His Most Scandalous Secret. Susan Crosby
nodded and headed to the front of the class. As he passed by, he grabbed her. Tessa reacted instantly and automatically. Shouting, she pretended to make two quick, debilitating moves, then she turned and ran, screaming. He huddled.
Silence filled the room. The shock on the kids’ faces faded when she stopped at the podium and looked at them. They started to chatter amongst themselves. She raised her voice to be heard.
“Mr. Ryan and I set that up ahead of time, although I didn’t know when or what he was going to do. I wanted to be as surprised as possible. He did surprise me—” she looked his way “—because I expected him to wait until later in the class. Now let’s go over what I just did.”
“She came dam close to hurting me, even pretending,” Chase said. “Her scream really caught me off guard, and her strength, as well. I thought I was the one in control, but she proved me wrong immediately. I forgot my own plans.”
Most of the kids stood to get a closer look as Tessa moved beside Chase and continued her lecture.
“You might be tempted to carry a weapon of some sort, but remember—a weapon can be taken away and used against you. So, you need to use weapons that they can’t take. Your fingers. Hands. Elbows. Your feet and knees. I’ll show you later.”
She looked up at Chase, mentally measuring his height. He stared back, his eyes almost silver in hue. “You’re what, six inches—” She stopped, realizing how he might inteipret her question. “Um—”
“Seven,” he said under his breath.
“Um, Mr. Ryan is, um, six or seven inches taller than me—” she emphasized the word taller, and ignored his eyes, sparkling with what she strongly suspected was laughter “—and outweighs me by probably fifty or sixty pounds. Yet, if I’d used full force against him, he’d be on the floor right now. And I wasn’t even mad. When you add anger and fear to your strength, there’s little you can’t do, at least one-on-one.”
“Okay, let’s recap,” Tessa said two hours later. “What’s the best way to get yourself out of trouble?”
“Practice,” someone called out.
“How?”
“In your head, every day. And with your friends. It makes you be prepared for anything.”
“Good. What’s your best weapon?”
“Havin’ you along, Miss Rose,” Luis said.
“Your hands and feet,” one of the girls said when the laughter died.
“Screaming,” said another.
“Biting.”
“All correct answers,” Tessa said. “Make a lot of noise, fight as hard as you can and just as dirty.”
“Don’t believe anything your attacker tells you, ’cause he’s lying,” the quietest girl in the class said. She hadn’t spoken during the entire two hours. “Get hurt fighting back, if you have to, instead of getting raped or—or worse.”
“Exactly. Thanks for reminding us, Sherry.”
“Don’t ever let ’em take you somewhere. Crash the car, or make them crash it somehow,” Luis added.
“Good. What’s your primary goal?”
“To get away.”
“Right. Everybody say that together, loud.”
“To get away!” they yelled.
“Nobody tries to be a hero, right?”
“Right!”
“Mr. Ryan, do you want to add anything?” Tessa asked.
Chase approached the podium. “I think that at least once a month we should practice what we’ve learned today. And I say ‘we’ because I’ve been as much a student as you today. Miss Rose, that was an excellent program. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that we all feel more prepared. Thank you very much.”
She scooted the teenagers out of the room, embarrassed at the applause, happy to have everything she’d learned in the past twenty years or so be received with such enthusiasm.
“There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” Chase indicated the man standing, posture perfect, at the back of the room, as he had been for the two hours of the program.
She judged him to be in his seventies, although his solid body could have passed for a lot younger. His buzz-cut gray hair seemed perfect for his almost military demeanor.
“Tessa, this is Wilson Buckley, the man the Center is named for. Sarge, meet Tessa Rose.”
They shook hands. His was a firm handshake, not bone-crushing. Straightforward. Undoubtedly just like the man.
“I don’t think I’ve been witness to a better program,” Sarge said directly. “You oughta take your show on the road. Run this at all the middle schools and high schools in the city.”
“We had a hard enough time getting some of the parents here to sign permission slips,” Chase said. “I had to call a lot of them personally. They live in denial of the dangers their children face today that they didn’t.”
“With any luck,” Tessa said, “the kids will share their knowledge with their siblings and friends, maybe even their parents. Mr. Buckley, I’m really happy to meet you. Chase speaks so highly of you.”
“Call me Sarge.”
Chase excused himself to go change for dinner, leaving the two alone. They sat at a nearby table.
“How do you like working here?” Sarge asked.
“It’s the best job I’ve had, the best people I’ve worked with. You must be proud.”
“To have the Center named after me? Embarrassing, to tell you the truth. Seems like a person should be dead before they name something after ’em.”
Tessa smiled. “I think it’s nice to be recognized while you can enjoy the notoriety.”
“I couldn’t talk Chase out of it.” He rested his arms on the table and clasped his hands. “He’s single-minded about most things.”
“I’ve kind of noticed that about him. He works too hard, too.”
“You thinkin’ about changin’ that, Miss Tessa Rose?”
The way he said her name made her pause. “You don’t approve?”
He waited a few beats before he answered. “How is your family?”
Her heart rate escalated. “My family?”
“Yeah, family. Father, mother, brother...”
“You know them?”
“Used to know pretty much everybody hereabouts. Lost track of some.”
“I see.”
He leaned toward her. “I don’t know what your motives are, but I’m tellin’ you, don’t you hurt that boy.”
Tessa swallowed. “It’s the last thing I want.”
“I can see you’re a decent person, Tessa Rose, and I don’t think you’d want to hurt him. But you could and likely will. Whatever he did, he’s paid for it. Long ago.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“I just wanted to meet him. Then when I met him, I wanted to know him. The more I know him, the more I like him.” She leaned forward. “Are you going to tell him?”
Sarge pushed himself upright and stared hard at her. “That should come from you. But have a care, Miss Tessa Rose. Some people who seem