There were no rules, so there was no way to cheat. Besides, you should’ve been wearing protection. Your fault, not mine.” I smirked, but a little out of breath.
Danny clapped slowly, with a sardonic smile on his face.
“Congratulations, you just got beat by a girl, much smaller than you, and who hasn’t trained here at all.” He said sarcastically to Robbie. He turned to me and said
“If I had known you previous fighting experience, I would’ve paired you with someone more your level.”
“I have had no previous training.” I replied
A look of surprise crossed his face, then he said
“Then you will be a wonderful addition to this establishment.”
“Whatever. Does that mean I’m in?” I asked excitedly, grinning.
“You’re in.” he replied, almost sounding pained.
“When do I come in?”
“Whenever you want. I train 24 hours a day.”
“Don’t you eat or sleep?” I asked, perplexed.
“When I say 24 hours, I mean I have an assistant whom I switch off with.”
“Oh. I will see you tomorrow. Thank you for giving me a chance. Bye the way, how much will this cost?”
“I don’t charge. I live off donations.” He said this, looking away, as if he were hiding something.
I brushed it off, and said
“That’s wonderful! I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I didn’t quite make it out the door when I heard him mutter under his breath
“Sweet kid.”