Chapter Six
Paul and I stayed at the gym until closing time and he continued to work on his skills while I helped out where I could. He was determined to win that title and I was determined to do anything I could to help him. It could be life-changing for him and I wanted that for him more than anything. When it was time to leave and we walked out into the dark I could feel the tiniest bit of anxiety beginning to take hold in my chest.
“You want to leave your car here for tonight and take mine. We can get a movie on the way home?”
I liked the way he said “home,” like it was where we both lived. Most of all, I liked that he was planning on staying with me tonight. The anxiety was gone as quickly as it had come on.
“Sure, I have stir fry vegetables and pork; I can make us dinner…”
“Nope,” he said as he closed the car door on my side and went around to the other side.
He got in and I said, “You don’t like my cooking?”
Smiling as he started the car he pat his flat belly and said, “I love it…too much. But tonight I’m going to take care of you. I’ll cook.”
“You cook?”
He laughed. “Yes, I can cook. As a matter of fact, I’m so good at it that if this MMA thing doesn’t work out, I was going to be a chef.”
He said it completely serious so I wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not. I waited a few beats and said, “Really?”
Laughing he said, “No, not really. But I can cook.”
We stopped at a Redbox on our way home and Paul asked me what I wanted to watch. “I don’t care,” I told him. “Whatever you think looks good.” He looked over at me and wiggled an eyebrow.
“I think you look pretty damned good. Will you entertain me?”
“You know I will. After you make me dinner and show me a movie.”
“Women, always with strings attached,” he said. “Do you like Mark Wahlberg?”
“Yeah, he’s hot.”
He made a face and said, “That wasn’t what I was asking, but thanks for sharing.”
I laughed. “Sorry, but he is.” Trying to straighten the smile out of my face I said, “Why yes, Mark Wahlberg is an amazing actor. Why do you ask?”
He rolled his eyes and said, “Have you ever seen The Fighter?”
“Nope. What’s it about?”
“Micky Ward and his brother who trained him…”
“Who’s Micky Ward?”
He was shaking his head at me. “I will never know how a girl who knows so much about boxing can know so little about it at the same time.”
“So who is he?”
“You’ll see when we watch the movie. I know you’ll pay attention because Mark Wahlberg plays him and he’s “Hot.” He said “hot” in a girlie voice. It was cute.
He got the movie and we went back to my apartment. I took a shower and put on my comfy pajama bottoms and tank top while he cooked the dinner since he ordered me out of the kitchen. The first thing I realized when I got out was how good it smelled. As I came down the hall I saw him putting the plates on the table filled with brown rice and stir-fried vegetables. He left out the pork, but as it turned out, that was okay. After my first bite I was in love, both with the dish and the chef.
“Oh my God, this is delicious.”
He smiled. “Thank you. See, I could be a chef.”
“I didn’t doubt it for a second. I think you can be anything that you want to be.” The last part just came out but he looked like he was touched by it.
“What about an MMA champion? I go up against Trent in two weeks. Beating him is probably going to be the biggest challenge I’ve faced in the ring yet.”
“Anything,” I said again. “Most definitely an MMA champion.” He was searching my eyes; I think to see if I was laying it on thick or if I really believed it. He looked satisfied by what he saw there and took another bite of his dinner. “Are you nervous?” I asked him. This fight was huge for him. It was what he’d been fighting towards all along.
I’m not sure what I expected, but I didn’t think that he would actually admit that he was. I took it as a sign that we were growing closer when he looked me in the eyes and said, “I’m nervous as hell. I can’t afford to screw this up. I’m twenty-six years old. This might be my last chance.”
Twenty-six was on the older side for a UFC fighter, but he was in outstanding shape and although I teased him about it, his form and skills were impeccable. “You got this,” I told him. “Just keep moving your feet.”
He smiled and winked at me. We finished our dinner as I told him about my latest conversation with my mom and how well she was doing.
“She doesn’t regret going in?” he asked me.
“She doesn’t seem like it. She’s quoting things to me right out of the NA bible,” I laughed. “She is a little obsessive about things so I don’t doubt I’ll know as much about recovery as she does eventually. It’s good though, that way I can help her.”
“It’s good that she has you. Someone else might have turned their back on her after all she put you through.”
I shrugged and said, “I won’t say I haven’t come close a few times. But the thing is, no matter what happened in the past, she’s still my mother and I still love her.”
He reached over and touched my face. “She’s lucky,” he said. I almost blurted out, “I love you too!” but I held back again. It still wasn’t time.
After we finished eating we cleaned up the kitchen together and we moved into the living room to watch the movie. It was good and now I know who Micky Ward is. It was also good to watch an example of a family as dysfunctional as or even more so than ours. It’s nice to know you’re not alone, that was one thing that I never realized until recently. And just for the record, Mark Walberg is hot, but he’s no Paul Delport.
*****
Paul spent the night with me again and it was so nice to wake up in his arms. I was almost afraid that I was getting too used to it. We had a light breakfast together and then he went out for his run. While he was gone I took a shower and got ready to go see my mom. It would be the first time I saw her since she went in and I was a little nervous. I talked to her on the phone a lot and she sounded good, but I was going to worry until I saw her in the flesh. She had definitely passed on some of her obsessive genes to me.
I put on a little bit of make-up after the shower. I don’t usually wear much during the day but I wanted to make sure the yellow of the old bruises didn’t show. I didn’t want to give her anything more to worry about than getting clean and learning how to stay that way. I threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and by that time, Paul was back.
“Where are you going?” I hadn’t told him because I got the phone call and the all-clear from the facility after he left this morning.
“To visit my mom,” I said. Her therapist said she could have visitors beginning today. She’s been doing so well. I’m looking forward to seeing her. Are you going to see Marie and Victor today?”
“Not until later. I was going to take them dinner tonight.”
“Oh, so what do you have going on today?”
“I guess nothing since I wasn’t invited to go see your mom. You’re probably ashamed of me…embarrassed to introduce me to her…”
I smiled and rolled my eyes. “Like I’d ever be embarrassed to introduce you to anyone. Everyone there would be jealous that you’re with me and not them,” I told him.
“That’s a good answer,” he said. “I like that. How about I go with you and make them all jealous?”
“Really, you want to go with me?”
“I’d like to, if you don’t mind.”
“No, I don’t mind. I’d love for you to go.”
“Good. Give me a few minutes to shower.” He kissed me and went to get ready. While he was doing that, I was thinking that this was a pretty big deal. He was not only willing to meet my mother, he suggested it. If he didn’t want me to fall in love with him, he was going about it all wrong.
The rehab facility was on the West side of Los Angeles. It was in one of the older residential areas of the city and it just looked like a big old Victorian house. It was painted light blue with white trim. The day I took her, the therapist that talked to us told me that it was all decorated in what they called “calming colors.” Everything inside was painted a “calm” shade of beige or pale yellow.
We went in and told the lady at the front who we were and who we were here to see. While we sat and waited for them to let us go back I said, “You remember what I told you about her the first time we talked, right? She’s not like other moms.”
He smiled and squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”
“I’m not worried,” I said, not exactly honestly. “I just wanted you to be fair warned. She’s going to ask you a bunch of silly questions and tell you how nice looking you are and…”
“Okay,” he said, still smiling but interrupting my tirade. “I consider myself warned.”
“For Lynn?” the nicely dressed lady from the front desk was calling us in. We followed her into a comfortably decorated living area. It had the old big windows surrounding it and letting the sun shine in on us. It had a nice “homey” feel to it and I could see why Mom liked it here. She was sitting in one of the window seats looking outside. She jumped up when she saw us come in.
“There’s my girl!” she held her arms out and I went into them. She felt thinner to me but when I pulled back and looked at her face I could see that her eyes were clear and her skin was glowing.
“Hi Mom. You look great. How are you? Have you been eating okay?”
“I’m real good, baby. I eat fine. They serve healthy food here and I’m not eating take-out and fast food so I’m losing weight. It’s good; I was getting a little fluffy. I like it here, but missed you terribly.” Then suddenly changing tracks, she looked at Paul and said, “You brought a friend…who is this?”
Paul smiled at her and held out his hand. I could see in my mother’s eyes that it was love at first sight…but who could blame her? “Paul Delport,” he said.
“Well hello Paul Delport.” She was using her husky, flirty voice. When I was a teenager it used to bother me a lot because she really was prettier than me and I never knew what she would do. Now, it’s a little embarrassing, but amusing at the same time. “It’s nice to finally meet the man in my daughter’s life. The real one,” she said with a sly glance in my direction. “Sit down, both of you,” she said.
Mom and I sat on the couch and Paul sat across from us in a wing-backed chair. It was perfect actually…the sun was streaming in on his face and he looked like he was under a spotlight…which from the look on my mother’s face, I had a feeling he was about to be.
“So Paul, what do you do, honey?”
“Mom…”
“I’m a fighter,” he said. “Mixed-martial arts.”
“Well, I guess that explains all the muscles,” she said, again in a flirtatious voice.
I decided to try and save him. “Mom, we came to see how you were doing. I don’t think Paul really wants to…”
“How long have you been seeing my Jessie?” she cut me right off. She wasn’t going to be denied her interrogation.
“Mom…” I tried again. This time I was cut off by Paul who looked at me and smiled. He turned back to my mom and said, “A few months…off and on.”
“Off and on, huh? Why off?”
“Mother!”
“It’s okay,” Paul said, still smiling. “I’ve had some family stuff going on that kind of got in the way. I think we’re back on track now.”
“Well, that’s good to hear on both counts. Family should always come first, and my Jessie needs a good man in her life.” I didn’t bother trying to get her attention that time. I just sat back and watched the train wreck happen. “So tell me, Paul…what is it that you like about my girl?”
Looking amused he looked over at me and grinned. “There are so many things. I almost don’t know where to start.”
“Like what?” she asked. She was a dog with a bone. Who asks these kinds of questions about their grown-up children?
“She has really pretty hair,” he said. “And her eyes are gorgeous.” That made me feel warm inside. My mother of course had to take credit. Rehab does not a personality change.
“Thank you,” she said. “She got those both from me.”
“I can see that,” he said with one of his most charming smiles. He was good, I’ll give him that.
“What else?” She wanted more that she could take credit for.
“Her smile, I definitely love that smile.”
“Me again!” And there you go!
“Okay, well that was fun. Mom, let’s talk about how things are going here.”
“Things are good, honestly. The people here are nice and I’m actually paying attention in group and individual therapy and I’m learning a lot about myself and why I do the things that I do. I’ve even made a friend or two and you know how hard that is for me. Female friends!” she seemed proud of that, so I smiled. Then she was back on a roll saying, “You know Paul; I wasn’t a very good mother…”
“Mom…”
“How’s is your relationship with your mother?” My head was going to explode.
“It’s…complicated I guess I’d say.” Paul was doing so well with all of this; I was humiliated and proud of him at the same time.
Mom laughed. “That’s a very polite way to put it. I can only hope Jessie is that diplomatic when people ask her about me.”
“I give you only glowing reviews, Mom.”
She laughed again. “Do you have your own place?” she asked him.
“Um…yeah, sort of,” he said.
She raised an eyebrow. “Sort of?”
“I’m looking for a new place right now,” he said. “I had to move from the last one sort of unexpectedly.”
“You weren’t evicted were you?”
“Mom!” She acts like she never was. I can’t even count the times.
“No ma’am. I had to leave because of the traveling I was doing to help out my family.”
“Oh, well that’s too bad but I’ll bet they’re glad to have you. What kind of money do you make boxing or fighting…whatever you call it?” I sighed, loudly and rolled my eyes. Paul still looked amused.
“It’s mixed martial arts,” he told her. “And I guess it just depends on the bout. We get paid a percentage of what the tickets bring in and then we have to split that with our managers or trainers or both. It’s not a lot at first. You have to do a lot of tournaments to make a living at it. But, for UFC fights, the non-televised ones the winner makes around fifteen grand and the loser gets about half that much. If you’re really good and you gain one of the titles then you get endorsements and things like that and make a lot more.”
“MMA, isn’t that the one that does all that pay-per-view stuff?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Have you been in one of those fights?”
“Not yet ma’am, but I intend to be someday.”
The rest of the visit, the entire hour went about like that. My mother’s questions got even more intrusive and embarrassing. The worst was when she said, “You two are being careful…not making babies yet, right?”
“Jesus, mother! That’s it. No more questions.”
“I’m just getting to know Paul. Isn’t that why you brought him?”
“Yes mother but you don’t have to know everything in one sitting…and some things you never really need to know.”
She looked like she had no idea what I was talking about and went on with her line of questioning. The good news was that Paul handled them like a champ. He was great at giving her an answer without too much information. I could tell that it made my mother feel good that he was listening so intently to her questions and then actually taking the time to answer them. I was impressed with how he handled it. He didn’t even break a sweat. I did though when she said, “So do you think you and Jessie will be ready to move in together?”
“Mom, please! We aren’t even close to that point yet. You’re embarrassing him.”
“Am I embarrassing you, Paul?”
He looked at me and said, “No ma’am, but your daughter’s face is awfully red. I think she might be a little embarrassed.”
Mom looked at me and said, “Yeah, but Jessie embarrasses easily. I’ll bet the first time you two did it she made you leave the lights off.”
“Mother! That’s it! Enough!”
She laughed heartily and said, “That one was a joke, honey. I really don’t want to hear about your sex life.” I saw her wink in Paul’s direction as if they shared a secret. He winked back. I rolled my eyes…again.
When we got ready to leave, Mom hugged me and thanked me for coming and for “everything,” she said. Then she whispered, but not in the least bit quietly, “He’s hot baby and I like him. He’s a keeper, I think.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Paul Delport, give me a hug,” she said. Paul obliged and when he pulled back she said, “Thank you for coming to meet me today. I hope it’s not too weird for you to meet Jessie’s mother in a place like this.”
“No ma’am. It wasn’t weird at all. It was really nice to meet you. I wish you the best of luck.”
“It was wonderful to meet you. In case you wondered, I approve Jessie’s choice of a boyfriend. I think you just might be what the doctor ordered for my girl. Take care of her for me, will you?”
“I will do that,” he said. He looked a little sad then and I suspected he was thinking about Mitch. I didn’t think of what that creep did to me as his fault, but I think Paul was carrying around a lot of guilt over it. I hoped that Mitch didn’t get out for a long time mostly because I was so afraid of what Paul was going to do to him when he did. I wouldn’t care what he did if I wasn’t worried about what the consequences would be for Paul. The last thing I wanted was for him to ruin his life defending me.
When we finally broke away from Mom and I left this week’s payment at the front desk, we stepped out into the sunlight and I said, “Thank you for today. Thank you for being so good to her. She doesn’t experience men who treat her with respect very often.”
“She’s nice,” he said. “I can see that she really loves you. It was what always “saved” my mother in my eyes, I think. I didn’t understand why she lived the way she did, or let my dad treat us the way she did, but I knew she loved us. I used to try and tell her that she needed to have more respect for herself and then Dad wouldn’t find it so easy to disrespect her. Anyways, I think that’s probably your mother’s only problem. She needs to learn how to like herself and then more people will like her in return.”
“Wow, you should have been a…” We were walking across the small parking area. I stopped talking and stood completely still listening. I didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary. I had a strange feeling though…”
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. I just got a weird feeling,” I told him, honestly.
“Weird how?”
“Like someone was watching me,” I said. I shuddered. It was probably just my PTSD.
Paul was so used to looking over his shoulder that he didn’t just shrug it off though. He looked around and walked with his hand on my arm until we got to the car. I saw him glance in the backseat of the car before he opened the door and even into the car next to his. Neither of us saw anyone. I was sure now that it had been my imagination, but I still appreciated that he didn’t just shrug me off. Mitch was in jail, who else would it be?
We were a few blocks from the rehab when Paul said, “I need to stop for gas and then if you want we can grab some lunch.”
“Lunch sounds good,” I told him. “How about that new Thai place by the gym? I’ve wanted to try it.”
“Sounds good.” There was a Chevron on the corner near the stoplight and he pulled into it and stopped at the pump.
“I’m going inside to get a water,” I told him. “You need anything?”
“Nope, I’m good.” He got out and put his card in the pump and I headed into the store. I found the water I was looking for and took it to the counter. I was about to set it down when I saw the stuff my nightmares were made of outside the window. Mitch was here. At first my brain didn’t really process it because he wasn’t supposed to be here. I could only see him from behind, but I was sure it was him and that was when I realized that he had something in his hands and he was just about to swing it on Paul who had his back to him. I dropped the water bottle to the floor and ran out screaming Paul’s name. I think I even shoved an older lady out of my way. I didn’t care. I had to get to him. He turned at the sound of my voice, just in time for the tire iron to connect with the side of his face. Paul flew back about a foot and landed on his back on the ground.
I screamed again. My phone was in the car so I started screaming for someone to call the cops. I wanted to go help him but I knew it would be pointless. Mitch would just turn that tire iron in his hands on me. I found out the hard way that he wasn’t gender-specific when it came to handing out his beatings. People around me got on their phones right away but I had to stand there and watch in horror as Mitch walked over to where Paul had gone down and he raised the crowbar again. I saw Paul reach up as he did and try to grab it out of his hands. He didn’t get ahold of it, but his motions seemed to block some of the force of the blow. It still caught him on the chin and when Mitch jerked it back out of his hands I saw Paul’s palms were all bloody. I was horrified and I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath.
Paul rolled away and started to get to his feet. Mitch brought the metal bar down and caught him on his left side. He hit with such force and right against Paul’s ribs that I was sure Paul wouldn’t be able to walk away without at least one of them being broken. When the bar connected, Paul fell back to the ground and I could tell he was trying to catch his breath. There were people everywhere…just watching. Why didn’t someone do something? I couldn’t stand it any longer and I started going towards them. An older man in a business suit grabbed me and said, “The police are on their way. Don’t go over there, honey. You’ll get hurt too.”
“I can’t stand it. Why were the police taking so long?” As the man held me back, I saw Paul stumbling up to his feet again, reaching out to grab one of the pumps to steady himself. Mitch pulled back the bar again to get ready to swing and this time Paul got ahold of it. I watched as he wrenched it from his hands. I could see his chest moving rapidly and I was suddenly afraid that he was going to use that iron bar to finally, once and for all put an end to Mitch. It wasn’t that I wouldn’t have loved watching it but I was so worried for Paul.
He proved me wrong by tossing the tire iron aside and going at Mitch with his fists. He landed a right cross and when Mitch came at him with a punch of his own I couldn’t help but be a little bit proud at the way Paul moved his feet and got out of the way. The punch missed, so Mitch threw another. Paul caught his arm and used Mitch’s own momentum to swing around and land a round kick to Mitch’s side. Then as Mitch went down he grabbed his arm to bring it up and pin it behind his back. Mitch probably could have wrenched free, but he was struggling too hard and that was his mistake. He lost his footing at last and they both went down to the hot pavement. Thank God, Paul landed on top. In an instant he had his muscular arm wrapped across the other man’s fat throat. He got him in a choke hold and within seconds Mitch looked ready to pass out. I could hear the sirens and I knew that help was coming. I finally let myself breathe.
Paul didn’t release his hold on Mitch until he passed out. Then, it looked like he just relaxed it a little bit. But that was good, he wasn’t set on killing him…today at least. The police cars came screeching in and as I was thanking God I suddenly heard them screaming at Paul…
“Let go of him and put your hands in the air.” He suddenly had three guns trained right at him. All I could do was pray that none of these guys knew or liked Mitch and that Paul wouldn’t make any sudden movements.
Paul was too smart to screw with the police. He released his hold on Mitch and put his hands in the air. Once again I was horrified. I watched two of the officers each grab one of his arms and pull him off of Mitch. The third officer still had his gun trained on Paul as the put him face down onto the black pavement and handcuffed him behind his back.
“Stop it! Stop it!” I was screaming at them, still trying to pull free of the business man’s grasp. “It’s not him! It’s the other one. That man is supposed to be in jail. He assaulted Paul with a crow bar.”
While one of the officers checked Mitch for a pulse, the other one came over where I was standing and still screaming, “It’s not him!”
“Miss, listen to me,” he said. “It’s procedure. If he didn’t start the fight and his friend over there is okay…he’ll be let go. We have to talk to the bystanders first and get the story straight. You need to find a place to sit down and calm down. I wouldn’t want you to end up in trouble too. Someone will be talking to you soon though, so do not leave.”
I nodded and licked my dry lips. Here we go again. The cop started to walk away and I said, “Hey, don’t let him tell you he’s one of you. He may have a badge, but he’s scum. He beat me so badly that I was in the hospital with a punctured lung a broken arm and a dislocated one just a few weeks ago. He’s supposed to be in jail. Please take him back there.”
The cop looked like he wasn’t sure if he should believe me or not, but with a neutral expression he said, “We’ll figure it all out, Miss.”
I had to watch as Paul was shoved, still bleeding into the back of a patrol car. I almost thought it might be worth getting arrested myself to go help him. Mitch was waking up and I could hear him moaning. I was s tempted to run over and kick him in the throat myself. I was itching to do something. I felt so helpless. Two ambulances eventually showed up as one of the police officer’s was interviewing the witnesses. They loaded Mitch into one immediately. I answered the officer’s questions, the whole time keeping an eye on the ambulance where they were checking out Paul. Mitch was taken to the hospital right away. I did my best to convince the officer that he was supposed to be in jail. What the hell was he doing out already? The officer went to his car and made a phone call. When he came back I could see the frown lines in his face as he said, “Mitch was released on bond today. The judge gave him a low bail amount. He didn’t think he was a danger or a flight risk since he had no history of anything violent before the attack on you. I would suggest a restraining order….”
“Right, that will help. I can fight him off with a piece of paper.” Rationally I knew none of this was this officer’s fault. He was only trying to help. But I was pissed and he was the one standing in front of me at the moment. “He has history,” I told him. “He was just smart enough not to get caught. Being a cop gets him out of it too. He doesn’t deserve that badge. He’s a disgusting excuse for a human being.” The officer neither agreed nor disagreed with me on that point.