Proximity Solutions

She growled and plunged her thumb into his eye socket. He jerked away and covered his eye. She lifted her knee and jammed her shoe in his face and his head thudded against the window. He went limp. Her attention changed to the man in the front seat. He gaped at his companion.  

“I want you to stay right where you are,” he said. “Don’t move.”

She paused, unlocked the car door, and stepped onto the dirt. The man got out of the front seat and crept towards her. Panic weighed heavy as her chest heaved beneath her torn blouse. She scanned her surroundings. Rows of junked cars and stacks of tires. No other people.

The man continued pursuit. He paced her in circles around and around. Lunged. Taunted. The other man was still in the back seat leaning against the window. Not moving. 

Her thoughts were to run. To get the away. But how? What if he caught her? Flashes of what she wanted came into her mind. She pictured her apartment, her room, her home. And, her training flashed in her mind.

“What is the problem here Stacy?” In a room with padded floors and mirrored walls, her instructor stood away from her in an attacking stance while holding a rubber knife. 

“I have a proximity problem,” Stacy said. 

“Correct. You see all this space between us? This is a problem. It’s a problem for me because I can’t stab you. And it’s a problem for you because you can’t stop me from hurting you. And how do you solve this problem Stacy?” 

“Attack.”

The dirt formed a cloud around the car that stifled Stacy. She backed away from the car to an open space. The man smiled and followed her. And she put all of her into a kick that she buried in his groin. He wailed and buckled over. She made a claw shape with her hand and slashed his face tearing what ever got in the way. Her nails raked his eyes and nose. This turned him, exposing his leg and she stomped the side of his knee. Moaning was the only sounds that followed the POP of his lower leg. The man was now sobbing in the fetal position. Satisfied, Stacy checked on the man in the back seat. Still no movement. She opened the door and he flopped on the ground. 

Stacy now stood over the two men. One weeping. One motionless. 

She got in the car and drove.