Chapter 7: The Training
The garden is hot. The sun is already high.
Luis stands barefoot on the grass. Jack is in front of him in a plain shirt. His sword is leaning against the fence.
Jack looks at him. "Go get me some dry leaves."
Luis frowns. "Leaves? I thought we were doing swords today."
"You want the sword, you do what I say first. Just the dry ones."
Luis sighs. "Fine."
He runs to the side of the house where Julia is hanging clothes.
Julia sees him digging under the tree. "Luis, don't bring dirt in the house."
"It's for Uncle Jack!" Luis says, scooping up a handful.
She shakes her head.
Luis runs back and drops the leaves into Jack's hand.
Jack closes his fist around them. "Can you catch one of these before it hits the ground?"
Luis laughs. "Yeah. That's easy."
"Good," Jack says. "Because we're not touching a sword today. First you learn your hands. Then I teach you how to fight. Then the sword."
Luis's eyes light up. "Wait, for real? You're going to teach me that too?"
"Yeah," Jack says. "If you can pass the first test."
He points to the small wooden table. "Get up there. Drop one."
Luis climbs up. The table wobbles. He holds a leaf out and lets go.
He watches it fall. Halfway down, it's gone.
Luis leans over. "Where did it go?"
Jack opens his hand. The leaf is sitting in his palm. He opens his other hand. Three more leaves are there.
Luis stares. "I didn't even see you move."
"You don't grab it," Jack says. "You punch at it. Fast punch, then you close your fist. You hit the spot."
Luis nods fast. "Okay. Punch, then close. I get it."
Jack turns and walks to the big oak tree by the fence. "Come on."
Luis follows him. "Why here?"
Jack leans against the trunk. "Wait."
A wind blows through the branches. A shower of leaves falls down around them.
Jack looks up. "Catch ten. Before they hit the ground. And you have to hold all ten."
Luis runs under the tree. The first leaf falls. He snaps his right hand out and catches it. "One!"
The second leaf falls. He catches it with his left. "Two!"
The third leaf spins down. He goes for it with his right hand. The second he punches, the first leaf he was holding slips out of his fist and falls to the grass. He misses the third one too.
He looks at his empty hand. "It fell out."
He tries again. He catches one in his left, one in his right. He goes for the third with his left hand. The same thing happens. The leaf in his left hand drops when he swings.
He looks at Jack, frustrated. "Every time I try to catch the next one, the one I'm holding falls out!"
Jack crosses his arms. "Yeah. That's the training."
Luis keeps trying. He catches two, then drops one. He catches two, then drops one again.
Jack's voice gets serious. "Listen. Two weeks. You catch ten and you hold all ten at the same time, I'll teach you everything. You don't, I'm done."
Luis freezes. "What? No! You promised!"
"I promised I'd teach someone who can learn control," Jack says. He turns and walks back toward the house. "Figure it out."
Luis stays under the tree.
Day one, he's there until dark. Day two, the same. On day three, Rio shows up at the gate with a ball.
"Luis! Come play at the river!" Rio yells.
Luis doesn't turn around. "Can't! I'm busy!"
Rio looks at Jack on the porch. "What's wrong with him?"
Jack shrugs. "He's training."
A week goes by. Luis's hands are red and sore. He can catch three, sometimes four, but his grip always fails when he goes for the next one.
Three days left. He sits under the oak at sunset, out of breath, staring at his palms.
He thinks to himself. I'm squeezing too hard when I catch. That's why my hand gets tired and opens when I punch again. I'm holding them wrong.
He stands up. The wind blows again.
The first leaf falls. He catches it with his right hand, but he keeps his fist loose.
The second leaf falls. He catches it with his left, same light grip.
The third leaf comes down. He punches with his right. This time the first leaf stays in his hand. He catches the third.
He keeps going. Fourth, fifth, sixth. He's moving, catching, and nothing is dropping.
Seven, eight, nine.
The tenth leaf floats down slow. He catches it in his left hand.
He stands there breathing hard. He slowly opens both his hands. Ten leaves sit in his palms. All of them are still there.
"YES! I DID IT! TEN!" he screams.
There's a rustle above him. Jack drops down out of the branches. He'd been sitting up there the whole time, eating an apple.
Jack looks at his hands. "Finally. You stopped trying to crush them."
Luis holds his hands out, grinning. "Look! I didn't drop a single one!"
Jack laughs and ruffles his hair. "Good. You learned how to hold one thing while you go for the next. That was the whole point."
He picks his sword up off the grass. "Alright. Tomorrow we start for real."
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To be continued...