The Turn: Chapter Seven

The Turn

Chapter Seven

~Becoming a Real Team~

Three Years before the Turn

The sun beat down on Zara’s neck. Sweat dripped down from her brow as she concentrated on the task at hand. They had just finished watching the two others and their initial assessment. Vicky didn’t do very well. She lacked the confidence to make a successful attack and when she did manage her attack was weak and overall pathetic. Deontay on the other hand was a tank. His balance was good, due to the fact it was nearly impossible to move him. What he lacked in speed was compensated with power and strength.

After that, since most of them had balance problems, Crow set up a training exercise. Currently, Zara was on a square board on top of a wooden sphere. The sphere was placed in a fitted bowl that was just big enough to allow the ball to roll around unexpectedly. Each time Zara felt like she was getting the hang of it, the ball shifted, the board responded and she was sent sprawled on the ground.

Crow walked up and down the line, observing through his blind eyes. At times, if they weren’t moving enough, he would give them a shove to force them to regain balance.

Zara glanced down the line. Naru seemed to be doing the best in the exercise. Poor Deontay, on an uneven surface, fell the most. But he was good natured and got back up to try again with an amazingly good attitude. She glanced at Chaud; his arms were spread out wildly as he tried to maintain balance. Hina was getting back from a run around the shrine after she swore while falling down. Vicky seemed to be doing very well in the exercise after Naru. Crow walked in front of them and observed them as a whole. Zara wondered how he was assessing them if he couldn’t see. But then again, his hearing was very good as they all soon realized.

“How long has it been?” He asked them.

Deontay answered as he dusted his pants from his latest fall, “I don’t know. Ten minutes?”

“No,” Crow stated, “Any other guesses?”

“45 years?” Hina asked.

The look in his eyes said it all. Hina rolled her eyes and started running before he had to tell her.

“Any other guesses?” he asked again.

“Fifteen and a half minutes?” Naru asked.

Crow looked at him, “Close. At the time I asked, it was exactly fifteen and five seconds. They don’t teach you to keep time at your school?” His question was met with blank stares, “I guess I’ll need to teach you about that too, huh. Starting now, I want you to keep time. Only when your times all match with mine can we go one to the next exercise.”

“How do we do that?” Vicky asked.

“I don’t care. You can count Mississippi’s, or apples, or islands for all I care. Just get the time right. Start.”

1…2…3…4…5…

Zara started counting in her head. She was somewhere around 65 when she felt the ball roll, the board tilt and the hard ground hit her side. For a moment, all she could think about the pain in her left arm. Then suddenly she remembered that she was supposed to be counting. She groaned when she couldn’t remember the number she was on.

“Are we having trouble, Uzek?” Crow asked as he walked by.

“No, sir,” she said as she got to her feet and set the board squarely on the ball.

After a long moment, Crow stopped them and asked them what time they each had. Each of their guesses was wrong but Naru’s was the closest. Again they were told to start counting. The more falls they each endured the more off their guessed were in the end. They did this for the remainder of the day with food and water breaks frequently. Each time they were asked; their guesses were hopelessly wrong; except Naru’s.

Training ended with groans and sore muscles. They put away the equipment and headed back to the bus stop. Deontay, Hina and Vicky all sat on the small bench. Chaud leaned his back on the sign. Naru looked out at the ocean, creating small orbs of cold snow to sooth his aching muscles. Zara just stood beside the small wooden shelter. No one said a thing. The bus pulled up slowly and the six teenagers sat in the back of the bus. All the seats were coupled in pairs and faced forward. The bus was unusually full and Zara was stuck with sitting beside Chaud. Deontay and Vicky sat behind them and Naru and Hina sat in front.

The bus drove, circling the shrine’s property before turning back to the city. Hina must have been tired because her head rested on her brother’s shoulder. Zara glanced at Chaud but he was staring out the window. They each got off at their respective stops.

When Zara got home, she found a stop watch and tried to guess, without looking, when five minutes were up. She got close several times but they weren’t right. After a while, she grew frustrated and turned out the light before settling for bed.

The next day was the same grueling exercise as the day before. They fell, lost count and were forced to do it all over again. It was in the middle of one of these sessions that one of the caretakers in a white robe walked up to Crow. He looked at the man after hearing his footsteps.

“Hullo,” the man said.

“Hey,” Crow stated, “What brings you out here?”

The man turned his back to the teens. His voice was lowered but one could still here his voice, “There’s a tiny problem.”

“What problem?” Crow said; his volume hadn’t changed.

“The Wilkins brothers were supposed to be making candles and there was a small accident,” the man said in a whisper.

“What type of accident?” Crow asked.

“The kind where two barrels of hot wax gets stilled on the floor and cools.”

Crow was silent for a moment. He turned to the teens, “I’ll be back.” With that he walked with the other man into the shrine.

Once Crow was inside, Hina jumped down from her perch and sat in the grass. She sighed with satisfaction. There was a loud thump as Deontay fell again. He lay with his back on the grass and sighed. This was starting to get even Deontay’s attitude down. Vicky looked over at him and squinted. She had taken her glasses off to keep them safe from breakage. She then looked back at the shrine.

With a deep breath, she jumped down. The square board slid to one side. Vicky walked over to Deontay and helped him to his feet. Deontay thanked her and slapped her on the shoulder in a friendly manor.

“I just can’t get the hang of this thing,” he said.

“Yeah,” Vicky nodded, “It’s kind of hard.”

“You and Naru seem to get it, though,” he pointed to Naru with the nod of his head.

“I guess,” she seemed really nervous about something, “Deontay?”

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering,” she looked down and her busy hands, “I could help you with the training exercise.”

“Really?” Deontay looked a little surprised.

Vicky looked up again. She seemed to gain a little more confidence, “Yeah, and I was wondering if you could help me with some combat training?”

“Hey,” Deontay shrugged, his arms spread apart, “Why not? I don’t know anything fancy or anything but I’m pretty good at boxing.”

Vicky jumped up and down, “Thanks! I’ll help you now and we can meet tomorrow before school in the boxing gym?”

“Alright!”

Vicky then went on to explain that it was best if you kept your legs wider apart but not too wide or you’ll fall over. Zara watched the interaction with interest. She couldn’t think of why she didn’t think of it before. They were a team and each member of the team had something to offer. If one needed help learning something, they should feel free to ask around the group. She jumped off and walked over to Naru.

“Hey, Naru,” she stood, arms on her hips and squinting into the sun.

He stepped down gracefully. The board still sat perfectly balanced on the ball. He looked at her expectantly.

“How do you time so well?” Zara asked.

Naru shrugged, “I just count.”

“How?”

He took a deep breath, “0-1, 0-2, 0-3, 0-4, 0-5, 0-6—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Chaud interjected, “What the heck kind of counting is that?”

“Apparently, an accurate one,” Naru said. There an obvious air of sarcasm in his voice that shut Chaud up.

“Really though,” Zara couldn’t help but smile, “What does it mean?”

His sister answered for him, “The zero’s represent the current minute you’re in and the numbers after that are the seconds. Like if you said 5-55 that would mean five minutes fifty-five seconds,” Hina shrugged, “Something he learned in some martial arts camp or something.”

“You don’t have to say it like that,” Naru stated.

“That was the same summer I was sent to learn how to crochet. Mom and dad’s last ditch effort to make a man out of you and a lady out of me.”

Naru nodded, “That’s true.”

Hina smile a mischievous smile, “That was also the summer dad caught you wearing my red dress and mom’s make up.”

Naru shot a harsh gaze at her, “No it wasn’t! That was when I was eight and you made me!”

“Naru cross-dresses?” Chaud asked.

“No, I don’t,” Naru looked at him, sending a clear message.

Deontay fell again and they all looked over at him. Vicky started to turn a shade of red as she tried to help him up knowing that she was being watched.

“Quick question,” Deontay said when he got to his feet, “How do you keep counting even after you fall?”

Naru seemed to think about the answer, “I don’t know. It takes practice, I guess.”

Unbeknownst to the six teens was that on the second floor of the shrine, Crow sat watching them from a window. The other man in white sat beside him, smiling. Crow blinked once.

“What are they doing now, Crane?” he asked the man beside him.

“It looks like they are just talking,” Crane looked out through the window.

“I guess I can give them a few more minutes,” Crow sat back, “Thanks for helping out with this.”

Crane shrugged, “It’s better than pulling weeds, I can tell you that.”

“That reminds me,” Crow looked at his friend, “You didn’t finish washing the clothes, did you?”

“I’m getting there,” Crane stated, “I just have to bring it down to the river.”

“Yes, but the thing is; you were supposed to do that last week. The others are getting worried, if you understand my drift.”

“I should do that shouldn’t I,” Crane smiled.

Crow nodded slowly. Crain sighed and got to his feet in one easy motion. Crow stood up as well and made his way to the field. They had had enough time to get to know each other. It was time to see if they had learned anything…after a few laps around the shrine.