The night of Paul Allen's death...

Alice Applewhite had changed her name a long time ago. It did not really take much persuasion from the F.B.I, seeing as though they were the family of one of the most hated and controversial figures of the decade. Alice was his daughter, the dictator's only child, the true love of his life. To many people, he was a heartless sociopath, who had no qualms in killing any one who opposed him, in the most brutal and cold-blooded way. To her, he was just her dad, a normal dad; a dad who would make dumb jokes to make you feel better, a dad who would help you pull out a tooth, and would have you put it under the pillow, and put a dollar there in its place in the middle of the night. Nobody can control the parents they have, but for Alice, family has been the curse she has been trying to escape ever since she made it out of the country in which she was born, that eventful day, in the midst of bullets, explosions, and the angry screams of the mob that as far as she knew was breaking into her home, ravaging everything. The last image she had of her dad was of him waving a heart-felt goodbye, as his security personnel rushed her and her mother into a helicopter in the back of the palace. She was scared, it was all very confusing and violent, people were pulling her arm hard as she tried to keep up with the adults who ran for their lives like cattle forming a stampede.

She wanted to run back to get her dad, but the firm grip of her mother wouldn't allow it, she was then put inside the helicopter, and as it lifted off, she could see the size of the crowd outside of what until that moment had been her house. She didn't understand much at the time, but as the years passed, and she was old enough to hear uncomfortable truths, she found out the reason why she had to leave the country, and have a target of that size on her back from a very young age, such a spiteful label: "the daughter of the dictator." It brought her shame, it brought her sadness. She learned that her father had survived many assassination attempts before the military completely tuned against him. And when the dictator saw no escape, he decided to buy his family some time, and let them live, as he stayed and faced a certain death at the hands of the mob. It was brave, perhaps the only act of honor he ever did, but the more she found out, the more ashamed she felt.

The years had passed, and now Alice was married and had a child; a son from whom she had pledged to herself to never tell the truth about her past, much like she had kept it hidden from her now husband. Unlike the DePleurs, she detested her father, and could never forgive him for the crimes he had committed, she never romanticized his memory, by remembering him as being a good dad, or being kind to animals. She wanted nothing to do with him, and wanted to leave the past right where it belonged.

Krav Maga is an Israeli form of self defense that has been gaining some popularity since the 90's. historically speeking, traditional martial arts coming from the far east, had dominated the fighting world along with boxing, thanks to the fantastic movie-lore, choreographed fights, and of course tons of frauds and fakes. These attracted many unsuspecting gullible Americans who thought they would really work in a real-life scenario.

Krav Maga however differentiates itself from the traditional eastern martial arts, in the sense that they teach a person to "let lose" in the moment of an attack, striking with everything the defender has, in order to neutralize a target effectively and swiftly. No fancy moves, no high-flying-spinning kicks, no karate chops; just raw, pure "do whatever you can to survive" type of deal.

Alice drove herself to Krav Maga class everyday. She was locked inside that hot and humid gym for five hours with lots of sweaty people everyday after work. It was rough, but it was rewarding. She had for many years tried to find a sport where she could stay fit, and also learn to actually defend herself in a real-life crisis. She lived in Key Biscayne, she didn't encounter much crime in that side of town, or much danger for that matter. However if there was anything that pushed her to want to learn how to fight, was her childhood trauma. She would often get night terrors, wake up in the middle of the night, sometimes screaming, thinking they were coming for her, but they never did. It drove her husband nuts, especially since she had kept that part of her story secret from him. She had preferred it that way, it was her family sins, the ones she had to carry alone, the ones that haunted her at times, but the ones that would embarrass you, and even cost you relationships.

Before joining the class she checked her phone one last time. it had a message, it was from Paul Allen, it read: "We have to talk." She had made a conscious effort to steer away from the the DePleur siblings. Ever since she was married, she had really tried to to bury the past for good. Even going as far completely shunning everyone involved in it for good. With the death of her mother a few years back, Alice had giving it quite a careful consideration, and decided that the best she could do was to just disappear from their lives.

Alice ignored the message, it took her aback at first, she hadn't heard from Paul in a life time. His sister was married to an associate of Alice's husband. So she'd casually seen her in recent years, and even talked to her every once in a while. Never considered her a friend though, not at least the same way she used to before the falling out. And to make matters worse, her husband and his associate would travel out of town a lot, almost forcing the two women to come together, despite Alice's unwillingness to do so.

After class, Alice drove home, she was very careful to put towels on the seats to not get everything wet and nasty. As she drove home, she debated whether or not to answer Paul's message. Many ours had passed, and she wondered if Paul still wanted to meet, so she took her chances, and called him.

-"Hello Paul." -She began.

-"Hey Alice, how have you been?" -Paul asked.

-"Good, hey I just received the message. What's up?! -She said with a sharp tone.

-"Listen, I really have to talk to you, but we need to meet in person, are you available tomorrow?" -He asked.

-"Well listen, my husband is flying out of town tomorrow, so I have to see..." -She replied.

-"Please, this is urgent."-He insisted.

-"Ok, let me see if I can find a babysitter for tomorrow night, I would have to get back to you about it." -Alice said.

-"Please, I think it might be a matter of life and death."