Chapter 3
As promised, after lunch Beau began to teach Rick some of the basics—but not about how to fight with a knife, much to Rick’s dismay.
“You said…” Rick grumbled.
“I’m allowed to change my mind. If someone got the knife away from you, which would be a definite possibility since you’d be a rank amateur, could you defend yourself against them?”
“Like you did with the guy last night? Well, no.”
“When I get finished with you, you’ll stand a fighting chance, pardon the pun,” Beau replied, getting a brief grin from Rick in return.
“The first thing you need to know,” Beau said, once they’d moved the furniture to the sides of the room, “is to focus. You need to read your opponent, looking for tells about what his next move will be.”
“Meaning?”
“If he’s going to punch you in the gut,
