Page 33 of Absolution

“You must be Gina. I’ve heard a lot about you. My question though is what’s a lovely lady like you doing with an ugly bastard like Leo?”

Gina snorted beside me.

“Watch it, old man,” I laughed.

“A pleasure to meet you.”

“You as well, sir.” She shook his offered hand.

“Ah, shit, not you too?”

She threw a confused glance between us.

“Paddy here thinks just because he’s not in the Army anymore we’ve all given up on calling him sir. Little does he know we do it just to annoy the hell out of him.”

“You do at that, kid.” His eyes turned to Gina. “Just call me Paddy, young lady.”

“I can do that.” She smiled at him, and I was glad to see her so relaxed.

“Now, what are you two doing here? I thought you needed to take some time off?”

“I did, but I wanted to show Gina here where I worked out. Plus, tonight’s Wednesday. I wanted stop in and check on the kids. Lord knows how much trouble they’ve gotten into since I’ve been gone.”

“Son, those kids are enough to drive a man to drink. I have no idea how you handle them.”

I slapped him on the shoulder. “I think it’s more that they handle me.”

“I guess I better get back to my workout. It was a pleasure to meet you, Gina.”

“You as well, Paddy.”

He gave a short salute before heading over to the spot he’d abandoned earlier.

Gina turned to me. “So, you’re a boxing instructor?”

“I wouldn’t necessarily say instructor with these kids. I think I’m more a coach or mentor maybe. It’s mostly about getting them off the street and doing something productive.”

“That’s really great.”

“Well, a lot of them don’t have fathers in the picture. We’re trying to provide a positive male influence. Be here if they have questions or just need someone to talk to.”

“I think it’s wonderful what you’re doing here.”

“Thanks. I wish I’d had something like this when I was a kid. Who knows if it would have helped, but maybe things would have been different for me. Anyway, how about I introduce you to the boys.”

“I’d like that.”

I led her from the main workout floor to a large classroom in the back. A chorus of “Lion” echoed throughout the room when we entered. Gina raised an eyebrow at the greeting.

I shrugged unashamedly. “What can I say? We all have our street names. It adds to our credibility.”

She shook her head good-naturedly. For the next twenty minutes I introduced her to my students who peppered her with questions. She flushed when one asked if she was my girlfriend. Taking pity on her, I took over after that and changed the subject. Finally, the boys had to get back to their class. We waved goodbye to the kids and made our way to the front door and outside.

“Thank you for bringing me here.”

“You’re welcome. We’ll come back Friday evening and start practicing a few self-defense moves. I’m sure some of the boys would love to help us. It’s a good way for them to practice their skills.”

“I’d like that a lot.”

---