Chapter Two
Ian
I was pissed when I dropped Alexa off and I was pissed when I was finally able to go to sleep. I hoped that sleep would help, but I woke up as angry as I’d gone to bed. When my so-called “friends” started running their mouths, I was embarrassed at first for Alexa to find out what a delinquent I’d been in high school, but she totally overreacted. I had never expected her to get all spun out over it like that. I never even asked her what kind of stupid shit she did in high school. Everyone does stupid shit in high school. I’m positive that she’s not completely innocent. Nobody’s so innocent that they can judge someone else on what mistakes they’ve made in the past. I lost a lot because of the shitty choices I made. I didn’t get my high school diploma and I didn’t get my scholarship. I lost the respect of a lot of people who had put their faith in me. Yes, I made mistakes. I made a truckload of them. But I paid for them and she had no right getting all up on her moral high horse and calling me a cheater. What the fuck is that? I didn’t text her last night and I wasn’t going to today. That was it for me. I’m done. I don’t need to be with someone who is so negative and judgmental. Maybe she’s just immature, I don’t know. The bottom line is that I’d spent the past five years of my life trying to overcome the self-esteem issues I had because of the things I’d done and gain back some of the things I lost. My own family accepted that I’d changed. The whole family. They all stood by me. They knew I was just being a stupid kid and that didn’t make me a bad person. I wasn’t going to waste time with someone who wasn’t even there still thought they knew what it was like.
I got up and showered and after I dressed, I went to the gym and did my workout. When I was finished with that, I called my trainer to see if he had anyone around that I could spar with. I needed to get free of some of this frustration.
“Hey Dean, it’s Ian.”
“Hey kid! What’s up?”
“I need to spar today. Is anyone around there that might be up for it?”
“Vic is here.”
“Shit! He’s the only one?” Vic is a moose and I can’t stand him.
Dean laughed. “Yeah, take it or leave it. I could spar with you, I guess.”
“No thanks, I don’t want to hurt you.”
Dean laughed again. “So, should I tell Vic to wait around?”
“Yeah, I’ll head over there now.”
Vic and I looked ridiculous together, besides the fact that I couldn’t stand him. I really hated sparring with him. He was six foot nine. Seriously, I know I’m stereotyping, but wouldn’t basketball have made more sense?
“How’s things been little man?” This was Vic’s regular greeting.
“I’m six-one, fucker.”
“Compared to me, that makes you a little man. Don’t even get me started on what I saw in the showers last time we sparred.”
“Are you trying to piss me off enough to kick your ass?”
“Come on little man, I’m just playing.”
“Let’s do this,” I said. We clapped gloves and started circling each other. Vic threw out a wide hook and I dodged it and came back with an upper cut that landed on his chin. It would have knocked a smaller man on his ass, but Vic just shook his head like a wet dog and continued on. I threw out a left hook but he dodged it and came back at me with a hook of his own that caught me on the side of the head. I saw stars and it caused me to take a couple of steps back to regain my balance. I found myself up against the ropes of the training ring we use to spar in at Dean’s. Vic kept coming at me, throwing punches, connecting with my chest and my oblique enough to knock the wind out of me. I put my hand up to stop him and the son of a bitch stepped back and said, “What happened little man, not as big as you thought you were?”
I know it was a cheap shot. I’m the one who had stopped it. In my defense, he just had to keep running his damned mouth. I threw a hard right and landed it squared in his gut. I heard him suck in air and then he doubled over. He was trying to say something and I didn’t need to hear it in order to know it started with “mother” and ended with “fucker.” As soon as I did it, I felt like shit.
“Man Vic, I’m sorry,” I said, crouching down next to him. The big son-of-a-bitch wrapped me up in his massive arms and knocked me back to the mat. He had me pinned and I couldn’t breathe. Dean was trying to talk to him, but I’d unleashed the animal and it didn’t want to go back into its cage. I don’t know exactly how long it took Dean to convince him to let me go, but I was getting lightheaded and on the verge of passing out before he did. Served me right for being an asshole, I guess.
“What the hell? Are you two trying to kill each other right here in my fucking garage?”
“Sorry,” I grunted.
“Little bastard sucker-punched me!” Vic said.
“He said he was sorry,” Dean tried.
“I don’t give a shit if he’s sorry or not. Asshole sucker punches me, he’s going down.”
“All right then, you took him down. You crush him any longer, you’re gonna kill him. It’s over, Vic.”
Vic squinted his tiny little green eyes at me and said, “Don’t fuck with me again, kid.” I thought about fucking with him, but I guess I was smarter than that. I just nodded and took in another lungful of air.