I'm Not Who I Used to Be Ch. 03

"Very good," I told them, reaching into my athletic bag I'd brought outside with me, "Now, before I give you ladies what I have for you, I wanted to tell each of you not only how very much I love you, but also how very proud I am of the three of you. Not only have you shown me the respect you have for me as your Sensei, but you've also shown me just exactly what kind of teacher I am. Kerrie, what is the number one rule for using what I've taught you so far?"

"Sir," she respectfully replied, "Karate is for defense only, Sir."

"Karlie," I asked, "What is the second rule for using your skills?"

"Sir," she, too, respectfully said, "Karate is to be used only as a last resort if I, or someone I love is in trouble."

"Mom," I addressed Sarah, setting an example of propriety in front of our daughters, "What is the third rule for using Karate?"

"Sensei," she appropriately replied, using the same tone of voice as the twins, "Karate is an art form used for keeping the mind and body pure, sir."

"Very good," I proudly smiled, and then as I pulled the three Green Belts from my bag, I approached my students and told them, "You have reached the Green Belt level of training and I want to individually congratulate each of you on attaining it, congratulations girls. And then I handed each of them their belt and shook their hand, also with a nice, warm hug and a tender kiss on the cheek thrown in for good measure...However, what I didn't see was Mark standing behind me dressed in his ghee as well.

~~~~~~

"Hey Cuz," he chuckled, as I turned around to see him standing there with a shit eating grin on his face; his athletic bag in one hand and a rather large manila envelope in the other, "I've got a surprise for you today."

"Oh yeah?" I chuckled, "What kind of surprise?"

"The best," he laughed, "But you're gonna have to put your pads on to find out."

That was when I realized that he was holding the paperwork for my Fourth Degree (Dan) in the envelope. And with that knowledge, as well as the fact that he had been my teacher, I grinned said, "Give me two minutes, Sensei...."

~~~~~~

After the two of us were fully padded, and then right before he put his mouthpiece in, Mark looked at me and said, "The first one to five points wins," then he looked over at Sarah and said, "Call it Sarah!"

"Ready," she said, "Begin!"

Mark threw a series of punches and kicks, all of which I easily blocked. However, what I think Mark failed to realize was that I'd learned a thing or two since the last time he and I sparred. And the moment the opportunity availed itself, I waited until Mark had left himself open and then landed roundhouse kick square in the face, earning two points for making facial contact with my foot.

"Two points," Sarah widely smiled, "Good move, Michael."

"Hmph," Mark snorted, "That was a lucky shot, that's all."

"Is that right?" I teased, "If you think it was such a lucky shot, then why don't we try it again?"

"Come on, big boy," he cockily grinned, "I've got something for you."

"Ready," Sarah said, "Fight!"

This time Mark decided to move in close to me to try and tie me up, however; before he could get in closer, I tapped him on the nose with a quick snap kick, making him fall to the ground and to land on his ass.

"Two more points," Sarah replied, as I helped Mark off of the ground and back onto his feet, "Another good one, baby."

"That's four unanswered points, Cuz," I goaded Mark, "Are we having fun yet?"

"That's the last one," he growled, clearly frustrated by this time, "Don't forget that I taught you everything you know."

"Oh, no ya don't," I laughed, "You taught me everything that you know," chuckling afterwards.

"That's gonna be the last point you get, smart ass," he snapped, "Come on and fight."

I could clearly see that Mark was beginning to lose his cool, and knowing him as well as I did, I realized that if we continued in this manner one of the two of us, if not both, was going to end up getting injured.

"Whoa, wait a minute," I said, stepping back, "You need to cool off, Mark. You're starting to lose your temper, and I refuse to fight you like this. Besides, getting my Fourth Dan is not worth the two of us hurting each other...and you know I'm right, man."

"You're right," he said, "I'm really sorry, Mike. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Come on, Cuz," I warmly smiled, pulling him into my arms "There's nothing to forgive..."

~~~~~~

Chapter Four

After we'd taken our pads off and had cooled down, Mark handed me the envelope he'd brought with him and said, "Congratulations, Cuz! Open it; you're going to be really surprised."

"After I opened the envelope and read the contents, I looked at Mark and said "Holy Shit! This says that I've earned my Fifth Dan. What the hell is going on here? I'm only a Third Dan."

"It wasn't my decision," Mark smiled, "It was Wayne Tyler's and he told me that his word is final on this one."

"I still don't understand," I replied, "Why?"

"Think about everything you've done so far, Mike," Mark began, "Look at the way our record sales have gone through the roof, not to mention what you did with adopting the twins. Don't forget that earning your belt degrees has to do with more than just being able to fight...which is something you have also learned very well."

"I don't know what to say," I numbly replied, "I really didn't expect this...really!"

"Don't say anything," Mark warmly replied, reaching over and placing his right hand on my shoulder, "You're a good man, Michael...the best...and I can't think of anyone who is more deserving of this than you."

"He's right, honey," Sarah sweetly told me, placing her arms around my waist and kissing me, "No one deserves this more than you."

"Momma's right," Kerrie added, also placing her arms around me and pulling me down so that she could kiss my cheek, "You're the sweetest guy that we all know; and we love you very much, Daddy," and by this time I found myself surrounded in the love of not only my wife and daughters, but also my cousin who'd been my best friend all my life growing up.

"Thanks, ya'll," I kindly smiled, "And I love you all very much as well," and then as an afterthought, I said, "And I'm very proud of you girls."

"That reminds me," Kerrie suddenly giggled breaking away from the hug and heading toward the back door of the house "I'll be right back."

"Where is she going?" I asked Sarah, who was knowingly smiling, "She's up to something, isn't she?"

"Don't ask me," Sarah girlishly giggled, trying to feign innocence yet failing miserably, "I have no idea what you're talking about, my love."

"She's right, Daddy," Karlie smiled, trying to stifle her giggles, also failing miserably, "We have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah, right," I laughed, "Don't think for a minute that I can't see that you, your sister, and your mother are as thick as thieves and are about as innocent as a group of rattlesnakes."

"Michael," Sarah gasped, still smiling, "How could you say such a thing?"

"Very easily," I laughed, "And don't try to sound so holier than thou, my love; because I know you like the back of my hand."

"Come on, baby," she sweetly grinned, playfully placing her arms around my neck, "That's not such a bad thing, is it?"

"I don't know," I grinned, "I guess I'll have to see..."

~~~~~~

When Kerrie returned from the house she lugging a pasteboard box in her arms and wearing an excited look on her pretty little face, girlishly giggling as she made her way to come stand in front of me.

"I've got a surprise for you, Daddy," she proudly smiled, "A really cool one, too."

"Is that right?" I asked, as she eagerly nodded her head, "Well then, I guess you'd better show me. Besides," I smiled at her, "I really like surprises."

"Then you're really gonna like this one," she enthusiastically grinned, "I promise."

After turning and placing the box on the patio table, she nodded at Karlie whom was her co-conspirator. After reaching into the box, Kerrie withdrew two boards made of yellow pine that were eight to ten inches in length and then handed them to her sister. While Karlie held the boards, Kerrie removed two cinderblocks from my Mom's gardening cabinet where she obviously had them hidden, and then set them up on theirs ends on the patio far enough apart so that she could evenly place the boards on them.

Then after retrieving one of the boards from Karlie and setting it down upon the cinderblocks, Kerrie reached back into the box and withdrew two small wooden spacers, evenly placing them on each end of the one board already on the cinder blocks, she then set the other board on top of the bottom board.

"Watch this, Daddy," Kerrie confidently told me, and then after a few moments of concentration, as well as with a loud and resounding "KEE-YAH", I watched in amazement as, at a high speed and with a strength which I never even knew she possessed, my daughter broke both boards with a single punch.

"Holy Cow," I gasped, "Where did you learn to do that?"

"I saw it being done in a documentary that was on the T.V. about the Martial Arts," Kerrie broadly smiled, "So; I thought I'd try to see if I could do it, too."

"You know that you should've asked me first, young lady" I quietly told her, not angrily, but not happy about it either, "You could've ended up seriously hurting yourself ya know, maybe even broken your hand."

"Don't be mad at her, Cuz," Mark intervened, "She consulted me before she ever tried it, and I made certain that she knew exactly what she was doing...Besides, she just wanted to make you proud of her, that's all."

Seeing that my sweet little Kerrie was on the verge of tears because she thought I might be angry with her, I knelt down beside her and tenderly told her, "Daddy's very proud of you, my angel. I just didn't want to see you hurt yourself, okay baby? You need to know that it would literally kill me if something were to happen to you or your sister."

"I know that, Daddy," she softly replied, throwing her arms around my neck and tenderly kissing my cheek, "But do you remember when I bit that "Nick" guy's hand?"

"Of course I do," I chuckled at the memory "How could I ever forget that?"

"And then I popped him in the nuts, too;" she devilishly laughed "Right before you stepped in and punched him out."

"She's right, Daddy," Karlie also giggled, "Sis has turned into a real no-nonsense bitch since you've been teaching us Karate."

Where I should've been angry at Karlie for her language, I found myself laughing at what she'd just said. Hell, Sarah and the twins both had me wrapped around their fingers from the very beginning, but; I didn't care who knew; and that's the God's honest truth. Still though, I said something regardless of how funny her comment was.

"When you girls are here at home and there's just us, you can say what you want to within reason, Karlie honey," I replied smiling, "But when you're around other people..."

"I know, Daddy," she softly smiled, leaning down and kissing my cheek, "I wouldn't dream of embarrassing our family by speaking like that out in public. After all, my handsome father raised me to be a lady, and I love him very much."

"Aw, how sweet," Sarah tenderly told Karlie, "We love you, too baby...Your father and I love you both more than any-one or any-thing in the whole wide world."

"You two know that you're going to have to be able to meet the standards that Kerrie has set before you can advance to you next belt level, I told Karlie and Sarah, "And that means you're gonna have to start working out with the kick bag hanging in the barn."

"Aw, man," I heard Karlie moan, "Thanks a lot, Sis; and I just got my nails done, too..."

~~~~~~

Sarah and the twins, especially Kerrie, had been working very hard on their Martial Arts skills, absorbing everything I taught them like sponges; and I could clearly tell by the way they began to carry themselves that they had totally retained everything they'd learned. It wasn't so much that any of them were acting cocky or anything like that, nevertheless; I began to notice a subtle glow of confidence in each of them that hadn't been there before. However, as opposed to saying anything about it, I simply felt proud of my girls for the accomplishments they'd each achieved.

Kerrie had slowly advanced to being able to break three boards as opposed to just two, and in her own sweetly precious and gentle way of doing so, she'd unknowingly encouraged her mother and sister to slowly work their way up to being able to break one board each. I was so proud of her that I was about to burst wide open with happiness. But what I didn't know was that dark cloud was approaching on the not too distant horizon. Conversely, something else I didn't know was that I would be very happily surprised at how that same dark cloud was going to be handled, beginning with Karlie and Kerrie and ending with Sarah ...

~~~~~~

ELEVEN MONTHS LATER

Because of the fact that Ahmet had given us full artistic control and therefore allowing us to take our time to get it recorded, Odyssey's second album was now totally finished with less than ten days before its release, and three weeks left before we were scheduled to go on tour. I had produced this album, and with a ton of help from the U of H's custodial sound engineer, David Clarke, I also co-engineered it, too. Speaking of which, you should've seen the look on David's face when we, Odyssey, told him that his name was going to put on the album alongside mine. Man, you would've thought it was Christmas...

~~~~~~

The twins fourteenth birthday had just passed, and because of how extremely smart they both were, they were both go to be moved up from the eighth grade to the ninth grade during the mid-term break, and would in latter half of their freshman year in high school next spring. We were very proud of them...Our lives were going very well, leaving Sarah and I both enormously happy and extremely proud until I got a phone call at home from the school my girls had been happily attending...

~~~~~~

"Hello," I smiled, answering the phone, "This is Mike Taylor."

"Mister Taylor," a male voice replied, "My name is Father Ryan O'Hara, and I'm the Head Master here at Saint Francis Academy where both of your daughters are students."

"Yes, Father, Ryan," I politely replied, "What can I do for you? Are they alright?"

"Karlie is doing quite well," he quietly answered, "Kerrie is also doing well academically, but I would be remiss in my duties as the Head Master if I didn't tell you that we've had a major problem with Kerrie's behavior this morning."

"I see," I replied, a very bad feeling beginning to rise from the pit of my stomach, "And what kind of problem are we speaking of, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

"I think it would be best if you came down here so that we could discuss it in person," he contemptuously replied, "School policy dictates that the parents of an attending student should be present when that same student is about to be suspended."

"Excuse me, Father," I disbelievingly asked, "But did I hear you use the word, suspended; and if so, on what grounds?"

"Fighting," he tersely answered me, "Your daughter viciously attacked a male student in the hallway between her second and third period classes for no apparent, and sent him to the hospital with a broken nose and arm."

"Oh, really?" I scoffed, "And what did the male student do to my daughter to cause her to viciously attack him, as you claim?" however, before he could answer me, I abruptly cut him off and told him, "My wife and I will down there with our attorney within the hour...oh, and God help anyone that tries to question and/or discipline my daughter in any way shape or form. In other words none of you had better so much as speak to her unless it's in the presence me, her mother and our attorney. Are we clear on this?"

"Crystal clear," he acerbically spat, "I guess we'll see you within the hour then?"

"There's no guessing to this, Father," I angrily replied, "You can count on it..."

~~~~~~

"This is Assistant District Attorney, Brian Thompson," Uncle Brian professionally answered his phone, when I called him, "How may I help you?"

"Hi, Uncle Brian," I worriedly answered, "This is Michael and something's happened that I could really use your help."

"Uh oh," he suspiciously replied, "What's wrong, kiddo?"

I told him everything that had been relayed to me by the Head Master of the school the twins were attending, as well as the snide and somewhat accusatory comments he'd made about Kerrie, making her sound guilty of something long before a thorough investigation had even been made.

"Sarah and I are headed down there as soon as you and I hang up," I told him, "Is there any way you could possibly come with us? I really need your help, Uncle Brian."

"No problem, Mike," he kindly replied," I'll be waiting for you when you get there and whatever you do; don't speak to anyone until I get there. Do you understand kiddo?"

"Yes sir," I told him, feeling slightly better, "Thanks, Uncle Brian. I can't even begin to tell you how much this means to me and Sarah."

"Don't you worry about it one bit, Mike," he warmly replied, "Besides, that's what family is for..."

~~~~~~

"This doesn't sound like Kerrie at all," Sarah worriedly fretted, as we drove to the high school, "There's no way on earth she would fight unless she was either being picked on, or someone was messing with Karlie."

"And you're very right about that, my love," I agreed, "But I think that this is going to be a case of the former as opposed to the latter."

"My heart tells me the same thing, Michael," she said, "And I'm willing to bet you anything that some little horn-dog fucker tried to put his hands on her in a very inappropriate way."

"That would be my guess, too," I began to laugh "And while I know that I should be upset over this, I think it's funny as hell, and I hope the little bastard learned his lesson about messing with our girls," as I continued laughing."

"Michael," Sarah giggled, trying to scold me yet failing terribly, tears of laughter running down her cheeks, "It's not funny."

"Oh, hell yes, it is," I laughed, "I think it's very funny..."

~~~~~~

The moment Sarah and I pulled up to the front office of St. Francis Academy, you can only imagine my relief when I saw Uncle Brian getting out of his car with a smile on his face.

"Hi, Uncle Brian," Sarah brightly smiled, as she gave him a hug and kissed him on the cheek, "Thank you so much for coming with us."

"You're more than welcome, pretty girl," he gently replied, then reaching over and patting me on the shoulder asking me, "You doing okay, Mikey?"

"I'm better now that you're here," I gratefully told him, "Thanks again."

"We need to wait a minute before we go in there," Uncle Brian instructed us, "A very good friend of mine on the way, and he just happens to be a police detective that does criminal investigations for the D.A.'s office. I've asked him if he wouldn't mind going in there with us," and no sooner had Uncle Brian spoken of him when an unmarked police car pulled in and parked right beside mine.

"Hey Brian," Detective Will Colson smiled, getting out of his car. Then he looked at me and asked, "Aren't you Mike Taylor of Odyssey?"

"Yes, sir," I smiled as we shook hands, "And this is my wife Sarah."

"Wow; my wife and I love Odyssey's music," he smiled, "It's very nice to meet you both, my name is Detective William Colson, but my friends all call me Will."

"Hi, Will," I warmly replied, "I'd like to personally thank you for coming with us this morning."