“Hey, coach,” I murmur to him in passing.
“No homework?”
“You know the answer to that,” I tell him.
“Gloves on,” he says as he runs me through rigorous drills, learning jabs and uppercuts.
“Good,” he says after a while.
“Thank you,” I say, and he nods.
The first time I came in, he wanted to go to the police, but I told him I couldn’t do that just yet. I need to get big and strong so that I can save my girl and her little brother. I’m getting there, and hopefully, soon, we can start a new life.