King of Storms: Part 1
Vaughn and I stood in the parking lot of the Grand Lake Martial Arts Academy, taking in some of the first decent weather of the year.
We'd had heavy snow during the last two weeks of February, but the first week of March had seen the (re)melting of all the snow and temperatures in the fifties. This wasn't especially warm, but after three months of near zero, it felt like a heat wave.
Combined with the ever increasing daylight hours, it made standing out amid the mud, dirt and cars while waiting for everyone else seem like a good idea.
"So get this," Vaughn said, "I got an email from someone called 'King of Storms' a couple days ago. It said that my codename 'Storm King' was too similar to his and that I should change it because he had 'the prior claim'. You ever heard of this guy?"
"Maybe. Is this the guy in Pittsburgh?"
Vaughn shrugged. "Like I should know, it was an email."
"Are you going to change it?"
"No. What's he going to do about it? Come up here and kick my ass?"
"Actually, if he's the guy I'm thinking of," I began.
The door opened behind us. Haley came out, followed by Cassie, Jaclyn, Marcus, Travis and surprisingly, Lee.
Lee had his keys out and a duffel bag full of gear.
"Don't you usually teach after this?" I asked him as he walked past me toward his car, a red Dodge Viper.
"I do. Still am, but I'm heading to Ann Arbor tonight."
"Why?"
"Your sister. Rachel's there, not here."
"I didn't know she was taking lessons from you."
"She wasn't, but she always had the option. Last month she used it."
He walked over to the car and opened the door.
"Later," he said. His car spat gravel across the parking lot.