The boy tried to hold his leg muscles tense while he slid through steps. His rigid legs moved in awkward jerks. Lyons shook his head. "Relax. You can't move like that..."

"You say I should keep my legs strong. But if I keep them strong, I can't walk."

"Practice it every day. Your legs will be strong and your stance will be strong. Then you'll understand what I'm saying."

"Hey, social workers!"

Lyons looked up to see Gadgets Schwarz, the Able Team electronics specialist, standing on the steps. Tanned, wearing slacks and open-collared sport shirt, the ex-Green Beret looked like an off-season tourist.

"Got a man who wants to talk to you…" Gadgets motioned up the stairs behind him. "A man from Dee Cee."

Lyons answered with a nod. He turned to the mestizo boy. "Practice. In a year it will be easy."

"You will teach me? You come back for next class?"

Glancing to his waiting partners, Lyons shrugged. "Maybe."

The boy turned away, disappointed. Lyons crossed the varnished plywood of the basement dojo to the stairs.

"How's the Ironman?" Gadgets asked.

"Never better," he lied, his eyes hooded, revealing nothing of his grief.

"Ready to work?"

"Why not?"

"That's my man. Up there."

As they went up the stairs, Lyons looked back to see Izz Goldman dividing the students into advanced and beginner groups. Two advanced boys bowed, then sparred in awkward freestyle. The deep voice of Andrzej Konzaki turned Lyons's head.

"What you doing in this neighborhood, gringo?"

Lyons stepped up to the pavement. New Yorkers crowded the sidewalks. The unseasonably warm night throbbed with rhythm of Puerto Rican music blasting from a record store.

"I'm learning Spanish."