Starting Point Read Online Free PDF Page B

Boss. “That goes for me too. If we need someone to do extra shifts…”
    “You’re supposed to be on light duties,” he said. “And you’re not even on our payroll.”
    “All the more reason to use me,” I said. “And I’ll see my doctor about my limitations and see what I can do. I won’t push myself, but if I get the all clear…”
    Boss sighed, and gave a nod as he sat back down at his desk. “All right.” Arizona left and when I got to the door, Boss called out, “Elliott?”
    “Yes, Boss?”
    “What you did back there, with the boys, was good. Arizona’s right. You’re good at organizing the team stuff and makin’ ’em feel good about the place… They look up to you. They were unsure to begin with, when they found out you was still a cop, but you’ve earned their respect by doin’ what you’re doin’.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Don’t get a fat head or anything, you hear?” he said, back to his gruff self. “And don’t go tellin’ them I said somethin’ nice or they’ll all go expectin’ it.”
    I bit the inside of my lip to stop from smiling. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
    He grunted at me, which was my dismissal, so I went back out to my office and found Claude was still there. “Hey, my little assistant is still hard at work.”
    She grinned and stood back from the wall of brochures. “I rearranged them for ya. I put the girl stuff on this side, and the boy stuff on this side, and put ’em to match by colour. I figure if they look different and we change ’em up once in a while, then people might take a second look, yeah? Might even pick one up.”
    I held out my fist to her. She looked at it for a while before she bumped her fist to mine. “You are one very smart kid.”
    She seemed proud of her work, or pleased with my compliment. I wasn’t sure which.
    “Well,” I told her. “I’m gonna run through some defence programmes for you kids. Wanna help?”
    Claude nodded eagerly. “Sure.”
    I went over to my desk in the corner. “Pull up a chair.” I took out my folders and waited for my little assistant to get comfortable. “Right,” I said, pointing to the charts and database tables in my folder. “These show what week we’re up to, and which programme we’re on. Right now, we’re up to week seven, and see here?” I asked, pointing to the week seven column. “These are the moves I’ll be teaching this week.”
    She glanced at the paper for a second then looked at me. “I didn’t think you put that much thought in it. I just thought some kids turned up and you got ’em to do stuff.”
    I laughed. I loved the tact of kids. Brutal honesty. “There is a method to what I’m doing,” I said. “Each week we learn new things, and in a certain order. You know, like in Karate Kid —wax on, wax off.”
    She stared at me blankly. “Huh?”
    I chuckled. She’d obviously never seen that movie, the new or old version. “Well, it’s kinda like painting. If you wanted to paint a tree, it’d make sense to try and draw it first, yeah? To make sure it all looks right before you add the paint.”
    “I guess.”
    “Well, that’s what I’m doing. I’m teaching you how to draw before I’ll let you paint.”
    She shook her head. “You know, all you had to say was self-defence requires skills with different stages.”
    I snorted. “Sorry. Forgot who I was talking to.”
    Claude rolled her eyes. “I’m nine, you know. I ain’t five.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind.”
    She sighed. “What else do you have to do?”
    “Well, I need to finish this.” I tapped the papers in front of me. “Then I was going to use the gym for an hour or so, have some lunch before my meeting with the community college, then run a session or two for any kids that turn up. That’s my plan for the day.”
    “Hmm,” she hummed. “Sounds pretty boring.”
    I laughed. “Well, if you’re not busy for the day, young lady, how about you just try keeping up?”
    The little girl smiled.