Saving Each Other

"Kashawna? Hey! Let me give you a hand," Alex said. She hadn't seen him and his voice startled her. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Can I help you with some of this?"

"Oh, hi Alex. That would be great. Thank you."

He handed her her purse then picked up everything else in the front seat. As much as he knew he should mind his own business but he knew something was very wrong. "Another softball game gone awry?" he asked pleasantly making sure to smile.

"Oh this," she said slightly raising her injured arm. "No. No softball. I was um, riding my bike a few days ago and I wasn't paying attention. I hit a pothole and went down hard enough to separate my shoulder. Good thing I was wearing a helmet, right?" she said trying to deflect concern.

"Yeah, if you'd hit your head that hard, there's no telling how serious that could have been. Looks like you did a number on your eye, too."

"Um, yes. Just a crazy kind of spill, right?" She was still smiling but she was obviously very uncomfortable.

As they got to the front of the building Alex said, "Let me readjust this stuff, okay?" He sat everything down then turned toward her.

"Kashawna? This is really none of my business, but I've been taking martial arts for over 15 years. I've seen a lot of facial injuries and there's just no way for a bicycle fall to cause that." He pointed to her eye but not in a way to draw anyone's attention who might be looking at them.

"It's nothing, really. I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine." She wouldn't look at him which was very unusual and he was pretty sure why. "It's cold outside and I didn't wear my coat. Can we just take these inside, please?"

"Sure," he replied as he picked everything up again.

When they got to the room she sat her purse on the table then again, without looking at him, thanked him for his help. There were only two children in the room and one of them was Allie so he stood next to her desk and said, "Kashawna, you don't have to tell me what's going on if you don't want to, but you really don't even have to say it out loud. It's pretty obvious." He looked at her arm and her eye again then said, "Those injuries speak loudly and clearly. Look, I know I'm sticking my nose into your business, but I'm willing to help. Please, if you ever need me, if I can ever help..."

He saw her eyes well up with tears. She turned away as though she was looking through some papers on her desk and said, "Alex. You don't want to get involved with this. It isn't your problem. My husband is not the kind of man you want to be on the wrong side of, okay? Now if you'll just please let me get to work here, then..."

He reached out and gently touched the back of her upper arm where the sling was holding it. "I lost my wife to drugs a year ago. I can't afford to have my daughter lose another woman she loves."

Kashawna looked over at him when he told her that. "Yes, she loves you. She talks about you all the time. You're the most significant woman in her life and you're a wonderful role model for her. Look, I can only imagine how afraid you are to ask for help. I don't know your husband. But I have met my share of bad-ass, tough guys over the years. Maybe he's a really great guy going through some very difficult phase, but really great guys don't hit women. No man should ever hit a woman. Period. It's inexcusable." He moved closer and spoke very quietly. "If you ever feel threatened again, I want you to call me." She started to interrupt him when stopped her. "No, please listen to me. Hospitals..." He paused then continued, "And...even morgues...are filled with women who waited too long. Don't let that happen to you. Please, get out of that situation. But if you can't leave, I'm begging you to call me."

She looked away again and said, "I've called the police several times. They always tell me they never have enough evidence. That it's my word against his. Then when they leave he goes crazy. I'm afraid to even call them again."

"Then you need to leave, Kashawna. But if you choose to stay, you need protection." He looked around before telling her, "The police have to play by the rules. Your husband doesn't." He waited for her to look at him then said, "Neither do I."

"Mr. Preston? You're a little bigger than the average man." She kept looking down as she said, "And a very nice-looking one, for that matter. But my husband is 6' 6" and 275 pounds. He can be a monster. I'm afraid you wouldn't last very long if he lost his temper with you."

"Perhaps. Um...Kashawna? Can I ask you a favor?" he said. "Would you come see something?"

She turned to him and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Next Tuesday evening, I'd like you to come to a karate dojo. It's the one I've been training at for many years. I'm testing for 5th-degree black belt. I'd be honored if you could be there. I don't really have anyone else to ask, and I think this could be important for you. You might even want to consider taking a self-defense class yourself and there's no better instructor in the entire country. But in the meantime, I want you to know that I can and would protect you if you need me. You just need to be convinced that I can."

"I don't know, Mr. Preston. It's really hard for me to get away. He can be very...controlling."

"Then I'll schedule a parent-teacher conference for 7pm that day. Just please come and watch me. Besides, I could use the additional motivation of having a beautiful woman pulling for me."

She looked away then back at him and told him, "That's very sweet of you to say. Okay. I'll try. But if I'm not there, you'll know why."

"Fair enough." He gave her the address and told her he looked forward to seeing her there.

Tuesday evening, Alex began testing at 5 o'clock. The first hour had nothing to do with katas. It was a brutal test of mental endurance. Only after satisfying so-sensei's rigorous mental requirements could one even move on to what most people thought of as the actual test. He'd completed every task and was given a ten-minute break.

As he got a drink of water, he saw Kashawna's car through the window. He went to the front door and opened it for her. "You made it. I'm so glad."

"I have maybe an hour and a half at most, Alex. If I'm late...well, I can't be late. Every time I leave the house I feel like I'm being followed and watched."

"I understand. Please come in and let me introduce you." He was pleased to see she was out of her sling and that her eye had almost completely healed.

He took Kashawna inside the dojo after getting her to take off her heels. "No shoes allowed rule," he told her. With her heels on, she was his height of 6' 2". She was a tall, statuesque woman and each time he saw her, the more he realized just how beautiful she was.

"Oh, this is beautiful teacher woman! So nice to meet you!" he said bowing slightly.

Kashawna wasn't sure if she should bow or not and ended up almost curtsying. Sensei Akihito smiled and said, "You come to watch Preston-san become go-dan, nay?"

She turned to Alex who said, "You're here to watch me make fifth-degree black belt, right?"

"Oh, yes. Yes, I am." She hesitated then said, "And I might be interested in taking a self-defense class sometime, too."

"Yes, okay. This is no problem. I teach self-defense three days each week. Alex can tell you times. You come. I show you many good techniques, okay?"

"Well...maybe. We'll see. I'm um...very busy, but I'd really like that," she said.

"Okay, time for test. You can please sit in this place. You have skirt so you can sit sideways. Student can only sit on knees, but you are not yet student, nay?"

Kashawna was in a very nice, dark-gray skirt with a very expensive-looking black, long-sleeved sweater, and some beautiful silver jewelry. Alex couldn't afford to be distracted by anything let alone the thought of just how attractive this young woman was to him.

Alex stood about 30 feet in front of his instructor who called out, "Ananku!"

Alex repeated, "Ananku, hai!

Sensei Akihito then called out, "Hajime!"

Ananku was the first kata Alex had learned over 15 years ago and it was a part of every test for every rank from yellow belt up. He snapped through a series of very crisp, very clean movements that took him close to Sensei Akihito before turning his back to him, moving back to his original starting place and finishing. Once he was done, he bowed and said, "Ananku."

This went on for the next 50 minutes without a break. One of the other black belts was sitting next to Kashawna explaining each kata and its level of difficulty which began with Ananku and culminated with the most difficult kata in the Shorin Ryu style, Kusanku, which consisted of 78 movements.

After the final bow, Sensei Akihito directed Alex to stand in front of him. "Congratulations, go dan!" Everyone stood up and cheered as a younger black belt handed Sensei Akihito a black belt with the Japanese characters on it symbolizing 5th degree. Alex removed his yon-dan belt and handed it to Sensei Akihito who tied it in a bow and handed it back to him before personally tying the new go-dan belt on his student. Alex bowed then turned around and received another round of applause.

He quickly shook everyone's hand then made his way to Kashawna. "Wow. That was beyond impressive," she said. "And congratulations. Fifteen years of practice. Did I say I'm impressed?"

"So can we get you signed up for a class or do you need to get home?"

"As much as I'd like that, I don't think Deshaun, my husband, would be okay with that. And if I told him why, he'd just laugh at me and ask me I needed protection from. Well, that might not be all he'd do."

"I know you only have about 15 minutes left, but is there anyway we could get a quick cup of coffee? I'm a bit of mess, but we could stay in the car and just talk."

Kashawna looked around and then looked outside as though she were looking for someone. "Um...I guess that would be okay. But I can't be late, okay?"

Five minutes later they were sipping a Starbucks coffee out in the parking lot. "Kashawna? Why do you stay with him?"

She was staring out her window when she replied. "Because I'm afraid to leave. You don't know how he is, Alex. When he was playing...when he made it to the NFL...he was fine. He was making a lot of money and he was always happy. But after he hurt his knee and it wouldn't heal, he got cut. And it didn't take long for him to change. He got moody. He started drinking—a lot. Then he got verbally abusive. And then one day...he hit me. He'd never laid a hand on me before and he apologized several times and swore it would never happen again. I told him I'd leave if it did, but when it did happen again, he threatened me for the first time. He told me he'd hurt me...bad...if I ever left him. I'm just so afraid."

"He's a bully and he's taking it out on you. I'm not saying his problems aren't real, but as I said before there's never, ever an excuse for hitting a woman." He saw her slowly turn back toward him when he added, "Especially one as beautiful as you."

She looked down at her coffee and said, "I don't feel beautiful, Alex. I just feel...afraid. All of the time. I'm afraid to stay and I'm afraid to leave."

"Have you considered a restraining order?"

Kashawna shook her head. "No. He told me once during one his threats that if I ever got one, it'd be the last thing I ever did."

Alex looked over at her and saw a tear fall from her eye. He reached out and put a hand on her forearm and said, "Hey. It's gonna be okay. We're gonna get you out of there. I promise." She wiped the tear away with her other hand and he asked her, "Do you trust me?"

"I don't know. I guess. I mean, I want to. It's just that he can be so...violent. I don't want to get you involved in all this, Alex. You have Allie to think about. She already lost her mom and she can't afford to lose her father, too."

"She's not going to lose me, Kashawna." He took her hand and pulled on it slightly indicating he wanted her to look at him. When she finally did he said softly and sincerely, "You have 20 other children who can't afford to lose you, either. Allie's just one of them. It's time to stop being afraid, Kashawna. It's time to get you out..."

*Author's note: If you don't like reading about violence, which is sadly, a part of the human experience, skip down to the double line.

Kashawna let go of his hand and screamed at the top of her voice. Before Alex could process what was happening, a baseball bat came crashing down on his front windshield caving it almost completely in. Alex could see a giant of a man through his side window standing there holding the bat. "You mother fuckin' BITCH! You wanna cheat on me? You're dead!" He pointed the bat at Alex and said, "But you're gonna die first, mother fucker!"

"Don't move," Alex said as he pushed open his door. "And call 911 and tell them to send an ambulance."

"Alex! No! Don't go out there! He'll kill you. Please..."

The door slammed and although it was dark, the street lights in the parking lot allowed to clearly see what was happening.

"What the fuck?" Deshaun screamed at his wife, "You fucking the mother fucking Karate Kid or some shit, Kashawna? You got Mr. Miyagi in the back seat too, bitch?"

Alex said very firmly, "Put the bat down and no one needs to get hurt."

He turned back to Alex and said, "Oh, so you a comedian, too, huh? Listen up, Mr. Funny Man, you ain't gonna be laughing no more here real soon." He took a step toward Alex and said, "That's because I'm gonna lay your mother-fucking ass out right here," pointing to the asphalt parking lot. "I knew my wife was fucking around behind my back. I just didn't know it was with some punk-ass, mother fucking white boy." He pointed to Kashawna and said, "You gonna pay for this too, bitch. But first, I'm gonna splatter this mother fucker's brains all over this piece of shit car of his."

"I don't want to hurt you," Alex said.

Deshaun started hitting one hand with the bat as he smiled and said, "Hurt ME? Bring it on, mother fucker!"

Alex didn't move. He just stood there with his feet shoulder width apart, his hands in front of his body with his two fists touching one another. "I'm not gonna attack you," Alex told him calmly. "I just want to make sure Kashawna is safe. So all you need to do is put the bat down and walk away. Get in your car, go home, and let it go."

"Let it go? You gonna be beggin' me to let go o' your neck in about five seconds." Deshaun flew into a rage, screamed a blood-curdling yell, then drew the bat back and charged at Alex. Kashawna screamed and closed her eyes as the bat came crashing down toward Alex's head. She heard her husband's scream stop followed by the sound of the bat hitting the ground. He was doubled over in pain and the bat was rolling away from him.

Deshaun got his breath, stood up and said, "I'm gon' kill you with my bare hands, mother fucker!" He stepped toward Alex then lunge at him as though he was tackling a running back.

Kashawna saw Alex's feet move slightly then saw one arm extend out like a knife. As it made contact with Deshaun's massive neck, he stopped in his tracks and threw his hands around his throat. Inside the car she could hear him wheezing, desperately trying to breath. She opened her door and got out and hollered, "Deshaun? Are you okay?"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

She ran over to him as he fell to his knees. "Is he okay? What did you do to him?" she asked.

"He'll be fine. I just um...took the wind out of his sails."

As Deshaun collapsed to the ground still gasping for air, Alex noticed several people had gathered around to watch as he heard the sound of sirens approaching. One of the bystanders walked over and said, "Holy shit! That was the coolest thing I've ever seen. It was over in like one second. That big-ass dude was gonna kill you and...what the hell did you do to him anyway?"

"Knife-hand strike to the throat," Alex said as he went to stand next to Kashawna who was still leaning over her husband. "He'll be okay, Kashawna. Come on, the police are gonna want to talk to us and we need to get you someplace safe."

In less than 30 minutes, the police had statements from everyone and the only charges being pressed were against Deshaun Jackson for assault. He was taken away in by EMTs and later treated for a severely, but not permanently-damaged larynx.

Alex called his brother, who was watching Allie, to come pick them up. As they drove off, he sat in the back with Kashawna and told her they would stop by her place to get everything she could carry with them and that she would be staying with him that night.

"No, I can't do that to you. You've already done so much for me, Alex."

"Hey, I don't know how long Deshaun will be in custody, but you can't be alone until this is all sorted out. You're staying with us until then, end of discussion."

Allie had no idea what had taken place. She was just excited that her teacher was spending the night. "Are we having a slumber party, Daddy?" she asked excitedly.

"Um, well, kind of, Bean. Ms. Jackson is going to stay with us for a few days. Is that okay?"

"Of course!" she said nodding her head. "Ms. Jackson? You can sleep in my room with me, okay?"

She smiled and told Allie thank you. Her dad said, "Honey, Ms. Jackson needs her own bed. She can sleep in our guest room and that's just across the hall from you. Is that close enough?"

"Well...I guess so," she said with disappointment. "You can have half of my stuffed animals, though, so you won't be alone," she said matter of factly.

"Ah! That is so sweet of you, Allie. Thank you very much!"

"Welcome," she said. "Ms. Jackson?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"My daddy says you're really pretty, so you can come live with us if you want to."

"Kashawna, I'm so sorry. Allie is only five and..."

"That's okay, Alex. It's fine. That was very sweet. I might actually sleep well for the first time in months tonight." She took his hand this time and said, "Thank you. Thank you so much. I don't know how I can ever repay you for this."

"You don't owe me anything, Kashawna. I just want you to feel safe. But I would let you make dinner for us sometime. I mean, if you wouldn't mind."

"You haven't tasted my cooking, Alex. You may be whistling a different tune after you have."

"It couldn't be any worse than mine. I'm surprised I haven't permanently damaged my daughter after all the junk I feed her so I don't have to cook. I can't imagine it wouldn't be better than anything I've ever made for us."

There was a bail hearing the next day and Alex went with Kashawna who'd taken off work to be there. When she explained how many times her husband had threatened her and hit her, the judge set bail at a million dollars, an amount Deshaun couldn't come up with. Of course, he only needed ten percent of that number, but he'd burned through all of their savings and they didn't have anywhere near that kind of cash laying around anymore. A hundred thousand dollars may as well have been a million.

This gave Kashawna the time she needed to find a place of her own as Deshaun would be incarcerated until his trial and although he likely wouldn't go to prison, he would very likely spend several months in jail.

That night after dinner, Alex told Kashawna, "We need to get you to sit down with an attorney and find out how to best move ahead. And before I forget, thank you. That was the best meal we've had in a very long time."

"My pleasure," she told him. "And this is the first time I haven't felt afraid every minute of every day for a very long time."

"Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you need until we can get you into your own place."