Careen touched him affectionately and he flinched. A devilish look spread across his face. “I think it’s time we showed you how to hunt.”
I shriveled away from his stare. I didn’t want to hunt. Killing things was not in me. I knew that. I stood my ground. “I don’t need to learn to hunt; I survived out there for months, pregnant, eating only nuts and berries.”
He sneered at me. “You want me to sign off on your mission? Then you’ll hunt.”
Careen protested, “Look, I think she’s shown that she can handle herself out here. I don’t think…”
“Think?” he snapped. “Who asked you?”
She closed her mouth. I was so surprised at her. She could more than handle him. If she wanted, she could snap him over her thigh and toss him in the dirt. I didn’t understand why she would let him tell her what to do. Observing their relationship over the last week and a half reminded me of Paulo and Mother. It made me wonder if this was normal. If so, it made me feel like I was the undeserving winner of the boyfriend lottery. Joseph would never speak to me that way. Although, what I’d done lately would warrant it.
“I’ll do more combat skills if you want but I’m not hunting,” I said. I was sure if I killed an animal in front of him, I would burst into tears and there was no way I was going to let that happen.
“Fine,” Pietre said, his eyes burning.
I’d said I would try harder with my combat skills but I couldn’t help but argue with some of the more specialized moves Pietre wanted me to learn. I couldn’t see myself cartwheeling across the front lawn of my parents place and leaping onto the roof. Pietre had mixed training up in the last few days and we jumped from skill to skill like a test. It reminded me harrowingly of the Test at the Classes.
“I don’t see why I need to know how to disarm a man. Paulo doesn’t own a gun, none of the citizens do,” I said, crossing my arms and squatting over the fire I’d just made from nothing but a rock and some dried grass. “Look,” I gestured. “I can do this.”
Pietre sneered at me. Standing back, I could almost see the waves of anger rolling off him. “Yes, but lighting a fire won’t help you in the Rings. You need to be able to defend yourself if someone comes at you.” He stormed towards me and flung his forearm to my neck. Forcing me up with his other arm, pinching my underarm skin, he pinned me against a tree and lifted me off the ground. My legs kicked uselessly as my windpipe slowly closed. “You have to believe I won’t hurt you. That in fact, I can’t,” he said, staring at me intently, cocking his head to the side as he searched my eyes.
I was much smaller than him, weaker, and a not nearly as skilled as a fighter. Of course he could hurt me! This wasn’t about some attitude adjustment I needed to make.
“Let me go,” I managed to gasp, although my breath was running out fast. I could see Careen standing behind me, blurred by my wet eyes, as I felt the fight leaving my body. She shifted nervously, clamping her hands together like she was trying to stop herself from interfering.
He watched my eyes roll up. I was about to pass out. His eyebrows drew together as he studied me with morbid curiosity, like when I watched my neighbor kill a chicken. It was a spectacle to watch it run around with its head missing, even if it was disgusting. His face relaxed and he let me fall, throwing his hands up in exasperation, relenting.
I fell to my knees, clutching my throat and coughing. Glancing at one of the knives at my feet, I let anger overtake reason. I wrapped my hands around it tightly and stood. I hated being tested. It eroded my skin and cornered my judgment, until all I could see was my need for retribution.
“She’s impossible,” he yelled at Careen. “I can’t see how this is going work.” He turned his back to me, digging his feet into the dirt like a bull about to charge.
I’d hoped I would hit the tree to his right—just graze his ear or something clever like that. I wanted prove to him I had learned something, that I wasn’t useless. I pulled my arm back and threw. The knife cartwheeled through the air. I stood there, hands at my sides, mouth agape, as it circled its way towards the middle of his back. I sighed with relief when it landed, handle first, between his shoulder blades with a satisfying thud and bounced to the forest floor.
I couldn’t help myself; I let out a triumphant, “Bah!” and fell to the ground laughing. Careen covered her mouth to muffle her giggles.
Pietre twirled around and I thought he was going to punch me in the face. Instead, a mean smile curled his lips. “Better,” he said as he picked up the knife and wiped it on his trousers. He placed it in my hand and pulled me up straight. He wrapped his fingers around my own and my breath caught unpleasantly. “Hold it like this and keep both eyes open when you aim.” He stood behind me, whispering into my ear, and I tried to focus on the knife and not the warmth of his hard body pressed into my back. “Ok, retract your arm and make sure you release it here,” he held my hand level with my face, “and not here.” He brought our hands down to my waist. “Good, now throw.”
I threw the knife and it landed just left of the center of the trunk of the tree. I let myself smile a little. Realizing he still had his hand wrapped around my own, I wiggled out of his grasp and turned to face him. “Thanks.”
He shrugged. “Just get on with it. We don’t have time for this.” He looked to Careen, who was beaming like a proud parent. “We don’t have time for you either but we’re stuck with you,” he said, pointing a knife at me accusingly.
He beckoned Careen over, nuzzling into her neck and turning my stomach. Was that what Joseph and I looked like to others? I hoped not. “Why don’t you show her how it’s done, honey,” he said into her hair. Ick!
Careen gathered up five short-handled knives and threw them in succession. When I looked at the tree, she had made a circle pattern. “Show off,” I muttered. Her ears pricked but she ignored me, strolling elegantly to the tree and plucking out the knives with ease. This was never going to be my thing. I felt sorry for the tree.
After I’d proved to Pietre that I could at least throw the knife so it landed blade first into a target, he let me move on to something else.
He fished around in his small duffle bag and I was worried he was going to pull out another weapon for me to master. Instead, he withdrew a handful of dark grey material and threw me a wad. On closer inspection, I could see they were gloves and little booties. “Put those on. This is mission specific and you must be able to do this if you want to come with us.”
I rolled my eyes. Who did he think he was, Genghis Khan? I put on the equipment, wondering what possible use they could have.
As Pietre shoved and cursed his way through the slapping branches, I watched his back ripple and tense with fascination. He was wound up tighter than a spring and I knew I was the one that wound him even tighter. He wore a dusty blue t-shirt and dark jeans, the standard canvas shoes wrapped around his ankles. He was not as tall as Joseph and not as broad. He looked like a Survivor, strong, lean, and ready to jump to action at any second. His hair was the part that amused me the most. He seemed to always need to be in control but his hair didn’t cooperate. Light brown in color, it was spiky and stuck up at all angles, like he had just rolled out of bed. He was forever trying to smooth it down. I wished he would leave it. It was the only part of him that seemed accessible and less hard. Careen followed him, her feet barely touching the ground as she walked. She was like a cat, lithe, beautiful, and slightly feral.