He looked across the mat at Abby.
The old man was barefoot.
Faded jeans.
Gray shirt.
No belt.
No gloves.
No protective equipment.
Nothing that suggested he belonged there.
Thorne laughed.
"You serious?"
Abby nodded.
"Very."
Gregory walked to the edge of the mat.
"Light sparring."
Thorne frowned.
"Of course."
"No head hunting."
"Fine."
"No trying to prove anything."
Thorne glanced at Abby.
"That rule goes both ways, right?"
Abby smiled faintly.
"It should."
Several students had stopped training.
Nobody wanted to miss this.
Bobby stood near the locker room door, still rubbing his thigh.
One of Thorne's friends whispered, "This is going to be embarrassing."
Bobby looked at him.
"For who?"
The friend didn't answer.
Gregory started the timer.
"Begin."
Thorne moved first.
He bounced lightly.
Left foot.
Right foot.
Hands high.
His body language changed immediately.
This was the Thorne everyone knew.
The athlete.
The fighter.
The machine.
He feinted with his shoulder.
Abby didn't react.
Thorne stepped in.
Abby shifted half a step.
Nothing more.
Thorne threw a jab.
Abby moved his head.
A cross followed.
Abby was already gone.
The punch cut through empty air.
Thorne blinked.
He tried a low kick.
Abby lifted his leg just enough.
The kick missed.
No counter.
No attack.
Just movement.
Thorne smiled.
"Not bad."
Abby said nothing.
Thorne attacked again.
Jab.
Cross.
Hook.
Low kick.
Abby moved.
Every time.
Not quickly.
Not dramatically.
Just efficiently.
He never wasted a step.
After thirty seconds, Thorne's smile began to fade.
He wasn't being beaten.
That wasn't what bothered him.
He was being ignored.
Every attack seemed to disappear before it reached its target.
Thorne accelerated.
His feet became faster.
His combinations longer.
He threw a three-punch combination followed by a body kick.
Abby pivoted.
Thorne turned.
Abby was behind him.
The gym went silent.
Thorne stopped.
Abby stood several feet away.
"Again," Abby said.
Thorne's face hardened.
He attacked.
This time, he threw harder.
Abby blocked the first punch.
Redirected the second.
Moved outside the third.
Then touched two fingers against Thorne's ribs.
Not a strike.
A demonstration.
Thorne looked down.
Abby had touched the exact place where a real body shot would have landed.
"You dropped your elbow," Abby said.
Thorne stared at him.
"Do it again."
Thorne attacked.
Abby touched the ribs again.
"Again."
Thorne rushed forward.
Abby stepped aside.
"Again."
Thorne's breathing grew heavier.
"Stop doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Running."
Abby shook his head.
"I'm not running."
"Then fight."
Abby looked at him.
"I am."
The timer beeped.
Round over.
Thorne walked away.
Nobody spoke.
Gregory looked at Abby.
Abby looked at Thorne.
"He's quick," Abby said.
Gregory nodded.
"But?"
"He wants everyone to know he's quick."
Gregory sighed.
"I've been trying to teach him."
"No."
Abby shook his head.
"You've been trying to make him successful."
Gregory stared at him.
"What's the difference?"
"Success teaches a man what he can do."
Abby looked toward Thorne.
"Failure teaches him who he is."
That evening, Gregory closed the gym late.
Most of the students had left.
Thorne had gone without saying goodbye.
Gregory found Abby sitting alone on the bench.
"You shouldn't have fought him."
Abby smiled.
"I barely touched him."
"You know what I mean."
Abby looked toward the empty mat.
"You were afraid."
Gregory didn't deny it.
"I'm trying to keep this place alive."
"I know."
"Thorne brings people in."
"I know."
"If he leaves, some of them leave with him."
"I know."
Gregory sat beside Abby.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Gregory said, "You remember when we were twenty?"
Abby laughed.
"Unfortunately."
"We thought we knew everything."
"We knew nothing."
"We thought being fearless meant not being afraid."
Abby looked down at his hands.
"No."
"What?"
"Being fearless is easy when you don't understand what you're risking."
Gregory nodded.
"Then what is courage?"
Abby looked toward the darkened mat.
"Knowing exactly what it costs."
Scars
The next afternoon, Thorne arrived early.
That was unusual.
He normally arrived ten minutes before class, surrounded by his friends.
Today he came alone.
He found Abby sitting near the cubbies.
The older man was tying his boots.
Thorne stopped.
"You coming back on the mat?"
Abby looked up.
"No."
Thorne seemed disappointed.
"Why?"
"Because I already proved my point."
"You didn't prove anything."
Abby finished tying the knot.