Chapter Five
Alexa
I woke up feeling lighter the next day. I’m not sure if it was the Chinese food and conversation with my dad the night before, or the fact that I knew I was going to get to see Ian at the fight tonight. Dad and I talked about some choices for my major. It felt so much better to have something to look forward to. I got out of bed in the morning before Dad went to work like a normal person and fixed him breakfast. He was as happy to see me up as I was to be up and out of bed, maybe even happier.
After Dad left for work, I started cleaning. I took apart the house room by room and even cleaned out closets and drawers. I wiped everything down and washed every piece of dirty laundry. By the time I was done the whole place smelled fresh and was shining. I felt as renewed as the place looked.
Before the fight I took a long, hot shower. I did some of my best thinking in the shower and while I was in there I decided that although I was going to the fight and I was excited to see Ian, I knew that it wouldn’t be the time or place to ambush him with my apology and the fact that I was really hoping we could try again. I would call him later, in a few days and we could talk about all of that then.
I dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and for the first time in almost a week, I left the house. Somehow the air smelled sweeter, maybe since I hadn’t smelled it for so long. I drove to the fight and got in line for my ticket. Watching the fights was not just about seeing Ian. I loved the atmosphere. There was electricity to it; everyone was so alive and full of their own adrenaline that it was like an energy drink for me. I sat near the back again next to an older couple. They were really cute. He was dressed in a suit and a fedora and she was wearing a dress that looked like she’d had it since the 1950’s but it was adorable on her. While we waited for the revelries to begin, the old man said, “Why is such a pretty young girl here alone…if you don’t mind me asking?”
“One of the fighters is a friend of mine,” I said. At least I hoped that Ian and I could still be friends.
“Which one?” he asked.
“Ian.”
“Oh, we’re here to see the other one. I don’t know either of them, but my son said I should put my money on Wreckin’ Ralph.”
“I hope that was wise,” I said. “I don’t know this Ralph character, but Ian’s pretty darned good.”
“How’s his boxing game?”
“The best,” I said, like I knew anything about it. “He’s super-fast, so he’s great on his feet.”
“Hmm, then I should hope that Ralph takes him down to the floor.”
I laughed and he did too and then he said, “My name is Buster. I was known as Buster Bruiser in my day, and this is my wife, Rose.”
“You were a fighter?”
“He was one of the best,” his wife said. Buster was smiling from ear to ear.
“I was the welter-weight champion two years running in ’52 and ’53.”
“Wow, awesome! Well, I’m pleased to meet you both. I do hope that your Ralph loses, but maybe if you don’t mind you could explain some of the moves for me? I don’t really understand a lot of it yet.”
“Okay. I just hope you don’t mind a little cussing. Rose says that I have a potty mouth.”
“That he does,” she said.
The announcer interrupted us then. He announced Wreckin’ Ralph first. The guy that jogged down the aisle was big. Height-wise he was probably the same as Ian, but his shoulders looked like they were four feet across. His nose was crooked like it had been broken a few times and I think part of his ear must have been torn off and sewed back on…crooked, at some point. Now I hated the thought of Ian beating him. The poor guy definitely didn’t have looks in his corner and this sport could only make that worse.
Next we heard, “Ian the “Iceman” Michaels!” I clapped and whistled and then watched as he came down toward the octagon. He was wearing dark blue shorts. His eyes looked really blue tonight. Just the sight of him made my heart flutter. Once the preliminaries were taken care of, the bell rang and the two men faced off in the center of the octagon.
They danced around each other for a few seconds and then Ralph was all of a sudden on Ian in a flurry of punches and then a kick. Ian managed to dodge most of them and then I saw him go in for a couple of jabs. One of them caught Ralph on the bottom side of his jaw. It looked like it hurt as he stumbled back. Ian didn’t give him any time to recover before throwing what Buster told me was a “hell of a right cross”. That connected with Ralph’s crooked nose and blood flew out, spattering them both. I think that must have pissed Ralph off a little because he came back with a direct hit to Ian’s chest. Ian was knocked back into the mesh and Ralph continued coming at him, throwing punches. Ian ducked out of most of them and came back at him with a swing kick (according to Buster) that caught him in the upper chest and knocked him over to Ian’s left side. Ian didn’t miss a beat, punching out with his left hand and finishing up with a round kick and an elbow to the back of the guy’s neck, knocking him face first to the mat. Buster let out a litany of cuss words that Rose elbowed him in the side for. Ian was on the guy’s back, trying to get an arm around his massive neck. Ralph was resisting and he’d gotten his legs up and around Ian’s waist. He’d just managed to throw Ian off as the bell rang, signifying the end of round one.