Chapter 4

By fourteen I ran ten miles a day with Ezra and Adonijah and Malik.  I did fifty push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and I could easily beat Adonijah in any fight with weapons as well.  Malik was also teaching me how to fight empty-handed and balance on any surface. 

Every morning at sunrise, we'd go up to the roof of the house and balance at the very edge of it.  If I dared to step back from the edge, he'd add an extra mile to my run the next morning and I'd have another twenty of my exercises to do.  

After several days of punishing me with the extra mile and the twenty exercises because I kept on getting dizzy and scared from standing on the edge of the roof for so long, Malik decided to be more cruel.  If I didn't balance more steadily or I stepped back from the edge of the roof, he'd stab me with a dagger then bandage me up when he decided that we were done our practice for the day.  

I wasn't understanding his reasoning as to how he was treating me.  He favored me.  Why would he become more cruel with his punishments if I was his favorite?  If he knew what it felt like to be in my position, learning how to balance on top of an enormous house in the mountains instead of starting small with, perhaps the staircase railing or a sturdy tree?  It was even harder to keep doing this daily practice when I was doing more workouts, becoming even more sore, and trying to keep with a good, strong form when I was in pain from him stabbing me in my sides and thighs.  Some days, I was tempted to cry as I stood there, trying so hard to balance perfectly and not stumble back or over the edge.  I tried everything I could to manage the pain for whatever length of time Malik would decide to do each day.  

All I could think each day when he stabbed me was: My savior is becoming my enemy.  I don't know how.  I don't know why.  But, my savior is becoming my enemy.  

 After dealing with this pain for almost a month, I could almost feel myself falling from the edge of the roof with the fatigue and the pain mixing together.  I had been getting better at dealing with it, but it was a very difficult task.  Always having to work my muscles to stay balanced, remind myself not to look down...it was just pain on top of pain that I had to bear.  And I hated Malik for every second of it.

Adonijah came to me one night to bandage me up after I had bathed.  Malik had stabbed me in my right thigh for stepping back as my other thigh began to give out on me, making me dizzy.  Adonijah looked grim as he looked at me, lying on my back with my hands over my face.  

"You have to ask him to stop." he told me.  "He can't keep doing this to you and expect you to get better at balancing.  You're gonna reach a point where you can't go anymore and you'll either fall and die or he will hurt you so bad you can't walk or something."

"I have to keep going.  I can't quit.  He's just trying to make me stronger, prepare me for the chance that I might face a situation where I am on a ledge - "

"I know that.  But, Iris...this has been going on for too long.  You have to at least take some time off.  Rest and recover." Adonijah knelt beside my bed and started wrapping my thigh in bandages.  "This blood loss is going to kill you."

I sighed.  "You don't understand."

"I do, Iris.  I really do.  I've been here longer than you.  I know what it feels like to want to win Malik over so badly that you'd gladly hurt yourself to show you can handle it when you really can't.  To show off in front of everyone to seem like the strongest one.  But, none of us can win him over.  Not for long anyway.  You can only be so strong for so long.  Stop trying so hard before you get yourself killed." 

I shook my head and looked away from him with a sigh.  I felt the added pressure as he tied a knot with the bandages.  

"If you won't talk to him, I will." he grumbled.

"Do what you want, Adonijah.  I'm not going to say anything to him." I replied.

That same night, Adonijah went to Malik's room and argued with him for almost half an hour, trying to get him to let me take a rest from our balancing practice.  The next morning, I didn't see Adonijah at breakfast or on the morning run.  When Malik took me to the roof to practice, I closed my eyes and bit my lip, keeping my leg muscles tense, my core tight as long as I could.  But, I was too sore from workouts and the injuries he'd caused me.  I stepped back after ten minutes.  Malik's emerald eyes were steady on me as he watched me rub my bandaged legs and sides, hoping to soothe the pain somehow.  I went back to the edge, ready to try again, but he stopped me.  "You really are in pain." he mumbled. "Aren't you?"

I nodded sheepishly.

"You never said anything." he looked down at me. "Why?"

"Because, I knew that you were preparing me.  Something might happen one day where this practice would come in handy.  I didn't want to look weak.  I didn't want to give up." I told him.

Malik shook his head and smiled.  He patted my cheek gently.  "Go back downstairs.  We're done for today.  Send Ezra up."

I smiled back at him and climbed down the ladder that led to the roof.  I found Ezra waiting on the front steps with a book as usual and told her to go up to Malik.  She handed me her book and quietly went to the ladder with her head down.

I went looking for Adonijah that night to thank him for whatever he said to Malik to get him to ease up on me.  I found him in his bedroom during dinner.  His roommate wasn't there so, I went in.  He had a plate of food and glass of water with him.  

"Where have you been all day?"  I asked him.

Adonijah jumped.  "What - what're you doing here, Iris?  Why aren't you at dinner?" 

"I ate quickly so I could come find you.  Where have you been?" I told him.

"Training." he replied quickly.

"Why're you being so nervous?" I asked him, coming closer.

"I'm not." he said.

I jumped over his roommate's bed and turned on the light.  Adonijah flinched and put his hand up in front of his face. 

"What the hell, Iris?!" he groaned. 

Through his fingers I could see something on the side of his face that didn't look normal. 

"Put your hand down." I snapped.

"Turn the light off."

"Put - your - hand - down." I repeated. "Now."

"Why?" he replied.

"Because something's wrong with you and I want to know what it is.  If you don't put your hand down, I'll do it for you." I growled.

Adonijah put his hand down with a sigh, still not looking at me.  What I saw made me gasp.  His nose had been broken and was bruised and bandaged.  He had a black eye that spread over the side of his face, his lip had been busted, his cheek was swollen and one arm was in a sling, the fingers bandaged.

"Who did this to you?" I asked.

He finally looked at me.  "Who do you think?"

"I don't know.  Was it someone you were training with?" 

"It was Malik, Iris.  He did this to me.  Last night.  When I was arguing with him to let you take a break.  He fought me because he thought I was being disrespectful of his judgement and had no right to infringe on that." Adonijah replied.

I hugged him gently and thanked him for his efforts.  But, I was back to thinking the same thing I'd thought before.  My savior had become my enemy.