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he handed everyone a wood spoon. “These are for practice. Everyone is going to have to learn how fight hand to hand. Right now, pretend those spoons are knives. I don’t claim to know everything there is, but I will teach you what I do know.”
    The furniture was moved from the center of the room to give them more space. Mark used Lisa to help him demonstrate some of the moves he knew. Jeff picked them up quickly as some of them came back to him; then he helped Amy and Dedee with a few of the moves they were having trouble with. Jet and Todd seemed to pick them up pretty quick. About an hour and a half into it, Dedee and Jet were getting tired and started to pretend sword fight with the spoons and giggle.
    The stress of the last couple of days was starting to build up inside Mark and he snapped at them. In a gruff voice, he said, “Just stop it! This isn’t a game! The danger out there is very real and this just might be what saves your life!”
    The room got quiet as all eyes turned to him. Mark’s face was flush and his eyes were full of anger. Dedee and Jet had the look of utter shock on their faces and they took a couple of steps back. Both could feel a lump growing in their throats as they swallowed. Jeff pulled Mark to the side and said, “Hey, c’mon, bro. They didn’t mean anything buy it. Cut ‘em a break.”
    Lisa went over to Mark and asked, “Why don’t we take a break and go into the kitchen?” Then she turned to Dedee and Jet. “Break time, guys.”
    She followed Mark into the kitchen where he sat down at the table. He rubbed the back of his neck as he took a long, deep breath and let it out. He realized he shouldn’t have jumped on them in the way he did, and he felt bad for doing it.
    Lisa sat down next to him. “Don’t you think you were a little hard on them in there?” She said as she tried to look at him, but he turned his eyes away. “Mark?”
    He looked over. “I just don’t want to see them get hurt like so many other people I know have.”
    “I understand that,” she said sympathetically. “We’ve all lost friends and family. But you need to remember these are teenage girls—they’re not soldiers. I agree we need to know this, but maybe we could just try shorter sessions.”
    He looked into the living room and nodded. “Okay, we’ll do that. Maybe a couple of shorter sessions each day for say, thirty minutes each?”
    “Yes, just focus on one technique each session instead of everything at once. I bet they’ll pick up on it faster too. You have to remember we’ve been in that apartment for a while and had to improvise with what we had available like broom sticks and bats.”
    Mark cut in, “Toilet plungers.” And he looked over with a smirk.
    “Yes and toilet plungers. I don’t think you’re gonna let me live that one down.” And she smiled.
    “In time I will. Okay, we’ll have a short session tomorrow and cover only one move.”
    Mark sat in the kitchen alone and tried to relax. He tried to think of happier times, but somehow those thoughts always circled around to what was happening now and was more of a reminder of what had been lost. He got up and went into the living room. Dedee and Jet were sitting on the couch and when they saw him, they grew quiet. They lowered their heads and looked like scolded pups.
    He went over to them and said, “I want to apologize for earlier. I shouldn’t have jumped on you like I did.”
    They both looked up and Jet spoke, “We’re sorry too.”
    Dedee added, “Yeah, we know you were doing it to help us.”
    Mark thought for a minute before he asked, “Weren’t you two on a pep squad together in school?”
    Dedee sat up proudly and said, “I was.”
    “Can you two do me a favor?”
    They both nodded and said, “Sure.”
    “Since we have some down time here, I need you to figure out some exercises we can do to keep us from getting stiff and lazy. Then you can show them to us. Think you can do that?”
    Dedee smiled and