by A. L Long
I never met Angelo, but based on the tone of the man’s voice, I was ninety-nine percent sure it was him.
Hearing the door open and then close, I was pretty sure I was left with the guy inside. Removing the black sack from my head, I was standing inside a room with no windows. The only thing inside was a metal chair and a television set, which was placed directly in front of the chair. Looking at the man beside me with a confused look, he pushed me down on the chair and said in a deep, arrogant voice. “Mr. Conti wants to make sure you watch what your future will bring.”
I should have known that he would have found some way to televise the fight. As the arrogant man secured my hands and feet to the chair, I swore then that the plan my dad had arranged had better work, because if it didn’t, I would come back from the grave and haunt him for eternity. Unable to move, I felt more helpless than I had ever felt in my life. I hated not being in control.
Angelo’s man stepped over to the TV and turned it on. The picture that appeared on the screen was snowy, which led me to believe that this fight was only being shown to those who had a stake in it. Switching the channels, a fighting ring appeared with a crowd of people sitting around the perimeter. I don’t know what Angelo’s game was, but as clear as the ring was, he must have wanted me to have a good view of the fight.
Watching the screen with gritted teeth, I could feel my hands grip the arms of the chair with intense rage. The minute Nikki appeared on the screen, my whole body tensed and my anger spun out of control. She looked nervous as hell. Like she knew something that I didn’t.
When the other woman appeared that Nikki was supposed to fight, I lowered my head, praying that Nikki would take a fall as soon as the first punch hit her. There was no way she would be able to survive a fight against this he-woman. She had to be twice the size of Nikki, with every inch of her body covered in muscles. More than anything, I was afraid for Nikki and what damage this woman could do to her. I could feel the tension beginning to build once again.
Focusing on the TV, I couldn’t hear what was being said, but knew the minute Nikki and the he-woman entered the ring, the fight was close to beginning. A few minutes later a man entered the ring. My guess was that he was the announcer or referee. I watched as Nikki and Black Jewel walked up to the man. Even with the man’s height, Black Jewel towered over him. How could this fight possibly be even fair? It didn’t surprise me that the odds of Nikki winning this fight were so high. Looking at Nikki and then at Black Jewel, I could tell the man was instructing them in the do’s and don’ts of the fight.
When the two of them knocked gloves, Nikki was pushed back by the force of the punch. Whoever this woman was, I had a funny feeling she wasn’t going to be playing fair.
Watching Nikki getting the shit knocked out of her wasn’t what I wanted to see. I was yelling at her at the top of my voice to take a fall. I knew she couldn’t hear me, but I couldn’t understand why she would allow Black Jewel to continually pounce on her. When the third round ended and the fourth one began, I thought for sure Nikki would have had enough. The only thing that I could think of was that she wanted to make sure it looked real when she did finally decided to throw the fight.
Just by looking at Nikki, I could tell that she was in pain. There was a pretty good cut above her right eye and her lip was cut open as well. I could also see a deep red area along her side where Black Jewel continued to punch and kick her. Turning my sights for just a minute, unable to watch the abuse on the TV, I saw Nikki fall to the mat from the corner of my eye. Finally, she was ready to call it quits. When the referee began counting, which I could see as he changed the positions of his fingers through each number, Nikki was beginning to stir, almost like she was trying to stand. Yelling at the screen, I ordered, “Baby, stay down, stay down.”
It didn’t matter, she couldn’t hear me. Somehow I needed to get out of here. As much as I tried to get out of my bindings, it was no use. The harder I pulled, the tighter they got. I felt totally helpless. Unable to help her. To let her know that I was fine and to just stay down. Why didn’t the referee call the fight? It was clear to see that Nikki was struggling to get up.
My stomach was in knots as I continued to watch the screen. I couldn’t believe how much fight Nikki had in her. Hearing the door open, I turned my focus from the screen to see one of Angelo’s cronies entering.
“Looks like your little girlfriend is having a little problem following instructions,” he barked.
Without looking at him, I cursed, “Go fuck yourself.”
Lifting my chin, he looked at me with disgust before he planted his fist in my gut. I guess he didn’t like my suggestion, because no sooner than his fist was in my stomach, his other one followed suit on my face. Looking up at him, I spit the blood that tinged my mouth on the side of the chair.
“I suggest you worry about your little girlfriend following through with Mr Conti’s arrangement instead of worrying about who I’m fucking,” he said with a chuckle, before he left the room.
I knew the fight was close to being over, or so I thought. Of all the things that were going on, the last thing I expected was for Nikki to go after Black Jewel full force. “What the hell are you doing, Nikki?” I yelled, inside the small room.
Watching Black Jewel stumble, I think she was surprised as much as I was. It was only a matter of time that my life would soon be over. Something changed. There had to be reason why Nikki would be doing this. Someone else must have gotten to her. Changed her mind. Why?
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Nikki
Everyone had a choice in life. Mine was to live or die. When I saw Black Jewel enter the arena, I knew that there was no way I would ever be able to beat her. She was at least 5’11’ and looked more like a man than a woman. She could have been Grace Jones’ sister, except her muscles were bigger and bulging everywhere on her body. Standing there dumbfounded, I was nudged by Rich, who ended up being my coach for this fight. Looking over to him, he could see that I was nervous that this woman would mash me like a hot potato.
“Size isn’t everything Nikki. Remember what I taught you,” he said with confidence.
I looked over to him thinking, “Are you serious?” before turning my focus back to the woman in a man’s body. “She’s going to kick my ass.”
The referee signaled for us to come forward as Rich was making the final adjustments to my wrappings. Standing, I headed to the older man and stood on his left, while Neanderthal woman stood on his right. He checked the adhesive tape on my hands and then my mouth guard first, before he checked hers. This must have been standard procedure for a fight of this magnitude. Usually, only the outside of the gloves were checked for anything sharp or hard that shouldn’t be there.
When he finished his inspection, he looked over to Black Jewel and then to me as he recited the rules. “Here’s how it is going to be, ladies. No holding your opponent’s shorts or gloves. No butting with the head. No biting or spitting. No hair pulling, fish-hooking, or eye gouging of any kind. I want a good, clean fight,” he ordered as he looked between us.
Almost losing my balance when we tapped fists, I walked back to my designated corner where Carlos was standing on the other side of the ring. He didn’t look to be very happy. With his index finger, he gestured for me to lower my body to his level. As his lips came to my ear, he began to whisper in a seething breath. My eyes began searching the arena, until she came into view. I would know her anywhere. My eyes began to tear up. I couldn’t believe, after all this time, she was actually here.
Hearing the sound of the bell, Rich patted me on the shoulder and moved between the ropes until he was off the mat. Approaching Black Jewel, the first punch took me by surprise. In all the fights I’ve had, never had a fighter come at me like she did. Feeling a little dazed from the punch, I lost my footing and ended up on the mat. One thing I knew, I needed to protect myself better.
Coming at me again, she landed yet another punch. This time it was to my side, which knocked the breath f
rom my lungs. I wasn’t able to back away from her before the heel of her foot landed in the same spot. Every punch and kick she gave landed one right after the other. Sometimes on my face, but mostly on my side.
I needed to get my head into the fight. I was thankful when the round was over. Rich was waiting for me. Unlike the actual rules of legal MMA fights, there are no physicians available to call the fight off. As long as you could still fight, you continued. Another difference was that most MMA fights took place in a cage where the fighters were protected from falling off the mat. I had a funny feeling rules meant nothing to this woman.
As I sat on the small stool, Rich took a look at the cut above my right eye. It wasn’t deep enough to cause any concern, but he put some adhesive ointment on it just in case, for added protection.
Round three was worse than round one and two. I actually thought I was going to die. My side hurt so bad that I had a hard time lifting my arm high enough to throw a punch. I knew Black Jewel knew this. She knew the exact place to hit me. Keeping my sore side out of her reach as best I could, she still managed to find a way to get to it. I wasn’t sure how much more abuse I could take. When the round ended, I gazed over to Carlos. He opened his suit coat just enough to show me the gun he was carrying. I wasn’t sure how he got it past security, unless he had someone on the inside. I knew exactly what it meant. My mind was even more fuzzy and it wasn’t just from the numerous punches I got from Black Jewel. I was torn about what was the best thing to do. Either choice would leave someone dead.
Walking to the center of the ring, I had made a hard decision. I only hoped it wasn’t the wrong one. With everything I had, I went after Black Jewel with vengeance. She had her fun, now it was my turn. With a left and then a right, I concentrated on the skills I learned, and blocked out the pain that my body had endured. When she stumbled back, I went after her again, only this time it was a kick to her right side. I kept after her, throwing punches, one right after the other, until her skin was a bright shade of red. ‘Do unto others,’ my mom used to always say. I say, “Fuck that.” I wasn’t going to let anyone have a piece of me ever again.
Black Jewel either lost her footing or my last punch must have hit her just right, because as I lifted my head, she was on the mat, trying to push herself to her feet. The referee had motioned for me to move back. As I waited for his signal, I watched her slowly rise to her feet. Shaking her head, she set her eyes on me, and boy, was she pissed. I took it that she had never been laid on the mat before.
She was coming at me with full vengeance. I lifted my hands to my chest and waited for her to land the first punch to my already beaten face, only it didn’t come. It was like her efforts were in slow motion. Ducking and swinging my body out of her sight, I punched her in the head with everything I had. When she began to wobble on her feet, I twisted around her and planted a punch to the other side of her face. Watching her mouthpiece fall to the mat, my eyes focused on her and I saw something I thought I would never see again. It was the same blank look that Mandy gave me before she fell to the mat.
I took in a deep breath and shouted, “No,” as I watched her body fall to the mat. Being pulled by Rich to the other side of the ring, I waited, hoping that I didn’t just end the life of another fighter. Putting my gloves over my face and facing the crowd, I heard the referee call the fight. There were cheers coming from the arena, but all I could see was Carlos, smiling as he walked away. Pulling off my gloves, I didn’t wait around to be announced the winner. I needed to follow Carlos and find out where he was going.
Jumping off of the four-foot platform, I began working my way through the crowd. Just when I thought I was clear, a strong arm pulled me to the side. Looking over to see who had a grip on my arm, I looked up to hear him say, “We need to get you out of here.”
~****~
Ash had such a tight grip on my hand, I guessed it was so that he wouldn’t lose me. Pulling on his hand, I got his attention to let him know that I needed for him to stop. “Ash, slow down, I need to tell you something.”
Looking at me with concern, he commanded, “Nikki, you can tell me later. You should have thrown the fight.”
“I couldn’t, Ash,” I answered back trying to hold back my tears. “He has my mom.”
“What are you talking about, Nikki?” Ash questioned as we continued walking
“She isn’t dead. If I didn’t win, he was going to kill her. I had to win,” I cried.
“Come on. We will sort all this out later. Right now we need to get you out of here.”
I wasn’t sure where Ash was taking me, but the only thing I could think about was what a mess everything was. Choosing to save my mom or my freedom shouldn’t have been a choice I had to make. Carlos knew exactly what he was doing. He must have found out about why Carly was really at the mansion. He knew all along what I had planned. I just couldn’t believe that my mom was still alive. After all this time.
~****~
Pulling up to the shop there were other vehicles parked in front. None of which were Sly’s Jeep. My heart fell into my chest. Looking over to Ash, I asked, “Where is Sly? I don’t see his Jeep.”
“We’ll explain when we get inside,” Ash replied.
“No!” I demanded. “Tell me now, Ash. Where is he?”
Ash lowered his head, which told me that what he was about to say wasn’t good. Looking up at the shop he began, “Angelo Conti made a deal with Jagged Edge. He said he would help us get into the fight with one stipulation. He needed to make sure that he got his end of the bargain, so he took Sly as collateral.”
“What do you mean, collateral?” I asked desperately.
“If, for some reason, you didn’t lose as planned, then Sly’s life would be taken in exchange,” Ash choked out.
“Oh God…, what have I done?” I sobbed, placing my head in my hands.
“There was no way you could have known, Nikki. All Sly wanted you to know was your freedom was the exchange. You couldn’t have known that Carlos would have pulled his own assurance for you.”
“But, Sly could be dead, Ash,” I murmured.
“If I know Sly, I’m pretty sure he would have found some kind of back-up plan. He wouldn’t have offered his life so freely.”
“Then where is he?” I shouted uncontrollably.
“Can we please go inside? Maybe Peter and the rest of the guys have some answers,” Ash suggested.
As I got out of the car, all I could think about was Sly. What if something went wrong and he didn’t have the chance to put his back-up plan into play? What if Angelo caught on to his plan just like Carlos did with me? After all, they were of the same bloodline.
When Ash opened the door to the shop, all the guys were there. All of them except Hawk, who was in Kierabali with Isabelle. As I looked around, Brie, who was standing next to her husband Cop, and Lilly, Peter’s wife, were even here. I had this awful feeling inside me, just like the day that Carlos showed up at my door, that something was wrong. With my eyes soaked in tears, a little sliver of happiness filled my heart as Romeo came up behind them, running towards me the minute he saw me.
Brie and Lilly walked over to me, each giving me a hug, hoping to comfort me while Romeo, as small as he was, jumped into my arms and began licking my face.. Looking at me, Brie said sternly, “He’s okay, Nikki, and don’t you dare think otherwise.”
I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to believe her. And when Lilly looked at me the same way, I knew she was thinking the same thing. While Lilly and Brie were comforting me, Peter’s cell began to ring. Breaking our circle, I placed Romeo on the floor and walked over to Peter to find out who was calling.
“Yeah, I understand. Are you sure?” Peter paused. “Let me tell her.”
Looking Peter in the eye, I knew something was terribly wrong. It had to be bad by the look on his face. “What is it, Peter?” I asked as Lilly came up beside me, placing her hand in mine.
“It’s Sly. He can’t be found.”
C
HAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Sly
I wasn’t sure what was going on with Nikki, but the minute Black Jewel hit the mat, I knew my life was over. I hadn’t heard from my father, and I knew in a matter of minutes Angelo’s men would be coming through the door to take care of business.
Staring at the snowy screen, I wondered why no one had come through the door. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but I was pretty sure that it had to have been over an hour. Just when I thought maybe my life would be spared, the door opened. Taking in a deep breath, I closed my eyes and prayed that my execution would be as painless as possible.
Feeling the bindings on my hands loosen, I heard a voice I recognized right away, “We need to hurry,” my father said, sawing through the zip-ties that kept my hands bound together.
“It’s about fucking time.” As pissed as I was, I couldn’t have been more happy to see my father than I was at that moment. Freeing my feet, my father pulled a gun from his jacket and handed it over to me. Pulling out the clip, I checked to make sure it was fully loaded. Focusing my eyes on my father, I watched as he carefully turned the knob on the door, and easily began pulling it open. Listening for any movement, he peeked his head out the cracked door to see if anyone was around. Seeing that the coast was clear, he led me down the hall.
