“Like I said when I first met each and every one of you,” Dr. Mayes paused, letting her words sink in. “You are here for a purpose. I’m here to listen, give advice, and show you that you can overcome what you have been through. I’m here to vent to and get your frustrations out to. And I hope that if I do my job correctly, you will each stand on solid ground and know that you can survive.”
Afew days later, I found myself standing wide-eyed in a gym. The lights were bright overhead, the floor covered in padded mats. Weights were off to the left, along with a treadmill and some other equipment I couldn’t name. To the right, a boxing bag hung from the ceiling. The air smelled faintly of sweat and body odor and cleaning supplies.
For once, I knew exactly what I was doing here. I was here with a purpose, and I’d push through whatever I needed to do to become stronger, at least in some sort of way.
Sawyer stood beside me, along with Zevon. I was sure he was here to make sure I truly was okay with learning something new. He was more worried about me freaking out, but I knew he meant well.
“I can’t believe I followed along with this,” Sawyer muttered to herself. “I so hate working out.”
“Because you’re like me,” I said. “And probably because you know I wouldn’t go through with this if you didn’t tag along.”
“Oh, right,” Sawyer huffed with an eye roll. “Darn best friends.” Then, happier and with a smile, she said, “For once you dragged me out to do something that we both agree needs to be done.”
“Good morning, ladies,” Sean said, entering into the main gym from one of the back offices. “And sir.”
“Zevon. No sir stuff, man.”
“Got it.” The two shook hands.
“I’m only here to make sure my girl has no issues.”
“Yes, before we start anything, I have to know what triggers any panic attacks. I can’t help you learn how to defend yourself if I do something wrong. You have to be completely open with me, Scarlett, or this won’t work. If anything, all it will do is make it worse.” Sean looked at me. He was a good few inches taller than me with darker skin, and he held himself upright. But his posture was not threatening in the least. Well, at least at that moment. I was sure it was going to come, and I was prepared to fight off the panic that would follow.
“Uh…” Did I even know my own triggers?
“All right, I guess we’ll be taking this slow, then,” Sean said patiently. “I’ve worked with survivors of domestic abuse, so I can warn you of any possible triggers when we move along to learn certain things. I will warn you, triggerswillhappen. And I’ll do my best to help you and talk you down when needed. Even with warning you, I expect you to fall into a flashback or even a panic attack. It’s expected and normal. So don’t beat yourself up about it when it happens.”
“Kay,” I swallowed. My words were stuck in my throat now that I knew panic was going to hit. And with my luck, it’d hit hard.
“You got this, pretty girl,” Zevon said, slipping his hand into my own. “When you feel panic coming on, just say so. It’s time you start to learn to push back.”
“Right. I can do this,” I said, taking a deep breath and squeezing his hand tightly.
“You should be a counselor,” Sawyer said, slipping her hair into a high ponytail.
“In a way, I am,” Sean said. “I took some counselor classes to help better my teaching. I have to understand someone’s mind to be able to explain how to fight back, so really, to me, they go hand in hand. So, let’s get started, shall we?”
“I’ll go first, so she can see what to expect,” Sawyer said. “Let’s do this!”
We followed Sean over to the mats. Zevon hung back a little, folding his arms across his chest. He gave me an encouraging smile before I turned to face the man who would be making me panic.
Maybe I should take Dr. Mayes up on getting something for that.
“Okay, first, one must know where a weak spot in one’s body is. There are a few,” Sean began, his voice a bit more commanding. He held up his fingers. “The eyes, nose, chin, groin, and knees. They’re the most sensitive when getting hit and give you a few extra seconds to get away when you need to. When you are in a confrontation, there are only a few seconds to act—and act quickly. Inflicting injury of any kind is best to get away the fastest, but it also all depends on how the attacker attacks. We’ll start off with one of the most common ways a woman is attacked.” He grabbed Sawyer’s arm, right above the elbow.
“Now, if I hold you tight enough, you can’t pull your arm out of my grip. Try to pull.”
Sawyer did and couldn’t escape.
“So, then, you take your other arm, and use the palm of your hand to push against my nose, pushing it up, and it will cause me to let go of your arm. If that doesn’t work, then use your knee, and use as much force as possible into my groin. Now don’t worry, I have that part protected so you can’t hurt me. Try both.”
Sawyer did as she was told, a look of concentration on her face. Sean moved his head back so she missed her first target, but her second one was right on point.
“Good, just do it harder. You want to cause your attacker as much pain as possible to give you those few seconds to run. Now, Scarlett, your turn.”
I gulped.
Switching places with Sawyer, I took in a deep breath.
