Burn (36 page)

“You shouldn’t watch that garbage, Ma,” Pio said.
“Hey, Gian, did you call someone to flush out your sprin
kler system? It’s supposed to get cold later this week.”

“The boys are really looking forward to the
International Martial Arts tournament tomorrow,” Isabel
offered brightly. “They’re looking forward to seeing
Sheng Li compete.”

Josefina ignored the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Pio
Piasanti to change the subject. As squat and chubby as a
down-stuffed pillow come to life, Josefina hunkered in
her chair and said, “Gianni, isn’t there someone you can
fix Lu up with? And Pio, that fella you brought to
Christmas dinner last year . . . is he still single?”

“I try not to mix business with family,” Gian
said, although his choice of dinner guests belied that statement.

“Jason is engaged,” Pio answered. “The wedding is set
for June, I think.”

“May,” Isabel corrected.

“Another good one gets away,” Josefina cried. She
leaned around her grandson to talk at Lucia, her pale
blue eyes flashing. “I love all my children equally, God
knows I do, and I’ll love them no matter what, but I want
more grandkids. You’re in this house all day, every day,
Lu. You look like a vampire with that pale skin. You need
to get out, start livin’ your life again. Look at your
brother! He’s got a beautiful wife, beautiful kids, a house,
and a life. And Gianni’s almost there, I guess.” Her sharp
gaze zeroed in on Cinder. “Goodness knows, he’s never
brought any of his other girlfriends home to meet me and
Auntie Vee. This one might be the one.”

“She is,” Gian said. “I’ve asked Cinder to marry me.”

Cinder’s face reddened. Josefina finally shut up.

All at once, congratulations came from Sionne, Pio,
and Isabel. Pio stood, dropping the napkin from his lap
onto his chair. He squeezed past his wife, between Sionne
and an antique floor radio, and gave Cinder kisses on
each cheek. Aunt Veronica took off her thick glasses to
wipe away her tears.

Josefina clapped her hands and aimed a silent prayer
heavenward. But then she turned to Lucia. “You’re the
only one left, Lucia,” she nagged. “Let me fix you up
with one of the nice boys from church. Once you get
back out there, you’ll—”

“She’ll date when she’s ready,” Cinder said. All eyes
swung toward her. “She’ll leave the house when she’s
ready. She’ll take a walk around the block, or go running
again, when
she’s
ready. You can’t rush someone’s recovery.
You can’t make them live on your timeline. Unless you
know what she’s been through, you shouldn’t be trying to
force her into anything.”

Isabel pinched back a smile. Cinder’s future nephews, wide-eyed, stared uncertainly from their grandmother to
Cinder and back again.

“
What’d she say?” Aunt Veronica asked. “I didn’t
catch all that, what’d she say?”

Just when Cinder was about to apologize, Lucia spoke
up. “She said Mama should leave me alone. And I agree
with her.”

Lucia left the table. Her footsteps sounded in the long
corridor, ending with the soft slam of the back door.

“She’s so sensitive about everything,” Josefina mut
tered, dismissing Lucia’s exit with a wave of a wrinkled
hand. “I’m just trying to help.”

“I’ll go get her,” Gian volunteered.

Cinder took his forearm. “Let me.”

Gian nodded. Cinder excused herself.

The family ate in silence for a minute . “I have an
uncle-in-law from northern Italy,” Sionne finally said.

Josefina and Veronica jumped on the subject, pep
pering him with questions that allowed everyone else to
eat in peace.

The meal didn’t last much longer. Gian and Pio
helped Isabel clear the table while Josefina and Veronica retired to the living room with Sionne and the two boys.
Josefina tried to sneak into her bedroom at the other end of the house, but Gian followed her.

Josefina led him to the window. They saw Cinder and
Lucia in the backyard. “What’re they doing?” Josefina
asked, wrinkling her nose.

Gian smiled, his heart filling his chest. “She’s teaching
Lu how to fight.” Specifically, Cinder was teaching Lucia the GEFS technique, which was very effective and very
easy. Cinder demonstrated blows and kicks, striking the
g
roin, eyes, foot, and shin of an invisible attacker. Lucia
copied the moves perfectly, although with far less power
than Cinder.

“What will the neighbors think?” Josefina fretted.
“I’m bringing them inside, right now.”

“Leave ’em alone, Ma. We’ve spent thousands on
therapy for Lu, and none of it did for her what Cinder’s
doing.”

“Dr. Hardy is a professional,” Josefina argued. “He
has experience with cases like Lucia’s.”

“So does Cinder,” Gian said quietly, his gaze never
leaving the two women in the yard.

The heavy bass of a Papa Roach song reverberated throughout the near-empty arena. Cinder stood with the rest of the contingent from Sheng Li, staring at the ban
ners hanging from the rafters. Though veterans of
International Martial Arts tournaments, Gian, Chip, and
Sionne seemed as awed as Cinder, who had never even
seen the event on television before.

“They’re beautiful,” Cinder muttered.

Hanging banners represented each competing dojo.
The size of bed sheets, they were as colorful and ornate as
museum tapestries. Cinder’s mouth audibly popped open
when she saw the banner for Sheng Li.

“That’s my dragon,” she gasped. “Gian . . . ?”

“I hope you don’t mind.” He draped an arm over her
shoulders, drawing her in for a hug. “I’ve tried to find a
symbol for Sheng Li since I opened the place, but nothing felt right.” He tipped his head toward the
banner. “This is perfect.”

“It’s great, Cinder,” Chip drawled. “I want to get it
tattooed on my back.”

“No, you don’t,” Zae snapped.

“It’s my back, I can do what I want to it,” Chip
argued.

“
What do you think a dragon tattoo will look like on your shriveled, droopy ol’ back when you’re eighty years
old? It’ll look like the dragon melted.” Zae patted her
hair, making sure none of it had escaped her ponytail.

“What do you care? You won’t have to look at it,” Chip told her.

Grumbling under her breath, Zae threw a nasty look
at Chip. “Where are the locker rooms? I want to change
into my
gi
and mingle before the crowd starts coming
in.”

An event volunteer directed Zae, and Cinder accom
panied her. The venue was enormous, and Cinder found it daunting at first. But as she passed the fighting mats
lining the floor where the St. Louis Blues ordinarily
played, she realized that with so many matches going on
at once, it was unlikely that many people would be
paying specific attention to any one fight. Taking com
fort in the anonymity offered by a crowd, she settled her
nerves and looked forward to enjoying the meet.

Since they were competing in the Exhibition half of the event, Zae and Cinder didn’t have to adhere to the
rules for the Combat half. Instead of traditional white
gis
,
they could wear any color they wanted. Zae exited the women’s locker room in a traditional blood-red
gi
that warmed the brick undertones in her dark complexion.
Cinder wore black, her
gi
the rough-sewn, beltless
peasant style Aja favored.

“Baby, you look like you’re about to go work in a rice
paddy,” Zae said. “I wish you’d gotten the silver tradi
tional one.”

“
I like my new
gi
.” Cinder spotted the Sheng Li table.
Gian was already there, speaking with a silver-haired
Asian man in a very nice suit, and a tall, willowy woman
in a skirt so short, she risked revealing all of her secrets if she were to bend over. “It’s comfortable, and—”

Zae grabbed the tail of Cinder’s tunic to pull her
along faster. “Who the hell is that tall drink of trouble at
our table?”

“I don’t know,” Cinder responded. She didn’t care,
either. The beautiful, long-haired woman stood close to Gian, speaking in his ear, but Gian’s gaze was fixed on Cinder. He tracked her journey from the opposite side of
the arena to his side.

“Pritchard, Kuriko, I’d like to introduce you to
Cinder White,” Gian said.

Kuriko narrowed her eyes, propping a hand on her
right hip.

“She’s his fiancé,” Zae volunteered, clearly enjoying Kuriko’s displeasure.

They shook hands all around, Kuriko refusing to
meet Cinder’s gaze as she did so.

“Are you competing for Sheng Li this afternoon?”
Pritchard asked Cinder.

“Yes, on the Exhibition side,” Cinder said. “I haven’t
studied the art long.”

“She’s one of my best students,” Gian stated proudly.
“Taught her everything I know.”

“Everything?” Kuriko echoed, one of her eyebrows
arched higher.

“Could I ask your ancestry?” Cinder asked Kuriko.

“My father is Ethiopian and Russian,” she said dismissively. “My mother is Japanese.”

“You’re remarkably beautiful,” Cinder replied. “She’s a’ight,” Zae grumbled under her breath.
“Gian, I’d like you to meet some of my executives,”

Pritchard said. “Could I steal you for a moment?”

Gian nodded. “Zae, would you mind rounding up our guys? I want everyone assembled before the introduc tions.”

Reluctantly, Zae disappeared into the growing crowd
of fighters and spectators to do as Gian asked, leaving
Cinder and Kuriko alone at Sheng Li’s station. Kuriko, in her immaculately fitted suit, studied Cinder from head to
toe. “Are you a fighter, too?” Cinder asked to break the
silence between them.

“Only when I have a chance of winning,” Kuriko
sighed.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Cinder
admitted. “It’s exciting.” She eyed the floor, where sixteen
smaller mats had been arranged around a large one raised on a dais. High above, big spotlights beamed down, most of them directed toward the center mat. Television cam
eras from local stations, ESPN, HDNet Sports, and sev
eral Asian sports stations were positioned throughout the
arena. Advertisements for the sponsors of the tourna
ment, Pritchard Hok Industries, Nike, Gatorade, Trojan,
and numerous martial arts suppliers foremost among
them, lined the outer rim of the competition floor.

“This is more than just a competition for Gian,”
Kuriko said. “If Sheng Li does well, Pritchard Hok
Enterprises will partner with him to open Sheng Li dojos
across North America. This tournament will determine
the course of Gian’s future.”

“Gian’s fighters won’t let him down,” Cinder said.
“They’ve been training for months. They’re really good.”

“What about you, little one?” Kuriko smiled, but
there wasn’t a note of friendliness in it. “How good are
you?”

“I’m not in the medal rounds. My performance
doesn’t matter much.”

Kuriko bared her teeth in a grin. “Yours matters most
of all. You are Gian’s prized pupil. You came to him with no experience, yes?”

Cinder nodded.

“You are the embodiment of the Sheng Li technique.
Everything he has worked for, everything he represents
rests on your little shoulders. If you fail, so does Sheng Li. So does Gian.” Kuriko snickered as though she looked
forward to it.