The Staircase Shaped Door

Chapter 4: Fate's Formation part 1

Chapter 4

Fate's Formation

There was a strong wind in the air. Billy could smell the burgers being prepared for supper rush from the fast-food restaurant, three blocks away. A chopper's exhaust was roaring in the distance. He climbed the steps to the front door of his parent's house. The visible foundation consisted of white painted cinder blocks and the top two levels were made of dark red bricks. A concrete sidewalk started from the road, running alongside the driveway and garage. The sidewalk merged into a back concrete patio, a wooden swing hung from the patio ceiling. The front porch roof had white siding covering the a-frame. The porch carpet consisted of black and gray colors woven together. Billy opened the charcoal black screen door, used the key that was stored under the fake rock and entered his house. Billy gently shut the wooden door and ran up the creaky steps, skipping the first step and extending his stride to skip two at a time. When he got to the top of the staircase, he anticipated a left turn. Billy half-cracked a smile shook his head and left out a draining sigh. He turned right and entered his room. He missed his home in Brooksville.

Billy frantically pushed his clothes to the left and right of his walk-in closet. The metal hanger's scraped on the brass pole producing a grating sound. The longer he searched, the louder the scrapping echoed in his head. He was not fond of being late and did not want to disgrace his image to Sensei Masanori, particularly after the grueling test he put him through. His frustration increase until he found his heavily, worn white gi. Billy removed the uniform from its hanger and grabbed his shabby black cloth belt from the inside hook of the closet door. The belt had one black layered strip of tape and two equally coated red slivers. Signifying he was almost a 2nd degree black belt and was just eight degrees away from perfection at only fifteen years of age.

Billy dressed for karate practice and proudly adjusted the belt around his waist. He walked down the stairs sliding his left hand on the wall. When he partly made his way down the next flight, he placed his hands on the sturdy wood banister and leaped over it. He landed behind the brown leather couch still wrapped in shipping plastic from last night's arrival. Billy preformed a crouching jump kick into the kitchen. He opened the door that led to the built-in garage and pressed the button at the top of the stairs causing the overhead garage door to clang open. He jumped down the three stairs, walked over to his bike and pressed the installed remote button triggering the chain of the door to jangle. Billy pedaled out of the closing garage and cycled to his new DoJo.

Billy was far advanced for his current Do-Jo. Sensei Masanori knew he had a true dedicated master at his hand and didn't agree with the owner's current ranking system. He placed Billy in a class of his own and trained him one on one.  Billy made sure to take a karate class in Dojo's focused on the art form and not the ranking system. It was rare to find a Dojo like Sensei Masanori's. A lot of the gyms he looked at were more concerned with keeping the money coming in and their business growing. They did this by rewarding age groups with unearned ranks just to keep them interested and not honoring the art form. Billy's skill level would be considered in the tournament rewarding ranks, of the 3rd to 5th Dan, in these less dedicated gyms. Every gymnasium, Billy studied at made sure to test him before placing him in the adult classes he insisted on taking. He was highly advanced for his age and had no problem getting in these classes. He was a true 1st degree black belt, in many cases―his knowledge, dedication and skill surpasses karate students with a minimum of sixteen years' experience.

Billy finished today's training at near perfection and biked his way back home. He showered and walked downstairs. The antique grandfather clock in the left corner of the living room read 5:18. He jogged to the kitchen and opened a can of tuna, made two tuna salad sandwiches with mayonnaise, salt, pepper, cumin, mustard and cheese. It is crucial for muscle development to eat after training, especially food that's high in protein and fat burning seasonings like pepper, mustard and cumin. He sat down, started to eat the sandwiches and became excited. Sarah would soon arrive.