Pick One
“Pick one.”
Ryan Cole said it with a grin.
Across the mat, Maya Bennett looked at the three black belts standing in front of her.
Ryan was twenty-four, lean and fast, and Northgate Martial Arts’ most successful kickboxing competitor. He had recently won a regional tournament, and the victory still followed him through the gym like an invisible spotlight.
To Ryan’s left stood Derek Mills.
Thirty years old. Broad-shouldered. Powerful.
Derek had started as a wrestler before adding Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA to his training. He was difficult to take down and even harder to move once he had his hands on someone.
The third man was Caleb Stone.
Twenty-six.
Quiet.
Patient.
Caleb was known throughout the gym for his counterstriking. Aggressive fighters often discovered, too late, that Caleb had been waiting for them to make exactly the mistake they thought they were forcing him into.
All three wore black belts.
Maya wore none.
She was forty-one years old, dressed in plain black training pants and a faded gray T-shirt. Her dark hair was tied behind her head, and she had arrived at Northgate Martial Arts outside Richmond, Virginia, carrying a worn cardboard box and asking to speak with the owner.
She had not come to spar.
She had not come to train.
But Ryan had spent the last five minutes making sure everyone in the room understood that he did not think she belonged on the mat.
Now he pointed toward himself.
Then Derek.
Then Caleb.
“Go ahead,” Ryan said. “Pick whichever one you want.”
Maya looked at all three men.
Then she slowly raised one hand.
One finger extended.
She pointed across the line.
Ryan.
Derek.
Caleb.
“All of you.”
The room went quiet.
Ryan laughed first.
Derek stared.
Caleb’s expression changed slightly.
Then Thomas Reed, the owner and head instructor of Northgate Martial Arts, stepped forward.
“No.”
Maya looked at him.
“I didn’t mean at the same time.”
That changed the room again.
Ryan’s smile faded just a little.
Maya continued.
“One round each.”
“Ninety seconds.”
“Technical.”
“No ego.”
Thomas studied her for several seconds.
Then he looked at the three black belts.
“You sure?”
Maya nodded.
Ryan folded his arms.
“You came in here five minutes ago.”
“That’s true.”
“You don’t even train here.”
“No.”
“So why are we doing this?”
Maya glanced toward the cardboard box resting beside the wall.
“Because you asked me to pick.”
Ryan laughed.
“I was joking.”
Maya looked directly into his eyes.
“No.”
Her voice was calm.
“You weren’t.”
The laughter disappeared.
And that was how it started.
The Woman with the Box
Maya Bennett had walked through the doors of Northgate Martial Arts just after six on a Tuesday evening.
The gym was busy.
Teenagers were finishing karate drills near the mirrors.
Adults wrapped their hands before the evening kickboxing session.
On the far mat, a beginner’s jiu-jitsu class was preparing to start.
Thomas Reed was teaching when Maya arrived.
She stood near reception, holding the cardboard box against one hip.
Ryan noticed her first.
“Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Thomas Reed.”
“He’s teaching.”
“I can wait.”
Ryan glanced at the box.
“Delivery?”
“No.”
“What’s in it?”
“Something for Thomas.”
Ryan smiled.
“That sounds mysterious.”
Maya did not respond.
She walked to a bench and sat down.
That should have ended the conversation.
Instead, Ryan continued.
Six weeks earlier, he had won a regional kickboxing tournament. Students had congratulated him. Thomas had praised him. His photograph had been posted on Northgate’s social media page.
Ryan had begun to enjoy being noticed.
Unfortunately, he had also begun to mistake attention for wisdom.
He watched Maya stretch one ankle while she waited.
“Bad knee?”
She looked up.
“No.”
“You move like you’ve trained.”
“A little.”
Ryan smiled.
“What?”
“Karate?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“A long time ago.”
He nodded as though he had solved a puzzle.
“Traditional stuff?”
“Among other things.”
“What belt?”
Maya smiled faintly.