by H. T. Night
“Technically, there are no human trafficking laws being broken. The last time I checked none of my fighters were human.” Romero smiled at me with a devilish look.
I needed to hold my ground. I didn’t need this shit. I was sick and tired of Romero and he was going to hear it from my lips. “Say what you will, but we’re going to work something out tonight, or there’s going to be a lot of bloodshed starting with you, little man.”
“Little man?” Romero looked as if he was going to come out of his skin. “Are you threatening me? You think I’m going to let some Mani thug come into my house and threaten me?”
“Call it what you want, you either work out a deal with me, or I’m taking Tommy and if you try to stop us, the first one to die will be you.”
As of that moment, every gun in the place was now pointed at Tommy and me.
Guns don’t scare me. That can’t even kill me.
“You might as well have all guns in this arena pointed at me. Guns don’t intimidate me. So what’s it going to be? Are we going to work out an honest deal? Or am I mopping up this joint, starting with your face?”
Romero couldn’t believe what I had just said. He stared at me for what felt like an entire minute. Then Romero began laughing. “You are one crazy motherfucker! Holy shit, the balls on this kid!” He stared at me and I didn’t flinch. Then he calmly said, “We’ll work out a deal. Meet me upstairs in five minutes.”
“It’s just going to be you and me up there,” I said. “You can have your ‘entourage of camouflage’ stay outside.”
“Isn’t it always just you and I, Josiah?”
Chapter Twenty
I entered Romero’s suite and once again he was planted in his chair. “You’re fearless, aren’t you, Josiah?”
“I have to be. I’ve never had a choice.”
“Have you always been that way?” Romero was looking me over and I couldn’t tell if he was turned on or impressed. It didn’t matter to me, both concepts I could give two shits about at the present moment.
“I’ve been kicking ass for quite a long time. It’s all I know, it’s the one thing I’m sure I can do.” I was still standing by the door. I wasn’t sure if I trusted him. I was a little skittish. Having ten automatic weapons pointed at you minutes earlier kind of does that to you.
“It’s refreshing having someone talk the way you did to me in there. I have had ‘yes’ men around for almost twenty years.”
“I bet you have,” I said.
“It’s annoying.”
“I could only imagine.” Even though I had followers, the last thing I had was ‘yes’ men.
“Okay, Josiah, because of your little war tonight, I lost ten fighters.”
“Seven,” I said, correcting him.
“So you do know the number?”
“I’m only repeating the number you said earlier.”
“You and I both know some of my men died for your little cause. That costs me money. That is what we need to work out first. And not to mention Tommy is going to be on injury reserve for the next six months.”
“It’s going to be three months.”
“Three, six, doesn’t matter to me. All I see is lost dollar signs.”
“I bet you do. So, let me get this straight, you need for me to pay off all seven debts. Let me guess. You want me to fight in their place?”
“That assumption is pretty accurate,” Romero said.
“Look, I fully understand the kind of operation you’re running here. You prey off of other people’s greed and misfortune. This isn’t the ‘day spa’ that you made this place out to be. These are a bunch of guys basically fighting for their lives on a nightly basis. You insinuated they were all getting paid. The part that I can’t figure out is how I was different?”
Then it hit me. Romero just wanted me close. He was never intending to ever pay me a dime. He was waiting for me to make a mistake so I would owe him, too. In this case, he lucked out that I offered up Tommy when I was drunk and didn’t even realize it at the time.
“That’s neither here nor there, Josiah, someone needs to pay up.” Romero was now in full Donald Trump, businessman mode. He was going to get what he wanted or I wasn’t going to leave the room. I knew I didn’t have a lot of leverage, but I had some, because he needed me. I sure as hell didn’t need him.
“You do understand,” I said. “I could say, ‘Screw Tommy! Kill him!’ And I could easily fight my way out of here.”
“Really? You would say that about your dearest friend in the world? Even after he saved your ass with Krull? I don’t see someone with your integrity doing that kind of thing.”
Romero sure knew a lot. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought he had one of his guys out there fighting alongside me just so we would be having this conversation right now.
“If you think I’m afraid of looking over my shoulder,” I said, “then you’re wrong. Looking over my shoulder is all I know. I sleep with one eye open, and don’t trust a damn person.
“All right, then we’ll kill Tommy and you fight your way out of here.” Romero stared at me, and I stared back at him. It was a good old fashioned stare down of who was going to blink first.
“Let me know if that’s the plan, because it’s just you and I in a small room,” I said, as threatening as I could.
“What makes you think I haven’t killed him already and I’m just waiting to kill you?” Romeo asked.
I knew he was bluffing just like he knew I was bluffing about killing Tommy. “I know you’re bluffing because you’re a businessman,” I answered. “And you’re not stupid.”
“That’s one thing I know I’m not… stupid.”
“I have a proposal.”
Romero’s serious stare turned to a warm smile. “All right, let’s hear the proposal.”
“Okay, it seems to me that the number ‘seven’ is the lucky, or unlucky, number here. Tommy has seven fights left and you lost seven fighters tonight.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”
“The way I see it, it’s all about promoting the best possible fight on both our ends. The money is obviously out there. We just need ‘a fight’ that will bring in giant revenue.”
“I like what I’m hearing so far. Go on.”
“Tommy is already built up, so he needs very little promotion. The problem is actually with me.”
“With you? What problem would that be?” Romero asked.
“No one knows who the hell I am. So…you give me seven fights over the next three months while Tommy heals. You have me fight whomever and whatever you want. I can fight vampires, werewolves, zombies…you name it. I’ll fight Smokey the Bear if it draws a crowd. I don’t care! Just make sure it’s the best you can get so this crowd will start seeing my abilities and will keep paying more to see me.”
Romero had a big goofy grin on his face. He obviously loved my idea. “Go on,” he said.
“I will build momentum, and you tell all your millionaire and billionaire patrons that Tommy’s taking a small break. But he’s going to come back for a super match.”
“A super match? What kind of super match?” Romero asked.
That was a good question, so I took a moment to think it out. I thought about the fact I owed seven debts and then it hit me. I came up with an amazing idea.
“In one night, Tommy will fight seven times. We’ll call it ‘A Night of the Seven Deadly Sins.’ Each of his opponents will represent one of the seven deadly sins. Have a fat piece of shit to stand in for Gluttony and a greedy person for Greed, and so on. The final fight will be Envy.”
“And who will he fight for Envy?” Romero asked.
I smiled and said, “Me.”
“You? Oh, I do love this idea. “
“Trust me. Tommy is pretty envious of me. And to be honest, in many ways I am also envious of him. So it’s a perfect concept.”
“I do have one question for you, Josiah?”
“Go for it,” I said.
“Don’t you think you’re setting up your best friend to fail or even get killed?”
I thought about it and I knew in my heart that Tommy could pull it off. Tommy was the greatest fighter I had ever known, and when it got to me, we would work something out, but Romero didn’t have to know that. This was the fastest way for us to be rid of Romero so both of us could go on with our lives and no longer be indebted to him.
“Tommy can handle himself. He’s the toughest man on the planet as far as I’m concerned,” I said. “He’ll be fine.”
Romero had a smile from ear to ear. He loved the idea. Then he decided to go all ‘businessman’ one more time for good measure. “That’s only fourteen fights,” he said.
“Each one of my ‘super fights’ will pay off the debt of one of the fighters that died tonight. You could build the fights up and bring in more cash from one of my fights than if each of those guys fought a hundred times for you.”
Romero nodded. He knew I was giving him an amazing offer. “I like that deal as far as you and I are concerned, Josiah. But the deal Tommy and I had previously is off. He owes me more than seven fights.”
“Why? He never lost. He got injured. Our deal said nothing about an injury. Come on, Romero, you’re a smart, savvy businessman. This plan is brilliant. Plus you can fight me seven of the next twelve weeks.”
Romero smiled. He paused and then put out his hand. “It’s a deal.” I shook his hand and I couldn’t believe what I just agreed to do. Not only was I going to fight seven times for this madman, I had agreed to fight an eighth one against my best friend. I can’t even think about what I was going to put Tommy through, but this had to be done.
This should be very interesting.
Chapter Twenty-one
Still questioning my own sanity, I went back to the Gary’s training room. What the hell did I just get myself into?
Tommy’s leg had been wrapped up by Gary, and he was on crutches. “We’re good?” Tommy asked.
“We’re good, Tommy,” I said.
“What did you offer?”
“Pretty much both of our souls.”
“Seriously?” Tommy looked concerned.
“Not quite, but I did agree to do a couple of free fights for him and he agreed to give you three months to train and get healthy for a ‘super fight.’
“A super fight?” Tommy did not like the sound of that.
“I’m not going to lie to you, Tommy. It’s going to be the toughest thing you have ever done.”
“Am I going to fight more than twice in a night?” Tommy asked.
“That’s an understatement.”
“What did you agree to, Josiah?”
“You’re going to fight seven guys back to back.”
“Back to back? Seven? Are you kidding me?”
“Nope.”
“They are going to be chumps at least, right?”
“Not quite. It will be seven of the best fighters he has. He’s calling it, ‘A Night of the Seven Deadly Sins.’”
“I have to admit, that’s a pretty good title,” Tommy grinned.
“I actually came up with it.”
“Nice.”
“Look Tommy, just worry about getting better. I’m going to take you to Yari’s townhouse in Hollywood. Take the next two months and get healthy. Do free weights but stay off your leg.”
“What about you?” Tommy asked.
“I’m going to have to fight some beasts. Carni, Mani, King Kong, whatever he wants to throw at me.”
“I can’t have you do that.” Tommy shook his head at me and I could tell he was disgusted how deep he had me into this.
“Tommy, you came through for me tonight in a big way. I’m going to come through for you. When all this is said and done we’ll have something to talk about in our old age. In our case, our very, very old age.”
“Honestly, Josiah, most of this shit I wouldn’t mind forgetting.”
“Me, too. Let’s get out of here.” With that, Tommy and I took off out of the complex.
I transitioned into the eagle and flew high enough so we couldn’t be seen. I carried Tommy in my talons. We had a good system down where he was pretty comfortable. He would lie flat and I would dig into his clothing and fly with him across the sky.
I dropped Tommy off at Yari’s and left him with about $3,000 in cash. “Get better,” I said.
“I will.”
I shook my friend’s hand and there was no talk of Lena. It was better that way. I made my way back to Victorville before morning. I was beat. I crawled into bed next to Lena and held her as hard as I could without waking her.
“I love you,” I whispered. That was one thing I knew for sure. I held Lena all night and day as the morning came. My mind was pretty stimulated considering the outrageous night I’d had.
Lena rolled over and said, “Good morning, night flyer.”
“Good morning,” I answered.
“Should I even ask what happened last night?”
“You can ask,” I answered her.
“Okay, how did a ‘30 minute I need to get some air fly’ result into you stumbling in here at five o’clock in the morning?”
“You want the Reader’s Digest version, or the detailed story?”
“Just tell me what took you so long.”
“To make a long story short, I was attacked by Krull and his crew.”
“Are you okay?” Lena was now very concerned.
“I got through it.”
Lena waited for me to elaborate but I didn’t want to talk about the fight and especially about Tommy. I had no idea how she’d react to us seeing each other. I didn’t want to keep the fact I was going to be prize fighting in Tijuana from her, but I couldn’t quite figure out a good way of bringing it up. There are some things that even the ‘love of your life’ is better off not knowing.
Lena rubbed my stomach softly. “What’s it like to constantly fight for your life? I can’t imagine the stress you’re under.”
“We’re all under the same stress,” I said. “I just take the brunt of the physical part for the entire group. I didn’t sign up for it, but there is little I can do about it now.”
Lena nodded and I could tell something was weighing heavily on her mind. “Is something wrong?”
“Josiah, we need to talk.” Lena sounded extremely serious. Great, she knows something’s up.
“Okay, what is it?” I asked.
“I don’t know how to tell you this,” she continued.
Okay, this was serious. Lena never talks like this. “What is it?” I asked, really not wanting to know.
“Josiah...”
“Yes...”
“This is so bizarre. I never thought I would ever get to say this out loud.”
“Lena, what is it?”
“Josiah, I’m pregnant.”
Chapter Twenty-two
I stared at Lena blankly. My mind was going a hundred miles an hour. I had a million questions. The main was ‘how’?
Everything I knew and had seen said that once a woman became a Mani, she was infertile. There was no possible way a Mani woman could get pregnant. Finally I said, “How is that possible, that you are pregnant?”
“I don’t know. I mean, I know how I got pregnant. I’m not sure how my body is able to be pregnant.”
“How do you know for sure?” I asked.
“I’ve taken seven pregnancy tests and they all say I’m pregnant.”
“Are you sure you’re pregnant, maybe you make the pregnancy test go haywire because you’re a vampire?”
“Josiah, I just know that I am.”
“How do you know?”
“I can feel it. I can feel my body changing. Trust me; I have as many questions as you do. But one thing I know for sure. At this very moment, I’m carrying our child.”
“Our child?” I asked.
“Who else’s child would it be?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you’re like Mary and you had a miraculous conc
eption!”
“No, Josiah. There is nothing miraculous about this, other that I’m carrying your baby.”
“My baby…” I said, calmly.
“Yes. That’s whose baby this is.”
I looked at Lena’s stomach. I reached out and touched it. Could this really be true? Could she be carrying my baby?” How is it even possible that two vampires could conceive a child?
I looked up at Lena and gave her a comforting smile and said, “Lena, we will figure all this out.”
Lena looked back at me and I could tell she needed me. She needed for me to tell her everything was going to be okay. I exhaled and said, “If you are truly pregnant, then this is a divine situation. You and I are going to be parents.”
“Aren’t you scared?” she asked.
“I don’t know what that feeling is anymore. What I do know is that I love you and I ‘m going to love our child with every bit of me.” I once again smiled at Lena. Lena nestled her head into my chest. I leaned back and held her calmly. This was an amazing twenty-four hour period. “Lena,” I said. “There is someone we’ll need to speak to. I think there was someone who knew this was going to happen.”
“The Deity?” Lena asked.
“Yes. She did everything but tell me straight out that this would come to pass. Now her cryptic speech makes perfect sense. I thought she was only talking about the Mani people. I see now that she was also talking about our child.”
“When should we go see her?” Lena asked.
“Are you okay to transition?”
“I think so.”
“I don’t know if transitioning will be a good thing,” I said, “especially as the baby grows.”
“Then we better see her quickly,” Lena said.
I agreed that this was something we needed to do ASAP. “We’ll go tonight when it gets dark.”
We both closed our eyes and just held each other for a couple of hours. I eventually got up and went back to my room to lie on my bed and think. For the rest of the day, I was in a fog. I kept it quiet that Lena was pregnant and I told Lena not to tell anyone. Unfortunately, we couldn’t trust anyone with this kind of information. At least, until we understood it better ourselves.
