by H. T. Night
She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and so I got up again and got her a napkin. I handed it to her. She took it without comment and wiped her eyes.
“Look at me, I’m crying like a typical chick.”
“I have news for you, sweetie: you are a chick. And you’re human. You had an extremely traumatic thing happen to you last night. Don’t be so hard on yourself for feeling some aftermath.”
“Josiah, there is so much you don’t know.”
“Like what? Tell me.”
“Stuff.” Lena looked out the window again, this time up into the bright afternoon sky. I had at first thought she was gazing absently into the sky, until I saw her eyes tracking something. I turned and looked, too. There was nothing up there but some birds. Crows, I think.
“What are you looking at?” I asked, not sure why I suddenly cared if she was staring at the sky.
“Nothing.” She turned away and faced me again.
I could tell something was weighing heavy on her mind. So I decided to press, “Are you talking about Atticai and his buddies? Have they done some pretty bad things?”
Lena’s eyes focused on the napkin in her hand as she crumpled and uncrumpled it. I could tell she wanted to tell me something—but was afraid to. “Lena, you can tell me anything.”
“That’s the problem Josiah. I can’t. For your own good. I can’t.”
“For my own good? What will happen to me?”
“Josiah, let’s just change the subject.”
“Or what? Your wannabe vampire friends will try to eat me again?”
Lena took a pen out from her purse. She began writing on her wrinkled paper napkin. When she was done, she handed it to me.
It read: They are not wannabes, Josiah. They are real.
“Real what? Vampires?” I said out loud. “Just because someone decides to dress up like it’s Halloween every day doesn’t make them something that doesn’t exist.”
“Please stop talking about it, Josiah. You have no idea what you are doing or saying.”
“Are you kidding me? Vampires do not exist. For one thing, they were not sparkly in the least.”
“Josiah, please. Don’t even joke about that. There’s so much you don’t know. Please trust me. Don’t talk about it out loud. At all.”
“Why not?”
“Just don’t!”
“Why?”
“Because that’s what Mani want. They want you to know.”
I was confused. “Who the hell are Mani?”
Lena had the kind of look on her face that suggested she had just accidentally revealed the secret location of the Holy Grail, and that despite what Dan Brown says, it’s most certainly not under the Louvre in Paris. Her combination of horror and surprise was almost comical.
“You’re afraid of these Mani people. You better tell me what you are up against, so I can protect you. Help you.”
“Josiah, please. I promise you that someday I will tell you, but right now it’s not safe to talk about it.”
“Talk about what? I’m still lost.”
But Lena was as serious as a heart attack. I couldn’t believe that she thought her friends were really vampires. She was either delusional or on something. She shook her head, and like a little kid, mimed zipping a zipper across her lips, locking it at the corner with a twist and throwing away an invisible key. At that moment, she had never looked so vulnerable. So pathetic. So afraid.
“Okay. I’ll drop it.” For now, I told myself.
“Thank you.”
Chapter Nine
I sat there quietly for a moment. Unfortunately, my brain had a hard time dropping it. It kept replaying the word vampire.
Finally, I said, “Well, tell me this. How did you meet Atticai?”
Lena sighed, leaned back, and crossed her arms just under her chest. “I was at a party in Riverside about two years ago. A typical college party: stupid stunts, drunk assholes, beer bongs, and I was pretty bored, to say the least. I was sitting alone outside, having a smoke, when Atticai approached me. He seemed more out of place at the party than I did. He sat next to me, and we talked for hours. We ended up being the last two at the party. He took me home, and the rest is history.”
“It’s the rest that you can’t tell me about?”
“Not at this moment. But I can tell you that Atticai is the one who started calling me Lena.”
“Your name isn’t Lena?”
“You don’t remember? My name was—is—Donna.”
“Sorry. I remembered your face, but I never knew your name at Eisenhower.”
“Wow, no wonder why I hated jocks so much in high school. You didn’t even know my name.”
“Hey, we never talked. We didn’t have a single conversation.”
“Trust me, that was all you,” Lena said.
“Why is that?”
“I had a little crush on you.”
“You did?” I was extremely surprised to hear that. I wouldn’t have thought a girl like Lena would have given a second glance toward a guy like me.
“Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have your picture hanging in my locker or anything, but I thought you were pretty cute.”
“I wish I would have known.”
“What are you talking about? You didn’t even know my name. You’re were too busy dating cheerleaders and drill team girls.”
“I never dated those types of girls. It might surprise you, but I have always been interested in girls like you.”
“What type of girl do you think a girl like me is?”
I paused. “A thoughtful loner, who thinks independently and doesn’t care what ‘pop culture’ tells her to be like.”
Lena smiled. “I guess that is me. And you liked that?”
“Yeah, because believe it or not, that is how I am. You know, but as a guy.”
“I figured that what you meant. I didn’t think you were having a gender identity crisis.”
“Don’t get me wrong, Lena. I knew your face in high school. You were someone who I thought was hot, but thought I had zero chance with. I figured girls like you hated guys like me.”
She laughed. “Trust me—we did. No one knew I was secretly crushing on you.”
“How funny,” I smiled at Lena.
“Oh, don’t start getting all cocky on me.”
“I’m not getting cocky. Life is funny; that’s all. We never spoke in high school, but yet, after one night, you trusted me enough to let me help you.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“What I mean is, at the time, you were all I had. If you turned out to be a creep, too, like those frat boys, I was shit out of luck. You not only turned out to be a fantastic guy, you kick more ass than any man I had ever seen.”
“Your boyfriend isn’t too bad in his own right.”
“Yeah, but he has an advantage.”
“What advantage is that? That he is so tall?” I laughed.
Lena looked at me as if she would open up to me about something, but then held back. Lena paused and took me in. Her eyes penetrated through me. “I want to trust you, Josiah,” she said. “I hope I can.”
“You can, Donna,” I said, winking at her.
“Please don’t call me Donna. I hate that name immensely.”
“So, why did Atticai rename you Lena?”
“The reason is a little bit on the weird side,” Lena laughed.
“Trust me, nothing you tell me about Atticai would make me think he’s any weirder than I already do.”
“No, this is pretty weird—even for Atticai. Okay, fine. Donna was his mother’s name.”
I paused. Atticai’s fear of an Oedipus complex factoring into their relationship swirled in my brain like curdled milk in hot coffee. “You’re right. That is pretty freaking weird. But I kind of get where he was going with the name change request.”
“I know. Right?”
“Your order is up!” The old man from behind t
he counter yelled out. I got up and grabbed the tray and filled up my Diet Coke. I brought the tray over and set it on the table. Lena tore open her burger wrapper and took a giant bite.
“I’m so hungry,” she said, wiping her mouth.
“Apparently so.” I watched as he devoured her hamburger.
Lena looked up from her burger. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure,” I said. I started to eat my fries first, as I always do. I think I secretly have a salt addiction.
“How much do you get paid to fight?”
“I’m fairly new in the sport. So, I get paid the minimum.”
“Which is?”
“About five thousand a fight.”
“Wow! That’s not bad.”
“It’s not for other fighters. When you only fight every three months, it ends up being a pretty remedial job.”
“Then why choose that profession?”
“I’m hoping I’ll get better and to win over a larger fan base. The idea is to get proficient enough to get on pay-per-view. That’s where the real money is.”
“Well, you’re as tremendous a fighter as I’ve ever seen. I’m sure you’ll get the big pay-per-view fights in no time.” Lena took a couple more bites of her hamburger. I decided to start on my own hamburger. It tasted delicious. This old man behind the counter could make a pretty tasty burger.
When we were done, I took Lena home. I knew she had more on her mind, and somewhere along the way in the conversation, she held back for whatever reason. I dropped her off and was just about to pull out of the driveway when I got a text from Tommy. It was a short text: ‘Get home. Now.’
Chapter Ten
I pulled up to my house and Tommy was outside sitting on the porch steps. I got out of my truck and headed over to him.
“So, what’s up?” I stood there looking at Tommy. He wouldn’t look me in the eye. “Tommy, what’s going on?”
He hesitated. “You know, we got our match-ups today. Aren’t you the least bit curious about who you’re fighting?”
“You know me, Tom. I genuinely don’t care. I fight my fight like an adrenaline maniac, no matter who it is. Look, if you’re pissed off that I took a day off from training...”
“Josiah, you have a tough opponent this time and you better start taking your training very seriously. Don’t be such a dumbass about your career.”
I shrugged. “Who did they give me? Don’t tell me that they gave me Marquez already.”
“No, your opponent is a little tougher than Marquez.”
“Who am I fighting?”
Tommy stood up and walked onto the lawn. He got into the MMA striking stance. And he said, “Me!”
“You?! You’re kidding, right?”
“I wouldn’t have asked you to come straight home if it wasn’t true.”
“Can they do that? I mean, everyone knows we’re practically brothers.”
Tommy laughed. “Josiah, they can do whatever they want. They are the Commission, man. They can make us fight a leopard in the ring if they want to.”
“I don’t understand. They told you this was only going to be a tune-up fight. They know I’ve knocked out everyone in the first two minutes of each of my fights. I’m anything but a tune-up.”
“It’s not your performance in the ring, Josiah. It’s who you are out of the ring. ”
“What does that mean?”
Tommy was getting himself worked up. “It means you don’t take being a fighter seriously, man. It means you get fat every time you’re done training. Don’t you think the trainers see that extra twenty pounds you’re carrying right now? They see you arrive late to do your training, and you’re always the first to leave. You’re looked at as being soft. Lazy!”
“That’s bullshit, and you know—”
“Josiah, they apologized to me that they couldn’t give me a better fighter.”
My ego wounded, my mouth dropped open. “You’re serious?”
He nodded. I knew this wasn’t easy for him.
“They apologized for not getting you a better fighter? And they were talking about me?”
He nodded again. “Look, Josiah, I know you’re tough, and I know what you can do. So, I’m telling you right now that you better train seriously. If I easily kick your ass, the Commission will think you threw the fight, and that would be worse than if I lost to you.”
“I can’t believe you assume that you’re just going to kick my ass. Do you have any idea what I’m capable of?”
“It doesn’t matter how tough you are, Josiah. You and I both know that. When two fighters are as skillful as we are we are, the winner is always the person who trains the hardest and who is the smartest. You and I both know I have you on both points.”
“Says you,” I replied.
“When you measure who has the edge, between you and me, it’s me, Josiah. Me.”
This was the first time in my life I ever wanted to punch Tommy in the face. How could he say these things to me? He was in my corner in each of my knockouts. He saw how easily I manhandled all of my opponents. The nerve of him, thinking he could just roll me over!
“Look,” I said, raising my voice, feeling that familiar surge of adrenaline. It was all I could do to control myself. “Do what you have to do, and say what you have to say to try to get in my head, to beat up my ego, to get your edge squared away out of the ring. Before you get in it, with me. Because there will be no mercy in that ring. None.”
Tommy stiffened, but didn’t reply.
I blasted on. “Tommy, I’m telling you right here and now that this is the worst thing that could have happened to you. You’d better train Rocky Balboa-style. I will not be easy on you. In fact, I will be the exact opposite. I’m going to kick the living shit out of you.”
Tommy had a cocky smirk on his face. “Good, that’s what I want to hear. Our fight is in 24 days. I think it would be best if I stayed over at my grandma’s house until the fight. You know how I get. All machismo. It will be just too weird running into you each day. We’ll end up beating each other’s cocky asses over the last protein bar in the house before we ever set foot in the ring.”
“Do what you have to do,” I repeated. “And don’t eat too much of your grandma’s cooking, or we’ll see who’s too fat on fight day!”
“Hey, you smell like burgers and fries,” Tommy said. “Cut that shit out.”
I brushed past him into the house. I went straight to my room, where I stripped off my shirt and jeans. They did smell of burgers and fries. Now, just in my boxers, I dropped to the floor and cranked out 4 sets of 50 pushups. If Tommy wanted me at the top of my game, then that’s where he was going to find me.
Chapter Eleven
I spent the next two weeks training three times a day.
My days started with a five-mile run and then a four-hour gym session. Each evening I did a six-mile run, just because I could pull it off. One thing I knew I could count on was that my legs were going to feel heavy, and little Daphne was always there to greet me before each run with a loud hawk squawk.
Each night before bed, I would visually play out my game plan against Tommy. My strategy was simple: I was going to strike. I was going to throw a storm of punches and kicks until I knocked him out. My arms and legs would be a blur. Tommy’s strategy would be to get me to the ground. Tommy loved to do submission moves, but there was no way I’d ever give him that chance. Never get under Tommy. I knew this from watching him fight. And he had watched me fight, too, and knew my own secrets for wining.
At the gym, I practiced my ground game with Mike Flores. Mike Flores was an ex-MMA fighter who had to quit cause he blew out his ACL in his knee. Mike had been in my corner in each of my fights, along with Tommy. Mike thought it was naive of me to think that I was just going to knock out Tommy in the first two minutes. We both figured that I needed to go over some ground defense.
So, I did. I worked out intensively with Mike Flores. And as the first week came and went, I h
ad forgotten all about Lena and her crazy friends.
On a Saturday night, with seven days to go before the big match, I decided to take the night off. I was craving a slab of ribs from Hotlanta, a barbecue joint that served up some incredible quality old-fashioned soul food. It was in Riverside, which was about a half hour away, give or take traffic conditions. I could use a pleasant drive. I showered up and put on my only black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. I was in the bathroom combing my hair when I heard a knock on the front door.
I finished the last bit of styling of my beautiful locks and went to answer it. I opened the door and found Yari standing there. She looked incredible. She wore a long white dress that looked like something out of a romance novel. Her hair was fixed up, and her bright red lipstick made the color in her hair stand out.
“Hey there,” I said, surprised as hell.
“Hey, yourself,” she said, in a sultry voice.
I peeked out the door and saw that she seemed to be alone. There wasn’t even a vehicle in sight. “Do you want to come in?”
“Sure.”
“What were you looking for outside?” she asked.
“I don’t know...I thought maybe you had your friends with you.”
“Nope. Just little ol’ me. Sorry if you’re disappointed.”
I grinned. “I’m anything but disappointed,” I said. “I was just surprised to see you, that’s all.” I sat on my couch. Yari walked over and sat next to me, with about a foot separating us.
“I hope it was a pleasant surprise,” she said.
“It was a very nice surprise. You look ‘off the hook’ tonight.”
“Thanks. ‘Off the hook?’ I have never been told that before,” she giggled, almost girlishly. Which was odd coming from her. She normally behaved with an air of confidence that only the most beautiful women seem to have. You know, the kind of women who receive a steady stream of compliments by every man that enters their vicinity. “You’re looking nifty, too. Were you going somewhere?”
“I was just going to get a bite to eat.”
