22
––––––––
FOR MY ELECTIVE, I chose self-defense. I’ve never been in a fight and I hope to never get into one. I was a runt and thought martial arts would put some confidence into my stature. I brought a karate gi and a white belt. I had gotten Puma and Fehed to take me into the metropolitan. I went into the girl’s lavatory and changed into my karate uniform. I tied my white belt, just how the martial arts book that I checked out from the school library said to do.
“Hello, I am Brother Kamau.”
“Hello, is this Self-defense?”
“Yes, this is Self-defense.”
It didn’t look like self-defense class. Where are the mats and nun-chucks? No desks, stadium seating, and podiums stationed at the front of the class.
“My apologies, this is not the self-defense class that you had in mind. This is a
