Life.
Instead:
“Because after Dad died, I turned training into punishment.”
Mia looked toward her.
Naomi kept watching the road.
“I thought if I stopped moving, everything would catch me.”
Mia became quiet.
Naomi continued:
“So I competed.”
“Trained.”
Lifted.”
“Whatever.”
“I told myself discipline was helping.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Then I hurt my shoulder.”
“And for the first time I couldn’t escape into practice.”
She paused.
“I realized I didn’t know whether I still loved any of it.”
Mia stared out the window.
“Do you now?”
Naomi thought.
“Some parts.”
“Was tonight one?”
“No.”
That answer surprised both of them.
Mia asked:
“Why?”
“Because I knew what Ryan wanted.”
“What?”
“To use me.”
“For what?”
“To look good.”
Naomi changed lanes.
“And I said yes anyway.”
Mia frowned.
“But you beat him.”
Naomi looked over.
“Do you hear yourself?”
Mia stopped.
Naomi continued:
“That’s exactly the trap.”
“If I only feel okay about being pressured because I ended up getting the better position…”
“…then I’m saying the pressure would have been acceptable if I lost.”
Mia became quiet.
“Right.”
“The problem started before the round.”
Naomi said.
“Not after.”
That was the first lesson.
By midnight, the video had been posted.
Naomi knew because Mia sent it from the bedroom twenty feet away.
WATCH THIS.
Naomi replied:
NO.
Mia:
IT HAS 9K VIEWS.
Naomi:
I AM TRYING TO SLEEP.
Mia:
COMMENTS THINK YOU’RE FBI.
Naomi sat up.
WHAT?
Mia sent a screenshot.
The girl moves like she’s federal.
Naomi stared.
Then laughed hard enough to wake their mother.
Denise opened the bedroom door.
“What is happening?”
“Mia says I’m FBI.”
Denise stared.
“I have two jobs and neither pays enough for this family.”
Then she left.
By morning, the clip had forty thousand views.
Caption:
BLACK BELT TELLS QUIET GIRL “TRY TO KEEP UP” — REGRETS IT IMMEDIATELY
Naomi hated “girl.”
She was twenty-four.
Then she read three comments and hated everything else more.
She must be special forces.
Probably trained by Navy SEALs.
That guy’s fake black belt.
Wrong.
Ryan was legitimate.
Wrestling destroys BJJ every time.
Wrong.
Size doesn’t matter when technique is real.
Dangerously wrong.
Size mattered.
A lot.
The clip was eleven seconds.
Naomi had caught one mistake under one narrow rule set.
That was all.
She closed the app.
Elena called at nine.
“I’m sorry.”
Naomi sighed.
“Not your fault somebody posted.”
“No.”
Elena said.
“Different thing.”
Naomi waited.
“I should’ve ended it after your first no.”
“Yes.”
No comforting.
No easy absolution.
Elena continued:
“I knew Ryan was performing.”
“Yes.”
“I thought controlled demonstration made it harmless.”
Naomi looked out the kitchen window.
“And?”
“And I was wrong.”
Good.
Then Elena said:
“I spoke to him.”
“How did that go?”
“Poorly.”
Naomi almost smiled.
“What does he think happened?”
“He thinks you sandbagged him.”