by T M Kelly
“Miss tough girl,” Lily teased and left the locker room.
I was tough dammit.
2
“I’m Charlie,” I said, putting my hand out toward Jenny. “Is this your first self-defense class here at Fight It Out?”
Jenny’s shoulders were slumped forward, and her head was bent. She did shake my hand but just barely. “Yes,” she said in a whisper.
I knew Malik offered a ten-session class every quarter. Normally the women joined to workout with him. He was a silver fox and could easily forget his T-shirt all day, every day if we had a say in the matter.
“Is there a reason you joined the class?” We didn’t normally ask that question, but she seemed so timid, I was curious.
“Um, no.” I could tell by her facial expression she was lying.
“Okay, well, I’m going to help out and work with you for the ten sessions.”
“Oh.” Her head whipped up to face me. “I can work with you?”
“Yeah, is that okay.”
My words caused her shoulders to straighten and her voice to go a few octaves higher. “Yes.”
Malik talked for about fifteen minutes before actually having the women step onto the mat. The class was divided between Malik and Brooks. They moved each group to opposite sides of the room.
Jenny was standing in the center of the mat looking at both groups. She glanced over at me. “Why are we really working together?”
I sat down and crossed my legs in front of me. “Sit with me.” She followed suit and sat down opposite of me. “When you signed up, you mentioned you needed help because of your husband.”
“They wrote that down?” She sounded shocked.
“Well, since it’s a self-defense class, we find it important to be in tune with each person who signs up.” I reached for her hand. “I can’t relate with your situation completely, but I do understand abusive situations.” I paused for a beat. “Are you in an abusive setting at home?”
Jenny bent her head. “I can’t take it anymore.” Her voice was so low it was hard to hear her.
“Then let’s stop him.”
“How?”
“Tell me what moves we need to work on?”
She didn’t answer for the longest time. When she started to speak, I noticed a tear fall down her cheek. “How to stop him from strangling me.”
I’ll be honest, her words caught me. I felt a lump form in my throat, and it took every ounce of strength I had to avoid crying. The next ten weeks were going to be a test on my soul. “Have you ever done any form of mixed martial arts?”
“Nothing,”
“That’s okay. We’ll take it slow.”
We spent the next fifteen minutes talking about the sport and the best ways to strengthen your body for each move.
“Do you have the ability to workout any other time of the day?”
She shook her head and quickly said, “No.”
“Okay, let’s use this time wisely then.”
There had been many days where I wanted to hit myself for not fighting back with my dad. I knew I should’ve fought back when my dad would hit me. Fear held my hands in place. Something I was sure Jenny could relate to.
“Hey, Malik,” I yelled. When he jogged our way, I noticed Jenny stiffen. “Can you help me show what a rear naked choke hold looks like?”
“Sure,” he said, keeping his distance from Jenny.
I let Malik wrap his legs around my waist from behind. He slid his arm around my neck and pulled back carefully. Since we were showing the move, I didn’t fight against him.
“You can see how he has my neck locked in place with his arm.” I tapped twice on his arm around my neck. “Before he can complete the choke hold, I want to stop his other arm from going behind my head.” I demonstrated reaching for his arm but missing my opportunity. “It happens fast, and if you can’t stop him, he will have his other arm in place before you know it.” I tapped twice for him to let go. “With that hold he has the ability to stop blood flow in my two arteries on my neck and also the back of my neck. I could pass out quickly.”
Jenny cleared her throat. “How do you avoid that hold?”
I leaned up. “Well, number one, avoid him mounting you from behind. If he is behind you”—I placed my body in front of Malik again—“when he reaches around, you quickly lock his one arm under your armpit, and the other you stop with your hand.”
“But what if I’m not strong enough?”
“Fair enough. Then the moment he is behind you and about to wrap his arms around your neck, lift your shoulders up to your ears.” I showed her what I meant. “Having your shoulders up prevents him from wrapping his arms around you and following through on the hold.” Malik made a few attempts to circle his arm around my neck but failed with my shoulders still up.
“I don’t know if I could do it.”
I squeezed Malik’s arm. “Thanks.” It was his cue to leave. “If you let me, Jenny, I want to get you strong enough to be able to follow through on that hold.”
“Oh, excuse me.” She ran over to her bag sitting at the edge of the mat and pulled out a small cellphone. I had a feeling it was her husband on the other end because her face was turning a new shade of white. As she hit end on the phone, she also reached for her bag. “I need to go.”
“You okay?”
“Huh, oh yeah.” I watched her walk quickly toward the door.
“Will I see you next week?”
Jenny reached for the handle and turned her head my way. “I’m not sure.” Then she was gone.
There were ten more minutes left in the class, so Malik and Brooks were busy. I knew I could help them, but I needed a few minutes to myself. As I walked outside, there was a car pulling out of a parking spot. It looked like Jenny behind the wheel. Then a second later, I heard a car skid out of a spot and increase speed down the main drag. Was Jenny in danger?
I had no way to help, but I wanted to.
“Wine or sparkling water tonight?” Brooks asked, opening the refrigerator.
“Just a small amount of wine,” I said, draining the pasta. “Really, I shouldn’t be drinking, but Jenny threw me off tonight, though.”
He handed me a glass. “Did she share why she was taking the class?”
“Well, not in so many words, but kinda.” I poured the meat sauce in a pan with the cooked noodles. “She is there because of her husband, for sure. I have a feeling we may not see her again.”
“Why do you say that?”
I proceeded to share about the car I saw skidding out of the parking lot. “The husband may have followed her to the gym.”
“Hey,” he said, reaching for my hand and pulling me toward him. “Maybe you’re reading too much into this.”
I rested my head on his chest. “Yeah, maybe I am. I don’t know.”
“Not everyone is going through rough family situations.”
I lifted my head up quickly.
“What I mean”—he put his arms up in surrender—“is she may be shy and timid. Her husband could be a good guy that is just overly protective.”
I placed my hand on his check. “I adore that you search for the good in everything.”
“Your dad was not a good person. I do see that.” He walked over and grabbed two bowls. “You’re lucky you left when you did.” Brooks placed the bowls on the table and turned toward me. “My hope is, he saw his kids leave and finally changed his ways.”
“My dad becoming a nice guy and caring about his kids? That happens only in fairytales.”
3
“Put your shoulders up. Drop your head,” Brooks yelled from the outside of the octagon.
My back was plastered up against my opponent’s chest, and I was trying to prevent her from putting me in a complete submission hold. It was easy to teach the move, but when in the situation, my mind became muddled.
Jackie Cantor was a skilled fighter. I had to find a way to prove I was, too. This was my second fight with Spartacus. The firs
t fight I managed to win, but I still had no idea how that was possible. Probably because Spartacus matched me up with an amateur fighter which made my chances of winning stronger.
Tonight, I was up against a skilled fighter. Jackie’s record was twelve wins and four loses. With how she had a hold on me, there was a possibility it would easily become thirteen wins.
The bell rang right as she tightened her arm around my neck. I fell back and sighed with relief. Jumping up, I ran over to the little stool to sit down. Julian was my corner tonight. “You need to lift your shoulders and prevent the choke from even happening.”
“I know.”
Devon was a fighter and also part of my team. He placed an ice bag on my back and one on my chest. “The moment you see her starting to circle her arm around you, grab ahold of her wrist and push it back.”
“Okay,” I said, still out of breath.
Julian bent down to be eye level. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Take this one home. I know you can.”
“Okay.”
Julian rubbed the sweat off my face and reapplied some of the Vaseline around my eyes. “Get it.” Then the bell rang and I stood up.
I hopped back and forth, turned my head in a full circle to the right and then to the left. Jackie was leaping up and down. When she threw her hands up to get the crowd excited, something shifted for me. I wanted this win and needed to find a way to get it. Julian’s words were rolling around in my mind, “Take this one home.” That’s exactly what I planned to do.
The referee had us tap our fists. Then the bell rang and we were off. Jackie leaped forward and threw a high kick that landed on my bicep. The blow knocked me back against the fence. She saw the moment of weakness and lunged forward to throw several punches on my face and chest.
“Move away from the fence. Get out of there,” Julian yelled from the sidelines.
I had to get out of this position or I was going down for the count. Stopping my mind from overthinking, I lifted my body up and threw a punch in her direction. I didn’t think it would land anywhere near her, but somehow it did. The moment I made contact with her face, she took several steps back, allowing me to move away from the fence.
We started to do a dance in the center of the ring. I realized as we circled each other it was time for me to use the moves I was taught. Brooks had spent long hours helping me understand Muay Thai and how to achieve the perfect kick. The moment Jackie stepped forward, I did a spin and high kick. It missed her body by inches. I wasn’t done, though. Dropping the spin, I lifted my leg high enough to kick her against her ear.
Jackie dropped to her knees from the blow. It was moments like this you wanted to check on the person and make sure they were okay. Instead, I ran forward, throwing one punch after another to her face. The referee pushed me aside and knelt down beside Jackie.
Julian ran in and grabbed me around the waist. “Fuck that was amazing.”
I was jumping side to side trying to free myself from the adrenaline rush. Glancing over at Jackie, I saw the on-site doctor was looking her over and helping her to a sitting position. At that moment, I knew she was okay, and I could celebrate fully.
Throwing my hands up, I bent my head back and screamed.
Lily was in the audience watching the fight. At one point, her name was announced, and I saw her raise her hand and wave to the crowd. Her championship title had pushed her to the next level in her career. Something I wanted and planned to get.
When the referee lifted my hand and announced I was the winner by knockout, I ran over to the fence and yelled for Lily to join me. The moment she stepped through the octagon, I threw my arms around her waist. “How the hell did I win that fight? Wait,” I said and ran over to Jackie. I tapped her fist. “Good fight.”
I made my way back to Lily.
“Why are you shocked you won, C? You’re an amazing fighter.”
“Coming from you that means a lot.”
They took a group photo of my team, and I forced Lily to be a part of the action. She stepped away and encouraged them to take a photo without her in it. “You need the one without me for the frame that will be hung on the wall at the gym.”
I wrapped my arm around her waist, and we made our way down the steps. Just as we reached the landing, Chuck Anders, the owner of AFC, walked over. He put his hand out for me. “That was a great fight, Charlie.”
“Um, thank you.” It was weird being in the presence of Chuck. He had this way of knowing who the next big name would be in the fighting community. When Lily won the bantamweight championship, he predicted that would happen. “Shouldn’t you be at an AFC fight and not here at Spartacus?”
“Funny you should ask that,” Chuck said, walking beside us as we made our way to my locker room. “I think we need to talk.”
I stepped into the hallway heading to the locker room. “Me?” I threw my hand to my chest feeling a little confused.
He chuckled, probably at my confused stare. “Yes, you.”
“I have three more fights with Spartacus. I signed a contract.”
“What if I said AFC wants to buy out the remainder of your contract?”
“Holy shit.” I threw my hand over my mouth. “Sorry. I mean, really?”
“We have a fight ticket happening in Liverpool, England. I would love to add you to the ticket. Lily will be a part of the main event to try to keep her title.”
“Not trying,” I said, probably in a rude tone. “She will keep it.”
“Exactly.” He nodded. “I think I want to add you to the preliminary fights for the flyweight division. It won’t be for the belt, but still, I think it would be a great opportunity for you.”
“Um—”
He placed his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll talk to Spartacus.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say yes.” Chuck smiled and turned to walk away.
“Fuck yeah,” I said rather quickly. “Well—”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” He winked and turned to leave.
Lily grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “You may be on a ticket with me, Charlie.”
“Did he say Liverpool?” I said in a bit of a daze.
“Road trip.” Brooks ran up and wrapped his arms around my waist to pick me up and spin me around. “Holy fucking shit.”
“Holy fucking shit is right.” I didn’t know how to process this. I told Dad several years ago I would get into the AFC. He didn’t believe it could happen. A part of me wanted to send a letter that included two hands giving the middle finger. I was bigger than that, though. Instead, I needed to celebrate with my team.
I ran down the hall to my locker room and opened the door to cheers. Devon walked over and pulled a champagne bottle he was holding from behind his back and shook it a little. Before I had a chance to run in the opposite direction, he sprayed the champagne all over me.
Covering my face, I burst out laughing. “So not fair. Where’s my bottle?”
Julian handed me a flute full of champagne. “This may be safer.”
I continued to laugh. As Devon walked toward me, I shook my head and threw my flute of wine right in his direction and lunged forward to hug him. He was soaked and I got my revenge.
We celebrated for another thirty minutes and then decided to take the party back to Julian’s house. He lived in a mansion with Lily.
Suddenly I was missing someone. Brooks. He was standing, talking to Julian and Lily. As I made my way over to him, I thought about all the things I wanted to see happen in my life.
Win a title with AFC.
Take a trip with Brooks.
And maybe add continue helping with self-defense class.
“Hey, sunshine,” he said in his sexy voice I loved so much and pulled me close to his body.
“Hey, yourself.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Should we go to Julian’s place or back home?”
“To Julian’s place,” Lily whined.
/> I pulled Brooks closer, loving the feel of his body next to mine. “But—”
“How about we go for just a short time, and then I can take you home?”
“And I can have my way with you?”
“If you must.” He smiled.
“Oh, I must.”
4
“We need to get a pool.” I stepped into the bathtub. “Oh, better yet, a hot tub.”
Brooks tugged me closer. “I have a hot tub at my place.”
I sat up. “What? Then why the hell are we here?”
He chuckled. “Um—”
I stood up carefully. “Nope, let’s go to your place and skinny dip in the gorgeous hot tub.” I reached for his hand to tug him up. “What are you waiting for?”
Somehow Brooks managed to pull me down on top of his body. The moment I felt his growing erection, my body reacted. “Oh, need to tend to a few things before we bail, eh?”
“Pretty much.”
I turned to face him and straddled his legs. “I know just what to do.” Right as I was about to touch him, my doorbell rang. “What the fuck?”
“Expecting someone?”
“No. You?” I teased and carefully stepped out of the tub. “I’m coming,” I yelled, and grabbed my robe sitting on a stool. I threw it on and headed for the bedroom door.
“Did you have a hot date you forgot to tell me about?” Brooks whispered from behind me.
I shoved at his arm and started down the hallway. As I approached the door, my phone started to go off. “What the fuck is going on?” Reaching for my phone, I lifted up on my tippy-toes and looked through the peephole. I stepped back quickly and read the messages on my phone. Jackson and Ethan were both sending me alerts. “Dad.”
“What?” Brooks sounded confused.
“My dad is here.”
“Here, here?”
I patted his shoulder. “Go put some pants on.” Pulling up the group text for my brothers, I sent them a message back, letting them know it was too late. He was here. Then I walked over to the door and swung it open. “Dad.”
