KAGE (KAGE Trilogy #1) (33 page)

I backed away from him, and my mind started whirling with thoughts.

“When do you fight? Oh my gosh, can I be in your corner? Can I walk out behind you when you do your entrance? Crap. We have to come up with a walk out song for you. Something to do with fighting, or winning, or hardcore. Yeah, something really hard. Are we gonna wear hoodies when we walk out? I always thought that looked cool. We at least need matching t-shirts. They can say,
The Machine
. Or just
KAGE
. Or
Welcome to the Machine
.”

He smiled and looked at me in that special way of his that made my knees weak. “You’re babbling again.”

“Am I?” All I knew is that I was grinning from ear to ear, and I’d never been so excited in my whole damn life. I wanted to hug him again. Hell, I wanted to kiss him, but for obvious reasons that was impossible.

My parents were just staring at us with bewildered expressions on their faces.

“That’s great news, boys,” my mom said. “Just great. This is what you’ve been shooting for, right?”

“Yes,” we both said in unison.

“Well, congratulations,” Dad said. “We’ll have to celebrate with a shot of the hard stuff after dinner.”

That made me feel good. It meant my dad thought of me as a man now. I had officially grown up in his eyes.

“That’ll be nice,” Kage said. “There is one more thing, though. Because of this fight, I have to leave in the morning. I was supposed to leave for camp today, but I didn’t want to miss bringing Jamie down here. This is way more important.”

“Well, that’s awfully sweet of you, Kage,” my mom said. She reached out and squeezed his hand. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

“Why do you have to leave so soon?” I asked.

“That fight they got me is short notice, because somebody got injured at the last minute. Starting tomorrow, I’ve got eleven days to lose thirty-five pounds.”

“Jesus. Thirty-five?” I asked. “Why so much?”

“I should be fighting Welterweight, but the guy who pulled out is a Lightweight. Gotta take what I can get. Marco’s got me signed up for an intensive training camp.”

“And that means you have to lose weight?” my mother asked, obviously confused.

“Yes, ma’am,” Kage said. “I walk around every day at one-ninety. The weight limit in Welterweight, the class I want to be in, is one-seventy. So I’d have to lose twenty pounds before the fight. That’s something fighters do all the time. Most of that is water weight. They sweat it out in a sauna before the weigh-in, then rehydrate over the next twenty-four hours before the fight.”

“Why on earth do they do that?” Mom asked.

Kage chuckled. “A long time ago, somebody decided it was a clever way to trick the system. To dehydrate themselves down much lighter for the weigh-in, then use electrolyte drinks and IV fluids to come into the ring the next day far heavier than their opponent. That kind of weight can be an advantage in a fight.”

“That sounds terrible,” Mom said. “It can’t be healthy, can it?”

Kage shook his head. “Not really. But the problem is that everybody started doing it, and now if you don’t, you risk being the small guy in the fight. It’s a vicious cycle.”

“And you have to leave tomorrow morning?” I was still hung up on that.

“Don’t worry. You stay here and look after your mom, then I’ll send for you before the weigh-in. I promise you won’t miss anything.”

His smile and his words made me feel a lot better. But eleven days? That was a long damn time. I’d gotten used to being with him. Every time he’d disappeared for a couple of days in Vegas, I got agitated. Now we were going to be apart for eleven whole days? I wanted to be there for Mom, but I already knew I was going to lose my mind.

I couldn’t say it, though. Not with my parents listening.

THE euphoria of Kage’s backyard announcement was short lived for me. In all of the excitement about the fight, and the dread of being without him for so long, I had forgotten about the surprise guest waiting for me in the house. When the four of us entered the back door, we came face to face with Layla and my sister, who were sitting on bar stools in the kitchen.

My laughter died in my throat.

“Jamie,” she said, striking a demure pose with her hands on her knee. “It’s so great to see you. You look… different.”

“If one more person says I look different, I’m going to lose my mind.”

“I didn’t mean anything by it, papi. Only that you looked like you’ve really been working out a lot. Your body—” She blushed. “Vegas has been treating you right, huh?”

“I guess. What are you doing here?”

I could see the disappointment on her face at my reaction to her presence, but dammit, I’d broken up with her. Then confirmed it on the phone. So how had she ended up in my parents’ kitchen?

“That’s no way to speak to someone, Jamie,” my mother scolded. “Did you leave your manners in Las Vegas? Layla called to see how I was doing, and I invited her to come and spend the weekend with us while you were in town.”

“Oh.” That’s absolutely all I could manage. I didn’t want to be rude or hurt her feelings, but the situation was forty kinds of fucked up.

Kage was standing beside me, but he wasn’t looking at me, and he wasn’t smiling. He was putting a hole through Layla with his eyes.

My parents were glaring at me, and Layla looked devastated, but my sister Jennifer was twirling a finger in her long auburn hair and smirking evilly at me. She cut her eyes over at Kage and then at me, and that’s when I knew. My sister was onto us.

And Jennifer had a big mouth. So there was no telling who else knew.

I shrank about two feet and skulked away into the living room, where Chase the douchebag fiancé was watching TV with my little brother, Paul. Chase was antisocial, always sitting in front of the television at family events instead of spending time with people, so I didn’t bother speaking to him.

“Paul, you’re not even gonna get up to say hi to your big brother?” I asked, ruffling his red hair.

He jumped up and squealed, throwing his arms around my shoulders. “I didn’t know you were here. Where’s the wrestler? I want to meet the wrestler.”

Paul was only ten years old— the product of a lot of wine and a forgotten contraceptive eleven years after my parents had decided that two kids was plenty. But some accidents are happy accidents, and Paul was definitely a happy one. He had a sunny disposition and a love for all things outdoors, and he was the light in my mother’s eye. Her little garden helper she called him, among other things.

“He’s a UFC fighter,” I told Paul, then turned to find Kage.

He was still seething in the kitchen, listening to my mother explain how her surgery was scheduled for eight on Monday morning, but she had to check in at the ungodly hour of five.

“I mean, what starts at five in the morning?” she was saying.

“Kage,” I called. “Could you come over here? There’s someone I want you to meet.”

Kage dragged himself away from plotting on my ex-girlfriend and came into the living room. “This must be Paul,” he said, turning off his anger long enough to be civil to my brother.

“You’ve heard of me?” Paul asked, and I couldn’t help laughing.

“Of course,” Kage said. “Your brother told me about you. He said you were a wrestling fan.”

Paul nodded emphatically.

“Well, I can show you a few moves if you want. Things to use on bullies if you happen to meet up with any of those.”

“We’ve got a couple at school,” Paul said. “They don’t pick on me, but one of them is mean to my friend.”

“Well, I’ll tell you something I had to learn the hard way. It’s never good to start a fight, and you should always try to walk away if someone starts one with you. But… if someone does try to pick a fight with you, and you try your best to walk away but they won’t stop, it’s good to know some self-defense moves. Just so you don’t get hurt.”

Kage walked Paul over to the large open area at the other side of the living room, and started coaching him. Paul was so thrilled his face was glowing.

I had to admit, I was proud of Kage. Not only was he taking time to dote on my little brother, but he was discouraging fighting except as a means of self-defense. It seemed he did something to surprise me every day.

Most of the time, the surprises were good.

22

THAT night after a supper of delivery pizza, which Kage and I respectfully declined, my father took us into the small room he called his office and pulled a bottle of Johnny Walker Red out of his desk drawer.

“You drink Scotch?” he asked Kage.

“Sure,” he said. “Although Jamie and I will be drinking on empty stomachs, so we probably shouldn’t have too much.”

“Yes.” My father gave me a pointed look. “Jamie looks like he could stand to eat a little pizza.”

“Dad, I’m fine,” I assured him. “I’m healthier than I’ve ever been. This is what I look like when I eat right. You’re just not used to seeing me with so little fat on my body.”

“I can see your bones.”

“Those are muscles, Dad. And I’m fine.”

My mother followed us in and set three glasses on the desk and walked right back out, then my father proceeded to pour us each what amounted to a triple shot.

“I just wanted to drink a toast to both of your professional futures. I realize they’re separate futures, but you both seem to be on your way up, and that’s great.”

“What do you mean, they’re separate futures?” Kage asked.

“Well, I just mean that Jamie will be going back to school soon, and you’ll be fighting in the UFC. Then Jamie will graduate and go on to work for new people who need his services, with you providing a good reference, as you said. That is the plan, isn’t it? He’s done what he set out to do for you, and now that job is pretty much done, am I right?”

“I don’t know,” Kage said, and I recognized the note of challenge in his voice. “That depends on Jamie. It’s pretty much up to him. He’s a big boy, so he can make up his own mind.” He set his empty glass down on the desk with a thump. “Could I have another?”

I felt my eyes go wide, and I downed my own drink. I figured I was going to need it.

After my dad and Kage both finished off another full drink, I interrupted what seemed an awful lot like a standoff, though for the life of me I couldn’t figure it out. “Um, dad… Is Mom going to drive herself to the hospital? Because at the rate you’re going, you’ll be passed out when it’s time to go.”

“No, son. I’m going to bed now to try to get at least a few winks. Y’all had better go to bed soon, too. You’ll sleep in your room where you always sleep, and your mother has made up the guest room for your girlfriend. Kage can sleep on the sofa.”

“She’s my ex-girlfriend.” I set my half-full second drink on the desk. “We’ll go see if Mom needs any help in the kitchen. Goodnight, Dad.”

When Kage and I got back to the kitchen, Jennifer and Layla were tidying up the counters and stacking the empty pizza boxes near the garbage can. “We’ll take out the trash,” I said. “Just leave it.”

Mom sat on a barstool watching. “You know, I could get all of this. But I do appreciate you kids making the effort to make things easier on me. I’m fine, though. I’ve made peace with my decision, and now it’s just a matter of finishing it.”

“You’re not nervous at all?” Jennifer asked.

“A little nervous about the anesthesia,” she admitted with a laugh. “I’m afraid I might tell the doctor all of my secrets. They say that stuff gives you a loose tongue, and you’ll say all kinds of things.”

We all knew she was teasing and that she was probably terrified, but the woman could put on a hell of a front. As calm as she seemed, you’d have thought she was just going in for a checkup.

“Like you have any secrets,” Jennifer scoffed. Then she got that look I hated. The bully big sister look, and I knew something bad was coming. She turned toward me with a smile and said, “Jamie’s the one who’s got secrets.”

“Knock it off, Jen.” I tried to seem as unruffled as I could, but inside I was shaking. Being outed to my entire family and my ex-girlfriend on the eve of my mother’s surgery just seemed too horrific to contemplate.

“Jamie has secrets?” Layla didn’t disguise her jealous curiosity well. “I thought I knew
everything
there was to know about him.”