It's probably a losing battle to convince Alfirin that it is, actually, fine to throw out a bowl of chili and eat some other leftovers. Evelyn isn't sure if there are high-protein leftovers easily available in the fridge, either, she would have to defrost something. She'll just have to keep in mind to avoid it in future cooking, which is fine, she doesn't cook much with chilis anyway. Jeremy's a much bigger fan. 

She gets Alfirin a glass of milk to go with the chili, and then cheerfully asks Lily about her day. 

She finishes her bowl of chili and reminds her stomach that it's not poison. (The milk does help)

Lily is going to be slightly shifty because she's trying very hard to remember not to talk about art class since she spent it on schemes, but she's happy to talk about their science class. They learned that plants don't eat food! You would think maybe they did with their roots, but they just get water and "mirrles" (minerals) that way, and they eat "egee" (energy) from the sun! 

And after dinner they can clean up, and Evelyn reads Lily some stories since she won't be there for Lily's bedtime.

They should leave at 6:50, to be extra sure they'll be on time, which means getting ready at 6:40. People usually exercise in lighter more comfortable clothes than their usual ones, because they're probably going to get very sweaty. Evelyn has a good estimate of both girls' sizes now and will get them T-shirts and stretchy jogging pants from the ottoman of spares. Also, these are the shoes she got for them while they were at the food bank! She got them at the used clothing store where things are a lot cheaper, and hopefully they fit and are comfortable but she kept the receipts and can return them if not. Evelyn isn't sure if they're going to be wearing shoes or going barefoot for krav maga practice but they should have good shoes for it just in case. 

Iomedae feels pretty reluctant about changing into stretchy pants which show her legs but will do it if Evelyn is very sure. "In America dressing like this does not make people think bad woman?"

"...What? No. This is a completely normal thing to wear for exercising in. ...Though some people are self-conscious about wearing tight clothes, it's okay if you would rather not. I'm just not sure that I have anything loose that would actually fit you, the fit is more forgiving on jogging pants, and they won't get in your way as much." 

"I do not care about the clothes except that I care if people think I a bad woman."

"I'm - not entirely sure I know what you mean by 'bad woman' - but nobody's going to think anything of it." And if Iomedae is willing to wear the jogging pants for exercise purposes, they should get a move on, it's nearly 6:50. 

Well, she doesn't have the English for 'prostitute'! She is content to get back in the car.

Alfirin is also suspicious of the stretchy pants but fairly easily persuaded that they are okay and not only worn by prostitutes and thieves.

Evelyn remembers at the last minute to pack water bottles for both of them, with lots of ice; definitely her least favorite part of workouts is getting all overheated and thirsty. It's already much less trafficky and the drive over is pleasant. They get there by 7:05. 

The studio is apparently in a quiet, very suburban-feeling, slightly run-down strip mall across from a gravel-strewn vacant lot; it's not at all obvious from the outside that it's a martial arts studio, and is neighbored by a Chinese restaurant and a sushi restaurant. There's a lot of parking available, fortunately, and Evelyn is able to snag a spot immediately outside. 

Feeling slightly out of her element, she leads the girls in. Is there a registration desk or something? 

There is not! It seems to entirely consist of a single long, low room, with red and blue foam mats - the kind with interlocking puzzle-piece edges - covering the floor, and a row of punching bags hanging along one wall. There's a set of industrial metal shelves at one end, loaded with various equipment, and a couple of large bins like the kind in high school gyms, loaded with what looks like spare body padding of various kinds, and a cheap plastic foldout table with some boxes and binders on top of it. There are a bunch of posters on the walls, which Iomedae and Alfirin will mostly be unable to read. 

A sturdily built man with thinning reddish-brown hair is standing at one end of the studio, working one-on-one with a tall, skinny grey-haired woman who looks like she might be sixty or older, but a very fit sixty if so. She's in a fighting stance, elbows up and fists curls, and he's holding up a sort of pad for her to hit, dodging around to make it harder for her and occasionally raising a hand and indicating for her to freeze so he can step in and adjust her stance or arm position. 

Nobody else appears to be there yet for the class. 

...Okay then. Evelyn will give a tiny wave the first time the man - presumably the instructor? - looks in their direction, and otherwise wait politely for him to be done with the private lesson. 

Iomedae will stand behind Evelyn trying not to look like she is a slave filled with fear and anger because she does not think people find that very reassuring to be around and it is not a correct un-reassured to be.

Alfirin is nervous. She's not practiced at fighting and she's going to be terrible at it and she hates being terrible at things, especially when other people can see her.

The man nods in response to Evelyn's wave, and gets the woman set up doing a punching-and-kicking routine on one of the bags. "Five minutes!" he tells her. "I'm setting the timer. Do not slow down!" 

He jogs over to them, moving with the grace of someone extremely fit. "Hey. These must be the young adults you called me about earlier?" 

Nod. "This Iomedae, who's fifteen, and Alfirin, who's," shit was that even in the paperwork, it was definitely more of a guess than with Iomedae, "around fourteen. They're new to the US and learning English, but they're both very bright, and very disciplined and mature for their ages." 

The man nods, seriously, and then turns to face both of them, unsmiling. 

"I don't teach children," he says gruffly. "Young ladies, krav maga isn't a sport. What we learn here is serious. It's not about winning fights, and definitely not about winning wrestling matches with your friends to look cool. It’s about defending yourself, whatever that takes. And so I don't take students if I don't know, for a fact, that they can be serious about it. If you're silly in class - or out of class, using what you learned here - you could hurt someone very badly." 

He takes a step back. "That being said, I do accept students between twelve and eighteen on a case-by-case basis, because I know that not all young people are children. Your foster carer thinks that you both have the maturity for this. I'm sure she's hoping that you'll prove her right." 

Alfirin is a child - she's not an American child though, and this man is probably only used to American children and might think of a child from another place as more of an adult. She looks him in the eye. "I understand."

Iomedae likes him. "I understand. - actually, I did not understand 'wrestling'. But I understanded the - big thing you are saying, and you are right."

"Wrestling is a kind play-fighting that lots of children do and can be silly about. More often the boys, admittedly." The man still isn't smiling, but he's more or less ignoring Evelyn and looking at them in a level, serious way that really does feel like exactly how he would address an adult. It's hard to pin down exactly what Evelyn or the doctor or nurses did differently, but there's a difference. 

"What's your past experience? Not just martial arts - fighting sports, which, again, krav maga is not - but any kind of sport or athletics. I need to know where you're starting out in order to teach you safely." 

He has to know to teach her. And Iomedae's heart says that he won't tell Social Services, but she'll be a little careful just in case.

"- I am from far from here. Where I am from, some people God make holy warriors, who keep world safe from great evils. I wanted to be a holy warrior when I growed up. Holy warriors wear metal clothes, have a sword, also learn to use a bigger -" She gestures, because she doesn't have the English for 'bow'. "- bigger than everyone use for meat. Holy warriors honorable and good always, or God send them away. Most holy warriors boy, of course, but God can pick a girl if she is as strong as a boy and as good at sword. God pick me. I come to America.

In America this is not how things are. I work pick fruit. I no can find the holy orders that holy warriors should go to. And one place a man not good to the women in the place, and I tell them they can sleep my tent, because holy warriors keep not-strong safe, that what God give us strong for. And I warn the man, that if he try me I sword him. And he try and grab me and -" she gestures at her neck, at her breast - "and so I sword him, and then take him to get help, and then America maked me a foster child, and taked my sword, and says it is illegal foster child carry any way to stop a bad man. And Evelyn says, I should try this, and I want to. I do not need a sword. I need a way to win, if a bad thing happen."

"Sports is...playing games? I did the sports when I was littler before I do adult work. I never did the fighting sports and I never fighted anyone. I lucky, I never be attacked like Iomedae yet."

He doesn't react much to the holy warrior part. He does nod, gruffly but approvingly, at the end of Iomedae's story. "I think you'll do great. Though keep in mind, the best way to win a fight is not to have it in the first place. That's a key principle here, because like I said, krav maga isn't a fighting sport." 

He turns to Alfirin. "You may have some catching up to do. And you're smaller, which doesn't mean you can't learn to defend yourself but does mean you'll have to work harder, 'cause the world is unfair that way. If you're struggling to keep up in something - this holds for both of you - I will give you homework and I will expect you to practice it. All right?" 

He turns back to Evelyn. "I'll accept them for a free trial class tonight. If they meet the bar, and they want to keep coming, you can sign up for a trial month there. It's fifty dollars a month per girl."

(Actually it's normally 75 dollars for the trial month, but he's giving her a discount. Being a foster parent is a thankless job, and he's entirely aware that they don't get paid enough to afford krav maga lessons for all their kids, and Evelyn must be going out of her way for them and paying the extra out of her own pocket. And he'll still come ahead, what with their being two of them, and he just bets the older girl in particular will be brilliant and probably helpful at tutoring weaker students.) 

Evelyn beams. "Wonderful! Thank you."