Son of the Morning

"I told her she don’t need to be wearing those baggy clothes," Harmony continued, folding bonelessly onto the couch and crossing her long legs. "But does she listen to me? You tell her."

"Harmony’s right,"Matty said, frowning at Grace. "Don’t give no sum bitch nothing to grab. Youain’t got no size to you, Julia, and youain’t got no meanness. You’ll fight if you’re cornered, but the thing is, you gotta keep fromgettin ‘ cornered, ’cause then your chances go way down. Are youlistenin ‘ to me?" It wasn’t like him to give a shit about anybody, but he worried about Julia. Something bad had happened to her, and she was still on the run. She didn’t talk about it, but he could see it in her eyes. Hell, he was used to shootings and stabbings, drug overdoses, gang violence, little kids with big, scared, uncomprehending eyes, so he didn’t know exactly what it was about Julia that got to him, but something did. Maybe it was because she looked so frail, so that sometimes he thought he could almost see right through her, or maybe it was the sadness that wrapped around her like a coat. She never smiled, and her big blue eyes just looked… empty. The look in her eyes made him hurt inside, andMatty was a man who made a point of not letting people close enough to him that he’d be hurt if anything happened to them. He’d failed with Julia.

"I’m listening," Grace said obediently. "I listen to Harmony, too. I just can’t afford a bunch of new clothes."

"You heard of yard sales?" Harmony asked. "Take your noseoutta your books once in a while and look around. People sell old jeans for four or five dollars, and usually you can get ’emfor a dollar if you stand around long enoughcomplainin ‘ that five bucks is too much."

"I’ll look," Grace promised. Yard sales. She’d never been to one in her life, but if she could get jeans in her size for a dollar, she was about to become a yard-sale fanatic. She was getting tired of holding her clothes up with safety pins, and tired of her underwear wandering around inside her jeans.

"Okay, enough ofshoppin ‘,"Matty said impatiently. "I’mtryin ‘ to teach you how to stay alive. Pay attention here."

Matty’smethod of teaching didn’t involve gyms ordojos , because he said fights generally didn’t happen there. They happened on the streets, in houses, where people went about their business and lived their lives. A couple of times he’d taken her down to an alley for her lesson, which involved him attacking her from a variety of directions, tackling her or simply wrapping his arms around her and throwing her to the ground, and she had to get away from him. He’d shown her where to kick, where to punch, and what items commonly found in an alley could be used as a weapon, from a wooden slat to a broken bottle. He’d taught her how to carry her knife, the one she’d taken from the mugger, how to hold it and how to use it.

Mattysaw weapons everywhere. In his hands, a pencil was lethal, a book could do serious damage, and a salt or pepper shaker presented a priceless opportunity. Flashlights, paperweights, matches, pillows, a sheet, a jacket-all those could be used. Such a ridiculous notion as a fair fight never entered his head. Chairs were battering rams. A baseball bat or a golf club was for beating people in the head, ice skates were for slicing them open-the possibilities were endless. Grace didn’t think she would ever be able to look at a room the same way again. Before, rooms had been just… rooms. Now they were weapons repositories.

He fell on her without warning, wrapping his surprisingly strong arms around her and dragging her to the floor. The fall stunned her, rattled her brain, but she remembered her earlier lessons and promptly raked the sole of her shoe down his shin, and simultaneously got enough leverage with one arm to hit him under the chin with the heel of her palm. His teeth snapped together with an audible pop, and he shook his head to clear it. Grace didn’t stop. She wiggled, she butted him with her head, she tried to punch him in the testicles, she gouged for his eyes.

Mattydidn’t just let her beat up on him, because that wouldn’t teach her much, he said. She had to work to get in her licks. He deftly turned aside most of her efforts, but he’d explained to her that he was expecting her to fight and had a good idea what she’d do; a stranger wouldn’t have that advantage. Still, she landed some of her attempts, enough to make him grunt occasionally, or swear when she managed to hit him in the chin again and he bit his tongue. Harmony sat on the couch and didn’t exactly smile, but she looked pleased.

The effort quickly exhausted Grace. She collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily.Matty stood up and frowned down at her. "You’re too weak," he pronounced. "Weaker than last week. I don’t know what’s eatin ‘ at you, Julia, but yougotta eat, ’cause youain’t got no stamina." He wiped his mouth, and looked with interest at the blood that smeared his hand. "Guts, but no stamina."

Grace struggled to her feet. She truly hadn’t realized how weak she had become; she had simply attributed her fatigue to staying up late trying to decipher all the papers. Once she had enjoyed food, but now she had no interest in it; everything was tasteless, as if her taste buds had been dulled by shock and never recovered.

"I’ll eat," she said simply, realizing now that she didn’t have a choice. Because it was such a struggle now to work up any appetite at all, what she did eat would have to be nutritious. She had no idea how long this time of sanctuary would last; she had to be ready to leave at any time, and she had to be healthy. Suddenly she felt a little edgy; perhaps she shouldn’t wait until something happened, perhaps she should leave now, and find another brief sanctuary. She had Julia Wynne’s birth certificate; she had filed for a social security number, and when she got that she would be able to get a driver’s license. With a driver’s license she could risk driving, and not worry if a cop stopped her for speeding, or for a blown taillight. She could buy a cheap car, risk driving, go anywhere she wished whether there was a bus route there or not.