his nakedness. He kept his eyes averted and his back to her. He folded his clothes neatly and put them in a pile next to the examination table. He lay down on his back, stared at the ceiling and didn't look at Tammy. She materialized in his field of vision above and Swan saw her breasts. She wore no shirt. Swan quickly closed his eyes and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Tammy laughed. He felt her fingers over his eyes and they softly spread the eyelids. "Open eyes."
So Swan opened his eyes.
"Turn over," she said.
And he did. He could feel his penis going erect and he tried to breathe and silence the chugging heartbeat in his ears, locomotive.
"So big," she said.
Her hands were on him, the muscles in his back strained and shuddered at her touch.
"Relax."
"Alright," said Swan. "I'm trying."
"Unable to disappoint," she said. "Unable."
After Chinatown, Dave and Swan drove to the other side of San Francisco.
"Uncle Dave? "
"How was that, boy? Ha ha ha! Woooohee!"
"Uncle Dave, when… when I was alone with that woman—"
"Tammy," said Uncle Dave.
"She touched me with her hands… and…"
"And maybe something more? Ha ha!"
Swan was silent the rest of the way to the martial arts studio, their next destination. It was jiu-jitsu and a large building with mats on the floor and mirrors on the wall. Nobody was inside the building but a tanned Asian man with black hair showing light flecks of gray.
"So this the champ?" said the man.
"Here's the king," said Dave, and Swan didn't realize they were talking about him.
"He 's a big one."
"Yeah, " said Dave. "They raised him on grits, I guess. Swan, this is Ueda Sensei. He's gonna be your teacher for a while."
U eda smiled. "Swan, eh? He doesn't look like any swan I've seen."
"That 's not my real name. It's—"
"It 's your name from now on," said Dave. "You don't worry about that old name you left back in Mississippi. You got yourself a new career in a new town. You're a new man."
"Not a man yet," said Ueda .
Dave laughed but nobo dy else got the joke. "Can you get him started today?"
" I can get him started right now," said Ueda. "Give him some one-on-one and get him warmed up, then toss him in the afternoon class."
"Great. What time can I pick him up?"
"Come back after six."
Alone with Ueda, Swan was given a pair of sweats to wear, and he realized this was going to be like P.E. class back in Mississippi. They did some stretching, push-ups, sit-ups, ran laps around the gym, then Ueda gave Swan some padded body gear. Swan put it on without question. He looked in the mirror and saw a large but ridiculous teenager with sparring gear and a stupid grin. How did he end up here? What was going on?
"Your uncle has asked me to teach you jiu-jitsu. That is fine. And you may make a good student or be as dense as others might take you to be. But first I must see what you have in you now, where we're starting from."
Swan didn 't know what the man was talking about, but this Ueda fellow seemed rather serious.
"We are going to fight," he went on, "and I want you to do your best to tear me apart. To destroy me. You must not hold back. Don't worry about hurting me. You cannot hurt me. Do you understand?"
Swan shook his head.
"What don't you understand?" said Ueda.
"Why – "
"No why! That is between you and your uncle. You are here to fight and I will teach you. But leave your whys at home."
Swan still didn 't understand.
"Now we are going to fight. It is not a real fight, of course, and I will let you know when we are finished. But you must fight like it is a real fight."
"I 've never been in a fight."
Ueda looked into Swan's eyes and saw he was telling the truth. He barely believed it but considered the boy's size the determinant and quickly digested it within his brain as possible and ultimately irrelevant.
"Nevertheless," said Ueda . "Put your hands up and do your best."
Unlike Swan, Ueda wore no padded gear. His hands were raised so Swan did the same, not knowing