The Wrath of Eli

by Lily Zante

  “That must have been so embarrassing for her.” I’ve had dinner at Nina’s place and I’m cleaning up for her. It’s only fair seeing that she cooked. I don’t have time to cook, so I eat either at Frankie’s Kitchen, or at Nina’s place most times.

  “It was. She couldn’t stop apologizing.” I would be the same way if I were in her shoes, but I’d never get that drunk, though to be fair, she did say it was something she’d eaten. I’m inclined to believe her even though I don’t know her too well, but my initial impressions about her have started to come apart. Friday evening wasn’t so bad, even though I was vomited on. I caught splashes of it on my sweatshirt, but I didn’t want to own up to it because it would only heighten Harper’s shame.

  I had made assumptions about Harper, and some of them were definitely true. Walking into her apartment confirmed some of them, but she was easy to talk to. She tried to get information out of me, and when I pushed back, she didn’t persist. She backed off, and I liked that. She seems to give me my space.

  I’d expected her to be one of those pushy in-your-face journalists, but she’s not. There’s a kindness about her, a touch of the humane, and I’m a sucker for people who have that. I don’t trust many people, and I don’t know many people who exhibit that trait, but Harper shows signs of it and it makes me mistrust her a little less.

  “You should have seen her apartment,” I tell Nina. I’m washing the dishes, and she’s sitting at the table looking through a magazine.

  “Yeah?” Nina seems distracted, as if she’s reading something interesting. So I let her read in peace.

  Lakeview is a beautiful part of the city. When I win this fight, I’ll move into one of the more expensive parts of town. Because then I’ll feel that I’ve moved up, clawed my way out of the gutter.

  HARPER

  * * *

  It’s Monday morning and I’ve had the weekend to get over the episode from Friday night. I head towards the gym and I don’t know how I will face Eli today. My hesitation makes me head for the diner instead. I can grab a cup of coffee to steady my nerves. It won’t matter if I’m slightly later than usual to get to the gym.

  The first person I see as I push through the doors is Eli’s sister. I wasn’t expecting that, and I’m silently surprised. She’s behind the counter, serving another customer, so I walk over and get a seat by the window. It’s early morning, and the place isn’t that busy. Frankie’s Kitchen fills up more around lunchtime.

  I put my bag on the seat next to me along with the new bag I bought for Eli. It’s got his new gym clothes inside.

  I can’t decide if I’m hungry, or if I’m putting off going into the gym, but I’ve barely had time to check out the menu when Nina comes up to me.

  “Good morning!” she says. “It’s Harper, isn’t it?” Her greeting is like a ray of sunshine, and I momentarily forget my worry about seeing her brother.

  “Yes. Hi.” I didn’t think she and Eli looked too alike before, but now that I’m seeing her for the second time and because I know she’s Eli’s sister, I can see a definite similarity. They both have the same brown eyes, and the same lips.

  We make small talk about it being the first day back after the weekend. She tells me she worked two shifts over the weekend.

  “Don’t you get any time off?”

  “I get a day during the week. But I prefer to work weekends,” she leans towards me and whispers. “The tips are better.”

  I stare back and try to wonder what a wreck I’d be if I had to work my weekends. I take work home sometimes to proofread or edit, but it’s nothing compared to waitressing.

  “How are you feeling? Eli said you were sick.”

  I feel as if I’ve been punched in the stomach, because I’m surprised that he mentioned that fact to his sister. He has no loyalty to me, and therefore has no need to keep it a secret.

  “I had something dodgy to eat from the deli, I’m sure of it. Smolensky’s,” I say, when she frowns.

  She looks relieved now. “I was worried it might have been something you ate here.”

  “I haven’t gotten sick after eating here,” I tell her. We smile. She’s nice, and easy to talk to, and she’s so different than Eli. Come to think of it, Eli on Friday was a different Eli than the one I’d known prior to that evening. He’s slowly growing on me.

  “What can I get you?”

  “Just a coffee, please. A filter coffee, no sugar.”

  I want to ask her more questions, but she nods and rushes back towards the kitchen before I can say anything.

  A short while later, she comes over with an empty cup and a small jug of milk, and pours me a cup of coffee.

  I decide to take my chances, seeing that I haven’t been successful with Eli so far. “We were talking,” I say, adding milk to my cup, “and Eli mentioned that you were both at Grampton House.”

  “He spoke about that?”

  “Among other things. I was shocked to hear about you two being left home alone at such a young age.”

  Nina looks startled for a few seconds, and then it passes. “It was a long time ago.”

  “You were probably too young to remember being taken into foster care?”

  She folds her arms. “Our aunt, my mom’s sister, took care of us while my mother tried to get her life back together, and when that failed, we ended up living with her, and when that failed, we went into foster care.” She scratches her ear. “Did Eli tell you all this, or did you read up about it?”

  “He told me,” I reply, and part of that statement is true. This is nothing new, it’s information I have on him online, and he did tell me about the time their mother left them at home for the entire weekend.

  I’m not making any of it up, yet I feel slimy asking her these things. I have no choice, I tell myself, in an effort to make myself feel better. Eli said I could ask him anything, but when I’ve pressed him for information, he’s backed off. I can’t go into another meeting with Merv and not have something more than last time.

  “If your aunt took care of you, why were you taken away?”

  “She couldn’t cope, and her boyfriend at that time didn’t like Eli. He used to beat him.”

  I blink in shock. “Beat him?” This is news to me, and it gets filed along with the images I have of Eli and Nina as toddlers being left home alone for two days.

  Nina continues before I can tell her that I didn’t know this.

  “He would take out his belt and whip Elias, usually for no reason. Our parents came from dysfunctional families. Grampton House didn’t seem like such a bad place.”

  She looks up as more people file into the diner, then she tells me to have a good day, and leaves.

  My heart is in splinters at the news she has shared. I feel sorry for Eli now, and for the little boy that used to be Eli then. I feel sorry for both him and his sister.

  I don’t want to finish the coffee. My craving for it has vanished. There’s only one place to go now, back to the gym, but I’m still not ready to face Eli, and for different reasons this time.

  Chapter Thirteen

  ELI

  * * *

  Harper’s late today. She’s usually here by now, pretending not to watch me when I’m training.

  I glance at her desk one more time, and this time my sparring partner strikes a blow to my chest so hard it knocks me back.

  “Not so hard, Jake,” Lou roars. “You’re not supposed to injure him before the fight,” and to me, “Where’s your head, Eli?”

  I hit back, and land a ferocious uppercut with more force than I’d intended. It slams under Jake’s chin. He staggers back, then falls against the ropes. His eyes are full of anger.

  I’m not supposed to hit hard, but that came as a reaction. I hold my hand up in an apologetic gesture.

  “Take a break from this, and go for a run later,” Lou orders.

  I nod in response. I’m hot and sweaty, and feel like I’ve gone ten rounds in the ring. I need a shower. Then Harper walks in. She g
lances at me, then looks away.

  I get out of the ring, then take off my gloves and headgear; it gives me something to focus on so that I look busy.

  But she’s coming towards me, and she’s carrying a bag that doesn’t look like mine.

  “Hi,” she says, in a voice that is softer and more familiar. I can see why she would make this mistake. “This is for you.”

  I eye the bag with suspicion. “That’s not my bag.”

  “It’s new. I hope you like it.”

  “But that was my lucky bag,” I say, trying to look serious. “It’s how I won fights.” Her face crinkles and her mouth falls open. I notice she’s wearing lipstick this morning. “Oh, shit.” Now she looks worried. Like, really worried.

  I can’t keep up the pretense. “I’m kidding with you. It wasn’t a lucky bag, but the gloves were. They’re in there, right? Tell me you didn’t throw them away.”

  She narrows her eyes. “You did not have any gloves in there. You didn’t. I checked.”

  “You checked?” I’m surprised. I can’t imagine Princess going through the bag. “I don’t believe you.”

  “I checked. No gloves. Nothing but your gym clothes.”

  I’ve been caught out and as we stand there, half-grinning, half-wary of one another, the tension between us feels lighter. Her throwing up on me that evening changed our dynamics in some way.

  She holds the bag up in front of me obviously eager for me to take it. “I couldn’t bring myself to clean the other one, so I got you a new one.”

  “You couldn’t clean your own vomit?” I peer at the bag and I’m not sure I like it. It looks expensive, and I bet it was. Some people like to flaunt their money.

  “I’m sorry I ruined your other one.”

  I take the bag and murmur a ‘thanks’ then open it up and look inside. She’s replaced the clothing, it looks like. I now have a new pair of boxing shorts, boxer briefs, and a gym shirt. I hold up the boxing shorts and briefs. “I hope you got the extra-large size,” I say.

  As expected, she blushes and her cheeks tinge the color of her pale lipstick. Her eyes turn dark just like that. For a reason I can’t explain, her reaction shoots through me, and something stirs inside me. We both stare at one another, but she’s the first to look away. “I’m pretty sure I got the right size.” And then she walks away quickly, just as I was getting ready to give her a few moments of my time.

  By the time I come back from my six-mile run, I see Harper in Lou’s office. I’m curious to know what type of piece she’s doing on me, and why she’s here for so long. Maybe I’ll ask her next time we get a moment to talk.

  But after my shower, I’m starving and I need protein, so I go to the diner.

  Nina brings my lunch and then sits down across the table and has her lunch too. “I saw Harper earlier,” she tells me.

  My head lifts up. “When?”

  “This morning.”

  “Yeah?” I say, wondering why Harper didn’t mention it when she gave me the new bag. At least I now know why she was late to the gym.

  “She was asking about Grampton House. Did you talk about it?” She has that sad look on her face again.

  “I didn’t say anything.” Nina and I have a deal. It’s unspoken. We don’t talk about that place much. It was a holding place for us, when family gave up on us. For me it had its darker moments, but Nina doesn’t know that. We don’t have good memories of when we were young, and Grampton House is a symbol of our abandonment. I hate that Harper stirred up these murky memories when she needs to mind her own business and butt out of mine.

  “Really? She said you mentioned it,” Nina insists.

  “She mentioned it, more than once in fact. I never gave her a proper answer.”

  Nina puts down her fork. “That’s strange, because she acted as if you’d told her things.”

  “Told her what?”

  “Like when mom left us home alone, when child services took us away.”

  I can barely eat, my stomach is empty, and I need this plate of protein, but my appetite has gone.

  I don’t know how I get through the next half hour not flipping my shit, but all I can think about is going to the gym and having it out with the princess. Who the hell does she think she is, lying to my sister and snooping around? There are things she shouldn’t be sticking her fucking nose in.

  Chapter Fourteen

  HARPER

  * * *

  I’ve been talking to Lou quite a bit. “Is it normal for you to be his trainer and manager?” I ask him, wondering if there might be a conflict of interest at some point.

  “It’s not a problem for Elias, and I don’t see why it should be a problem for you.”

  “It’s not a problem for me,” I tell him, noting the defensive tone in his voice. “I’m after a story. It’s why I’m here.”

  “Elias is the story,” he says, pointing his finger at me. “That kid is going places, and you,” he points again, “I hope you’ll give him the write-up he deserves.”

  “I’m working on it. Lucky you found him when you did.” I’ve read up some more about Eli’s start in boxing, and how he joined an underground fight club. Some of the injuries sustained by the fighters make for horrific reading.

  “He was young then, doing what he had to do. This kid didn’t get where he is today from learning it all in a gym. He came from the streets, and I don’t care if he was fighting in those illegal fight clubs. I’m glad I found him when I did, else God knows what might have happened to him. I found him, saw his talent and convinced him to come and train in my gym. But his lethal punches, that’s not something you learn; hitting the way he does, as if he wants to kill someone, that comes from a place deep inside him.”

  “He hits hard,” I comment, remembering something I read about him from some old newspapers.

  Lou chuckles. “That kid came out of his mother’s womb fighting. It’s going to be a good fight,” he says. “That kid has a meanness to him that even Dwayne Banks didn’t have.”

  When I frown, Lou reminds me. “He was the middleweight champion about twenty years ago. Dwayne did it, and I know Eli can. He’s young, and virile, and that body… the women go crazy for him. I wouldn’t be surprised if as many women as men watch the fight. Eli’s easy on the eye.”

  That annoys me, for some reason. He is easy on the eye, and he probably has a huge legion of female followers.

  Lou clears his throat. “We’re going away soon; me, Eli and the boys, for about eight to ten days. You’ll be finished by then, I assume?”

  “Going where?”

  Lou looks uncomfortable. “To… a… a training facility in Wisconsin. It’s Dwayne Banks’ place, except he’s not going to be there. He’s agreed to let us have it to do some pre-fight training. It will be good for Eli to get out of this place. The kid’s been stuck in here too long.”

  “I should be finished with my assignment by then.”

  I barely register the sharp knock at the door before it opens and Eli walks in. “I need to speak to you,” he says, giving me a look that freezes my blood. Then he storms off.

  “What have you done to him now?” Lou asks.

  “I only have to breathe and that does it,” I mutter as I rise. The familiar throbbing in my chest amplifies. “I’d better go see him before he breaks a wall down.”

  I catch sight of Eli barreling through the locker room door. There’s no question of whether I ought to go in there or not, because I can tell from his body language, and his tone just now that he’s about to kill someone. And that someone is me.

  “What is the—” I begin to ask, as I turn to face him, but his fingers encircle my wrists and he pushes me up against the wall. I try to figure out why my head didn’t hit the wall as hard, given that he pushed me so hard against the hard stone wall. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing sneaking around behind my back and asking my sister all sorts of questions?”

  My heart is thundering, and his grip is tight. Not so tight
that he’s hurting me, but tight as in the way he’s pinned me against the wall.

  “I passed by this morning,” I pant out, “I had a coffee. We got talking.”

  His eyes are cold, and he stares back at me as if he’d rather spit at me. “You were asking questions.”

  “Since when was that a sin?”

  “You never said a word about it.”

  “I forgot.”

  “You’re going behind my back and upsetting my sister.”

  Now I’m surprised. “I upset her?” This is news to me. I try to straighten up, but’s it hard to do that since he’s in my face. His body, hard as steel, isn’t pressed against me, yet I feel the heat that comes off it. He’s not touching me, except for the grip he has on my wrists, but I’m breathless almost, and I have no reason to be. Then I realize it’s not from fear, it’s from something else.

  “Yes, you fucking upset her.”

  Something sizzles in the empty two-inch gap between us. His breath is warm, and sweet, and his scent, and the aura he gives off, has nothing to do with expensive cologne or body spray. It’s natural, something altogether wild and raw; a supercharged concoction of sexiness and danger, if it’s possible to bottle these things up.

  I should be afraid, but I’m more turned on than anything else. “She didn’t look upset to me.”

  “How would you know? You don’t know Nina, just like you don’t know me.”

  This wounds me more than his grip on me.

  “I didn’t mean to upset her, and if I did, I’m sorry.”

  “You were being sneaky. You lied. I thought you were different than the other nosy journalists.”

  “I’ll apologize to Nina. I honestly didn’t mean to upset her.” I’m confused now. I had no idea that I had upset her. As it was, I didn’t get much from her, and Eli’s reaction tells me there is more.

  And then he leans against me, and for a moment his eyes turn dark. My nerves start to jangle. Eli stares at me, and the rage in his eyes disappears for a fleeting second. It’s replaced by something else, not hate, but more a look of possession. He moves his face inches from mine. “Stay away, Princess. Go fuck up someone else’s life.”