Renegade World: Future Past (20 page)

At least sixty.

Naami opened the door and squeezed in behind Aaron, Erica,
and Thor as the room erupted into applause. Erica and Aaron smiled, and Thor
looked embarrassed. Mr. Hyon stepped forward. “Ms. Carlson, the studio
congratulates you on your victory in the Junior Olympics.” He shook her hand.
“Mr. Carlson and Mr. Lieber, the studio congratulates you on your second place
finish in the state basketball championships.” He shook their hands.

 Naami pushed forward. She looked up at Thor. “The ref blew
the call when you blocked the last shot. No way was that a foul! You guys would
have won in overtime if you were still in the game.”

Thor smiled. He had lost count of the number of people who
had told him the same thing. “Thanks, Naami. Next year we will win the whole
thing.”

Naami turned to Erica, who was already talking with Raul and
Eddie. “Did they tell you that we watched your matches? You were awesome,
especially in the semifinal. Maybe I'll take up saber someday.”

Erica smiled. “I'll let my mom know.”

Mr. Hyon yelled, “OK, let’s get ready for class!”

Aaron walked into the workout area with Thor. “I missed
working out these last two weeks.”

“Yeah, and only working out once or twice a week during the
rest of basketball season.”

“Glad to see your sister is back with us too. I thought she
might stop for good to focus on the saber. I know her goal is gold at the next
Olympics.”

Pushing between them, Erica asked, “Talking about me boys?”

Thor hip-checked his sister. “We were saying how nice it
was that you are back in class.” He paused and watched the slightly confused
look on his sister's face. “Yeah, we need someone to whomp during sparring.”

Erica punched her brother in the shoulder. “In your
dreams.”

They all waved at Rebeka Lee as Mr. Hyon called for the
class to line up. He worked the class hard, at least harder than Erica
remembered. By the end of the drills, she was drenched in sweat. She looked at
Naami, who hadn't even broken a sweat yet, and then her brother and Aaron, who
were barely sweating.

Mr. Hyon ran the whole class through the first five forms.
Erica noticed the techniques of the other students. Aaron, her brother, Rebeka
Lee, and Naami were clearly better than the other students. Aaron and Rebeka
Lee didn't surprise her, but she was shocked by how much better her brother and
Naami looked. Naami had always looked fast and focused, but she somehow looked
much stronger now. Her brother had shed his gawkiness and looked much more
confident.
Dang. He just might kick my butt someday.

After class, Erica sat on the floor, leaning back against
the wall, her stare unfocused. Rebeka Lee smiled down at her and offered Erica
her hand. As she pulled her up, she said, “A little different workout than
you're used to?”

“You've got that right! It feels good, though. Aaron and
Thor didn't seem to miss a beat.”

“Well, they were only gone a couple of weeks, and I suspect
that basketball endurance might transfer slightly better than fencing.”

“Why is that?”

“Basketball involves more of the large muscle groups. The
running, jumping, and pushing during basketball is a mix of aerobic and
anaerobic exercise.” Rebeka Lee laughed. “According to Naami, your brother’s
goal is to beat you when you two spar. Even though the guys didn’t have time to
come to the studio, Naami told me that they do ten sets of kicks after they do
their weights.”

“Well, I'm going to have to do something to step it up. I
can't have my little brother beating up on me.”

Rebeka Lee laughed. “Not so little anymore. Another year
and he'll be taller than your father.”

Erica wiped the sweat off her face. “Oh, that makes me feel
much better.”

“Anytime you want to run with me or do weight training let
me know.”

Erica looked surprised. “You do weight training?”

Naami popped her head between them. “Me too!”

“You too what?” asked Erica.

“Weight training! I do weight training. Don't you?”

“I don't, or I should say I haven't, but maybe I should start.
Tell me about what weights you do.”

“I do weights six days a week but a different workout every
other day.” She went on to explain all of the exercises she did and the number
of sets.

Erica thought,
No wonder she looks stronger.

Rebeka Lee looked thoughtful. “You know that might be too much
of a good thing, Naami?”

“Oh don't worry. I limit the weight I use so that it’s less
than my body weight, and besides, I never get sore. I do get tired once in a
while, but I'm not tired after I sleep.”

Erica looked over at Rebeka Lee and sighed. “OK, I'll take
you up on your offer. How many times a week do you think I should work out?”

“Three would be plenty. Send me the open time slots on your
calendar, and I'll set something up.”

“Can I come too?” asked Naami.

“Send me your schedule. We'll see.” Almost immediately, she
was alerted that both girls’ schedules had been received.
Display the possible
time slots please, Agamede.”
After her AI displayed the intersection of their open time slots, Rebeka Lee chose three that would work best for her and Erica and had
Agamede send Erica and Naami the schedule. “Naami, only once a week works for your
busy schedule.”

“That’s OK.”

“Looks good to me,” added Erica.

S
ix new students showed up for their first class together.
Mr. Hyon welcomed them and passed them each a new uniform and belt. “Please get
changed right away, and then,” he pointed at Naami, “Naami will show you how to
tie your belts.

When the boys came out of the dressing room, Naami said, “I
know you guys. You’re all on the basketball team. Let me demonstrate how to
wrap your belts and tie them.” They all got it on the first try.

When class was over, Naami noticed the six boys leaving
together with their uniforms all tucked into small backpacks. She looked out
the window and watched them all run up the street. Aaron and Thor had done the
same thing last night.
Abraham, I don’t know if they’ll be as good as this
year, but it looks like they all plan to be in good condition.

As the six boys ran down the street, Craig said to no one
in particular, “Who the heck is that kid Naami? And how do I get coordination
like hers?”

N
aami and Raul had practiced dry-firing the Hi-Point
carbine and CZ 75 pistol three times. She had reviewed tutorials from a number
of experts on how to hold a gun, aim it, and pull the trigger. The theory was
clear to her. She had the sight alignment and sight picture figured out, but
the pistol’s grip was too big for her to hold the gun correctly, and her finger
strength was less than ideal for a smooth trigger pull.

She searched Midway USA’s site and ordered a subcompact
laser trainer and the high-resolution target. After looking at suggestions of
what other people purchased, she also ordered the sound activated laser that
fit a 9mm barrel. With free shipping, the total was just under her monthly
allowance.

C
amila dropped Naami and Erica off at Rebeka Lee's farm
house. She skipped up the sidewalk ahead of Erica and rang the doorbell. The
thought came,
I'm on my way. I'll meet you over at the pole barn.
Naami
turned and saw Rebeka Lee riding a donkey back towards the pole barn.

Erica started walking towards the barn. “It looks like she
was out inspecting the new windmill that Geoffry and Miguel are putting up.”

Naami looked at the new windmill and then back at Rebeka
Lee and the donkey. “I thought that donkeys didn't like to be ridden.”

Erica swatted at a horsefly, knocking it away. “I asked Rebeka
Lee about that once. She said that you can train almost any donkey so that they
can be ridden, but you can't really make a donkey act like a horse.” She
laughed. “She said that a donkey's unlikely to gallop unless it wants to, like
if he knows that dinner is waiting.”

Rebeka Lee rode up and dismounted. Before she had even said
hello, Naami fired off a string of questions. “What's its name? Is it a jack or
a jenny? How fast can it go? What's the furthest you've ever ridden it? Will
you teach me to ride?”

Rebeka Lee laughed and tousled Naami's hair. “Tsus is a jack,
and I once rode him a hundred miles in one day. I'm not sure who was unhappier
by the end of the ride, me or Tsus. I don't know how fast he can go. He can
trot along at ten miles an hour for a long time. He can canter at about fifteen
miles an hour, but he won't do it for more than ten or fifteen minutes. I've
never got him to gallop while I'm riding him. I'm guessing he might be able to
gallop at twenty miles an hour, maybe more. Someday I'll let you ride one of
the jennies if it’s OK with your parents. Now let me unsaddle him so we can go
work out.”

After Rebeka Lee finished with Tsus, they followed her to
the back of the barn. A door slid open, and they walked down an eight-foot wide
ramp. As they reached the bottom, another door slid open.

Naami looked in as the lights came on. A third large
sliding door was six feet directly ahead of them, but it didn't open. She followed
Erica and Rebeka Lee to the right side of the entryway and through a normal-sized
door. The room was about the size of her bedroom with a rack of dumbbells
ranging from 10 pounds to 120 pounds and a stand that held several different
sizes of plates weighing from 5 pounds to 45 pounds. Naami also saw several
pieces of equipment that she hadn't seen before, but she could guess what they
were for. “What a cool place for a workout room. I didn't know that barns had
basements.”

“My grandfather built the barn and this underground
structure that is only partly under the barn. My grandmother used to do all of
her research down here. This was my grandfather's weight room and his
equipment.” She walked over to the weight rack and picked up a pair of 20-pound
dumbbells. “We're going to warm up with light sets of curls. Watch me do a
couple and then you can try them. Start with your arms straight down like this,
and then slowly curl the weights up towards your shoulders without moving your
elbows. When you get to the top, lower them back down slower than when you
brought them up until they are back down to where you started. Keep your back
straight the whole time.”

Naami saw Erica take the 15-pound dumbbells and start doing
curls.
Curls look easy.
She took the 10-pound dumbbells and started
curling them up and down just like Erica and Rebeka Lee were doing.

Rebeka Lee watched Naami and saw that her form was right
on. “Do about fifteen, or if they are real easy, you can do twenty.”

After they all finished their third set of curls, Rebeka
Lee said, “Now we are going to do military presses.”

Naami didn’t wait. “I know how to do those.” After she
curled the weights to her shoulders, she pushed them straight up until her arms
were straight and then slowly lowered them to her shoulders. After Rebeka Lee
nodded, she did fourteen more reps.

After her first set, Rebeka Lee switched to a heavier pair
of dumbbells. “Go heavier for your next two sets as long as you can do fifteen
reps.”

When they finished three sets of military presses, Rebeka
Lee walked over to one of the machines. “This machine is for dips and pull-ups.
You can set a counterweight to make it easier or harder. Erica, do your set,
and Naami can watch.”

Erica walked up three steps and moved the pin on the
counterweights to 20 pounds. She reached forward and grabbed the pair of
parallel bars that were about shoulder width apart. With her arms locked
straight, she stepped forward off the top step and put her toes on a small
t-shaped bar that was connected to the counterweights. Slowing bending her
arms, she lowered herself until she couldn't go any further, and
then pressed until she pushed back up. Rebeka Lee nodded. “Good. Now do eleven
more reps.” When Erica finished, she climbed down.

Rebeka Lee did her set of twelve reps with the
counterweight set for 10 pounds, the minimum setting. After Rebeka Lee climbed down,
Naami climbed up, grabbed the bars and looked down. “My feet don’t reach the
foot bar, but that's OK because I don't think I'll need it. I've done this on
the parallel bars at gymnastics.” She did twelve dips.

Rebeka Lee looked at Erica. “She makes it looks so easy. OK,
Erica you're up again.” They each did two more sets of twelve dips.

When Naami finished her third set, she looked up at the bars
at the top of the machine. “Are we doing pull-ups next? I can't reach the
pull-up bars.”

Rebeka Lee brought over a block of wood and placed it at
the top of the steps. “Try it with this.”

Naami climbed up, and Rebeka Lee held the block to keep it
from sliding while Naami reached up and grabbed the bars. “Should I do fifteen
like I do at home?”

“Go for it,” responded Rebeka Lee. Naami pulled herself up
and down fifteen times. Erica did fourteen pull-ups on her first set, and Rebeka
Lee did fifteen. Naami and Rebeka Lee did fifteen pull-ups on their second and
third set too. Erica could only do thirteen. None of them used any
counterweight.

Rebeka Lee walked over to the bench. “Naami, have you done
bench presses before?”

“Yes, but I use 12-kilo dumbbells.”

“Do you want to try them with a bar, or do you want to use
dumbbells?”

“I want to try a bar.”

“Watch Erica and I do our first set, and see if you still
want to try the bar.”

“OK.”

Erica and Rebeka Lee each grabbed a 45-pound plate and slid
it onto the opposite ends of the bar. Then they each added a 10-pound plate to
their end.

“How much does the bar weigh?” asked Naami.

“It weighs 45 pounds,” answered Rebeka Lee. “Now watch how
Erica does her set.”