My forehead beaded with sweat.  I paused quickly to wipe it from my eyes for just a second when suddenly Lee’s foot swung forward, crashing into my stomach, knocking me backward.  I knelt over clutching my abdomen, trying to catch my breath.  My whole body ached in pain from the beating I was receiving.

           Lee grinned slightly.  “Done already, Desmond?” He sneered.
I know this is his way of getting into my head.  I got back up, forcing myself to remain calm and composed through the agony.  I focused on his movements and my eyes followed him as he bounded back and forth inside the ring.  
I made the first jab and Lee ducked below it, dodging with ease.  Lee swung out his leg again, this time catching me on my side.  I let out a grunt and I grit my teeth together in frustration.  I had no time to react as Lee’s roundhouse kick connected with my jaw.  The next thing I knew I was lying on my back, holding my jaw and wincing from the pain.  I could feel my sweat-soaked shirt stick to my skin, defining the muscular body beneath. 
Sparring wasn’t uncommon between Master Lee and me.  He always reminded me it was all part of my training, even if I had my a** kicked every time.  Through lots of hard work I had managed to make my way up in the ranks, eventually receiving the highest honor, a black belt.  It was here at Master Lee’s karate school that I learned a lot of things; not just how to fight, but how to handle myself when life throws a curveball your way.  I learned to keep a cool head and stay composed in any situation.  Most importantly, it taught me to be more aware of my surroundings.  I’ve been a part of Master Lee’s Karate School since I was a young child, going to trainings whenever I had time during the week.  I’m not sure where I’d be without Master Lee and his school; it has done so much for me.
Master Lee took a long hard look at me, studying my features up and down.  I slowly made my way back on my feet until I was facing him again.  We gave each other a sharp bow and stepped out of the ring.  I stared at the glass mirror covering the opposite wall looking at my sweaty and battered body.  My thick black hair was a mess, covering my dark brown eyes.  Master Lee approached me from the ring and I realized just how short he was compared to my 6 foot frame.  Lee was a short Chinese man, about a foot shorter than I was, and around his early sixties.  He and I have always been good acquaintances.  He is almost like a father figure for my sister and I.  He is a very kind man with a warm heart. 
He laid a hand on my shoulder.  “Not too bad Dez, I can tell you’ve been getting much better.  Still awhile until you can beat this old man though”, he chuckles. 
“Don’t worry, I’ll be able to take you soon enough--and I won’t take it easy on you just because you’re old”, I smile back.
I unravel the tape and padding around my knuckles and pick up my duffel bag.  Master Lee led me towards the front door. 
“Make sure to tell your sister, Samantha, I said hello”, he says.  He held open the door and I stepped back out into the rainy and rundown streets where his school was.  Spring had just begun in Seattle, you wouldn’t be surprised if it rained everyday--rain was something you grew accustomed to here.
The school was nothing fancy. It was located in the lower class area of southern Seattle, nestled in between a dollar store owned by a cranky Asian woman, and a cheap looking Italian restaurant.  I turned from the school and began my three mile trek home.
After about 20 minutes I arrived back to what I had been calling home since I was a newborn and my parents abandoned me. 
“Home, sweet home” I sarcastically uttered under my breath as I opened the front gate. 
The Parkin’s home was nothing special, but I didn’t have anything else to go back to.  The house was a small, old Victorian home that smelled of rotting wood.  My sister and I have been living here for pretty much our entire lives.  It belongs to my foster parents, Gary and Patty Parkin. 
Patty is sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch smoking a cigarette, looking at me with a disgusted look on her face.  Patty is a frail looking woman, her wrinkly facial features worn out from all her years of smoking cigarettes.  She has thinning, gross-looking black hair down to her shoulders.  She didn’t have a care in the world for Samantha and I.  We were bothersome to her whenever we were near her. 
“Well you look like you got your a** kicked pretty good!”, spat Patty.  “Woulda made my life a lot easier if they had just killed ya,” she laughed.
“Go to hell you old hag,” I responded.  I was always a strong believer that people should get what they deserve.  This is partly the reason I’m happy to have learned how to defend myself or even ruffle some feathers if I have to.  In Patty’s case, no matter how much I just wanted to slap her it would only cause unwanted trouble, especially from Gary.
“Watch your mouth you little s***, before I tell Gary to give you a good beatin’!”.  Patty continued laughing, her ugly rotting teeth showing as I continued on my way up the steps.
I opened the front door and made my way across the creaking wood floor to my room.  Gary was sleeping slouched over on his favorite chair in front of the TV, drool rolling down the side of his lip near his monstrous double chin. His belly was hanging out of his dirty gray shirt.  Gary had a menacing look to him, even while he was sleeping.  He had a severely balding head and was a very large person.  Empty beer bottles lined the living room table. Gary has an awful alcohol problem, and when he’s under the influence, he’s not a person you’d want to be around.  Sometimes he even goes far enough to hit my sister and me.
I passed by my sister’s room and into mine, throwing myself on top of the bed.  On my nightstand directly beside my bed sat a picture of our family--our real family.  I longingly stare at the photo of my parents.  Their loving and happy faces staring back at me, my sister and I in their arms with smiles on our faces too.  I often wondered why they simply vanished from our lives, leaving us to fend for ourselves and live in this s***hole we’re forced to call home. 
My sister and I don’t have much memory of our parents.  After all, we were too little to remember them at all.  I was only a one year old when they left us, and my sister was three.  I would do anything to find out where they were now and why they left.  I’m not really sure whether I’d hate their guts, or cry in their arms in joy if I managed to find them one day. 
***
The radio blared in my ears as the six o’clock alarm went off on my nightstand.  I stretched, groaned and began my weekly morning routine during the school year: brush teeth, take a quick shower, throw on some clothes I usually find piled on the floor, and eat a small bowl of lucky charms before heading out to school.
My route usually takes me around ten minutes to get to school, it’s about a mile away from where I live.  Walking to school in the morning is one of the best parts of my school day.  I love breathing in the fresh morning air and watching the cars flowing through the streets on their way to work. 
However on this particular day, I noticed something was wrong.  Across the street from my home, a black Suburban with tinted windows was parked near the sidewalk.  I had never seen that vehicle in our neighborhood before, but I didn’t pay too much attention to it until I spotted it a few blocks later.  The same SUV was a considerable distance behind me as if it were trying to hide the fact that it was following me.  I decided to make a quick stop at the Charter St. Cafe to buy myself some time to analyze the current situation.  I ordered a small coffee, but made sure to watch the SUV out of the corner of my eye.  To confirm my suspicion, the SUV had also stopped in a parking stall near the curb about half a block back.  I knew I had to had to act fast.  I took off at a light jog and rounded the corner and as if on queue, the SUV pulled away from the stall. 
After a couple blocks of weaving my way at random through the streets, the SUV finally disappeared out of sight.  I checked my watch and by this time school was about to start at any minute and the direction I took to escape only led me further from it.  To be extra cautious, I decided to take an alleyway through two buildings as I continued on my way towards school.  About mid-way through, a man with a black suit and sunglasses approached behind me from the where I had just come.  I knew this could only mean more trouble.  I quickened my pace, while making sure not to bring too much attention to myself.  Suddenly, the black SUV burst into view and screeched to a stop at the end of the alleyway, blocking my path.  I was trapped with no way out.  I clenched my fists together, ready to defend myself.  The backseat window slowly rolled down and an older man with gray hair and a long nose appeared.  He had a very stern-looking face and some expensive glasses atop his large nose. 
“I’d like you to join me inside for a little chat, Desmond”, the man said in a loud voice. The man proceeded to open the door and step onto the pavement below.  He was very tall and slim.  He then held open the door and motioned me to come inside. 
“What makes you think I’d go anywhere with you?”, I contested fiercely.  At that moment, the man in the black suit forcefully grabbed my forearm and led me towards the SUV.  I struggled to get free, but the man didn’t budge.  He was bulging with muscle and towered above me.  I knew I was no match against him. 
He led me into the SUV and the older, slim-looking man closed the door shut as he joined me inside.  The giant man in the suit sat in the front seat as the driver took off, out of the alleyway. 
“I imagine you must be very confused and angry about this whole situation, but I assure you--I mean no harm.”  the taller man said calmly.  “By the way, the name’s Ross”, he held out a hand, but I refused to shake the hand of a man who had practically kidnapped me.  “Stubborn, huh?  Well Desmond I…”
“How do you know my name?”, I interrupted.
“Oh Dez, I know more about you than you might think,” he answered.  “I know you live on 938 Orchid St. with your sister Samantha and both your foster parents Gary and Patty, and you attend karate school with Mr. Lee who is a quite charming old man.  I also know your parents disappeared when you were only one year old.”
I sat there in stunned silence.  “So, who are you exactly?”, I ask. 
“I am the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency.  I’ve come to talk to you over a matter concerning your parents--your real parents, I mean,” Ross said. 
“If you know anything about my parents tell me now,” I insisted.
“Both your parents were top agents in our agency,” he began.  “Your parents were captured while on a top secret mission about sixteen years ago in a remote region of northern Russia.  Their mission was to infiltrate an enemy nuclear launch site and disable their nuclear warheads, as well as destroy the facility. The enemy was plotting to send these missiles towards the United States and start another full-blown war.” 
“What happened to my parents?”, I ask.
“They were successful in disabling the warheads, but a series of unfortunate events led to their capture before they could destroy the facility and be brought to safety.  Your parents were captured by a man named Nikolai Zhirkov, who’s a member of a KGB group kept secret from the public even after their official disbandment in 1991 at the end of the Cold War.” 
“Are they dead?  Where are they now?  And why are you telling me this?” I quickly asked. 
The SUV rolled to stop outside a large 4-story building with glass windows lining its exterior. 
“Join me in my office.  I promise I’ll explain everything.”, he said as we stepped out of the Suburban. 
     ***
Ross’s office was small, but very organized.  All the furniture was well polished and it seemed very odd to me that everything in his office looked perfect.  Nothing was out of place.  Light brightened the room through the glass windows towards the back of the office.  Ross took his place on an office chair behind a nice mahogany desk and motioned me to take a seat as well. 
“Desmond...Zhirkov had your parents executed after we were unsuccessful in rescuing them,” Ross looked down at his desk.  He looked as if he were about to cry.  Ross quickly sniffed and any indication of emotion was wiped clean from his face.  He looked up from his desk and stared at me sternly.
I stared blankly across the mahogany desk, trying to put it all together.  For some reason I didn’t react much to the fact that my parents had been killed by that evil man.  I never knew them enough to be distraught over their death.  I simply nodded, acknowledging what had happened.  I wanted to know what really had become of them and now I finally had an answer. 
“I know this must be very hard to take in.  I’m sorry Dez,” Ross said softly.
I nodded my head and looked away towards the wall.  “I’ve accepted their disappearance from my life a long time ago,” I said. 
“We’d like you to join us in our efforts to ensure the safety of our country, just as your parents had done.  They didn’t deserve what was done to them and we’d like to offer you the opportunity to continue the legacy your parents left behind.  If you’d like, we think you would be an excellent addition to our agency.” 
I turned back towards Ross.  “Why me? After all, I can’t even use a gun.”, I answered
“No one would ever anticipate someone like you, especially a kid.  It would be the last thing anyone would expect.”, Ross replied.  “And don’t worry Dez, we’ll make sure you receive proper training,” He added.
“I can’t just abandon everything I have here...especially Samantha.  There isn’t anything that’s more important to me than her.”
“Don’t worry, we’ve already made arrangements for you and your sister.  We have a modest, but very nice apartment in your name.”  Ross rested his hands on the table.  “We’ll also cover all expenses, even supplying you with a credit card.  I know you care very much for your sister.  I promise I’ll do all that’s in my power to ensure the safety of you both.”
  The thought of leaving the Parkin’s miserable home felt surreal to me. This was exactly what my sister and I needed, especially if Samantha would be safe under the protection of the CIA.  I weighed the options in my head, contemplating for a moment.  I knew this was an opportunity I’d regret if I didn’t accept. 
At that moment, I realized I was still staring at Ross, lost in thought.  He smiled at me warmly. 
“If you were to join, all these things would be accessible to the both of you.”
I had already made my decision.  “When can I start?”, I replied.
Ross extended an arm.  “Welcome to the agency, Dez”.  I shook his hand.
     ***
     Epilogue
“Ladies and gentleman, I have the utmost pleasure of welcoming Mr. Desmond King.  Let’s give him a round of applause!”, the announcer exclaimed through the microphone.
I slowly made my way towards the podium.  I received a very warm welcome to say the least.  People were off their seats applauding with smiles on their faces.  Samantha was in the front row of the crowd, she couldn’t be more proud of me than she was now.  I reached the podium where the deputy director of the CIA greeted me and pinned the medal to my uniform.
Ross had passed about ten years ago.  I know he would have loved to present the medal to me at this ceremony, but unfortunately cancer had taken his life before he had the opportunity.  We had grown very close after all the work we did together in the agency, his death was very hard for me.   It had been 40 years since I met him for the first time in our fateful encounter in the alleyway.  I was now almost 60.  The years in the field wore me down considerably.  My body wasn’t the same it was when I joined the agency at 17.  I had several battle scars on my body, each of them with a terrible story I’d rather forget. 
The Distinguished Intelligence Cross is the highest decoration awarded by the Central Intelligence Agency.  It’s a huge honor to receive.  At this moment, I’ve never felt happier.  The audience continued their standing ovation behind me.   I accepted the medal with tears streaming down my face.