“Bye, Blue,” Jamie said as she closed the door behind her.
Blue smiled as she left; he had always liked Jamie. She knew how to read a room. He could hear Chelsea talking on her phone in her room, but couldn’t make out what she was saying, and he decided to let her be.
It felt strange to be back in this house sipping coffee and reading the paper like an adult. When he had been younger he used to drive Chelsea to school and Colleen would invite him on mornings when Chelsea was running late because she needed to spend hours on her hair. She would pour him a bowl of cereal, something sugary and sweet like Lucky Charms or Cookie Crisp and Blue was able to pretend that he was normal if only for a little while. The only good memories Blue had of his childhood were from this house.
He and Chelsea spent the day together, most of it in bed. At six thirty Chelsea was lying in bed and Blue was leaning over her, kissing her gently with his hand wrapped in her hair. She had smiled up at him and Blue smiled back at her and realized how great it was to actually be with her. He understood at that moment that everything in his life could be different and better. He could get out of Snowbird and away from his father and leave his life in the fighting pits behind.
He could have a real life with Chelsea, a normal life. He could go to college and get his engineering degree and for the first time his life would truly be his. He had spent his childhood in the fighting pits trapped by his own father and from there he had gone straight to the army. He had never had the chance to just be a normal person. His life had been filled with death and destruction and violence and he was starting to finally understand that it didn’t have to be that way.
The day came and went and Chelsea and Blue gave no thought to the time, they were too wrapped up in each other. But finally, hunger sent Blue to the kitchen where he made himself a sandwich while Chelsea was taking a shower. The house was silent and he could hear the loud crickets outside. A chill had crept into the air, but he had never minded the cold. He especially didn’t mind it on a night like tonight when he would sleep with Chelsea in his arms.
He heard the footsteps outside, and then the turning of the knob. Blue stood and turned to face the door only to realize it was unlocked. He only had a moment to curse himself for such a stupid and amateur move before the door was swinging open.
“There was a time when you would have never been in a house with the door unlocked. You get soft, Blue?” His father’s voice was a low growl and Blue felt himself go still.
His first thought was for Chelsea; she was still in the house with only a weak door between her and Terrance. He prayed she stayed in her room and stayed quiet.
“Get out,” Blue spit at his father.
“I have something you want to see, something you need to see.”
“I don’t want to see it, whatever it is. I’m done with you.”
“Yeah, but they’re not done with you.”
“Who?”
“Who do you think?”
“You’re bluffing. Get out of this house and don’t come back. Don’t make me beat you into the ground, old man.”
“They have Jamie.” His voice was even and calm as if he were delivering the news about the weather. Blue didn’t move; he froze as he searched his father’s face trying to discover if he were lying or telling the truth. “I told you they wanted you back in the ring and I told you they weren’t taking no for an answer. You thought you knew better than me; you thought you were smarter than me, but I’m the brains of this operation and I always have been.”
“You’re lying,” Blue hissed.
“I’m not and I have the video to prove it, but not here. We should keep this from Chelsea and Colleen as long as possible. We do this right and we can get Jamie back without them even realizing she’s gone.”
Blue hesitated. He knew his father and he knew he wasn’t really worried about Jamie’s welfare. But he didn’t want to involve Chelsea. There was still a chance this was an elaborate lie from his father, another ploy to get him back in the ring.
“Fine,” Blue said. “Let’s go to the car.”
They sat in the front of his father’s Lexus with Blue in the passenger’s seat. Terrance pulled up the text message with a video attached. He handed the phone to Blue and Blue pressed play.
He was looking at Jamie. She was crying and tied to a chair but looked otherwise unharmed. It was on a loop, and Blue’s stomach dropped as the video of Jamie played over and over again. Finally, he couldn’t take anymore and he closed the video. Underneath there was a phone number and an order to call it.
“What did they say when you called?” Blue asked.
“I haven’t called. They don’t want to talk to me, Blue. They want to talk to you.”
Taking a deep breath Blue hit the number and the phone dialed.
“This Blue?” a voice asked. Whoever it was was using a voice distorter and Blue couldn’t recognize them.
“Yeah this is Blue.”
“There’s a fight in four days underneath the abandoned mall on Vine Street. Be there and the girl lives. Skip it and we kill her and you never see the body.
“Jimmy told me not to come back,” Blue said, grasping at any straw he could.
“Fuck Jimmy. I’m the sponsor of the fight and I want you there. Here’s how this works: you come back for one last fight, but it’s a fight to the death. Two men go in only one comes out. We could make a lot of money, Blue.”
“I don’t want your money.”
“Do you want the girl back alive?” There was a long pause; it wasn’t a rhetorical question.
“Yes,” Blue answered through gritted teeth.
“Then four days from now you’ll get the time. You come and the girl goes free. If you call the cops or you try and rescue her, we’ll kill her and you and every other person you’ve ever met, understood?”
“Yes,” Blue said.
The line went dead; the call was over. Blue’s body was shaking with rage. His worst fears had just come true. His father was pulling other people into this, innocent people. He had spent all of high school protecting Chelsea as best he could, pushing her away so his father wouldn’t get suspicious. But they had taken Chelsea’s sister; it was somehow a worse blow. Chelsea would be devastated and even though she might not admit it, some part of her would always blame Blue. He had no idea where Jamie was or even who had her. He would have to fight.
“I tried to warn you-” Terrance said.
“Shut up,” Blue split. “You planned this, I know it.”
“You think I would do this?” Terrance demanded. “I don’t have anything to do with this, Blue. They came to me and told me they wanted you to fight. They warned me that something would happen. My only mistake was not being clear enough about this threat and, for that, I apologize. I didn’t know they were going to take Jamie.”
“Stop trying to talk your way out of this!” Blue yelled. “I know you are responsible for this. How could you? You’re marrying Colleen and you’ve kidnapped her daughter.”
“I don’t have Jamie, Blue. I swear it.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter either way. If you don’t fight, she dies.”
“Yeah, and if I do fight, someone else dies.”
“Who cares? Don’t focus on your opponent. Play your own game.Do I need to retrain you all over again?”
“No!” Blue yelled. “I’m done.” He stood up and got out of the car and slammed the door. He walked around the car and over to his father and grabbed him by the collar of his cheap suit and pushed him up against the car. “I’ll fight one last time, for Jamie, but after that I am out of this town and you and I will never speak again.”
He let his father go and watched as he hurried back into his car and quickly pulled out of the parking lot.
“Blue?” He turned and saw Chelsea standing on the patio, a robe wrapped around her body and her wet hair tousled on her head. “Is everything all right?”
What was he supposed to say?