“Pa-pah…Pa-pah…Pa-pah,” Frederick exhaled, dancing in front of me, his fists flashing mere millimeters from the tip of my nose. I felt like a fool with legs splayed wide and hips and shoulders twisted.
“Keep your hands up,” Frederick barked. “Higher…higher still. Like this…”
He slapped my hands in an upward motion. Frederick walked around me in a tight circle, nodding and pursing his lips, then came to a full halt right in front of me, put his hands on his hips and stared down. Wearing a benign smile, Frederick kicked his leg out and I went down in a heap. Frederick laughed uproariously. He reached down to help but I batted his hands away.
“What"d you do that for?” I demanded.
Frederick waggled his forefinger. “Balance, Mordecai, balance, if you don"t have balance as a boxer, you have
