A Life Worth Fighting (15 page)

“He shouldn’t be impressed until I become heavyweight champion. That should impress him. But, wow, I would like to have the record for most flash knockouts. The most flash knockouts recorded in a professional boxing career is nine by Mike Tyson. In one fight, he knocked out his opponent, Marvis Frazier, in 30 seconds. Unfortunately, the info on the fastest knockout seems varied — it does not agree.” I look at my dad and then at Gus and say, “If I knew what the record was, I would try to beat it. All I can do is to try to get the fastest win I can.” 

I walk over to the door and look out into the arena. The fans are dispersing and the ring is empty. I shower and change into a pair of jeans, a tee shirt, and a pair of boots. Normally, after a fight I would feel like I just got my ass kicked, but tonight, no one touched me and I feel like celebrating. When I walk out of the dressing room, Dad and Gus are both on their phones so I decide to call Leah. I speak with her, Mom, and both of Leah’s parents. Everyone congratulates me before hanging up. I would really like to be flying home tonight to be with Leah.  

Once I am back home, I continue my training. My next fight, whether with Kennedy or some other fighter, will be an important one. I know that Kennedy is considering whom to fight next. That fighter could be me. 

When I finish my daily run, I see that I have a missed call and voicemail waiting on me from Gus. Maybe Gus found Kennedy. I call him back. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t listen to voicemails.  

“What’s up, Gus?” 

“You know how Kennedy’s been M.I.A.?” 

“Sure do.”  

“Guess who found him?” 

“You found him?” 

“He’s fighting in Vegas in two months and guess who has four ringside seats?”  

“You’re the man. Remind me to give you a raise.” 

“I will,” he laughs. “He’s been in hiding for training, so Vegas will be your chance to study his moves. It’s just a matter of time before you get another chance with him. I want you to be ready.” 

“I will be.” 

“Good, I’ll be in touch.”  

I shower and head over to Leah’s shop. Dad and Tim are there when I arrive. I haven’t told Leah about Kennedy fighting and that Gus and our fathers will be in attendance. When I walk in the shop, I am pleasantly surprised everyone is sitting around the seating area, talking about the baby. They have coffee cups and empty muffin cups scattered around on the coffee table. 

“Looks like a party,” I say cheerfully. I walk over and kiss Leah before taking the seat beside her. My being in the room doesn’t mean the conversation stops. They are still talking about painting the baby’s room and how they want to decorate it. Leah smiles but doesn’t say anything. She knows Malcolm’s gloves never touched me. 

“We need to go if we want to make the dinner reservations. Do you guys want to come with us?” Tim asks as he stands.  

I look at Leah and she shakes her head no.  

“No, I think we are going to have a quiet evening at home,” I say.  

Leah and I stand and walk everyone to the door.  

“Bye, we’ll see you guys later.” Leah hugs each parent as they file out the door.  

Once they leave and we lock up, I say, “They’re in an exceptionally good mood tonight.” 

“I know. Our moms were in a good mood all day.” 

“I can see that. I’m surprised they were still here.” 

“I think they were waiting for you to see about dinner.” 

I look at Leah and ask, “Have you eaten yet?” 

“No. Well, yes. Jo stocked the refrigerator with all kinds of healthy foods. I’ve been eating something all day.” 

“Okay, let me get the tables and chairs brought in and then we can go home.” 

“I still have to do the deposit, so can you give me a few minutes?” 

“Take all the time you need.” 

Leah goes into the back room to do her deposit. Once the chairs and tables are brought in, I turn on the big-screen television and watch the sports channel. They are talking about the fight with Abel Kennedy in Las Vegas. A large picture of him is on the screen behind the reporters. They talk about how Kennedy has been MIA and that his trainer/manager is only saying, “He’s been training and is well prepared to beat any contender.” I’ve been searching YouTube videos for anything recent on Kennedy and there isn’t anything. I wonder why he hasn’t fought publicly for so long.  

Next, they talk about his opponent,
Tyler “Striker” Greene. Tyler is on his sixth straight win, although he has never fought Kennedy. They talk about him being a “Powerhouse Boxer,” and they say that if Kennedy expects to keep his championship belt, he’ll have to work for it. 

I turn off the television and Leah is standing there with her arms crossed. “You’re going to that fight, aren’t you?”
Damn, she’s pissed.
Her pregnancy makes her more concerned about me. She wants me to be around to raise our child.
 

“I am.” 

“Walter and Dad are going, too.” It’s not a question but a statement. I only nod. “When were you going to tell me?” 

“I was going to tell you over dinner.” 

“You heard what they said about Kennedy — he’s in great shape. And you still want to fight him.” 

“I do.
I want to fight the best. Defeating the worst brings me no satisfaction.” 

“Let’s go. I’m ready.” I watch her storm towards the front door.  

“Leah, let’s talk about this,” I say as I stand up from the couch. 

She turns around and storms back towards me. “You want to talk about this?”  

I have to look down at her. “I do.” My height usually intimidates people, but not Leah.  

“Fine, I don’t want you to go and I don’t want you to fight anymore. I don’t like it and I don’t like worrying about you out there in the ring.” 

I didn’t expect her to be so blunt. I know she worries about me.
I take her hand and we both sit on the couch together. “Leah, I’m sorry you worry.” 

“Did you hear them? He’s in great shape. He’s been in hiding for training. You lost the fight when he wasn’t in this great of shape.” 

“In case you didn’t know, we must be evenly matched. I work out five and six days a week for eight hours. I run 20 miles and I beat the shit out of a punching bag for hours. I do that so that the next time I’m in the ring with him, I’ll come out wearing that championship belt.” 

“Robert, I worry about you. I don’t want to see you hurt or worse.” 

I wipe the tears from her cheek.
I hate seeing her cry.
“Leah, one more fight with him and I swear, it’ll be my last fight. I’ll hang up my gloves, forever.” 

She wipes the tears from her eyes and whispers, “Ace, you’ll have to survive it first.” She stands up and walks out the door.  

Leah

Robert left to work out, and my mind keeps replaying what they said about Kennedy being in great shape. I was pretty upset when I learned that Dad and Walter are also going to Las Vegas with Gus and Robert. Robert isn’t going to stop until he beats Kennedy. I get online and search to see what is being said about the fight. I have to see what Kennedy’s been up to. I see a recent picture of him and he looks like he’s on steroids. My stomach does a flip. I continue to read and it says that Kennedy has been exclusively training with a new trainer and if anyone plans to fight him, they need to be prepared to bring it.  

Robert isn’t fighting him, but he and his entourage of Dad and Walter are going to check out Kennedy’s moves. Gus got them ringside seats. I guess if you want to watch him, that’s the best place for it. I like Gus, but at times like these, it’s very difficult. I search for the prices of the tickets and they are very expensive. All the good seats are, of course, already taken. My phone rings; it’s my mom.  

“Good morning,” I answer a little too happily. I don’t want her to know I’m up to something. If she thinks I’m planning a trip to Vegas with Robert, she won’t be happy.  

“Good morning to you. What are you doing this morning?” 

“Nothing,” I lie. “What’s up?” 

“Do you want to go to breakfast with Margie and me?” 

“I’m meeting Brooke to discuss her book signing. I can see if she wants to have breakfast first.” 

“Great, meet us at the Broken Egg at Lakewood Ranch in an hour.” 

“See you soon.” 

I hang up and call Brooke to see if she wants breakfast first. She does. I meet her at the shop and we drive over together. Mom and Margie are already there having coffee. Brooke and I sit down and we both order orange juice.  

“What are you guys doing today?” I ask. 

“We’re going antiquing after we leave here,” Mom says, then sips her coffee.  

Brooke says, “I love antiquing. I haven’t gone since we moved to Florida.”  

“You two should come with us.” Margie looks from me to Brooke and back to me again.  

I look at Brooke and I can see hope in her eyes. “We can always talk about the book signing later.” 

“Well, antiquing it is.” 

After breakfast, we all go to some antique shops. Margie says, “Once when Robert was three or four years old, I took him to an antique shop and he was fascinated with the skeleton keys. When I told him what they were called, he said, ‘“That’s stupid, skeletons don’t need keys.”’ 

In one antique store, we saw this sign: “Antiques. Grandma had it. Mom threw it out. I bought it back.” 

When I finally go home, Robert is still not home. Instead of starting dinner, I decide a nap is in order.  

I wake up to a dark room. The bathroom door is closed and the shower is on. The light peeking out from under the bathroom door is the only light in the room. Still surprised that it’s dark out, I am even more shocked to see that it’s after 9:00 p.m. I wonder how long Robert’s been home.  

I stay in bed and wait for him to finish. He walks out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist. He stops suddenly when he sees me awake.  

“How long have you been home?” I ask. 

“A couple hours.” He walks over to his dresser and slides on a pair of white boxer briefs, a black pair of sleep pants, and a crisp white t-shirt.  

“Why didn’t you wake me?” 

“I figured you needed your rest. Dinner’s almost done if you want to eat.” 

“I do, just give me a minute.” 

Robert and I eat mostly in silence. We still have some tension between us about Kennedy and the fight.  

“Robert, I was thinking about the fight with Kennedy,” I say, not looking at him but playing with my food.  

“If this is going to turn into an argument, I don’t want to talk about it.” 

“I wanna go to Vegas with you.” 

“Damn it, Leah,” he says with a raised voice.  

“I’m going with you, or I’ll go without you. But one thing is sure, I’ll be at that fight.” 

“Why? What’s you being there going to prove?” 

 “I don’t know,” I say honestly. 

“And yet, you’re determined to be there?” 

“Yes.” 

“You’ll be five months pregnant sitting at a boxing fight at ringside seats. This should be interesting.” 

We go to bed angry, but he still reads to me and I still cuddle into him. 

Today is Brooke’s book signing and Jo made some of her mini blackberry and cherry tarts along with some mini blueberry and banana nut muffins. Because she bakes so many sweets, we sometimes call her the Bad Tooth Fairy. Thankfully she also made some mini quiches and some mini sandwiches. She and Carl set up a stunning table for hors d’oeuvres, punch, coffee, and tea. Brooke, Emma, and Molly set up her table with a white linen cloth and displayed each book on a gold metal plate stand on the left side of the table. Molly, our friend, designed the banner and made Brooke’s book covers. Bethany and I stand back and take several photos of Brooke sitting at the table. The banner is behind her, and it has her name and the titles of all three of her books, as well as some purchasing links, nicely displayed on it. The banner stands about five feet tall and stands about three feet off the floor. It’s the perfect size to display behind her when she is sitting down. 

“I think I’m going to have a heart attack,” Brooke says, looking almost sick. 

“Don’t be silly; this is what you’ve been working for.” 

“Who knew people would love Dante?” 

“I did. Did you not read those books?” I look at her, she looks at me, and we both laugh. “You wrote them, so of course you read them.” 

“They are brilliant,” Bethany confirms. 

The bell over the door chimes and in walks Dove, carrying her overly large camera. Behind her is … a cameraman would be my guess. “Looks like it’s show time,” I whisper to Brooke.  

I walk over and greet Dove with a hug. She pats my baby bump and tells me how happy she is for us. Brooke walks over and shakes Dove’s hand.  

“Thank you so much for agreeing to do this,” I say. 

“Don’t be silly. Brooke’s famous in our town and I couldn’t be happier to interview her and do the follow up to the story with the book signing. I told you I was going to be following up on this story.”