***
I grabbed the bell's cord and banged it back and forth until everyone seemed to be awake. "For your information, a Kazak would have heard me open the door." I turned and walked back to the dining hall.
"Hi, Fredric. What have we got on the menu today?"
"Scrambled eggs, bacon, French toast, pancakes, toast, and assorted juices. I can cook you something special." A big smile pushed his chubby cheeks up into two bright twinkling eyes.
"No, but thanks for the offer. What you prepared today looks delicious. It would be a feast for me. Just throw together something I can eat standing up, like an egg or bacon sandwich and a glass of milk or juice. Make it as bland as you can bring yourself to make it," I said. He frowned and looked hurt. "These women need to understand what it means to be a Kazak. I can only do that by showing them. Telling them won't get their attention." I waited while he made me an egg sandwich and poured a glass of milk. I took it and walked over to one wall where I stood munching on my sandwich as the first of my students filed into the room. I don't think they realized how much you can tell about a person from their time of arrival, appearance, what they eat, and where and with whom they sit. So while they thought I merely watched, I did what a Kazak does while protecting a client-evaluate the people in the area.
***
Ten minutes before nine, they had all arrived in the main building. Nora had been a good lesson.
"Good morning. I'll warn you not to eat too much at breakfast, since your first activity will be stretching and light exercise." I spent the next hour going through a series of warm up exercises and stretches designed to improve flexibility. As expected, the women's fitness varied considerably. At ten a.m. on the dot, Gabe entered the gym. I waved him over.
"Students, this is Gabe, your self-defense instructor. You will address him as Sifu, which means instructor." I smiled at Gabe, who looked a bit intimidated by the horde of women staring at him. "They're warmed up, ready, and yours for the next two hours." That elicited a few smiles.
"What if we have to use the ladies' room?" the blond beauty, Diana, asked.
"For now, you'll either have to grin and bear it until the break at noon, or piss in your pants. Eventually, you will learn to control it or tolerate wet pants and the smell." I climbed to the top of the bleachers and sat, as Gabe got them organized and began with simple stances, blocks, and punches. When he finished, he explained the bowing procedure, which began and ended each class. I joined him shortly afterward.
"Students, you have the next hour free. You will be back here at 1:00 o'clock." I had no sooner finished and there was a mad rush for the door to the barracks. "Well, Gabe, what do you think?"
"I have to admit, I almost panicked facing so many women at one time. My classes are usually small and mixed. You were a little hard on them, though. I wouldn't mind if one needed to be excused to use the bathroom. When you need to go..."
"I'd mind. They want to be Kazaks. This is the inglorious part of being one."
"Touche. Jianyu was right. I saw only the glory of being a Kazak. I'm looking forward to watching the change over the year. Well, I'm off to my day job. See you tomorrow."
A few minutes to 1:00 p.m., everyone had assembled. "Now that you are all rested, we are going to spend the next hour exercising." Sighs and groans followed. Without further comment, I led them through a series of strength exercises, stopping about ten minutes to the hour.
At 2:00, Jianyu entered the room and we bowed to each other.
"Welcome, Master Jianyu. Students!" At that, everyone stood and turned their attention to me. "This is Master Jianyu. You will refer to him as Master Jianyu. If you succeed in becoming a Kazak, it will be because of what this man will teach you." I bowed to Jianyu and returned to the bleachers.
"Master Lynn is very generous. I will teach you how to protect yourself against stronger and more aggressive opponents. However, if you want to be a Kazak, she is your model. Master Lynn is the embodiment of the old Samurai-honor unto death-an old custom brought to life in the Kazaks." He then began with a few simple Tai Ji moves. When the two hours were up, I came back down to stand beside him.
"You have two hours to eat and do whatever you want until 6:00, when you will assemble back here. Dismissed." It sounded like a cattle stampede as they rushed towards the door leading to the dining room and barracks. I smiled at Jianyu. "Wait until they find out that today was a light workout."
"It will be interesting to see the swords take shape from the raw metal these students represent today." Jianyu bowed and left.
***
They were all in place by 6:00. Jody, the girl I thought had been in gangs judging by her tattoos and mannerisms, raised her hand more to be recognized than requesting permission.
"Why do you stand and eat. And why do you watch us during meals. Can't you give us a rest?" Several of the others nodded. They obviously had the same thought.
"The hour right after diner will be a critique session. Your opportunity to get your questions answered and my time to comment on the day or give you advice. So, to answer your question, I am a Kazak. Someday, that will explain everything. Until then..." I paused before continuing. "You are in a sense my clients; therefore, you see a Kazak in action. I stand and eat so I can evaluate my environment. In this case, that includes each of you. I eat only things I can hold in one hand leaving the other one free. If something were to happen, I would be in action before you knew it was happening."
"How do you survive the tension?" Megan, the redhead, asked, followed immediately by Carla.
"Don't you care what you eat?"
"It would be very tense for you to do that today," I admitted. "To me it's the normal state of awareness that I need to protect my client. Assassins and even thugs normally will know you are a Kazak and wait for you to drop your guard. That is why I'm forcing you to control your trips to the ladies' room. And right now, you are feasting on gourmet dinners. I know you don't think so, but Fredric has instructions to make the meals bland over time. Tasty food can distract you on the job. You can eat whatever you like on your time, but it would be best if food weren't important to you. Yes, the life of a Kazak appears hard, even cruel. But I love the life. I have more money than I need or want, free room and board in a luxury environment, fly on private planes, get to watch powerful people in action, help protect people from thugs and assassins, and get to help protect our nations interest. Furthermore, each assignment is different and exciting. There is no one in the world I would trade places with," I said, realizing they needed some encourage for the sacrifice that would be required over the months to follow. Silence followed my little speech. "All right, my advice for today, form no strong relationships with your fellow students here or on the Hill."
"Why?" Several said simultaneously.
"The Kazak school has no quotas. It may graduate as many as three or four, or no one. And although it isn't a competition in the sense of an elimination contest, you are being evaluated based on your performance against each other. If you hold back against a close friend, you will both be eliminated-you for not performing at your best and your friend because he or she required your help. There are other factors involved but that is the simple answer." When no questions followed, I continued. "Your next two hours will be spent meditating. You may want to review what you have leaned today, or if this life feels right for you; however, I want you to spend at very least one hour trying to empty your mind of all thoughts. If you can learn to do that, it may be the difference between becoming a Kazak or be eliminated. I'll go into more details over the months to come." With that, I got them settled in a sitting position on the floor, spaced well apart, and turned off the lights. "Absolutely no talking during this period."
***
The next seven months went by reasonably smooth. I missed having clients, but watching the women's individual progress was interesting, informative and necessary if this program was to be conducted again in the future. I had lost three women. Although I knew I would terminate at least four or five more, the classes' performance had been far better than I expected at the beginning. Even the ones who would be terminated had done well and will have learned a lot about themselves. I was just getting ready to begin our critique session after their dinner break, when I heard the bikes. They were close to the building so they had obviously broken the lock on the gate into the compound.
"Stay put," I said as I moved away from them and closer to the door. A few minutes later the door burst open and a young man with a goatee, shaved head, and head, neck, and arms full of tattoos entered, closely followed by five other tattooed youths in leather vests, jeans, and boots. They were all smiling like kids entering a candy store. Like kids, they didn't seem to realize the candy wasn't free.
"Yo crew. I told you da place was full of nooky. Da bitch's mine first," the apparent leader said, pointing to Megan. "Snake, keep an eye on da door. Don't want any of da bitches to miss a turn." He laughed.
"Hey, Sapphire or is it Ruby? You're mine," I said, remembering my days on the street. Ruby would make him the gang's whore. His face turned red and his mouth twisted in rage. Then his lips turned into an evil smile.
"I heard dat some bitch here thought she's a gang banger. Wildman, I think they meant she liked being gang banged." He laughed again but his eyes flared with hate. "You first Wildman. Put da bitch in the right mood for the rest of the crew."
"Sure thing, Spider," he said taking a step towards me, the cruelty of his nature evident in his expression.
"Yo, Wildman. Is that wannabe your leader? Looks afraid. If it were me, I'd check to see if he had any balls." That elicited the proper response. Spider grabbed Wildman to stop him and pulled out an eight-inch serrated knife. He approached slowly expecting me to run screaming. He intended to make me an example of what happens to people who question his leadership. In preparation for an upcoming confrontation, I had folded a knife back against my forearm and out of sight. My other hand remained free to draw my gun.
I slowly moved to my left. There would be a gunfight in a minute and I hoped to keep any gang bullets away from the direction of the women. Jody and a few others seemed ready to attack the group. I shook my head no. Spider couldn't help grinning. He had misinterpreted my movements.
"Look at da bitch, aaaaah-" he gurgled as blood spouted from around the knife in his throat. Wildman stood frozen, confused; however, Snake recovered quickly and his knife came flying towards me. It missed as I collapsed into a sitting snake-stance, drawing my Glock in the process. Two of the gang were now reaching for their guns. I shot the one with his gun visible, twice in the chest. He staggered backward, dropped the gun, and collapsed. I shot the second one in the chest before his gun cleared his pants. He stood there trying to raise his gun without success. I shot him again, driving him backward into the bleachers. Now Wildman had recovered and was charging with a knife. His face ugly and twisted like a gargoyle. The back of his head exploded with my next shot. At the same time, I heard three shots in rapid succession. They appeared to have hit Wildman as his head jerked backward from my bullet and then his body pushed forward like he had been slammed with something in his back. When he had moved towards me, he got between the shooter and me. As he fell towards me, I dove to the side, rolled, shot, rolled, and shot again. There had been only one gang member shooting. The other one was running towards the door. I had shot the shooter twice in the chest. The runner had just reached the door when I shot him three times in the back. I ejected my clip and jammed another one home as I surveyed the room.
Snake lay in a pool of blood, clearly dead. The back of Wildman's head had a huge hole, and he had three bullet holes in his back. I walked over to the bleachers. One lay sprawled on the floor with two bullets in his chest. The force of the bullets had driven the other gang member into the bleachers. He had lay folded up between two rows of seats. Somehow, the boy at the door had managed to rise onto one knee. I shot him two more times, then walked back to my students.
"Did anyone get hurt?" Only silence and open-mouth stares greeted me. I took out my Blackberry, hit "1" on the speed dial, and put it on speaker. Two rings later, "Yes?"
"Hi, Boss. I wonder if you could take care of a small problem for me?"
"What did you do, shoot one of your students?" I heard gasps from behind me.
"I did terminate a few, but they were alive when they left. I had six gang bangers apply for admittance, they're not."
"Give me an hour. By the way, Clare will be there tomorrow. We've given her permission to do a story on the program." The phone went dead.
"What's going to happen to the program now, Master Lynn?" Carla asked. Several of the women looked concerned. The others appeared in shock. I guess they thought I was headed to jail then prison.
"If you will all have a seat, we will have our normal critique. The subject is Kazak actions in defensive of their clients, or in this case, students."
"But you were defending yourself," Lucy said. She was one of the girls I intended to reject eventually.
"Jody, Megan, were you planning on interfering?"
"Yes, we thought... but you shook you head no and we didn't know what to do."
"Did anyone see me moving to my left?"
"Yes, I thought you were trying to get away."
"I was moving to get you out of the line of fire; otherwise, those wannabees would have been dead before they got to make their macho speeches. None of that is important. What is important is being aware of what is happening. Meditation is meant to help you calm your mind in cases like this so you can think clearly. We can start our session now while we wait for the police to get this mess cleaned up."
"But-"
"Now!" I folded into a meditation posture. Slowly, they followed. About an hour later, I heard the police sirens. Too late guys, the party over. I rose as a police lieutenant entered, followed by ten officers. And there is no coffee and donuts.