Cosmo looked up after passing the football to one of his teammates. A glint of sunlight on a slender metal object caught his eye. That was when he realized the group of men striding across the field were armed with weapons. A second later, he deduced the Athletes in Action traveling football ministry was not up for the fight.

To make matters worse, they were in the middle of a pickup game with local youth. Some of the kids would be stupid enough to want to fight without the abilities to back it up.

Briefly, Cosmo wondered if he should tell the others to run. Then he noticed the game had stopped. Most of the others had seen the approaching gang. Nervously, they looked to Cosmo for guidance.

If they ran now, it might encourage their attackers to pursue. Plus, it would bode poorly for their future rights to use the field. While Cosmo didn’t want to put the kids at risk, he wanted to teach them to stand up for themselves in an intelligent manner. Hopefully, this would play out as a positive teaching moment and not a painful lesson.

When the mob drew closer, Cosmo identified their ringleader—a Hindu militant named Raju. Quickly, he formulated a plan.

This wasn’t a team or club wanting to fight for use of the field. At the very least they had come to humiliate Cosmo personally, or to put a stop to the AIA ministry. Raju had long been offended by Cosmo’s ethnicity and religious beliefs.

In addition to Raju’s religious affiliation, he liked to think of himself as a pure warrior. He and Cosmo had faced off twice before: once in an official martial arts tournament and once in a similar manner to this. Cosmo had won the tournament but lost in a scrape between Raju’s militants and Cosmo’s martial arts class.

This time, not only had Raju brought a few dozen friends, but they were armed. Some carried knives. Some carried less elegant weapons such as pipes and bats.

As the gang came within earshot, Cosmo spoke first. “Sorry, but you’re late.”

“Late for what?” Raju’s eyelids drooped, an almost bored look on his pockmarked face.

“Practice just ended.”

“On the contrary, instruction is about to begin.” Raju replied.

The expressions of the thirty plus men backing him up spoke of anger and religious zeal—things Cosmo understood personally. Their looks told him the militants had come here to fight, not to intimidate. This fact reduced Cosmo’s options further. He sensed his teammates gathering closer behind him.

“It takes thirty armed men for you to teach me this lesson?” Cosmo chose to target Raju’s warrior pride—something he knew the man carried close to the surface.

Raju ground his teeth. His lids drooped even further until Cosmo could barely see his eyes. “Merely a precaution.”

“Oh?” Cosmo raised his brows. He glanced toward his teammates and the ragamuffins they had been attempting to get to know. “Against what? If you’re worried about guardian angels, you should have brought more men.”

Cosmo made an exaggerated effort at counting the militants before returning his attention to Raju. He scratched the back of his head. “Maybe my math isn’t so good, but three dozen vs. some kids and football players—”

“Enough talk.” Raju motioned for his men to advance.

Cosmo dropped his weight while raising his voice. “So you’re afraid to teach me a lesson by yourself?”

“Shut your filthy mouth, bahadur, before I shut it for you.”

Cosmo growled. “A fair fight, that’s all I’m asking for.”

“Fair. Ha.” Raju spit.

“Fight club rules.” Cosmo continued. “You win, I never come here again.”

“You still don’t get it.”

“Enlighten me.”

Raju blinked for a full second. “You can’t possibly think you can desecrate a Hindu temple and get away with it. Or are you just that arrogant?”

“What are you talking about? Desecrate a—” It took a moment, but Cosmo finally realized what Raju’s friendly visit was all about. He laughed. “This is about taking down that Kali statue?”

“You admit it?” Raju hadn’t expected this.

“Sure. The stupid thing kept poking me. And that annoying red tongue—”

“Take ‘em.”

“Wait!” Cosmo flailed his arms, stopping the melee in the nick of time. “Fine. You win and I’ll put back the statue. I’ll return the whole temple to the faithful Hindus who abandoned it.” The deal was no skin off Cosmo’s teeth. If he lost, he suspected he’d be dead by the time Raju and his so-called precautionary army were done with him.

“If I win,” Cosmo paused. He hadn’t been sure where his thoughts were leading until now. As if struck by a bolt of lightning, his body tingled as he spoke the words. “If I win, you and all your men listen to everything I have to say for five minutes.”

Raju glanced at the men on either side of him. They shared quizzical looks. “I win, you replace the statue and never show your face around here again?”

Cosmo nodded. “Agreed.”

The two opponents thrust their followers backward to clear a ring in the grass. The Hindu militants stumbled to get out of each other’s way while Cosmo and Raju circled each other three times.

Raju was good. Both he and Cosmo were trained in kung fu as well as multiple other martial arts. And if Cosmo slipped, Raju’s overwhelming numbers would guarantee Cosmo didn’t get back up. He blinked his eyes shut and shot up an arrow prayer.

Raju used the opportunity to launch his attack. Cosmo blocked with both hands to the right. Slamming his back into Raju’s chest, Cosmo dropped his weight and used Raju’s momentum to throw him.

Raju landed expertly and rolled onto his feet—suffering nothing more than grass stains. Both men closed the distance. Raju revealed an inclination to go low, and Cosmo responded to it.

A split second later, Raju attempted to hyperextend Cosmo’s knee. Cosmo had already left the ground with a flying knee kick. Their bodies collided, Cosmo’s knee to Raju’s shoulder.

As Raju attempted to spin away from the impact, Cosmo grappled for control over his opponent’s neck and head. The pair spun 180 degrees in midair before slamming down to earth.

Raju hit hard on his back.

Cosmo aimed a choke at his opponent’s throat.

Raju extended his legs and threw Cosmo off.

Aware of the able bodies forming a ring around him, Cosmo scrambled quickly to his feet.

Raju was slower to rise.

Cosmo covered the space between himself and his fallen opponent in a single stride and delivered a vicious kick to Raju’s side.

Raju partially blocked while rolling from his back to his stomach. He tried to push upward.

Cosmo kicked him again, this time landing a full blow to Raju’s ribs. The kick lifted his opponent several centimeters off the ground and ended the fight. Cosmo knew he had at least cracked a rib, if not broken one.

Cosmo slowed his breathing while maintaining his vigilance. Visually, he stood down each of the militants. If Cosmo remained in control of the situation, Raju’s followers might honor the agreement—depending on Raju’s lead.

Raju grunted from where he lay on the ground.

Cosmo stooped to help his opponent onto hands and knees. He hoped he hadn’t done any lasting damage to the man. “Can you breathe?”

Raju wheezed and coughed into his hand. When he pulled it away, there wasn’t any blood.

Cosmo relaxed. “You’re lungs are intact. You’ll be good as new in a couple months.”

“You’re really annoying, you know that?” Raju shoved him.

“So I’ve been told.” Cosmo stood, keeping his eyes on the rest of the militants.

Raju growled. “Just get it over with.”

Cosmo shook his head. “It’s over already.”

“Five minutes.” Gripping his side, Raju rose to his knees. “Not a second more.”

During the fight, Cosmo had forgotten his end of the agreement. When Raju mentioned it, the lightning returned. Cosmo jolted to life, his fight high returning. Instead of a physical fluidity, the energy coursed through his thoughts. It manifested in the form of his father’s teaching on King David and personal humility. All at once, Cosmo’s life lessons flooded his mind.

He sat and let the words course from his lips as naturally as Thaing coursed through his body. He taught them as if the wisdom were second nature to himself, though he barely understood the concepts. In brief, he shared his story, much like he had in the Himalayas. This time, he adapted the words for men who knew nothing but violence.

By the end of five minutes, every Hindu militant, as well as Cosmo’s teammates together with the street kids, had surrendered their rapt attention. Eagerly, they waited for Cosmo to continue. But at the end of the allotted time, the words dried up.

Cosmo breathed deeply. His mind became a vacuous pit. There was nothing left to do but stand and leave. Springing to his feet, he bowed low. He and his teammates ushered the kids off the field.

“Maybe it’s time to go for tea.” Cosmo couldn’t believe he suggested it, but under the circumstances, it made sense to default to Mark’s style of teaching. Maybe at the cafe one of his teammates would come up with what to say next.