CHALLENGE ELEVEN:
From Pantxi: We know anything
about Starsky and Hutch's life since Dobey had them out of Police Academy. But
what about before? We know mor or less they met at uni, but let's imagine how
they met?
First I'm taking some liberties: In my version of
S&H Hutch is the older one by 5 years. This is inspired by the fact that
everyone I know (fans and non fans) always thought David Soul and thus Hutch
was older than Paul Michael Glaser/Starsky and were most often surprised to
find PMG was the older one (if only by 5 months). Also I think that if Hutch
had first gone to college, had been married once already and had done some soul
searching before deciding to become a cop he would simply have to be a bit
older than Starsky who, as far as I'm aware, didn't go to college and ended up
at the academy the same year as Hutch. I'm not sure about Starsky's army past,
so I'm taking the liberty to keep that out or at least in the background also.
So there's the reasoning behind my story's age difference between the 2. I have
no idea at what age one can actually start at the police academy so the other
liberty I take is that when the story begins Hutch is 25 so Starsky, according
to my time table, has to be 20.
The bumpy
road to "Me and Thee"
By:
Jacqueline
Kenneth William Hutchinson took a final look at himself in the dress
mirror in his bedroom. His blond hair, which was fine and slightly showing the
first signs of thinning at the top, was combed to perfection. The icing on the
cake, for the rest of his 6'1" lean frame was meticulously dressed in gray
dress pants, a black turtleneck and a black sports jacket. He looked like a
page in a fashion magazine. He did have to hurry though, this being the first
day at the L.A. Police Academy, he
didn't want to give a bad impression. He would have been on time easily if it
hadn't been for the phone call he got from his attorney who was handling his
divorce. Even though he was only 25, Kenneth Hutchinson already had 1 broken
marriage almost behind him. 15 months he and Vanessa had been together. Looking
back, he wondered what the hell had possessed them to get married so young.
Sure his folks had been about the same age when they were married, but those
were different times. And now Vanessa, whom he'd once considered the love of his
life, was being such a pain in this divorce. Why she was putting up all these
roadblocks was beyond him: aside from a trust fund from his grandparents he
hadn't had much of an income yet. You can't pluck a bald chicken. He shook his
head at his own thoughts, took out his grandfathers pocket watch and realized
he'd better hurry up. Quickly walking thru' his living room, his eyes surveyed
all its contents. Yes, he'd turned off the gas; yes he'd watered all his
plants. Outside he locked his front door, got into his car, once a graduation
gift from his father, and was on his way.
On the other side of town about an hour earlier, David Michael Starsky
was already busy. He'd been in the process of moving out of the room over his
aunt and uncle's garage where he'd been living for 3 years for about a week
now, finally having found a cheap studio apartment 2 blocks away, which he
could afford off the money he made helping around in his uncle's garage. This
was his 3rd move in 7 years. First at the age of 13 from his New York home to
his aunt and uncle's here in Bay City, then at age 17 to the room over his
uncle's garage business and now finally totally on his own. So every day of
this past week had been spent moving stuff, throwing stuff away, painting,
going to garage sales to look for some cheap furniture and thus making long
days. He was so caught up in what he was doing that his aunt Rosie had to
remind him "Dave, you don't wanna be late your first day! You can take the
blue Ford today, your uncle is fine with that". He'd shoved the three
quart donut he had left into his mouth at once, stuck the care package his aunt
had put together containing more donuts, some chocolate bars, a slice of cold
meatloaf plus a can of coke under his right arm, picked up his books, swallowed
a last gulp of coffee, kissed his aunt goodbye and run down the stairs while
putting on his battered leather jacket over his blue t-shirt and faded jeans
and had sprinted across the street on his blue Adidas toward the blue Ford his
uncle Al had given him from the garage as a loan until he could afford his own
car.
Miss Thelma, an elderly black neighbor who was the street's grandma,
waved at him as he got to the car and unlocked it. "You do good ye hear
Davey, grandma says so" she called out to him. She'd just loved her
neighbor's nephew ever since he'd come to live with them seven years ago. Over
that period she'd watched him grow from a cute but difficult, skinny, teen with
thick chocolate brown curly hair, into a very handsome, friendly and helpful
young man who'd filled out and had matured into a very impressive physical
stature at almost 6'0", which he often put to work for her without her
asking, whenever some real physical chores needed to be done around her little
apartment in return for some of her delicious soul food. And what an appetite
the boy had! He was going to make a
fine policeman she thought to herself, smiling, as she watched him drive off,
half a donut sticking out of his mouth.
The reception hall of the Police Academy building was buzzing with all
the noises and voices of the new recruits. Police officers were there to hand
out schedules and maps to navigate the building. At 9.00 am sharp all the new
meat had to assemble in the auditorium to get their introduction speech before
they were to have their introduction class.
Kenneth Hutchinson was standing somewhat isolated between all this
chaos. He seemed oddly out of place: slightly older than the other freshmen and
certainly the best dressed. 2 older officers passed him with quite a puzzled
look on their faces and obviously talking about him in the process.
Kenneth decided to see what it said on the bulletin board that others
had already discovered. He already had received his map around the building and
his class schedule. The bulletin board was not far from the entrance. As he was
walking over to the bulletin board he was nearly side swiped by someone who
burst thru' the entrance. He dropped his schedule and map and as he looked at
them before picking them up he noticed they had brownish wet stains on them.
Irritated he said "For crying out loud! Look what you did!" after
which he turned to see who had been responsible for this mess.
His sky blue eyes met eyes the most unknown color blue he'd ever seen,
in a face of what he thought was still a teenager. Good God, what was the age minimum to become a cop? was what
immediately came to mind. At once his kind and responsible character took over
as he saw the embarrassed shock in the kid's face. He decided that he, as the
obvious older one here, should be giving the right example so he softened his
voice when he said "I'm sorry, you just caught me by surprise there"
followed by a nodd of his head. The youth sat squatting beside him as they both
began to pick up the papers and said in a distinctive East-Coast dialect
"Geez man, I didn't see ya, sorry".
Kenneth picked up his schedule which was now covered in brownish coke
stains. "Well, I'm in section B, but that's all I can make out now. I
guess I'll have to get me a new one" he smiled at the youth and started to
turn to find one of the officers that handed out the schedules. After 4 steps
he heard the youth's voice exclaim "Hey mister, hey, hey you. Did ya say
section B? Huh? I'm in section B, I can tell where we're supposed to go".
People around them were looking at the pair of them since the youth's
voice had been louder than the rest of the crowd. Blushing slightly and smiling
at the others who just now seemed to be noticing this fashion model like man in
their midst, Kenneth turned back to the youth who by now was waving his left
arm holding the schedule. Under his right arm he was holding a brown bag and
his books and his mouth was in the process of devouring what looked like a
chocolate donut. As he walked toward him, it dawned on Kenneth that there were
probably no 2 other people in the reception hall whose looks and appearances
were so totally each other's opposite.
"Well, what a coincidence" Kenneth told the youth. He inhaled,
a little ill at ease, slightly turning around to check if the crowd was still
watching the 2 of them and started "Now that we know we're in the same
section we might as well introduce ourselves. I'm….."
A loud buzz rang thru' the reception hall and a voice over the speaker
told everyone to go to the auditorium. The crowd started moving and before he
was aware of it, Kenneth had lost track of the youth. Dammit, he thought to
himself. Now the kid's gone and I've got
no way of getting another schedule. He sighed and shook his head wearily.
Why was it again, that he'd decided he wanted to be a police officer?
The speech was quite long, close to an hour. It told of responsibility,
honor, duty, and loyalty. It told of the need for more blue on the streets. It told
of what it meant being a police officer: tact and insight first, weapon last.
No place for trigger happy gun lovers, then you were at the wrong place.
Diplomacy before discussion. Etcetera, etcetera.
During the speech Hutch scowled the crowd, attempting to find the
chocolate brown curly head. After about 20 minutes he spotted the by now
familiar youth. Granted, the speech was not exactly exciting, but the youth had
an almost dimwitted expression on his face as he sat thru' it. Kenneth found
himself thinking "I wonder if he
comprehends what is being said" just when the speech told of
prejudices and pre conceived ideas. To his private embarrassment Kenneth turned
his slightly blushing face away from the direction of the youth for a while.
"Geez, that was good Hutchinson.
Prejudice number 1: don't judge a book by its cover. The fact that the kid
doesn't have an exactly intelligent expression on his face right now doesn't
automatically make him stupid. Tone it down Hutchinson. You're just as much a
rookie here as the kid is". He looked back at the youth again, his own
facial expression changing into something not as intelligent looking now as he
watched the youth unwrapping a candybar and in his first bite practically
chewing half of it off. "It's not
even 10 yet! The kid's a bloody trashcan" Kenneth thought to himself,
remembering his own breakfast this morning had consisted of a large glass of
water, a grapefruit and a protein shake.
As soon as the speech was over, Kenneth hurried over to the youth.
"Hi, remember me? We're both in section B and you've got the map" he
told the kid. Still chewing the youth replied "Oh yeah, ok, let's see: if
this is the auditorium then we must be here". He pointed on the map.
"So now it's almost ten and we should be uhm, in 233 by then, which is
uhm…." Kenneth looked on nervously as people were leaving the auditorium
in droves while this kid didn't seem in any kind of a hurry studying the map.
"You know" he told the kid, "Since you have your hands full, why
don't you let me read the map, while we walk". Those unique blue eyes
looked up at him "Kay, let's go". They were almost the last ones to
leave the auditorium so they were also the last ones to arrive in 233. There
were only 2 seats next to eachother left, so Kenneth realized he was obliged to
be near this kid all day. Somehow he'd hoped he could get rid of him as soon as
he'd found the classroom but no such luck. He'd only seen the kid for little
over an hour now and almost all of that time the kid had been chewing something
or other. Still there didn't seem to be an ounce of fat on the athletic looking
youth's body. "The fortune of youth"
Kenneth gritted in his thoughts. Even though he himself was only 25, he was
already experiencing that his metabolism was changing. That had been one of the
reasons he'd changed his already healthy eating habits to an almost Spartan
regimen which included fasts from time to time. He glanced at the kid in the
seat next to him. "Gee, his jaws
aren't moving. He must've finished off the contents of that brown bag"
They got pads from the instructor and pencils so they could take notes.
After five minutes of bumping into eachother Kenneth and the kid switched
places "On top of everything he's a
lefty" Kenneth inwardly sighed. The morning was too long for Kenneth
Hutchinson as he found himself shaking his head and sighing several times when
the youth next to him would again raise a hand and ask exactly what had just
been explained by the instructor. The instructor took it all much lighter than
Kenneth who found himself feeling somewhat embarrassed by it all.
At noon a loud buzz made an end to the first session before lunch.
"Thank God" Kenneth whispered under his breath as he swiftly
left the classroom.
David Michael Starsky had been in such a hurry running from the parking
lot to the Academy Building that he almost seemed like a marathon runner taking
a refreshment when he received the map and schedule out of the outstretched
hand of an officer in front of the building.
As he was juggling his lunch packet (almost half gone now at 8.50 am),
his books, his opened can of coke and these new papers he was looking down
instead of up as he entered the Building, immediately bumping into something or
someone. He came to an immediate halt and looked around him to find a tall
blond man muttering and throwing his hands into the air while bending down.
David, or Dave as he was called, looked at the stained papers on the floor and
with an embarrassed expression his eyes found the light blue eyes of the tall blond
man squatting on the floor. "Geez,
bumping in on a guy from uptown, real smart Dave. With my luck he's probably
some lawyer type. Now I'm gonna get sued the first 5 minutes I'm in the
building!"
"I'm sorry, you just caught me by surprise there" the man
said, looking more friendly now than half a minute before. Dave hunched next to
the neatly dressed man in an attempt to salvage what could be salvaged. Alas
the coke that had spilled from his can had messed up the man's papers a lot.
"Geez man, I didn't see ya, sorry" he muttered feeling embarrassed as
soon as the words had left his mouth. "I
should've said Sir and I shouldn't have said Geez". As they both got
up again the man looked at the wet papers and said "Well, I'm in section
B, but that's all I can make out now. I guess I'll have to get me a new
one". He smiled at Dave, turned and started to walk away. Dave finished
the last gulp of coke, put the last half chocolate donut in his mouth and
noticed with a quick glance at his own schedule that he was in the same section
as the blond man. As Dave was feeling guilty about the incident he felt obliged
to help the guy out. "Hey mister, hey, hey you. Did ya say section B? Huh?
I'm in section B, I can tell where we're supposed to go" he called out
with his mouth full of donut and as he did he noticed several heads turning in
his direction, causing him to develop a distinctive blush. He smiled sheepishly
at the turned heads and saw the blond man approaching again.
"Well, what a coincidence". "That guy would rather not be seen with me, well too bad, if he wants to
get to his section he just gotta stick with me" Dave had always been a
keen observer and the blond man's body language betrayed his inner feelings.
Nevertheless the blond man was trying to make conversation "Now that we
know we're in the same section we might as well introduce ourselves.
I'm….." A loud buzz rang thru' the reception hall and a voice over the
speaker told everyone to go to the auditorium. The crowd started moving and
Dave joined them. Before he was aware of it, the blond man disappeared in the
crowd. "Oh well, someone else will
show him the way. I can't believe that guy is gonna try out to be a cop."
The speech was quite long, close to an hour. After about 15 minutes Dave
felt like the guy on the podium had swallowed a dictionary. What the hell is this guy rambling on about?
Did Dad listen to the same stuff all those years ago? I don't think he would've
had the patience. I sure don't have the patience. …."Responsibility,
honor, duty, loyalty….. the need for more blue on the streets…..the meaning of
being a police officer: tact and insight first, weapon last. …..Diplomacy
before discussion…..". Bits and pieces of the speech entered Dave's brain.
Now the guy on the podium was giving a lecture on the law and the restrictions
that came along with it. Dad would've
told the guy to talk the average Joe talk or else folks would start falling
asleep. You needed to keep peoples attention Dave thought as he felt a yawn
coming on. Boy was he tired after finishing the painting in his new apartment.
That smell of paint couldn't have been good either. Dave was beginning to feel
a bit sleepy and it presented itself on his face in a rather numb and deadpan
expression. He shook his head and looked inside the brown bag. His stomach was
growling something awful. MMMM, I think
I'll have me on of them candybars. As quietly as possible he opened the
wrapper and bit of a big piece off the candybar.
As soon as the speech was over, Dave was approached by the blond man
from before again. "Hi, remember me? We're both in section B and you've
got the map" the man said. Still chewing Dave replied "Oh yeah, ok,
let's see: if this is the auditorium then we must be here". He pointed on
the map. "So now it's almost ten and we should be uhm, in 233 by then,
which is uhm…." The blond man seemed to be in a real hurry because he
interrupted Dave "You know, since you have your hands full, why don't you
let me read the map, while we walk". Dave looked up at the blond man
thinking he sure was uptight and said "Kay, let's go". They were
almost the last ones to leave the auditorium so they were also the last ones to
arrive in 233. There were only 2 seats next to eachother left, so Dave realized
he was going to be stuck to this hoity toighty guy all day. Somehow he'd hoped
he could get rid of him as soon as he'd brought him to the classroom but no
such luck. The guy looked at him as if he smelled something bad and he didn't
like the way the blond guy looked at his brown paper bag either. Or maybe he looks that way cos he smells the
meatloaf? Did aunt Rosie put in too much garlic again?? He'd only seen the
blond man sporadically this past hour but Dave thought he acted way too uptight
for his age. He can't be that old
if he's here to learn to be a cop!
Dave caught the man looking at him again with that odd expression on his
face. Hmmm, he is kinda neatly dressed
and he keeps eyeing me all the time. If it ain't aunt Rosie's meatloaf and it
ain't me, cos I changed my clothes this morning, then why does he keep ogling
me. He wouldn't be, ye know, be going "the other way", coming on to
me, would he? In turn Dave looked suspiciously at the blond man, who
quickly looked away, still with the expression on his face as if he smelled
something bad.
They got pads from the instructor and pencils so they could take notes.
After five minutes of bumping into eachother Dave grunted and suggested they'd
switch places. The morning was too long for David Michael Starsky as he heard
his stomach growling, demanding yet more food. He watched the blond man next to
him shaking his head and sighing like he'd been doing each time Dave had raised
his hand to verify if he'd understood exactly what had just been explained by
the instructor. The instructor took it all much lighter than that uptight blond
guy who acted kinda snobbish and embarrassed by it all.
At noon a loud buzz made an end to the first session before lunch.
"Thank God" Dave
thought as he watched the blond man quickly leave the classroom. Good riddance. Now, where's the cafeteria
Dave mused as he studied the map to the building.
3 MONTHS
LATER
The recruits were seated on their knees beside the mats on the floor of
the gym. On the mats the self-defense instructors were demonstrating yet again some
new techniques which would help the rookies to control any violent suspects
during an arrest. As soon as they were through showing the techniques they
pointed at some rookies to try them out.
Kenneth and Dave sat next to each other. Having to sit next to each
other for 3 months had actually been good. They had been almost forced to get
to know each other. Kenneth Hutchinson had found to his surprise that the kid,
Dave or Starsky/Starsk as he soon began calling him, wasn't a teen anymore but
getting close to celebrating his 21st birthday.
He sure looks like a kid he remembered thinking when he
learned his actual age.
He found out that the kid would either be extremely talkative, to a
point where you could almost not shut him up or that he would be practically
mute. He found out that Starsky's mood could also change from one extreme to
another within the blink of an eye. And when Starsky was mad, well, you'd
better hope he wasn't mad at you. He'd practically explode. But when he was in
a good mood, he was the sweetest person you could have known. Starsky had this
weird sense of humor that had taken Kenneth all these 3 months to get used to,
and he still wasn't sure he was on to it now. But granted: it had given them
some hilarious moments together already. Starsky's emotions could always be
easily read on his youthful face. Those incredible blue eyes were really the
mirror to Starsky's soul.
Kenneth had also found out that the at times childlike behavior and
reactions of Starsky to things were most probably caused by the fact that he'd
lost his father at a pretty young age. He'd told Kenneth in as minimal a number
of words as he could, that he'd been well on his way to becoming a little hood
when his mother decided it might be best to ship her 13 year old off to her
sister and her husband in Bay City, to a much quieter and nicer neighborhood
than their own in New York, but way across on the other side of the United
States. It had been a sacrifice for his mother, but a good one, because David
was saved and had begun to turn his life around during his teens. He had
learned more about his father and his work and by the time he was 16 he knew
that's what he was gonna do in life as well: be a cop just like his deceased
dad.
Now, as Starsky was being teamed up to colossal Jeremy Hendricks (a
6'5", 200 pound 22 year old rookie) to do the self defense technique,
Kenneth watched him quite differently than he had that first day. Granted,
Starsky had not been to college, but he certainly wasn't stupid. He'd had his
education on the streets and had more than once already had to explain certain
practices to Kenneth of which the latter had been totally unaware. One might
call Starsky a bit naive from time to time. Kenneth wasn't sure yet whether
that was caused by his age, or the tragedy in his young life or something else.
Kenneth watched as Starsky with his lean but muscular frame of just
under 6'0" downed the gigantic Jeremy within a blink of an eye and sat on
top of him with an expression on his face that made him look about 4 years old.
Kenneth giggled as he joined the rest of the rookies in applauding Dave's
actions. The kid might not be the biggest
around here, but I'm sure he probably IS the strongest Kenneth thought to
himself remembering he'd seen Starsky haul around equipment in his uncle's
garage when they were down there 2 weeks ago which he wasn't even able to lift
from the ground when he'd offered to help. He sure was a compact powerhouse and
most of the time seemed totally unaware of his strength.
He certainly is totally unaware of
his physical beauty Kenneth Hutchinson, or Hutch as Starsky had soon dubbed him, was
thinking to himself. Just before all the new rookies had had their hair cut to
a minimal length, sideburns removed etc. etc. Starsky's hair had been a very
attractive, full head of chocolate brown natural curls which probably was one
of the main reasons Starsky gave a much younger impression to those who first
met him.
Just to mark the fact that this was their last night off in quite some time,
some of the rookies including Starsky and Hutchinson had gone out to celebrate.
They'd quite successfully smuggled Starsky, who was the youngest, into the bar
and he'd easily been the most attractive of the 14 rookies in the place, with
Hutchinson being a good second.
Soon there had been 3 ladies who'd shown a definite interest in the
young, dark and athletic Adonis in jeans so tight that Hutch was wondering how
he would get his wallet out once it was his turn to treat. But instead of
getting in to the action that the attractive girls were promising him, Kenneth
had noticed a slight blush on Starsky's bewildered face as if he had no clue as
to why these ladies were hovering over him so. The guy has no clue he's a babemagnet! Kenneth remembered thinking.
Instead he would learn in the weeks to come, Starsky always thought
girls would probably not find him attractive as Kenneth would often find him
staring after some cute ladies with a dreamy look on his face instead of
approaching them and asking them out. "I can't just ask them out! I don't
even know them" he would tell Hutch in an embarrassed voice. "Well,
that's just the point now isn't it" Kenneth had sighed a little irritated,
"If you don't ask them out you're NEVER going to get to know them!"
at which remark Starsky had gotten that now all too familiar blank look on his
face which Kenneth now recognized as not being a stupid look but instead one of
realization.
Yes, he sure could teach the kid something, at least in that department,
Kenneth had thought to himself. He had never had any trouble in smooth talking
the opposite sex into a date. Maybe that was one of the reasons Vanessa had
turned into a jealous, nagging wife within 2 weeks of them being married. Oh well, by the end of this rookie training
the divorce will finally be over and I'll take the kid on some charm lessons
Kenneth thought as Starsky came sitting back next to him. Kenneth patted Dave
on his thigh as he looked into the beaming face of Starsky. He sure looks like a kid to me Kenneth
thought as he smiled at his new, unexpected, friend.
The recruits were seated on their knees beside the mats on the floor of
the gym. On the mats the self-defense instructors were demonstrating yet again
some new techniques which would help the rookies to control any violent
suspects during an arrest. As soon as they were through showing the techniques
they pointed at some rookies to try them out.
Kenneth and Dave sat next to each other. Having to sit next to each
other for 3 months had actually been good. They had been almost forced to get
to know each other. Starsky watched and listened intensely as the instructors
gave the demonstration. Still his mind wandered off just a little as he gave a
quick glance to the blond man sitting on his right. He'd finally been
introduced to the guy, his name was Kenneth William Hutchinson. He was 25 but
within a week Dave had learned he was already in the middle of a divorce! The
guy had studied and had a college degree, a real brainiac which explained his
sometimes superior behavior. Still, he hadn't been out much, Dave had found out
to his amusement. When on the streets the guy could sometimes be so out of
place, not even his smart brain would keep him out of trouble.
This guy had some crazy habits too. He admitted to voluntarily drink
goat's milk and eat desecrated liver, whatever the hell that might be. He would
always make faces whenever Dave would join him in the cafeteria with a tray
filled with hamburgers, fries, ketchup, mustard, relish, candybars and cans of
coke. Sometimes the guy had water for lunch, for LUNCH. How could a big guy like that just have water for lunch and not keel
over from hunger Dave had thought. When he had told Dave that from time to
time he'd even fast to cleanse his body, Dave had just stared at him not
getting that at all. Who would voluntarily NOT eat. The thought of that alone
had made his stomach growl for more. Still, it probably worked for him. Dave
had noticed that Hutch was quite a ladies man. He could smooth talk just about
anybody. Uncle Al could sure use his
silver tongue in his garage, he could make a lot of lemons sell like they were
Formula One cars. Still, what's the
point in talking ladies into bed or marriage if you're getting divorced 15
months later already, Dave had thought. Maybe
things came too easily for this golden boy, so it wasn't worth as much to him
as it would be to me, since I couldn't get a date if I got arrested. That didn't mean Dave had never dated or had
any girlfriends, but all the girls he'd gone steady with had pursued him, not
the other way around. He had the feeling that whenever he went after some girl,
that particular girl wasn't interested in him.
This blond guy came from Minnesota, he'd told Dave, on one of the rare occasions
when he talked about his background a little. You almost had to tear the information out of him Dave had thought,
He'd make a good spy. He was from a
well to do background, they weren't filthy rich but the guy had said he had a
trust fund What the hell is a trust fund
David had thought at the time, not wanting to look stupid, but still not having
been able to resist asking a couple of minutes later. This Kenneth Hutchinson may have money, but his family didn't sound
like the Waltons Dave had thought. He had been surprised to hear that from
age 12 on, Ken Hutchinson had never been hugged by his father again, that his
father had said he was a man now and that they should dispense with the
physicalities and just shake hands from then on, whenever they'd wanted to show
affection. That's sure different from our
family, Dave thought, as he thought of how his whole family, parents,
children, grandparents, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews were always hugging
and touching eachother even when they were just saying hello.
The guy, or Hutch as Dave had soon begun calling him since Kenneth had
sounded so uptight and Hutchinson was such a mouthful, had already had college
wrestling and judo experience, but he always did things by the book. He was
easily surprised as he'd soon found out during an earlier self-defense session
last month. They'd been paired together in a free exercise. Which one could
down the other first. Well, Hutch was trying out all these book moves and Dave
had just used his explosive bodystrength and had practically launched Hutch up
in the air, causing him to land flat on his back a split second later. Hutch
had looked up at Dave in sheer shock, which caused Dave to feel instantly
guilty. Geez I hope I didn't hurt the
guy, I certainly didn't mean to was all that Dave could think at the time.
Hutch had later exclaimed in a voice higher than his usual one from clear
amazement he didn't know what had happened back there. Yeah well, I might not be as big as him, or as smart, or whatever, but
I can hold my own Dave had thought. Now he was back on the mat, with Jeremy
Hendricks no less who was even bigger than Hutch and certainly heavier. Dave
just thought Piece of cake before
using his unique combination of strength, energy, power and speed to down the
giant.
Triumphantly Dave walked over to his spot next to Hutch, who was smiling
and applauding him. Dave sat back down and found Hutch's hand squeezing his
thigh in a friendly gesture. He looked up at sky blue eyes in a friendly face
with a warm smile. Instantly Dave knew: him and Hutch, they were friends.
The end