Fight (2 page)

3.

(Tripp)

The guy had a wicked right. I could
at least give him that. It was like his right fist was a brick. He landed two
good punches and I swore it would never happen again. Each time after that, I
had my arm ready, blocking his punches, swinging at him, smacking everywhere
from his gut, to his chest, to his chin, to his eyes. That
’
s how I worked. Top to bottom,
bottom to top. Technically speaking my fighting style was probably shit. If I was
put into a real ring with gloves and rules, I wasn
’
t sure if I
’
d
make it out.

I wasn
’
t in the business of fighting for entertainment. I
fought to hurt. I fought to kill. I fought to win. I fought to survive.

When I punched the guy - announced
as
Killer Kidd
- smack in the nose, he stumbled back. He grabbed his
face and let out a scream. That was my cue to fucking attack. I lunged forward
and started to unleash on him.

Left, right, right, left. I hit him
in the ribs and Killer Kidd put his hands down. That opened his face for me.
When I smacked him in the face a few times, he lifted his hands. Up and down,
up and down, no matter what he did I always found an open spot to hit him. It
was hard to fight against your body
’
s
instinctive need to protect itself. It was always smarter to keep your face
covered and train your mind and body to accept rib punches.

I had Killer Kidd back against the
cinderblocks. The crowd backed up a little. They were so loud and fucking
annoying. Screaming in my ear and in my face.

“
Kill
the fucker!
”

“
Fucking
do it, Tripp! Get him! Get him!
”

“
Rip
his fucking throat out!
”

“
Fuck
you, Kidd! You
’
re
cost
ing
me a fucking fortune!
”

Sometimes I could block all the
comments out, sometimes I couldn
’
t.

I grabbed Killer Kidd by the collar
of his shirt and pulled. The shirt ripped as he stumbled forward. I yelled as I
threw him, the shirt tearing from his body. He landed on the ground with a
bloody thud. I went after him, putting my knee to the middle of his back. He
was smart enough to cover his head, so I went to town on his ribs.

Then a buzzer screeched and I had a
fist cocked back.

I saw Aldo at the end of the
circle, his tall bodyguards next to him. There was another guy - Mr. Matty -
who was an accountant for the city, but loved to organize all the bets and
rules for the fights. He had a buzzer in his hand.

“
Time!
”
he called out.

My fist shook.

If I swung after the buzzer, the
fight would be called in favor of Killer Kidd.

Aldo shook his head and like the
good rabid beast I was for him, I stood and walked away.

The crowd was cheering and
screaming.

This was the bullshit part of the
fights. The rounds. Some fights were just get in and go until it was done. The
bigger fights were done in rounds. That was because Aldo and Mr. Matty could
collect more money. People could bet on the winner and bet on the round. They
could bet on how the fight would end, too.

It was all about money.

Even for me.

Sometimes Aldo could give me a
bonus to satisfy his needs. It was completely against the rules to conspire,
but nobody was going to stop Aldo from doing it. Christ, the fucking fights
were already illegal.

Aldo walked up behind me as I took
a drink of piss warm tap water. I spit it out to the floor. My own blood tasted
better than the fucking water they gave me to drink.

“
We
need to end it,
”
Aldo said,
his voice thick and accented.
“
Right
now. This round. Any longer and we
’
re
going to have a problem. I need to get out of here, Tripp. With you.
”

I nodded.

I didn
’
t look at Aldo because I didn
’
t need to.

I stared at Killer Kidd. His guys
were wiping the blood off his face. His left eye was swollen mostly shut. His
right shoulder looked fat and purple.

I had him.

A couple more punches and he
’
d be done.

“
Warning!
”
Mr. Matty cried out.

I stepped forward two steps. Killer
Kidd did the same.

Then the buzzer went off.

“
Fight!
”

I hurried forward and punched
Killer Kidd in the stomach. He hunched over. I grabbed him by the hair and
looked down at him. His eyes were weak. He was tired. He looked ready to cry.
At that point he just wanted me to knock him out.

I brought my fist back and gritted
my teeth.

From the corner of my eye I saw
someone step onto the cinderblocks. Then the entire crowd started to move and
scream. They weren
’
t
cheering now. They were screaming with fear.

A man all in black took out a gun.
He turned his head and I saw some kind of tattoo on his neck. My eyes picked up
on it and then picked up on the gun. It was pointed at the back of Aldo
’
s son, Endo.

“
Fuck!
”
I screamed.
“
Endo!
”

I let Killer Kidd go and started to
move.

But the gun went off.

The explosion had everyone in a
panic.

Endo disappeared, falling to the
ground.

The guy in black turned and made a
dash for it. He masterfully made his way into the crowd. My eyes followed him.
I stepped forward ready to track the fucker down and get him.

That
’
s
when a fist hit me right in the nose.

I felt a crunching explosion from
inside my face. I gasped and had no air. Blood sprayed everywhere as my head
snapped back so hard I swore the back of my head hit the middle of my back.

I fell back and tried to set my
feet, but another fist hit me. Then another, and another. Each one harder than
the previous.

Killer Kidd attacked me with right
after fucking right.

All I could think about was the
gunman. About Endo getting shot. About what it meant for Aldo.

My eyes were watery and I blinked
fast. I turned my head, needing to get this fight back in my favor. That
’
s when I saw Killer Kidd in the
air. Jumping with his fist flying at me. He cracked me in the jaw and I spun
around.

I saw Aldo and that was it.

I didn
’
t even see the ground before I hit it.

And when I hit the ground, I was
out. Done. Finished.

I
’
d
lost a fucking fight.

Which was impossible
…
because if you lost a fight and
you were one of Aldo
’
s
guys, the punishment was simple -
you were killed.

4.

(Winter)

I wore all black. I had black
mascara on, a light shade of red lipstick, and big, black sunglasses. I rode in
a hearse, Harlan driving, Rocky
’
s
body in the back in the casket. The escort consisted of almost a hundred motorcycles.
Guys in front of the hearse, behind the hearse, and on each side of the hearse.
We took up both lanes of the road and nobody dared to honk a horn or try and
stop the procession.

The cemetery was up on a small
hill.

The ride took thirty minutes from
the clubhouse.

Once we were there, four prospects
were given the orders to carry the casket to the grave.

Stoney stood there with his hands
in front of him. Black sunglasses on his face, a stray tear rolling down his
cheek. He swallowed hard and let everyone get set up. The patched in members of
the local charter were allowed off their motorcycles. The guys who rode in from
other towns stayed on their rides.

The table members were allowed to
stand on one side of the casket.

There was even a priest, the only
one dressed in white, standing at the head of the casket, hands out, looking
around.

It freaked me out to wonder if the
MC had their hands in the church too.

“
There
’
s not much to say,
”
the priest began,
“
as we begin the journey of
goodbye deep within ourselves. We pay our last respects to Rocky standing - and
sitting - together. The only family he knew. While we understand that death is
the end of this life, it doesn
’
t
mean it
’
s all the end.
”
The priest put his bible down
behind him.
“
I could read
for hours, quote scripture, sing a song even. But I know how Rocky would really
want this. A few kind words from his best friend and then everyone celebrate
his honor by surviving.
”

The priest blessed himself. He
stepped forward and blessed the casket. Bowing his head, his muttered something
in a different language. He touched the casket, nodded, and stepped back.

Stoney took his sunglasses off. He
blinked and swallowed again.
“
We
can say a lot about Rocky. He was a miserable son of a bitch, wasn
’
t he?
”

Everyone chuckled.

“
Yeah,
it
’
s okay to say that now.
He can
’
t light us up now.
”

A couple guys clapped.

“
Bullshit
aside, Rocky was one of our brothers. He stood beside me as VP of this MC, but
also as my best friend. He
’
s
taking secrets to the grave that nobody else here will ever know. That
’
s true friendship. That
’
s real brotherhood.
”
Stoney touched his leather cut.
“
That
’
s why we wear the cut. And we
know what
’
s going to happen
next. We say goodbye to Rocky but we don
’
t
forget. Our memories won
’
t
let him slip, and the reason why we
’
re
here won
’
t ever slip.
”

That was a pretty clear call for
revenge, which was common. If you shot at the MC, they shot back. And whoever
killed Rocky
…

Just as long as they didn
’
t get to me first.

I shivered in the California sun
and hugged myself. Sarah then appeared and put an arm around me.

“
Now,
let
’
s say goodbye to our
brother and honor him,
”
Stoney said.

He put a hand to the casket. The
table members did the same. I had to step forward and put my hand to the
casket. It was then lowered into the ground. I stood there and watched it all.
A man I didn
’
t love. A man
I didn
’
t exactly care for.
But he was the man who saved me from my dark past. That
’
s why I stuck it out with him.

I felt suddenly alone. Even with a
hundred bikers around me, I felt vulnerable. I would never feel safe again, no
matter what.

That
’
s
when I started to cry.

Stoney walked to me and hugged me.
He was tall, thin, and very strong. He held me for a few seconds and then
started to turn. His fingers dug into my shoulder, his way of telling me to
walk with him. So I did.

We got a little bit away from the
scene and Stoney started to talk, his arm around me.

“
I
know you
’
re terrified,
”
he said.
“
Rightfully so.
”

“
Who
did it?
”
I asked.

“
I
don
’
t know yet. We
’
re not the most peaceful of
people. You know that, Winter.
”

“
I
’
m next, aren
’
t I?
”

“
Depends
on the purpose of the hit,
”
Stoney said.
“
Do you feel
you
’
re in danger? Anything
you
’
ve done I need to know
about?
”

I looked at Stoney.
“
I think we all have demons.
”

“
Yeah.
”

Stoney stopped and turned to face
me. He held me at his shoulders. I feared he was going to make a move on me. He
’
d done it once before and we
came close to doing something crazy. Not that I wanted him at all. But he was
the President of the MC. What could I do? Especially now
…
I had nobody to protect me.

“
Winter,
look at me.
”

I did.

“
I
made a call.
”

“
A
call?
”
I asked.

Stoney nodded.
“
There
’
s protection coming for you.
”

“
What
kind of protection?
”

“
Trust
me, this guy will be able to protect you. He
’
s
a fighter. He
’
s ruthless.
He
’
s not part of the MC or
any MC. He
’
s a direct guy.
You don
’
t want to fuck with
him.
”

I nodded.
“
Okay. Thank you.
”

Stoney didn
’
t look too confident.

I didn
’
t feel confident.

I had some stranger coming to
protect me?

Just what I needed.

Someone else barging into the
mess that was my life.