Empty Hand Revolution

Battlefield, Part Two

Cosmo looked up after passing the football to one of his teammates. A glint of sunlight on a slender metal object caught his eye. That was when he realized the group of men striding across the field were armed with weapons. A second later, he deduced the Athletes in Action traveling football ministry was not up for the fight.

To make matters worse, they were in the middle of a pickup game with local youth. Some of the kids would be stupid enough to want to fight without the abilities to back it up.

Briefly, Cosmo wondered if he should tell the others to run. Then he noticed the game had stopped. Most of the others had seen the approaching gang. Nervously, they looked to Cosmo for guidance.

If they ran now, it might encourage their attackers to pursue. Plus, it would bode poorly for their future rights to use the field. While Cosmo didn’t want to put the kids at risk, he wanted to teach them to stand up for themselves in an intelligent manner. Hopefully, this would play out as a positive teaching moment and not a painful lesson.

When the mob drew closer, Cosmo identified their ringleader—a Hindu militant named Raju. Quickly, he formulated a plan.

This wasn’t a team or club wanting to fight for use of the field. At the very least they had come to humiliate Cosmo personally, or to put a stop to the AIA ministry. Raju had long been offended by Cosmo’s ethnicity and religious beliefs.

In addition to Raju’s religious affiliation, he liked to think of himself as a pure warrior. He and Cosmo had faced off twice before: once in an official martial arts tournament and once in a similar manner to this. Cosmo had won the tournament but lost in a scrape between Raju’s militants and Cosmo’s martial arts class.

This time, not only had Raju brought a few dozen friends, but they were armed. Some carried knives. Some carried less elegant weapons such as pipes and bats.

As the gang came within earshot, Cosmo spoke first. “Sorry, but you’re late.”

“Late for what?” Raju’s eyelids drooped, an almost bored look on his pockmarked face.

“Practice just ended.”

“On the contrary, instruction is about to begin.” Raju replied.

The expressions of the thirty plus men backing him up spoke of anger and religious zeal—things Cosmo understood personally. Their looks told him the militants had come here to fight, not to intimidate. This fact reduced Cosmo’s options further. He sensed his teammates gathering closer behind him.

“It takes thirty armed men for you to teach me this lesson?” Cosmo chose to target Raju’s warrior pride—something he knew the man carried close to the surface.

Raju ground his teeth. His lids drooped even further until Cosmo could barely see his eyes. “Merely a precaution.”

“Oh?” Cosmo raised his brows. He glanced toward his teammates and the ragamuffins they had been attempting to get to know. “Against what? If you’re worried about guardian angels, you should have brought more men.”

Cosmo made an exaggerated effort at counting the militants before returning his attention to Raju. He scratched the back of his head. “Maybe my math isn’t so good, but three dozen vs. some kids and football players—”

“Enough talk.” Raju motioned for his men to advance.

Cosmo dropped his weight while raising his voice. “So you’re afraid to teach me a lesson by yourself?”

“Shut your filthy mouth, bahadur, before I shut it for you.”

Cosmo growled. “A fair fight, that’s all I’m asking for.”