A Life Worth Fighting

by Brenda Kennedy

  “I did. Dove was there and she’s doing a story on Brooke.”

  “That was nice. I’m sure it’ll be a great article.”

  “Dove is an excellent reporter.”

  “Did you have help with the cleanup?”

  “Mason and Brice stayed and did all the heavy lifting.”

  “Leave everything else, and I’ll do it tomorrow.”

  “It’s done. Emma, Molly, Brooke, my mom, your mom, Jo, and Bethany all helped. We are actually still here at the shop watching the fight.”

  “The big screen finally paid off,” I joke. I bought this over a year ago, and it’s probably the first time it has been on. Apparently, TVs and bookstores do not belong together.

  “Yeah, great purchase you made there, Ace.”

  “I have to go, I’ll call you as soon as I kick this joker’s ass.”

  “Be careful. I love you, Robert.”

  “I will and I love you both, too.”

  I begin to hang up and yell, “Leah?”

  “Yeah?”

  “This fight’s for the baby,” I say before I disconnect the phone.

  I sit down and let the music build my adrenaline as Gus and Dad finish wrapping my hands. Leah’s father, Tim, stands at the door, looking out into the crowd. The music is blaring in my ears, and I can’t hear anything else. This is exactly the way I like it. I close my eyes to block out the activity around me. I focus on the music in my ears and the hatred I have for the man who killed my daughter. This fight is for my unborn baby. Someone hits my arm and I know it’s time to go. Tim and Dad help me with my robe that Leah and Jamie bought me, and I place my phone and earbuds in the pocket of my robe. Gus massages my back and shoulder before leaving the room. I move my head side to side to work out the kinks. When I hear my name, we head to the ring. The lights flash, the fans scream, and my dad, Gus, and Leah’s dad, Tim, surround me, keeping me out of reaching distance from the crowd.

  When I see the camera, I kiss my glove and wave. Leah will know this is for her. I don’t smile; I have my killer game face on. The hatred I have for the man who killed Jamie is raw in my head. I get into the ring, they introduce me, and I hold my gloved hand up and slowly turn around, making sure to face all the fans in the entire room. Without them, I wouldn’t be here. I sit down and wait. I replay the song in my head and keep my focus. I’m not cocky and I’m not here for a good time. Leah tells me to get in and get out of the ring. Gus tells me to play for the camera. Give my fans a show. I’m done playing. Leah wants it quick so I’ll finish this fight quickly for her.

  I hear the announcer say, “This is an important fight for Bobby ‘The Rock’ Grether. Two years ago, he was a legitimate contender to fight Abel Kennedy for the championship. If he wins tonight, he can move once more into legitimate contender status.”

  Gus inserts my mouthpiece and it’s time to dance. My opponent is Cain “The Snake” Johnson. He is the same height and build as me. I watched him many times over the past two months on YouTube and Break.com. I have his moves down to a science. The bell goes off and I take my stance. He swings and misses. I swing and make contact. He’s stunned but doesn’t fall. This is for my unborn baby. I turn and hit him as hard as I can on his left temple. He’s dazed and falls. He doesn’t get up and he’s down for the count. The referee stands in between us and I know to move further away from him. They are afraid I’ll pounce on him when he can’t defend himself. What kind of animal would do that? I wait anxiously for the count of 10 and then I raise my own hand.

  Dad, Gus, and Tim congratulate me. I can see the shock and the excitement in their faces. I don’t look at my opponent. I stare straight ahead. The fans hold up signs, and some girls lift their shirts to expose their red bras that match my red and white boxing robe. Some have words that they wrote on their bodies: “The Rock,” “Grether,” “I love you,” and “Will you marry me?” to name a few. I laugh and think, Hell, no, I’ll never marry you.

  I hear the announcer say, “Kennedy can’t ignore The Rock now. The Rock is a legitimate contender to fight Kennedy for the championship. There are other contenders, but The Rock has been mighty and mightily impressive today. This fight took less than one minute.” Maybe this is what it will take to get Kennedy out of hiding.

  I wave to my fans before leaving the ring.

  “Book my flight home,” I say before I am even in the room.

  “Let’s check you out first,” Gus insists.

  “For what? He didn’t even hit me.”

  I look at Leah’s dad, Tim, and nod towards him. “Book it, I wanna get back to Leah.”

  Gus and Dad start removing my gloves, and Gus wonders what people will say about the fight ending so quickly. “They pay good money to see a fight,” Gus begins.

  “And that’s what I’m giving them,” I insist. “A good fight need not last 12 rounds. The best possible fight can be over in five seconds.”

  Tim says, “Flights booked for the red eye. We leave in three hours.”

  “Thanks, Tim, I appreciate it.”

  Once the gloves are off, I stand up and look out into the arena. The paramedics are still in the ring, attending to my opponent. Some of the fans are leaving and some are staying taking pictures. Why anyone would want to take photos of an injured man is beyond me. I close the door. “I’m going to shower and then I’ll be ready to leave for the airport.”

  “Hurry up, we have to clean out our things at the hotel,” Gus says.

  I call Leah to let her know I’m fine and I’ll be home in a few hours. “Sounds like a party,” I say as I hear laughter in the background.

  “It is. Mason and Brice just won a ton of money, I think.”

  “Good, how are you?” I ask.

  “Fine, I’m glad it didn’t take very long.”

  “You’re the only one.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Ace, did he even hit you?” she asks.

  “Nope. I’m going to shower and I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  “Good, I love you and I’ll see you soon.”

  “Me, too.” I shower and dress. Dad, Gus, and Tim are as thrilled as I am. I know this is what it’ll take to draw Kennedy’s attention to me. Dad, Gus, and Tim are excited because I’m making a name for myself and soon the championship may be within my reach. One more really good fight, and maybe I can fight Kennedy. I also learn that my opponent is severely injured. I hate hearing this. I have no intentions of sharing this news with Leah. She’ll worry about me and him.

  I get a call and answer. “Bobby Grether here,” when I don’t recognize the number.

  “Bobby, what in the hell was that?” A familiar voice asks on the other end of the phone. I smile when I finally recognize the voice. A retired pro-boxer and friend, Sugar Ray Tiger.

  “You saw that, did ya?”

  “Damn straight. My boy’s fighting, I had to watch it.”

  “Ray, that was one fast knockout.”

  “Is that what that was?” he laughs.

  “Yes, my friend, it is. How are you?”

  “I’m good. Just saw the fight and I had to call to congratulate you myself. You’re on your way, my man.”

  “I appreciate that, thank you.”

  “I see you learned a thing or two from me,” he laughs.

  “You and Rocky Balboa taught me everything I know.” Gus and Dad clear their throat at my comment. I smile and nod at them.

  “Hell, no! Please tell me you aren’t still a Rocky fan.”

  “He’s my idol. I just can’t kick him to the curb.” We both laugh and I ask, “Are you coming out of retirement anytime soon?”

  “Nah, I’m done. I’m too old for that shit,” he laughs. “This old body can’t take those hits like it used to. I am a motivational speaker now. So that’s interesting.”

  “Good for you. You always did try to help the kids. Even in retirement, you’re still making a difference.”

  “We have to, man, these kids need
us. Hey, I gotta run, the grandkids are destroying my house. Congratulations again, Bobby.”

  “Thanks, Ray, later.” I disconnect the call and save his number into my contacts.

  Mr. Franklin walks into the room and shakes my hand. “An impressive fight, Bobby.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You fight like a man on a mission.”

  “Trying to get a second chance with Kennedy.”

  “This might be just enough to bring him out.”

  “I hope so.”

  On the flight home, Gus tells me I did well. I know I made him and myself look good up there. When I fight Kennedy, I plan to give the fans a show. Kennedy is good and we fight very similarly. We fight to win. I lost the one and only fight I had with him, but I won’t lose the next one. He also still holds the championship belt that I want to claim as my own. I have watched and studied Kennedy’s moves and like my own, they are malicious and fierce. Being on the streets has taught me many things. I plan to fight to win.

  Dad drops me off at the house. I can’t wait to see Leah. I have been gone for only a day, but I have missed her. After the death of our daughter, I left Leah and turned to drugs to make me forget. I intentionally overdosed and survived that. I have so much guilt when it comes to my family. I vowed to make it right and to be a man that Leah can be proud of. Sometimes she thinks I’m all alpha male, but I can’t help it. The love that I have for her brings out the beast that lives within me.

  I undress and quietly crawl in bed with her. She is asleep, but her body knows I’m here. She moans and backs up into me. I scoot close to her until her back is flat against my chest. I inhale her unique scent of buttercream and vanilla and drift off into a dreamless sleep.

  I wake up to the sound of vomiting. The bathroom door is closed and Leah isn’t in bed. I stay in bed and wait. I want to help her, but I know there isn’t anything I can do for her. I hear the toilet flush and water running in the sink before I breathe a sigh of relief. Leah comes out.

  “Feel better?” I ask.

  She looks at me and shakes her head while covering her mouth with her hand. Her eyes get big and she runs back into the restroom. I get up and get the newspaper from the front porch and go to the kitchen. I return to the bedroom with the paper, a bottle of cold water, a bottle of room temperature water, and a few Saltine crackers. I tap on the bathroom door and open it slowly. Leah is kneeling over the toilet and holding a washcloth to her forehead. I stay with her, and when there is nothing left for her to throw up, I lead her back into the bedroom. I also bring the trashcan with us. She crawls into bed and covers herself up. I wait before offering her some crackers and water.

  Leah and I stay in bed together until her morning sickness passes. She eats a few of the crackers and chooses the room-temperature water. I remember that when she was pregnant for Jamie she craved all the wrong things. Cold chicken, warm water, melted ice cream, and ice tea without ice. It looks like this pregnancy will be like the last.

  “We should get up,” she says.

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m feeling better and we are going to waste the day away if we don’t.”

  “Staying in bed all day with my beautiful wife is not wasting the day away.”

  I open up the newspaper and see that Leah and Brooke are on the front page. The main headline reads, “Dante is the Perfect Book Boyfriend.” In smaller type appears, “Local Bookstore Owner Shows Support for Local Author.” The article has a picture of Brooke and Leah inside the bookstore. I smile and turn it over for Leah to see. “Look, you’re famous.”

  “Are you kidding?” she squeals as she takes the paper from my hands. I lean over her and we read the extensive article in silence.

  I lean back and prop a pillow behind my head. “I’m going to need your and Brooke’s autographs sometime today.”

  “Stop it!” She giggles.

  Leah’s phone rings and she answers it with a squeal. I already know it’s Brooke. I get up and start breakfast while Leah’s on the phone. When breakfast is nearly done, Leah comes downstairs smiling and carrying the newspaper.

  “I hope you told her to get more books into the shop.”

  “I didn’t. Do you think this will increase her book sales?”

  “Yes, I’m certain it will. I bet her sales are already showing an increase.”

  “Good for her. I brought her first book home last night and started reading it. It’s actually very good.”

  “Are you hungry?”

  “I am. It smells delicious.”

  Brooke

  “Brice, come here. You’re not going to believe this.” My husband, Brice, and my two older sons come running into the dining room where I am. Brice sometimes acts like my son, instead of my husband.

  “What happened?” he asks, winded from running.

  “Look.” I turn my computer towards him so he can see the screen.

  He looks at it with furrowed brows. “Is it broken?”

  I take a deep breath, “No, it’s not broken.”

  “Good, I thought it was broken,” he says, walking away from the table.

  “Brice?”

  “What?”

  “Do you see this line right here?” I ask, pointing at the very tall line on the grid.

  He walks back over to me and sits down at the table. “I see it, Mommy,” Braden says excitedly.

  I smile at Braden and then I look at Brice. “Do you know what this is?”

  “No.”

  “This line indicates how many people downloaded my free book.” He looks confused and I swear I want to hit him.

  “You’re excited because you gave away free books?” he asks.

  “Do you know what that means?”

  “I do; it means you could have sold them and made some money.”

  “Brice,” I say very slowly. “It means that I have the potential to sell twice that many books.” I move the cursor so he can see the actual number of the free books. His eyes get big and I know he understands my excitement.

  “Why is this line so much taller than yesterday?”

  “Because of this!” I say excitedly as I hold up the newspaper for him to see the article of me and Leah.

  He smiles and takes the paper from me and reads the article. “I also submitted my free book to BookBub.”

  “What’s BookBub?”

  “It’s an online site that features books on the web page. Brice, they have a reach of over 1,000,000 readers and they accept only 20% of the books that are submitted to them.”

  “Let’s hope your book is one of the 20% to get accepted.”

  The kids are also sitting at the table with us. “Mommy, are you famous?”

  “No, Briley, I’m not.”

  “When you get famous, can we have a horse?”

  “No, Briley, no horse.”

  “Can we have a swimming pool?” Braden asks.

  “No, Braden, no swimming pool.”

  Brice reads the paper and looks up at me and smiles. “Very impressive.”

  “Thank you.”

  “When you get famous, will you buy me a new Ford 250?”

  “No, Brice, no new truck for you or for me!” We laugh and he leans in to hug me.

  “Have I told you how proud I am of you?”

  “No, you haven’t.”

  “I’m sorry if I haven’t because I am.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

  “When BookBub accepts you, can I get a new truck?”

  “No, Brice. Not now, not then.”

  “Well, I’m still proud of you.” He leans in and kisses me again and says, “Get your shoes on, boys, because we’re taking Momma out to dinner.”

  I get a text from Leah, saying I should probably bring in some more books to her shop. I just took some in and I’m afraid she may be getting a little too excited. Brice takes me and the boys to dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant and then we play putt-putt golf. We have a great day and the kids and Brice are car
efree. Brice is usually under stress and he works endlessly. The boys shower, have a snack, and go to bed. Before bed, I check my sales for the day on the e-book sites and I force myself to blink a few times. The lines on the grid are still climbing for the free and paid books. My hearts races and my palms sweat. One of the best things I ever did is give away the first book in my series. Of course, this probably works only with trilogies that have cliffhangers in Books 1 and 2.

  “Brice?”

  “What?”

  “Look,” I say tapping his hands. He leans over and now he knows what he’s looking at.

  “Leah, are you sure I can’t have a Ford 250?”

  “Shut up.” I kiss him, close the laptop, and say a silent prayer of thanks before falling into a peaceful sleep.

  Chapter Four: Changes

  Robert

  We don’t go to church today because of Leah’s morning sickness. Plus, both of us are tired. She had a big day yesterday at the shop, and I flew out to D.C. and back for the fight. We don’t have anything planned for today until dinnertime.

  “How are you feeling?” she asks.

  I’m lying on the couch and raise my head up to look at her. “Fine, why?”

  “Because of the fight last night. Are you stiff, sore, or anything?”

  “Sweets, did you watch the fight?” I ask in confusion.

  “Yes I did, Ace.”

  “I didn’t get hit. I’m fine.”

  “Okay, just asking. It feels odd that you fight and I don’t ask how you are. I don’t ever remember you boxing and never getting hit.”

  “Because it’s never happened before until very recently.”

  She sighs and I try to watch the television from the opposite side of the couch. After a few minutes, she asks, “Do you know why you’re not getting hit now?”

  I raise my head and look at her and smile. “Because I’m a badass macho man and an alpha male all rolled up into one. That’s why.”

  She laughs and says, “Good, stay that way for all your fights, will ya?”

  “Anything for you, Sweets.” I wink at her and lower my head to try to concentrate on the Rocky marathon playing on television.

  Leah and I lounge around most of the day on Sunday until we meet our parents for dinner. I think she was actually able to relax. I know the fights bother her, but I think the last two fights are easing her anxiety some.